Unlike Qin Er, who had to use a wheelchair due to surgical damage to his cerebral cortex, Lu Jiuxiao couldn’t move freely because of a car accident that had always seemed fishy no matter how you looked at it. The crash left his spine severely injured and left both his legs paralyzed.
It should be noted that before the accident, Lu Jiuxiao was quite disciplined, kept a regular workout routine, and was in excellent physical shape. The fact that he had to use a wheelchair after the accident didn’t mean he was completely defenseless and certainly didn’t mean he couldn't call for help.
For the White Moonlight’s father to have single-handedly subdued Lu Jiuxiao, set the fire and escaped, without alarming any of the other staff in the house or even alerting the security guards in the compound… if Gu Su hadn’t been involved somehow, it wouldn’t make sense.
Gu Su wanted to rekindle things with her son’s biological father, Lu Zhentong—the male lead. Meanwhile, Lu Zhentong was locked in both open and covert battles with Lu Jiuxiao over the Lu Family’s multibillion assets. The motive for both was written all over the male and female leads’ faces, so there was no reason for Lu Jiuxiao to know nothing.
Yet, what was interesting was that Lu Jiuxiao seemed to have chosen to cover for Gu Su. With Gu Su in the clear, Lu Zhentong was naturally in the clear too—so only the White Moonlight’s father remained a fugitive.
On the way home, nobody dared say much. For once, Qin Er was as quiet as a mouse.
Qin Jingzhou, however, acted as if nothing had happened. When they got home, he immediately assigned tasks to the new employees: since there wasn’t much urgent business, he just had them follow his hastily prepared herbal manual to process some of the less valuable medicinal ingredients.
Qin Er was no exception. With needles stuck in his head, eyes on the tablet, he worked steadily without pausing for a moment.
After he watched Uncle Cheng enter the study, he muttered to his good friend Xu Chen, “Something about this feels off. Uncle Cheng isn’t faking it; I get the sense he really… isn’t that invested anymore. You know how spot-on my instincts are!”
“I believe you,” Xu Chen said firmly. “At first, I thought Uncle Cheng was a scammer. If not for you, I’d be toast by now!”
“Not that bad. More like a fate worse than death.”
Xu Chen was quiet for a moment, then whispered, “Do you think Uncle Cheng got this way because of his training…? Everything just doesn't faze him now?”
“That’s obvious, isn’t it?!”
The two of them looked at each other and suddenly laughed.
Knowing that his buddy was thinking the same made him even more confident in his judgment.
In the guest room separated by only a wall, the new assistant and the bodyguard guys were also carefully sorting herbs. They’d been recommended by the Gu martial association and had far more experience in martial arts than Qin Er or Xu Chen, but even they reached a similar conclusion: Gentleman Cheng was so calm, with almost no emotional fluctuations, most likely as a result of the Lingyi technique.
Still, just because he was rarely moved didn’t mean he was cold or heartless—in fact, Gentleman Cheng clearly still cared about his son, Lu Jiuxiao.
To be honest, Lu Jiuxiao’s personality wasn’t exactly likeable, but he was competent and hadn’t really done much wrong… he was just plain unlucky.
The new assistant and the bodyguards quickly reached an agreement: If necessary, they could apply to the association to lend Lu Jiuxiao a hand, but only on the condition that Gentleman Cheng was truly able to handle some of the tricky cases.
The soundproofing in the original host’s house was pretty good, but even so, the new assistant and the others’ low-voiced discussion was perfectly clear to Qin Jingzhou next door.
After listening, he commented, “Cautious as expected.”
System said, “They really do think of themselves as association people, not your people.”
Qin Jingzhou laughed, “Anyone with half a brain can see the Lu Family factions fighting over the throne. Of course the association doesn’t want to get involved too easily, it’s only logical. Plus, they’re still evaluating if my skills are as advertised or overblown. The association may be keeping their distance now, but down the line, they probably won’t get a chance to step in at all.”
System immediately perked up. “I can’t wait to see how they react when they realize what they’ve missed.”
“It won’t be long,” Qin Jingzhou said, opening up the computer and logging into the game.
The original host had used gaming as a way to escape reality. He wasn’t necessarily that obsessed, but apart from the days when his grandparents were hospitalized or during funeral arrangements, he was online nearly every single day.
Naturally, Qin Jingzhou needed to keep up this persona, but he… had come up with some new ideas and wanted to test them out while gaming.
The moment he logged in, everyone he marked as special contacts—like the two guys in the living room—was notified.
Qin Er thought about it for a second and said to Xu Chen, “Thinking of buying out Sanjiu Network.” Sanjiu Network was the company behind the very same longevity MMORPG where he’d connected with Uncle Cheng.
Xu Chen nodded hard. “Buy it! Guaranteed profit, can’t lose!”
Qin Er immediately called his dad. With more than a hundred billion annual revenue and over a hundred thousand employees, Sanjiu Network wasn’t the sort of acquisition a rich second generation could pay for out of pocket.
A deal this big wasn’t something his dad would do just because he begged, so Father Qin’s voice came through the phone, clear as day, “Your Uncle Cheng might be addicted to this game, but that reason alone isn’t enough.”
With only Xu Chen, his best friend, around (the new hires were holed up in the guest room, and Qin Er figured they couldn’t overhear), he said, “Dad, you know my… I just have a strong feeling Uncle Cheng is going to use this game for something big!”
