Chapter 4.09 – It’s Not Bad Having Met You

"What could possibly happen?" Gu Hai Sheng lit a cigar and held it without smoking.

Wisps of smoke curled up and rose into the air as he blew at it. With a careless expression, he spoke, "The triad hasn't been able to successfully reform in the past. Many people continued to place great importance on this disease called Jianghu code of brotherhood. If we continue on this path, it's only a matter of time before something bad happens. Now that I've taken over the reins, I will completely eliminate every business from the gray areas. Although it's a little risky, once some time for recovery is allowed, we will at least be able to do our business in peace."

Shen Ze waved a hand to disperse the smoke, his face unchanging, "If you continue to play around like this, I'm afraid it's impossible to do business peacefully. You are more likely to be arrested, instead."

"Tsk, I say, why are your words so despicable, huh?" Gu Hai Sheng stubbed his cigar and spoke in annoyance, "Whatever, a young master like you shouldn't recklessly play around in my area. Hurry up and go back. Refusing to study obediently like a proper student and causing trouble instead."

Shen Ze stood up, shooting him a look. "Someone is after you?"

Gu Hai Sheng's movements stiffened before he frowned, "What are you blindly guessing for? Your relationship with the triad isn't deep, so you shouldn't get involved."

"I heard you're old acquaintances with that Mr. Lin?"

"…Who did you hear that from? Utter nonsense."

"You said so yourself, that time when you were plastering yourself all over him."

"Cough, you probably remember it wrongly." Having his bluffs exposed by his younger junior, Gu Hai Sheng revealed an awkward expression.

"But recently, you do not stick to him, and even… is it because you're afraid of implicating him and therefore trying to draw a line between the two of you?" Shen Ze asked.

"My word, you're just a little rascal. Why do you know so much? Scram, scram, scram!" Gu Hai Sheng was growing impatient and directly stood up to push him out.

Shen Ze looked at him deeply for a while before turning to leave.

After leaving the club, he had just slipped into a small road along the street when he saw a familiar looking car.

Thinking it was Shen Zheng Duo who had discovered he had skipped classes and came to catch him, Shen Ze cautiously retreated, intending to make a run for it. However, the window suddenly wound down, revealing Xiang Han's smiling face as he waved, "Elder brother."

Shen Ze inexplicably sighed in relief and entered the car. "Why are you here?"

Xiang Han replied, "I saw you leaving earlier and guessed you must have come here. So, I told Uncle Zhang to wait here for a bit."

Shen Ze glanced at the driver when Xiang Han continued talking in a low voice, "Don't worry, I already told uncle Zhang that you came for tuition, he won't expose us."

Of course he wouldn't, because Xiang Han had already used his spiritual force.

Shen Ze nodded, reclining against the window. No one knew what he was thinking about.

Xiang Han saw this and turned back to look at the club, attempting to probe, "Elder brother, what are you thinking about? Does it have something to do with Mr Gu?"

Looking at him, Shen Ze deliberately asked, "How did you know?"

Xiang Han coughed lightly before speaking, "I can tell Mr Gu doesn't look like an ordinary person, and is most likely a frequent visitor at the police station. My mom said that the officers are getting stricter, so he'll definitely run into trouble."

Saying this, he emphasised once more, "Elder brother, don't come here anymore in the future. You still need to attend classes, what if your testimonials suffer because of this?"

Shen Ze seemed to have sunk into deep thought for a while before suddenly speaking, "Brother Gu saved me before. Now that he's in trouble, I can't ignore it."

There was still such a thing? Xiang Han couldn't help but ask his system, who, after flipping through the world's storyline, was still unable to find any information. In the end, they browsed the web and finally found some lingering evidence.

[When Shen Ze was ten, he was reported missing for a period of time. Xue Ling was the one who made the report at that time but afterwards, he returned home by himself and even assisted the police in raiding an underground child-trafficking ring. He is probably referring to this.] System told him after scanning through the information.

Xiang Han hummed in response. He had already learnt from Shen Ze and Shen Zheng Duo's conversations that Shen Ze knew Gu Hai Sheng from four years ago.

However, from Shen Ze's words, he seemed to know that something would happen to Gu Hai Sheng.

Since Shen Ze knew, there wasn't any reason for Gu Hai Sheng to be unaware. The last time at the police station, Gu Hai Sheng had been the one to expose Shen Ze's identity which then led to Shen Zheng Duo knowing that matter and therefore, started to keep a strict watch over him.

Most likely, Gu Hai Sheng didn't want to drag Shen Ze down with him. But from what he could see, Shen Ze obviously didn't buy it.

No way, he couldn't let Shen Ze be implicated.

Xiang Han pondered for a moment before speaking, "Elder brother, you're still a student and can't do anything at all. Even if you do, the extent of your help will definitely be limited. Since Mr Gu saved you before, you should talk to Uncle Shen, he'll definitely help you."

If this was in the past, with the terrible relationship between Shen Ze and Shen Zheng Duo, there was no way Shen Ze would even consider asking him for help. However, now that their relationship had been mended somewhat; and Shen Ze's heart no longer held extreme reclusive tendencies, he was much easier to talk to.

Moreover, before he suggested this, he had secretly utilised some spiritual force. Therefore, the light in his eyes continuously flickered.

Shen Ze stared at him in a daze, but after a moment, he suddenly said, "Did your eyes cramp or something? What are you blinking so much for?"

Once he said so, he directly turned to look outside the window. He would rather die than admit that in that moment, he had inexplicably been entranced by the light in Xiang Han's eyes and he actually felt as if the evil little guy was actually quite attractive.

