Author Archives: sandy

Translator has something to say: I’m switching the style of novels I translate and chose this very chill novel. It’s all about food and business management. There is NO DRAMA, ANGSTS, or very much going on. Don’t expect much romance either. Just FYI. Other then that, hope you enjoy 😊

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Hand-Pulled Noodles in Clear Broth

His last memory was of falling off a cliff due to the old and unstable sightseeing path.

The next second, when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a new room with red candles flickering.

Qin Xia frowned, his mind going blank for a moment.

Who am I? Where am I?

It wasn’t until a flood of unfamiliar memories rushed into his mind that he blinked and realized—

He had transmigrated into a book.

And not just any book, but the historical online novel he had been reading to pass the time during his vacation.

The plot wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t particularly good either.

Throughout the entire novel, the only character that left a lasting impression on Qin Xia was the antagonist—Yu Jiuque.

Yu Jiuque was a textbook villain eunuch.

He controlled the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Eastern Depot, wielding immense power. Later, he supported a new emperor’s ascension and became the most powerful figure in the empire, second only to the emperor.

In private, he was known for corruption, selling official titles, and merciless killings. His reputation was notorious.

The novel mostly followed the original protagonist, who was the puppet emperor Yu Jiuque had supported, as he fought a battle of wits and courage against Yu Jiuque, eventually bringing him to justice and executing him.

The reason Qin Xia remembered this character so clearly was that, in addition to being a eunuch, Yu Jiuque was also a “ge’er.”

Ge’er, also known as shuang’er, could be understood as a type of man who could bear children. They were generally smaller in stature, with delicate features, and while they had male characteristics, they were not fully functional.

In the Da Yong Dynasty, eunuchs held great power, and many of the inner court officials were ge’er.

Even though the inner court was mostly populated by ge’er, historically, the eunuchs who rose to prominence were all men who had been completely castrated. The ge’er often ended up as playthings for these powerful eunuchs.

If they were palace maids, they could at least be considered legitimate “companions,” but ge’er were nothing, and their status was extremely low.

In the palace, they were the slaves who did the dirtiest and hardest work.

In the civilian world, they were seen as worthless, unable to support a household or easily bear children, and incapable of carrying on the family line.

That Yu Jiuque could rise to such power, becoming the most feared figure in the empire, spoke to his ambition and cunning.

During his time in power, he even implemented some forward-thinking policies.

But his cruelty was undeniable.

As for how a poor ge’er, forced into the palace, became the ruthless power-hungry figure he was later, the novel did provide an explanation.

There was an incident where Yu Jiuque was ordered to leave the capital on a mission but was ambushed by rivals within the palace.

He barely managed to fake his death and escape, only to be injured and lose his memory, falling into the hands of a human trafficker.

The trafficker didn’t know his identity and sold him as a regular ge’er at a low price to a rogue bachelor in Pingyuan County, Qin’an.

Not only did he lose his dignity, but he was also often beaten and starved by the rogue when he got drunk. During this time, Yu Jiuque gradually turned to the dark side.

One dark night, Yu Jiuque couldn’t take it anymore and stabbed the rogue to death in a fit of rage.

It seemed that the extreme shock triggered the return of his memories.

He then lay low for several months, before returning to the capital and starting his ruthless climb to power.

And the character Qin Xia had transmigrated into was that rogue in Qin’an County.

By his calculations, he had about three months left before he would be found dead on his bed and buried in the backyard vegetable patch.

Realizing what his fate was, Qin Xia snapped out of his daze, suddenly feeling wide awake!

He instinctively backed away to the edge of the bed and couldn’t help but give the future Director a reminder, who at that moment was still an amnesiac and pitiful:

“Um, you should put your clothes on properly so you don’t catch a cold.”

Yu Jiuque glanced down at his disheveled clothes, puzzled by Qin Xia’s sudden change of heart, but quickly tightened his collar and re-tied his sash.

What followed was a long silence between them.

Qin Xia furrowed his brow, thinking quickly.

As someone who had read many transmigration novels, he knew there was no way back.

The original character was likely dead, unable to return, and Qin Xia couldn’t go back either.

The timing of his arrival was fortunate, and it wasn’t too late to avoid disaster.

The best course of action would be to send Yu Jiuque away, ensuring they never crossed paths again.

Then he could live a peaceful life as “Qin Xia” in this era—eating, drinking, and enjoying a second chance at life. What could be better?

But first, he needed to get through tonight.

It was late, cold outside, and he couldn’t just throw Yu Jiuque out of the house.

As Qin Xia was stressing over how to handle Yu Jiuque, he happened to hear the small ge’er’s stomach growl loudly.

He looked up and saw Yu Jiuque, embarrassed, holding his stomach and shrinking back into the corner of the bed.

Qin Xia thought back to the original character’s memories and suddenly understood.

During the original wedding feast, the protagonist was too busy drinking with his group of cronies to even remember to bring a bowl of hot water to Yu Jiuque.

Before the “wedding night,” Yu Jiuque sat alone in the room, under his wedding veil, for several hours.

No wonder he was so hungry that his stomach was growling.

In his previous life, Qin Xia had been a food lover and an award-winning top chef, and he couldn’t stand the thought of anyone going hungry.

Even so, having your stomach rumble in front of someone is quite embarrassing.

Qin Xia cleared his throat and asked knowingly, “Are you hungry? I was thinking of making some noodles. Do you want to eat with me?”

Who, with an empty stomach, wouldn’t want a bowl of hot soup noodles on a winter’s night?

Yu Jiuque thought it over and finally nodded slowly.

Qin Xia put on his cotton coat and left the room.

Little did he know that after he left, Yu Jiuque watched his back with a thoughtful expression.

As Qin Xia walked the few steps from the main hall to the kitchen, only one word came to mind: Cold!

A cotton coat was no match for the warmth of a down jacket, and the wind cut right through it.

Fortunately, the stove in the kitchen was connected to the heated bed in the house, leaving some residual warmth.

Qin Xia used the stove fire to light half a candle and held it up to take a look around the kitchen.

Relying on the original owner’s memories, he bypassed the empty rice jar, which even the mice seemed to avoid, and opened the old wooden cabinet against the wall.

There were some grains left, but the amount was pitiful.

All that remained were about one bowl of white flour, half a bag of mixed flour, a few eggs, and some dried vegetables. The only things resembling fresh produce were an old garlic braid hanging on the wall and a bundle of dried cabbage in the cabinet.

Qin Xia examined the dried vegetables carefully in the candlelight and identified them as dried napa cabbage.

To be honest, this little bit of food was just enough to make two bowls of clear soup noodles.

Qin Xia shook his head helplessly, found a spot to set the candle down, and immediately got to work.

With the low temperature, the dough would ferment slowly, so it wouldn’t turn sour even if left overnight.

Qin Xia considered the available ingredients and decided to use all the white flour to make noodles, enough for two adults to eat. He also set aside some of the mixed flour to prepare for making a few pancakes for breakfast the next morning.

After making these decisions, Qin Xia went to the water jar in the yard, brought a bucket of water into the kitchen, and washed and soaked the dried vegetables.

The water they used came from a well, and he ladled a bit with a gourd to taste. The chill made his teeth ache, but it had a slight sweetness with no bitterness, indicating that it was good water.

However, since it was raw water, he didn’t drink more.

Qin Xia added salt and an appropriate amount of water to the flour, kneaded it into a smooth dough, covered it with a clean cloth, and set it aside to rest.

He then stoked the stove fire, filled the large iron pot with water, and planned to boil extra hot water for later use.

While waiting for the water to boil, he didn’t sit idle.

The original owner, a bachelor who only occasionally cooked a bowl of dough lumps, could hardly be expected to keep the kitchen clean.

Qin Xia couldn’t stand the mess, so he grabbed a rag and started cleaning thoroughly.

When the water boiled, he used it to scrub the large iron pot clean and sterilized all the bowls, chopsticks, and utensils he could find.

After tidying up the kitchen to a spotless state, Qin Xia, having exerted himself, was even hungrier.

He eagerly checked the dough and found it ready, so he took it out and placed it on a flour-dusted board.

The rolling pin, still warm from the hot water, rolled the dough into a thin sheet. He folded it, and with a swift motion, sliced it into even strips. With a shake, the fresh hand-rolled noodles were ready.

Good noodles need a good broth, and without any meat, that task fell to the eggs.

Qin Xia continued to stoke the fire, dried the pot, added the remaining vegetable oil, and cracked two eggs into the sizzling oil. He fried them until both sides were golden, then added water and brought it to a boil. The broth turned a beautiful milky white, with a layer of golden oil on top, creating a simple yet flavorful “rich broth.”

The noodles were added to the pot, and as they cooked in the boiling water, Qin Xia tossed in the rehydrated dried cabbage.

The shriveled napa cabbage soaked up the broth, becoming tender and full of flavor. The once-cold kitchen was now filled with the warm and inviting aroma of food.

This scent didn’t just linger in the small kitchen; it wafted through the small courtyard, slipping through the cracks in the doors and windows into the main house.

Yu Jiuque’s stomach growled again, and he quietly swallowed, his fingers tightening around his clothes.

With no memory, injuries, and illness, he had been treated like livestock, inspected and sold off at the brokers’ market. He hadn’t had a proper meal in days.

Even though Qin Xia, who had reeked of alcohol and tried to tear off his clothes on the bed, had suddenly sobered up and become polite, even offering to cook noodles, Yu Jiuque still didn’t fully trust him.

After all, he was just a husband bought for five taels of silver, his contract of sale held in Qin Xia’s hands. He had no right to consider himself an equal.

Yu Jiuque’s eyes dimmed.

When Qin Xia entered the room with two bowls of noodles, he found Yu Jiuque still sitting in the same position as when he had left, curled up in the corner of the bed, trying to make himself as small as possible.

Thinking of what the original story had in store for Yu Jiuque tonight, Qin Xia couldn’t help but feel a little regretful.

Everything has consequences; he could only hope that by removing the cause of evil, he could avoid reaping the bitter fruit in the future.

“Ah Jiu, come help me close the door. It’s freezing, and we don’t want to lose the bit of warmth we’ve got.”

Qin Xia deliberately broke the awkward silence, speaking to Yu Jiuque as if they were already familiar.

“Ah Jiu” was a name casually given by the broker, coincidentally matching Yu Jiuque’s real name. Knowing the backstory, Qin Xia found it easy to call him that.

Yu Jiuque was startled at first, but when he saw that Qin Xia had indeed brought two bowls of noodles, his heart skipped a beat.

He obediently got up to close the door, shivering as the cold wind hit him.

When he turned back, Qin Xia had already set the bowls of hot noodles on the table and was motioning for him to come over. “What are you waiting for? Come eat while it’s hot.”

*Spit! You Crooked Merchant

Li Tiezhu’s Anger Value +200

The cocky troublemaker was suddenly dumbfounded. Rong Ziyin’s response was completely different from the script they had planned. He knew that the animal husbandry station charged for vaccinations, but wasn’t Rong Ziyin’s fee a bit too steep? He barely made three hundred yuan from selling a stolen battery—why would he spend 1,700 yuan on a sick duck when he could just buy a whole flock with that money?

*Spit! This crook.

Anger Value +200

Li Tiezhu, who had come to cause trouble for Rong Ziyin, was genuinely getting angry himself, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

But Rong Ziyin calmly asked, “Are you unwilling to pay? According to the rules of the animal husbandry station, we can’t provide treatment without payment.”

“It’s not about that! Your prices are ridiculous! This duck isn’t even worth 1,700 yuan,” Li Tiezhu fumed, almost jumping up and down in frustration.

Rong Ziyin remained unbothered. “How can that be? Our prices are clearly listed!”

“Let me ask you, how many ducks do you have?”

Li Tiezhu instinctively followed Rong Ziyin’s lead, replying, “One.”

“Oh, so it’s a pet.” As he spoke, Rong Ziyin pulled out an invoice to prove that the 1,700 yuan was indeed a reasonable charge.

Biochemical blood test: 260 yuan.

CT scan: 120 yuan.

Duck plague screening: 80 yuan.

…

The list went on, with more than twenty items in total.

Confusion Value +1,000

Why did vaccinating a duck require so many tests and procedures?

Li Tiezhu was completely baffled as he stared at the invoice. The village’s animal husbandry station had been known for its low fees. Even if there were a lot of procedures, a castration for a pig only cost five yuan! What were all these charges?

Was Rong Ziyin really not just taking advantage of his ignorance?

What infuriated the troublemaker the most was that even the cost of the equipment was included in the invoice. A regular syringe was listed at 10 yuan.

Ten yuan!

He wasn’t stupid—those syringes were one yuan for two at the pharmacy, and Rong Ziyin had marked them up tenfold! This was daylight robbery!

“Does your boss know you’re charging these prices?” Li Tiezhu shot back.

Rong Ziyin calmly replied, “Yes! It’s government-mandated.”

As he spoke, Rong Ziyin opened the computer system and showed Li Tiezhu the clearly listed prices, which were indeed accurate.

Embarrassment Value +300

Rong Ziyin: “Are you going to get the shot or not?”

Li Tiezhu swallowed hard, finally mustering up a retort, “Do you really think the other duck farmers in the village can afford these prices?”

Rong Ziyin replied, “They’re not like you. They get subsidies.”

Li Tiezhu protested, “Then why don’t I get a subsidy?”

Rong Ziyin responded, “Muscovy ducks can be considered pets. Yours doesn’t qualify for a subsidy.”

