Regarding this question, Lin Chen could only @ the system: “He’s right. Where did your protagonist favorability mission system go?”

After the last mission was completed, the system claimed to have received a small energy reward, and it was precisely this “small amount of energy” that allowed him to take off the camera and place it on others.

But after that, Lin Chen never saw missions two, three, four, five, or six again.

The system was very aggrieved about this: “According to the development in the original work, after He Wenyan left his family, half of the people who caused him trouble in the early stages were Qi Xiuyi’s underlings!”

The system: “Qi Xiuyi’s gang of dissolute friends are unreliable. They scattered and fled early on, not even daring to go to a banquet…”

The system: “He himself was even dragged by you to B University for further studies, so he didn’t even have time to participate in the protagonist’s first face-slapping climax event!”

The system concluded tragically: “The mission system is now completely behind the times, Host!”

Lin Chen’s expression changed slightly: “Oops!”

Lin Chen said seriously: “A flap of a butterfly’s wings, and the original protagonist is no longer being humiliated!”

“If he’s not humiliated, can he still become dark? If he doesn’t become dark, can he still make the great wish of face-slapping and swallowing the entire Imperial Capital’s wealthy circle?”

The system took a sharp breath: “Host, then your three million…!”

Lin Chen’s inner monologue did not affect his real-life performance.

He sighed and explained to the protagonist: “I can’t help it. My studies are too heavy, and I’m too busy. You wouldn’t understand.”

He Wenyan raised an eyebrow: “B University business school, a junior in the same department? My GPA was consistently number one for all four years of university. If you need tutoring, you can find me. I’ll give you a discount.”

Lin Chen to the system: “As if anyone wasn’t number one in GPA. If I hadn’t failed to bring my resume from my previous life, where would he have the chance to show off in front of me.”

Lin Chen: “Perfect. I have a student right now who is in urgent need of tutoring for his major courses.”

He Wenyan was uninterested: “Qi Xiuyi? Not teaching him. I wouldn’t teach that kind of thing even for ten times the money. Let’s get down to business.”

Lin Chen explained the matter of the scholarship to He Wenyan.

He Wenyan was very puzzled by the Qi family providing the money but not taking the credit. He frowned and pressed for a long time before finally agreeing.

Lin Chen laughed lightly: “Don’t worry, there are no traps in it. The money you used to build your company still came from me.”

He paused and asked casually: “Since you’re here, why don’t you tell me about how things have been going?”

He Wenyan revealed a smile: “You finally asked.”

He Wenyan waved his hand and directly asked the coffee shop waiter for a private room with a projector.

Then, he took a USB drive out of his pocket, plugged it in, and a PowerPoint page was immediately projected onto the screen!

The system was dumbfounded: “No, wait, Host, didn’t you just notify him to meet at the coffee shop half an hour ago?”

“How did he have time to prepare this kind of thing!!”

Lin Chen’s eyes, however, burst with a special light. He looked at this person with rare excitement.

Lin Chen: “Not bad, not bad! Prepared in advance, carries it with him, his subjective initiative is very strong!”

Lin Chen: “Very good, continue! Let me see what kind of report he can make on the spot!”

He Wenyan casually tossed his light brown jacket onto a chair to the side, revealing the shirt and vest underneath.

He rolled up the long sleeves of his shirt, his expression composed. With no notes in hand, he began to talk about the work he had done during this period, facing the projection.

He Wenyan was eloquent and voluble.

From project overview to market analysis, from initial planning to long-term vision, from business model to financial planning…

He systematically and methodically introduced all matters clearly.

The system stammered: “H-Host, could it be that this original protagonist has secretly found another investor behind your back, and these reports are actually things he deliberately prepared to present to the other party!”

Lin Chen sneered: “Foolish. Look at the plans he’s talking about. He’s even taken my identity as the young master of the Qi family into account. How could this be prepared for someone else?”

The exquisitely featured young master of the Qi family crossed his fingers, his expression focused and satisfied as he watched the presenter and the presentation materials on the stage. Occasionally, he would interrupt to ask a few questions, and he would always receive quite good answers.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, not hiding his pleasant mood at this moment at all.

Lin Chen lamented to the system: “Look, what is the pursuit of the ultimate, what is the pursuit of perfection, what is a thousand-point complete preparation just to capture a sliver of a possible opportunity…”

Lin Chen: “The meaning within, a system like you who never pursues the top will not understand!”

The system wailed loudly: “Waaah! Host, if you’re going to praise him, just praise him. Why are you stepping on the system QAQ!”

