Scandalous Deeds

The vermilion-colored building was exquisite and elegant. Yu Xing guessed that if the color were different, Yi Qing would definitely like it more.

Since Zhao Yijiu was willing to give him a proper introduction, Yu Xing naturally asked, "What's the background of those two women?"

Living on the same floor indicates a close relationship.

"They're all my relatives, a little older than me, but I haven't seen many people growing up. Zhao Mou is more familiar with them," Zhao Yijiu said casually.

After hearing this, Yu Xing thought for a moment, then her attention drifted to something else.

He was thinking...

Zhao Yijiu's style of doing things is different from that of the Zhao family in the general sense. While the Zhao family members are all shrewd and shrewd, his social skills are almost non-existent. While the Zhao family members rely on logic, he walks through the realm of deduction with only a short knife.

The fact that he was a special individual was confirmed when Yu Xing discovered that he came from the Zhao family.

Yu Xing had no idea what caused Zhao Yijiu to grow up to be so eccentric, until today, when Zhao Yijiu herself said that she "had never really seen anyone since she was little," that he realized...

It's probably not that Zhao Yijiu's later experiences caused her to become gloomy, but rather that she was always like that, which led the Zhao family to adopt a different approach to raising Zhao Yijiu.

It seems this child's own abilities are worth exploring!

Having himself as an example, Yu Xing was extremely interested in everyone with a special physique even before entering the deduction process.

He glanced at Zhao Yijiu, but Zhao Yijiu's perception had greatly improved after advancing to the Righteous Path, and she instantly looked back at him. "?"

"I'm introducing the guests on the second floor to you, but you're daydreaming." His icy demeanor and cold voice made even his earnest explanations sound like he was reading a death list.

Neither a suit nor glasses could save him.

Yu Xing hadn't been listening; she'd been caught daydreaming. Despite this, she shamelessly retorted, "Then why don't you say it again?"

Zhao Yijiu: "..."

He's already reached his limit in terms of talking.

"Look it up yourself if you're interested." With that, he quickened his pace and stepped into the vermilion building.

Yu Xing: "Oh."

Perhaps it was because the building was in a remote location. I didn't see anyone along the way, but I did see groups of people walking together in other parts of the area. Apart from the support staff wearing name tags, they all looked young.

As Zhao Mou told Yu Xing, this was a gathering of the younger generation from the Three Great Families, and the term "young" basically refers to those under thirty years old.

Even members of the Three Great Families wouldn't be exposed to absurdity too early. For example, Zhao Yijiu only entered the abandoned factory at the age of twenty-two to begin the qualification test, which was considered early.

Aside from a minority who enter the deduction Yugi as soon as they reach adulthood, most members officially come into contact with the absurdity around the age of twenty-four or twenty-five, and those who are still alive around the age of thirty can generally advance to the differentiation line, enough to stand out at the annual gathering and compete fairly in the live broadcast of the Death Parallel Line.

In other words, even though Zhao Mou is already in charge of an entire sub-project, he is only twenty-eight years old and can still be considered among the younger generation. This time, he is both the person in charge and one of the members participating in the gathering.

Yu Xing pondered for a moment, and realized that among all the people in Feng Gulan Ting, the one least qualified to stand here was... him.

Cough cough, no, looking young means you really are young.

The vermilion building has a strong ancient style from the outside, and the same style continues on the first floor. In front of the hall, there is a small pond with koi swimming in it, and in the center of the pond is a large water vat planted with lotus flowers.

The lamps on the wall were elegant and appropriate, and the staircase, hidden behind a screen, wound its way up. Yu Xing followed Zhao Yijiu a few steps closer, when suddenly she heard a powerful voice faintly coming from the side room. "Royal Flush!"

Then came a string of disheartened hisses.

Zhao Yijiu: "..."

Yu Xing became interested, and with a turn of her feet, she went from going upstairs to the doorway of the side room.

Zhao Yijiu glanced at him, then turned around and followed with a blank expression.

On a long table in the side room, four or five formally dressed people were playing cards.

The game they were playing didn't seem to be anything complicated; it was just the most common Fight the landlord popular Chinese card game). Just now, the landlord played a royal flush, which made the three farmers boo in dissatisfaction. One of them, a woman who looked to be in her late twenties with curly hair and wearing a pencil skirt, even lit a cigarette with a "snap" and showed a very unhappy expression.

They quickly noticed the people at the door. The woman, with a confident, maple-red smile, said, "A drink? Heh, want to play a few rounds?"

The short-haired woman wearing glasses next to her was the landlord in this round. After playing a three, she casually remarked, "Let's not talk about chickens, let's be civilized."