Seeing this, Li Tiezhu was about to cause a scene.

But Rong Ziyin cut him off with one sentence: “You got this duck from Xiaowang Village, didn’t you?”

Li Tiezhu: “???”

Rong Ziyin continued, “Did you know their village’s ducks are sick?”

“Do you think the duck in your hands is sick or not?”

How the hell would I know? I’m not a vet! Li Tiezhu’s anger shot up by 400 points. He thought Rong Ziyin must be out of his mind.

But Rong Ziyin nodded to himself and concluded, “Oh, so you do know it’s sick, and you did it on purpose.”

Wait! How did he arrive at that conclusion? Li Tiezhu felt that things were taking a turn for the worse.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door of Rong Ziyin’s office at the animal husbandry station. Li Tiezhu turned around and saw the village chief walk in.

??? Why was the village chief here? With a guilty conscience, Li Tiezhu’s first instinct was to run, but Rong Ziyin grabbed him by the collar.

“Let go, I’ve got things to do,” Li Tiezhu protested.

“Sorry, but I’ve got something to discuss with you too,” Rong Ziyin said politely, despite his firm grip. Li Tiezhu struggled to get free, but couldn’t, and eventually, Rong Ziyin handed him over to the village chief.

“It’s this guy. He brought a sick duck back on purpose to harm the village’s ducks,” Rong Ziyin explained to the village chief.

“What the hell! I didn’t, I’m not, you’ve got it all wrong!” Li Tiezhu tried to explain, but the evidence was right there, and Rong Ziyin’s certainty left him with no argument.

“What? Is that really what happened?” The village chief, alarmed by Rong Ziyin’s explanation, grabbed Li Tiezhu to interrogate him further.

“No, no! Village Chief, listen to me, this duck is alive and well. How can you prove it’s sick?”

As if to prove the troublemaker’s words, the duck flapped its wings, showing off its vitality.

However, Rong Ziyin firmly pressed down on the duck’s back, pinning it to the ground.

“Whoa, do I even have any dignity left?!” The duck’s thoughts seemed to flash in its mind, providing Rong Ziyin with 700 anger points as it turned its head, trying to peck at him. But as soon as Rong Ziyin released his grip, he immediately caught the duck by the neck.

Having its fate literally in Rong Ziyin’s hands, the duck promptly provided another 1,000 anger points. Despite this, it continued to struggle and squawk. Finally, Rong Ziyin grabbed a rope from the room and skillfully tied the duck up before flipping it over to start his examination.

“Hey, Dr. Rong, what are you looking for, fleas?” The village chief asked, confused.

“No, I’m looking for evidence,” Rong Ziyin explained as he worked.

He was searching for needle marks on the duck’s body.

Administering injections to poultry is different from other animals, and needle marks are usually easy to find. For any disease causing widespread systemic damage, subcutaneous injections are typically given in one of three places: the neck, chest, or leg.

Rong Ziyin had noticed when the duck was first brought in that it seemed unwell, likely having been given a steroid to make it more energetic. If Rong Ziyin were less experienced and had simply vaccinated the duck, it would have died by the next day. Li Tiezhu would then use this as an excuse to cause trouble.

The village chief listened intently, and Rong Ziyin soon found the needle marks.

With the evidence clear, Li Tiezhu had no choice but to confess the truth and also revealed that his cousin Wang Dazhuang had put him up to it.

“You ungrateful little bastard!” the village chief shouted, furious, and kicked him hard. The village had just dealt with the sick ducks, and now Wang Dazhuang from the neighboring village had sent a diseased duck their way. It was a clear sign of ill intent.

“This is just great! Wang Dazhuang isn’t just holding a grudge against Dr. Rong; he’s got it out for our whole village!”

The village chief, a clever man, decided not to make a big scene like last time. Instead, he took Li Tiezhu straight to the village women’s federation.

“Why is he going to the women’s federation?” The system didn’t understand.

But Rong Ziyin didn’t seem concerned. His attention was still focused on the Muscovy duck that was now struggling in its bonds.

“Is there something wrong with it?” the system asked.

“Yes. I think it might have another issue,” Rong Ziyin replied, expertly checking the duck’s eyes and taking samples of its secretions. After examining several other areas, he reached a startling conclusion: the duck had duck plague!

Like duck tuberculosis, duck plague is a highly contagious disease. Fortunately, while hybrid ducks are susceptible to duck plague, the Beijing ducks raised in the village are not as easily affected. So, this particular Muscovy duck’s arrival shouldn’t cause too much damage to the village.

However, they couldn’t afford to be careless. Any disease labeled as a plague could spread. Rong Ziyin was now sure that the poultry in the neighboring village of Xiaowang was likely in a critical situation.

System: Then you should quickly notify them!

Rong Ziyin: I’ll wait for the lab results first.

The more serious the situation, the more careful he had to be. As soon as the results were in, Rong Ziyin called the village chief, but there was no answer at the village committee office. He had no choice but to find someone in the village to get the chief’s mobile number and call him directly.

The phone rang for a long time before it was finally answered.

“Hello?” The village chief’s voice was chaotic, with what sounded like crying in the background.

But as soon as Rong Ziyin uttered the words “duck plague,” there was a sudden silence on the other end.

At the same time, the system kept notifying Rong Ziyin that Wang Dazhuang, the veterinarian from Xiaowang Village, had provided 3,000 despair points.

“Dr. Rong, this is serious. Could you come to the county right away?” the village chief asked, his tone grave.

“Of course.” Sensing the urgency in the village chief’s voice, Rong Ziyin quickly agreed, packed up his things, and headed to the county.

Along the way, he received various emotion points from different people—nervousness, despair, and even resistance from the struggling duck in his hands.

The duck was remarkably stubborn, providing Rong Ziyin with three to four thousand points of gold along the journey. But despite this, Rong Ziyin found the constant squawking quite annoying.

System: My mind is full of ducks right now.

Rong Ziyin sympathized with the system’s feelings. Realizing there was still an hour’s journey left to the county, and with the duck’s incessant noise grating on his nerves, he decided to do a single draw from the lottery.

System: What’s the point of that?

Rong Ziyin: It’s a way to break an egg and set an example.

System: …

Threatening a duck with its own kind—this was indeed a unique approach. Although the duck wasn’t human, Rong Ziyin’s method was truly devious!

The system began to question its life decisions, but what shocked both it and Rong Ziyin was that, instead of the expected unlucky result of a salted duck egg, or even a salted fish, a different shiny silver item appeared in Rong Ziyin’s system space.

Even more astonishing, the item had a faint blue glow—an R-rated rarity.

System: Whoa! You actually got something?!

For Rong Ziyin, pulling an R-rated item was indeed a big deal.

He checked the item details.

Item Details: Frozen Belt Fish—rock hard, fishy, and icy cold. A fisherman’s father’s treasured possession over the years, this belt fish induces deep shame in anyone who has experienced its “love education” for their mistakes. Unique, non-stackable.

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝

Give Me a Lever, and I Can Move the World

Zhang Dagou felt a lump in his throat, unable to speak for a long time. Meanwhile, more and more people gathered around, drawn by the smell.

It wouldn’t have been a big deal if someone else had grumbled a bit, but Zhang Dagou was the first to rush to the stall. If he didn’t react, it would be quite embarrassing.

But cursing…with a dozen dead fish eyes staring at him, Zhang Dagou couldn’t bring himself to do it. He even felt a strange sense of shame, as if he and these salted fish were gazing at the same starry sky.

After a long and complicated mental struggle, Zhang Dagou finally chose the hard path of fighting fire with fire.

“I’ll take a plate of salted fish.”

“Sure, sure.” The husband running the stall quickly snapped out of it and handed him a plate of salted fish, a salted duck egg, and a bowl of millet porridge.

Zhang Dagou took the tray to a nearby table and started eating.

He attacked the fried salted fish with the intention of biting it to death. But as soon as he bit down, he heard a crisp “crack”—the sound of the crispy, fried exterior. Then came the salty flavor of the fish.

Compared to fresh fish, the salted fish was drier, but it wasn’t tasteless. Instead, it had a unique chewiness, with a slight resistance to the bite.

It was like the life of a worker who spends 365 days a year playing the submissive role in the workplace. They disguise their inner wildness with a harmless exterior, but after a long time, the grueling 996 work schedule makes even rest a luxury. The stress accumulated over time makes them long to lie in bed like a salted fish, hoping to sleep forever. After all, anything is possible in dreams.

As for those hidden ambitions, even if they still exist, they can’t—or won’t—be revealed. Only in the candid moments after a few drinks with close friends can a bit of that wildness slip out.

Zhang Dagou suddenly found the delicious taste in his mouth to be rather bittersweet. But when he looked back at those dead fish eyes staring at him, he felt encouraged.

If even a salted fish can gaze at the stars, how could he, a living person, fare worse? At worst, he could end up like this fish—dried out, tossed into a frying pan, and served on a plate. But what if he won?

If he won, he could soar in the vast sky!

With that thought, Zhang Dagou felt a renewed sense of determination. He couldn’t wait to start his new job and embark on another round of hard work.

But before that, he called out, “Boss! Do you have any more salted fish? I want to take two home!”

“Yes.” The wife, seeing Zhang Dagou’s reaction, knew the salted fish would sell well. She felt completely relieved and quickly packed two salted fish in a plastic bag for him.

“Brother, is it really that good?” someone nearby asked curiously.

Zhang Dagou nodded seriously, holding the fish. “Eating it can purify your soul.”

“…” The person thought Zhang Dagou might be crazy.

Regardless, Zhang Dagou’s bold move intrigued others. After all, if salted fish had such a strong smell, it must be delicious, right?

Curiosity got the better of some. Soon after, another person ordered a plate of salted fish.

This time, they didn’t even sit down but tasted it right there, instantly impressed.

“Holy crap! This is amazing! Boss, pack another one for me to take home.”

Rong Ziyin only gave fifteen salted fish, and with just two customers, nearly half were gone. Clearly, those who didn’t buy soon might miss out.

So, the rest of the curious customers quickly decided to stop waiting. In no time, all fifteen salted fish were sold out, along with the salted duck eggs. Latecomers, who didn’t want to leave empty-handed, simply bought whatever other breakfast items were left.

By ten in the morning, the couple finally returned from the town. Business had been so good that they came back later than usual. Thanks to the salted fish and salted duck eggs, all their breakfast items were sold out—not a crumb of rice left.

But because of this, the couple felt a bit anxious. They were worried that Rong Ziyin might not be able to supply enough in the future.

“Should we go see Dr. Rong? Let’s give him the money we made from selling the salted fish,” the wife suggested, urging her husband to ask.

The husband nodded in agreement. “Let’s change into something clean first, and we’ll go together!”

In their eyes, Rong Ziyin wasn’t just a client selling on consignment; he was a golden goose who could help them boost their business and make more money. They had to take him seriously.

As luck would have it, Rong Ziyin didn’t have much going on that morning. But instead of inviting them into the livestock station, he spoke to them outside.

The wife quickly explained what had happened in town, “So, Dr. Rong, can you keep the supply steady? Or maybe, how often can you produce a batch?”

“It’s possible, but I’ll have to think about it.” Rong Ziyin nodded, agreeing to help, but he gave them a heads-up. “I’m just doing this casually. Even if I stabilize the supply, it won’t be in large quantities.”

“Besides, people are curious now, but once the novelty wears off, we might not sell as much.”

“Will that really happen?”

“Yes.” Rong Ziyin nodded. “And salted fish, even if it’s tasty, isn’t something people can eat every day. After all, it’s listed as a Group 1 carcinogen.”

“!!!” The couple exchanged a worried glance, feeling a bit disheartened. They had just found a good opportunity, but now Rong Ziyin was saying it couldn’t be a long-term business.

Rong Ziyin reassured them, “It’s not that eating it once will cause cancer, but you shouldn’t eat it too frequently. And this only applies to salted fish—salted duck eggs are fine.”

“So what should we do now?” The couple looked at Rong Ziyin with pleading eyes.

Recalling some of the practices of popular online stores he’d seen in Beijing, Rong Ziyin offered a suggestion, “I think you could try limiting the quantity.”

“Limiting the quantity?”

“Yes. Just tell them that salted fish is a Group 1 carcinogen, so even though you’re selling it, you have to limit the amount. Set a rule that each person can only buy it twice a week. If they try to buy more, you refuse the sale for health reasons.”

“This way, not only are you considering the health of your customers, avoiding any potential issues that could lead to disputes, but you’re also showing that you’re an honest business. This builds trust and understanding. Plus, the unusual restriction itself becomes a selling point. People are naturally curious, and the fact that you’re limiting sales might actually attract more customers.”

“I see,” the couple nodded repeatedly, their admiration for Rong Ziyin skyrocketing. They felt that Rong Ziyin was incredibly wise, guiding them toward a bright future with just a few words.

Their eyes lit up with excitement as they looked at Rong Ziyin, and the cold monetary transaction now felt much warmer. Even the little cartoon figures in their thoughts seemed to be kneeling down and calling Rong Ziyin “daddy.”

Rong Ziyin couldn’t help but chuckle at this, but since it was work time, he couldn’t chat for too long. After giving his advice, he urged the couple to head back. It was almost noon, and their small diner still needed to open for business.

Their admiration for Rong Ziyin had now reached a high of four thousand points. So, with just a little nudge, the couple happily said their goodbyes and left. They weren’t too worried that Rong Ziyin hadn’t set a specific time for the next delivery of salted eggs and fish.

