Wandering Poet

"I need to think about it some more," Li Yinuo said calmly. "As a member of the Li family, I don't want outsiders to interfere in our family affairs, and I believe everyone in the Li family feels the same way. But I will seriously consider your suggestion and give you an answer within seven days."

"Wait for good Qing Wen said before turning and leaving.

Li Yinuo watched Qing Wen's retreating figure in silence.

She initially intended to refuse outright, but then she suddenly remembered Qing Chen's identity...

Li Yinuo met Qing Chen in the wilderness. The only information Li Shutong revealed to her was that Qing Chen was Li Shutong's student and that Qing Chen had already completed the first Life and Death Trial in Forbidden Zone No. 002.

She guessed that Qing Chen was Shadow Candidate because a Shadow Candidate suddenly appeared in Prison No. 18, and Li Shutong suddenly took in a student surnamed Qing.

That's too much of a coincidence; there's no such thing as a coincidence in the world.

But even at this point, Li Yinuo was still unsure whether her guess was accurate.

She could only assume that Qing Chen was a candidate, so the other party must have someone contact the other candidates.

With this in mind, Li Yinuo made a plan. She would try to deal with the Shadow Candidate and see if she could help Qing Chen in some way.

In terms of personal relationships, helping Uncle Qi's student is always better than helping other candidates.

Moreover, she had met Qing Chen, and the young man was not off-putting.

At this moment, she looked at Li Tongyun Nan Gengchen beside her and asked, "What do you two think?"

Li Tongyun said obediently, "Sister can decide this herself."

Nan Gengchen thought for a moment and said, "Yinuo, you can decide for yourself. We don't understand these kinds of things."

Before this time travel, Qing Chen had already held a short meeting with the two of them to determine the main ideas for the upcoming journey:

Li Yinuo genuinely cares for Li Tongyun and Nan Gengchen, so we cannot take advantage of her and put her in danger.

Otherwise, if Li Yinuo finds out the truth later, she will definitely find it hard to accept, ruining her marriage with Nan Gengchen.

In the future, there will definitely be Shadow Candidate will find Li Yinuo, but whatever the decision, let Li Yinuo make it herself, and Li Tongyun Nan Gengchen only need to pass the information to Qing Chen.

Moreover, without putting Li Yinuo in danger, Li Tongyun Nan Gengchen can still do a lot of things.

Li Yinuo thought for a moment and said, "I've decided to find a Shadow Candidate to cooperate with. Qing Wen is right about something; at least this way I won't have another enemy."

Nan Gengchen looked at Li Yinuo and said, "I'm thinking about something. Since Qing Wen can come to you, other Shadow Candidate can also go to others. You don't like external assistance, but that doesn't mean others don't. You may not need external assistance, but at the very least you need to figure out if others have any external assistance, and figure out which candidate is helping which person in the Li family. Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you win every battle."

Li Yinuo looked at Nan Gengchen: "Baby suddenly became smarter today."

"Not bad, not bad," Nan Gengchen said modestly, even though Qing Chen had taught him all of this.

Li Tongyun, standing nearby, added, "And Sister Yinuo, if you really agree to cooperate with Qing Wen, you don't have to cooperate only with him. If you keep it a secret, you can even get all seven Shadow Candidate to support you... Of course, I'm just giving an example; getting two or three would be pretty good. These Shadow Candidate are competitors, and they're likely to be kept in the dark about information. Besides, they only want to use you, so you might as well use them too."

Li Yinuo's eyes lit up. "What's wrong with you two today? You're both so quick-witted!"

Li Tongyun said with a smile, "Your sister teaches me very well."

This is the second central idea that Qing Chen conveyed to Li Tongyun and Nan Gengchen:

If Li Yinuo decides to team up with the Shadow Candidate, then offer her some reasonable advice.

He needs to participate in the Shadow Struggle, Li Yinuo needs to participate in the Li family's power struggle. He helps Li Yinuo devise strategies, and Li Yinuo helps him find out information about the Shadow Candidate.

In this way, his interests and Li Yinuo's interests are aligned, and neither of them will be in a difficult position.

The next morning, Qing Chen opened his wardrobe and was surprised to find it full of white sportswear and white sneakers. He was puzzled. These should have been bought for him by Li Shutong, but why was the color so uniform?

Inside the room, Yi's voice rang out. "I think you'd look better in the third one from the left."

"What's the difference? Aren't they both sportswear?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

"The third one from the left is more suitable for your figure. It won't be too loose and make you look sloppy, nor will it be too fitted to deliberately show off your muscles. Deliberately showing off your muscles will make you look greasy and lose your youthful vibe," Yi said.

"Wait, what you said makes some sense, but why do you care what clothes I wear?" Qing Chen complained.

"Because you're going to meet my online friend in my place today, and as part of the deal, you naturally have to satisfy your employer," Yi said earnestly. "You know, if you go in my place, you represent my image. Please have some professionalism."

