Lingquan City center, Hanhai Imperial Garden, the largest estate villa, second floor, study.
A plain-looking young woman with an exceptionally distinguished air had Cheng Hao's arms crossed behind his back and was pinning him face-down beside the rosewood desk.
Behind them, Cheng Hao's slightly plump father held a leather belt, panting heavily as he roared with a flushed face and bulging neck veins.
"You think you're something now, huh? You don't cultivate properly, but spend all day thinking about women!"
"You even dare ask me for money? Thirty million? When I married your mother, I only paid three hundred thousand in betrothal gifts!"
"Damn it, you're going to be the death of me! Do you think our family's money was blown in by the wind? Let's see if I don't beat you to death!"
After roaring, Cheng's father caught his breath, then raised his bear-like arm again.
"Ahh! Stop hitting me! Mom, let me go! Stop him too! Are you even my mother?"
Cheng Hao struggled and wailed. With a Vitality Value of 67, he was practically a little superhuman, yet under his mother's restraint, he could not move an inch.
When the young woman heard the mention of three hundred thousand in betrothal gifts, she cast Cheng's father a sidelong glance, then freed one hand and gently patted Cheng Hao's back.
"Hao, it's precisely because I'm your mother that I haven't done it myself. Hehe."
At that, Cheng Hao could not help shivering.
In their family, his father was an ordinary person, while his mother was a genuine fourth-stage martial artist of the Essence Refining Realm.
How could the Cheng family's real estate business have remained so stable all these years without his mother holding down the fort?
If his mother really took the belt to him, his backside would surely suffer far more than mere redness and swelling.
Another belt strike landed. Cheng Hao gritted his teeth and glared. "Cheng Dongsheng! Hit me, go ahead! Even if you beat me to death, you still have to give me those thirty million!"
"Ow!" Cheng's father trembled with rage. "You're actually going to argue with me now? You want to die, huh? I'll beat you to death right now!"
"I'll show you what it means to argue!"
"I'll show you what it means to chase women!"
"I'll show you what thirty million means!"
"I'll show you what happens when you don't use your brain!"
"Some random little vixen managed to hook your soul away! Have you no ambition at all?"
Smack! Smack! Smack!
"A fool like you might as well be beaten to death! Becoming a martial artist would only make you a menace!"
Cheng Hao had already given up struggling.
His father was just an ordinary person. Though his blows hurt when he hit someone, against a Quasi-Martial Artist with a Vitality Value of 67, they actually did limited damage.
But when he heard those last words, his temper shot up.
"She's not a vixen! I won't let you talk about her like that!"
"Pfft—hahaha!"
Cheng Hao's younger brother, fourteen-year-old Cheng Qian, had been lying at the doorway watching the spectacle. Upon hearing his brother's words, he burst out laughing.
Cheng Hao turned his head and glared furiously. "What are you laughing at? Is it that funny? Cheng Qian, just you wait!"
"Aw—"
"You even dare threaten your little brother?"
Half an hour later, Cheng Hao was lying on the long sofa with his pants pulled halfway down while his mother applied medicine to him.
Cheng's father and Cheng Qian sat on the other two single sofas.
The former wore a dark expression and asked in a deep voice, "Talk. Who's the woman asking you for money? I'd like to see what kind of demoness she is, asking for thirty million right off the bat."
Cheng Hao snorted and turned his head away arrogantly, ignoring him.
"You!"
Cheng's father was just about to erupt when Cheng Qian beside him raised his hand, his face full of innocent cheer.
"Dad, my brother set that older sister as his phone wallpaper. I saw him licking the screen in the middle of the night last year!"
"Cheng Qian, you—ow!" Cheng Hao suddenly sat up, trying to cover his phone. But the movement was too forceful and tugged at the wound on his buttocks, so he collapsed back down.
In that brief delay, his mother pulled the phone from his pocket.
With an expression of intense interest, she firmly took her elder son's right hand and pressed it against the screen to unlock it.
Behind her, two heads—one fat and one thin, one large and one small—leaned over as well.