Lin Chen sighed with pleasure: “Look at the good seedling I’ve chosen. Not only does he self-push automatically, but he’s also a self-disciplined top-cancer who pursues the ultimate…”

Lin Chen concluded with satisfaction: “Truly worthy of being the protagonist of the original work. This kind of person was born to make money for me!”

The system waved a flag: “Make money for the Host! Ten hands in agreement!”

Lin Chen’s afternoon was originally scheduled to meet with the teacher in charge of the school’s archaeology club.

But after he heard He Wenyan’s report, he immediately had the system help him send a text message, directly postponing the meeting until tomorrow.

After the report meeting, he took the initiative to order a throat-soothing tea for He Wenyan, who had been talking non-stop for three hours.

And he was not stingy with his words of praise, fiercely praising the good seedling he had chosen!

He Wenyan smiled reservedly, not being polite at all.

He Wenyan: “You’re not bad either. You were actually able to follow my train of thought the whole time.”

“It’s just as the rumors say, you also received a good elite education before returning to the Qi family.”

He Wenyan drank half of the throat-soothing tea in one go, caught his breath, and said: “I’m very satisfied with you. I hope we can maintain a pleasant cooperative relationship.”

Lin Chen was also very satisfied with him: “As long as you can make money, our cooperative relationship will be very pleasant.”

He Wenyan smiled: “Want to grab a meal? My treat.”

Lin Chen glanced at the time: “You haven’t even started making money yet, and you’re already preparing to start spending it?”

He Wenyan smiled: “Don’t worry, I definitely can’t afford a place of the caliber of the Hiyara Hotel. At most, I’ll treat you to a small roadside restaurant.”

Lin Chen: “The reason?”

He Wenyan said: “As a personal thank you from me… I mean, thank you for appearing at that exact point in time.”

He Wenyan said with profound meaning: “A very appropriate point in time, wasn’t it?”

Lin Chen’s expression was natural. He generously accepted: “An excellent time.”

He Wenyan shrugged: “If you hadn’t come looking for me at that time, I definitely would have had to shake bubble tea in a bubble tea shop just like that good brother of yours these past three months.”

Lin Chen said: “Even if it’s shaking bubble tea, I believe the bubble tea shaken by Young Master He and Young Master Qi would definitely not taste the same.”

He Wenyan was dissatisfied: “Not Young Master He anymore, don’t call me that.”

Lin Chen laughed lightly: “After you’ve built your business from scratch and become successful, as long as you’re not old, the entire Imperial Capital will be willing to call you Young Master.”

He Wenyan’s dissatisfaction dissipated. He thought about it seriously: “That sounds a little better than Boss He. But I still hope they can call me Mr. He then.”

So Lin Chen replied: “Okay, Mr. He.”

He Wenyan looked at him sideways in surprise and laughed out loud.

He Wenyan: “Seriously, if you need tutoring for your major courses, you can call me. I’ll give you a discount, little junior.”

Lin Chen complained to the system不满地: “When can I load my resume from my previous life? I really want him to see who the real junior is!”

…

Qi Xiuyi felt that his luck was really not bad.

He had just been worrying about how to review his major courses these past two days, and then some unknown company came to the school to set up a scholarship.

Motivated by the scholarship, among the classmates in his major whom he didn’t know at all, three students with top grades came to him and proactively asked if he needed help tutoring the major courses from the previous semester.

Qi Xiuyi felt slightly embarrassed.

He carefully and cautiously observed for two days. After discovering that none of the young masters and misses in his circle paid any attention to this kind of boring scholarship, he secretly accepted the paid kindness of these three classmates.

Qi Xiuyi was very satisfied with this smooth development.

He was only a small 1 point behind Qi Wendong in the last exam. According to his previous pattern of score improvement, this exam should be the turning point for him to surpass Qi Wendong!

With this excited mood, Qi Xiuyi’s feet floated as he took the new make-up exam.

During the exam, his mind couldn’t help but wander, imagining the scene when his score for this exam surpassed Qi Wendong’s…

Qi Xiuyi: Who’s so thrilled? I’m not saying. Haha!

He returned home triumphantly. Seeing the equally triumphant Qi Wendong, he provoked him as usual: “Qi Wendong, your living allowance isn’t safe today!”

Qi Wendong smiled: “Oh? I’m looking forward to it.”

This time, the results came out suddenly at the dinner table again.

Qi Xiuyi held back the itch in his heart and asked Qi Wendong, who had seen his results first: “How was it?”

Lin Chen observed his triumphant expression and roughly estimated a score range based on the previous few times.

He reported a number: “85.”

