Chapter 10

Chi Ning did not want to take on extra work. This had not been part of the "payment for becoming a disciple" they had discussed before.

Qin Heng would get paid, but he would not.

Chi Ning was reluctant. Before he could refuse, his lips had already pursed.

Mo Yuanzhou chuckled. This student really wore everything on his face.

He said softly to Chi Ning, "I'll pay more."

Chapter 10

More money?

If there was more money involved, then it was not impossible.

Just as Chi Ning was about to agree, Mo Yuanzhou added, "Since it's a two-person shoot, there'll inevitably be some interaction and physical contact during filming."

Chi Ning closed his mouth again.

Physical contact? What kind of contact?

He was not over it yet. He was a little unsure how to get along with Qin Heng.

Reason told him that he should separate this lifetime's Qin Heng from the one in his previous life, but emotionally, he could not do it.

Mo Yuanzhou propped up his chin as he studied Chi Ning's expression, then raised a hand and held up eight fingers. "1,600 for one day. Eight hundred each."

"I'll do it," Chi Ning said without hesitation.

The consumables he used most often in the experiments he wanted to conduct were reagent kits that cost eight hundred a box. Supporting papers and patents required massive amounts of data, and reagent kits alone would consume a huge amount.

Physical contact was physical contact. It was not like he would lose a piece of flesh.

Chi Ning's eyes sparkled, filled with nothing but a desire for money. "When are we filming?"

Qin Heng froze, inevitably thinking of how Chi Ning had gently stroked the bottom of the bottle at noon and smiled.

Everyone said Chi Ning was a bookworm who usually loved to keep a straight face, but after knowing him for so many days, Qin Heng had seen Chi Ning smile far more often than he had.

"Over the weekend." Mo Yuanzhou rested his chin on his hand and gestured toward the billiards table. "You two play for a while first and get familiar with each other. Don't act as stiff as two unfamiliar persimmons once the cameras are on."

Thinking about the eight hundred yuan, Chi Ning found the little scammer slightly more pleasing to the eye. "Snooker or American pool?"

"Pool." Qin Heng carried his cue over to the smaller table.

Chi Ning thought of Qin Heng's upcoming competition and did not refuse.

Qin Heng raised his cue and broke. With a bang, the white cue ball struck the clustered balls. The triangular formation scattered like celestial maidens scattering flowers; even the ball that moved the least rolled at least eight meters across the table.

Looking at the veins on Qin Heng's forearm, Chi Ning sighed inwardly. What strength.

No wonder he could knock out someone's teeth.

As Qin Heng played, he kept glancing at Chi Ning from the corner of his eye, his thoughts wandering.

There were many places in Yangcheng suitable for students to work part-time. He could have worked elsewhere, then spent money practicing at a cheap pool hall. With his ability, he might even have saved some money.

He had chosen Brother Xu because this pool hall was a mid-to-high-end venue, and the people who came here to play were all of high caliber. They were either small business owners or important company figures; there were even underworld bosses. Xu Jiahao himself was not bad either.

He could gain many opportunities here.

Xu Jiahao was an opportunity, Mo Yuanzhou was one too, and Chi Ning could be one as well.

But for some reason, he did not want to measure Chi Ning as an opportunity.

Qin Heng bent down to strike the ball before him. The white cue ball faced a colored ball directly, beyond it lay a dark pocket, and behind that was Chi Ning's eager expression.

His mind went blank, and he suddenly hallucinated himself handing Chi Ning a gold bar.

Bang.

He hit the ball crooked.

Qin Heng straightened up, his expression unreadable.

Leaving aside the fact that he had no money to buy such a big gold bar, even if he did, there was no way he would give it to someone else.

How could an iron rooster pluck its own feathers?

What a terrifying hallucination.

Qin Heng said to Chi Ning with a stern face, "Your turn."

Chi Ning pouted.

It was just that he had failed to sink the third ball. Was that enough to make him angry?

Cheapskate.

He circled the table once, planning his shot while asking Qin Heng, "I heard you got into a fight with someone these past two days?"

Qin Heng gave a hum. "What about it?"

"Why did you fight? Were you collecting a debt?"

Whatever Chi Ning suspected, he asked outright. "Did you really get involved with loan sharks?"

Although Qin Heng had deceived him in his previous life, his kindness toward him had been real. Chi Ning still wanted to advise Qin Heng not to go down the wrong path, at least not to do anything illegal.

Qin Heng asked in confusion, "Where did you hear that?"

Chi Ning answered vaguely, "Someone said it. I also heard you knocked out someone's teeth."

"He deserved it." Qin Heng's tone carried an arrogant, domineering edge. "If he dared try to extort me, he should bear the consequences."

Chi Ning fell silent. Distractedly, he poked at the table. He had been about to clear the table in one run, yet he missed the final shot.

Qin Heng had not denied being involved in the "water release" business. Chi Ning wanted to persuade him to turn over a new leaf, but he had no standing to do so.

Chi Ning did not speak again. The two took turns playing for half an hour, giving Mo Yuanzhou a headache.

