Ling Jing sat in the passenger seat and immediately entered a relentless complaining mode. "This is the first time I've ever dealt with such a difficult original host! Usually, we can negotiate, but this original host is so fixated on her wish, she just won't budge no matter what. I tried everything, and she ended up shutting down and ignoring me... I waited for her all day, and fine, I gave in... I made her 'boy god' happy for her!"
The last sentence was spoken through clenched teeth, and Qin Jingzhou couldn't help but laugh. "You worked hard."
With a huff, Ling Jing pushed her messy hair behind her ear. "If the girl herself weren't actually a good person, I'd be much more annoyed about her being so stubborn about her wish." She changed the subject. "But, you do get what she's implying when she says she wants her 'boy god' to be happy, right?"
Qin Jingzhou smiled. "Are you saying you need to make her 'boy god' happy yourself, in her name?"
Ling Jing whipped around. "How can you say that like you don't care at all? If I weren't planning to date you, I'd have no problem just playing along without a care in the world!"
Qin Jingzhou burst out laughing. "Blame me. You're suffering all because of me."
Ling Jing's eyes lit up. "Now that's more like it. The original host's 'boy god' is really handsome. Just a little—" She showed a tiny gap between her thumb and forefinger. "—just a little bit less than you."
Still grinning, Qin Jingzhou started the car. "Let's talk about this after we get home. I have a meeting with the officials about the patent this morning."
Ling Jing murmured an agreement.
On the way home, they stopped by a Cantonese tea house, where Qin Jingzhou bought over a dozen breakfast items according to their own preferences. Both returned home with their arms full.
Mi Xiaoxiao opened the door, feeling complicated, and saw her father and his girlfriend.
Her dad was in a clearly good mood and went straight to the dining room with the bags.
Mi Xiaoxiao had no choice but to turn her attention to her dad's girlfriend first. She pointed at the sofa. "Please, have a seat." As she looked closer, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes. This older sister seemed a bit familiar.
Ling Jing, of course, understood what Mi Xiaoxiao was puzzled about. She sat openly on the couch, introducing herself. "I'm Gu Xin. If you want to get technical, your brother Gu Sheng is my clan nephew, and Gu Zhiwei is the only son of my half-brother."
Gu Zhiwei was Mi Xiaoxiao's childhood friend.
Mi Xiaoxiao's mouth opened slightly. "That's kind of complicated?"
Ling Jing grinned. "That's not even the half of it. Reality's always more dog-blooded than novels. My dad, who is also Gu Zhiwei's grandfather, is a born playboy. He’s already had six wives, and I don’t think he’s done yet. My half-brother's mom and my own mom both caught him cheating and divorced him themselves, which is why my brother and I get along fairly well."
Mi Xiaoxiao's mouth formed a perfect "O," her voice soft. "So you're Gu Zhiwei's aunt? He's never mentioned you."
Ling Jing replied naturally, "You can ask him yourself. He probably thinks family drama is embarrassing. That old man really acts like he's royalty—even though he doesn't have the title for it."
Qin Jingzhou called from the dining room, "Come have breakfast."
Ling Jing stood up and went straight to the dining room, while Mi Xiaoxiao trailed a bit behind, sending a message to her childhood friend Gu Zhiwei.
Gu Zhiwei replied instantly, "Gu Xin really is my aunt."
Since she couldn’t use voice messages, Mi Xiaoxiao simply typed out everything she'd just heard and sent it over.
Gu Zhiwei responded immediately again. "Auntie actually started dating Uncle Qin!" Then another message followed. "Can I come see you? Xiaoxiao, I miss you."
When Mi Xiaoxiao sat at the dining table, her cheeks were suspiciously red.
Ling Jing just smiled and said nothing, drinking her beef and egg congee one small spoonful at a time.
Qin Jingzhou placed a shrimp dumpling onto his daughter's plate first. "So, what's wrong? Now that I've brought my girlfriend home, do you want to bring your little boyfriend home too?"
Clutching her phone, Mi Xiaoxiao darted to the bathroom next to the dining room. Five minutes later, she walked out again and asked cautiously, "Dad, is that okay?"
Qin Jingzhou nodded. "Of course. I’ve already let you meet my girlfriend, shouldn’t you let me meet your boyfriend too? It’s only fair."
For some reason, when her dad spoke seriously like this... he was just too cute.
Stuffing her phone in her pocket, Mi Xiaoxiao rubbed her cheeks. "Okay, Dad."
Little did she know that Ling Jing was transmitting messages to Qin Jingzhou at the same time, praise in her voice. "Such a cute little girl."
Qin Jingzhou laughed as well. "Let's see what her childhood friend is like. If he's decent, we can foster him a bit." He couldn't help sighing. "If only Gu Zhiwei were half as thoughtful as Xiao Xi's childhood friend."
Ling Jing had heard about this before. Xiao Xi's childhood friend cooked amazingly well. If Xiao Qing hadn’t started cultivating immortality, even her skills couldn’t compare. The thought made her smile. "You just can’t bring yourself to use your own daughter."
Qin Jingzhou popped a shumai into his mouth. "If he wants to be my son-in-law, he’d better be polite and self-aware."
Ling Jing said, perfectly justified, "Exactly. And I’ll get to enjoy the perks too."
Mi Xiaoxiao couldn't hear what Ling Jing and Qin Jingzhou were saying, but she could clearly see the looks they exchanged. After eating, she took the initiative to clean up, loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, and texted her childhood friend, "I think my dad and your aunt are serious."
Gu Zhiwei replied right away. "I’ve got my ticket and I’m packing now."
Meanwhile, having changed her clothes, Ling Jing received a visit from the official delegation right on time.
