Chapter 11: A Commotion at School
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The higher management of the Flourishing Age Group detected something was wrong.
After Li Hanchen vetoed eight proposals in a row, they were finally certain that he was in a foul mood.
Oh no, thought everyone in the meeting.
Everyone turned to look at Qin Kai earnestly in the hope that he could do something about it. They did not want to continue pissing Li Hanchen off.
"..." Qin Kai was unconfident he would have better luck. Instead, he was surprised that Li Hanchen would be in a bad mood to begin with.
After working for Li Hanchen for years, he was always emotionless.
Anyone would lose interest in life when they found out they were terminally ill. After all, people only felt emotional because they had something to look forward to.
However, Li Hanchen had nothing to look forward to.
Before Qin Kai uttered a word, Li Hanchen announced that the meeting was over. "Tomorrow, I want to see your revised proposals. Qin Kai, hand over your work in Continent M to Shen Lin and come home."
"Yes, Mr. Li."
Li Hanchen picked up the document beside him and continued working on it after the teleconference. However, he started to feel a slight ache running through his body.
Since he was not in the habit of turning on the heater, he failed to notice it during the meeting, and it did not help that the window was open.
Li Hanchen rubbed his forehead as he continued working, but his pen started to tremble in his hand ten minutes later.
Mu Sheng spent the entire day in her cozy room and only went downstairs at noon when she was hungry.
Mu Sheng noticed the door open when she walked by Li Hanchen's bedroom and saw Li Hanchen lying on the couch clutching his chest with his face ghastly pale.
Mu Sheng instantly knew that Li Hanchen was suffering from a relapse. She hurriedly checked Li Hanchen's pulse and was shocked. "Hanchen, didn't I tell you to stay warm? Why are you so cold?"
Li Hanchen pulled his hand away from Mu Sheng. He was in so much pain that the veins on his hands were throbbing. "It's none of your business."
"..." Mu Sheng did not know why Li Hanchen was throwing such a temper. Since she had charged him consultation fees, she could not leave him in the lurch.
Mu Sheng pulled Li Hanchen's arm. "Get up."
Li Hanchen was in so much pain that he had no energy. He stood up with Mu Sheng's help and was pulled into her room next door.
The moment she opened the door, warm air came surging towards Li Hanchen.
It felt like fire meeting ice, so the burning pain in Li Hanchen aggravated many times over.
Mu Sheng struck a few acupuncture points on his body before retrieving her silver needles, removing his shirt swiftly, and applying the needles.
Li Hanchen finally stopped trembling as hard after she applied ten needles.
Mu Sheng applied a silver needle to the main acupuncture point at the back of Li Hanchen's neck. She happened to make eye contact with Li Hanchen when she was done.
Li Hanchen had dashing good looks. He had sharp brows, dark stern eyes, and well-chiseled features. In close proximity, he looked even more striking. His cold proud aura did not diminish the slightest despite how sick he was.
Mu Sheng was momentarily stunned before she veered her eyes. "What did I say about staying warm?"
"I forgot about it." Li Hanchen closed his eyes and looked exhausted.
Mu Sheng went speechless, and the room became silent once more.
Since he was out in the cold for too long, the treatment took far longer than usual.
Two hours later, Mu Sheng finally removed the silver needles from Li Hanchen. "All done. If you don't obey my orders, it will only be worse the next time."
Li Hanchen put on his shirt with his head lowered. His forehead was covered with sweat from the pain. "Thanks."
After putting away the silver needles, Mu Sheng finally realized it was already past 2:00 pm. She was so focused on performing acupuncture that she did not realize how hungry she was.
Mu Sheng was about to go downstairs for a bite when her phone suddenly rang.
Li Hanchen could plainly see Li Ming's name on the caller ID. He glanced before he lowered his eyes, and the coldness from his body seemed to increase.
Mu Sheng pressed to answer, and Li Ming's voice came from over the phone. "Hi, Sheng."
Mu Sheng was already famished. Now that she heard this irritating man's voice, she could not help feeling angry and threw her temper at him. "The next time you call, I will tell the police and let everyone know that you have been shamelessly harassing your sister-in-law."
1
Li Hanchen looked up slightly and was a little surprised when he heard Mu Sheng say "sister-in-law".
Mu Sheng slammed the phone when she was done and blacklisted Li Ming. She took a few steps before she turned to look at Li Hanchen. "Aren't you going to eat? You need the energy to recover."
"Okay." Li Hanchen put on his jacket and stood up.
Auntie Li had saved them lunch and just needed to warm it before they could eat.
Despite being famished, Mu Sheng continued to eat gracefully and seemed well-trained.
She hated garlic, but Auntie Li loved using it.
Mu Sheng kept picking out the garlic while she ate.
Li Hanchen glanced at her before he took a pair of chopsticks and removed all the garlic. Since his fingers were long and slender, it looked pleasing to the eye as he did it. "Slow down. No one's going to fight you for the food."
Mu Sheng looked at the dish with all its garlic removed and nodded to Li Hanchen. "Thanks!"
Mu Sheng felt that other than being temperamental, Li Hanchen was rather nice. She was determined to cure him just for picking out the garlic for her.