Rong Ziyin had given them a new perspective: limit the quantity and create a sense of scarcity. Right now, people were eager to try something new, so by the time the next batch of salted eggs was ready, they could build anticipation. They remembered that a student majoring in economics once referred to this as “hunger marketing.”

“Ah! Dr. Rong really knows his stuff—he has so many good ideas!”

The couple walked away excitedly, providing Rong Ziyin with several hundred points of admiration, quickly reaching five thousand and hitting the threshold for a recruitable follower.

But once again, Rong Ziyin chose to decline.

The system was disheartened: “Host, don’t you want to be a ruler and conquer the world?”

Rong Ziyin was speechless: “This is a society governed by law. I don’t want to call myself a ‘ruler.'”

The system: “…”

After ending the mental conversation with the system, Rong Ziyin got back to work. The work at the village’s livestock station wasn’t light, and it was quite varied. Whether it was minor issues with villagers’ pigs, sheep, chickens, or ducks, or the quarterly immunizations, there was always something to do.

Just after taking a short break, someone came looking for him.

Rong Ziyin glanced out the window and saw the person’s unfriendly expression. He wasn’t surprised.

This person was well-known in the village as a troublemaker—a petty thief who often stole chickens and small items. He wandered around the county and, at nearly thirty years old, still didn’t have a proper job. In short, he survived by stealing bike batteries.

Rong Ziyin recognized him partly because of a recent incident where the village veterinarian Wang Dazhuang had been reprimanded over the duck issue.

In villages where people are often related, Wang Dazhuang and this troublemaker were cousins. After getting into trouble with Rong Ziyin, Wang Dazhuang didn’t want to confront him directly, so he pushed his dim-witted cousin forward to stir up trouble.

Despite Rong Ziyin’s difficult past, his good grades always made him the “other people’s child” that troublemakers like this one had long despised.

In his mind, they were both village kids. What right did Rong Ziyin, who could barely afford food, have to act superior? Even if he had connections, he was now back in the village with his tail between his legs.

After drinking a bit and hearing about his cousin’s misfortune, the troublemaker didn’t need much encouragement. Fueled by alcohol and a sense of righteousness, he decided to help his cousin get back at Rong Ziyin.

But Rong Ziyin was always cautious, making it difficult for them to find any faults. After brainstorming for days, they finally came up with a plan to teach Rong Ziyin a lesson.

So the troublemaker strolled over to Rong Ziyin’s place with a duck in hand, thinking he was something special. He swaggered in and tossed the duck at Rong Ziyin’s feet.

“Hey, what kind of vet are you? The whole village is getting disinfected, and you skip my place. Are you looking down on me?”

Rong Ziyin didn’t get angry. He just looked down at the duck by his feet.

The duck had clearly been squeezed tightly on its way here, so it was more out of breath than in, yet it seemed full of energy. The thoughts above its head read, “Give me a lever, and I can move the world!”

A normal duck wouldn’t be like this. Rong Ziyin immediately suspected there was a trick involved.

Sure enough, the troublemaker said, “Give it a vaccination. I just got it.”

Seeing that Rong Ziyin didn’t move immediately, the troublemaker pressed him, “I’ve got things to do. Hurry up and get it done.”

The more he rushed, the calmer Rong Ziyin became. Instead of immediately vaccinating the duck as the troublemaker had imagined, he took out other tools as if he were preparing to run some detailed tests.

Different villages raise different types of ducks. In Rong Ziyin’s village, the main breed was the Beijing duck.

But the troublemaker’s duck, though still young, was clearly a Muscovy duck.

Only a few nearby villages raised Muscovy ducks, with the closest being Xiaowang Village. But Xiaowang Village was currently undergoing testing for duck tuberculosis, and this guy showed up with a Muscovy duck.

Rong Ziyin immediately sensed something was off.

At that moment, the system also alerted him: Trouble Value from Li Tiezhu the Scoundrel +200.

Simultaneously, the skill “Thunderstrike: This Power Shakes the Heavens” activated.

Suddenly, a few ominous, foggy black spots appeared on the duck’s body. Observing their location, Rong Ziyin became more convinced that this duck wasn’t just sick; it might have other issues too.

But he needed to run tests to be sure. As for why this sick duck seemed so lively, it was likely due to steroids.

Steroids might not cure the disease, but they could certainly boost the animal’s energy.

Rong Ziyin quickly understood their scheme. There are many requirements for vaccinating poultry. If something isn’t done correctly, the vaccine can hasten death. This duck was from Xiaowang Village, and if it was already sick, the troublemaker’s insistence on rushing things was probably a setup to cause trouble later.

The system was appalled: “This is so despicable! Host, what are you going to do?”

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment and calmly said to the troublemaker, “We can vaccinate the duck, but you’ll have to pay first. With the tests and the vaccination, the total comes to 1,700 yuan.”

“No credit cards or transfers, cash only.”

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝

Salted Eggs, Two-Fifty Each

Unlike Rong Ziyin, the system could directly see the item’s attributes, which is why it was so shocked—it even briefly wondered if the heavens were drunk.

Hearing the system’s odd tone, Rong Ziyin wanted to click to see what it was, but more of the same items kept appearing, pushing the storage slots forward, leaving him unable to check.

But soon, the fifty-pull was over. Rong Ziyin glanced at the dull storage box and knew that once again, his luck had bottomed out.

However, unlike before, when it was always salted eggs, this time he at least got something different: a strange, stick-like object in addition to the usual N-level items.

Finally finding a moment to inspect it, Rong Ziyin clicked on the item description, and a large, blue-green salted fish appeared right before his eyes.

Salted Fish: The meat is tender and flavorful, with a strong savory taste. Best paired with congee after frying. A secret recipe passed down by a sea woman, this is a salted fish with dreams. When it stares at you with its dead fish eyes, it feels like the abyss is watching you.

The system, having given up hope on Rong Ziyin’s luck, couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hahaha, come on, host, take it out and have a look—maybe it’ll fill you with hope for the future.”

Curious about what it meant by being stared at by the abyss, Rong Ziyin took out a salted fish and examined it closely.

A pair of dead fish eyes rolled back to glare at Rong Ziyin.

Salted Fish: …

Rong Ziyin: …

Whether he felt motivated by this was unclear, but he was more concerned with something else—like how the salted fish tasted.

So, he quickly tore off a small strip of meat from the fish’s back and popped it into his mouth.

Salty! That was Rong Ziyin’s first reaction, as the intense saltiness nearly made him shiver.

He quickly grabbed his water cup and took a gulp to wash it down. Oddly enough, after the saltiness subsided, the fish’s unique flavor emerged.

In the days before refrigerators, people used salt to preserve food for long periods. Although it made the fresh fish meat tougher and drier, it also added a chewy, springy texture.

Salty yet delicious—if you soak it to remove some of the salt and then fry it in sections, it becomes crispy, with a savory flavor that pairs perfectly with congee.

And more importantly, salted fish were worth more than salted eggs! So, this fifty-pull wasn’t a total loss.

Pleased, Rong Ziyin grabbed another basket, placed the fifteen salted fish inside, and then changed his clothes, preparing for bed.

Of course, before going to sleep, he didn’t forget to send today’s earnings to the loan shark.

According to the regulations at the livestock station, castrating a boar earned five yuan, and as the operating veterinarian, Rong Ziyin could keep 3.5 yuan—a hefty sum indeed!

Five minutes later, Rong Ziyin happily received 6,000 anger points from the loan shark and went to bed content.

It was another day with enough points for a six-pull, and at this rate, with how often the loan shark and rich young master contributed, Rong Ziyin figured he’d soon be the richest man around.

He slept soundly through the night.

Early the next morning, Rong Ziyin made sure to head out before 5:30 AM, carrying forty salted eggs and fifteen salted fish to the eatery owned by the couple.

Rong Ziyin remembered that the couple left the village for the town at precisely 6 AM every day, so he should be on time and not delay their work.

Sure enough, when Rong Ziyin arrived, the couple was just about to set off in their tractor. The trailer behind the tractor was loaded with the morning’s breakfast goods.

“Dr. Rong is here!” The husband jumped down to greet him.

“Yeah, I’ve brought you the salted eggs. Also…” Rong Ziyin took out another basket filled with salted fish and handed it over. “These are salted fish. They need to be soaked in water first, then cut into sections and fried. You can try selling them—if they don’t sell, just bring them back to me.”

“Salted fish… Not many people around here eat that, though?” The husband hesitated, but after thinking about Rong Ziyin’s skill with food, he figured these salted fish might also be pretty good.

Besides, since Rong Ziyin said it was just a trial, he didn’t need to worry about profit or loss. And as they were already using oil to fry other things like dough sticks in the morning, it wouldn’t be too much trouble to fry the fish in a separate pot.

With that in mind, the husband readily agreed and even gave Rong Ziyin 1,000 excitement points.

Understanding that the man was happy about the prospect of better business, Rong Ziyin didn’t waste any more time. After handing over the baskets, he urged them to get going, “Don’t let me hold you up—get going quickly!”

“Alright!” The husband quickly got back on the tractor, but just before leaving, he remembered something and called out, “Hey, Dr. Rong, how much should we sell the salted fish for?”

He recalled that they’d already agreed on the price for the salted eggs, but not for the salted fish.

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment. “Twenty-five yuan per plate after it’s cut into sections.”

“And what about the dish name?”

Rong Ziyin took the pen handed to him by the wife and quickly wrote on their breakfast menu board. He returned the pen to the couple and was about to head off to work himself.

Since there wasn’t much to do that morning, Rong Ziyin planned to take advantage of his clear mind to study the paper he had started reading the previous day.

As it happened, the paper focused on preventing and controlling poultry diseases in the summer—a topic that aligned perfectly with his current work. Having practical experience to validate the theory made his understanding even sharper.

When Rong Ziyin was absorbed in his academic work, time flew by. But then the system suddenly received a notification: 100 points of frustration from Zhang Dagou, a resident of the town.

“What’s going on?” Rong Ziyin was puzzled.

Shortly after, he received even more frustration points from the town’s residents. To make matters even stranger, half an hour later, among all the frustration points, he received a unique one.

300 points of “It’s Actually Delicious” from Zhang Dagou.

So, what exactly happened in town? Both Rong Ziyin and the system were completely clueless.

Unbeknownst to them, the reason for the surge in emotional points from the town’s residents was directly tied to the fifteen salted fish Rong Ziyin had delivered to the couple’s eatery that morning.

**

In the town’s breakfast street.

This was the only commercial street in the town and a main thoroughfare for people heading to work. Anyone selling breakfast would set up on this street.

Because Rong Ziyin had dropped by with the salted eggs and fish that morning, the couple left later than usual and couldn’t secure a prime spot, so they had to set up in a relatively hidden corner.

With such a poor location, even their regular customers couldn’t spot them, meaning they missed out on the early breakfast rush.

“No worries, we’ll just head out earlier tomorrow!” The husband comforted his wife with a pat on the shoulder.

The wife smiled, too. “It’s fine. If we don’t sell out here, we can still sell it back in the village. I’m not that hung up on it.”

“Of course not, my wife’s the most easygoing!” The husband beamed, even after being teased, relieved that his wife wasn’t too upset about the slow business.

Given the circumstances, the couple decided to take it easy. The wife leisurely started frying dough sticks, while the husband soaked two pieces of the salted fish.

By the time the first batch of dough sticks was ready, the salted fish had soaked up just enough.

The husband cut the fish into sections and heated up another pot of oil to fry it.

Little did they know that frying the fish would cause trouble.

For some reason, the salted fish Rong Ziyin had prepared was ordinary enough in the basket, but once it hit the oil, everything changed.

A strong fishy smell instantly filled the air and spread like a chemical weapon, quickly permeating the area.

“Holy crap, isn’t that smell a bit too strong?” The husband stood frozen, chopsticks in hand.

The wife, too, was taken aback by the overwhelming stench.

“What are you doing over there?” a nearby vendor who sold pancakes wasn’t having it. She thought the couple must be out of their minds—business was slow because they were late, and now they were cooking stinky fish to drag everyone down with them?

Clearly, many others had similar thoughts. In no time, nearly every passerby on the street was holding their nose.

“Is this toxic? What is that smell?”

“I think even my steamed bun smells like rotten fish.”

“Which stall is it? Are they crazy?”

The stench was so strong that it drew people in, including Zhang Dagou, the first to give Rong Ziyin “It’s Actually Delicious” points.

Today was his first day at work, and he had a date with his new girlfriend that evening. So, he had gotten up early, groomed himself meticulously, and put on a treasured three-piece suit. After checking himself in the mirror three times, satisfied with how dashing he looked, he headed out.

He planned to grab a quick breakfast on the street and then report to work in peak condition.

But as soon as he set foot on the breakfast street, he was nearly knocked over by the overwhelming stench of fish.

He sniffed his suit and found it had absorbed the smell. Furious, Zhang Dagou was determined to find the source and give the owner a piece of his mind.

So, he quickly located the couple’s stall.

“You…” Zhang Dagou was ready to curse them out, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he suddenly felt like something was watching him.

The sensation was cold and eerie, and it gave him the creeps.

Is it just my imagination? Zhang Dagou stepped back cautiously, glancing around.

His gaze landed on the basket of salted fish. The dozen or so fish were lying there with their heads held high, glaring at him with lifeless eyes. No matter what angle he looked at them from, they seemed to mock him.

It was as if the words “loser office drone” were written all over their faces.

