Chapter 1 Three Years
“Master, you said you would travel around the world all your life if you couldn’t reach Apotheosis. You also asked me to go to Hamana and protect the Yao family. You were worried I would get into trouble if I show too much in front of outsiders. So you asked me to pretend to be a fragile, weak, and unambitious wretch for three years and joined the Yao family. Therefore, everyone would just think I’m just a good-for-nothing rubbish and anyone could insults me.”
“Finally, I don’t need to hide any longer.”
“I’ve passed through the tribulations and reached Anterior Heaven. From now on, I can do whatever I like in this world.”
On the Ravenclaw Cliff, three cups of liquor were placed on a stone table.
After speaking, Xiao Shun picked up a cup of liquor and splashed off the cliff. Then he picked up the second one and splashed the liquor onto the Ravenclaw Cliff stone tablet.
The liquor reflected the starlight in the dark.
Xiao Shun felt frustrated. His master had promised the ancestors of the Yao family to protect their family for three generations. So far, two generations had been guarded. His master asked Xiao Shun to shelter the last generation on his behalf.
According to Xiao Shun’s master, their fate with the Yao family would end after the third generation ended.
“Master, if you hadn’t asked me to keep a low profile and hide my competence, how would I have been humiliated by those people. I wonder what they’ll look like after today,” Xiao Shun chuckled.
When he picked up the third cup of liquor, his phone rang in the coat pocket.
Xiao Shun checked the number, surprised. He didn’t expect her to call him.
The call from his nominal wife, Yao Cen.
To better protect the Yao family, Xiao Shun pretended to be an ordinary man who got lucky and chosen by Yao Changhe, the former head of the family, and married Yao Cen. In fact, after getting married, he became the guardian of the Yao family secretly.
Over three years, Xiao Shun had never failed to play his role as a good-for-nothing. Even Yao Cen despised him. They were a nominal couple without any intimate interactions.
Xiao Shun swiped to answer and heard the familiar, cold voice in an angry tone.
“Where the heck have you been? Why haven’t you arrived yet?”
“I’m…”
“I don’t care where you’ve been. Don’t forget what you’ve promised me. Come right here. Now! It’s Grandpa Zhenshu’s birthday banquet. Everyone in the family has arrived except you. I’ve wired twenty thousand dollars to your account. Get yourself a nice envelope and get right over here.”
“You’ll have only ten minutes.”
With those words, she ended the call determinedly.
Yao Zhenshu was the current head of the Yao family and Yao Changhe’s younger brother. After Yao Changhe had passed away in an accident, Yao Zhenshu took over his position.
Xiao Shun put away his phone and cast a last glance at the bamboo cabin.
Then he turned around and spiritedly strode down the mountain.
Three years had passed. Xiao Shun would do everything he planned to do freely.
…
It was October, early autumn. Hamana City.
Xiao Shun went down the mountain and back downtown, heading for Oceanview Restaurant. Yao Zhenshu’s birthday banquet was held there, and he also received the invitation surprisingly.
When he saw a bank, he recalled Yao Cen’s words and entered it.
He didn’t care about any gift, but it was Yao Zhenshu’s birthday, so he didn’t want to disgrace Yao Cen.
As soon as he entered the lobby, he saw a young lady with an extraordinary temperament helping a gray-haired man to a seat.
The manager of the bank said to them respectfully, “Please wait for a moment, Mr. Song. We’ll fetch your item immediately.” Plastering a smile, the manager turned away with the deposit receipt.
When he noticed Xiao Shun’s gaze, Song Zhenhai nodded at him kindly.
“What a spirited young man.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
He had seen many young, talented men, but he could tell Xiao Shun had an outstanding temperament, so he wanted to make friends with this young man.
Xiao Shun sure didn’t know what was on his mind. He just stared at the old man and noticed his lips were dark, and the area between his eyebrows was yellowish, and his eyes were bloodshot. Xiao Shun could tell those were the symptoms of severe sickness.
“Mister, please take good care of yourself. You might want to have a checkup in the hospital,” Xiao Shun reminded the old man kindly and turned around.
“Oops! Is that you, Xiao Shun?” a playful voice sounded.
Xiao Shun looked in that direction, only to find a man with neatly combed hair and gold-rimmed glasses walking down from the second floor.
Xiao Shun furrowed his brows slightly.
The man speaking was Wang Kaijie. He and Yao Cen went to the same university and he was one of her countless pursuers.
Unlike other pursuers from affluent families, Wang Kaijie was an ordinary but hard working man and after the years, he had made his way to the assistant attending physician of thoracic surgery at Hamana City Hospital.
He often visited Yao Cen with all kinds of gifts.
“I’m talking to you. Are you deaf?” Wang Kaijie stopped before Xiao Shun and snapped.
Wang Kaijie disdained Xiao Shun to the extreme. In his opinion, Xiao Shun was just a lucky bastard who had married Yao Cen, whom he had been pursuing for many years.
Whenever he thought of the goddess of his dream on the same bed with Xiao Shun, Wang Kaijie would seethe with rage and wished to become Xiao Shun.
“Humph! What a loser! You can’t even speak. Xiao Shun, I wonder what’s so good about you. How could they let you marry Yao Cen? I’m afraid a man like you has never entered the VIP lounge on the second floor.”
“I’m only 26, but I’ve become an attending physician at the city hospital. I’ve been a surgeon for over a hundred operations. How about you? You are good for nothing. Every breath you take is a waste of our air, scumbag!” Wang Kaijie wantonly mocked Xiao Shun to vent his anger.
“You sound like a dog whose food has been snatched. You can’t do anything but bark.”
Xiao Shun looked at him calmly. In his opinion, Wang Kaijie was just an ant provoking an elephant. Xiao Shun even didn’t want to waste time and energy to retort to him.
“You fucking…” Wang Kaijie cursed.
However, suddenly, the young girl exclaimed behind them, “Grandpa!”
Xiao Shun turned around, only to find the old man faint on the floor. The old man’s face turned livid, and he kept twitching, almost dying.
The bank staff surrounded them with paled faces.
The young lady had burst into tears in a panic.
“Grandpa, are you all right? Grandpa?”
Before Xiao Shun walked to them, Wang Kaijie whispered triumphantly, “Moron, you’ve got only that mouth. However, you’re still good for nothing. You’ll soon understand the gap between us.”
Then he calmly squeezed into the crowd, approaching the old man.
“Move! I’m a doctor.”
Wang Kaijie pushed the onlookers away. His calmness and confidence quieted down the panicked onlookers.
“Dr. Wang from the city hospital? Great! The old man’s finally got some hope.”
“I’ve seen him before. He’s an excellent surgeon. I’m sure this mister will be fine.”
“How lucky! The bank manager received this old man in person. I’m sure he’s a bigwig. If something happens to him, we’ll be so doomed.”
When he heard the bank staff’s flattering, Wang Kaijie cast a complacent glance at Xiao Shun, feeling a strong sense of superiority.
“Don’t worry, ma’am. I’m here. Even Death cannot take your grandfather’s life away.”
The young lady shed tears, looking pitiful and adorable. Wang Kaijie scanned her body up and down, feeling appealed. Then he grinned at her confidently.
He checked on the old man, thinking the old man’s trachea or chest had been blocked by something. Therefore, he decided to get it out for him. Wang Kaijie squatted down, turned the old man around to let him lie on his lap, and patted the old man’s back several times. However, it didn’t work. Instead, blood oozed from the old man’s mouth. Wang Kaijie’s expression changed slightly.
He realized he had misjudged the case.