Chapter 16

Inside the space, Qin Rong lowered his head and smiled, making no attempt to hide the tender indulgence in his eyes.

Author's note: Awoo~~~

Applying for a ranking spot~~

So this week, there'll be at least 15,000 words of updates.

Everyone, please leave lots of comments~~

O(∩_∩)O~

☆, Chapter 16: Preparations

Chapter 16

The sweet potato vendors at S City's major morning markets suddenly noticed that, over the past few days, two boys had been showing up every morning with sacks, constantly buying up sweet potatoes. They wanted enormous quantities and intended to keep buying for around two months. They did not even care whether the potatoes were sweet and soft; as long as they were large enough, that was fine. Even starchy, dried-out ones were acceptable. Such purchasing power delighted everyone, and the number of vehicles traveling between the city and countryside suddenly increased. Every day, the vendors stretched their necks, waiting for the two boys to appear.

Meanwhile, the two people everyone was eagerly awaiting were hiding in their room, feeding sacks of sweet potatoes through the mirror. On the other side, Kate was grinning so widely his mouth nearly reached his ears. Only after all the sweet potatoes had been sent over did Kate seem to regain his senses. He patted his face, shook his head, and then poured over countless gems. In an instant, gems and pearls flowed from the mirror like a flood, spreading across the entire room. The air was quickly filled with dazzling light. Qin Rong then formally submitted the proposal for establishing a religious order, and this trade was considered a complete success. Just as they were about to sever the magical connection, Kate suddenly said, "By the way, dear Qin, you previously mentioned wanting to purchase robots from a high-tech plane. Are you still interested?"

At that, Qin Rong instinctively halted the circulation of his inner energy and looked at Kate. "Do you have a supplier?"

"It's like this—I suddenly remembered something. Thirty years ago, when I had just joined the Plane Merchants, I once traded with someone from the Mechanical Plane. I exchanged crystals containing fire-element energy for thirty heavily armed biological robots, which I kept as collectibles. If you need them, I can transfer them to you." Kate smiled at the Qin brothers.

"Heavily armed?" Qin Rong raised a brow. "How heavily?"

"Please take a look at this, my dear Brother Qin." Kate suddenly waved an arm, and a three-dimensional wall immediately appeared on the other side of the mirror. A row of sturdy men, each two meters tall, appeared on its surface. They stood solemnly at attention, expressionless.

Kate turned back and smiled at the two of them, then snapped the fingers of his left hand. The men on the wall suddenly extended their arms. Streams of fire and air shot from between their fingers, converging ahead of them and erupting in a blinding flash. Then the image changed, and a jagged, uneven hole had abruptly appeared in the middle of a towering mountain. The entire scene was silent. The row of men had stood quietly in place from beginning to end, yet the atmosphere was filled with killing intent.

Qin Rong turned to look at Qin Yi and found that Qin Yi's eyes were already shining as he stared at the robots on the screen. Qin Rong smiled helplessly and said to Kate, "Deal."

With that, he handed over a barrel of brewed wild grape wine. Then, with a flash of light, fifteen high-plane robots with human appearances stood before the two of them. Along with them came two watch-like ornaments.

Qin Rong looked at the two objects that seemed to be watches, then turned his questioning gaze toward Kate.

"These are the tools for controlling them. Activate the two watches, then enter the robots' serial numbers and operating commands. After that, leave your blood on the surface of the watches. Once everything is done, destroy the watches. Then these things will be yours." Kate explained patiently. "However, I have never used them before. The instruction manual is inside the watches. You can activate it and read through it yourselves later."

"Alright." Qin Rong nodded. Beside him, Qin Yi could no longer restrain his curiosity and had already gone over to poke and prod the motionless robots. Seeing that Kate had nothing else to say, Qin Rong smiled and nodded at him. The two reached out and cut off the connection.

"Brother, I've already read the manual. It's really simple. We just need to enter commands, and they'll obey us. Whatever we tell them to do, they'll do it." Qin Yi said as he fiddled with the watch in his hand.

"Since they're biological robots, they must have functions for self-upgrading and self-improvement. I'll study the manual more carefully." Qin Rong lowered his head, took the other watch, pressed the switch, found the instruction manual, and began reading it attentively.

...About an hour later, Qin Rong looked thoughtfully at the robots before him and entered a command. Then he circulated his inner energy and destroyed the watch.

"Brother, what command did you enter?" Qin Yi looked at Qin Rong curiously. He had not even decided what to write yet.

"Our commands and personal safety are the first priority. They must obey unconditionally. At the same time, they are to develop self-defense and self-repair functions around that first priority. There must be enough room for them to grow. That's roughly it." Qin Rong summarized the hundreds of lines of code he had created in just a few sentences.

"Oh!" Qin Yi immediately looked at his thirteen-year-old brother with admiration. Geniuses really were different from childhood! He promptly passed over the watch in his hand as if slipping out of work and said, "Help me enter mine too!"

Qin Rong took the watch Qin Yi handed him, lowered his head and worked on it for a while, then said to Qin Yi, "Drip your blood on it, then circulate your inner energy and destroy it."

"Okay!" Qin Yi took the watch and used a little force to destroy it.

Just then, the sound of the front door opening and hurried footsteps came from outside. Qin Rong instinctively glanced at Qin Yi. Qin Yi's thoughts moved, and the gems, pearls, and fifteen robots all vanished from the floor at once. Once that was done, the two exchanged a glance and walked out of the bedroom one after the other.

