Competing for Favor

Zhang Yang's thirtieth birthday was naturally celebrated in the most carefree way.

Especially around midnight, all the guests, attendants, and servants on the island sing "Happy Birthday" together to the accompaniment of a DJ on stage.

The atmosphere at the scene reached its peak.

Even after that night, the guests who had visited the island were still talking about what had happened that night, and they all said that Mr. Zhang had a Paradise Island in the South Pacific, which was like heaven on earth.

To be invited to Paradise Island someday would be an unparalleled honor.

Nothing major happened in Zhang Yang's thirtieth year; he was simply accumulating strength, waiting for the moment to soar to great heights.

Summer has passed and winter has arrived; another year is coming to an end.

Zhang Zhaohai and his wife's round-the-world trip continues, and they seem determined to reach the ends of the earth.

So when Zhang Yang returned home for the Spring Festival that year, he could only spend the holiday with his parents and, in between, take some time to help them check on their small business.

The thirty Haiqin Restaurant are thriving, and everything is running smoothly.

There's absolutely no need to worry about it.

The new professional manager is adept at everything, managing everything inside and out with remarkable efficiency.

On the eve of the Spring Festival, upon hearing that this "Little Zhang" had returned, he made a special trip to pay a visit in advance, addressing him as "General Manager Zhang" while looking at him with eyes full of admiration.

Indeed, to some extent, this business tycoon is an idol for many business elites.

··

On New Year's Eve, Zhang Yang stood alone on the balcony, watching the lights of thousands of homes and waiting for the New Year to arrive.

Countdown begins.

He counted silently in his mind.

Bite!

Congratulations, host, you have acquired anti-aging biotechnology.

Zhang Yang, who was just anticipating what new technology he might acquire, widened his eyes upon hearing this hint.

It's here!

The biotechnology he had been waiting for.

Moreover, just hearing the name, anti-aging? That sounds like a great product!

Filled with immense excitement, Zhang Yang immediately immersed himself in the experience, and it wasn't until much time had passed that he came back to his senses.

There was joy in his eyes, but also disappointment.

The good thing is that this anti-aging technology can genuinely revitalize and slow down aging; the bad thing is that it's not the kind of miraculous biotechnology I imagined, and it can't make people stay young forever.

That's enough for now.

According to the system description, this anti-aging technology can at most make a person's various bodily functions ten years younger.

Zhang Yang had already used intermediate-level gene serums, which allowed him to maintain his peak physical condition until he was two hundred years old, so this stuff naturally had no effect on him.

But for ordinary people, that significance is extraordinary.

Ten years younger?

The two elderly people in my family are already eighty years old. They suddenly look ten years younger, which is equivalent to their physical condition returning to that of a seventy-year-old.

My parents are over fifty years old. If they were ten years younger, wouldn't that be equivalent to returning to their forties?

These days, being in your forties is the prime of your life.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe him as being in his prime.

Most importantly, his female confidantes.

He's already thirty this year. The girls around him are in their late twenties, his age, and even their thirties. If he suddenly looked ten years younger, wouldn't he go from a young woman to a teenage girl?

He originally planned to have children only after his company's market value reached the top in the world.

But time waits for no one, and he wasn't in a hurry. The girls were getting older, and having children in their thirties was really quite late for them.

Now that I'm ten years younger, it's not too late for anything.

Standing on the terrace, Zhang Yang watched the fireworks light up the sky and couldn't help but smile.

··

At the start of the new year, he naturally planned to further digest this newly acquired anti-aging technology.

Try to get it done as soon as possible.

He didn't intend to commercialize this thing because things involving life and death are far too sensitive. If it were to be commercialized, even if it were just a weakened version released to the market, even if it were worth a fortune, there would be plenty of wealthy people eager to acquire it at any cost.

So, it's best to keep it for yourself.

Of course, even if he were to use it himself, he didn't intend to tell anyone.

They used it on them without their knowledge.

As usual, once the new technology was in hand, the system provided him with another batch of scientist templates, ensuring the professionalism and reliability of the researchers under his command.

In his early years, he had also invested in biotechnology startups, so there was no need to go to great lengths to set up a separate company; he could simply transfer the research templates from the system to them.

Then, they quickly began research on anti-aging.

··

With the technology already mature and a considerable number of professionals working day and night on it.

The first batch of anti-aging drugs has been released.

It's not a lot, but it's definitely enough.

