Chapter 5: Everyone Says Tycoons Are Bad

Fang Qingchen could not hear any of that barking behind him.

He rode his cyber scooter like the wind, flying all the way forward.

He suddenly found that he understood those thrill-seeking street riders a little better.

Racing along on a bike really was fucking exhilarating!

Especially when the scenery on both sides blurred and rushed backward at terrifying speed.

Even through the helmet, the violent wind roared past his ears.

And the cries of shock from pedestrians and drivers along the road only kept sending his adrenaline soaring higher and higher.

It was addictive, almost like a drug.

Only after driving more than ten kilometers in one breath did he finally begin to slow down.

As the exhaust pipes gradually retracted, the little scooter once again became plain and unremarkable.

Of course, a scooter that had come out of Martial God Manor could not possibly be compared to an ordinary one.

The level of technology hidden inside it surpassed even that of most flying cars.

It was only because the Fang Qingchen of his previous life had rejected every form of lavish support from home that his family had never told him the truth and had simply let him treat it like an ordinary scooter.

In his previous life, he had only learned the truth later, after he had come to his senses and was chatting idly with his father.

Riding the little scooter, Fang Qingchen continued weaving through the roads and soon arrived at a vast stretch of estates near the Changhuang River in the southern part of the city.

It ought to have been land worth its weight in gold, yet this place felt like an oasis hidden in the middle of the city.

Dense woodland directly shut out the clamor of the urban streets beyond.

The air was fresh, birds sang, flowers bloomed, and winding paths led into quiet seclusion.

One magnificent estate after another stood in all directions, each radiating an incomparable aura of wealth and nobility.

Only the most prominent figures in Linjiang City were qualified to live here.

After turning left and right through the estate roads, the scooter finally arrived before the gates of a grand and imposing manor.

The entire estate had been built on a hill more than a hundred meters high.

The paths wound upward in spirals. The architecture was done in an antique style, with layered halls and pavilions, soaring eaves, and elaborate brackets.

There were also artificial rockeries and gardens within, making the place as magnificent as the residence of an ancient prince.

As the gates slowly opened, a row of beautiful young women stood on either side of the entrance, all in matching uniforms, black stockings, high heels, and garters.

With both hands folded in a graceful courtly salute, more than a dozen pairs of soft, affectionate eyes turned in perfect unison toward Fang Qingchen.

“You’ve worked hard at school today, Young Master!”

“Welcome home!”

Their voices were perfectly synchronized, bright and melodious, and each girl possessed a different sort of charm—mature, sweet, playful, or elegant.

Just hearing them was enough to lift a person’s spirits.

Looking at those girls, Fang Qingchen knew very well that this was all the painstaking effort of his tycoon mother.

Her purpose was simply to broaden his horizons a little, so that he would stop being a lovesick fool pining after a single flower.

Unfortunately, the Fang Qingchen of his previous life had had lard in his brain. Every time he came home, he could not even be bothered to spare them a glance.

Now that he looked at things again...

Everyone said tycoons were bad, but no one ever said tycoons had poor taste.

They really were beautiful.

Every last one of them was full-bosomed, long-legged, and richly curved, with the look of women built to bear strong children.

Although returning inside to handle serious business was certainly important, it was not as though he could not spare a few words.

With a warm smile, he waved to the young women.

“I’m not the one working hard, Young Master or not.”

“You’re the ones who work hard, standing here morning and evening to welcome me home every day.”

“In the future, I’ll raise your pay.”

....

“Thank you, Young Master!”

“You’re the best, Young Master!”

“Wow! Young Master, I love you!”

“You speak so gently, Young Master.”

“You should come spend time with us when you’re free, Young Master.”

This money was so well spent!

Wasn’t it far better than the simping money he had once thrown away without even making a splash?

Amid those coquettish cheers and the waves of perfume drifting around him, Fang Qingchen felt his emotional satisfaction soar to the fullest.

In high spirits, he rode all the way up to the loftiest and most magnificent pavilion at the top of the hill.

