Admiring a Beauty, Chased by Another
Towards Wan Tianhui who could readily and steadfastly abandon all sense of shame for his daughter, Li Mo Shang could think of no effective verbal countermeasure. Facing the old man and feeling his blood pressure rise, anger flying towards his head, Li Mo Shang grit his teeth and flashed a cold look at Wan Xue before standing. Grabbing his coat, he prepared to head for the exit, not willing to tarry a moment more.
"Mr. Wan, if preposterous proposals continued to be issued, then I see no reason to continue this pointless banter. My previous offer still remains if you desire to complete the agreement."
With a speed unbelievable for someone so elderly, Wan Tianhui latched onto Li Mo Shang's lapel, forcing him to stop. Right before Li Mo Shang could scowl in displeasure, the elderly man surpassing the age of fifty burst into tears, bawling like a newborn infant.
"You…bullying this old man like this…there's no way our family can uphold such a deal! Wuwu...Heartless! Truly the image of cold-blooded and leeches of capitalists and aristocrats!"
Li Mo Shang raised an eyebrow towards Wan Xue, who could only hide her head in shame. Cursing at her father who dedicated himself to shaming and throwing away his face as a member of the elderly generation, Wan Xue only wanted to find a hole to jump into. If she could, she didn't want to associate herself with this shameless old man. Bawling like a baby, where did the fifty-seven- year old nationally-prided researcher flee to!?
Gawking for a moment, it took a while for Li Mo Shang to significantly calm down, enough reason returning to his mind. Taking advantage of the temporary clarity to dispel the unconsciously accumulated spiritual qi in his arms, Li Mo Shang displaced Wan Tianhui's iron claws from his clothes, before sitting down once more. This time, he did not hesitate to display the coldest look he could muster, forgoing any societal convention and etiquette protocol he had been taught since childhood.
"Then, old man, what exactly do you want!? This is no fairytale or mental fantasy, nothing will result in the desired outcome without the necessary sacrifice!"
Wan Tianhui ceased his mindless crying before glancing pitifully at Li Mo Shang. In his heart, he began to slightly gloat, praising himself for perfectly employing the emotional card. Look, wasn't that iron-hearted young man sitting down once more?
If he gave his best and sacrificed every modicum of shame in accumulating emotional appeal, wouldn't the Wan Family secure the Yin Restoration Pill with a more acceptable, perhaps even cheap deal? Allowing greed to breed within his heart, Wan Tianhui rubbed his palms together, adopting a pathetic expression as he glanced tearfully at Li Mo Shang.
"Young man, shouldn't we have a nice talk about this? I mean, if you weren't going to give it to Xue'er, why did you buy the Yin Restoration Pill at such an exorbitant price? Surely you could ask your family for some…"
"I had some spare money rolling around. Deciding to buy my family's product isn't necessarily a waste either, for the decrease in supply engenders competition."
Hearing Li Mo Shang's curt and chilly reply, both Wan Xue and Wan Tianhui couldn't help but feel a surge of fishy, sweet warmth blaze towards their throats in exasperation. Three hundred and seventy billion was mere "spare money"?
Although the Li Family may truly possess such assets with their monopolization over legendary medicinal pills, did he have to brag like that to a family whose net worth couldn't even equate to a third of Li Mo Shang's "spare money"?
"Young man, it's truly impossible for our family to gather such wealth! No bother hiding information from you, our total net worth if liquidating every physical and intellectual asset in our possession cannot even reach two hundred billion. Must you hound such a heavy burden onto us? Our family truly cannot withstand such a debt, ah!"
"Then this deal is over! Goodbye!"
Li Mo Shang made a standing motion, immediately causing the elderly to panic, his arms outstretched towards Li Mo Shang's lapel once more. Dodging those unreasonable iron claws, Li Mo Shang quickly strode towards the door, glancing at his terminal. Upon realizing that afternoon lectures were about to begin, Li Mo Shang threw his gaze onto the father-daughter pair, leaving with a final sentence.
"Sigh, let us do it this way. Three stalks of the Nine Breaths herb, the main ingredient of the Yin Restoration Pill since harvest season is quickly approaching. The Wan Family may not call on any external help, and the three stalks will be exchanged with a pure Yin Restoration Pill."
"Young man, wai-"
The soft clicking of the door's closing mechanism responded to Wan Tianhui's cry, causing him to gaze at the floor in dejection. Soon after, his eyes burned with a strong hope, his hand quickly grasping towards the terminal tucked in his pocket.
-
Stepping out of the visitation room, Li Mo Shang heaved a huge sigh of relief, gently massaging his temples. Throwing out the alternate offer of three stalks of the Nine Breaths herb was something he had thought of at the last minute in a final effort of ditching the old man. Who knew if he would actually attempt at completing the deal?
The Nine Breaths herb could only be found in the extreme regions of Blue Flame World, though it was commonplace. In every region where natural disasters frequently roamed, the herb could be found in the heart of the disaster, requiring skill and courage to even approach the heavily guarded herb. Approaching took courage and luck, but actually obtaining the herb required heaven-defying determination.
The Nine Breaths herb bloomed in a unique form, for it had no developmental phase, achieving instant maturity. Nine days before the middle of each season, the Nine Breaths would achieve maturity, its fragrant leaves protruding from the stem and arousing a natural phenomenon.
