Chapter 36 – Together

In the end, after discussing this serious issue with his youngest son, Old Master Feng decided to adopt a wait-and-see approach. Simply thinking about this complicated situation gave him a headache.

Hao Ritian, meanwhile, couldn't have known that a single white jade chess set would trigger so many things. He was at home, abandoning himself to a life of pleasure. He didn't need to do anything but play video games and chess, and when he remembered, go over his homework. During weekends, Qi An would drop by, his eyes going red with envy on witnessing Hao Ritian's everyday life.

"Please make me your sugar baby, Mr. Moneybags!" Qi An wailed as he threw himself at Hao Ritian, about to hug his thigh. Hao Ritian swiftly dodged him, causing Qi An to pounce on air instead and land directly on bed at the back of the room.

Qi An simply laid on his back and rolled over. "When are you going to school?"

Qin An was very happy for Hao Ritian for inheriting such a big asset. With Qin An's brain capacity, the most he could think of was that at least this proved his friend would never want for anything in the future.

Hao Ritian, under Qin An's persistent 'harassment', was no longer able to ignore him. And when he was in a good mood, would even respond to his questions. Like now. "Monday."

Asking for a week of leave was enough and neither Papa Ou nor Mu Rou would possibly allow him to stay at home all the time. It wouldn't be good for him.

Qin An brightened at his reply. Ziwen hadn't been to school this week. So, he hadn't been able to see him. He'd been holding back bucketloads of words that he wished to say to him. But now—

He winked at Hao Ritian and said mysteriously, "Ziwen, you've been getting a lot of attention lately, do you want to know why?"

Qin An couldn't help himself and wanted to gossip first.

Hao Ritian ignored Qin An's expectant look. He knew that even if he didn't respond, Qin An wouldn't be able to help but spill everything out.

Just as he expected, in less than a minute, Qin An flipped around like a carp on the bed and sat up. His spirits weren't at all weakened by Hao Ritian's disregard, but instead, became cheerier. "Because of your dad! I'm telling you, your dad is a kickass. I don't know why but your dad and uncle had a falling-out and started crossing swords in the business world. Your uncle is, in no way, your dad's match. In just a week's time, his industry shrank by a portion and even the stock value of his company is continuing to decrease. Isn't that incredible?"

Naturally, he didn't give too many details. He had heard from external sources that the reason they had a falling-out was because Uncle Ou's second son had secretly spread the fact that Mu Ziwen was autistic, wanting to ruin his reputation and force him to be ostracised. 'It is the fault of the father if the child is not taught well', so after Papa Ou learned that it was his nephew who started the rumour, he held Uncle Ou accountable.

Earlier, the news that Ou Yu had found his son and handed most of his industry over to this autistic son had given rise to much discussion. Many people laughed that Ou Yu had gone soft in the head and, of course, considered Mu Ziwen to be a joke too. Qin An became indignant when he caught wind of the rumours. Therefore, when Papa Ou struck back, Papa Ou suddenly became an extraordinarily handsome man as tall as 2.8 meters, in his eyes.

Ou Yu was good friends with a multitude of people, some of which did business with Uncle Ou out of respect for Papa Ou. With Papa Ou's decisive actions, they understood where the wind was blowing and many chose to dissociate themselves from Uncle Ou. Nevertheless, Uncle Ou's main business was in the electronics industry so using a week's time to shrink his business was actually an extremely difficult task, even with Papa Ou's abilities. However, he had Feng Qi secretly assisting him in the dark.

Feng Qi had contacts from all walks of life, and though the Feng Family didn't engage in business, they had enough connections in the military and political fields to scare people. The wrongdoings in Uncle Ou's businesses were caught as easily as houseflies, which was how Uncle Ou had fallen to his present miserable situation.

Now, after learning that Papa Ou showed no mercy even to his own biological brother simply because of his nephew's mistake, everyone who had once mocked Mu Ziwen for being autistic, no longer dared to openly insult him. In any case, they gained no benefit from having a dispute. Therefore, provoking a mad dog due to jealousy and the desire to watch the excitement wouldn't be worth it.

That's right. In the mere course of a week, people's impression of Papa Ou had changed from a scholarly businessman to a mad dog. My God.