7
Mu Sheng got changed and left the villa after lunch. Li Hanchen was sitting in the living room reading the paper when he heard her leave. He looked up with a profound look in his eyes.
Mu Sheng headed out the door and went to Metropolis University.
Metropolis University was one of the top universities in the country, and it was everyone's dream to attend it.
It so happened that Mu Sheng was an undergrad at Metropolis University. Despite her academic success, it ended up adding oil to fire when Mu Sheng was ostracized and boycotted online.
Mu Sheng could only attend the university due to a technical loophole and entered it as a gifted student.
Ever since Sunny's formation, the company promoted Mu Sheng's academic success and won her a lot of fans.
Some meddlesome netizens did some investigation and found out that Mu Sheng did not get into the university by merit but a technical loophole. Also, people learned that Mu Sheng did not attend school regularly and was failing every subject.
She was not a straight-A genius that the company claimed but a lousy student.
It was every student's dream to attend Metropolis University, but someone like Mu Sheng managed to get in through some technicalities. How could the public not be angry and furious with Mu Sheng?
Since Mu Sheng had a bad reputation online in the entertainment industry, she was not well received in the university.
After all, most of the students in the school came from a privileged background, so no one wanted to befriend Mu Sheng since she was only flashy on the outside.
The original owner of the body knew that everyone hated her, so she never showed up at school, and people gradually forgot about her.
At the department of music at Metropolis University, the students were preparing for piano lessons as usual.
Someone walked in through the door when the bell rang.
The students were about to greet the lecturer but promptly swallowed their words.
It was not the lecturer standing at the door, but a stunning girl.
The girl's dark hair was scattered behind her back. She had flawless features, a small nose, and a slender waist. The black coat she was wearing accentuated her cold aura. Her unsullied eyes looked as pure and bright as the morning dew.
The noisy classroom swiftly fell silent.
The cool beauty walked in and sat in the front row as everyone watched.
"Oh my! What's going on? When did our faculty have such a stunner? Did she go to the wrong class?"
"Why do I find her so familiar?"
"Bullsh*t. You say this every time you encounter someone hot."
"I remember now! Isn't she Mu Sheng? The one who got in through the backdoor and failed every subject for every final exam?"
Everyone hurriedly searched on their phones and was shocked to realize that this ice queen was genuinely the Mu Sheng who was boycotted online.
Why did she finally turn up in school after cutting all her classes? What was going on?
The professor entered the classroom before the students could wrap their minds around it.
The lecturer was surprised to see a new face in class, but he paid no attention. After all, the university did not restrict students from other faculties to sit in for lectures. Students from other faculties sat in all the time, but it was the first time such an attractive student ever turned up.
Mu Sheng had attended a music theory class. She was initially very serious but lost interest mid-way.
She came for this class because she wanted to see if there was any difference between music from this era and hers. After attending the class for a while, she swiftly realized it was the same.
Since she was developed to have a highly advanced brain in her past life, music came easily to her.
The bell finally rang and the class ended. Mu Sheng left the classroom right away.
Everyone gossiped as they watched her leave.
"I thought she finally changed her ways. It turned out she was just pretending to come for classes."
"She only managed to survive half the lesson before she lost patience. Then again, Mu Sheng was so much prettier in person in comparison to her photos. She was simply indescribably beautiful."
"I agree. The moment I saw her standing at the door, I already thought of what we should name our kid."
1
Everything about this world was new to Mu Sheng. After she left the classroom, she slowly took in the sights on campus as she walked on the pathway.
In her past life, she did not study in a school. Now that she was finally at a university campus, she could not help sighing in envy at the scholarly atmosphere.
Mu Sheng spent about 30 minutes walking to the school gate.
In just 30 minutes, Mu Sheng's photo had caused a commotion on Metropolis University's forum.
Chapter 12: Li An Caught for Fighting
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Metropolis University's forum was only accessible to teachers and students and consisted of all kinds of campus news be it official or gossip.
The hottest post on the forum read: [God! Do we have such a beauty in school? She completely surpasses the campus belle from University A next door!]
The moment the students saw the subject of the post, they felt that the person who wrote it was exaggerating.
Metropolis University and University A were both top universities in the country. University A specialized in arts, so it had a lot of girls and beauties. In comparison, Metropolis University focused on sciences, so there were few girls to begin with, let alone beauties.
Hence, everyone thought someone was trying to be funny when they said there was a girl at Metropolis University who was better looking than University A's campus belle.
They tapped open the post for a closer look and wanted to scold the writer for lying but ended up swallowing their words.
After all, the pictures that accompanied the post spoke for themselves.
The girl dressed in a black coat was bewitching and radiant. She had a cool aura and was as proud as a snowy white plum blossom.
[Oh god. I don't think she's from our school, right? She's gorgeous!!! Where on earth did this fairy come from? If the original poster tells me where she is, I will spare you. Can I still bump into her if I run over now?]
[She's such a stunner. This must be how ice queens from novels look like in reality, right? Can you give me the raw image? I want to use it as wallpaper on my phone, please! She is just my type!]
[Erm... Look at this (jpg attachment). I think this is Mu Sheng, the one who smeared the university's name.]