Once the middle of the season had fallen, the herb would instantly wilt without a trace, and seeds could not be harvested, for they decayed the instant they were extracted from the ground. Each cluster of Nine Breaths grew within a rough, spherical cavity surpassing fifty meters in radius.
The moment human presence breached the cave, they merely had nine breaths of time to grasp the stalk. As no special technique was required to obtain the herb, all one needed was heaven-defying courage to continue rushing forward without hesitation into the deadliest regions of the natural phenomenon.
As the Nine Breaths entailed tremendous danger in its acquirement, it posed equally miraculous effects. The Nine Breaths herb's appearance was a common green stalk with nine leaves surrounding a protruding bulb.
Each leaf was of a different color, and possessed a distinctive unique effect upon consumption. In fact, all of the Li Family's exclusive and most precious medicinal pills and herbal supplements were obtained from diluting the effects of the Nine Breaths herb!
Jiang Lanying's masterpiece concoction, the Nine Yin Restoration Pill, was created from heavily diluting the effects of dipping the pink-colored leaf into a basin of water. A single drop had been refined to produce hundreds of the pill, and the Nine Breaths did not expire after extraction; other than the initial trials of experimentation and devising a standard of production, the Li Family had amassed over hundreds of Nine Breaths in their collection. Not even Li Shao Qing, the Family Patriarch, dared to grind a leaf into powder in forming a medicine, from fear of the medicine's potential effects overwhelming the human body.
With the thought of exchanging a measly Yin Restoration Pill for an infinite supply of medicines far more precious in value from the three stalks of Nine Breaths, Li Mo Shang felt a slight sense of elation as he quickly headed for the fourth floor of the administrative building. He wanted to obtain a pass for the advanced research institutes and archives beyond the general studies library.
-
When Li Mo Shang strode out of the administrative building, it was just an hour before dinnertime. Applying for a study card took far longer amounts of time, and the application process was more complex than Li Mo Shang had anticipated.
Just like how he had received his dormitory card, the entire application process was conducted before a holographic display. However, he was indeed flabbergasted at the sheer volume of required information for the study card's application.
Having expected to input basic identification information, Li Mo Shang was not prepared for a slew of questions regarding his academical habits, social life, family's occupations, and an essay on how committed he would be towards studying. The required information he had provided without delay, but it had adhered to the format Li Yuan had advised him to input into public domains.
The essay had him scratching his head in confusion at pondering on worthlessness of such a question, deeming it a waste of time. Even after completing the application, there was no card ejected from the black crystal surface, only a message informing him that his application was received.
Disgruntled, Li Mo Shang could only leave the administrative building dejected, unaware that his every movement since entering had been recorded by an unknown entity.
Passing by the freshman cafeteria, a sudden commotion came to Li Mo Shang's attention. Directing his gaze towards the source of the noise, he discovered an angry Su Yuan'er screaming at a senior student. Her clothes were slightly disheveled, and she seemed to be on the brink of tears as she fiercely shouted at the male.
"Senior Tie, how could you be so cruel!? Asking someone out is one matter, but going so far as to constantly harass them each day isn't moral and ethical! Actually attempting to drug and molest someone for refusing to acquiesce, just how shameless and immoral can you be!?"
The male student smirked before attempting to grab Su Yuan'er's right arm. Watching her flee backwards in fear, he leered at her disturbed clothing as if attempting to bore holes with his eyes. Face reddening at the male's lecherous and predatorial eyes, Su Yuan'er's gaze darted around, leafing through the spectating students until she spotted Li Mo Shang's outline. Locking onto his figure as she continued to flee from Senior Tie, she desperately attempted to signal him with her eyes, hoping he would lend assistance.
As Li Mo Shang gazed at Su Yuan'er dodge Senior Tie's outstretched hands over and over, his mind could not help but dart back towards his earlier outburst against Wan Tianhui. With the sudden thought that he could obtain a small profit and a potential ward against the shameless elder from the Wan Family, Li Mo Shang engaged the
Relishing in the curious gazes of the spectators, Senior Tie who had cornered Su Yuan'er's back to the cafeteria's wall extended his wolfish claws to their limit, fully prepared to properly "prune" the delicate flower before him. Before he could move any closer, a sudden force impacted his stomach, sending him careening towards the ground with great velocity.
Thud!
With a loud smack of flesh impacting stone, Senior Tie heavily collided with the cobbled stone pathway, leaving a long skid mark on the freshly cut grass. Standing with difficulty, a large bloodstain remained on the ground, with blood trickling from the back of his head. As Senior Tie's body swayed from the light concussion, he roared unsteadily as his rage soared towards the peak.
"Who dares strike this Young Master, see to it that I demolish your family in Blue Rose City!? Stand out and beg for mercy, and perhaps I can…eh? It's you!?"
As his vision finally abated its chaotic spell during his passionate rant, Senior Tie's vision relayed to him a perfect portrait of Li Mo Shang's figure. As confusion cleared away, raw terror began to settle, his knees buckling.
His body swaying even more violently, Senior Tie was about to profess his innocence when a delicate, soft voice interrupted the awkward atmosphere. Hearing the voice, Li Mo Shang's eyebrows shot towards the sky in surprise, and within Su Yuan'er's eyes, radiated a great hatred for the shortest moment.
"Oh? Seeing you here, what a fantastic surprise!"