Hongcheng West District 3-6 checkpoint rest stop.
Next to the wall with the zoning map, two girls were chatting with hot coffee in their hands. The girl with short hair shook her head: "Although the relationship between the three of them is unclear, sending a white wreath on the day of their brother's engagement, hiring someone to mourn, and sending a suicide note to the groom... It's too much!"
"I heard his mother fainted from fright. It's crazy!"
"She's the young master's stepmother, so he shouldn't care, right?"
The two girls chatted and laughed together.
Xu Qingran unscrewed the bottle cap of grape juice, and under the cap were engraved the words "Can accelerate MT recovery". Just as he was about to drink it, he suddenly found a blue mark on the back of his left hand holding the bottle.
It is the size of a thumb, with curved lines that look like flowing water or flames.
"What was the result? Did Xu Qingran really uh... kill himself?"
"Who knows? The engagement party is over, and there's no update on the online gossip thread." The short-haired girl said, and then whispered, "Maybe the Xu family doesn't want to look for him. They just hope he really died outside and they can collect his body..."
The friend exclaimed: "That's not the case, is it?! The father in Young Master Xu's family is at least his biological son!"
The girl lowered her voice again, and Xu Qingran had to listen carefully to hear what she said.
"The Xu family was almost ruined before the marriage with the Qi family. Now most of their businesses are rebuilt by integrating the Qi family's original part. Although the Qi family is no longer in the upper class circle, I heard that the eldest young master's mother left a huge fortune in her name before she died."
"Before she died, she made a will, leaving all her property to the eldest son. As long as he turns 22, he can inherit it. The eldest son's father is only temporarily managing it now."
"Think about it, if you were the eldest son's father, would you be willing to return the property, including part of the industrial control?"
"Hey, you're talking about conspiracy theories. I'm getting goose bumps..."
They chatted for a while until the high-speed train was about to depart at the rest stop, and then they hurriedly finished the rest of their coffee. They threw the empty paper cups into the trash can next to the water dispenser and glanced at Xu Qingran casually as they passed by.
Then they whispered to each other excitedly: "Oh my god, so handsome!"
"I know, I know. It's also kind of sickly pretty!"
"Haha, if Young Master Xu looked like this, I wouldn't be unable to feel a little sorry for him. After all, my brother is getting engaged to his ex-boyfriend whom he loved for many years..."
The atmosphere at the rest stop became tense again as the countdown to the high-speed train departure time was announced.
The crowds of people passing by changed one after another. Xu Qingran drank his drink slowly and asked the system in his mind: "Was the original 'me' really the kind of person they said?"
It does sound crazy.
The system said, "That's not the case."
"Except for not liking his stepmother and younger brother who came in later, the original owner is a very simple and kind person. He loves his childhood sweetheart very much and does get carried away when it comes to his childhood sweetheart's affairs, but he wouldn't do something like this."
"At most, I'm just not good at expressing myself, a little bit pretentious, and cry a lot."
After hearing this, Xu Qingran felt a little disappointed.
The system didn't notice and continued, "The mess at the engagement party was staged by his brother Xu Qing'an. His purpose was to ruin the original owner's reputation and make his relatives, friends, and everyone in the Lu family have a bad impression of him."
Xu Qingran: "Isn't it good?"
"Everyone should think twice before messing with him, and the world will be peaceful."
system:"… "
Fortunately, the engagement party was over, otherwise it was afraid that its host would really go there in person to ruin the event.
It was not until the bottle was empty and the MT value on Xu Qingran's watch recovered to about 30% that he threw away the empty bottle and continued on his way 'home'.
Although it sounds like this family doesn't really welcome him back.
In the car, Xu Qingran rubbed the blue ring on the back of his hand with his fingers.
Not wiped off.
The system added a reminder: "The original owner and her childhood sweetheart were originally a couple, but it was the Green Tea brother who caused them to separate. And because of the Green Tea brother's scheme, the childhood sweetheart accidentally slept with the Green Tea on the original owner's 19th birthday! Ugh!"
