A Turn for the Better in a Crisis

Wenren Sheng left the External Relations Center, checked the time, and saw that it was only half past two. He took a car straight home.

The rain had stopped, and a rainbow appeared in the East Side, exceptionally brilliant, drawing many passersby to stop and take pictures.

The judges' assessment would take place on Friday. This week, he needed to handle preparation, registration, and the examination itself, so things would be rather tedious.

When he returned to the villa and entered alone, he found Brother De still lying on the living room sofa, drinking.

He walked straight over.

As long as no outsiders were flirting with Brother De, Wenren Sheng was still quite respectful toward him. He would not greet him with a loving slap across the face.

Seeing him approach, Wenren De opened his eyes, swayed his head, and began reciting poetry again:

"Though the divine tortoise may live long, its days must end at last; though Teng Snake rides the mist, it will eventually turn to dust. An old warhorse in its stable still yearns to roam a thousand miles; a hero in his twilight years still keeps his grand ambitions."

Wenren Sheng could not be bothered listening to ancient poetry. Just as he was about to hoist the man up, he heard him say, "A Sheng, there's a key point in the poem I just composed. Do you know what it is?"

"I don't know what key point you mean. I only know that although you didn't dream today, you're even more muddleheaded than if you had. You actually dare to pass off an ancient poet's work as your own now." Wenren Sheng hoisted him up without expression. "Keep this up, and I'll have no choice but to make you take medicine."

"I'm not taking medicine. I'm not sick! Borrowing poetry can't be called stealing. Can anything poets do be called stealing? Don't you know that ancient poets borrowed from one another all the time?" Wenren De was indeed awake enough to argue with him.

Wenren Sheng said disdainfully, "I've never seen anyone take 'borrowing' as far as copy-pasting before."

"Stop changing the subject. I'm asking about the key point in that poem. Answer me."

"The key point is obviously the word 'longevity.'" Wenren Sheng carried him toward the bedroom as he spoke. "Don't worry, Ah De. You're still young. Your life has only just begun. I won't give up on you."

"What longevity? It's 'strong'!" Wenren De struggled desperately over his shoulder. "I want to drink the strongest liquor! I don't want that weak beer anymore. It makes my stomach ache from swelling up, and I have to get up three times every night."

Wenren Sheng turned a deaf ear and carried him into the bedroom before tossing him onto the bed.

"It's already good enough that there's alcohol at home for you to drink. If you dare sneak out to drink again, I'll lock you up."

Wenren Sheng left those words behind and turned to leave.

"You bastard, I'm your father..." Wenren De howled mournfully from the bed.

Wenren Sheng left the room and headed straight for the villa's study to begin preparing for the exam.

At around half past five, there was a knock on the study door.

"Come in." He opened his eyes as he spoke.

Zhao Han poked her head in at the doorway, looked around for a while, and only then entered.

"Have a seat. What is it?" he asked.

Zhao Han sat on the sofa opposite him and said, "Oh, there are two things."

Wenren Sheng closed his eyes.

Zhao Han quickly continued, "First, next time, you don't need to have Brother Li come all the way back to pick us up. He has to make the trip back and forth. We can take a taxi or the bus home."

"I never told him to pick you up. He wants to do it himself, and I'm not going to stop him." Wenren Sheng shook his head.

Just as I thought, Zhao Han muttered softly, then continued, "The second thing is about Uncle Wenren. I performed a divination, and it said that a crisis will happen to him. But a crisis also means a turning point. If he gets through the crisis, there will be an opportunity."

Of course, she would not tell him the entire narration. The full text was actually: "There are some people who, even in dreams, will not betray their principles. Wenren De is such a person. Even in a dream, he would never harm others. A crisis is about to befall him, but within that crisis lies an opportunity to solve the problems afflicting him. And his kindness will bring him the greatest reward of his life."

"Very good." Wenren Sheng opened his eyes, took out his phone, and began making a call.

"Teacher, who are you calling?" Zhao Han asked curiously.

"Of course I'm asking for leave. Since there's going to be a crisis, I need to stay home with him." Wenren Sheng looked solemn. "Zhao Han, remember this: the saddest thing in life is when one wishes to care for one's parents, but they are no longer there."

