Chapter 76

We still never found out whether Teacher Yuan hit Song Yi that day. All we knew was that when Song Yi came back, her forehead was red.

She was still muttering to herself over there. She had been careless. Teacher Yuan now knew how to trick people into talking too. Sigh, those words just now had not actually been said by her. She had been possessed by Lin Ze and the others. She was definitely not a chatty little kid...

Teacher Yuan said calmly, “How about you say that a little louder?”

Song Yi’s muttering vanished at once. She slipped right back to the dining table, sat with her eyes lowered and her nose aligned with her heart, and started playing the part of a well-behaved, sensible little kid.

The others knew the matter had been exposed, so every single one of them became especially obedient.

Teacher Yuan sighed. By now, he naturally understood that whether it was his old friend or Wanqi Sect’s enthusiasm, none of it was directed at him personally.

He felt a little disappointed, but also a little proud. His students were impressive, so of course he shared in the honor.

Relying on his students to bring glory was not shameful.

He even could not help thinking that perhaps students had to be a little mischievous to fully unleash their creativity.

But very soon, he rejected that thought. Song Yi and the others were already capable enough of stirring up trouble. If he did not restrain them a little, they really would ascend to the heavens.

By the time he returned to the dining table, Old Yuan had already sorted out his state of mind and put on an official, businesslike attitude.

Song Yi had said that they did not care about those little grudges. And from her description, she indeed did not seem to have suffered the slightest loss.

In Song Yi’s words, “There’s no problem cooperating. Teacher Yuan, help us negotiate better terms. But the patent for the simulated artifact spirit is in their hands, and adjusting the artifact spirit’s personality is, at most, a matter of time. They already know the direction. They don’t have to cooperate with me, right?”

“This is them apologizing to you, and also showing goodwill. They are expressing Wanqi Sect’s respect for creativity. Wanqi Sect was able to develop to where it is today because it has its merits.”

That said, benefits that should be fought for still had to be fought for.

Fortunately, both sides were willing, so the following atmosphere was fairly harmonious.

It was just that when Song Yi was about to leave with Teacher Yuan, Chu Wen stopped her again. “What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness? I’m sincere.”

He clearly understood what Song Yi had meant earlier when she said, “It’s over.”

Song Yi thought about it. “How about you stand on the exhibition platform, in your own name, and shout three times that Cloud City is the best city and the sword Dao is the strongest Dao?”

Mm, the latter half was Song Yi sneaking in her own agenda.

She knew Chu Wen was the very proud type. Most likely, he would not agree.

It made no difference to her anyway.

Unexpectedly, Chu Wen froze for a moment, and just as Song Yi was about to say, “Don’t make things hard for yourself,” he actually ran over to Wanqi Sect’s exhibition platform.

Before long, the news spread across the Spirit Net.

“I am Chu Wen. Everyone should know who I am. I think Cloud City is the best city, and the sword Dao is the strongest Dao...”

If Chu Wen were from Cloud City, saying this would practically be drawing hatred toward Cloud City.

But he was from Spirit Capital, and he was not a sword cultivator either.

This move was way too confusing, and it made him very easy to criticize.

“Young Master Chu, blink if you’ve been kidnapped.”

“Is this guy planning to betray Spirit Capital?”

“I’m at the exhibition venue. It really is Young Master Chu himself. Apparently, he’s the researcher behind the simulated artifact spirit. Maybe the pressure’s too much... Still, I suggest inviting a better medical cultivator to take a look.”

“Cloud City? Is this some kind of preview? Like Wanqi Sect is preparing to increase its investment in Cloud City?”

“Could something good finally be about to happen to sword cultivators?”

Song Yi felt a little chill on the back of her neck. She turned to glance at Teacher Yuan and could not help suspecting that guy’s sinister intentions. Could he be trying to frame her?

She quickly went to find Teacher Yuan and blinked innocently. “Teacher, I didn’t deliberately cause trouble. I didn’t expect him to actually do it.”

Dream on if he thought he could throw dirty water on her!

Teacher Yuan was speechless. When you were causing all those things before, I didn’t see you acting this obedient and reporting every single matter.

The negotiation between the “parents” had already been completed, so the playing around between the children was not very important. Even Chu Wen’s father had no objections, so how could Teacher Yuan have any thoughts about it?

Song Yi’s innocent gaze slid backward and landed on Chu Wen’s father.