Zhang Dagou felt a blow to his self-esteem and was left speechless. Then, he noticed the menu board beside him, where Rong Ziyin had boldly written two lines:

Summer Cool Big Duck Eggs, 2.50 Each

Dreaming Salted Fish, 25 Per Plate

Buy salted fish, get a salted duck egg, plus a bowl of millet porridge.

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝

I Need to Share the Love

“I feel like I’m gonna puke…” One of them couldn’t take it anymore and rushed to the bathroom, while the other three looked equally disgusted.

“That bastard is doing this on purpose to gross us out!”

They wanted to type out insults and curse at Rong Ziyin, but to their shock, Rong Ziyin had disabled their ability to speak.

This meant they couldn’t leave the meeting, couldn’t type out their anger, and were trapped unless they completely shut down their phones. There was no way to escape Rong Ziyin’s setup.

This is just too much!

Their faces grew darker by the minute, and finally, the dorm leader, who usually took charge, said, “Wait it out! A boar castration surgery doesn’t take long. Rong Ziyin will have to end the meeting eventually, and then we can flame him on QQ!”

“Yeah! If that doesn’t work, we can always call him! That bastard.”

The four dormmates’ combined anger value reached 12,000, and their frustration was at 9,000.

The system couldn’t help but remark, “That’s impressive.”

Rong Ziyin smiled, “There’s something even better coming up.”

He slowly finished up the surgery, then washed his hands and the tools he had used.

During this time, Rong Ziyin remained silent, not saying anything to provoke them further.

But the more he stayed quiet, the more his roommates felt stifled.

Just look at where Rong Ziyin was now.

A run-down pigsty in a rural village, no matter how well-kept, was still dirty! And then look at Rong Ziyin’s attire—a standard-issue white coat from the local veterinary station with “Lizhuang Veterinary Station” written across the chest in big, silly letters.

Sure, Rong Ziyin might have looked good, but on anyone else, with a shabby straw hat, he’d be the spitting image of a rustic old-timer pretending to be educated. Where was the refined, scholarly shine he had at university?

And yet, despite how miserable his situation seemed, he still appeared to be doing better than them, thriving as if being sent to the countryside was some kind of heaven-sent opportunity. He hadn’t even gotten a tan.

The four roommates had no way to deal with Rong Ziyin, and the more they thought about it, the more frustrated they became.

Frustration value: 333

Frustration value: 243

Frustration value: 223

…

The system’s notifications kept pinging, and Rong Ziyin could almost see four pufferfish blowing up with anger in front of him.

Seeing that his roommates were close to a breakdown, Rong Ziyin decided to wrap things up, not wanting to push them too far in one go.

So, he picked up his phone and said one last thing to the four roommates, “These past four years, this is my final gift to you. Goodbye, everyone.”

With that, Rong Ziyin swiftly ended the meeting, left the group chat, and blocked everyone from the dorm.

Not just on QQ—he blocked their phone numbers and texts as well.

Back at the Beijing food stall, the four roommates finally saw the meeting end. They were ready to unleash their fury and nearly simultaneously typed out “Screw you” in Rong Ziyin’s private chat.

But as soon as they finished typing, they realized they couldn’t send it.

“Sorry, the other party has refused to receive your messages.”

“Damn it! That bastard blocked me!”

“Me too!”

“Same here!”

“Screw this! I’m calling him!” The dorm leader, his temper flaring to the max, searched for Rong Ziyin’s number in his contacts and dialed it immediately.

“Beep—beep—” The phone rang, indicating the call had gone through.

“It’s ringing! Wait for him to pick up!” The four of them were all geared up, ready to unleash a barrage of insults as soon as Rong Ziyin answered.

But after six rings, no one picked up, and instead, they received an automated message: “Sorry, the number you dialed has been turned off.”

What the hell? A phone that’s off doesn’t ring six times—who does he think we are, clueless toddlers?

There was no doubt that Rong Ziyin had blocked their numbers, not just for calls but for texts too!

This was just too despicable.

“I… @#z$#@$@#…” The dorm leader was so furious that he could barely speak.

This wave of fury netted Rong Ziyin nearly 20,000 anger points in total. With the previous points accumulated, he’d almost reached enough for a forty-pull on his next draw.

Rong Ziyin: “As expected, my dormmates are all men of passion!”

System: “Why do I feel like something’s off?”

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment, and indeed, something was missing. There were five others in the dorm, not four. He still had the rich young master left to deal with.

Good brothers share everything, after all. How could he leave one out of something this good?

Luckily, QQ Meetings had a screen recording feature, so the entire process of castrating the boar was captured in the live stream.

So, Rong Ziyin opened his QQ email, entered the rich kid’s email address, and sent the whole video package.

He was always generous—such a good thing should be shared equally.

**

In a high-end restaurant in Beijing.

At that moment, the rich young master was having dinner with a blind date at a fancy restaurant.

With just one year left until graduation, he knew his major wouldn’t allow him to join the family business. At best, his parents would open a pet hospital for him, where he could be his own boss.

As for more than that, if he had been smart enough to study finance, he wouldn’t have resigned himself to veterinary medicine.

Most people in his situation would have accepted it—after all, with family money and shares, being a rich young master wasn’t bad. His older brother handled the hard work, so he could live an easy life.

But this rich young master was greedy. He wanted a bigger slice of the family fortune. Since he couldn’t achieve that on his own, he turned his ambitions toward his future wife’s family.

He figured that marrying a woman from a powerful family would secure him a spot in the company through her connections.

He thought he had hidden his ambitions well, but it was obvious to everyone around him.

It was clear that the girl who had been forced by her parents to come on this date knew exactly what was going on.

She carried herself with elegance, her eyes brimming with confidence, a clear sign of her inner poise. Although she appeared focused on savoring the meal, in reality, she was doing her best to suppress the impatience she felt toward the rich young master sitting across from her.

The rich young master , for his part, didn’t particularly like her either, thinking she was too proud and not submissive enough.

But given her respectable background, he knew that successfully pursuing her would be a significant boost to his future, so he forced himself to smile.

When Rong Ziyin held that video meeting earlier, the rich young master wasn’t included, and since his phone had been on silent, he didn’t notice anything unusual.

Now that the meal was almost over, and the girl had politely declined his offer to drive her home, instead calling her family’s driver, the rich young master finally decided to check his phone. He was surprised to find that the dorm’s six-person group chat, which had been silent for almost three years, was suddenly filled with cursing, all directed at Rong Ziyin. Even more curious, the group had gone from six members to five—Rong Ziyin had left the group!

What the heck happened? Intrigued, the rich young master scrolled through the chat history to find out. Just then, he received an email from Rong Ziyin.

Rong Ziyin sent him an email?

His curiosity deepened, and when he opened the QQ mailbox, the email subject left him stunned.

“Top Student Live: Passionate Exploration of Biological Mysteries”

The title was… certainly suggestive. But Rong Ziyin always seemed like a pretty serious guy.

Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. The rich young master instinctively clicked on the attached video, downloaded it to his phone, and hit play.

“Today, I’ll be demonstrating how to properly castrate an adult boar…”

Rong Ziyin’s voice came through the video, while the boar’s particularly well-developed testicles were prominently displayed on the screen.

Rong Ziyin truly lived up to his reputation as a top veterinary student at the Agricultural University—his surgical technique was crisp and precise, without the slightest hesitation. But the final scene, where the boar’s blood from the surgery seeped into the wash basin, made the rich young master immediately think of the medium-rare steak he had just ordered to show off.

Suddenly, he felt a bit nauseous.

The rich young master stared at his phone, his mind buzzing.

The unexpected scene left him completely bewildered. Just then, the girl he was on a date with approached him.

“Have you finished eating? If so, I think we can leave now.”

“I’m done. Just a moment,” the rich young master replied, flustered, as he tried to exit the video. But to his dismay, his phone froze. Not only did it fail to exit the video, but the volume also suddenly shot up to maximum.

“And that concludes the entire castration procedure,” Rong Ziyin’s voice announced loudly from the phone.

The rich young master turned pale, not knowing how to explain himself.

“You certainly are eager to learn,” the girl remarked awkwardly, casting the rich young master a strange look before saying goodbye and leaving, not giving him a chance to explain.

But the look she gave him before leaving made it clear she thought he was some kind of lunatic.

Beijing’s social circles were small, and rumors spread fast. The rich young master could already imagine what kind of gossip would be circulating about their date by tomorrow.

Watching a boar castration video during a date—he was certain to become the laughingstock of the entire circle.

“Damn you, Rong Ziyin!” the rich young master raged, his first instinct being to open QQ and curse Rong Ziyin out.

But he quickly realized that Rong Ziyin had blocked him.

He then tried calling him, only to find out that his number was also blocked.

Finally, it dawned on him that he could still use email!

He opened his email and furiously typed out a string of profanities in the subject line, hoping Rong Ziyin would see it.

But after all that effort, the email failed to send.

It was clear—Rong Ziyin had blocked his email too!

Damn it! Enraged, the rich young master tried sending it from a different email account, only to discover that Rong Ziyin’s inbox was set to reject all messages from non-friends—completely impervious.

The rich young master felt as if a mouthful of blood was stuck in his throat, and he wanted nothing more than to rush to that village and pick a fight with Rong Ziyin.

Rich young master ’s Anger Value +2000

Rich young master ’s Anger Value +2000

Rich young master ’s Anger Value +2000

Rong Ziyin received three consecutive notifications, fully aware that the rich young master was now on the verge of losing it.

Meanwhile, back in the dorm, the other four roommates were still occasionally contributing tens or hundreds of anger points each. Clearly, the more they stewed over it, the more they wanted to strangle Rong Ziyin.

But Rong Ziyin, content with the steady influx of gold points, was calmly observing the newly castrated boar’s recovery while admiring his roommates’ genuine, fiery tempers.

Earlier, when Rong Ziyin had received the Thunderstrike skill, his first patient was the farming family’s head.

While humans are also living beings, it was difficult to observe the exact effects on them. But now, with this boar, Rong Ziyin could see the results more clearly.

Rong Ziyin’s technique was solid, and the incision was small. Typically, the cut would be around five centimeters, but Rong Ziyin had completed the procedure with just a three-centimeter incision.

Now, as the anesthesia wore off, the boar slowly opened its eyes.

Rong Ziyin checked it over and was surprised to find that not only had the wound stopped bleeding, but it had already begun to heal.

The boar, once fully awake, was in high spirits—completely unaware that it was no longer “a man,” it eagerly looked around, clearly still preoccupied with thoughts of its former conquests.

Rong Ziyin glanced at the boar’s thoughts displayed above its head: “Dedicated player, still on the hunt.”

After a moment of thought, Rong Ziyin offered a comforting word: “As long as you’re happy.”

He then packed up his things and prepared to leave.

The farming family paid Rong Ziyin the fee for the boar’s castration and saw him to the door, once again providing him with 2,000 appreciation points. Adding that to what he had earned from his dormmates and the rich young master, he had just enough for a fifty-pull draw.

System: I’ve calculated it—an SSR is guaranteed.

Rong Ziyin: Alright, alright, I’ll get to it when I get back.

The system was excited, convinced that no matter how bad Rong Ziyin’s luck was, a fifty-pull should definitely yield something good. Rong Ziyin, too, was in high spirits, even pulling out a large bamboo basket he had never used before, clearly calculating that it could hold fifty salted eggs.

System: Can’t you dream a little bigger?

Rong Ziyin: Does getting rich from salted eggs count?

Faced with a host who had such low ambitions and abysmal luck, the system didn’t know what to do.

When Rong Ziyin started the fifty-pull draw, the same old routine began to unfold on the screen.

Salted eggs, salted eggs, salted eggs…

After drawing a total of twenty-three salted eggs, a new, streamlined object with pointed ends finally appeared.

System: What the heck is this?

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝

A Cool Breeze and Chilled Eggs

Rong Ziyin immediately refused: No.

System: !!!

The Heavenly System’s concept of “recruitable” is essentially a tangible golden opportunity. This young boy, in his current phase of idolizing strength, practically sees Rong Ziyin as even more powerful than a movie superhero. If Rong Ziyin were to put in some effort, this kid would undoubtedly become one of his most loyal followers, looking up to him even more than his own parents.

But what the system doesn’t understand is that it’s precisely because of this that Rong Ziyin firmly rejected the idea.

Rong Ziyin knew this was the real world, not some fantasy novel where the strong dominate. As a veterinarian at the animal husbandry station, his job was to do his work honestly and fulfill his duties. There’s nothing wrong with maintaining a straightforward relationship based on mutual needs. Excessive idolization is a path to self-destruction.

As for the notion of a loyal follower who would never betray him? To Rong Ziyin, that’s pure nonsense.

The Qing Dynasty has been gone for how many years now? In today’s world, the things that should never be betrayed are the nation, conscience, and the law.

With that in mind, Rong Ziyin added one more piece of advice to the boy, “Study hard. No matter what career you want to pursue in the future, learning more is always a good thing.”

The boy nodded vigorously, immediately treating Rong Ziyin’s words as a life mantra.

After all, everyone in the neighboring villages knew that Rong Ziyin had been accepted into Agricultural University as the top scorer in Beijing. He had brought pride to the village.

Thinking about this, the boy became even more determined to follow Dr. Rong’s advice. He believed that if he listened to Dr. Rong, he could grow up to be as skilled as him. Even the little yellow figure in the speech bubbles above the boy’s head was now wearing a headband with the word “strive” on it.

