Chen Gequn

At the dinner table, Chen Lie and Chen Xingyao were serving themselves more rice. Feng Yuelan filled another bowl for herself as well, then slowly sat down and announced something.

"Chen Lie, Yaoyao, your father just called me. He said your Uncle Lu wants to treat our family to dinner at the Starlight Hotel in the provincial capital tomorrow."

"Huh? Why does Uncle Lu want to treat us to dinner?" Chen Xingyao could not help asking.

"It's your Uncle Lu's daughter, Qingchan's birthday. So he invited our family over for a small gathering. If you've bought any gifts, make sure to prepare them beforehand."

As she spoke, Feng Yuelan gave her son Chen Lie a meaningful look.

It was no secret in their family that her son liked Lu Qingchan.

Though she felt there was some gap between her son and Lu Qingchan, Lu Qingchan's father supported the match, so she supported her son pursuing Lu Qingchan as well. After all, young people had to dare to try. In her eyes, Chen Lie and Lu Qingchan might not be entirely impossible.

Yet beneath Feng Yuelan's meaningful gaze, Chen Lie seemed rather calm.

That left Feng Yuelan somewhat puzzled.

At the mention of Lu Qingchan, Chen Lie's eating paused only slightly. Slowly, the image of a strikingly beautiful girl, cold and aloof, surfaced in his mind.

In his previous life, during the latter half of his first year of high school, a girl named Lu Qingchan transferred into the school. She was cool and sweet, with outstanding talent.

The moment Lu Qingchan transferred in, she entered the school's advanced class. Before long, thanks to her exceptional martial arts aptitude, she was admitted to the elite class as well.

From then on, Lu Qingchan's name resounded throughout the school. She rose to fame and was widely admired.

Originally, someone of mediocre talent like Chen Lie should never have crossed paths with a genius like Lu Qingchan. Yet one day, Lu Qidong, his father's comrade-in-arms from his military days, came to visit with his daughter Lu Qingchan.

The first time Chen Lie encountered Lu Qingchan up close, his heart raced. He only felt that she was even more beautiful than the rumors had claimed.

But even though Lu Qingchan was the daughter of his father's old comrade, Chen Lie did not dare entertain any improper thoughts. He knew all too well how great the gap between himself and Lu Qingchan was.

Until one day, Lu Qingchan's father, Lu Qidong, solemnly proposed bringing Chen Lie and Lu Qingchan together.

At the time, Chen Lie had been so ecstatic he felt ready to burst. He believed that since Father Lu intended to make a match, the difference in their talent was naturally not insurmountable.

What he did not know was that the true gap between himself and Lu Qingchan had never been talent. It was the difference in their social standing, as well as Lu Qingchan's proud heart.

Lu Qingchan's family was a colossal force that loomed over all of Eastern Sichuan Province: the Eastern Sichuan Lu Family.

Only after losing a family power struggle had Lu Qidong moved to Changdong City. The reason he proposed matching Chen Lie with Lu Qingchan was also because he had lost heart and wanted Lu Qingchan to escape the whirlpool of the Lu Family's conflicts.

Lu Qingchan neither agreed nor objected to her father's attempt to match her with Chen Lie. Back then, Chen Lie mistakenly believed she had tacitly accepted it. Only later did he learn that Lu Qingchan simply had never taken him seriously.

If Chen Lie had not spent fifty turbulent years drifting through the stars in his previous life, perhaps he might still have looked forward to something happening between himself and Lu Qingchan. But now, there was only calm in his heart.

"Will Dad come pick us up tomorrow?" Chen Xingyao asked.

"Of course. You two trained all day today, so get some rest after dinner. Don't sleep in tomorrow," Feng Yuelan reminded them.

At the mention of his father, Chen Lie abruptly raised his head.

His father, Chen Gequn, had joined the military in his early years and fought on the front lines. Because of his distinguished service, he had risen to the rank of field officer while still young, commanding a battalion of several hundred men. He should have had a brilliant future ahead of him, but during an attack by alien beasts, he injured both legs and was forced to leave the military. After changing careers, he became the security director of a major corporation in a neighboring province.

In Chen Lie's memories, he and his father had always spent little time together. Even counting generously, Father Chen spent fewer than twenty days at home each year, yet he had still struggled to cover the enormous expenses of putting both Chen Lie and Chen Xingyao through martial arts studies.