Someone posted Mu Sheng's photo in the forum and left everyone speechless.
On the one hand, everyone kept rationalizing that they should not praise someone after she gave the school a bad name.
On the other hand, it was an emotional struggle as everyone was dying to say how gorgeous she was!
In the end, the post became a strange spectacle.
There were over 5,000 comments that were filled with ellipses that aptly described everyone's conflicted feelings towards Mu Sheng.
After Mu Sheng left the campus, she bought a lot of street snacks outside the school before she went home leisurely.
Before she even arrived at the estate entrance, she spotted Li An standing outside sadly with his black satchel.
"Li An," shouted Mu Sheng.
Li An briefly paused. He pulled his hood up to cover most of his face and turned around with his head lowered so that only his nose was visible. "Hi."
Mu Sheng frowned. "Why is your head lowered?"
Li An lowered his head even more. "No reason. Why are you asking so much? You're so irritating. I'm heading in."
Li An ran straight into the villa the moment he finished his sentence.
Li Hanchen was sitting in the living room reading the paper. Li An halted when he made eye contact with Li Hanchen and pulled up his hoody a little more before he continued heading upstairs.
"Stop right there." Li Hanchen's voice rang from behind.
"Oh no," muttered Li An to himself. He could not help innately fearing Li Hanchen. Although he wanted to run, his legs were pinned to the ground.
"Big Bro, I have homework to do, so I'm heading upstairs."
"Turn around." Li Hanchen put down the paper and uncrossed his legs to place them both on the ground. The soft sound of his leather shoes making contact with the ground left Li An trembling.
He slowly turned as he clutched his bag strap tightly and kept his head lowered without daring to look at Li Hanchen. "Big Bro."
Li Hanchen stood up and walked up to Li An.
Chapter 13: Little Brother's Tears
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Li An was already very tall among his peers, but Li Hanchen was a head taller than him, so he instinctively cringed when Li Hanchen loomed over him.
Li Hanchen reached his hand out to pull Li An's hood. Li An hurriedly blocked with his hand, but he automatically felt scared when Li Hanchen looked at him with his deep eyes.
Li Hanchen pulled Li An's hood hard. The instant he pulled off Li An's hood, Li An thought he was done for.
"Explain yourself." Li Hanchen's threatening voice rang over Li An's head.
Li Hanchen frowned when he saw the scratches and bruises on Li An's face.
"Nothing. I just got into a fight." Li An turned his head sideways and looked stubborn and pitiful.
"No dinner for you. Stay here and reflect on what you have done." Li Hanchen's cold angry voice startled Li An.
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"Uh huh." Li An lowered his head and stared at his toes. The large uniform made him look even slimmer.
Li Hanchen was walking upstairs when Mu Sheng entered. His profile looked cold, and Li An was standing dejectedly with wounds on his face and looked miserable.
"Why are you injured so badly?" Mu Sheng went over and looked at Li An. Since Li An was young and his skin was tender, the injuries looked even more ghastly.
"I got into a fight. I need to reflect on my actions. Just leave me alone," said Li An nasally.
Mu Sheng said nothing and went upstairs with her bag.
Only Li An remained in the living room. He kept staring at his shoes until two drops of tears trickled down on them.
1
Before long, footsteps came from behind. Li An blinked and forced himself to stop crying.
"Come over." Mu Sheng came over and sat down on the couch with a bag and patted the seat beside her.
"No. Big Bro is punishing me." Li An kept his head lowered.
"If you don't come here now, I won't take you skiing tomorrow."
In a second, Li An sat down next to Mu Sheng. He continued keeping his head lowered and did not want Mu Sheng to see him crying.
He had no clue that his red eyes had already given him away.
"If you have anything to tell me, then say it now. If my brother catches me sitting here, he's going to beat me up..." Before Li An finished his sentence, he sensed someone touching his wounds. Li An inhaled in pain. "Ow."
He raised his head to see Mu Sheng holding a medicated cotton swab and tending to his wounds.
"Don't move," said Mu Sheng as she helped to cleanse his wounds.
Li An was stunned as he looked at Mu Sheng sitting in such proximity.
Although Mu Sheng's face looked cold, Li An found her inexplicably gentle.
Li An's mother died shortly after he was born, but Li Hanchen was still around to protect him.
Li Hanchen was abducted when Li An was five and disappeared into thin air.
No one treated him like the young master while he lived at the Li residence. Other than his nanny, no other elder cared about him.
Li An often got into fights, but no one attended to his injuries, so he used to leave them to heal on their own.
"All done. Where else are you hurt? Let me take care of it too."
Li An pulled up his trouser leg slightly. "I got kicked in the leg too."
Mu Sheng took a look to see that he was kicked rather badly, and there was a big patch of bruises on his leg.
Mu Sheng applied some medication to his leg. "Why did you get into a fight? If you can't tell your brother, you can tell me, right?"
Li An pulled the corner of his shirt for a long time before he said, "They scolded my brother."
Li Hanchen came back on their father's 50th birthday. A lot of guests had arrived to celebrate the joyful occasion, but Li Hanchen's return ruined it.