First of all, the family should use it first, including the two elderly people, my grandmother... As for my parents, they are currently in the Arctic, enjoying that wonderful feeling of being far away from the world. It won't be too late for them to come back.

Zhang Yang personally visited the new rural villa in the suburbs and watched as the two elderly people took the anti-aging medicine before leaving satisfied.

Early the next morning.

Grandpa Zhang walked out of the courtyard, looked at each other, and felt that something was not quite right.

"Old man, how come your back is so straight all of a sudden?"

"Hiss? It really is! My legs don't seem to hurt anymore." Grandpa Zhang exclaimed in surprise, moved his legs and feet, and was then astonished to find that his once stiff legs and feet were now unusually flexible.

Being seventy years old is nothing special.

However, the change from eighty to seventy years old is truly earth-shattering.

Grandma Zhang Yang also stretched her body and was surprised to find that she was full of energy and vitality.

Even my vision seems much clearer now.

At this moment, the flowers and plants in the courtyard, the chicks and ducks kept in the corner, and the cat jumping around.

Everything before my eyes seemed brimming with vitality.

The two old people looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

Yinghai, Academy Garden Court.

Li Xiaoxuan's residence.

"Mom, why did you make so many dishes?" Tongtong, who is already a primary school student, came home with her schoolbag and was surprised to find a table full of delicious food.

In the kitchen, a graceful figure wearing an apron was busy at work.

"Tongtong, go wash your hands," Li Xiaoxuan said with a smile as she turned around. "Your godfather is coming later."

"What!" Tongtong was stunned for a moment, then jumped up and down with joy, "Great, great!"

She washed her hands, then sat upright on the sofa, suppressing her excitement as she waited.

"Mom, why isn't my godfather here yet?"

"Mom, why don't you ask her?"

··

After asking several times, there was finally a knock on the door.

"Godfather's here!" Tongtong jumped up from the sofa excitedly and immediately ran to open the door.

Outside the door, a tall figure was smiling with his arms outstretched.

"Godfather!" Tongtong excitedly hugged him.

Zhang Yang smiled and hugged Tongtong, then took out the gift he had prepared.

"Tongtong, this is a gift for you."

"This is... this is Barbie!" Tongtong's eyes lit up instantly. "I love it so much!"

The Barbie that Zhang Yang gave away was certainly no ordinary item.

Take this Jewelry Barbie doll, for example. The jewelry it wears isn't a toy; it's real jewelry.

This one set cost less than $100,000.

Upon hearing the news, Li Xiaoxuan naturally came out and, without saying a word, immediately embraced and kissed him to ease her longing.

After a long, passionate kiss, she finally noticed Tongtong, who was taking apart a toy with stars in her eyes.

"Oh... since she's already here, why bring her toys?" Li Xiaoxuan with a light reproach.

"My godfather came empty-handed?" Zhang Yang said with a smile.

Nearby, Tongtong had already taken the incredibly detailed Barbie doll out of its packaging.

Under the lights, Barbie, dressed in a miniature haute couture gown, had a diamond necklace around her neck that sparkled, making her look nothing like a toy.

"Huh?" Li Xiaoxuan exclaimed in surprise, bent down to take a look, and then whispered in Zhang Yang's ear, "This Barbie doll, it must be very expensive."

"Expensive? Not expensive at all?" Zhang Yang asked with a smile.

"I don't believe it." Li Xiaoxuan took a picture, Caught in the Web it, and then put down her phone in a daze. "Auction price, 100,000 US dollars? You spoil Tongtong too much."

One hundred thousand dollars?

You can buy a small house in Yinghai now.

In other words, Zhang Yang casually gave Tongtong a toy worth the price of a house?

Tongtong hasn't fully grasped the meaning of money yet, but she knows that the gift her godfather gave her is very, very valuable.

You could tell from her mother's expression.

"Godfather really loves me the most!" Tongtong happily hugged Zhang Yang's leg.

At noon, we had an exceptionally lavish home-style meal.

After lunch, Tongtong obediently went to school by herself, leaving Li Xiaoxuan and Zhang Yang to enjoy the wonderful time alone in the room.

The golden afternoon sun shone down.

Li Xiaoxuan, her fair shoulders exposed, leaned against Zhang Yang's chest, her eyes seemingly lost in reverie.

"Thank you... thank you for everything you've done for my daughter and me." Her eyes were filled with tenderness and emotion. "Seeing you once every year or two is enough to make me content."

