"Sister Ruoyan, why can't you evaluate this person?" Yueying asked, puzzled, beside her.
"Others' potential depends on the ability itself. For example, is his ability a full reflection of damage, or can it be developed to double the reflection? Is it guaranteed to reflect damage in the same location, or can it be developed to reflect damage to selected areas? Can it ignore the opponent's defenses? And so on." Yueying nodded thoughtfully.
Gu Ruoyan continued, "Based solely on this, his potential is extremely high; an S rating wouldn't be an exaggeration. If he truly develops it to its full potential, very few would be willing to fight him."
Yueying asked, "Then what factors besides his ability influence his evaluation?"
"Two aspects," Gu Ruoyan said. "First, the medium of feedback… For example, if someone lets their dog bite him, does he react back to the dog, or the dog's owner? If someone poisons him, does he react back to the germs, or the poisoner? Or, can these things be trained to target specific areas?"
Yueying: "Emmmm…"
"Second, his own physique, or rather, his vitality," Gu Ruoyan said. "If he dies from a single punch, while the other person is unharmed by the backlash, then his ability is useless. But if he survives a stab to the stomach, while the other person dies from the stab, then…"
Yueying understood: "He's just a weak scholar; this ability…" "Not very useful." Gu Ruoyan hesitated, "I know many superpowers can cause side effects, like his, which might lead to a weakened constitution. Of course, it might not; I don't know the specifics..." Yueying said resentfully, "Isn't that good? If he's too strong, it'll be inconvenient for me to take revenge later. It would be best if he just got weaker and weaker and died." Gu Ruoyan chuckled and shook her head, still saying, "I need to give feedback to the expert group so everyone can comment. How was your onboarding training?" Yueying bowed, "I'm fine. Everyone is very kind to me. Thank you, Sister Ruoyan." Gu Ruoyan sighed, "From now on... you'll have a tough time. We're the kind of department that people wouldn't even choose to marry into..."
...At Zhang Qi's house, the plump woman had already been asked to leave. His father, Zhang Xinglong, a famous entrepreneur in Nanjiang City, sat in his room, the father and son making tea. "Your methods were too drastic," Zhang Xinglong said slowly, sipping his tea. "Did you never intend to hide it from me? Were you confident that even if I knew, you wouldn't do anything to me?"
Zhang Qiren sat ramrod straight, his face still bearing the redness and swelling from the slap the fat woman had given him earlier, making him look somewhat comical, yet very serious. "It's because at that time, I simply couldn't think too much. Lin Wuyang was watching me, and it even involved a more terrifying government department. No matter how I thought about it, I felt like I was on a dead end. I just wanted to save myself, no matter how drastic the methods."
Zhang Xinglong smiled. "Why didn't you think about these things when you were planning to kill? You think we caused all of this, but why didn't you consider that you were the one who caused it all? On the contrary, if I hadn't managed to suppress it afterward, you would have been in even more trouble."
Zhang Qiren remained silent.
"Of course, you could also say that you were eager to climb the ranks at that time, or that this was simply our way of doing things, and Xiaoren did the same, so you can't be blamed… Everyone has their excuses." Zhang Xinglong sipped his tea, speaking slowly. "I didn't intend to criticize you for this. Indeed, this is how we do things."
Zhang Qiren looked up at him.
"Your recent actions have been quite impressive, truly," Zhang Xinglong smiled. "Although they were still a bit too hasty. Look, your aunt had no evidence to believe it was you, yet she still came knocking—some things don't need evidence. But for me, your actions were written all over my face, every single detail revealing your true intentions."
Zhang Qiren sighed. "My authority and abilities are limited; it's hard to act without any fuss."
Zhang Xinglong shook his head. "You have great ideas… but you lack experience, you lack refinement. Or perhaps you've been holding back too much? This has led to your current overconfidence, hurting both yourself and others."
Zhang Qiren was quite surprised. He had thought his father had come to interrogate him; after all, the real estate company being investigated for taxes wasn't just a tragedy for Zhang Xiaoren, but a significant loss for the family as well.
