Chapter 22: The Path to Wealth

Tang Xian's voice was faint.

As if these years hadn't been anything special.

As someone who had once been guided by Tang Xian, Shang Lu had felt guilty in his heart for the past six years.

Although he had spoken up for Xian back then, he ultimately couldn't change the situation.

Too many teachers thought Tang Xian didn't respect his elders.

Too many classmates thought Tang Xian was too full of himself.

That's just how these people were, saying humility is a virtue, but if a person's knowledge and research reached the ultimate realm, they still had to put on airs and say: "Ah, I'm so stupid, ah, my knowledge is shallow."

That was the real hypocrisy.

Many people's humility wasn't a virtue for self-discipline; they just didn't want others to be proud, harboring some kind of inferiority complex deep down. So when they met someone who truly had the right to be proud, they reacted with sarcasm and spite.

Tang Xian guessed it had been about five seconds, and Shang Lu still hadn't spoken.

Through the phone, he couldn't see the panel of Shang Lu on the fourth level.

But the tone and pause were enough to make Tang Xian smile.

"Alright, let's not dwell on the past. You know I'm not someone who likes to reminisce," he said.

"..." Just as Shang Lu was about to ask why Xian hadn't contacted him over the years, Tang Xian interrupted with foresight.

Then, getting straight to the point, Tang Xian said:

"I need your help with something."

"Sure! Actually, I have something I want to discuss with you too, Xian!"

Not long ago, Shang Lu had met a girl.

Girls change so much at eighteen that if her entourage hadn't been so sizeable, he wouldn't have recognized her.

"If your matter is about helping me clear my name of cheating, we can drop it. Has Li Xiaoyu been looking for you recently?"

"...You really haven't changed a bit, Xian."

Shang Lu chuckled bitterly. After all these years, Xian was still the same, always knowing what others were thinking during a conversation.

Tang Xian knew that when he was branded a cheater and demoted to the lower levels, those classmates he'd guided back in the day must have wanted to help once they heard about him.

And having just been confirmed in his position when Dong Ran came probing, with a bit of thought, Tang Xian easily guessed what Shang Lu wanted to talk about.

Knowing both what was happening and why it was happening,

"I can't go to the fourth level, so come down here to find me. In the residential area of the third mining squad, room number 15342," he directed.

Shang Lu wanted to chat a bit more, but Tang Xian said, "People on the lower level can't use the inter-level network, and phone calls are the only way to communicate, but they're quite expensive. We'll talk when we see each other."

Tang Xian then hung up the phone.

Shang Lu was stunned.

This was indeed Xian, but he hadn't expected that the current Xian would be so poor he worried about the cost of phone calls.

Without overthinking it, Shang Lu was eager to meet Tang Xian.

That's when he realized he had been in the lab for many days.

His hair was greasy and messy, and he had become somewhat emaciated.

He was an academic researcher, a genuine lover of academia. Once immersed in a topic of interest, he often neglected both sleep and food.

"Never mind, Xian has seen me like this before, it's not the first time we've talked with me looking disheveled."

Shang Lu tidied his hair a bit, which was really just patting it down a few times with his hand, and then hurried to the hover window leading to the lower levels.

...

...

Tang Xian returned to his residence.

Thinking of a guest's arrival and that treating them to a meal wouldn't be enough to repay the favor,

Shang Lu had chosen botany as his field of study at fifteen. He was someone who knew a great deal about the plants in the mining areas.

He was also one of the few people who could keep up with his own pace of conversation in a single field.

Ultimately, there was an oversight.

He should have picked some rare plants in the mining area as a gift for Shang Lu.

Inside the pot, dog meat and Hechuan Sliced Meat were being prepared.

This was a genuine Sichuan dish, the spicy sort that Tang Xian liked. He wasn't sure if Shang Lu enjoyed it, so he prepared a dog meat hotpot as well.

It was mentioned in "Ancient Humanities," published by the 29th Fortress Publishing House, that for the people of Lianqing and the Shu Capital, there was no problem that couldn't be solved by a hotpot.

If it really couldn't be solved, then settling for a mandarin duck pot was an option.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

Tang Xian opened it.

Six years had gone by, and there stood Shang Lu, just as before, in his white lab coat, hair in a disheveled bird's nest. His once handsome features were now somewhat scruffy from too much immersion in academia.

Shang Lu's eyes were slightly wet.

Tang Xian calmly said, "You don't mind sitting on the floor, do you?"

Shang Lu nodded and said, "I don't mind. I'll send some furniture over later."

Tang Xian just gave him a faint glance, and immediately Shang Lu felt his comment was out of place.

"There's no rice, but thankfully there's plenty of drink. Dog meat hotpot and Hechuan Sliced Meat... You're a bit early, I was thinking of making a couple more dishes."

Naturally, Shang Lu didn't mind, and Tang Xian didn't say more.

The two of them sat down on the floor without any awkwardness.

As Shang Lu was pondering how to steer the conversation toward Xian's life over the years, Tang Xian said:

"Since I've returned, I won't be rushing back to the mining area. I have a week to stay, so we can reminisce later. But first, I need to discuss the important matter."

A single pot of soup and a plate of food were indeed quite simple.

Tang Xian wasn't that particular, and started eating right away.

But Shang Lu didn't pick up his chopsticks.

He just watched Tang Xian's hands.

Tang Xian realized, the last visitor had done the same.

He chuckled bitterly.

"This is called chopsticks. You're a quick learner; just do as I do," he said.