They could not even hold a proper conversation. What chemistry could they possibly have during a photo shoot?

He had thought Qin Heng was Chi Ning's boyfriend.

Teenagers really were hard to understand. Even he could misjudge people sometimes.

"Chi Ning, come play with your teacher." Mo Yuanzhou beckoned, and Chi Ning immediately turned and jogged over to him.

He did not want to keep sitting in mutual silence with Qin Heng either. He was about to suffocate from holding it in.

Mo Yuanzhou was witty and humorous while playing, never caring too much about winning or losing. Being around him felt like a spring breeze. Before Chi Ning knew it, three or four hours had passed, and when he came to his senses, it was already nine thirty at night.

He took a taxi home. He did not do his homework either. After washing up, he flopped onto the bed and began calculating his current assets.

The prize money from junior high competitions had not been much, while high school competitions paid somewhat more. Altogether, he should have around one or two hundred thousand yuan, enough to set up a rudimentary personal laboratory.

Unfortunately, housing in Yangcheng was too expensive. Even a fifty-square-meter pigeonhole cost over a million yuan. He could not buy a home, so he could only rent.

Chi Ning called the bank and followed the automated voice prompts to check his card balance.

The electronic female voice announced each word distinctly: "The balance in your card is one million, two hundred and thirty thousand yuan. To continue your inquiry, press 1..."

Chi Ning hung up in a daze.

Why did he not remember being this rich? Where had all this money come from? Had his father transferred it into the card every month?

"Ning." Chi Yang pushed open the door and froze when he saw Chi Ning sitting on the bed in a daze. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Brother, what is it?"

"The combat coach Dad found for you has been selected. He asked me to bring you the information so you can choose." Chi Yang placed a stack of A4 papers into Chi Ning's hands.

Chi Ning flipped through them. The coaches had either served in the military or won awards in combat sports competitions.

There were more than a dozen candidates, with everything from their photos to their résumés laid out clearly.

After looking through them for a long time, Chi Ning chose a retired soldier. "This one."

"Alright." Chi Yang sat at the edge of the bed. "Learning some self-defense skills is a good thing. People like us are easy targets for kidnapping. You're lucky. Since I was little, Mom and Dad took me to banquets, so everyone knew me. I've been kidnapped three times."

These were all things he had never heard about in his previous life.

Chi Ning hugged his legs, resting his cheek on his knees as he turned to look at his older brother's face.

Chi Yang did not want to say more. He reached out and ruffled his younger brother's hair. "Do you have enough spending money?"

Thinking of the money that had barely been touched, Chi Ning said, "Enough, enough."

He had been obsessed with studying before and had nowhere to spend money, so he had never had much concept of wealth. He had not expected himself to be so rich.

Chi Ning stared into Chi Yang's eyes and suddenly felt that his parents and older brother spoiled him even more than he had imagined.

"Brother, can I conduct experiments in the company laboratory? I'll work on my own and won't affect anyone."

Chi Yang drew in a breath. "I'm afraid not."

Chi Ning's expression dimmed. The company's experimental environment was better, its equipment more professional, and most importantly, he would not have to figure out how to spend his own money.

Chi Yang could not stand seeing his younger brother look so wilted. "I know you're not trying to stir up conflict between brothers, but the company is a mess right now. The environment isn't good. There may even be spies from our rivals in the laboratory. Many things in there are contraband if taken outside. If some petty person harmed you at such a critical time and something happened to you, we'd be devastated."

"Once the shares are recovered and the company has been reorganized, you can go play there for as long as you want."

Chi Ning was stunned for a long while. "Having an older brother is really nice."

He did not have to bear everything on his own. Being protected really felt wonderful.

Chi Yang blushed at the words. This was the first time his younger brother had praised him.

His younger brother was so adorable after opening up.

Floating on air, he left Chi Ning's room to handle the matter their father had assigned him.

The next day.

Chi Ning lazily went to school. While he lay sprawled across his desk during morning reading, he calculated the dates and suddenly remembered his scholarship.

No. 1 High School's scholarships were awarded to outstanding students in both character and academics, usually the student ranked first in the grade at the end of the term.

He could certainly still rank first in the grade now, and the school would definitely still give him the money, but he truly did not deserve it.

After all, only his "grades" were still acceptable now. His attitude toward studying had become lazy to the extreme.

If he went to discuss this with his homeroom teacher, word would soon spread everywhere. It would be bad for both him and the student who later received the scholarship, as if he had simply handed it over out of charity.

It was not that he had not considered deliberately doing poorly or handing in blank papers, but if some busybody reported him to the school he had been recommended to, he could very likely lose his recommendation spot.

He had to think of a foolproof way to give the money to the student who would rank second in the grade.

Chi Ning thought about it for an entire week.

He thought about it during class and after class, and even while playing pool at night.

He was absentminded in everything he did.

The brain that spun at lightning speed when he did research seemed stuck, creaking and grinding when it tried to move.

A week passed. By the time he met everyone at Mo Yuanzhou's brand studio, he looked like a wilted little cabbage—listless and full of worry.