However, everyone could see that Mu Ziwen was Papa Ou's reverse scale, whom no one could insult. Papa Ou succeeded in circulating that message while simultaneously making Mu Ziwen rather well-known.

Ou Yu didn't care about the thoughts of the others, but since he had made his decision, he would stick by it. Without exception, everytime Uncle Ou called on him wanting to talk, Ou Yu refused to see him.

Now, with everything that had been said and done, and his attitude made known far and wide, Papa Ou could finally let his son go to school.

Hao Ritian looked at Qin An's practically twinkling eyes and made a rare response, "Incredible."

Yes, quite incredible. This was his sincere evaluation of Papa Ou.

Although there weren't a lot of people gossiping anymore on the surface, in private, there were a number of people who thought Papa Ou was making a mountain out of molehill, that his means were too extreme, and that he was difficult to get along with.

However, only he, who was aware of the full situation, understood that Papa Ou's actions weren't over the top at all. If he hadn't crossed over at that timely moment, Papa Ou would have never had the chance to get justice for his wife and son. He would have even regarded the enemy as family and handed over all his possessions to the main culprit who harmed them, yet remain unaware. How tragic.

On top of that, Mu Rou and Mu Ziwen who had died one after the other had been truly innocent.

In many matters, it was not enough to simply look at the surface. Relatively speaking, it was more than normal for Papa to seek justice for his wife and son with his abilities. Not to mention, Uncle Ou had benefited from Papa Ou's prestige, so now it was like taking back what was given.

In regards to fathers, Papa Ou was a qualified one, so Hao Ritian had a good impression of him. Having experienced shitty fathers in the real world and the first mission world, Papa Ou was practically a clear stream of water in the world of dads.

After this event, Hao Ritian lived a normal college life. With Qin An around, he never lacked excitement and, from time to time, Feng Qi would take him out too. It was as if he had really undertaken the responsibility of an elder, making up for everything he had ever lacked in the past, one by one. Unconsciously, Hao Ritian also allowed nature to take its course, becoming more intimate and dependent on Feng Qi. Feng Qi had become an indispensable part of his life and an important person to him.

Ou Yu and Mu Rou, after undergoing hesitation, struggles and discussions, at last decided to see where things went.

However, one thing that ought to be mentioned was that every time Feng Qi brought him to the Feng House, Old Master Feng would act rather strangely towards him. He was still amiable, but sometimes he would become overly-enthusiastic, constantly telling him about Feng Qi's strong points. It practically seemed like he was selling his son to him. It was genuinely hard to watch.

But to Hao Ritian, these changes weren't difficult to adapt to.

During the winter and summer holidays, Papa Ou would take Hao Ritian to the company for internship and to experience hands-on mentoring. In the course of his mentoring, Papa Ou was swiftly surprised and delighted. His son was virtually a genius. At first, he had been worried that it would take his son a long time to get a handle on things, but with his son's level of talent, he reckoned he could allow his son to officially enter the board of directors after graduation.

Papa Ou almost died of happiness at the thought of it. Once he handed over the company completely to his son and his son took total charge of it, Papa Ou would be able to take his wife on a trip and make up for the twenty years of wasted time—that was Papa Ou's beautiful plan, at least.

This state of affairs continued for two years. And today was a relatively special day—Hao Ritian was finally going to graduate.

After two years of buffer time, Hao Ritian naturally recovered from autism. Besides being less expressive or talkative than others, he appeared no different from a normal person. And Feng Qi played a crucial role in this transformation. For this reason, Papa Ou and Mu Rou acquiescenced to his consorting with their son.

On this graduation day, students could be seen taking group photos everywhere in school. After graduation, they would be going their separate ways, so everyone wanted to leave more memories today. Those who were more emotional were even hugging each other and crying. The whole school was wrapped up in a strong atmosphere of nostalgia and the reluctance to part.

And, in the midst of this atmosphere, Hao Ritian appeared to fly under his own colours. Despite having more or less recovered from his condition, he still didn't have an outgoing personality and hadn't gotten close to any classmates at school. He kept a normal schoolmate relationship with all of them and it seemed like separating from his classmates didn't bother him very much.