He opened his folded hands and temporarily ignored the mysterious mark.
"What careless?"
Xu Qingran said, leaning back in his chair, and said nonchalantly: "After all, his childhood sweetheart just couldn't resist the temptation and couldn't control his rotten cucumber."
"A truly drunk person wouldn't be able to do that kind of thing."
The aircraft quickly restarted and rushed into the night.
·
Red City, Central District 1.
There were tall buildings everywhere, and they were built from the ground to the top. From cars to aircraft, and then to public transportation such as high-speed rail, they all had their own dedicated roads. This kind of neat and chaotic urban construction reminded him of a place called Chongqing in his previous life.
The difference is that Chongqing had to do so due to its natural terrain, while here it had to develop upwards and downwards due to technological advancement.
District 1 is mainly for living and residence, and is also the center of Hongcheng. As a wealthy family, the Xu family's villa is within the second ring road of District 1. A house for four people is easily several hundred square meters in size.
When Xu Qingran got home, the lights were still on in the house.
He unlocked the door using the palm print scanner, and when he entered, a family of three in the living room were cheering for some happy event.
"Qing'an was able to secure her marriage with Lu Cheng today without any major incidents, and she also received an admission letter from Grantis University when she returned. That is the highest institution of learning in the empire, and even if you have money you may not be able to get into Grantis University. Today is a double blessing!"
The person who spoke with an excited tone was the only woman in the family, probably Xu Qingran's stepmother. In the festive atmosphere, their faces were filled with happiness, as if they had completely forgotten that they still had a son outside, whose life or death was unknown.
So when Xu Qingran suddenly opened the door and came in, the expressions on everyone's faces froze for a moment.
Everyone has different thoughts.
The first person to react was Xu's father. He immediately performed a smile disappearing act, stood up from the sofa and angrily shouted: "Unfilial son, you still remember to go home?!"
"You...!" Father Xu's face turned red, and it was unclear whether he was angry or just mad. "You, what are you talking about! I haven't even settled the score with you for that farce this afternoon!"
The woman gave him a reproachful look, then walked to Xu Qingran's side with a warm and friendly attitude, and put her arm around him affectionately: "Qingran, your father is so angry because he is worried, don't bother with him."
"You've been missing for a whole day, how come you hurt your neck? Are you okay?"
The woman in front of him with long hair and classical clothes is the original owner's stepmother and Xu Qing'an's biological mother. In fact, what's even more shocking is that Xu Qing'an is actually the original owner's half-brother.
The system said that this stepmother was Xu's father's first love. Not long after he married the original owner's mother, he had an affair with this first love while the original owner's mother was pregnant. The birthdays of the two children are only seven or eight months apart.
After the original owner's mother died, only half a year later, Xu's father couldn't wait to marry her. Now they are even conspiring together on how to completely seize the property left by the original owner's mother.
Xu Qingran did not accept the woman's hypocritical kindness. He glanced coldly at her hand on him and said, "I don't know if I'm okay, but if you don't let go, you might be in trouble."
Xu Qingran's stepmother saw him being so cold and indifferent for the first time. She was so scared that she let go of his hand and stepped back. Xu's father listened to his words, stepped forward and pulled his wife away, and said angrily, "What are you talking about, you little bastard? Your aunt is still pregnant. What do you want to do to her?!"
Xu Qing'an, who had been silent since he entered the room, could not help but ask, "Brother, my mother is your elder no matter what, how could you say such cruel words to her?"
His voice was surprisingly gentle, even when he was angry, it was still a little soft, and most people would probably feel guilty immediately after hearing it.
This was the first time Xu Qingran looked directly at his rumored younger brother, Xu Qingan. He was quite tall, about 1.75 meters tall, with hair that was a little darker than the light brown of his body, red lips and white teeth, delicate and gentle eyebrows, and looked very sensible and steady.
Xu Qingran stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "In terms of ruthlessness, I'm probably not as good as you."
Xu Qing'an's hands hanging by his side tightened slightly, his expression grim: "What do you mean?"