On the lock screen, a school-uniformed girl sat beside a classroom window, holding a pen in one hand and propping up her cheek with the other. Her delicate brows were faintly furrowed, as though she had something on her mind.
Sunlight filtered through the ginkgo tree outside the window, dappling the surroundings and cloaking the space in rippling light.
She was clearly motionless within that interplay of light and shadow, yet she seemed to sway, vivid and alive.
She was like a pool of clear spring water, like a bright, gleaming moon.
Like a wisp of breeze, a drift of floral fragrance, a bead of morning dew...
"Slurp—!" Cheng Qian swallowed, staring blankly. "No wonder he licks the screen in the middle of the night... If it were me, I'd lick it too."
"Hey, wife, don't twist me, don't twist me!"
"Good for you, Old Cheng. You've grown bold, haven't you? You dare swoon over another woman right in front of me?"
"..."
The chaos lasted for a minute or two, and Cheng Hao took the opportunity to snatch his phone back.
By then, his face was flushed crimson. Anger, embarrassment, and smugness churned together until they filled his heart, leaving his mind utterly blank.
"Original photo? No editing?" Cheng's father sat back down on the sofa and asked sternly.
"No editing. I guarantee it's the original photo." Cheng Hao answered firmly.
"She wants thirty million. What for?" Cheng's father continued asking.
Cheng Hao lifted his head in delight. "You agree?"
"First tell me, what does she want the thirty million for?" Cheng's father did not answer, his tone growing even more severe.
Cheng Hao wilted, but for the sake of the money, he still answered honestly. "Her younger brother has Black Blood Disease. It's congenital, and he needs thirty million to save his life."
"Oh?" His mother raised an eyebrow. "Thirty million to hire a Grandmaster?"
"Yes..." Cheng Hao was somewhat more honest in front of his mother and replied in a lowered voice.
"Heh..." Cheng's father gave a cold laugh. "Thirty million to hire a Grandmaster? Have you been watching too much news?"
"N-no? Is that not possible?" Cheng Hao froze. From his father's tone, was there more to this?
"I call you stupid, and you still refuse to admit it..." Cheng's father looked like he was despairing over a son who could not live up to expectations. "The news only reported that the family paid thirty million in cash. It never said how many benefits they transferred behind the scenes. Nor would it mention what relationship they had with the Grandmaster who made the move."
"To cure Black Blood Disease, a Grandmaster has to go all out, cleansing and reforging the patient's meridians for at least four hours every day, for two or three months..." His mother added, "Hao, do you think thirty million would be enough?"
Cheng's father continued, "Besides, this isn't just about money. Money like that is hard to earn! Which Grandmaster doesn't have easier ways to make money? To hire a Grandmaster to treat Black Blood Disease, money isn't enough—you also need connections and favors!"
"..."
After hearing this, Cheng Hao's face visibly turned ashen. His entire person seemed to flatten into a black-and-white photograph.
He clearly remembered that Li Wei's condition was to cure Li Cheng. The money was merely a tool for achieving that goal.
And the only Grandmaster connected to his family was his mother's grandfather.
But his mother's standing in her maternal family... He only had to think about it to know that old man would definitely not make a move.
His mother sighed and stroked her elder son's fuzzy head. "What a pity. Without this matter, she probably wouldn't even have given you a second look, would she?"
"That really hit me where it hurt, Mom..." Cheng Hao's defenses shattered. He buried his head in the throw pillow and fell silent.
Suddenly, Cheng's father asked Cheng Hao very seriously, "Call your White Moonlight. I have something to ask her."
"You have a way?" Cheng Hao abruptly propped up his upper body and looked at his old father in delight.
Cheng's father glared at him, his tone stern. "It's not about your business! It's something more important! It concerns whether our family can rise another level, whether your mother can advance to the fifth stage, and what kind of future you'll have!"
His mother abruptly turned toward Cheng's father, as though recalling something as well. "You mean that person's matter?"
"Mm!" Cheng's father nodded forcefully.
His mother was stunned. Then she looked at her foolish son beside her, and this time, she truly felt sorry for him.
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