The boy was so amusing that Rong Ziyin couldn’t help but pat his head again, instantly earning a basketful of blushing, bouncing little hearts from the boy.

Rong Ziyin hoped the boy could keep up this spirit. He sent the boy back inside and then stood up, walked to the duck pen, and told the couple, “The ducks are all fine, nothing to worry about.”

After carefully explaining the follow-up disinfection procedures, Rong Ziyin was about to leave.

The farmer and his wife hurried to see him off, but just as they were about to part, the farmer suddenly remembered something important and quickly stopped Rong Ziyin.

“Dr. Rong, about the boar that got aggressive yesterday, do you think you could take care of that as soon as possible?”

The farmer looked a bit embarrassed. “It’s quite urgent, but you see, with my leg being injured and only my wife and son at home, I’m worried that the boar might act up again and hurt them.”

Rong Ziyin understood his concern. An aggressive boar could be extremely dangerous, especially considering its strength. Neutering the boar wasn’t a complicated procedure, so Rong Ziyin agreed. “I can do it in a bit. I’ll be here around seven.”

Looking at the time, it was already six o’clock. Since the boar’s castration required some preparation, Rong Ziyin made arrangements with the farmer’s family to perform the surgery after dinner.

On his way back, the system curiously asked, “Dr. Rong, isn’t that family in the business of selling pork? If the boar is no longer useful, why not just slaughter it for meat?”

Rong Ziyin explained, “Because the taste wouldn’t be good.”

Times have changed; unlike the past, when any kind of meat was considered a delicacy, people now prefer meat with a fresher taste. The rapid development of the economy has raised public expectations. Even when it comes to eating meat, people want it to taste good.

Typically, boars intended for meat are neutered at a young age. This not only helps them gain weight but also reduces the gamey taste of the meat.

This boar, however, has been used for breeding for two or three years, making its meat unsuitable for today’s consumer preferences. Selling it would be difficult.

The system still didn’t understand. “But if it’s neutered, it won’t be useful anymore, right?”

“Of course, it will be,” Rong Ziyin continued to explain. “There’s a type of boar used to detect when sows are in heat. These boars have their sperm ducts cut, preventing them from impregnating sows.”

“Although they can’t breed anymore, they can still stimulate the sows, and keeping them in the pen with the sows can improve the sows’ chances of getting pregnant.”

“Whoa, even after being neutered, you still don’t leave them alone? Are all humans this terrifying?” The system was stunned.

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment and asked the system, “Is pork delicious?”

The system was silent for a while before replying, “Yes, it is.”

Rong Ziyin simply responded, “Oh.”

Ending the conversation in his mind, Rong Ziyin returned home, had a quick bite to eat, and then gathered the necessary medications and tools before heading to the farmer’s house.

The livestock station was some distance from the farmer’s home, so with nothing else to do on the way, Rong Ziyin pulled out his phone and logged into the veterinary profession system to check for any recent research papers published domestically or internationally.

This had been Rong Ziyin’s habit since his first year in college and was one of the main reasons he was more knowledgeable and well-versed in his field than his peers.

Even the system couldn’t help but admire Rong Ziyin’s professional attitude.

Having been in the village for almost a month now, the country roads had become familiar to Rong Ziyin. He walked with his medicine chest on his back, reading the professional paper along the way. By the time he reached the farmer’s house, he was nearly finished with the paper.

Anesthesia would take some time to take effect, so Rong Ziyin figured he could finish the paper during that period. He put his phone back in his pocket.

Because the young boy had been inspired by Rong Ziyin that afternoon, he only came out to greet him before returning inside to finish his homework. But that didn’t stop the little hearts representing his admiration for Rong Ziyin from floating through the window nonstop.

The farmer and his wife, though unaware of what was on their son’s mind, still provided Rong Ziyin with a generous 3,000 gratitude points.

After all, Dr. Rong was so amazing that even their son, who usually disliked studying, had started doing his homework diligently after talking to him!

Rong Ziyin had a lot of respect for the couple.

He recalled a saying from one of his professors: “There’s nothing wrong with village life.” While it may be simple and poor, the people’s nature is purer because of it.

Following the farmer’s wife to the pigsty in the back, Rong Ziyin found the boar from the previous day still tied up and unable to move.

As Rong Ziyin approached and looked at the boar, it was still arrogantly snorting. Speech bubbles filled with a barrage of thoughts floated above its head:

“Let me go! I can still mess with a thousand more sows!”

But when the boar saw Rong Ziyin pull out a needle, it immediately panicked.

“You peasants dare to harm me!”

Rong Ziyin gently patted the boar on the shoulder, reassuring it, “Don’t worry, when you wake up, all the sows will be your best friends.”

The boar replied, “Is that so?”

Rong Ziyin: “Yes, but without the ability to breed, you’ll all be just like sisters.”

Since he was alone in the pigsty, Rong Ziyin didn’t mind joking with the boar a little.

Then he efficiently administered the anesthesia.

While waiting for the anesthesia to take effect, Rong Ziyin pulled out his phone, intending to finish reading the paper he had been going through earlier.

Just then, a notification popped up from Penguin (QQ), someone had mentioned Rong Ziyin in a message.

When Rong Ziyin clicked to check, he found it was from his dormitory group chat.

Rong Ziyin’s dorm consisted of six people. Usually, a dorm full of boys would be lively and bustling. But for some reason, this group never seemed to get along with Rong Ziyin.

To be honest, it was that rich young master who kept stirring things up in the dorm. The others either didn’t want to offend him or were trying to cozy up to him, so they naturally joined in on the bullying.

Fortunately, Rong Ziyin was always deeply engrossed in his studies and was constantly working odd jobs to support himself. He would leave early and return late, treating the dormitory as nothing more than a place to sleep, which left them with little opportunity to pick on him.

The reason they kept tagging him now was that, before leaving, Rong Ziyin had given them a piece of his mind, and they were eager to get back at him after the make-up exams.

After tagging Rong Ziyin, they posted a lively group photo in the dormitory chat. The four familiar faces were all present—except for Rong Ziyin and that rich young master, everyone else from the dorm had gathered around a table for a meal.

Beer and barbecue were almost staples for dormitory gatherings in college, but Rong Ziyin had never experienced it even once.

And the things they said while tagging him were pretty cutting:

“Hey, Second Bro, if you hadn’t left early to take that job in the village, we could’ve had a farewell meal together.”

“The young master isn’t here, but he’s treating us. We’re eating well tonight! How’s life in the village, Second Bro?”

The nickname “Second Bro” was always derogatory. They had always wanted Rong Ziyin out of the dorm, but now they were pretending to be good buddies, throwing out the nickname “Second Bro” like it was nothing.

“This is too much!” The system was hopping mad.

But Rong Ziyin remained calm. He glanced at the food in the photo, particularly noticing a plate of greasy kidneys in the center.

So, Rong Ziyin picked up his phone and took a clear, high-resolution close-up photo of the area where he was about to perform surgery on the boar. He then sent it to the dorm chat.

Rong Ziyin: “@all members, I’m doing fine, just busy. Currently neutering a boar. The kidneys look pretty good; enjoy your meal.”

He added another comment:

“Castration is one of the most common minor surgeries in veterinary clinical practice. You don’t get many opportunities to practice at school, so here’s a live demonstration.”

Penguin (QQ) has a feature called Penguin Meeting, which was originally a separate app but later integrated into QQ itself.

It just so happened that the dorm members had made Rong Ziyin a group admin for appearances’ sake.

This worked out perfectly—Rong Ziyin started a video meeting and pulled everyone in the dorm into it, except for the group owner, the rich young master. The key was that in this meeting, Rong Ziyin was the host, with full control. Once the meeting room was locked, they could only enter but not leave.

Moreover, Rong Ziyin set it up so that no one else could speak or type, only him.

The dormmates were still eating, unaware of what was happening on their phones.

Rong Ziyin, meanwhile, found a spot to set up his phone, recording the entire castration process in crystal-clear detail. He also turned on his microphone.

“First, disinfect your hands with antiseptic, then disinfect the boar’s surgical area…”

“Alright, the preparation is complete. I hereby announce that the surgery is officially starting.”

With that, Rong Ziyin picked up the scalpel.

Meanwhile, outside the Beijing Agricultural University, the dormmates were still clinking glasses and chatting away at a food stall.

“Haha, we probably pissed that idiot off good this time. I bet he’s stuck in some backwater, eating sweet potatoes and potatoes all day.”

“Yeah, what’s the point of being a top student? He’s stuck in some godforsaken place for life.”

“Back to the village where he came from, that bumpkin belongs in the sticks.”

The aura of a top student can be suffocating, especially when it’s someone like Rong Ziyin, who had previous conflicts with them. They were finally able to kick him while he was down, and they weren’t about to miss the chance.

But just as they were enjoying themselves, all four of their phones simultaneously played Rong Ziyin’s voice:

“The boar castration surgery is officially starting.”

“Whoa, whoa! What the hell is this?”

All four of them jumped in their seats. When they opened their phones, they were greeted by a close-up shot of the boar’s two dark, unsightly testicles filling their screens.

“…”

Then they watched as Rong Ziyin, in the video, made a precise cut, reached in, and pulled out the boar’s spermatic cords, snipping them cleanly with a single motion.

The sound of the snip sent a chill down their spines, and suddenly, the kidneys they were holding tasted a lot less appetizing.

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝

Sure enough, the next person Moore saw was someone he wished he could tear to pieces—Yan Tong.

“You wretched, miserable wretch!” Moore could no longer control his emotions and finally erupted, standing up and cursing out loud.

At this moment, he realized that there was no escaping his fate this time. The people targeting the James family were clearly well-prepared, with a level of thoroughness that was far from ordinary. However, no matter how well-prepared they were, there had to be a starting point, a breach. And without a doubt, Yan Tong was that breach.

But given Yan Tong’s intelligence, Moore no longer believed that he was a spy like Shi Liangchen. Yan Tong was nothing more than a pretty face with no brains. Even when he tried to play tricks, he was just a third-rate fool. If Moore guessed correctly, Yan Tong had likely been used by others or, even worse, was simply a curse that had dragged him into this disaster!

When Moore first encountered Yan Tong, he had thoroughly investigated his background. At the time, aside from finding Yan Tong fickle, toxic, and foolish, he hadn’t seen any other issues. But now, looking back, Yan Tong seemed to be nothing but bad luck, a harbinger of disaster for anyone who got involved with him!

Fang Qianhao, Fang Yandong, Xie Wenxu, Lu Yan… all of them had met with unfortunate ends after getting close to Yan Tong. Without exception.

It was truly uncanny!

This fool Yan Tong not only fell into someone else’s trap but also managed to drag him down as well. Moore felt as though his luck had been cursed for generations!

“Yan Tong, you’re a walking disaster! A curse! A vile, poisonous fool!”

Moore was so enraged that he lost all reason. If it weren’t for the ridiculous research data Yan Tong had brought him, he and the James family wouldn’t have been caught off guard like this, defeated so thoroughly.

“You’re the disaster! You’re the devil! A beast lower than pigs or dogs! A murderer! A sadist! You’re the one who’s vile and stupid! Ha, it wasn’t me who made you listen to me; it was your own greed. And now you’re blaming me? That’s hilarious!”

Hearing Moore’s furious insults, Yan Tong finally lost his temper as well. For the first time in public, he revealed his true colors and fired back. Moore hated him, but Yan Tong hated Moore just as much.

If he had known Moore would fall apart so quickly, he would have stayed on the Caesar cruise. While it was still suffering, at least there was a glimmer of hope. If he could endure the humiliation and find someone willing to ransom him, he might have had a chance to turn his life around.

But Moore?

After Moore took him off the Caesar cruise, it was as if he treated him like livestock! Not only was he locked up and continuously exploited, but it turns out Moore never even intended to let him live! If he hadn’t already known that Moore was a terrible person and taken precautions by not revealing all of the data from the “golden finger” immediately, he likely wouldn’t have survived this long.

Despite that, once the products from the tech competition began to fail, his days locked up were unbearable. He nearly died from the torment in that villa. Falling into Moore’s hands was even more terrifying than being in the dark abyss of the Caesar cruise.

Remembering the torture he endured, Yan Tong was filled with hatred and decided to go all out.

Walking up to the witness stand, Yan Tong no longer cared about the consequences. In front of everyone, he gagged himself until he vomited up a small bundle. Opening it revealed an unassuming necklace. Then, again in front of everyone, he produced a pile of documents and several USB drives from the space button and confessed,

“Your Honor, I confess. This is the research data I stole from the Fang family, but… it was all under the instructions of Moore James!”

Yan Tong glared at Moore and the others with hatred. He was determined to drag Moore down, to ensure that Moore and the James family would never recover. If they escaped even slightly, Yan Tong’s life would become even more miserable.

Everyone was shocked by the sight of Yan Tong pulling items seemingly out of thin air from the necklace. When they heard his confession, they snapped back to reality. The faces of the James family members twisted with anger.

Moore, realizing what Yan Tong was planning, felt a wave of dizziness from his rage and immediately tried to refute it.

“Your Honor, we never instructed him! We didn’t know the research data was stolen; this wretch came to us with the data and proposed a partnership! I have evidence—before this, we had never even met him! How could we have instructed him to steal anything?”

Although the James family had already been found guilty of illegally imprisoning researchers, that didn’t mean they were willing to accept further guilt so easily. Moore still had hopes of shifting most of the blame onto other family members. After all, he was only the heir, not the family’s actual decision-maker, so at worst, he would be charged as an accomplice.