His existence was a reminder of what happened ten years ago and was an unspeakable family scandal.
After the useless eldest son of the Li family returned home, it spread overnight throughout the elite circles, and everyone kept gossiping about it.
There were several people in his class who were from rich and powerful families. They said that Li Hanchen should never have come home and that he was good for nothing.
Li An was incapable of suppressing his fury, and a brawl broke out. However, he was outnumbered and no match for them, so he came back beaten up.
Mu Sheng's hands paused. "Next time..."
"I know. I won't take it to heart next time." Li An looked absolutely miserable.
"The next time this happens, find some help before you fight," said Mu Sheng gradually. "Don't try to put on a bold front. The important thing is to win."
6
Li An did not expect Mu Sheng to say this. He assumed he would get reprimanded for being insensible.
He lowered his eyes and looked at Mu Sheng as she tended to his injuries with her head lowered and suddenly felt like crying. "Sis-in-Law, you're the best."
No one had ever tended to his wounds after he got hurt or told him not to act tough when he got into fights.
More importantly, Mu Sheng made him feel like someone had his back. Li An grew up an insecure boy, so Mu Sheng made him feel he had finally found his harbor and made him feel safe.
Mu Sheng could not be bothered to correct what he called her. "All done. Don't let any water touch your injuries. You'll be fine in a couple of days."
1
"Uh huh," acknowledged Li An softly. He hesitated before he asked cautiously, "Sis-in-Law, can I hug you? Or just hold your arm?"
Mu Sheng raised her head to look at Li An. His eyes were red, and he appeared like a vulnerable little creature who was left to fend for himself for a long time in the wilderness and looked pitiful.
1
Mu Sheng patted her shoulder. "Okay."
Li Hanchen stood in the corridor on the second floor for a long time. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Li An leaning vulnerably on Mu Sheng's shoulder before he headed back to the room.
Li An cautiously grabbed Mu Sheng's jacket sleeve before he leaned against Mu Sheng gently like a baby animal leaning against its mother as the soft light in the living room scattered over them.
Li An had already reverted to his usual absent-minded self come dinner.
"Sis-in-law." These words came to Li An easily now. "My brother wanted to punish me. Will he scold me for eating dinner?"
"No, he won't." Mu Sheng knew that Li Hanchen was already standing on the second-floor corridor when she cleaned Li An's wounds. Since Li Hanchen did not stop her, it meant that he was not angry with Li An anymore.
Li Hanchen's footsteps came from behind, so Li An hurriedly straightened his back with his hands on the dining table obediently. He was terrified that Li Hanchen would scold him.
Just like Mu Sheng predicted, Li Hanchen did not talk about him getting into a fight, and the three of them had a peaceful dinner.
Li An slept in the next day since it was Saturday. He excitedly got up and wanted to play video games and go skiing with Mu Sheng like she promised.
The moment he got up, he spotted a box by his bed. He opened it to see the trainers he had been desperately saving hard for!
Chapter 14: Pure Lies
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Li An ran downstairs excitedly and saw Li Hanchen sitting at the dining table reading the paper.
Li An touched his ear awkwardly. "Big Bro, did you buy me these shoes?"
"Uh huh," acknowledged Li Hanchen with a cold look on his face like he did not want to talk about it.
Li An wanted to ask if it was okay to get such expensive shoes since they were so broke, but when he saw Li Hanchen's cool profile, Li An did not dare probe.
1
Li An could only sit down next to Li Hanchen with delight and gratitude. Although his older brother was strict and stern, he spent an entire month's allowance on him! His big brother was awesome!
2
Mu Sheng's door finally opened when Li Hanchen finished reading the morning paper. Her hair was tied up today, so it brought out her cool aura.
Mu Sheng sat down at the dining table. Li An looked at her with his bright eyes gleaming imperceptibly.
Mu Sheng raised her brow slightly. "Come to the skiing resort in the suburbs with me after breakfast."
"Okay!" Li An was beside himself with joy. He had always wanted to ski, but there was no one to teach him or the opportunity to go. Now he could finally do it!
After breakfast, Mu Sheng got a call from Qin Lei and told Li An it was time to go.
Li An put on his new shoes and pushed off the couch before he skipped to the door. "Let's go."
Two steps later, he turned to glance at Li Hanchen on the couch.
Li Hanchen was dressed in a black coat and reading the paper with his eyes lowered. Despite his threatening cold aura, Li An felt that his old brother looked lonely.
Li An took a few steps back. "Big Bro, do you want to come too?"
Li Hanchen did not even raise his head as he spoke in a deep voice. "I'm not going. Come back early and don't cause trouble."
"Okay then." Since Li Hanchen had made up his mind, Li An did not insist. Instead, he turned to follow behind Mu Sheng.
Shortly after Mu Sheng and Li An left, Li Hanchen left the villa as well.
A young bespectacled man stood in the CEO's office at Flourishing Age Group.
1
"Mr. Li." Qin Kai bowed when Li Hanchen came in.
"Have you handed over your work in Continent M?" Li Hanchen walked up to the desk and sat down.
"Yes, Mr. Li. I've handed it all over to Shen Lin."
"Okay. Give me a quarterly report," said Li Hanchen as he picked up a document by the side.