She had not expected that Chu Wen’s father would actually let Chu Wen do this kind of thing.

Chu Wen’s father said with a smile, “Everyone has to take responsibility for their own words and actions. Our cooperation is me taking responsibility for Wanqi Sect. He is the same.”

He was befriending Song Yi from the perspective of the sect. Wanqi Sect also wished they could dig a genius like this into their sect.

But he could not very well say, “This is my son, and I will give you better treatment, so you must get along with my son,” could he?

Interfering in children’s communication and friendships was something only the stupidest parents would do.

Whether they suffered losses, had conflicts, or made friends, all of these were important parts of a child’s growth.

He left Song Yi his contact information, said they could chat again when there was a chance, and then left at ease.

He still had plenty of things to be busy with.

Chu Wen had an arrogant temperament, but he was also serious about things. He was unwilling to rely only on his parent to clean up his mess. He wanted to use his own method to obtain Song Yi’s forgiveness.

So when Song Yi said that, he really went and did it. Then he rushed back excitedly, preparing to welcome everyone’s new attitude of seeing him in a whole new light. He was not someone who only relied on his dad. When he said he would do something, he did it!

But by the time he came back, the restaurant was completely empty. Never mind Song Yi and the others, even his own father had left.

Realizing that he was not that important was something that happened in a single instant.

Chu Wen, who had always enjoyed being treated like the center of attention, suddenly awakened.

The cold wind struck his face, as if it were singing a performance that no one cared to watch.

But very soon, he understood that apart from Song Yi and the others, there were still many people who cared about him. The other people in the restaurant all looked at him. “See that? That’s Young Master Chu. So young, and honestly kind of pitiful.”

“It’s not that bad, not that bad. He should still be treatable.”

“He enjoys Spirit Capital’s resources, and he still dares look down on Spirit Capital? Get me a sack ready...”

Of course, this kind of attention was not quite the same as before. Chu Wen, who had always enjoyed the feeling of being watched by everyone, could not enjoy it anymore.

The pressure on him was huge. He slunk away in disgrace, changed into a hood that could cover his face, and only then went to find Song Yi.

When Li Wenwen saw a sneaky figure following them, she turned around and reported him to the staff. That guy definitely had a problem!

Chu Wen, who had been treated like a bad guy, almost got taken away by the staff for questioning. That would have absolutely refreshed his life experience. He was so frightened that he quickly showed half his face. “It’s me!”

The little kids from Cloud Elementary circled around him. “What’s with this new look of yours? Have you finally abandoned the light and joined the dark?”

Chu Wen almost coughed blood. “I honored the agreement! But I’m afraid of getting beaten up!”

Li Wenwen and the others nearly died laughing. “So it turns out you’re afraid of getting beaten up too.”

Song Yi, meanwhile, showed an emotional expression. “You really dared...”

Chu Wen lifted his chin slightly. “Well? Do you think I’m different from what you imagined?”

“No. I’m just reflecting on how this really is a good era. Otherwise, someone like you probably wouldn’t survive one episode.”

If this were the Old Era, whether it was his initial looking down on everyone else or his current words that stirred up conflict, both carried a bit of a death-seeking flavor.

If one had strength, then naturally there would be no problem. But a genius who had not yet grown up was often a high-quality material with an extremely good cost-performance ratio.

So what if you had a background? Could you really never go outside? A fallen genius was worth nothing.

Only in this world, where there was no danger to his life, could he be this simple.

Chu Wen was not a timid person, but when he met Song Yi’s eyes, for some unknown reason, he suddenly shivered. He felt like Song Yi was looking at him as if she were looking at goods.

Li Wenwen and the others immediately laughed even louder.

Chu Wen’s face flushed all at once.

What the hell? Had he actually been scared by a little kid?

Song Yi said sincerely, “I’m not lying to you.”

The child’s eyes were clean and pure, as if everything was just Chu Wen overthinking things himself, making him even more embarrassed. He stomped his feet and said, “That’s not the point! Why did you all leave without waiting for me?”

“Huh? We weren’t traveling together in the first place. Why would we wait for you?” Song Yi thought this person was pretty strange too.

“Didn’t you say you would forgive me?”

“I forgave you. And then?” Song Yi likewise did what she said she would do. If she had not forgiven him, she would not be wasting words on him now.

Chu Wen scratched his head. He did not know what came next either. “Then does that mean we’re friends?”