But if Yan Tong succeeded in pinning the crime of stealing research data on him, there would be no escape.

“Heh, Mr. Moore, is it not a bit too much to try to pin everything on me now that you’re in trouble?”

Yan Tong, having decided to drag Moore down with him, wasn’t about to let him weasel out so easily. With a sneer, Yan Tong turned to the judge and continued,

“Your Honor, the James family is the epitome of cunning. Of course, they wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave a paper trail with their contacts. Just like the case of illegally imprisoning researchers, they had long prepared a way out, but fortunately, there was other evidence to prove it.”

“Although I don’t have direct evidence of contact, my logical chain is entirely consistent. I’m just an ordinary person. If Mr. Moore hadn’t instructed me, how would I have known that the Lu family had so much advanced research data? How would I have even thought that the data was hidden in this technological product with a space button?”

“Your Honor, after I stole the Lu family’s research data on Mr. Moore’s orders, I was terrified that he would kill me to cover his tracks once he got what he wanted. So, I tried to escape his control and sought help from my ex-boyfriend, the Xie family, to collaborate on developing the data for profit… There are witnesses and evidence for all of this.”

“…After being captured by him, I had no choice but to hand over the data bit by bit to survive…”

Yan Tong was in his element when it came to lying, and he spouted these fabrications effortlessly.

Especially since he was a transmigrator who knew many secrets about the James family from the plot, his half-truths and half-lies in his testimony were airtight and impossible to debunk.

Fang Yandong, Fang Qianhao, and Xie Wenxu all stepped forward one by one to corroborate Yan Tong’s claims about seeking their help during this time.

On the hearing stand, a few representatives from Huaguo couldn’t help but be secretly astonished as they listened.

If they hadn’t already known the truth—that all of this was purely Yan Tong’s doing—they might have been convinced by his lies.

Though Yan Tong was indeed foolish in many ways, he was equally vicious.

“I may not have the previous evidence, but these USB drives contain many recordings. Based on the content of these recordings, you can find substantial evidence of Mr. Moore’s hidden crimes.”

While he was imprisoned, Yan Tong had secretly used a voice recorder that he had hidden in the space button to record many things.

He originally intended to use this as leverage if Moore tried to eliminate him, but now it had become the evidence that would seal Moore’s fate.

Although unauthorized recordings cannot be directly used as evidence in court, the content within them can guide the legal authorities to find incriminating evidence.

Moore, in his arrogance and conceit, believed he had everything under control, so he never held back when speaking in front of Yan Tong.

Especially when he was venting his anger—people in a rage say all sorts of things.

Yan Tong’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. If he was going down, everyone was going down with him. No one would escape!

Shi Liangchen and Yan Tong both stepped forward to testify, providing irrefutable evidence.

The James family, caught completely off guard, was left with no room to resist.

Under normal circumstances, Moore’s abilities would have made it impossible to bring him down so easily. But when someone with foresight sets a trap, many things become uncertain.

Just like in the previous life.

Yan Tong was never particularly intelligent, but with the advantage of foresight and deliberate scheming, even someone as sharp as Fang Ziyang struggled immensely after being blindsided at the beginning, leading to a difficult road ahead.

No matter how formidable Moore was in the original plot, he was now nothing more than a defeated stray dog.

The James family and Moore were filled with anger, hatred, and deep despair.

This was truly a case of “when the wall falls, everyone pushes.” Even their closest ally, the M Alliance, was now more eager to add insult to injury than to help them out of this mess.

The reason was simple.

The stolen design materials for the research products meant that the M Alliance would also be heavily implicated!

With all the evidence and testimonies in place, combined with external pressure and the scrutiny of the entire world, the International Court dared not provoke public outrage.

At this point in the trial, there was no need for further debate.

The presiding judge made the decision without hesitation:

“The court is now adjourned for two hours. We will reconvene in two hours to continue the session.”

After the break, the court would reconvene to announce the verdict.

The faces of the James family members and Moore turned ashen; they never imagined they would be struck down so suddenly, without even a chance to resist.

The collapse of a giant can happen in an instant.

Two hours later, the presiding judge and all personnel returned. Without wasting time, the judge directly pronounced the verdict:

“The court now announces: Based on the crimes, nature, circumstances, and social harm of the 156 members of the James family involved in this case… the following sentences are issued according to the ‘International Research Protection Act’: 32 members, including Cross and Abby, are sentenced to immediate execution by firing squad. The remaining 124 members, including Simi and Sim, are sentenced to life imprisonment without parole… The James family is also ordered to pay compensation…”

“…Yan Tong, as an accomplice, will be deported back to China as per the request of the Chinese authorities, where he will serve a life sentence under their supervision…”

“The M Alliance’s research team, although unaware of the full extent, will be disqualified from this competition. All team members are banned from participating in any research projects or competitions for the next ten years… This concludes the trial!”

With a bang of the gavel, everything was settled.

Bang!

The members of the James family, unable to bear the weight of the verdict, collapsed to the ground.

Yan Tong, hearing the verdict, felt a wave of dizziness and weakness wash over him, and he couldn’t help but cry.

He had done so many things, schemed for so long, only for it all to amount to nothing.

No, it was worse than nothing.

Not only did he gain nothing, but he also lost everything he had.

He had thought he was the chosen one, favored by fate. Heaven had blessed him with so much, and he hadn’t needed to steal from Fang Ziyang—he could have had so many of the things he had once dreamed of.

But in the end, one wrong step led to another.

Covering his tear-streaked face, Yan Tong was consumed by regret as he thought of the dark and hopeless future that awaited him.

The downfall of the James family was swift and decisive.

When the court verdict was announced, many people were still in disbelief.

It felt surreal that such a colossal entity like the James family could just… disappear like that. It seemed unreal.

But despite the disbelief, the facts were undeniable.

On the night following the conclusion of the trial, various countries and forces, long prepared, swiftly moved in and divided the assets of the James family.

Indeed, the James family was enormous, but they were not invincible. When all their enemies converged at once, catching them off guard, the fate of the James family was sealed.

Due to this unexpected event, the current technology competition naturally ended abruptly.

However, the topic of China and the Lu family’s research became unexpectedly and unsurprisingly popular.

“So it turns out that the research products used by the M team were indeed based on data and materials from China. No wonder the high-tech products from the two teams felt so coincidentally similar during the competition…”

“I don’t care about anything else, but these research results are truly amazing. They are simply beyond belief, absolutely ahead of their time.”

“The Lu family is a well-known research family in China that has made significant contributions to the country’s technology. The data and materials left behind by generations of the Lu family were not perfect, which is why they had not been released until now. Fortunately, this generation produced Fang Ziyang and Tang Xun, two descendants who turned those materials into reality…”

–

“The James family is truly disgusting, committing such heinous acts as illegally imprisoning researchers, completely disregarding human life, and causing the deaths of so many talented professors.”

“These people truly deserve no mercy!”

“While everyone is focused on the James family, am I the only one curious about that whistleblower named Yan Tong? I suggest you ask your Chinese friends about him or search his name on Chinese social media; you’ll find a surprise~”

“What kind of surprise? What’s wrong with this whistleblower?”

“Holy crap! I just asked my Chinese friend, and it turns out that Yan Tong really is as bad as Moore said—both stupid and vicious. I’m disgusted by what he did…”

“I just looked into it, and wow, it’s really something I can’t even begin to describe. I bet Fang Ziyang must have wronged his entire family in a previous life for him to torment Fang like this in this life.”

“Ah, you’re talking about Yan Tong again? Every time I see you discussing him, I can’t help but mention that Yan Tong looks like a little blessing on the surface. But it’s strange that he turned out like this… A reflection from someone with a long tradition in metaphysics.”

As the trial concluded, online discussions became heated, with opinions and jokes pouring in from all over the world.

…

Fang Ziyang only briefly skimmed through the online discussions before losing interest.

When the trial ended, and everything was finally settled, he felt as if a heavy burden had suddenly lifted from his shoulders.

He felt light and at ease.

To put it in mystical terms, it was as if his soul had been elevated…

Okay, that might be an exaggeration.

But he genuinely felt an unprecedented sense of relief and happiness. The world no longer seemed heavy and monochromatic but had become vibrant and full of color.

When he heard that Shi Liangchen had requested to see him one last time after the trial, his emotions were no longer clouded by past shadows; instead, he felt nothing at all.

“Alright, I’ll see him again. There are some things I’d like to ask him.”

Without hesitation, Fang Ziyang decided to meet Shi Liangchen one last time.

It wasn’t because he had any unresolved feelings.

He was simply curious about what had happened after his death in his previous life.

When they met again, Shi Liangchen looked even more haggard, but compared to the pain and sadness he had once carried, he now seemed much calmer, as if he had found some form of release.

“You look well.”

Fang Ziyang smiled faintly, his heart at peace.

From today onwards, he and Shi Liangchen were no longer friends or enemies; they were simply strangers who had nothing to do with each other.

“Yes, the feeling of avenging yourself is good. But in the end, I still owe you, and I’ll never be able to repay that debt. However… I like it this way.” This way, in his next life or the life after that, he might still get to see this person again and find a way to stay by his side.

Shi Liangchen smiled, a genuine, joyful smile.

This time, he had indeed helped Ziyang, but more importantly, he had helped himself. Only by seeing Ziyang exact his revenge could he find some relief and free himself from the endless torment of guilt and regret.

Fang Ziyang looked at him for a long moment before speaking in a calm voice, “I don’t need you to repay anything. I just hope that you and the others will no longer appear in my world.”

He didn’t want to see these people again, and he certainly didn’t want them to have any involvement in his life anymore.

Hearing this, Shi Liangchen’s smile turned bitter.

“I understand… Don’t worry, I won’t appear before you again. I’ve already agreed to the government’s invitation to enter a long-term secluded research program.”

Even though he felt some relief, he still found it difficult to escape the shadow of his past life. He wanted to enter a secluded research base, to complete the dreams and ideas they once shared. It would be as if they were still the best of friends, working side by side toward their shared goals, and he could keep holding on to the unspoken feelings he had never dared to reveal.

To remain forever in that world, where they were friends striving together for a dream, was the best future he could imagine.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Shi Liangchen’s gaze fell on the ring on Fang Ziyang’s hand. After a long pause, he asked hoarsely, “Is he good to you?”

Fang Ziyang didn’t answer immediately. His eyes rested on the ring, and his previously calm expression softened involuntarily.

Good? How could that single word possibly convey the depth of his feelings?

In two lifetimes, he had met many people and experienced many things, but only this one person had been pure in his love for him.

“The person you mentioned who avenged me in my previous life… that was Xie Zheng. In both lifetimes, he’s the one who loved me the most purely. I’m so happy to have met him…”

“Now that our grievances are settled, Shi Liangchen, from this moment on, we are strangers. Let’s each live well.”

With those words, Fang Ziyang slowly stood up and left, without any trace of resentment or lingering attachment.

If those things had never happened, perhaps they could have remained friends, partners who moved forward together toward their dreams.

But life offers no “what ifs.”

Even though they had been reborn, carrying the memories of the past, altering the future, they could never erase those memories.

Regret is something that truly doesn’t exist in this world.

“So that’s how it is… It was Xie Zheng all along…”

Shi Liangchen sat on the bench, murmuring to himself, his voice wavering between laughter and tears.

Fate, indeed, had played a cruel joke on him.

If there is a next life, he would rather be the most ordinary, the most unremarkable person in the world, trading all that he had for the ability to hold on, to avoid being swayed by anyone else ever again.

…

Outside the meeting room.

Xie Zheng stood tall, like an unshakable mountain, a source of eternal support.

Seeing his beloved step out, Xie Zheng’s stern face softened instantly. He strode forward and firmly took his lover’s hand, his voice steady and gentle.

“Is it over? Let’s go home.”

“Yes, let’s go home.”

Fang Ziyang’s eyes curved into a smile, feeling the warmth and strength in Xie Zheng’s hand, a sense of deep affection and happiness filling him.

This was his love.

The one who had stood by him in both lifetimes.

How wonderful.

(End of Main Story).

Previous TOC Next

This trial was one for which China, along with the other 57 countries that had lost scientists, had thoroughly prepared.

The charges being brought against the James family were twofold: illegal imprisonment of scientific scholars and illegal theft of others’ research findings. Because the first charge had a broader impact and more severe consequences, the trial began with the “illegal imprisonment of scientific scholars.”

“…According to the records, a total of 78 victims testified. The earliest victims to be deprived of their freedom were 16 scientific scholars from countries P, U, and T. Of these, 9 were killed due to their resistance and refusal to cooperate, and their bodies were discarded into the Morros Sea, making them unrecoverable. Subsequently, another 5 researchers were killed, leaving 64 survivors…”

“Among these, the bodies of 14 individuals could not be retrieved, but relevant evidence can be found in the laboratory’s personnel movement records… Additionally, some surveillance footage from the laboratory fully documents the confinement of these 78 scholars on Black Shark Island in the Morros…”

“To coerce the victims into working for them, the James family subjected most of the victims’ families to long-term surveillance and threats…”

“In summary, this was a premeditated, purposeful, and heinous crime. The accused, the James family, severely violated the life safety and freedom of 78 victims and their families. Given that all 78 victims were renowned professors in the scientific community, many of whom had made significant contributions to scientific advancement, the James family has also violated Article 167 of the International Scientific Scholars Protection Act…”

“…Therefore, we hereby submit this lawsuit to the International Court of Justice, requesting that the court handle this case with impartiality and justice, and impose the appropriate penalties according to the law.”