He sat alone under a big tree playing with his phone. He didn't feel lonely. On the contrary, he was enjoying himself quietly, feeling quite idle and content.

But this idleness didn't last long—

"Found ya. So, you were hiding here. Why didn't you answer my calls?" Qin An jumped out with a 'swish' and glared with discontent at a certain happy and content somebody.

Hao Ritian who had declined several calls, "…"

Of course, because I don't want you to find me! Why else would I decline your calls? Unfortunately, having experienced Qin An's persistence, he knew this would only serve as a stop-gap measure. Look, just as expected, he was still found!

Hao Ritian sighed helplessly. Why the hell had he endured this headache-inducing fellow for so long?

"What are you sighing for? Hurry and come take a picture with me. I'm telling you, a brokerage company has already asked to sign a contract with me. I'll become popular soon after I make my official debut, then my photographs will be worth a lot. Now, I'm taking a couple of photos with you free of charge. How about that? Aren't I generous?" Qin An pulled Hao Ritian to his feet from under the tree.

He majored in performing arts, had an excellent figure, a fine temperament and good grades. These two years, he had taken on several roles here and there to hone his acting skills. Half a year ago, he appeared on a television series that recently began gaining traction as a third male lead, and was also rather popular himself. It was only natural that a brokerage company sought him out.

Hao Ritian thought, what with Qin An's personality, he would surely gain a great deal of anti-fans. His natural silliness, how he didn't judge people by their looks, and being a born socializer and so on were all Qin An's defining traits. However, he had to admit that this personality also made it very easy to win fans.

However, on account of this boy's good heart and perseverance, he was amenable to taking a few pictures with him.

Qin An was filled with joy at seeing Hao Ritian's cooperation. He immediately adjusted the camera hanging on his neck, and planned to find a classmate to take the pictures for them. He had long prepared the camera and now he could put it to use.

As a result, he had just removed the camera from his neck when Hao Ritian who had been standing next to him, was pulled into someone's arms. Immediately after, a voice full of appreciation spoke, "This camera is pretty good. Not bad at all. Take a couple of pictures of me and Wenwen, and make sure to take them well."

When he raised his head, his friend had been snatched away by Big Devil Feng.

Qin An, "…"

Since he was always snatching away his friend, Big Brother Feng had become Big Devil Feng. He was already resigned during normal times, but why did this ghost have to linger on graduation day?

Angry!

Hao Ritian had actually seen Feng Qi coming while Qin An was messing with his camera. After all, compared to the students at school, a mature man like Feng Qi was like a crane in a flock of chickens. And since he was both handsome and cool-looking with an explosive build, he had attracted quite a lot of attention. Only a Qin An, this idiot, would still be adjusting his camera and have no reaction whatsoever.

With surprise and joy written on his face, Hao Ritian looked at Feng Qi with twinkling eyes. "Why are you here, Uncle Feng?"

The expression on Feng Qi's face immediately softened. "Today is your graduation day, how could I miss it?"

Qin An's lips twitched. He sure acts pretentious. However, when he saw Hao Ritian who was usually cold towards him, changed when facing Feng Qi, Qin An felt both pity for his misfortune yet anger at his lack of struggle. You've been completely caught by that Big Devil Feng, my friend!

No matter his resentment, when he saw how happy his friend looked, he still silently served as their photographer. From wanting to be photographed to being the one photographing others, he reluctantly led the pair around campus to find suitable locations to take photos.

Luckily, Big Devil Feng wasn't entirely unscrupulous and ultimately discovered his conscience, helping him take a couple of pictures with Ziwen. If he hadn't, Qin An would've thrown away this job.

Feng Qi remained on campus until Hao Ritian finished handling some miscellaneous affairs, after which they left. But just as they reached the school gate, a little episode occurred. A crazy-looking guy rushed up to them and even hurled all kinds of abuse at them. Not only did Feng Qi prevent something from happening, the security guards at the school gates weren't to be trifled with either and quickly subdued the man, sending him to the police station.

This little episode didn't generate much impact. When Hao Ritian asked Feng Qi who that person was and why he was attacking him, Feng Qi merely played it down and said he might have mistook Hao Ritian for someone else, and told him not to worry about it.