But his father's words were actually a lecture?
Zhang Xinglong didn't say anything more, instead changing the subject: "Be careful with your contact with the 'black room'… Zhong Yi is not a simple person."
Zhang Qiren's heart skipped a beat.
"You think you hired the Black Room, used them to deal with the Wang family, and secretly leaked information to them, using the pressure of their retaliation to force them to ally with you? A good idea," Zhang Xinglong chuckled. "But what if Zhong Yi himself wanted this? To both strike at the Wang family and get close to you to obtain evidence of our family's illegal activities?"
"Damn," Zhang Qiren blurted out.
"Of course, I can't be sure. Zhong Yi's background is a bit strange; we should be careful."
Zhang Qiren felt a certain admiration. He realized he had underestimated everyone and been too aggressive.
Looking at his father's face, he saw he had aged considerably, his face wrinkled, his temples white, but his sharp, hawk-like eyes hadn't changed over the years.
He always felt his father was a very cold and ruthless person. He hadn't cared for him, his illegitimate son, more than a few times in over twenty years, and even towards Zhang Xiaoren, he seemed to have little concern.
Zhang Qiren didn't even know what his father had been pursuing in his life. "Regarding the Wang family matter, you can continue cooperating with Zhong Yi to deal with them." Zhang Xinglong finished his tea in one gulp, slamming it down on the table. His eyes, fixed on Zhang Qiren, sharpened. "Have you considered something..."
Zhang Qiren jolted. "What?"
"If spiritual energy resurges, will it only affect people? What about objects?"
Zhang Qiren gripped his teacup tightly.
So that's how it is.
Many disputes aren't about superficial industrial competition or personal vendettas.
Some people are pursuing something else entirely.
The sudden ringing of his phone interrupted Zhang Qiren's thoughts. He answered casually, "Who is this?"
"Mr. Zhang? This is Zhong Yi. Shall we talk about the Wang family matter?"
Zhang Qiren glanced at his father and smiled slightly. "Okay."
At that moment, a strange thought surfaced in his mind:
Compared to his days writing books, am I now living like a character in a book?
...The real character in the book, however, is carrying a small basket, buying groceries at the market.
After visiting Wan Zijun and Panda at the hospital, Chu Ge was immediately sent back to her writing by Qiu Wuji. As her assistant, she could handle the mundane tasks like grocery shopping herself.
"This pig liver doesn't look very good, can you give me a discount?"
"This is already very cheap, beautiful."
No one, including Chu Ge herself, had ever imagined that Qiu Wuji would haggle over a few cents at the market.
Qiu Wuji herself never haggled when buying vegetables before; she would just accept whatever the vendor quoted. How could a dignified Immortal Sect Master do such a thing?
Besides, now that she had more money, she didn't know why she suddenly started haggling over a few cents…
It was like… slowly remembering her past as a human, pestering a peddler for an extra piece of candy.
So she did it.
As Qiu Wuji uttered the bargaining suggestion, her face flushed slightly, but she still forced a smile and said, "Round the price, please." The stall owner looked at the beautiful woman with amusement. She clearly didn't know how to bargain; a true bargainer wouldn't start by only offering a small discount. That was something she only did at the very end of the negotiation.
Seeing Qiu Wuji's blushing face, the stall owner chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, alright, it's really rare to see such a pretty girl buying groceries these days. Your husband is lucky." Qiu Wuji watched the stall owner weigh the vegetables, too lazy to argue about her husband's presence. Instead, a long-lost sense of accomplishment welled up inside her.
I actually managed to bargain successfully!
Doesn't this make me look even less like the character in the book?
In the rented room, Chu Ge was reviewing Qiu Wuji's opening draft from yesterday, pondering and revising a few minor points. He tentatively published Chapter 1 in the work's related section: "[Extra Chapter] Qiu Wuji's Autobiography," Chapter 1.
The comment section instantly erupted.