“No,” everyone said in unison.

Chu Wen: “...”

“Then can I walk around the exhibition with you? I also want to learn and absorb different viewpoints and ideas.”

Song Yi said casually, “Suit yourself.”

It was not like she ran this exhibition. Could she stop Chu Wen from following them?

It was just that when Lin Ze and the others heard Chu Wen’s words, they exchanged an excited look with one another, snickering as they crowded over. “You want to learn? We can teach you.”

Song Yi still had a bit of an ancestor’s restraint. She would not tease people for no reason. But Li Wenwen and the others liked doing that!

They liked this kind of serious-minded “genius” like Chu Wen even more. And he had delivered himself to their door too, so why not play with him?

“You guys?” Chu Wen was a little hesitant.

“Tsk. Are your old habits acting up again? Are you looking down on people again? Putting aside everything else, when it comes to dealing with Song Yi, our experience is richer than yours by who knows how many times. Straighten out your attitude.”

“Exactly. Your social experience is too shallow. If we ran into something like what you did, we wouldn’t stupidly rush out and announce it to the whole world.”

Being told his “social experience was too shallow” by a group of little brats younger than him gave Chu Wen a very strange feeling.

But he really was curious about how they would handle it, so he asked, “Then what would you do?”

With this kind of thing, once curiosity arose, that basically equaled losing.

“First, call me Young Master Lin a couple times.”

“Then call me Grandma Li.”

Wang Yisheng was the most practical. “I’m thirsty.”

Chu Wen was ordered around until he was dizzy. He wanted to throw up his hands and quit, but he was so curious he could not stand it, so he decided to endure a little longer.

Lin Ze and the others were very familiar with this kind of thing. They measured his limit of patience very accurately, and before he could regret it, they timely threw out the answer.

“How much of a loss is it to do whatever other people say? Don’t you know how to bargain?”

Chu Wen thought about it, then said honestly, “I don’t.”

Li Wenwen shook her head. She wanted to pat his shoulder, discovered she could not reach it, and turned to pat his back instead. “I don’t know how to bargain either. But I know something even more powerful. If it were me, I’d hug Song Yi’s leg and cry for an hour. Not only would she forgive me, she’d even agree to be friends with me.”

She flashed a mouthful of white teeth.

Chu Wen said, “...Isn’t that just being shameless?”

“Yep. But Little Yi is a good person, and she’s afraid of trouble, so it would work.” Li Wenwen gave herself a thumbs-up. This was the ultimate move of a bratty kid.

It did not matter whether the move was cheap. As long as it worked, it was fine.

Chu Wen imagined himself hugging a little kid and crying, and instantly gave himself goosebumps. Forget it. This move would not work for him. He would rather accept other people’s criticism.

He looked toward Wang Yisheng.

Wang Yisheng smiled honestly. “I’m an honest person. My character and popularity are both very good. I never draw hatred.”

Chu Wen felt that with Wang Yisheng mixing together with this little team, what kind of honest person could he possibly be? And just now, Wang Yisheng had participated in ordering him around too, hadn’t he?

But when he thought back, the ones who had drawn the most hatred really were Lin Ze and Li Wenwen, the two kids who had tried to climb onto his head. Wang Yisheng had only had him run an errand. In comparison, that did not count for much.

Even Song Yi and the others heard that something was off. They turned back to look at Wang Yisheng. “Now that you mention it, Senior, it seems like you’ve never been criticized by Teacher Yuan?”

“Right. You’ve joined in on lots of things too, haven’t you?”

Wang Yisheng smiled the same way he always did. “What bad intentions could Senior possibly have? Senior is purely helping his juniors and taking joy in helping others.”

When there was trouble, he absolutely never went to the front line. He just handed over the knives from the side.

With Song Yi and the other bratty kids who jumped especially high as contrast, Wang Yisheng was simply the model of honesty.

Even Song Yi and the others had the impression that Wang Yisheng was an innocent person they had dragged onto the pirate ship. But now that they thought about it, that was completely wrong! Why did they have such a strange impression?

“Old Wang, you’re so sinister!”

Chu Wen silently retreated a few steps, withdrawing from the scene of internal conflict, and wiped his sweat. Were kids these days this terrifying? It seemed he had not lost unjustly.

Chu Wen felt that he could not imitate their operations. But he genuinely discovered that he was too immature.

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