Qin Kai reported things methodically.
Li Hanchen suddenly raised his head to glance out the window after some time. It was sunny a moment ago, but it had unknowingly started to snow.
Qin Kai halted mid-way and looked out the window along with Li Hanchen.
"It's snowing," said Li Hanchen suddenly.
"Yes, Mr. Li. It's snowing today," Qin Kai chimed in. He did not know why Li Hanchen suddenly brought it up.
Li Hanchen looked out the window for a few seconds before he suddenly closed the documents and stood up. "Get the car. We are going to the suburbs."
"Yes, Mr Li." Despite how puzzled Qin Kai was, Li Hanchen was his boss, so he simply executed his orders.
Li An was dressed in ski gear and excitedly learned the basics from Mu Sheng in the ski resort.
Mu Sheng only taught Li An the basics. Since he was young and athletic, he picked up the techniques quickly. Before long, he could ski on the recreational course by himself.
Qin Lei skied over too. "Miss Mu, go ahead and ski. I will teach your little brother. It happens to be my strength."
In his heart, Qin Lei offered to help because he had other reasons to meet Mu Sheng here. He had specially asked Mu Sheng out to see how good Mu Sheng was.
Mu Sheng's backflips were amazing, but a lot of professionals were capable of doing the same, so he wanted to find out exactly how good she was.
Chapter 15: MIndblowing
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Mu Sheng felt that Qin Lei's skiing skills were average, but it was more than enough for teaching Li An. Mu Sheng nodded. "Thanks, Instructor Qin."
"No trouble at all." Qin Lei waved his hand at Mu Sheng.
In a second, Mu Sheng glided away.
"..." Li An was a little surprised. How did his sister-in-law manage to ski so weightlessly?
"Come on over. Let me show you how it's done," said Qin Lei as he pulled Li An by his arm. "I will show you the steps. Just follow me."
"Okay." Li An glanced to the side and saw Mu Sheng heading towards the professional ski track.
By the time Qin Lei and Li An made it to the bottom of the slope, cries of astonishment could be heard from the professional course. Li An raised his head to watch in shock.
A black silhouette skied down the slope like the wind. She skied smoothly through all the obstacles as though she was walking on flatland. She kept changing her direction and posture as she executed moves repeatedly without stopping for a second.
Li An exclaimed in envy, "That's so cool!!"
Qin Lei nodded in admiration. "Miss Mu has a very good foundation and has the potential to ski professionally."
Everyone applauded her as she skied down the slope, but Mu Sheng did not think she was impressive.
In her past life, she adored extreme sports. She liked the feeling of coming close to the limit and could briefly sense the meaning of life when she was close to the extreme.
Skiing down a professional ski track like this was unattainable for most people, but it was like walking on flatland for Mu Sheng, so she found it unmeaningful. Instead, she raised her head to look around the place.
The ski resort was built next to a mountain and only a part of the mountain was developed into a recreational ski course. Most of the mountain remained undeveloped.
Mu Sheng looked at the steep slope around them and felt tempted to have a go. Initially, Qin Lei refused to let her do it when she made the suggestion, but Mu Sheng was insistent, so he could only agree to it.
Qin Lei could not help breaking in a cold sweat as he looked at the steep slope. He secretly keyed in the emergency number for an ambulance on his phone just in case something befell her.
After going up and down the course several times, Li An was now capable of skiing independently. He excitedly wanted to show Mu Sheng what he had achieved, but Mu Sheng was nowhere in sight. "Where is she?"
Behind the ski course, on an undeveloped part of the mountain.
Mu Sheng was standing atop the mountain peak dressed in black. Qin Lei sat in the helicopter worriedly. "Miss Mu, please be careful!"
Mu Sheng nodded. She moved her feet slightly and jumped right onto the mountain peak.
Since the area was undeveloped, there was a lot of snow and it was uneven, unlike a machine-pressed trail. The skier had to move quickly to avoid sinking into the snow.
It posed a grave danger for a skier to get stuck on such a steep incline. After all, no one knew what lay under the snow.
The helicopter followed behind Mu Sheng, but it was incapable of keeping up with her.
The mountain was particularly steep with precipitous cliffs that were almost perpendicular to the ground.
Mu Sheng came skiing down from the mountain top while snow swiftly sunk in wherever her skis went past. Whenever she encountered cliffs, Mu Sheng stepped on boulders to gain speed.
The wind howled by Mu Sheng's ears as the snow sprayed into the air while she swiftly contemplated the next move she had to make.
Mu Sheng reveled in the adrenaline of going extreme on the sheer snowy mountain.
Although the black silhouette was minuscule with the mountain as her backdrop, she was capable of trampling the mountain beneath her feet and was in sheer control.
A black car happened to pass by and stopped for a long time.
Chapter 16: The On-Looker Knew Best
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Despite how worldly Qin Kai was, he felt worried when he saw the form skiing on the mountain. It was simply too dangerous.
He glanced behind. Li Hanchen suddenly told him to pull up when they got here. Had Mr. Li suddenly developed an interest in skiing?
Li Hanchen had wound the window all the way down from the backseat and was staring at the black silhouette intently.