He felt somewhat uneasy. After all, according to the original plan, Xu Qingran would have to suffer for several days before he was found. And now that he had returned safely, it was already a big surprise.
But he was not worried that Xu Qingran would find out the truth and expose him. Without any evidence, and with everyone having such a bad impression of him, they probably wouldn't believe his one-sided words.
As expected, Xu Qingran might also be aware of this, so he didn't say anything else, turned around and went upstairs.
The joy or anger of the people downstairs has nothing to do with him.
Originally, Xu Qingran's room was very plainly furnished and not very big.
Off-white curtains, boring blue and white checkered sheets and quilts, only the cartoon posters next to the bookcase are more vivid. Unfortunately, the colors of the posters have faded almost, and the original pictures are almost invisible.
On the wooden desk, there lay an opened letter.
Xu Qingran locked the door with his backhand before walking over to pick it up. Inside was a notice with an icon of a nebula printed on it. On the left side of the nebula was a silver-white pterosaur, and on the right side was a golden phoenix.
The few small words below are Grantis.
'Student Xu Qingran, after checking by the school, your grades are suspected of cheating.
After careful consideration, the school regrets to inform you that the admission quota originally affiliated to the medical school will be cancelled.'
Ironically, besides books, the bookshelves in the room are mostly filled with various academic trophies and certificates.
Xu Qingran considered himself a poor student because he had no chance to go to school in his previous life, but how could someone as outstanding as the original owner cheat
The system sighed and told the truth: "The original owner's childhood sweetheart is Lu Cheng. His father, Lu Wennian, is the most authoritative professor at Grantis Medical School. He doesn't like the original owner, so you know..."
"It's good that he doesn't go." Xu Qingran was relieved. "If he passes the exam, I really don't know how I can become a qualified medical student."
The system thought it made sense, and thinking of what happened downstairs just now, it asked again: "Then why didn't you just tell Father Xu and Stepmother the truth? You should let them know that Little Green Tea is not as simple as she appears to be."
"Even though they may not believe it, at least it can pave the way for you to clear your name and strike back!"
Xu Qingran did not answer. He still held the notice in his hand, his eyes fixed on the line about the cancellation of the quota and did not move.
After a long while, he asked the system: "Do you know how to make a person fall even harder?"
As he spoke, he stuffed the notice back.
"Wait until he slowly climbs to the highest point, then kick him down."
"That's what hurts the most."
After saying that, he threw the notice and the envelope into the trash can.
The system honestly stopped asking questions.
Xu Qingran opened the closet, changed his clothes casually, and collapsed on the bed. The short day made him exhausted, especially the consumption of mental energy, which dropped to a low point after he brought the aircraft to the meeting.
That’s it for today, he thought to himself, we can deal with other things tomorrow.
When I woke up the next day, I had a high fever and the temperature on my watch almost jumped to a scary 40 degrees.
"… It's like this. The original owner's spiritual pool is the lowest level in this world, very shallow. Yesterday was the first day the host crossed over. As a preliminary reward and assistance, the system will automatically help the host adjust the level of the spiritual pool after the host's first night of sleep. Every upgrade of the spiritual pool will be accompanied by symptoms such as low-grade fever. Just get through it and it will be fine."
Xu Qingran lay on the bed, his head heavy: "So what level have I been promoted from now?"
The system said in a low voice: "It's just... from the lowest F to the B level which is barely enough to enter the military academy."
Xu Qingran didn't want to bother with his system for the time being.
He lay in bed for a long time, hoping to ease the situation by resting, but it became worse and worse, and his watch began to sound an alarm. Helplessly, he could only try to get out of bed and listen to the system's advice to go to the hospital.
As soon as he reached the staircase and hadn't gone downstairs yet, he heard a warm conversation between a family of three downstairs. There was also the sound of the door opening, and it sounded like Xu Qing'an was also getting ready to go out.
Father Xu's slightly rough voice sounded: "Qing'an, are you going to the hospital to see Professor Lu?"
(End of this chapter)