Hearing this, Father Qin’s heart skipped a beat. His son had always been… a little “supernatural”—in the best way.
His son had made exactly four suggestions over the years, and all of them came true!
To say nothing of major family business decisions, but even just the most recent two: Before he went for a hospital checkup, his son solemnly told him, 'Dad, I don’t think I have much time left'. In the end, he was diagnosed with glioma, and even with the best surgery, the outlook wasn’t good. After meeting Cheng Jingzhou, his son was also the first and most steadfast believer in Cheng Jingzhou’s miraculous medical ability. He’d come home and told his parents he saw holy light around Uncle Cheng, so there was hope! Who knows, maybe their family would get lucky and everyone would be elevated by association!
With his son’s tone so certain today, Father Qin didn’t hesitate for long and only asked, “How strong is your feeling this time?”
Qin Er answered, “Just as strong as my sense that Uncle Cheng is a Divine Doctor…”
Qin Father immediately said, “Alright, I’ll get started on it right away.”
As it happened, the conversation between father and son was perfectly audible to Qin Jingzhou in the study.
He controlled his game character to dodge the dungeon boss’s skills with his right hand, while sending Qin Er a message with his left. “I didn’t even realize at first that this kid had a prophecy talent.”
The system chimed in, “He actually managed to sense you, and what’s more, he was right! No wonder premature death is written in his fate.”
Just then, the dungeon boss went down, and Qin Jingzhou had his character step forward and loot… and got an orange-grade gear drop. He smiled. “Let’s let the kid see for himself.”
System burst out laughing. “So is this where the ‘real son isn’t even fit to carry the shoes of the adopted one’ arc comes in?”
“Not quite,” Qin Jingzhou casually rolled a 100 and got the orange item. “After the female lead killed my cheap son, what did she do?”
“She bought out a media company, focused on making heavy, emotionally dark horror films, then used Lu Jiuxiao’s inheritance for charity, so she’s got a really good reputation. A lot of netizens are saying Lu Jiuxiao was a total scumbag and deserved to die.”
“Just as I expected. The female lead knows how to use public favor to protect herself,” said Qin Jingzhou, pushing up his glasses. “Interesting.”
System laughed again. “If not for the task, you’d never want to be in the spotlight.”
“What fun is there in stealing the Fate’s Son’s thunder? Compared to being a household name in the task world, I’d much rather my ‘cheap’ kids live well and genuinely accept me as their father.” Qin Jingzhou chuckled. “To be honest, I’ve really thrown myself into being a dad. I used to focus only on cultivating and getting stronger. Now that I look back, if all you care about is getting stronger, life just gets sad. So I’m trying my best to make up for it.”
System asked, “Thinking of… truly settling down?”
“Of course I am. I’m serious about it, but Xiao Ling seems to doubt me, so I guess I still need to work on myself.”
System twinkled with laughter. “Who knew you were such a gentle big boss!”
Qin Jingzhou answered, with a rare seriousness, “I do think I’m pretty gentle myself.” Then he shifted the topic, “Let’s hope Lu Jiuxiao figures this out soon.”
Practice makes perfect. Nowadays, Qin Jingzhou only did the acupuncture itself, leaving all pre and post-procedure tasks to Xu Chen. Today, he even let Xu Chen remove the needles.
The more hands-off he was, the happier Qin Er and Xu Chen became.
When the silver needles on his head were removed, Qin Er could now wiggle his whole left leg a little. He bragged to his buddy, “Give it a few more days and I’ll be on crutches! Jealous? Envious? Hehehe.”
Xu Chen cleaned the silver needles, smiling without saying much. He was genuinely happy for his friend, but this guy, for all his insight, still had his occasional “IQ flatline” moments.
Their new coworkers clocked out promptly at 6:00, sent out the door to return the next day.
The next morning, after breakfast, Qin Jingzhou took Qin Er and Xu Chen with him to Jingguan Hospital again.
Standing on the other side of the ICU glass, he felt Lu Jiuxiao was even more worked up today. With another nudge or two, the female lead Gu Su should be forced to show herself.
Lu Jiuxiao kept cursing nonstop, and Qin Jingzhou didn’t so much as spare him a glance. Just as he turned to leave, though, Lu Jiuxiao suddenly said, “I want you to take care of me! You’ve never once fulfilled your responsibilities as a father!”
After the accident, Lu Jiuxiao’s personality had drastically changed. His twisted and abusive streak was notorious, or else Gu Su—who’d clearly married him for money—wouldn’t have gained so much sympathy.
And after showing up on his admittance day, Gu Su had never visited again. Most doctors and nurses who knew even a little of the situation sided with Gu Su, which showed just how difficult Lu Jiuxiao was to deal with.
So when Lu Jiuxiao asked for his biological father to care for him, a passing nurse immediately tried to discourage him. “Mr. Cheng, please don’t… bring this trouble on yourself!”
Qin Jingzhou turned to the well-meaning nurse and looked at her until her cheeks flushed. “No need to worry about me. I’ll teach him how to behave.” Then he told Qin Er and Xu Chen, “Make arrangements and bring him back with us.”
Lu Jiuxiao went silent. With just one eye left, he could still sense how those in the hallway were now looking at him—each one with deep, complicated meaning.