Mu Sheng skied all the way to the foot of the mountain where the land was much flatter and removed her ski goggles as she skied.
A look of shock appeared on Qin Kai's face when the woman came closer to the car. She was none other than Mr. Li's so-called legal wife who had been acting strange recently.
Qin Kai turned but Li Hanchen had already opened the car door.
Mu Sheng's hands were a little frozen from the cold, so she exhaled on her palms. Just as she was about to find Qin Lei and the helicopter, she raised her head to see Li Hanchen walking over.
"What are you doing here?" Mu Sheng was puzzled. Had he not said he was not coming?
Li Hanchen stood before her. His expression was as cold as the snow around them. "I happened to be here on business. Get in. I will send you up the mountain."
"Okay." Since Mu Sheng had already gotten a kick out of skiing today, she took off her skis and got into the car with Li Hanchen.
Qin Kai had turned the heater to the highest temperature. The moment she got into the car, it felt warm and cozy.
Qin Kai glanced at Mu Sheng in shock. Based on their investigation, Mu Sheng had become very different. Now that he had seen her in person, it became even more evident.
He could sense the coldness radiating from Mu Sheng with one look now. It was not something that anyone could mimic.
Qin Kai quietly started the engine.
Mu Sheng patted the snow from her jacket and straightened her hair before someone passed her a bottle of warm water.
Mu Sheng was caught by surprise. Li Hanchen did not look at her. Instead, all she saw was his cool profile.
"Thanks." Mu Sheng was not shy and took the drink right away. However, her hands were a little frozen, so she handed the drink to Li Hanchen. "Help me open it. My hands are a little stiff."
Li Hanchen took the drink and opened its cap for her. Mu Sheng took a few sips before she finally felt much warmer.
Qin Kai raised his brow slightly when he heard the conversation behind. Li Hanchen was a compulsively clean man, so he had never seen him sit so close to anyone before.
Also, he had never seen anyone with the guts to order Li Hanchen around so blatantly.
Qin Kai recalled Mu Sheng who had left him such a strong impression. His lips curved upwards slightly. The on-looker knew best.
He had an inkling why Li Hanchen threw a temper out of the blue.
Humans were only emotionless when there was nothing to look forward to.
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The moment they did, they would become lively and susceptible.
The helicopter was unable to catch up with Mu Sheng. Qin Lei started out sitting on the helicopter feeling worried before his emotions were replaced by shock and admiration.
If not for his final remnants of reason, Qin Lei might probably jump right off the helicopter, go after Mu Sheng, and take her straight to the national team for training.
Why had no one heard of someone as good as Mu Sheng? If he discovered her sooner, the country would finally make a name for itself in the skiing arena!
Chapter 17: Lay on His Shoulder
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Although Mu Sheng and Qin Lei were nowhere to be found, the provincial team taught Li An with great enthusiasm, so Li An had a great time skiing with them.
"Not bad, Li An. You are young and very athletically inclined." Everyone was impressed by what a quick learner Li An was.
Li An touched his head shyly as he chuckled.
Li An raised his head and suddenly saw Mu Sheng getting off a car nearby, so he hurriedly skied towards her.
"Sis-in-law, where have you gone? I have been looking high and low."
"I went somewhere else. Go pack up. We will leave after I say goodbye to Qin Lei."
"Sure!" Since Li An already had a lot of fun today and was content, he did not insist on staying longer.
Qin Kai spoke tentatively in the car. "Young Madam is such a good skier, right?"
Li Hanchen went quiet for a moment and said nothing.
Li Hanchen's nonresponse made Qin Kai's imagination run wild.
It was more a question of whether Mu Sheng was deemed his wife than if her skiing was any good. Considering Li Hanchen's commercial achievements, there was no way he did not catch Qin Kai calling her "Young Madam".
However, Mr. Li unexpectedly stayed quiet! What did that mean? How did Mr. Li feel about it?
After some time, Mu Sheng and Li An came walking over to the car.
"Sis-in-law, are you really going to join the national team?" Li An looked at Mu Sheng with admiration.
Qin Lei looked at Mu Sheng like he had found a treasure. If he did not know better, he would have thought that Qin Lei was a human trafficker from the way he looked at Mu Sheng.
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"Uh huh." Mu Sheng removed her hair tie to let her dark long hair scatter behind her shoulders.
"You're awesome!" Li An knew how glorious it was to join the national team. He could not wait to brag about having a sister-in-law on the national ski team.
"Tomorrow, can we..." Li An followed Mu Sheng up the car and sensed a familiar oppressive aura coming from the backseat before he finished his sentence.
Li An turned to look at his brother. "Didn't you say you weren't coming?"
Li Hanchen glanced at him. "You are going for piano lessons tomorrow."
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Li Hanchen was implying that Li An could forget about skiing.
"..." Li An had a question for his brother. Considering how poor they were, could they survive if he signed him up for piano lessons? More importantly, he did not want to learn piano.
However, Li An was always as docile as a lamb when it came to Li Hanchen, so he said sadly, "Okay."
"Let's go." Qin Kai started the engine at Li Hanchen's orders.