Chen Gequn had retired as a military officer and was a fourth-rank martial artist. His position as the security director of a major corporation also paid an annual salary of over a million star credits, which was enough to support Chen Lie and Chen Xingyao at this stage. But once their vitality values exceeded 1, the Chen family began spending more than it earned.

If Chen Lie wanted to catch up to the Central Galactic Empire's geniuses during the vitality stage, even stripping his family bare would not be enough.

In his previous life, merely breaking through to the martial artist realm had nearly drained his family's wealth. Even someone like Chen Gequn, part of Blue Star's high-income class, had been driven deeply into debt.

It seems... in this life, I'll have to rely on myself.

Chen Lie murmured inwardly. But in this life, he feared nothing.

Early the next morning, Chen Lie woke up early.

Because his sudden increase of 0.4 cards of vitality the day before had left him nutritionally depleted, he felt a wave of hunger the moment he opened his eyes.

After washing up, Chen Lie went to the kitchen and found some high-nutrition crops to eat.

He possessed a wondrous body-forging technique from the Central Galactic Empire. As long as he had sufficient nutrition, he had no need to worry about raising his vitality value.

Just as he entered the living room, Chen Lie heard two voices conversing.

"Yaoyao and Chen Lie's vitality values are both about to exceed 1. We need to order two bottles of vitality essence in advance, and we also need to buy some more training equipment."

"Mm, I know. I've already asked someone to order the two bottles of vitality essence. They're made by the Sunflare Group. They cost twenty thousand star credits more than other brands of vitality essence, but their absorption rate is high. My colleagues' children all use this kind too."

"Twenty thousand star credits more? Doesn't that mean one bottle of Sunflare vitality essence costs a hundred thousand star credits?"

"The Sunflare Group is a major brand. It's expensive for a reason. As long as it benefits the children's future cultivation, let alone twenty thousand star credits—even two hundred thousand would be worth it."

Seeing the two figures seated on the living room sofa as they spoke, Chen Lie halted.

There was no doubt that the somewhat tall figure was his father, Chen Gequn, whom he had not seen in seventy years. The person speaking with Chen Gequn was his mother, Feng Yuelan.

The two did not seem to notice Chen Lie approaching and continued their conversation.

Chen Gequn suddenly asked, "By the way, Chen Lie's vitality value still hasn't exceeded 1? I remember it was already 0.9 cards three months ago."

Feng Yuelan shook her head, her face filled with worry. "No. He's hit a bottleneck. His vitality value has been at 0.93 cards for over a month without breaking through. I was thinking, should we let Chen Lie eat some alien beast meat early?"

But Chen Gequn shook his head. "Alien beast meat has its greatest effect when used after the vitality value exceeds 3, and the first time it's consumed has the best effect. If he uses it early, what will he do after his vitality value exceeds 3? Giving it to him now would be drawing on his potential in advance.

These things have to be used in fixed amounts at the proper time."

"Then what should we do? The college entrance exams are so close. If this keeps dragging on, it'll be difficult for him to even get into an ordinary martial arts university." Feng Yuelan shook her head and sighed.

Chen Gequn said, "Don't worry yet. If Chen Lie's vitality value is still stuck at the bottleneck next month, I'll ask some friends whether there are other supplements that can help him."

Feng Yuelan nodded. "That's all we can do."

Chen Gequn continued, "Enough about Chen Lie. What about Yaoyao? How is her progress?"

"You don't need to worry about Yaoyao. She's progressing quickly. It's practically certain that she'll enter the elite class before her second year of high school. Her vitality value might even exceed 1 before Chen Lie's does.

So you should hurry and buy the equipment she'll need to train after her vitality value exceeds 1. She can't be going to the martial arts gym every time she trains."

"Mm. I'll handle it later." Chen Gequn nodded.

At that moment, Chen Lie walked toward the sofa in the living room.

"Dad, Mom, there's no need to rush to buy the training equipment."

Hearing Chen Lie's voice, Chen Gequn and Feng Yuelan instinctively turned around.

"Chen Lie? You trained all day yesterday. Why aren't you sleeping a little longer today?" Feng Yuelan immediately asked upon seeing Chen Lie appear.

Chen Lie said, "I went to bed early yesterday. I've rested enough."

"You brat, are you too excited to sleep because you know you'll be meeting your Uncle Lu's daughter today?"

Chen Gequn stood from the sofa, walked over to Chen Lie, and lightly patted his shoulder and arm.

Chen Lie shook his head slightly. He did not care about seeing anyone, but seeing his father, whom he had not seen in seventy years, made his heart feel unburdened.