"You're going to respond to that?" The curly-haired woman smoking chuckled, then turned to Zhao Yijiu and said, "Hey handsome, wanna come over? It's strange, even though your brother wasn't holding you back, you actually came on your own."

Zhao Yijiu looked at the two relaxed women and said coldly, "I didn't come over on my own initiative, I..."

"So this is Zhao Yijiu from your branch? I've heard so much about you." A voice rang out, interrupting him.

Compared to the two women, the remaining two "farmers" and one man sitting on the side were all men. They looked Zhao Yijiu up and down with slightly strange smiles.

It's like looking at some kind of exhibit.

The curly-haired woman frowned, then said, "Yes, it's him. He advanced in the simulation after only two months. Isn't that amazing? He's from our family! Zhao Xu, you should learn from him. Who knows, he might surpass you in no time!"

As soon as she said this, the men subconsciously withdrew their scrutinizing gazes, realizing that even though Zhao Yijiu's position in the Zhao family was awkward, and she was out of step with others due to her abilities and style, and had received a lot of criticism, every single one of the people in their branch was fiercely protective of their own.

Only the short-haired woman seemed to have just looked up from the card game. "Yi Jiu, who's behind you?"

Later?

Zhao Yijiu glanced back and saw the culprit who had dragged him here to watch the fun hiding behind him, with a weak face that said, "Did I disturb the big shots' card game? I don't know any of these people, it's a bit embarrassing. Oh dear, I'm so nervous about attending a party for the first time."

Yes, the only word he could use to describe Yu Xing's current state was "disgusting," otherwise it wouldn't be enough to express his "admiration" for Yu Xing's effortless acting skills.

Well, Zhao Mou's worries were completely unnecessary.

After a pause, Zhao Yijiu, unable to contain herself any longer, pulled Yu Xing out from behind her. "His name is Yu Xing, he's one of the guys my brother brought."

"Wow~" The curly-haired woman exclaimed in undisguised amazement as she looked at Yu Xing, then played a King in her hand. "So this is Yu Xing! I didn't expect him to be such a cute little brother!"

The short-haired woman nodded in agreement. "Indeed."

Yu Xing smiled shyly, "Hello, both of you sisters."

Zhao Yijiu: "?"

"A subordinate from outside the family brought by Zhao Mou? That's intriguing." The man who wasn't at the card table was rather thin, with a slightly effeminate appearance. He squinted at him for a while. "His appearance alone gives him a lot of advantages. But Zhao Mou isn't a superficial person. To be chosen by him, he must be a formidable character, right?"

Compared to the positive feedback given by the two ladies, this person was clearly not going to let his guard down just because of Yu Xing's outward appearance. Instead, he seemed to be praising her, but in reality, he was reminding his two companions that "this person is probably faking it."

Yu Xing reached out and ruffled the fur collar that had been fluttering slightly since entering the room due to the increased temperature, then nodded in agreement. "What you said makes a lot of sense, so I guess I'm pretty ruthless, right?"

"Pfft." The curly-haired woman chuckled, then urged, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and play your card. Hey, Zhao Jiaming, it's your turn later? I think you're getting bored to death sitting here."

Zhao Jiaming chuckled, his effeminate gaze carrying a hint of schadenfreude. "Alright. But this Mr. Yu is indeed quite interesting. You've already called him 'sister,' why don't you call him 'brother' too? We're all from the Zhao family, we'll get to know each other better later, it wouldn't hurt to get to know each other beforehand, right?"

"That won't do, Brother Jiu will be angry. My first Yugi was with Brother Jiu, I only call him 'brother'." Yu Xing shamelessly said, still trying to show off in front of the person in question, "Right, Brother Jiu?"

Zhao Yijiu narrowed her eyes slightly and said in front of the card players, "It's good that you know. Don't pay attention to the people in other branches. They're all competitors in the live simulation."

The Zhao family are fiercely competitive among themselves, but they like to speak indirectly and in a roundabout way. No matter how bad the relationship is, they will always give each other room to maneuver. For example, right now, two branches that don't get along well can play cards together and even joke around and laugh heartily, creating a false impression of harmony.

Whether it's Zhao Mou, the curly-haired woman, the short-haired woman, or Zhao Jiaming, Zhao Xu, and others, they are all used to this. Perhaps this ability to feign compliance is already ingrained in their DNA, quite similar to the business world and the arena of fame and fortune.

Zhao Yijiu is probably the only one in the entire family who doesn't have to worry about anything and can just confront anyone she doesn't like.

His words upset Zhao Jiaming, but he just laughed it off.

The curly-haired woman seemed particularly happy, leaning forward on the table with a grin, revealing her alluring curves. "I won't call on that little iceberg, Yi Jiu, he's too much for me to handle. Hey, handsome young Yu, wanna play cards?"