The faint shampoo scent floated in the air as Mu Sheng straightened her disheveled hair. A few stray stands even fell on Li Hanchen's shoulder.
The ski resort was a little far from the villa and the car was cozy, so Mu Sheng gradually closed her eyes on their way home.
Li Hanchen was looking out the window at this snow when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned to see Mu Sheng leaning on it.
Her eyes were closed and her eyelashes looked long and curly while her face was as fair as porcelain.
Li Hanchen moved slightly, but it seemed to disturb Mu Sheng's rest and made her frown, so he stopped moving and let her sleep on his shoulder.
Qin Kai looked into the rearview mirror with the corner of his eyes. He was surprised to see Mu Sheng sleeping on Li Hanchen's shoulder, so he drove carefully out of fear it might disturb her.
Chapter 18: Your Face in My Hands
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Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The car had already pulled up at the villa entrance, but Qin Kai did not move. Li An turned back to look quizzically before a mischievous knowing smile emerged on his face.
Qin Kai felt tickled looking at Li Hanchen's baby brother. He did not expect him to be such a lively young man. After all, Li An and Li Hanchen's personalities were poles apart.
Li An gestured for Qin Kai to get out of the car with him and not to get in their way.
After closing the door, Li An went up to Qin Kai enthusiastically. "I don't think we've met before. Are you my brother's friend?"
"I'm Qin Kai." Qin Kai smiled. "I work with your brother."
"Oh. Nice to meet you, Kai."
Li An beamed brightly at Qin Kai with his pearly whites showing. Any friend of his older brother was as good as his. "Come on in. I'll get you a drink."
"Okay." Qin Kai smiled.
After Qin Kai and Li An left, the car went quiet. Mu Sheng was sound asleep. Li Hanchen kept his eyes lowered without moving. No one knew what was on his mind.
Mu Sheng's eyelashes finally moved about 30 minutes later. She automatically thought she was sleeping on a pillow, so she instinctively flipped over and fell right onto Li Hanchen's thighs.
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Li Hanchen hastily reached his hand out to hold Mu Sheng.
Mu Sheng's face was very small, so his hand was able to cover it completely.
He could sense Mu Sheng's skin in his hand. It reminded Li Hanchen of the Northern Song small porcelain bowl he had used before, which was utterly smooth and delicate.
Mu Sheng finally woke up to see a flawless wrist with a thin black bracelet on it. She raised her head and saw Li Hanchen's deep eyes.
Mu Sheng's eyes were beautiful to begin with. They resembled a pure ancient spring on a snowy mountain top and looked absolutely divine. Now that she was looking up at Li Hanchen, it gave him the illusion that her eyes were filled with him.
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Snow suddenly fell from a thin branch and fell on the car window, snapping them out of their daze.
Mu Sheng realized she was lying in his arms, so she hurriedly sat up. "Sorry. I was too sleepy, so I dozed off."
"It's okay," acknowledged Li Hanchen before he pulled his hands back. Li Hanchen automatically clenched his fists a little when his arms suddenly went empty.
1
"Are we home? Let's go have dinner. I'm famished." Mu Sheng looked out the window before she opened the car door. After all that exercise in the morning, all she wanted was some piping hot food.
Although Mu Sheng had gotten off the car, her sweet scent still lingered in the car.
A gust of cold wind swept into the car, carrying away all its warmth and making it a little chilly. Li Hanchen finally stood up and followed behind Mu Sheng.
Shortly after they left the ski resort, a professional skier posted a video on Weibo.
Even though the face of the skier was not visible in the video, she seemed to be a woman.
The woman jumped, flipped, or skied as she came gliding down the snowy mountain like it was her stage.
Skier Yang: [I chanced upon a pro while I was at the ski resort in the capital's suburbs. She was awesome!! I wonder which internationally renowned skier was in town? Her skills were mindblowing!]
Chapter 19: Li An Defends Mu Sheng
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Ever since the preview for "Every Day Is an Inspiration" was released, Yang Tao and everyone at Talent Scout Entertainment finally had the assurance that Mu Sheng had bought what they said and told the production team to remove her scenes.
Talent Scout Entertainment ended up investing more to promote Ruan Yingying as a sporty and expert skier.
Even though skiing was not a mainstream sport, there was a sharp spike in its online interest, so it received a lot of attention.
Shortly after Skier Yang made a post on Weibo, it drew a lot of attention.
[Oh my! Can you ski on slopes as steep as that? She's amazing. Even the chopper can't catch up with her. She's so cool that I want to marry her and make babies with her!]
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[This is breathtaking. Who on earth is it? I want to know everything there is to know about her within one minute. Otherwise, I will come back to beat you all up for not telling me.]
[When I see how cool she looks, I think of Ruan Yingying. Do you think it's her? Ruan Yingying is so incredible.]
Yang Tao sat in the company and hurriedly told the marketing department to do another wave of online promotion for Ruan Yingying when he saw the events that transpired online.
"Take the opportunity to promote Ruan Yingying one more time before we step forward to clarify that it isn't her tomorrow." A smug look appeared on Yang Tao's face. "This is as good as free marketing. Even god is on Yingying's side."
1
Based on Yang Tao's plans, a lot of people online started to speculate that it was Ruan Yingying.