"C-Cramp?" Xiang Han gnashed his teeth in anger. What made him more furious was that his spiritual force had failed.

Big A couldn't help pitying him, [Mr Xiang, the general's spiritual force is at S-level, while you're only an F+… cough, cough.]

Xiang Han lifted a finger to rub his temples. How could he have forgotten? This person was also from the federation and was of military descent, there was no way his spiritual force would be weak.

Wait a minute! XIang Han abruptly lowered his hand, asking in his mind, [You just said that my spiritual force is…F+?]

[That's right.]

[Are you sure there is a…+?]

[Sure.] Big A's tone contained a smile. [This is the latest result. I forgot to tell you that the longer you stay in the virtual world, the more advantages it will give to your spiritual strength.]

Xiang Han's eyes lit up in excitement, [For real?]

[Yes. The more you use, the more likely it is to improve.] Big A confirmed.

[Why didn't you say so earlier?] Xiang Han said joyfully.

[…Actually, we also just discovered this. Until now, you are the first person where we've observed such an occurrence in.]

[That is to say, as long as I work hard, I might be able to catch up to the general?] Xiang Han asked eagerly.

Big A, [That…might be a little hard.]

[Doesn't matter, everyone needs to have a goal.] Xiang Han stared excitedly at Shen Ze.

Shen Ze had a strange feeling and turned back to see a pair of shining eyes staring at him. A sense of dread washed over him, causing him to instinctively back away.

Xiang Han retracted his gaze for a while before looking back again. After a few cycles of doing this, Shen Ze could no longer bear it and finally asked exasperatedly, "Did your brain cramp up this time?"

Xiang Han smiled at him, "Elder brother, I suddenly realised, having met you is actually quite good."

Shen Ze, "…"

"Or more accurately, the other you." Xiang Han couldn't restrain his joy. To actually have improved his spiritual strength, how many people only dreamt of it? This was really all thanks to that general.

Shen Ze silently turned away thinking, this person's brain has really gone bad.

Afterwards, Xiang Han would experiment on Shen Ze from time to time with his spiritual force. Since the other person's spiritual strength was great, it didn't matter even if it was just a one-sided practice, there were still a lot of benefits to it.

Having practised so many times, Shen Ze was constantly sunk into deep thoughts: Why does he always look at me, it can't be that he has fallen for me?

As time passed, his gaze towards Xiang Han became complicated. Because of the 'guilt' of being caught staring, Xiang Han would always attempt to cover it up by turning away. However, this only served to increase Shen Ze's growing suspicion.

However, since he was worried about Gu Hai Sheng, Shen Ze didn't have any time to think too deeply over this matter. After hesitating for a few days, he finally went to find Shen Zheng Duo and confessed, asking if he could help Gu Hai Sheng.

Shen Zheng Duo did not want Shen Ze to have any relations with Gu Hai Sheng, but after learning that Gu Hai Sheng had been the one to save Shen Ze that year when he had been kidnapped, he didn't think twice and agreed. However, it came with the condition that Shen Ze had to enter Twenty-third High.

At first, he had his mind set on First High School due to its strict management and felt that it was quite suitable for rebellious and unmotivated students like Shen Ze. However, if Shen Ze himself was motivated to study, the Twenty-third High School wasn't a bad choice either. First High School was strict, but it was also too old-fashioned and risked producing a nerd.

Shen Ze thought for a moment before agreeing. With his current results, entering Twenty-third High School without forking out some money was impossible. However, there was still half a year before the national examinations, so it wasn't impossible to start working hard now.

Most importantly, Xiang Han intended to go to First High School. That rascal's gaze was becoming increasingly strange so it would be best if they went to different schools.

After Shen Zheng Duo agreed to help him, Shen Ze no longer concerned himself with the triad's matters and focused whole-heartedly on his studies. He would go out early and return home late, sometimes studying until dead into the night. In addition, he no longer slept in class.

Towards this sudden change of events, Xiang Han was extremely shocked and even started to suspect whether the Shen Ze now was in fact, a transmigrator.

After the Term Exams, Shen Ze's scores showed great improvements. From being amongst the last three scorers in class, his position was now somewhere in the twenties, causing many people's jaws to drop in shock. It wasn't the rise in class ranking that was shocking, but rather…the fact that he was willing to work hard.

Therefore, whenever teachers lectured their students, they couldn't avoid the phrase, "Look at Student Shen Ze…"

When Shen Zheng Duo looked at his result slip, he was also quite excited and even patted Shen Ze's shoulders a few times before calming down, "Not bad, not bad. What do you plan to do during winter vacation? Do you need extra tuition?"

Shen Ze expressionlessly pried his fingers away, "No need."

Shen Zheng Duo also didn't mind. After all, this result was already much better than what he had expected. He carefully stored away the result slip and nodded, "It's fine if you don't want to. You've worked hard during this time, taking a break is also a good idea. However, don't relax too much, if there's anything you don't understand, you can ask Xiao Han. His results are good."

Hearing this, Shen Ze glanced moodily at Xiang Han.

Xiang Han was embarrassed. That exam paper was completely done by his system.

Shen Ze didn't reply and instead asked, "How are things on the other side?"

Shen Zheng Duo immediately frowned, "You don't need to bother with these matters."

Hearing his tone, Shen Ze unconsciously turned to look at him, "Something happened?"

Shen Zheng Duo nodded, his tone heavy, "The law enforcement is extremely strict, Gu Hai Sheng will, most likely, have to go in. Although he only took over for a couple of years, with his position, no matter how cautious he was, he would have definitely done some unspeakable acts."

After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment before continuing, "I've already done everything I can. Now, it all depends on him."

"En." Shen Ze nodded but didn't say anything else.