Qi Xiuyi nervously rubbed his hands and started to scroll through his phone’s emails.

The phone screen lit up, and Qi Xiuyi’s smile instantly froze on his face.

System: “…Oops, I overestimated the score!”

Without waiting for the host’s reminder, he immediately threw out his camera at the speed of light and ran to Qi Xiuyi’s perspective to take a look.

System: “…”

The system took a sharp breath: “Hiss… 69! Host, your… your score report was a bit high this time!”

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes and observed Qi Xiuyi’s expression. He said calmly: “Don’t panic. Watch me add a follow-up.”

When Qi Wendong saw Qi Xiuyi’s expression, a brilliant smile immediately appeared on his face.

He cleared his throat and directly called Qi Jingming.

Qi Xiuyi hadn’t even reacted yet.

Qi Wendong was already sweetly and obediently calling into the phone:

“Dad~~~~ Look, this is the score for the major course I just took. I heard from the seniors that 85 is already very high for this course!”

Qi Jingming was busy with work at this time and wasn’t constantly watching the surveillance at home.

He looked at Lin Chen’s sudden call with confusion. Not knowing the cause or effect, he could only rely on his usual ability to react on the spot and praised him gently and calmly.

However, he had always known the purpose of Lin Chen’s actions was mostly to provoke Qi Xiuyi.

Therefore, he very cooperatively asked casually: “Then how did Xiuyi do this time?”

Qi Wendong was satisfied. He said with a grin: “Oh, Xiuyi? Not bad. He passed sixty this time too. He didn’t fail. That’s pretty good.”

Only then did Qi Xiuyi react. He shot up from his seat, slamming the table in anger.

He hurriedly added loudly: “Dad!! Don’t listen to Qi Wendong, I only did a little poorly in this one subject, all the previous ones…”

But Qi Wendong seemed to be deliberately going against him.

He said into the phone in an even louder voice: “Alright Dad, go get busy. I won’t disturb your work. We’ll talk another day!”

After speaking, Qi Wendong hung up the phone with a click.

So, not a single one of Qi Xiuyi’s hurried patches reached the ears of the person on the other end of the line.

After doing all this, Qi Wendong even glanced at him with a half-smile: “I was talking to Dad. What are you chiming in for? If you want to talk to Dad, call him yourself.”

Lin Chen naturally knew that even if Qi Xiuyi really made the call, no one would answer.

Because apart from the very beginning when Qi Jingming left home and refused to answer calls out of helplessness, the continuation of this situation was all thanks to Lin Chen’s express prohibition.

Lin Chen’s reason to his boss was very simple: “If one phone call from you ruins all my months of hard work, then I’m not responsible.”

Qi Jingming wasn’t fully confident in whether he could be firm when facing his son, so he agreed to Lin Chen’s condition with a hard scalp.

Qi Xiuyi’s eyes were red as he stared at Qi Wendong.

The cheerfulness and joy that had gradually returned to him over this period due to his gradual adaptation to life shattered into countless fragments at this moment.

His heart ached with sharp pangs.

A thick and unfamiliar emotion roared silently in his chest.

Was it disappointment, or anger, or both?

He didn’t know.

Qi Wendong… Qi Wendong…

It’s Qi Wendong again!!!

Qi Xiuyi didn’t understand, couldn’t comprehend.

He thought he had already adapted to Qi Wendong’s terrible personality.

He thought he had already accepted Qi Wendong’s sharp, venomous tongue.

He thought that after these few months of school, his relationship with Qi Wendong, if not yet brothers, was at least much more familiar than at the very beginning!

But how…

How…

How is it that he seems to have never truly seen Qi Wendong clearly?

Qi Wendong…

He really is a bastard, Qi! Wen! Dong!!

Qi Xiuyi angrily kicked his chair over.

The chair fell to the ground with a loud “clang,” startling many servants who poked their heads out from various corners of the Qi mansion in confusion.

After many months, anger and resentment surged once again, instantly invading his entire heart.

The hatred of having his father, his position, and everything stolen from him reawakened from the long river of memory.

But this time, he was no longer willing to say anything more to Qi Wendong.

He turned his head away without a word and strode away from the dining table.

The butler hurriedly chased after him: “Young Master Xiuyi… Young Master Xiuyi!”

But it was no use.

Qi Xiuyi dragged his suitcase out of his room with a cold face and strode toward the elevator, completely ignoring the butler’s calls from the side.

Until the moment the elevator doors closed, Qi Xiuyi’s hate-filled eyes stared straight at Qi Wendong.

