about this. They could only pray for the young master to think this through.

Seated on the chair, Mrs. Jiang squinted her eyes. "I hope Shuxuan is indeed just playing around. He better turn around before its too late."

"Rest assured Mistress, the young master should be well-aware of his limits. I doubt that he would disappoint you." The butler smiled gently, evidently reflecting his confidence in Jiang Shuxuan.

This seemed to do the trick as Mrs. Jiang was able to calm herself down. Then, she realized how Jiang Shuxuan had never let her down before. Hopefully, he would do the same for this issue.

***

Gu Xiqiao was blissfully unaware about what had taken place. She was busy playing her video game, which she felt was the best way to kill her free time.

[Legend Of The River’s Lake: "The number one player, Smoke on Water has been defeated by another player, For A Millenium! What incredible news!"]

[World] Wandering Around: "Haha, I see this every time! I bet he’s still suffering from PTSD after that battle! （=^▽^=）

[World] The Cutest Waiter: "I second that! (*^ω^*)"

[World] Li Yu Is My Husband: "I third that! ╮（‵▽′）╭"

***

The defeated Smoke On Water himself didn’t think too much about it himself. At first, he found his defeat to be a hard pill to swallow but he had long grown used to such situations.

[Private Chat] Smoke On Water: "Godly Gu, do you know why Whispering Winds hasn’t been online recently?"

After the PVP math, Gu Xiqiao began scouting the area for spots where she would show Jiang Shuxuan in the future. She ended up discovering a beautiful canyon for this occasion.

The sun was shining across the azure skies here, and Gu Xiqiao noted to herself to bring Jiang Shuxuan over.

Gu Xiqiao, who was about to go offline saw Smoke On Water’s chat bubble. Wait up, why does Smoke On Water know Xiao Yun? When did the two get to know each other?

[Private Chat] For A Millenium: "She’s been busy as of late. She’ll be online more frequently after she sorts out her schedule."

[Private Chat] Smoke On Water: "Isn’t she just a student? Why’s she so busy?"

Gu Xiqiao was able to control her emotions to prevent starting unnecessary gossiping. She then answered his question sensibly.

[Private Chat] For A Millenium: "It’s hard to say. You should ask her yourself when she’s online."

[Private Chat] Smoke On Water: "Right, thanks Godly Gu."

Smoke On Water then went offline.

Again, Gu Xiqiao was about to go offline when another private message popped up in her feed.

[Private Chat] Host Of A New Generation: "Beauty Qiao! Guess who I am!"

’Fool, you’ve exposed yourself from the way you speak!’ Gu Xiqiao facepalmed.

[Private Chat] For A Millenium: "Xu Jing, you’re here too?"

[Private Chat] Host Of A New Generation: "Wu Hongwen taught me how to play this game. Back to the question, how did you know it was me?"

Gu Xiqiao proceeded to fill the chat with bullcrap.

[Private Chat] For A Millenium: "I didn’t. It’s just that I hacked into your computer seconds ago."

It took a while before Xu Jing typed out her reply.

[Private Chat] Host Of A New Generation: "Crap!"

[Private Chat] Host Of A New Generation: "I just wanted to tell you something. You know, that Sun Jiajia’s been intensifying her cajoling campaign as of late!"

Sun Jiajia’s in-game name was Autumn Beauty. Her equipment has always been subpar ever since she started playing the game but recently, not only has she suddenly received a virtual helmet, she had even gotten herself a suit of golden armor, which squeezed her up the player equipment ranking list.

[Private Chat] Host Of A New Generation: "I bet you didn’t see how high and mighty she was acting. Ah, it was hilarious! Oh and she’s publicly showing her love for that rich man’s son in the game every day!"

[Private Chat] For A Millenium: "Oh."

Gu Xiqiao then saw a player named "Autumn Beauty" riding on a crane over her head.

[Private Chat] Host Of A New Generation: "Oh? What kind of a reaction is that? Aren’t you curious? She even told me to invite you and your Master Jiang over for a meal."

[Private Chat] For A Millenium: "Very well."

Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes and looked at the couple riding on the crane. Then, one after another, the two in-game characters suddenly glitched out.

Without warning, they were smacked off the crane’s back and down they fell, pummeling towards the ground.

[Private Chat] For A Millenium: "I’m pretty sure he’s just with her ’cause of her looks. How long can you keep up the act? Tell her that the next meal’s on me!"

Wow, the beauty was angered. Xu Jing wanted to ask her more about it but to her surprise, Gu Xiqiao had already gone offline.

Come on! Xu Jing physically felt herself getting blue-balled from not being able to feed her voracious appetite for gossip. To think that Gu Xiqiao would abandon her and go offline like this...

"Wash your hands before you eat." Jiang Shuxuan was pouring the dishes out onto some plates when Gu Xiqiao came down from upstairs. She seemed to be mentally preoccupied with something as she stared listlessly at Xixi with knitted brows.

Xixi swore to the heavens that it did not mess with the girl this time!

After washing her hands, Gu Xiqiao plopped down on her seat and took a bite of the food before asking, "Brother Jiang, are you really free right now?"

"Yep, my vacation’s really long." The length of his vacation was entirely up to him anyways. "Do you have anything you would like to eat tonight?"

"Hot pot," said Gu Xiqiao with a cheeky smile.

Jiang Shuxuan glanced at her. "Do you not remember what the doctor said? Cut down on intense foods."

’Then there is nothing more to say! Goodbye!’

"We’ll wait till your wound heals okay?" Jiang Shuxuan was surprisingly compliant.

"I think it’ll heal by the end of tomorrow." Gu Xiqiao took her final bite. The ribs were delicious; they reminded her of Yu Man’s home cooking.

