Smoke curled upward from the incense burner.
Fine beads of sweat broke out on Old Master Ji's forehead.
He had been truly terrified just now, terrified that the master would pull out a talisman and slap it onto his mother's forehead, causing her soul to dissipate...
A tissue was suddenly held out in front of him.
The old man looked up and met Sheng Qingyan's emotionless face.
This child was missing a part of his soul, yet he actually knew to hand him a tissue?
"Thank you."
Old Master Ji took it and wiped his sweat.
Seeing that the old man's collar was also damp with sweat, Ji Zhiyuan spoke up, "Let's go to the car so you can change your clothes first. Don't catch a cold."
From the moment they entered the temple until now, he had barely spoken a word, silently following behind the two elders with an extremely low presence.
The moment his voice rang out.
Sheng Qingyan's gaze involuntarily shifted toward him. Those rippleless, glassy eyes suddenly paused before surging with turbulent waves.
He spun around and began rummaging through Old Madam Sheng's handbag.
"Yan'er, what's wrong? What are you doing?" Old Madam Sheng asked hurriedly. "Do you want to drink some water?"
Sheng Ciyuan understood immediately. "What else could make Big Brother so anxious besides the photos? Grandmother, where did you put the photos?"
From the backpack of the bodyguard standing behind her, Old Madam Sheng took out a box wrapped in soft silk. She slowly uncovered it, revealing a stack of photographs.
Sheng Qingyan flipped through them until he found the photo of the Zhenhua ship that Rong Yu had bought at all costs during the auction. His fingers gently brushed over the man in the photo who was kneeling on the ground, having been shot.
Old Madam Sheng abruptly turned her head and stared at Ji Zhiyuan's overly handsome face.
This face was almost identical to the soldier in the photograph...
It was just that the man in the photo had sharp, chiseled features, exuding the tough, iron-blooded aura of a hardened soldier.
Meanwhile, Ji Zhiyuan looked more refined and elegant.
"This, this..." Old Master Ji's nose stung with emotion. Pointing at the photo, he said, "This is my father, and this is my mother. I was still in my mother's belly..."
Rong Yu immediately covered his eyes.
Witnessing his mother being hit and killed by a car had already left Yingbao with a lifelong trauma that was hard to overcome.
If he were to see the final moments of his father's sacrifice, she feared Yingbao would suffer an emotional breakdown. At his advanced age, such violent emotional swings would be too damaging to his health.
Sheng Qingyan paid no attention to Old Master Ji.
He took a large stride and stopped right in front of Ji Zhiyuan. Before anyone could react, his hands suddenly reached out and grabbed both sides of Ji Zhiyuan's face, gave it a squeeze, and then pulled, instantly distorting the handsome face.
Ji Zhiyuan was utterly dumbfounded.
As a grown man nearing thirty and the dignified CEO of the Ji Corporation, he was actually having his face pinched like a child by someone with autism.
And it wasn't just his face being pinched...
Sheng Qingyan also squeezed his nose, prodded his lips, and even tugged at his ears and ruffled his hair.
Yet he felt as if he had been struck by an immobilizing spell, completely unable to move.
"Big Brother!" Sheng Ciyuan hurriedly rushed over. "This is impolite, way too impolite! I am so sorry, President Ji. My big brother can be a bit oblivious sometimes. Please be the bigger person, President Ji, and don't hold it against him..."
Ji Zhiyuan wiped his face and said in a muffled voice, "It's fine."
He quickly stepped back a few paces to dodge, terrified of being manhandled again.
Old Madam Sheng suppressed the emotions in her eyes and said, "You all must come visit the Sheng family often in the future."
Yan'er treated these three people far too specially.
He was uncontrollably drawn to Miss Rong.
Handing a tissue to Old Mr. Ji.
Inexplicably making overly intimate gestures towards Ji Zhiyuan.