Though it felt a little strange, Zhao Han still committed it to memory seriously. There was nothing wrong with that saying.

Just then, the call connected, and Wenren Sheng said, "Is this President Zhao?"

Zhao Wei's voice soon came through the receiver, along with some noisy sounds. He seemed to be at a hospital.

"Wenren, it's me. What is it?"

"President Zhao, I'd like to take a week off. The judges' assessment is this week, and I want to focus on preparing at home. As for the projects I'll delay, I'll make up for them by working overtime." Wenren Sheng spoke with a straight face.

"All right. This is your first time taking part in the judges' selection. I should have given you some special guidance, but recently..."

"I understand how you feel, President Zhao. I'm already honored that you had the thought." Wenren Sheng's tone was filled with gratitude.

"Fine, your leave is approved. But if you get selected successfully, I'll have the company invite our clients to hold a celebration for you, and recruit another batch of students while we're at it. You'd better perform well."

"Thank you, President Zhao. I will." Wenren Sheng agreed immediately.

Then he hung up and looked at Zhao Han again. "Do you have anything else?"

"No, no more." Zhao Han hurriedly replied.

Wenren Sheng immediately waved his hand. "Then don't disturb my vacation."

Zhao Han was instantly speechless and could only turn around and leave.

He closed his eyes and continued studying.

But before he could settle down for long, Wu Shanshan entered again.

"I didn't expect you to find a loophole and get your leave approved after all." She walked over and naturally sat on Wenren Sheng's lap. "I really don't understand you. If there really is a crisis, just have Uncle stay at the company. It's absolutely safe there."

"Uh, she actually told you about that? Looks like your relationship with her has improved quite a bit." Wenren Sheng looked puzzled. "Last week, you were still targeting her like that. You're even harder for me to understand."

"Of course it's because she knows now that you're mine." Wu Shanshan grabbed his chin and teased him directly.

Wenren Sheng stared at her, then suddenly said in a low voice, "Old Wu came to see me again today."

"Why bring him up?" Wu Shanshan's expression changed slightly. A glint appeared in her eyes, and her voice became somewhat subdued. "I haven't had anything to do with him for a long time."

"He still cares about you. He mentioned that the two of you had some unpleasant incidents in the past. You are father and daughter, after all. It would be better not to repeat what happened in President Zhao's family." Wenren Sheng seemed not to notice the change in her expression and simply continued speaking in an earnest tone.

"Tch, why do you care about him? Isn't it good enough for the two of us to be like this?" She seemed to be growing impatient.

"Since you've acknowledged our relationship now, isn't caring about your past also my responsibility? The truth doesn't hurt people. Only people hurt people." Wenren Sheng let out a breath.

"You..." Wu Shanshan seemed about to get angry, but for some reason she forced it down. Her gaze softened as she looked at him. "In any case, you don't need to concern yourself with those things. You only need to know that, aside from you, no one can hurt me anymore."

"All right, then." Wenren Sheng shook his head.

"Tonight, I won't lock my door." Wu Shanshan blinked, her lashes fluttering as she tossed out those words. Then she rose from his lap and left the study.

Wenren Sheng watched her slender figure with a thoughtful expression before closing his eyes again.

He needed to continue preparing for the exam.

If he had guessed correctly, the so-called crisis would probably occur during this judges' assessment. And this assessment would very likely allow him to render great merit, gain a new opportunity for protection, and thereby solve Brother De's problem.

Brother De was a good person, unquestionably so, although his temperament was somewhat soft.

After Wenren Sheng had reincarnated into this world, during the initial period when his memories had not yet fully integrated, Brother De had always taken devoted care of him. He had never scolded him even once because of his poor performance.

Zhao Han's Seed of Narration was indeed very useful.

The hint had already been given. For now, he needed to set aside all other matters and focus.

Because other people could take his place in everything else, but no one could replace him in matters concerning Brother De.

Within his mind, all kinds of knowledge were constantly being transformed and absorbed, deeply understood, organized into a tree of knowledge, linked at key points, used to construct simulated environments, and practiced in application.

The mysterious skill "Extraordinary Memory" quietly increased in proficiency throughout this process. It seemed that reaching the intermediate level was no longer far away.