In less than two minutes, the title of "handsome young man" she had been referring to had been gloriously transferred to someone else.

Yu Xing didn't mind stirring up trouble among this group of smiling tigers, subtly provoking each of the three men one by one, but Zhao Yijiu clearly didn't want to waste time there, answering for him, "He's not playing, my brother's looking for him later."

"Oh, Zhao Mou's coming over in a bit?" The curly-haired woman extracted the key words, her slender fingers twirling the ends of her hair with a sophisticated air. "Then you guys go upstairs~ Let's eat together later~"

Zhao Yijiu didn't answer, and turned to leave with Yu Xing.

Although the stairs are made of wood, they are of very high quality and covered with a thin layer of brown mat, so walking on them is completely silent.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, finding no one around, Zhao Yijiu took out a room key from his suit trousers and handed it to Yu Xing, saying casually, "Satisfied now?"

Yu Xing took the room key, swiped it on the lock of her room, and pressed the handle. "Satisfied with what?"

"Aren't you just trying to take this opportunity to test my and my brother's standing in the Zhao family, so you can prepare for what's to come?" Zhao Yijiu stopped moving, just standing there with her hands in her pockets, looking at him. "I told you, you should be wary of me. Don't treat me like a fool who can't see anything."

"Ha!" Seeing the little iceberg display this lively emotion of wanting to prove himself for the second time, Yu Xing pushed open the door and walked in without changing his expression, facing the modern and luxurious furnishings that were completely different from the outside world. "Come in."

Zhao Yijiu hesitated for a moment, then, remembering that Zhao Mou would be coming over later, she obediently followed him inside.

The air conditioner was on inside, making the room quiet and comfortable. Yu Xing took off her down jacket and draped it over the coat rack by the door, tilting her head as she said, "Indeed, I can tell you're consciously working on your mental acuity. Not bad, not bad, worthy of encouragement~"

Bingzhazi's face was turning as red as a boiled ice cream cone; he felt choked up and, after closing the door, stood motionless by it, like a hamster whose house had been ransacked.

After teasing Zhao Yijiu for being cheeky, Yu Xing realized she couldn't tease her any longer, lest she drive her away. Only then did she begin to answer Zhao Yijiu's question, "Well, the results of the test were satisfactory, not too different from what I imagined. It's a large family, and we're scattered all over the country, so the word 'family' is almost unrealistic. We're more like colleagues competing for performance; whoever performs better gets more attention from the main family... Is that right?"

Zhao Yijiu nodded silently.

His branch has few members, so many responsibilities fall on Zhao Mou's shoulders. This means that Zhao Mou not only has to try to survive in increasingly difficult simulations, but also has to spend time managing many things and cultivating people so that this branch can keep up with the competition among families.

It can be said that the Zhao family is the most profit-driven of the Three Great Families, and they don't care much about human relationships. Although it may sound harsh, this may be the most suitable way for this group of people to get along.

"But," Zhao Yijiu suddenly said, "You don't need to upset others for me. I don't care about their looks. I don't usually have the opportunity to interact with them in Mijin City."

Yu Xing said lazily, "I'm happy to."

Zhao Yijiu was silent for two seconds, then suddenly smiled.

This expression on his face was fleeting, but clearly, his mood had improved.

"Are those two playing cards downstairs the women who live on the fourth floor with us?" Yu Xing found some cookies on the TV cabinet in the room and casually grabbed one to eat.

"Yes, the one with curly hair Zhao Yingying, and the other one Zhao Miao."

Yu Xing thought for a moment and said, "Looking at them, I feel like they're not completely unfamiliar with you. After all, they can joke around with your murderous aura, so you must have a pretty good relationship, right?"

Zhao Yijiu's expression turned strange for a moment. "It's really just average, but..."

"Um?"

"They were familiar with Zhao Mou, so they sometimes treated me like a younger brother. But..."

There weren't many things that could make this person hesitate to speak, Yu Xing waited with great interest, wanting to see what he would say.

"The reason they're so close is probably because they often go to nightclubs together," Zhao Yijiu said, her expression returning to normal, as if discussing what to eat that night. "As for whether they split up to hang out at the nightclubs or simply... I have no idea."

Yu Xing was taken aback, then exclaimed, "Whoa!": "Not closely related by blood, are you?"

Zhao Yijiu coughed lightly. "I don't know."

He never inquired about his brother's private affairs, since Zhao Mou was unlikely to cause him any trouble.

"Before I even stepped inside, I thought I heard someone who's siding with outsiders talking badly about me?" Suddenly, Zhao Mou's voice rang out from outside the door.