The moment he entered the grand hall, he saw a graceful and dignified young married woman sitting elegantly on the sofa.

She was none other than Fang Qingchen’s own mother.

Tang Bingyun.

The woman who held real power in the Tang Consortium of Jiangnan Province.

At that moment, she was sipping tea while on a video call, chatting and laughing as she spoke.

On the large screen in front of her appeared the resolute face of a middle-aged man.

He had a square face, sword-like brows, and a sharp, blade-like presence.

His features somewhat resembled Fang Qingchen’s.

He was Fang Qingchen’s own father.

Fang Zhenhai.

One of Great Xia’s thirty-six Half-Step Martial Gods!

He had once fought the SS-rank feral beast, the Furious Sea Mad Shark, alone upon the Western Sea!

After battling it for an entire day and night, he had successfully driven it back, protecting the lives and property of over a million civilians along the Western Sea coast!

“Good. The timing is just right!”

The moment Fang Qingchen saw that the two of them were on a video call, his heart finally settled.

“Mom, I’m back.”

He called out casually.

He pulled off his school uniform and tossed it to a servant waiting nearby.

Then he dropped his body into the sofa, whose softness was just right.

That long-lost sense of relaxation made him feel incomparably comfortable.

“Ah, this feels good.”

“In my last life, I fought until the day I died. It’s only right that I enjoy myself a little.”

In a moment of dazed reflection, he thought back to the final years before his death in his previous life, when Great Xia had been under almost constant assault from beast tides.

Many interdimensional nodes that had never been discovered before kept appearing all across Great Xia.

Powerful S-rank, SS-rank, and even SSS-rank feral beasts poured endlessly out of those interdimensional nodes.

They blotted out the sky and covered the earth, as if the world itself were ending.

An S-rank feral beast alone could already generate a special domain field around its body.

At that point, conventional firearms could no longer inflict lethal damage on them.

Only martial arts powerhouses were capable of dealing with such creatures.

Although Great Xia possessed a great many martial arts experts and was overflowing with talent, it still could not withstand such an endless tide of feral beast invasions.

High-end combatants such as Martial Saints and Half-Step Martial Gods were constantly rushing from one disaster zone to another, with not a moment to spare!

After years of fighting, even such powerful figures suffered grievous casualties.

Fang Qingchen’s father, Fang Zhenhai, had fallen during the Defense of the Capital, that battle which threatened the very lifeline of Great Xia.

He had died beneath the claws of an SSS-rank feral beast, leaving not even a corpse behind.

And Fang Qingchen himself had likewise fought all the way to the very last moment of his life in order to protect the people of Great Xia.

A whole family of martyrs!

“Son, son...”

“Stop pining over your one-sided crush. Your father’s talking to you.”

“He’s currently inside a newly excavated ruin. The signal might disappear at any moment.”

A gentle voice sounded beside his ear, pulling Fang Qingchen out of his thoughts.

When he looked up, he found his mother gazing at him teasingly, one finger pointing at the screen.

He rubbed his face, as though wiping away both the melancholy on it and the melancholy in his heart.

Then Fang Qingchen broke into a bright, youthful smile and waved at the large screen, at his father’s broad face that had not yet become worn down by endless sorrow.

“Martial God Fang!”

“It has only been a few days, and yet your bearing remains as splendid as ever.”

The moment he heard his precious son address him that way, Fang Zhenhai immediately waved his hands.

He said very modestly, “No, no, no, not there yet. Half-step. Only a Half-Step Martial God.”

Although that was what he said, the grin stretching all the way to his molars completely betrayed what he was really feeling.

Tang Bingyun was so amused by the father and son pair that she nearly laughed tea out of her cup.

But after the laughter faded, both Fang Zhenhai and Tang Bingyun sensed that something was wrong.

Strange.

Why was their son so cheerful today?

Usually, the moment he got home, he would shut himself in his room and mope.

He had never joked with Fang Zhenhai like this before.

One of them was on the screen, the other was on the sofa, yet both of them wore the same expression, as though they had just discovered a new continent.