Qin Jingzhou introduced both his girlfriend and daughter in front of the officials, making not a single mention of his eldest son Gu Sheng. Of course the visitors immediately picked up on his unspoken message.
Next, in full view of the guests, Qin Jingzhou discreetly presented his handmade prosthetic limb, a simple pusher, and a rough exoskeleton.
Not only did the officials see everything for themselves, they even had the chance to try the prototypes personally.
The exquisite part of the handmade prosthetic was an ultra-integrated metal chip that detected neural impulses. The pusher's core was a tiny micro-engine. As for the rough exoskeleton, its strength lay in a cleverly designed mechanical structure.
The person in charge had brought along several experts. None of them cared about the rust or grime on the prototypes, turning them over and examining them again and again.
After muttering among themselves to praise the three samples, they looked at Qin Jingzhou, eyes bright and cheeks flushed, as if looking at someone they admired deeply.
The official in charge immediately understood the meaning behind the experts' attitude.
So he asked politely, "May we take the samples back with us?"
Qin Jingzhou was agreeable. "Take photos and video, sign, and give a receipt."
The official readily agreed. "Of course."
While the experts and researchers carefully packed up the samples, Gu Sheng finally arrived, late as always.
Since his dad had discussed the meeting time with the officials right in front of him, he knew exactly when it was scheduled. He hadn’t meant to be late, but his grandfather (his mother’s father), along with a few long-standing Gu Group board members, had insisted on a video conference with him from overseas.
Old Master Gu was the kind of hard-nosed capitalist who could set aside personal grievances when profit was at stake.
When he’d figured out why Gu Group’s stock had jumped eight percent overnight, he was in a great mood. He told Gu Sheng directly, "Let bygones be bygones." Then added honestly, "If apologizing to him is what it takes, so be it. I did underestimate him."
This all depended on the group getting at least most of the patent rights. The old master was most optimistic about the prosthetic limb and related technology. Considering the huge number of people with limb loss in China and abroad, this technology had boundless potential.
As for the pusher and the exoskeleton, the old master wasn’t exactly uninterested. It was just that even with a basic introduction, he knew those technologies were sensitive. Even if Mi Jingzhou fully supported Gu Group, they might not be able to pull it off.
Once the board members had signed off, the old master went over the pros and cons one more time before finally letting Gu Sheng go.
Gu Sheng rushed to his father's house, only to see the officials' experts packing up... Not that he minded. For him, just making an appearance in front of the official in charge was enough.
The official, well-prepared before visiting the Mi family, had already learned plenty. Throughout the meeting, Gu Sheng tried his best to flatter Mi Jingzhou, but Mi Jingzhou only responded occasionally. Internally, Gu Sheng was amused. When profits are at stake, of course the eldest son has to be the dutiful child and grandson.
Mi Jingzhou didn’t spare a glance at his cheap son. Once the officials had left, he turned to Ling Jing. "My girlfriend. The two of you should get acquainted."
Of course Gu Sheng knew Gu Xin, just not intimately.
Learning out of nowhere that his cousin was dating his father left Gu Sheng's smile frozen. Since when did his dad change his type? Wasn’t he always into women a bit older than himself?
To tell the truth, just yesterday he’d even considered introducing some female friends to his dad, hoping to please him. But now, one glance at his dad’s knowing, amused gaze, and he felt like all his thoughts were laid bare in the sun. He quickly dropped his head. "Dad, I know I was wrong."
Mi Jingzhou turned back to continue working on his prosthetic limb designs. "You can come by, but you’d best not stay long."
Gu Sheng could only keep up the forced smile. "Understood, Dad." But before leaving, he suddenly pulled out his phone and read aloud a "help" message sent to him late last night by a certain VIP, then asked, "By the way, Dad, are you still taking custom orders? Full right leg, fifty million."
Mi Jingzhou smiled. "Hmm, it's not out of the question."
Holding her teacup, Ling Jing walked over. "That’s a lot of money, at least enough for a Capital City apartment. It’ll recharge your finances a bit."
But the truth was, both Mi Jingzhou and Ling Jing agreed to this order for reasons besides money.
Because the custom prosthetic order that Gu Sheng arranged was from the original supporting male lead—after Ling Yu pushed Mi Xiaoxiao into the fire pit, he was the business elite who tormented her over and over.
Gu Sheng was delighted. "I’ll contact him now."
Mi Jingzhou and Ling Jing exchanged a glance. "Go ahead."
Gu Sheng immediately called the contact.
Just then, Ling Jing’s phone, which she’d set on the corner of Mi Jingzhou’s desk, rang. She peeked at the screen and teased, "Talk about being in sync."
It was a message from Ling Yu, asking whenever would be convenient for her to visit.
Ling Jing replied, "I moved in with my boyfriend. Want to come over?"
Ling Yu replied, pretending to be hesitant, "Really? Is it okay?"
Ling Jing smiled. "It’s fine, my boyfriend’s easygoing." She sent her location.
Ling Yu could only say, "Can I come this afternoon?"
Ling Jing put her phone back, and messaged quietly, "Ling Yu will probably bring the original host's 'boy god' with her, to provoke me."
Qin Jingzhou got the hint and instructed Gu Sheng, "If you need to take measurements, it’d be best to do it this afternoon."
Gu Sheng relayed the message right away. A moment later, he hung up and told his father, "It’s set. He’ll be here on time."
And as luck would have it, Mi Xiaoxiao’s childhood friend Gu Zhiwei was arriving that afternoon too.
So many people coming together... Qin Jingzhou and Ling Jing exchanged a smile. Surely, this would be a day full of surprises that no one would ever forget.