In the living room, Grandpa Qin, Grandma Qin, and the others sat on the sofa, breathing lightly. Qin Dad and Qin Mom split up, one rushing into the kitchen to brew tea while the other went into the backyard to pick several cucumbers and tomatoes. After washing them clean, they brought them out.

"Zhen Guo, you've been tired all day too. Sit down and rest. We're family, so don't be so formal." Qin Dingbang took off his coat on the sofa and spoke to Qin Zhenguo.

"Since we're family, then don't stand on ceremony with me. Manru planted all of these when she had nothing better to do. Give them a try." Qin Zhenguo distributed the cucumbers and tomatoes to everyone. At that moment, Tang Manru returned with the tea. When she saw Qin Yi, she suddenly said, "Xiao Yi, your teacher called me this morning and asked you to go back to school to collect your summer homework."

Only then did Qin Yi suddenly remember that, despite having been reborn and experiencing so many strange things, he was currently no more than an eleven-year-old elementary school brat. Thinking of the lessons taught by every teacher and the games of flicking marbles with his classmates, his body shuddered involuntarily.

"Xiao Yi, what's wrong?" Grandpa Qin had been watching the two children closely. Seeing Qin Yi's reaction, he could not help asking with concern.

"Oh, nothing." Qin Yi answered absentmindedly. Then he said to Tang Manru, "Since they called you, I'll go over tomorrow."

"That's up to you." Tang Manru answered indifferently. They were preparing to move to J City in three months anyway, so Qin Yi's elementary school classes no longer mattered. Even if Qin Yi did poorly on his high school entrance exam, they could pull some strings and get the two brothers into the same school.

To be honest, ever since Qin Yi was born, the two of them had never intended for him to suffer much. The money they earned was enough to let Qin Yi live happily and comfortably for the rest of his life. They had originally worried about Qin Yi's life after they were gone, but after seeing how much Qin Rong acted like an older brother, their final shred of worry had faded. Though they were somewhat biased, Qin Zhenguo and his wife had set aside a sum of living expenses years ago. After all, everyone could see Qin Rong's abilities. Even without relying on them, he would be able to live a prosperous life in the future. All they needed to do was help Qin Rong establish his own business and hand the garment factory over to him at the appropriate time. Qin Yi, however, was different. He was not very bright, his personality was simple and indecisive, and he had no ambition. He could only receive fixed dividends to ensure that he lived without worry, but he would not have the right to privately sell his shares. Even then, they worried that he would be deceived. Without someone trustworthy watching over him, he would certainly suffer in the future.

Naturally, Qin Yi had no idea what Qin Dad and Qin Mom were thinking. Cheerfully listening to Tang Manru's answer, he understood her attitude and immediately stopped taking the matter seriously. He picked up two cucumbers, handed one to Qin Rong, and began crunching away at the other.

Seeing how happily Qin Yi ate, Grandpa Qin was delighted. He beckoned Qin Yi to sit beside him, then said to Qin Zhenguo, "Zhen Guo, both the children you raised are good ones. The eldest is steady and adaptable; one look tells you he'll be capable and responsible. The youngest is lively and free-spirited. He'll surely be a blessed person in the future."

As soon as those words were spoken, everyone in the room changed expression. Qin Dingbang looked at Qin Yi with affectionate envy, while Qin Dingbang's wife looked somewhat uncomfortable. As for Qin Zhenguo, he was so pleased he could barely contain himself. Qin Yi, meanwhile, pouted in dissatisfaction, his face flushing with embarrassment. After all, no one wanted to be seen as an idle person who only knew how to eat, drink, play, and live off his parents and older brother, even if that was indeed the truth.

Only Tang Manru looked at her son with a complicated expression, then glanced at her sister-in-law beside Qin Dingbang and lowered her head without speaking.

No matter how one looked at it, not a single person present was truly foolish. Because of Grandpa Qin's one remark, Qin Rong and Qin Yi would officially enter the sight of the Qin family in the near future.

Amid their various thoughts, Qin Rong lowered his head as though embarrassed, concealing the cold contemplation in his eyes.

Author's note: Xiao Ba got off work late today, so I only started writing then.

And Jinjiang kept glitching nonstop.

It took an hour just to log in.

For the sake of my diligence,

everyone must leave lots of comments, awoo~~~~

Love you all~~~~

╭(╯3╰)╮

☆, Chapter 17: Someone from Huayu Company Arrives

Chapter 17

Early the next morning, after washing up, Qin Yi headed straight toward the school. By then, the school was nearly on summer break, so the atmosphere was very lax. As he crossed the square, he could even see groups of older students skipping class to play basketball.

Qin Yi did not return to his classroom. Instead, he went straight to the teachers' office, lightly knocked on the door, and opened it after hearing permission from inside. His homeroom teacher, Chen Mingfang, happened to have no class. She was sitting at a desk by the window grading homework. When she looked up and saw Qin Yi, she waved for him to sit down nearby, then made a phone call. Only afterward did she turn to him and ask, "I heard you took the high school entrance exam?"

"Mm." Qin Yi nodded. There was no need to hide something like that.

"I also heard that relatives came to your home and that your whole family will be moving to J City in a few months." Chen Mingfang spoke in a certain tone.

"Mm." Qin Yi nodded again. Suddenly feeling that this was rude, he added, "It was only decided a few days ago."

"Oh." Chen Mingfang nodded somewhat complicatedly. Although Qin Yi was not particularly gifted and did poorly in school, he was genuinely likable. Suddenly hearing that she would no longer see him from next semester onward left her feeling momentarily dazed.

After thinking for a moment, she continued, "Then are you going to study in J City next semester as well? Do you need help handling the paperwork here?"