As the representative spoke, they also submitted a thick dossier of victim information. These documents detailed each scientist’s original identity, the circumstances of their disappearance, the treatment and coercion they endured after their abduction, and other pertinent details.

Each file, taken individually, was shocking. Together, the dozens of files painted a picture of the James family that could only be described as “inhuman.”

The James family had long been a merchant family that profited from wars, and they embodied the cutthroat pursuit of profit to its fullest extent. Even within the business world, the James family did not have a favorable reputation. However, the family’s growth had made it so powerful that its exact financial resources were difficult to estimate, and their influence had seeped into government officials across many nations. In many capitalist countries, it’s a well-known but unspoken rule that financial oligarchs often control the government.

Thus, dismantling the James family would require a concerted effort from a majority of the world’s governments; any isolated attempt would be futile.

However, the exposure of the James family’s illegal imprisonment of scientific scholars provided an opportunity for these nations to unite in a collective effort. Even with the James family’s backing from several major powers, it wouldn’t be easy for those powers to shield them under such intense global scrutiny and the combined efforts of so many governments.

Moreover, whether these people will even choose to protect the James family is an interesting question in itself.

After all, the James family has always been arrogant, never taking anyone seriously. To them, those politicians who appear powerful in public are nothing but puppets and lackeys.

When a wall is about to collapse, everyone gives it a push.

At this moment, it’s the perfect opportunity to kick them while they’re down. With the fall of the James family, their remaining assets and wealth are nothing but tantalizing pieces of meat for the taking.

The prosecution representative presented all the evidence.

Although the viewers in the livestream couldn’t see the evidence, the victims’ interviews and personal testimonies had already spread across various national networks.

As the trial unfolded, the emotions of netizens from different countries ran high:

“They must be severely punished! This is solid evidence! Professor Abbes from our country was one of the victims. We all thought he died in a tragic accident while traveling. The entire nation mourned. Who would have thought it was because of this? If we hadn’t lost Professor Abbes, our OLIH project wouldn’t have been delayed for so long…”

“And Mr. Loris from our country—he was once considered a beacon of hope for our nation, but his life was wasted just like that…”

“And Professor Cheng Jun from our country! Back then, our country was so poor and underdeveloped. We were counting on these professors to lead our progress. But before they could even shine, they were taken by this James family…”

“They say the Orpheus Group belongs to the James family. No wonder the Orpheus Group has developed so rapidly, with its technological products far ahead of competitors. They’ve been capturing the top talents from various countries to do research. With such a formidable team, how could they not be ahead?”

“This is terrifying. How enormous and insane is the James family that they completely disregard the authority of nations?”

“Many financial oligarchs are like this. The power of some European financial families is even greater than that of small countries. That’s just how it is in capitalist regions…”

“When there’s over 300% profit to be made, people will ignore all laws and obstacles to pursue it.”

Netizens continued to discuss and analyze the situation. Many of the comments, though blunt, struck at the heart of the matter: it all boiled down to the lure of profit.

However, no matter how powerful the James family is, once they’ve enraged the masses, the consequences will be dire.

Especially when it comes to the illegal detention of scientists—this is crossing a major line. Even the most arrogant of superpowers wouldn’t dare go too far. They might issue threats, but always within certain limits, relying more on incentives than force. If people were casually abducted, the entire world would descend into chaos, and who among the scientific community would dare to step into the spotlight?

Knowledge is the foundation of human progress.

While the importance of scholars might not have been as recognized in the past during feudal times, in the modern era, everyone understands their significance. Regardless of the circumstances, all nations have adopted a tacit understanding to respect and protect scholars.

Scholars hold a special status in the world because they carry the hope of human advancement.

The James family has gone too far this time—what they’ve done is utterly ruthless. If they are not eradicated as a warning to others, it could set a precedent, leading to a catastrophe for humanity worldwide.

But the James family isn’t going to admit guilt so easily.

Knowing the severity of their actions, they naturally prepared thoroughly for the fallout.

“This is all slander. Our family members did nothing of the sort!”

In the international court, the James family denied all charges. Their lawyers promptly presented various pieces of exculpatory evidence they had long prepared.

Although the prosecution’s evidence was substantial, the James family had anticipated the exposure and taken measures to shield themselves. All the suspects involved appeared on the surface to have no direct connection to the James family.

As such, they could argue that this was all a baseless accusation. Without the most direct evidence, there was no way to convict them.

As for the repercussions of this confrontation, the James family was confident that their years of accumulated power would help them weather the storm.

Thus, the James family remained very calm.

Fortunately, the alliance pushing the lawsuit had anticipated this scenario and had also prepared accordingly.

The prosecution representative calmly glanced at the defiant members of the James family and then addressed the judge:

“The James family is not entirely wrong in their claim. The evidence we have presented so far and the suspects involved do indeed appear, on the surface, to be unrelated to the James family. However… we have one more piece of testimony.”

As he spoke, someone next to the prosecution representative stepped out, and soon a young man with a gentle demeanor and handsome Chinese features was brought into the courtroom.

This person was none other than Shi Liangchen!

The rest of the James family showed little reaction upon seeing Shi Liangchen because they had no idea who he was. When Moore had initially recruited Shi Liangchen and discovered his extraordinary scientific talent, he sought to tightly control such a valuable asset to solidify his position as the family’s heir. As a result, no one in the James family, except for Moore’s close confidants, knew of Shi Liangchen’s existence.

At this moment, only Moore’s expression changed drastically.

“Moore, who is he?”

The other members of the James family, noticing Moore’s sudden change in demeanor, sensed something was wrong and anxiously asked in low voices. The family’s laboratory was under Moore’s management, so seeing his reaction, they began to worry—could something have gone wrong in the lab?

And indeed, their fears were not unfounded.

Moore, hearing their questions, dared not respond. No matter how confident and self-assured he usually was, he now found himself overwhelmed with anxiety, unable to meet the gazes of the other family members. His hands clenched tightly, his fingernails digging into his flesh as sweat beaded on his forehead. His bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Shi Liangchen.

Shi Liangchen knew many of Moore’s secrets, and he was involved in the disappearance of those professors from the laboratory. Moer could barely fathom what Shi Liangchen might reveal.

And Shi Liangchen did not disappoint.

After being questioned by the judge, Shi Liangchen immediately produced a USB drive, his expression a mix of despair and sorrow.

“…At the time, I only wanted to take my sister abroad for treatment. To cover her medical expenses, I attempted to sell my software programs to Orpheus Corporation. However, under the threats from Mr. Moore, I was forced to work for them…”

“After entering the laboratory, I learned that many people had died before me. Fearing I might meet the same fate—silently and without a trace—I secretly made a lot of preparations.”

“This USB drive contains video footage from the time I entered the laboratory until I was rescued, including evidence of every project I participated in and all the James family members I came into contact with… There’s also another video…”

At this point, tears began to stream down Shi Liangchen’s face, his reddened eyes filled with grief.

“One of the videos was captured by a camera I left on my sister. My sister wasn’t able to be saved. These people, to force me out and exact revenge, heartlessly tortured my sister to death…”

As a victim, Shi Liangchen’s sorrowful and angry recounting of the James family’s crimes struck deeper than any piece of evidence.

Especially when the video of Moore venting his rage on Shi Meijing, torturing her to death, was revealed during the court proceedings, it caused an uproar both in the courtroom and online.

Although public opinion cannot directly determine legal guilt, it can undoubtedly influence a judge’s decision.

If the aim was to strike a blow, it had to be done thoroughly, leaving the James family no room for recovery. Stirring up international political outrage and global public anger were two entirely different matters.

In the previous life, the James family had also been brought to trial, but the outcome had been far less satisfactory.

Even though most people could see that the James family had indeed engaged in numerous illegal activities, the lack of direct evidence and the family’s surface-level “charitable” acts had ultimately shielded them.

Lastly, with the help of Yan Tong, who was at the peak of his influence on the international stage at the time, the James family successfully evaded conviction. The general public knew too little and couldn’t fully grasp the true significance of illegally imprisoning scientific researchers, nor did they understand the true, vile nature of the James family.

But if there were a more straightforward video…

Since the direct evidence against the James family from before could no longer be found, it was time to create new evidence.

Shi Liangchen locked eyes with Moore, who was fuming with rage, and his mind flashed back to everything from his previous life. He could have escaped with Ziyang, but it was his so-called good sister who tipped them off. It was Moore’s ruthless actions that led to all the tragedies that followed.

He would never forget the regret he felt at the moment of his death;
He could never erase the despair of seeing the news of Ziyang’s death;
His greatest regret over two lifetimes was treating Shi Meijing as his real sister.

These people had turned his life into a living hell, so they could all join him in the abyss!

“Moore, you will die a miserable death…”

Shi Liangchen stared at Moore, his eyes equally bloodshot, filled with deep, seething hatred. Even though he had seen Moore’s downfall in his previous life, that was due to someone else’s efforts. Now, he had finally exacted his own revenge!

The others had no idea what was going through Shi Liangchen’s mind. Seeing his expression, they assumed he was driven to hatred by the persecution he had endured. The rest of the James family members, realizing the weight of the evidence, looked grim.

That useless Moore—he had let a spy infiltrate and gather so much damning evidence!

Seeing no way to escape, someone in the James family quickly signaled the defense lawyer. The lawyer promptly stood up to argue, attempting to shift all the blame onto Moore, claiming that his actions were personal and did not represent the entire James family.

At this point, throwing Moore under the bus was the best option.

However, at that moment, the prosecution brought forward another witness.

Another witness? What other witness could there be?

The expressions of the James family members were beyond grim. After the unexpected testimony from Shi Liangchen, they could only imagine that Moore had more secrets hidden from them.

When Moore heard there was another witness, his face changed once again, as if he realized something terrible.

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James Family Illegally Detains Dozens of Scientists

M Team and James Family Illegally Steal Others’ Research Results

The day after the M team’s “Realistic Pet” experienced another product malfunction, legal personnel from the International Court arrived at the technology competition with subpoenas, instantly pushing these two headlines to the forefront of international news.

Unsurprisingly, as the entire world was closely watching the technology competition, these two news items caused a massive uproar. Everyone who saw the news couldn’t help but be shocked, with the first thought being: How is this even possible?

It wasn’t that people had so much faith in the James family or the M team, but rather that these allegations were too unbelievable. Whether it was the illegal detention of dozens of scientists or the illegal theft of others’ research results, these were heinous crimes that were utterly unforgivable. Once exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Yet, no matter how incredulous people felt, the fact that subpoenas and legal personnel were present from the International Court meant this was no joke.

That very day, international live streams and forums buzzed with discussions:

“Is this real? Detaining scientists and stealing research results? I feel like I’m dreaming…”

“I don’t know if it’s true, but this is definitely serious. When the International Court’s legal personnel show up with subpoenas, you know it’s not a laughing matter.”

“I just checked the latest news—apparently, 58 countries jointly submitted this case to the International Court. The scientists who were detained mostly came from these countries, with the highest numbers being from Huaguo, N country, and L country…”

“Wow, that many? Has the James family gone insane? They’re just a financial conglomerate; how could they have that much power?”

“You must be out of the loop—believe it or not, the James family really does have that kind of influence. As far as I know, they’re one of the largest financial conglomerates in Europe, completely independent of national control…”

The discussion among netizens was intense.

While most ordinary people might not be familiar with the James family, some did know about them. After some explanations, people quickly began to understand just how powerful the James family was. Given this context, the sudden news wasn’t quite as unbelievable.

Moreover, the idea of stealing research from Huaguo shocked people even more. After all, before this technology competition, Huaguo’s technological level was quite apparent to everyone.

Given Huaguo’s previous technological standing, why would the James family and the M team even bother with Huaguo? Isn’t Europe, with its leading technology, good enough? What about all those scientists the James family supposedly detained? Did they achieve nothing, that they still needed to resort to theft?

Yet the facts were what they were:

“Huaguo’s previous technological prowess might not have been prominent, but that doesn’t mean Huaguo was truly behind. Remember, Huaguo has one of the largest populations in the world. With such a massive population base, imagine how many talented individuals they must have. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to catch up from such a backward and impoverished state in just a few decades…”

“Huaguo has an old saying, ‘pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger.’ Everyone probably knows how weak Huaguo was in the early days after its founding. At that time, many countries imposed technological blockades on Huaguo, which was also plagued by internal turmoil, natural disasters, and other crises. Even if they had something good, they wouldn’t dare to reveal it.

It’s said that the research results suspected of being stolen this time came from a scientific family in Huaguo. You know Fang Ziyang and Tang Xun, right? The two brothers are descendants of that scientific family…

I’ve heard that the M team’s products in this technology competition kept malfunctioning because the data they stole wasn’t complete…

If you carefully compare the products of the M team and the Huaguo team in this competition, don’t you see a lot of similarities? I had already been suspecting that the lead researchers of the two teams might share the same lineage.

If all this is true, it’s terrifying. When is the public trial going to be held? I’m taking a day off to watch the live stream on that day!”

Driven by the curiosity and the deliberate efforts of numerous netizens from around the world, the incidents of the “James family illegally detaining dozens of scientists” and “the M team and the James family illegally stealing others’ research results” quickly spiraled out of control.

Moore was caught completely off guard by the situation.

As a result, the technology competition had to be halted.

What was originally a technology competition that had the world’s attention suddenly shifted focus, with the entire world now fixated on an international court trial.