He spat out the words through gritted teeth: “Qi Wendong… just you wait!”

After speaking, Qi Xiuyi went down to the first floor, pulled his suitcase, and strode out the door.

The butler was anxious: “This, this… oh dear, Young Master Wendong…!”

Qi Wendong faintly sipped his chicken soup and said: “A child’s temper. Let him be. Have a car send him.”

The butler smiled bitterly: “Young Master Wendong, it’s not my place to say, but your relationship with Young Master Xiuyi…”

Qi Wendong glanced at him: “Do you know how to do your job? Don’t ask so many questions.”

The butler sighed: “…Sigh, yes.”

The system was quiet for a long time.

Finally, when everyone had left and the Qi mansion had fallen into silence, it let out a small sound: “Wow, Host… It’s been a while, but your goading technique has reached a new level!”

Lin Chen: “Heh, of course. If I used the same simple goading techniques as before, he’d develop a tolerance for them.”

The system was worried: “Is Qi Xiuyi going to run away from home again? Do you need me to transfer the camera to him, Host?”

Lin Chen laughed lightly: “Run away from home?”

He said with certainty: “No, he won’t. The him now is not the him from back then who knew nothing but to run away from home.”

“The Qi Xiuyi of now… holds the ‘means’ to defeat me in his hands!”

…

It was the first time Lin Ruyan had seen Qi Xiuyi return to the dorm before the weekend was over.

He looked at his roommate in surprise and asked: “Why are you back so suddenly? …Did you have a fight with your family?”

Qi Xiuyi put down his suitcase with a cold face, sat down heavily at his desk, and said in a muffled voice: “It’s nothing. I came back to review for the next exam.”

“…Next exam, I will definitely defeat Qi Wendong.”

Qi Xiuyi’s emotions were not as high as usual, but the determination and strength in his words were unprecedentedly strong.

When Lin Ruyan heard his roommate say the three words “Qi Wendong,” he heard the intense emotions hidden within his gritted teeth.

He wanted to say a few words of comfort out of worry. The moment he opened his mouth, Qi Xiuyi glared at him fiercely.

Qi Xiuyi: “Don’t speak for him, or I’ll curse you too!”

Lin Ruyan’s voice caught: “…Why did you two suddenly get into such a stiff fight?”

Qi Xiuyi snorted lightly, didn’t answer, and took his books out of his suitcase with a cold face. He slammed them on the table and began to flip through them without a word.

Lin Ruyan secretly peeked a couple of times and found that today’s Qi Xiuyi was different from usual.

Before, Qi Xiuyi would definitely slack off every now and then. Sometimes, he even needed a reminder from him to get back on track.

But tonight’s Qi Xiuyi had not been distracted from beginning to end, completely immersed in his revision.

Lin Ruyan: …

Is he, is he that mad this time?

Lin Ruyan thought for a long time but still didn’t intervene in someone else’s family matters.

That night, Lin Ruyan was gnawing on an English book he had borrowed from the library for a competition. Due to the tight schedule of the competition, he rarely pulled an all-nighter, preparing until two in the morning before planning to rest.

But when he looked back, his roommate’s light was still on.

But his roommate was already drowsy, his head unknowingly nodding down, down.

Lin Ruyan sighed and stretched out his arm to poke Qi Xiuyi: “Stop staying up. Go to sleep. You can continue reviewing when you wake up tomorrow.”

Qi Xiuyi opened his eyes blankly, his mind groggy and slow.

Seeing this, Lin Ruyan simply supported himself with his crutch and walked over to Qi Xiuyi’s side, intending to close his book for him directly.

But before his hand could touch it, his gaze fell on Qi Xiuyi’s textbook, on the blank space that was filled with crooked, unconsciously drowsy characters.

One character after another, forming a word, turning into—Qi Wendong.

One stroke after another, deeply penetrating the paper. Who knows how many pages deep the imprint of the characters went.

Qi Xiuyi’s gaze also followed his and landed on the blank margin of the textbook.

He saw the names he had carved out of hatred to wake himself up in his drowsiness.

“Qi! Wen! Dong…!”

The moment Qi Xiuyi saw this name, his mind immediately cleared.

The hatred of anger and unwillingness reconsolidated in his heart, turning into motivation, re-energizing his hands and feet.

Qi Xiuyi gritted his teeth and said: “You go to sleep. I’ll sleep in a little while.”

But Lin Ruyan didn’t go along with him. He closed his book with one hand and poked the lamp off.

Lin Ruyan said calmly: “Too much is as bad as not enough. Don’t be defeated by yourself before you’ve even defeated him.”