Zhang Yang didn't speak, but simply stroked Li Xiaoxuan's smooth shoulder, savoring the afterglow.

"But..." Li Xiaoxuan stroked the face before her, untouched by the passage of time, a hint of sadness in her eyes, "I am getting old after all."

She is two years older than Zhang Yang, and is thirty-two this year.

In terms of age, she is indeed at the peak of a woman's charm and beauty. However, beauty fades with time, and youth diminishes with each passing year. If we only meet once every year or two, wouldn't she appear a year older with each meeting?

With each meeting, she aged a year; with each meeting, she aged a year again. She could even see what she would look like several years from now...

Perhaps, by then, I won't even have the face to meet Zhang Yang?

"So you're already having age anxiety?" Zhang Yang chuckled. "Birth, aging, illness, and death are the natural order of life... Besides, you're in the prime of your life right now, why worry about such trivial things?"

He smiled and picked up the water glass from the bedside table.

"Come."

He had obviously put anti-aging serum in that water glass long ago.

Li Xiaoxuan nodded gently, picked up her water glass, drank it all in one gulp, and then obediently rested her head on Zhang Yang's chest.

"Then I'll work hard to maintain my youth and try to stay a few more years younger."

Zhang Yang smiled and didn't continue talking about these profound things with her. He simply touched her long hair and gave her a look.

In an instant, Li Xiaoxuan understood, smiled charmingly, and gently descended.

Around three or four in the afternoon, Li Xiaoxuan and Zhang Yang kissed goodbye. She escorted him downstairs and stood by the roadside watching him get into his car and drive away.

Until the car disappeared from sight.

Li Xiaoxuan suddenly touched her face, smiled softly, and turned to go back home.

The next morning, a not-too-loud scream suddenly rang out from the bathroom!

"This..." Li Xiaoxuan stared at her reflection in the mirror in utter shock, finding it hard to believe.

Looking at myself in the mirror, my face was full of collagen, as delicate as a girl in her early twenties. My once mature figure now resembled a newly blossoming flower, brimming with youthful vitality.

"Is this just my imagination?" she murmured to herself.

The person I am now looks exactly like I did when I first entered university.

Youth is boundless.

That one glance felt like stepping back into those youthful days.

"Mom... wait, Mom, you look like my sister..." Tongtong's surprised voice suddenly rang out from the side.

"Tongtong." Li Xiaoxuan smiled and picked Tongtong up in her arms. "Come on, tell Mommy, don't I look younger?"

She wondered if it was just her imagination.

Because women, after being pampered, do indeed radiate beauty for a while.

"Mom seems to have become so much younger all of a sudden, just like... just like our class's homeroom teacher who just graduated," Tongtong said earnestly, blinking her eyes.

Li Xiaoxuan happily touched her face, feeling its firmness and elasticity, and felt incredibly happy.

··

In Magic City, Bei Wei was also a little downcast.

"Good sister, you have everything, why are you still so gloomy?" Bei Jiajia looked at Bei Wei, smiling as she took her hand and said.

"The best cars, the best houses— Magic City don't have them. One phone call and they'll bring them to you for you to choose from. Private jets for travel abroad, a private vacation island...and most importantly...you have him, the dream of millions of girls. What more could you want?"

Bei Wei glanced at her, touched her stomach, and said nothing.

"Oh..." Bei Jiajia immediately understood, "That is a problem... a huge problem... what if one of them gets pregnant first, wouldn't that be..."

"Don't talk nonsense... It's like a palace intrigue!" Bei Wei rolled her eyes at Bei Jiajia. "I just... I simply want to have his baby... but... but why can't I get pregnant!"

She was so anxious she was about to stomp her feet.

She's two years younger than Zhang Yang, and she's already twenty-eight this year, almost thirty, but there's still no sign of pregnancy.

Not only was she anxious, but her family was also very anxious.

Although she didn't have those thoughts, her family members shared the same idea as Bei Jiajia.

A day without a child is a day without a stable position.

According to them, even if Zhang Yang cares about her a lot, once another woman gets there first and has a child, his affection for her will easily shift.

After all, that's the continuation of his bloodline, and then the mother will gain status through her son, and other women will suddenly be showered with love and affection.

In other words, it's like achieving instant success.

"Oh dear, what am I thinking?" Bei Wei shook her head slightly.