Jiang Shuxuan put down his bowl and went over to the coffee table to retrieve a clear medicinal paste.

"Stretch your arm out."

Gu Xiqiao wanted to tell him that she would recover even without this paste but seeing how serious he looked, she felt that it was best to remain silent.

Gently unwrapping the gauze, Jiang Shuxuan found that the two openings had healed almost completely now. At the very least, the wound had already closed up and there was only some minor bruising left around the scars. In contrast to her pale, delicate palms, the scars were alarmingly noticeable.

Without saying anything, Jiang Shuxuan opened up the paste that Zhu Yuan gave him and using a cotton swab, he gently dabbed it onto her wounds.

Zhu Yuan told him that he could start applying the paste today.

"Go up and take a rest. No games." Jiang Shuxuan re-wrapped her wounds using a fresh, sterile gauze strip.

After seeing her walk up the stairs, Jiang Shuxuan dialed Tang Qingqiu’s number with a resentful look on his face.

"Qingqiu, send me that person’s information."

Tang Qingqiu was curious as to what Jiang Shuxuan would do with said information but obviously, he wouldn’t reveal his intentions so easily. And so, he did as told, sending Jin Sitian and Mr. Tian’s information over to Jiang Shuxuan. Then, he called Zhu Yuan’s number to ask what was going on but who would’ve thought that his call would go unanswered.

What the hell was going on?

***

Gu Xiqiao took an afternoon nap on her bed. After waking up, she called Luo Wenlang to ask about had what happened last night.

"Yao Jiamu told me that Big Boss Bai has successfully hijacked the goods. The Bai family really was engaged in smuggling." Luo Wenlang’s voice sounded solemn over the phone. Although China had already issued a warning that smugglers would be heavily punished, there were still quite a lot of people engaging in the crime.

A prime example would be Big Boss Bai. Smuggling was a bad enough crime already but the thing he smuggled, which was military firearms, made the situation even worse. There was someone in the army who was collaborating with him and with the relevant departments turning a blind eye, Big Boss Bai was free to do anything that he liked.

What bothered Luo Wenlang wasn’t the fact that the Bai family were smugglers. It was what they were smuggling that bothered him. When they seized the items, he found out that they were transporting massive amounts of cocaine, a crime punishable by death in China.

Gu Xiqiao was deep in thought before finally speaking up. "If I tell you to end this battle with the Bai family, would you?"

"Huh?" This wasn’t a matter of guts. It was the Bai family, they were talking about, one of the most powerful families in the Imperial Capital. Of course he would be worried sick at the thought of bringing them down. "What should I do next?"

Luo Wenlang felt his brain starting to fail at such a critical moment.

"Take this evidence and bring it to the Public Security Bureau." Gu Xiqiao approached the window. Looking out, her lips curled into a smirk. It was time to present her little gift.

historical

***

Luo Wenlang hung up the phone. His brain started working like a well-oiled machine. Immediately, he contacted Yao Jiamu before reporting the Bai family, just as Gu Xiqiao had instructed.

The police did not start their investigation right after Luo Wenlang sent his report. Instead, they swallowed up some key pieces of evidence.

As expected, the police were as corrupt and as unreliable as always. Luo Wenlang sighed before starting with Plan B. Expose the Bai family’s crimes on the internet.

Using an official WeChat account, he posted details about the incident all over the internet before thinking closely about Gu Xiqiao’s attitude. He figured out that she wanted to let Nine Heavens rise up to fame again, by completely exposing the ruling class’ crimes in the Imperial Capital.

Although Luo Wenlang was excited about this, he was also quite worried too. After all, their opponent was the Bai family. He looked forward to seeing the "big gift" that Gu Xiqiao had mentioned; hopefully, it would turn this entire situation around in their favor.

Luo Wenlang’s prediction was more or less accurate. In an instant, the incident blew up like a bomb all over the internet. Smuggling cocaine, and at such a huge amount was no petty crime. The netizens started posting their opinions on the matter, mostly expressing their shock or anger at the Bai family.

The foodstuffs produced under the Bai family enterprise were all exempt from quality inspections. For news about them smuggling drugs to suddenly pop up out of nowhere, how could you blame these consumers for being angry about it?

Nine Heavens’ official webpage was instantaneously filled with comments saying how much they needed an ally of justice in their country. Many more urged the company to persevere and defeat the Bai family once and for all, for the sake of justice.

This incident stirred up a lot of debate, which brought Nine Heavens into the spotlight. So someone was planning to bring the fight to the Bai family? Nine Heavens’ reputation among the Imperial Capital’s ruling elites started waning. Did this company think that they were just some piece of clay to be pressed and twisted as it liked? Nine Heavens was getting way too arrogant! After bringing down the Chen family, how dare they set their sights on their own family! This truly was—

As the saying went, a newborn calf will always be fearless against a tiger!

On that very day, the Bai family made themselves clear in an interview.

"If you want to know the truth behind this incident, I believe the police, who serve the people, will soon prove that the Bai family is innocent! We, the proud Bai family, will not yield under such evil forces!"

Bai Xinran was shocked after seeing the news on TV. Her eyes were filled with terror.

’She’s finally attacked! She’s finally attacked the Bai family!’

Bai Xinran opened her mouth, wanting to tell her father to not go against Nine Heavens. And yet, the only sound she could produce was a pitiful whine. Shortly after, her mouth was gagged up by a nurse who had come to check on her!

After the interview, her father returned to his office. In the heat of the moment, he shattered his entire tea set.

"Piece of crap startup company! Where did the news even come from?! How dare they try to hit us while we’re down! I will make you guys pay for this!"