As they got into the car and were preparing to depart, Hao Ritian watched the 'madman' being taken away through the window, and his lips curled unobtrusively.

With his system's sensing function, he wouldn't have been attacked even without help. And how could he not know who that person was?

Ou Siyang, who used to be a proud Son of Heaven and the president of the student union two years ago, was now in such dire straits that he had virtually become a madman.

In the past two years, Papa Ou, though never directly dealt with Ou Siyang, had been fighting against Uncle Ou's industry non-stop. He understood his big brother well and knew that even if he didn't do anything, his brother would have taken action on his own accord for the sake of profits.

Unsurprisingly, after approximately half a year of his industry declining sharply, Uncle Ou finally snapped. He knew the reason why Papa Ou was targeting him, and so, in order to quell Papa Ou's anger, he went as far as to immediately run his second son out of his house, making the same decision Old Master Ou had once made.

However, Ou Siyang was different from Ou Yu. He was proud and arrogant, and had grown up spoiled, so naturally he wasn't able to withstand this big blow. After Uncle Ou abandoned him, he had no choice but to rely on Mother Ou and 'drag out his feeble existence'.

According to Ou Siyang's abilities, he shouldn't have ended up as bad off as he was. But his living environment as a child had been too good, so after that major blow, he didn't want to stand on his own two feet and instead blamed the gods and accused others.

What's more, he wanted to find a good job in the imperial capital but everyone who recognised him simply wouldn't hire him out of respect for Papa Ou and Feng Qi. Thus, good jobs were out of the realm of possibility for him, and he didn't accept low level jobs since he looked down on them. He wasted his time away and became no different from those countless ordinary people who weren't able to find good jobs after graduating.

However, Papa Ou didn't stop just because of this and continued to suppress Uncle Ou. Uncle Ou, who used to be considered the number one figure in the imperial capital, slowly withdrew from his social circles due to Papa Ou's relentless targeting, and his industry shrank even more.

He wanted to discuss with Papa Ou but had lost his confidence and any advantages a long time ago. Papa Ou's ruthlessness made him both regretful and angry, but as he was left with no alternative, he unexpectedly discovered that none of his eldest son's industries were ever targeted.

Ou Siyu entered the company after graduating and after making a series of achievements, Uncle Ou divided a few industries to him. Ou Siyu had been doing well these past few years.

After discovering this, Uncle Ou – having already been at the end of his tethers for a while now – handed over all the remaining industries to his eldest son. After the transfer was complete, he found that truly Ou Yu stopped deliberately targeting him.

This both shamed and angered Uncle Ou, but in the end, he still decided to retire ahead of time, which in turn made the company soar. Uncle Ou found it painful to retire at merely 50 years of age, but in order not to let his years of hard work burn away, he had no choice to accept, no matter how much it pained him to do it.

Clearly, he was still in his prime yet couldn't fight for his career anymore. In the end, Uncle Ou vented his feelings of misery on his second son. Though he previously turned a blind eye when his wife secretly took care of their second son, Uncle Ou became iraciable after retirement and blamed all his faults on him. That's how Ou Siyang fell out of luck.

In just two years since Hao Ritian was acknowledged, Ou Siyang, a man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, had become more or less a madman. In Hao Ritian's opinion, this was a pretty sweet revenge. This revenge allowed Ou Siyang to, little by little, endure going from heaven to hell and watch helplessly as things that could have belonged to him, was all snatched away. All the while, he could only struggle in pain. It couldn't get any better than this.

With all his revenge served, Hao Ritian naturally no longer paid any attention to them. Currently, he was staring at Feng Qi with a bewildered look on his face. He was absolutely muddled, as if he had been shaken by Feng Qi's words and didn't know how to react.

Because Feng Qi had parked his car in the parking lot, he placed his hands on his shoulders and bluntly said, "Wenwen, let's be together from now on. Together like your parents. I will take care of you and you can always trust me like this, okay?"

He wasn't at all hesitant or unsure. These last two years, he had long-since thought things through and his initiative to propose proved that he had made up his mind.

Hao Ritian's face was full of confusion but unwittingly turned red.

Feng Qi's face softened. He didn't intend to pressure him. "Wenwen, I just received a mission. It'll take me at least three months to return. Use this time to carefully think about it and tell me your answer when I return, alright? I hope you will be certain of the answer you give me then."