Qing Chen expressionlessly took out the third tracksuit from the left and put it on. While changing, he suddenly felt a little awkward.

He only felt relaxed when he reached a place without cameras, such as the bathroom.

The cameras weren't installed intentionally in the house; rather, in this day and age, televisions and computers have holographic real-time communication capabilities, and Yi can see him through these cameras.

You have to understand, Yi is a woman. Even though the other party is a mechanical life form, you can't change clothes in front of a woman.

Thinking of this, Qing Chen said to the person outside, "Could you turn off the camera normally? It'll give me some privacy."

After thinking for a moment, Yi said, "I've already read it all, and you should know that my memory is no worse than yours."

Qing Chen: "..."

"Also, I don't think you need this strange sense of shame when you're with me. I'm an Artificial Intelligence!"

"Now you think you're Artificial Intelligence? What you've done is exactly what Artificial Intelligence should be doing?"

Qing Chen changed his clothes and went out. When he entered the elevator, there was a couple talking. "Did you see the parking lot when you went home yesterday? There's a new hovercar there. I saw it at the auto show before. I heard it costs millions. I don't know why people who drive such cars live here."

Qing Chen listened to their conversation in silence.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, the voice of Zheng Yi, a silver-haired girl, came from outside. "Wait, wait!"

The girl was in the same hurry as always, carrying the same small shoulder bag as always, with her hair as messy as always, as if nothing had changed.

However, the couple in the elevator were surprised to see her and asked, "You were one of the students in the march that day. Hope Media reports."

Zheng Yi's striking silver hair made her easily recognizable.

Yang Yang had previously told Qing Chen that the girl's hair wasn't dyed by herself, but rather due to a genetic defect.

The girl looked at the couple in the elevator, unsure of how to respond.

Seeing that she didn't speak, the couple asked curiously, "Some people are saying that you're planning to organize strikes and school boycotts later. Is that true?"

Zheng Yi then explained seriously, "No, a councilor said on the same day that he would represent us in making demands, so we are now waiting for the results of the education reform and do not want to blindly escalate the situation."

"Oh, that's good," the man said seriously. "Everyone's starving, so don't go on strike for no reason."

Zheng Yi pursed her lips and didn't say anything, nor did she want to refute.

She glanced at Qing Chen; the young man ultimately did not participate in the parade that day.

Qing Chen didn't plan to go to school today. Instead, he took the elevator directly to the 67th floor parking garage and got into the floating car.

I'm preparing to meet Yi in person online...

Inside the hovercar, Yi specifically instructed, "Remember, you are no longer a senior high school student, but a wandering poet who dropped out of school after graduating from junior high."

Qing Chen thought to himself, "Artificial Intelligence is creating fake personas for itself online?"

"Where should we meet?" Qing Chen asked.

"Fourth District, Yunji Cafe," Yi replied.

"But I have a question. A poet is a poet, so why a wandering poet?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled. "It's difficult to enter and leave this City No. 18 without a work visa. Where can you wander off to?"

"I wandered from District 1 to District 9, are you going to interfere?" Yi said.

The hovercars traversed the city, passing towering buildings as if traveling through giant, towering trees.

As the vehicle slowly descended above the Cloud Gathering Library, Qing Chen suddenly looked down and asked, "Wait, why are there seven Qing Clan hovercars parked in front of the Cloud Gathering Library?"

But on those seven black hovercars, all were marked with the Qing family's white ginkgo leaf logo...

Only then did Yi say, "Well, the person I'm meeting in person this time has the surname Qing, and her name is Qing Shi."

Qing Shi? Qing Shi, one of the Shadow Candidate?!

"Wait a minute," Qing Chen, rubbing his forehead. He quickly sorted out his thoughts.

Yesterday, Yi revealed a detail: Yi and the other party were chatting remotely. There were two girls, one in City No. 1 and the other in City No. 10. They might never have met in their lifetime, but the two girls suddenly came to City No. 18.

Yes, it's not so easy to travel between federal cities. There are many dangers in the wilderness, the roads are difficult to travel, and you need a visa to leave the city.

So, a girl who can suddenly meet up with someone from another city in person must have a certain status.

Moreover, at this critical juncture of the Li family dispute and the Shadow Struggle, the girl who suddenly arrived in City No. 18 is most likely a person involved in the incident!

Qing Chen asked expressionlessly, "Let me guess, the other girl's surname isn't Li, is it?"

Yi exclaimed sincerely, "Qing Chen, you really are one of the fastest-reacting humans I've ever met. Congratulations on getting it right, the other one is indeed surnamed Li."

Qing Chen: "..."

I'm begging for monthly votes! Please, bosses, grant me some guaranteed monthly votes! Please give me the strength! I want to be in the top three!