Xia Bozhou tried his best to remain calm. Decades of cultivation had made him appear outwardly unperturbed. He looked up at Qingmu and said, "Interesting."
He only said it was interesting, but didn't say you won. It wasn't that he wanted to cheat, but he felt that the old man's safety was too important, and although the young man's methods were amazing, he didn't think they were the right way.
"The saying goes, 'Use the orthodox to engage, and the unorthodox to win.' You may have won today through an unorthodox method, but such unorthodox methods cannot last. Just like magic tricks, once the trick is exposed, it loses its appeal, and others will naturally have ways to deal with it. Whether it is a country, a family, or an individual, if you want to stand firm in the long run, you must rely on strength and the righteous path that can be passed down to future generations, not on conspiracies and tricks."
Xia Bozhou did not become weak because of Qingmu's condescending attitude. On the contrary, he spoke eloquently and talked about profound principles, which made Xia Wenyuan, who was sitting in a wheelchair on the second floor, nod and smile frequently.
Qingmu helped Xia Bozhou brush the ash off his shirt, a half-smoked cigarette still dangling from his lips, and said, "Do you think I'm performing magic?"
Perhaps because the fallen cigarette ash still carried Mars, a small hole with a ring of yellowish-brown was burned into the white shirt.
Xia Bozhou was somewhat annoyed, not because he was heartbroken about the shirt, but because he felt insulted. However, he tried his best to control his emotions and said, "Just because I can't see it now doesn't mean I'll never see it."
Qingmu nodded and said, "What you said makes sense. Let's try again. Prepare yourself and watch carefully to see if I'm performing magic."
He straightened up as he spoke, then shuffled back to where he had been, standing there lazily with his hands in his pockets and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, as if he had never moved.
Xia Bozhou looked at Qingmu and felt that something was off about the picture book. After thinking about it, he suddenly realized what was wrong—the cigarette in Qingmu's mouth was half-burned, with half a stick of ash hanging precariously at the tip.
Then look at Xiao Wang, he's standing there perfectly fine, without moving an inch.
Xia Bozhou instantly realized that what had just happened was just an illusion.
He took a deep breath, a knowing smile spreading across his face, as if he had already seen the ending of a suspense movie. However, when he looked down at his shirt, his heart started pounding again—a small hole, burned by a cigarette butt, had appeared on his once pristine white shirt.
" Xiao Wang, what just happened?" Xia Bozhou asked.
Xiao Wang looked bewildered. "Nothing's wrong, Chairman Xia!"
Xia Bozhou felt something was off. He saw Qingmu walking over again, straightening the collar of the first bodyguard, just like he had done before.
" Xiao Wang, did you see him coming?" he asked again.
Xiao Wang said, "I saw it."
Why didn't your men stop him?
"They're stopping them!"
As he spoke, Xiao Wang took a step forward, blocking Xia Bozhou's path.
Are they stopping us?
Xia Bozhou found it extremely strange. Those people were clearly standing there without moving, yet Xiao Wang said he was blocking them. He saw Xiao Wang standing there, his hands clenched into fists, the muscles in his arms tense, and beads of sweat on his forehead, looking as if he were facing a formidable enemy.
However, Qingmu remained as lazy as ever, shuffling towards him. Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang ignored him, as if Qingmu were invisible.
Qingmu approached Xia Bozhou once more, leaned down, and asked, "Do you still think I'm performing magic?"
Long plumes of ash fell, landing on Xia Bozhou's white shirt, but this time it landed on his left chest, exactly symmetrical to the right chest he had landed on before.
"This is... an illusion?" Xia Bozhou remained calm, but his tone was no longer as confident as before.
He unconsciously glanced at the cigarette ash on his shirt, touched it with his hand, and his fingerprints were covered in gray powder, leaving a stain on the shirt with a small, yellowish hole in the middle. The feeling was incredibly real.
Qingmu smiled and said, "Can we announce the winner now?"
Xia Bozhou closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and calmed his somewhat dazed mind and panicked heartbeat. At this moment, he heard the clattering of footsteps again, and then the mountain-like pressure on his chest disappeared.
He opened his eyes and saw that Qingmu had returned to the same spot, standing awkwardly with his hands in his pockets, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, half-smoked and about to fall.
Xia Bozhou stared down at the two cigarette holes in his shirt, still unable to understand what had happened. If it was all a hallucination, where did those two cigarette holes come from? If it wasn't a hallucination, the young man's cigarette was still in his mouth, untouched!
"You are indeed very capable," he said.
Qingmu said, "You don't seem completely convinced."
Xia Bozhou said, "If this skill is your usual ability, then I'm impressed and believe you can be anyone's bodyguard."
"He's more than just a bodyguard!" Xia Wenyuan's voice came from upstairs.
Everyone looked up, but saw no one. After a short while, the elevator doors opened, and Xia Wenyuan stepped out of the elevator in his smart wheelchair.
"Dad—" Xia Bozhou called out, quickly standing up and running over to help the wheelchair, "Why did you get down alone? Where's Li Wei?"
Xia Wenyuan said, "You've brought so many bodyguards into the house, what do you need Li Wei for?"
"Oh, Xiao Wang and Li Wei already spoke to them. They just wanted them to have a friendly spar with Mr. Qingmu. There was no other intention. Aunt Xia can vouch for that."
Xia Bozhou noticed that Xia Wenyuan was unhappy, so he gestured to Xiao Wang to have everyone leave.
Xia Wenyuan asked, "Are you done sparring?"
Xia Bozhou said, "It's over, it's over, everything's alright now."
Qingmu said, "Chairman Xia, you haven't announced the winner yet!"
"Does winning or losing really matter?" said Xia Bozhou.
Xia Wenyuan said, "Now that the rules have been set, there has to be a result."
Xia Bozhou said somewhat awkwardly, "Dad, I can admit defeat, and I admire Mr. Qingmu's skills, but entrusting your safety to him... I still don't feel at ease!"
Xia Wenyuan said, "Integrity is the most important quality for a merchant, and it is also the foundation of our Xia Family. You will be shouldering the responsibility of the entire family in the future, and you cannot abandon your duty. If you do not understand this principle, then you can forget about the position of clan leader."
Xia Bozhou beamed with joy and said, "Dad, I know. Don't worry, I will definitely give him the money I promised. I'll have the finance department transfer 50 million to him in a bit, but your safety..."
Qingmu chuckled and said, "So this is what you really think!"
"What are your true thoughts?" Xia Bozhou was inexplicably a little flustered.
"The subconscious doesn't lie. It's already commendable that you can think about integrity as the foundation. There's nothing wrong with you becoming the successor of the Xia Family in the future!" Qingmu said.
Xia Bozhou turned around and stared fiercely at Qingmu, intending to question him about why he was talking nonsense, but his heart suddenly started pounding wildly.
He saw Qingmu standing there lazily, hands in his pockets, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his mouth, the ash about to fall.
He himself was sitting on the sofa, with Xiao Wang and his bodyguards scattered around him, ready to defend him.
Xia Bozhou's heart pounded faster and faster, and his breathing became rapid. He turned his neck with difficulty and looked up to see Xia Wenyuan on the second floor, sitting in a wheelchair and looking at them. Li Wei was standing behind Xia Wenyuan.
"Can we announce the winner now?" Qingmu asked, his lips trembling as half a cigarette ash fell to the ground.
Xia Bozhou's chest heaved violently as he looked down at his shirt.
The shirt was neat and clean, as white as snow, without a single stain.
"You've won," Xia Bozhou said.