People couldn’t focus on the competition anymore until the case was resolved.

Especially since the case involved the research results presented in the technology competition.

In the end, under immense global pressure, the technology competition was paused, and the trial was quickly organized.

–

Fang Ziyang wasn’t surprised by this outcome at all.

Because everything was orchestrated by him; he had been waiting for this day for a long time.

When he initially cooperated with the authorities, their ultimate goal was never really to win the technology competition.

Although the championship was important, the main purpose of participating was to showcase their country’s technological prowess to the world, to use the platform to build the nation’s image. The championship title would just be the icing on the cake.

So far, everything they had done had achieved the desired results.

But taking down the James family was his real goal, something the authorities were more than happy to see happen.

As long as the James family existed, Moore would remain a thorn in his side, and the grudges from the past life would never be resolved.

**

On the eve of the trial, Fang Yandong, Fang Qianhao, and Xie Wenxu were also brought out from prison.

They had all previously had access to the research data from the “golden finger” and were to testify in court.

Seeing them again after nearly two years, all three looked much more haggard, both in appearance and spirit. When Fang Yandong and Fang Qianhao looked at Fang Ziyang, their eyes still held resentment, but they no longer had the same air of superiority and control as before.

Especially Fang Yandong.

The once well-maintained, mature, and handsome man was now a shadow of his former self—his hair had turned gray, wrinkles were prominent, and he looked at least twenty years older than his peers, weathered and worn out.

They naturally hated Fang Ziyang. If it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t have ended up in their current situation.

Fang Yandong deeply regretted not being more ruthless back then. When his youngest son was born, he should have strangled him to death instead of going through all that trouble! He should have realized that this son, with his blood running through his veins, was as fierce as a wolf. When it came to dealing with his own father, this son showed no mercy at all!

Despite his hatred, Fang Yandong knew that he no longer had the power to fight against his son. The victor writes history, and losing to his own son wasn’t something he found shameful. Now, more than Fang Ziyang, his greatest hatred was directed at Yan Tong! His youngest son was indeed ruthless and heartless, but the reason he and his eldest son fell so quickly and so miserably was entirely due to that vile person, Yan Tong.

If it weren’t for Yan Tong, it wouldn’t have been so easy for his youngest son to bring him down. And to make matters worse, his eldest son had been driven to the brink of madness by that wretch. Even if he were to be released from prison, his life would be ruined, and he would never be able to recover…

Fang Yandong and his son, both haggard and full of hatred, did not dare to speak up.

On the other hand, Xie Wenxu appeared much calmer. Of course, he also hated Yan Tong, but more than hatred, he now felt deep regret and pain. No one knew the torment he endured every day beneath his calm exterior.

Unlike Fang Yandong and his son, who were originally enemies of Fang Ziyang, Xie Wenxu had personally destroyed his own happiness, throwing away everything good he once had. Even though two years had passed and he had grown accustomed to the pain, when he saw Fang Ziyang again, Xie Wenxu couldn’t help but feel a lump in his throat. Seeing Fang Ziyang and Xie Zheng holding hands so intimately, countless thoughts raced through his mind. But in the end, all he could manage to say, with a choked voice, were three simple words.

“I’m sorry…”

Beyond these three words, he didn’t know what else to say. Should he say he regretted it? Should he say he now realized that the person he truly loved was still Fang Ziyang? Should he offer his blessings? He couldn’t bring himself to say any of it. All those words felt empty and powerless, only adding to the burden.

He didn’t even have the right to express regret. Even saying “I’m sorry” seemed hollow.

Their eyes met.

When Fang Ziyang saw the three of them in handcuffs, his expression didn’t change. There was no lingering resentment over the past, nor was there any satisfaction in seeing his enemies in a bad state. His demeanor was calm, and his gaze was steady, as if he were looking at three strangers.

The past was behind him, and he wouldn’t waste any more energy on people who didn’t deserve it. Dwelling on the past would only prevent him from moving forward.

He walked past them calmly, squeezing Xie Zheng’s hand firmly as he looked at Xie Zheng’s handsome profile. His heart was filled with peace and happiness, and a smile spread from the corners of his eyes.

He was about to experience true rebirth.

No matter how many nightmares he had endured, fate had always favored him. He was not someone who had been abandoned. Like everyone else, he could have the happiness that was within reach.

…

On November 28th, after less than a week of buildup, and with votes from people all over the world and the joint petition of 58 countries, the highly anticipated “James Family Case” finally went to trial at the International Court of Justice, broadcasted live to the world.

The court session began, with the judges, lawyers, and all parties involved, including the accused, the plaintiffs, all implicated parties, and witnesses, taking their seats.

The journalists were ready.

The live broadcast was ready.

After a simple yet solemn opening ceremony, the presiding judge announced the start of the trial.

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The theme for the fourth round of the competition was “Entertainment.” Given the foundation laid by the earlier use of holographic technology in the mental relaxation device, when people heard that the Huaguo team’s entry for the fourth round was a holographic game, they felt nothing but excitement and amazement, without the previous skepticism.

Was it really the kind of holographic game they were imagining? Not just an empty slogan?

“Yes, our holographic game this time is entirely based on the holographic technology used in the mental relaxation device, but the two are fundamentally different…”

The fourth-round entry was different from the previous ones. Since it was a large-scale, multiplayer online holographic game, the true experience would naturally be better with more people involved. So Fang Ziyang and his team were more than happy to ride the wave of excitement and hype up their entry to draw in the crowd.

Although both the holographic game and the mental relaxation device used holographic technology, they were indeed fundamentally different. The latter’s primary function was to soothe and treat nervous fatigue, with the holographic technology adding an element of fun to the treatment. However, the time spent in the holographic world was highly restricted.

The holographic game, on the other hand, was a true game. The audience could fully immerse themselves in the holographic world as a second life.

As soon as this news broke, people went wild again. No one had expected that the Huaguo team had come so thoroughly prepared, presenting something in each round that left everyone astounded.

“Damn, really, at this point, I don’t even know what words to use to describe my feelings. This is so thrilling, isn’t it?”

“After their previous performances, I expected the Huaguo team to bring out something extraordinary next, but this still exceeded my expectations…”

“No, actually, when I first saw the mental relaxation device, I was already thinking that if Huaguo’s holographic technology had reached that level, there might be a holographic game later on. And now there really is!”

“Regretting not getting a ticket to be in the audience!”

“Regret not getting a ticket, count me in!”

“I regret it so much I could scream my ID number!”

Both online and in-person audiences were completely overwhelmed by this unexpected delight.

When the fourth round officially began the next day, it was no surprise that the Huaguo team’s exhibition area was instantly swamped with people. Within ten minutes of the competition starting, long lines had already formed, leaving the surrounding teams envious.

This was just too overwhelming! It felt like they were only there to serve as a backdrop in this competition!

Even the highly realistic simulation pets presented by the M team paled in comparison for the moment.

It’s not that the other teams’ entries were bad; it’s just that in the face of the allure of holographic gaming, very few things could compare.

…

The M team was also left in the dust.

All the members’ faces were grim to the extreme.

They had been so confident before the competition, but now they felt equally crushed—utterly crushed.

“If we had known it would be like this, we should have just brought the stuff we originally prepared. At least we wouldn’t be dealing with so many problems now…”

Someone couldn’t help but mutter quietly.

However, in the pin-drop silence of the room, the voice wasn’t quiet at all. Everyone present heard it clearly.

No one spoke for a moment, but most of them actually agreed with the sentiment.

The products they brought this time weren’t their own creations; they were all items that had been intercepted and repurposed after the James family and some high-level officials had collaborated. As a result, they didn’t fully understand the technology behind these products.

Now that problems were arising and Mr. Moore’s technicians hadn’t shown up, they were struggling to fix things.

And when they looked at the Huaguo team’s products…

They realized that maybe they should have just brought their original research products. Even if they couldn’t win, at least they wouldn’t be making fools of themselves. Now, they had advanced only because of the biased decisions of the judges from their own countries, which didn’t feel fair or honorable.

Although every country had its own ambitions and everyone wanted to win, for most of these technicians, earning honors through underhanded means brought a sense of shame and insecurity.

“I’m going to check out if their holographic game is really that impressive. A holographic game isn’t something you can just make by having holographic technology!”

Some of them couldn’t accept the idea that someone who had been so far behind them had suddenly caught up.

“Yeah, we should see for ourselves.”

“To really know if it’s good, it takes someone with technical expertise like us.”

“Let’s go together. I refuse to believe it…”

With someone taking the lead, others quickly chimed in.

Finally, the M team members decided to take turns going over to the Huaguo team’s area to experience the game firsthand, whether out of disbelief or curiosity.

They figured that to know your enemy and yourself is the key to a hundred victories. Even if they lost, they wanted to understand exactly why.

So, in groups of threes and fours, they took turns heading to the Huaguo team’s area.

But when they returned after trying out the game, not a single one of them could find anything more to say. The game’s holographic technology had reached a highly refined level, with its storylines, logic, and real-life-quality graphics, not to mention the tactile sensations… Everything was flawless.

The only complaint they could make was that, for the sake of players’ health, the game had a daily login limit of no more than eight hours!

Lost.

This competition was a total loss for them.

Throughout the entire half-month exhibition period, the Huaguo team’s area undoubtedly saw the highest traffic, earning them a well-deserved first place.

Although the M team’s “ultra-realistic simulated pets” couldn’t match the allure of the holographic game, it still managed to attract a large audience later on. After all, the current technology for simulating real pets is quite limited, and the M team’s robotic pets were impressively realistic, far surpassing the current standards.

The level of realism was so high that, if you didn’t look too closely at the details, it almost felt like interacting with a real animal.

At this rate, the M team was a shoo-in for second place.

But what no one expected was that the M team’s product ran into trouble again!

“What? There’s been an injury incident involving the ultra-realistic simulated pets?”

When Moore received the call from the competition site, the blood vessels in his eyes were nearly popping out.

The voice on the other end was trembling,
“Yes, Master Moore, the ultra-realistic simulated pets have caused numerous injuries, though none of them are severe. However, it has caused a significant impact, and the audience’s reaction is very intense…

According to reports from the team members, it appears to be a program malfunction, and there’s also an issue with the material used in the product. They’re hoping you can quickly send over the R&D team; otherwise, it will be difficult to manage the situation.”

“Stall them for now; I’ll figure something out…”

Moore didn’t immediately agree but gave a brief instruction to stall for time.

After hanging up, Moore furiously threw his phone across the room.

Send the R&D team over? His lab’s key researchers had long since vanished; where was he supposed to find people to send?

Although the issues with “Healthy Motion” had some impact last time, they occurred near the end of the competition, so the problem didn’t seem too severe on the surface. Once handled properly, the impact wasn’t as significant as expected.

But this time with “Realistic Pets” was different.

Product-related injuries and product malfunctions are two completely different issues.

Even though the injuries were not severe, mostly just scares, it clearly indicated that the product had the potential to pose a safety hazard!

The audience can tolerate a product with subpar technology, a lack of innovation, or even a half-finished product like the hovercar. However, they absolutely cannot tolerate a product with safety risks.

Bringing a product to compete that doesn’t even meet basic safety standards is an utter disregard for the lives of the people—a completely unacceptable attitude!

After the incident, the audience at the scene immediately began to protest.

One middle-aged man was causing the biggest uproar. He was a single father who had brought his daughter on this trip to relax and have fun. Since his daughter had been frail since childhood, he was extremely cautious about her health. Despite being intrigued by the products at the Huaguo team’s exhibition, he was hesitant to let his daughter try them out. He was concerned about potential risks, such as the flying motion or neural stimulation in the holographic technology, fearing it might harm his daughter. He didn’t want to take any chances.

However, the realistic pets from the M team caught his attention. His daughter, due to her poor health, had few friends and couldn’t often go out and play. He had considered getting her a pet before but worried that a real animal might become aggressive and hurt her, or that it might carry parasites. After much thought, he had always decided against it. But now, the M team’s realistic pets seemed perfect—highly realistic, with intelligent programming, providing the experience of having a real pet without the risks of aggression or parasites.

But then…

The middle-aged man was horrified when the product malfunctioned, and the realistic pet suddenly went berserk. Although his daughter wasn’t physically hurt, she was so frightened that it took her a long time to recover, which deeply angered her father.

“How can you present a product that doesn’t even meet basic safety standards? This is absolutely unacceptable! You must give me an explanation!” the man shouted furiously at the live broadcast cameras.

Other frightened users also voiced their complaints, causing an uproar at the scene.

Viewers from various countries, watching the M team’s product malfunction yet again, were left in shock. Many couldn’t help but start posting comments:

“How can they present a product that doesn’t even address safety issues? This is outrageous…”

“Thank goodness none of the users had heart conditions or anything like that—this scare could have been deadly!”

“This is the second time now. The ‘Healthy Motion’ product also had issues before. Two incidents can’t just be a coincidence. If the technology isn’t ready, they really shouldn’t rush to showcase it—this is irresponsible.”

“I agree. While it’s understandable to want to win, the safety of the products should be the top priority…”

Since this competition was being live-streamed, any mishap became public instantly, making it impossible for the organizers to cover it up. They had to deal with the pressure of being scrutinized by viewers from around the world.

As the situation escalated, even the organizers, who might have wanted to protect the M team, couldn’t do so blatantly under such intense public scrutiny.

And just at this critical moment, a subpoena from the International Court pushed the already embattled M team and the James family into the global spotlight, making headlines in international news.

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