These actions were indeed very impolite, but they also showed that Yan'er was no longer someone living in a closed-off world; he could see others and even interact with them.
Were these people the fateful encounter the master had spoken of?
After leaving Baolian Temple, Old Madam Sheng prepared to take Sheng Qingyan back to the capital. She pulled Sheng Ciyuan aside and whispered, "Yuan'er, you must build a good relationship with this Miss Rong. Do whatever she says and make sure to keep her happy. Whether your older brother can return to normal in his zodiac year all depends on you."
Sheng Ciyuan nodded solemnly. "Yes, Grandmother."
Old Madam Sheng led Sheng Qingyan into the car.
Sheng Qingyan looked back with every step he took, glancing at Rong Yu, then at Old Master Ji, and then at Ji Zhiyuan, as if he simply couldn't get enough of looking at them.
After the car drove away.
Old Master Ji pouted. "That person is too weird. His eyes are weird, his actions are weird. Mom, you should interact less with the Sheng family in the future."
Sheng Ciyuan didn't catch that "Mom." Of course, even if he had heard it clearly, he would have assumed he misheard. He only heard the old man say to interact less with the Sheng family.
His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly explained, "You've misunderstood, Old Master. Actually, my older brother isn't usually strange. He rarely stares at people, nor does he do these weird things. He probably, um, probably just likes President Ji too much."
Ji Zhiyuan: "..."
Being liked by a grown man... he would rather pass on such a blessing.
Rong Yu shook off some inexplicable emotions in her heart and spoke up, "The team members still need to meet up tonight. Let's head back to the hotel first."
Old Master Ji and Ji Zhiyuan were also staying at this hotel. Upon arriving at the entrance, the two groups parted ways. Rong Yu and Sheng Ciyuan went to the meeting room on the first floor for their meeting.
The six members of the China team had all arrived. Along with the two lead teachers, there were eight people in the meeting room.
When Rong Yu walked in, everyone's eyes involuntarily fell on her.
Although she had not yet starred in any movies or TV dramas, nor had she participated in any variety shows, she was always trending on social media. Therefore, everyone present was not unfamiliar with her face. Plus, they had seen her from afar during the national finals.
Perhaps it was because her face was simply too beautiful, which always gave people a feeling that she was extremely unreliable. Several team members kept looking her up and down.
"Everyone is here," Teacher Huang began. "Let's have all the members introduce themselves first, starting with the captain."
Rong Yu: "Hello everyone, my name is Rong Yu, from Haicheng No. 1 High School."
After finishing her introduction, she simply sat down.
The second person to introduce himself was the vice-captain, Su Ronghua.
He stood up. "My name is Su Ronghua, a sophomore at Sucheng Experimental High School. The awards I have won include... The papers I have published include... The scientific research achievements I have made include..."
He went on and on, speaking eloquently at length, his eyes filled with arrogance and confidence.
Next, it was Sheng Ciyuan's turn. Just like Rong Yu, he gave a very brief self-introduction. "Hello everyone, my name is Sheng Ciyuan, from Jingda Affiliated High School."
The next one was Song Huai.
Unable to compare to Su Ronghua's honors, he also simply gave a brief introduction of his name and school.
The remaining two followed the crowd, keeping it just as brief.
A look of embarrassment appeared on Su Ronghua's face.
This made him look like an absolute show-off who loved to flaunt his achievements.
His embarrassment lasted only a split second before his gaze locked onto Rong Yu. "Could we ask our fellow student Rong Yu to share the latest research on the Shi element?"
Rong Yu's lips curved into a smile. "It is a classified project, so it is not convenient to share right now. How about we warm up for tomorrow's competition instead?"
A look of pure mockery crossed Su Ronghua's face.
Was it really inconvenient to share, or was it because a fringe member of the team simply had nothing of value to offer?
Sure enough, capitalists could do whatever they pleased. The fact that someone completely clueless could be shoved into such a massive, national-level project was utterly despicable.