Now that people had started the ball rolling, all the netizens automatically assumed that this awesome skier was Ruan Yingying, so Ruan Yingying naturally won a bunch of new fans.
Amid the flood of praise for Ruan Yingying, a conspicuous account that went by "Master An Shoots Everyone" appeared on Weibo.
Master An Shoots Everyone: [Are you blind? She is obviously Mu Sheng, okay?]
His comment instantly sparked countless ridicule.
[This is hilarious! HAHA! It's killing me. Mu Sheng is just a burden to the band. If she can ski, then pigs will fly. Mu Sheng can't even stand firmly on a board.]
[How could someone like Mu Sheng even have fans? Sure enough, her fans are crazy just like her.]
[Master An Shoots Everyone? One look at this nickname and I know you're an elementary school student. Are you stupid or something? Are you done memorizing the multiplication table yet?]
Many people visited Li An's Weibo account and flooded it with insult and slander against Mu Sheng. Ruan Yingying's fans even complained about the account, so it ended up frozen.
"These blind fools are so infuriating." After tapping on the application for some time, Li An finally realized he was banned from making comments. He hurled the phone aside. Were they blind? Could they not see that it was his sister-in-law?
Li An did not see Mu Sheng skiing with his own eyes, so it was the first time for him to see it online. He could not believe his eyes when he watched the video.
He could finally appreciate why Qin Lei looked at Mu Sheng like he wanted to take off with her immediately. If Li An were in the same position, he would have done the same thing.
Li An had tossed his phone aside, so he was oblivious of the aftereffects of his online comments.
A topic titled [Mu Sheng's Skiing] was pushed to become the top subject by Ruan Yingying's fans who had ulterior motives. The moment Li An read the post, he saw videos of Mu Sheng's poor coordination when she was dancing. She was poles apart in comparison to the multi-talented Ruan Yingying
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Everyone did their utmost to ridicule Mu Sheng's fans for overestimating themselves and claiming the skier was Mu Sheng.
Chapter 20: Waves Undulating Through Li Hanchen
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The commotion online did not affect Mu Sheng at all. She was busy getting ready to treat Li Hanchen.
Li Hanchen automatically took off his shirt without Mu Sheng asking.
"How is the quality of your sleep recently?" Mu Sheng examined Li Hanchen's pulse. It was far better than the terminal condition he was in when she first got here.
"Pretty good. Much better than before," replied Li Hanchen candidly. He had no trouble falling asleep now. In the past, no amount of medication could help with his sleep.
"Good. I can operate on you after you recuperate for a while more."
Li Hanchen not only suffered from poison and blocked meridians.
Someone must have broken his limbs before. His legs had gotten severely fractured as well. Although it was not noticeable now, he must have only taken care of the injuries cursorily, so they were unable to recover fully.
If no operation was done now, his limbs would become deformed in a few years.
"Have you learned Western medicine before?" Li Hanchen looked at Mu Sheng.
"Is there a difference between Western and Chinese medicine? Since they can both be used to save people, they are the same," said Mu Sheng candidly. In her eyes, she did not categorize medical skills separately. They could both be used as long as they could help patients.
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"Okay." Li Hanchen nodded as he looked at Mu Sheng's bright eyes. "Since you are my doctor, I will do as you say."
Mu Sheng performed acupuncture on Li Hanchen's arm. She was curious about the black bracelet on his left wrist. "What's that on your wrist?"
Mu Sheng failed to detect the dark mood Li Hanchen was in the moment she mentioned this.
Li Hanchen lowered his eyes and glanced at the thin black bracelet on his left wrist. "It was made from shell cases."
He melted a total of 21 shell cases that were stuck in his body for the bracelet.
They were removed from his body when he was 15 years old.
After the Li family decided to forsake him, the kidnappers tied him up for target practice.
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"I see." Mu Sheng finally noticed the change in Li Hanchen's mood, so she stopped probing.
Mu Sheng worked with her hair scattered, so her soft hair touched Li Hanchen's naked shoulder and chest every now and then while she performed acupuncture. He could even smell the faint scent of her shampoo.
Li Hanchen frowned slightly when her hair swept past his shoulder again. He swallowed and his voice sounded imperceptibly hoarse. "Are you done performing acupuncture?"
"Almost done." Mu Sheng touched Li Hanchen's belly and examined the changes in his meridians.
Even though Mu Sheng's fingers were cold, Li Hanchen felt like they were setting fire on him everywhere they landed. Veins started throbbing on his forehead. "Can you go out first?"
Mu Sheng looked at Li Hanchen quizzically. "What's wrong?"
Li Hanchen swallowed. He could feel a fire in his belly and felt inexplicably thirsty. "I need to make a call. Can you bring me a glass of water? Thanks."
"Sure." Even though Li Hanchen was difficult, she had no choice since she had taken his money and Li Hanchen was now her rice bowl.
Mu Sheng turned to leave the room.
After the sweet scent disappeared, Li Hanchen rubbed his brow. He used to have no desire. What happened to him today?
Mu Sheng knocked on the door and came in with a glass of water about ten minutes later. "It's time to remove the needles."