Ye Tong and Ye Yu sat on the sofa chatting.
Xu Ningbing stood alone before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the sky darken. After a moment's hesitation, she turned and headed for Xu Shou's study.
She felt they shouldn't share those materials with Xu Mu.
They had poured too much into this pharmaceutical company. If someone else reaped the reward, it would only hasten the Xu family's decline.
As Xu Shou had said earlier: in their kind of industry, once you start going downhill, it's very hard to climb back up. When that happened, forget being first in Jiangbei— they might not even keep the top spot in all of Jiang City.
Pushing open the study door, she stepped in—then froze at the scene before her.
Wang Weiliang was sitting with Xu Mu, the two of them chatting like old friends despite the age gap.
Crucially, Wang had even taken out his reading glasses, borrowed paper and pen from Xu Shou, and was busily taking notes on what Xu Mu said.
Standing there and listening to their exchange, Xu Ningbing was completely baffled.
She couldn't understand.
Not at all.
They were speaking the national language; she recognized every character—yet strung together, none of it made sense to her.
From his chair, Xu Shou shot her a knowing look: I feel the same.
He too felt like he was listening to scripture from the heavens.
"Good! Good!"
Wang snapped his notebook shut, excitement written all over his face. He stood and turned to Xu Shou. "Chairman, I don't think I can stay for dinner. I want to go to the lab right now."
"Old Wang, it's late—eat first, then go," Xu Shou said, rising.
"No need. This data is too important. If this works, I guarantee we can cut our drug's cost by another thirty percent." Wang was practically trembling. "And those extraction methods Young Master Xu just described—I need to test them. If they succeed, we can feed the wrong version to Qian Gang."
Xu Shou half-extended a hand to keep him, but Wang had already hurried out.
He quickly said his goodbyes to Chen Bei and Ye Tong, then rushed off by car to the lab.
Xu Ningbing looked at Xu Mu, at a loss for words.
Did Xu Mu really understand all this?
"Now do you believe me?" Xu Mu returned the phone to Xu Shou with a smile.
"Are you really my son? Did someone possess you? Since when did you study traditional medicine?" Three questions tumbled out as Xu Shou stared, dumbfounded.
"Can't you tell if I'm your son or not?" Xu Mu rolled his eyes. "I didn't formally study it. I just like reading books on pharmacology in my spare time, that's all."
Xu Ningbing was speechless.
Xu Mu… reading medical texts?
She couldn't even picture it. The image felt surreal.
"Hahaha! Kid, you never stop surprising me. I actually doubted you just now—my apologies." Xu Shou stood, laughing.
Judging from how smoothly Xu Mu had traded ideas with Wang Weiliang, this wasn't something you could fake in a day or two. He must have studied long before this.
He glanced at the family photo on the shelf, feeling a twinge.
He'd thought he knew his son well—only to realize he didn't know him at all. He had no idea Xu Mu had been studying so much on his own.
They left the study together, and Xu Shou went straight to share the good news with Chen Bei.
Hearing it, Chen's jaw almost dropped off. He stared at Xu Mu in disbelief. How could this be? Wasn't the kid a wastrel? How could he know so much about pharmaceuticals?
He wondered if he was dreaming.
On the sofa, Ye Tong and Ye Yu naturally heard what Xu Shou said as well.
A faint smile touched Ye Tong's lips. She had truly misjudged Xu Mu. He wasn't an uneducated spendthrift—he was a capable man with real learning.
[Favorability +10]
Seeing the black text float above Ye Tong's head, Xu Mu smiled to himself. His wife really felt for him—he'd done nothing, and merely hearing others praise him raised her Favorability.
Still, thinking it through: Xu Ningbing and Ye Yu were both still in the negative, so they wouldn't react like Ye Tong.
Dinner left Xu Shou in very high spirits.
If even one of the theories Xu Mu proposed panned out—not only would efficacy improve, costs would drop. For their group, that would be enormous.
Over the meal, Xu Shou noticed how well Xu Mu and Ye Tong were getting along. He realized he'd misread things and that he hadn't given his own son enough care.
"Xiao Mu," he said suddenly, setting down his chopsticks, "is there anything you want to take on?"
"What do you mean?"
Xu Mu was gnawing on a piece of braised rib; not bad, he thought. The other dishes, though, were far inferior to what a Grandmaster-grade chef like him could make.
"Putting you in HR back then was basically to keep you occupied—to give you something to do," Xu Shou said after a pause. "Now I feel that's wasting your talent. How about I hand the pharmaceutical company over to you to run?"
At that, Xu Ningbing merely pushed up her glasses without comment. If Xu Mu truly had talent in pharmaceuticals, then it was a fit.
"I'm fine where I am for now. Let me think about it," Xu Mu replied with a smile.
He had more pressing matters: earning Fate Points to grow stronger; protecting the Xu family from Lin Yang's schemes; and guarding against the Dragon King once he returned.
Taking on a time-consuming role wasn't in the cards—yet.
"All right," Xu Shou said with a smile.
After dinner, Chen Bei left first.
Xu Shou emphasized that today's matter was top secret. He told Chen to wait for news; if the fake formula came together smoothly, he would hand it to him personally.
—
The crescent moon shone bright that night.
In the manor's garden, Xu Shou and Xu Mu sat side by side, both gazing up at the sky.
Suddenly, Xu Mu remembered his Fate Power. He needed a reason—he couldn't just have Xu Shou step into the ancient-martial realm out of nowhere.
First, he used the Divine Eye to inspect his father. Strangely, he'd never checked his old man before.
Name: Xu Shou
Role: Chairman of the Jiangbei Xu Group
Favorability: (Maxed)
Fate Level: 1 (Max 10)
Note: Everyone's Favorability cap differs. Once maxed, it means this person is willing to do anything for the host—including give their life.
For some reason, reading that note made Xu Mu's nose sting and his eyes mist over.
Perhaps this was what people meant by a father's love being as steady as a mountain.
Fathers' love wasn't as openly emotional as a mother's—no constant fussing and warm words. Their love was silent, easy to miss. But never less.
He took a deep breath. His father in his original world had died in a car accident; he'd never truly experienced paternal love. Seeing that line stirred him in a way he couldn't name.
He pulled up Xu Shou's detailed stats:
Strength: 46
Speed: 49
Endurance: 45
Defense: 48
Xu Mu stared, stunned.
What the… no way!
This was his father's panel?
This was obviously the entry threshold for an ancient martial artist! Xu Shou must be hiding a secret.