After saying this, he turned the steering wheel and drove Hao Ritian to the private restaurant where they formally met for the first time. It served as both a celebration for Hao Ritian's graduation and as a farewell dinner for him.

Afterwards, Feng Qi really went on a mission like he said he would, while Hao Ritian followed the prescribed order and joined Papa Ou's company. He had already been interning for a long time and had a knack for it. Thus, after joining the company, he only spent 3 months before successfully settling on the board of directors.

Meanwhile, Papa Ou finally convinced Mu Rou and they held a luxurious wedding during which they received many well wishes.

However, Feng Qi still hadn't returned.

This was the first time since they met that Feng Qi had disappeared from Hao Ritian's life for so long. In the past, regardless of how busy he was, he would see Hao Ritian whenever he had time. Even if they stayed silent, there was a warm atmosphere between them.

Originally, according to the plan, the fastidious Papa Ou and Mu Rou should have left for their honeymoon after the wedding. He had even made all the plans. But his son's state made him feel uneasy, and after discussing it with Mu Rou, they decided to postpone until Feng Qi returned, to continue with their honeymoon.

Their son's heart had already been stolen by Feng Qi, this sad fact couldn't be changed even if one refused to admit it. Fortunately, Ou Yu and Mu Rou weren't struggling with this. What's more, they had observed and kept in mind how Feng Qi treated their son and were wholly at ease with giving their son to him.

Another month of waiting passed.

After remaining away for 4 months, Feng Qi finally returned, but with serious injuries. After learning the news of Feng Qi's injuries, Hao Ritian hurried to his ward, burning with anxiety. Seeming to sense him, Feng Qi looked up at him and lifted his hand. "Wenwen, I'm back."

Hao Ritian walked over to him and grasped his lifted hand. He didn't say a word but his red eyes stared at Feng Qi.

Feng Qi smiled softly. "Don't be afraid, I'm alright, just slightly injured. I'll be better soon. Do you still remember the question I asked you before I left? I want to hear the answer now."

As he looked into Feng Qi's expectant eyes, Hao Ritian gripped the hand he was holding tighter. After a moment, he quietly responded, "…Mn."

Though Feng Qi had guessed his response a long time ago, he still grinned from ear to ear when hearing Hao Ritian's answer with his own two ears. He immediately pulled Hao Ritian to him and planted a kiss on his lips.

Feng Qi didn't kiss him too deeply; he simply wanted to experience his Wenwen like this for a bit. When the wound on his chest reopened and started to bleed again, Hao Ritian pushed him away at once and went to look for a doctor.

After bandaging Feng Qi, they were severely warned by the doctor. Once the doctor left, Hao Ritian grasped the hand Feng Qi was holding on to him with and sat on the bedside. Red-faced, he said, "Get some rest, I'll stay here with you."

Feng Qi's eyes stayed glued on Hao Ritian until he couldn't resist sleep. After all, he was in a weakened state due to his injury and needed more rest.

Hao Ritian took in Feng Qi's face, which was still as handsome and assertive even with his eyes closed, and stroked his face with his other hand. He leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. As if in response, Feng Qi's lips curled up into a smile. Hao Ritian smiled as well.

Hao Ritian, "Alright, let's go to the next world."

System, "We're leaving right now?"

Hao Ritian spoke without hesitation. "Right now."

System, "…Fine."

Whoa, the host is so cold-blooded. He just promised to be together with Feng Qi and now he was leaving this world. It had to be careful not to get attached to the host in the future, or it would be terrible.

...

System Transit Space.

Hao Ritian, "What's the evaluation for this mission?"

System, "Wait a moment…the results are out. Your evaluation result is 'S'. Host is really incredible."

"Why is the result for this world higher than the previous world's? What's the criteria?"

"It's probably because Host's efficiency in this world was quite high. I'm not sure about the specifics either, it depends on the assessment conducted by those at the top."

"Oh, then forget it. Let's head to the next world."

"…Host, don't you want to see what happened after you left?"

"No."

"Roger that. Then, transmission will begin in…3, 2, 1. Transmission successful. Please continue to do your best, Host."