Chapter 7

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Just at this moment, Zhang Ye finally started speaking.

“Someone offered me ten million dollars to drug Gu Qingshan and get him to confess to Su Xue’er.”

The old man continued in a soft hypnotic voice, “Who was that person?”

Zhang Ye replied, “He used an anonymous online account, I don’t know who it is either.”

That was the truth.

Unfortunately, the clues stopped here.

The old man’s expression started to become grave.

Whoever did this was very careful and on very high alert.

But this person dared to use Young Mistress’s friends to attack her from a different angle and had done it in such an airtight manner, so this matter wasn’t simple at all.

After all, they were in Changning County, which was governed by the Su family.

The old man took his hand back and Zhang Ye immediately woke up.

He fell to his knees with a thud and cried miserably, “I was blinded by money, Qingshan. I’ve let you down.”

Gu Qingshan looked at him.

Zhang Ye continued kneeling on the floor as he slowly started moving toward Gu Qingshan and pleading, “Qingshan, we’ve been friends for so long. I was the one in the wrong this time. I beg you, please forgive me.”

He was an intelligent boy too. He knew that, on the surface, the only person he had harmed was Gu Qingshan, so he immediately went begging for mercy from him.

Gu Qingshan was always kindly and an old buddy of Zhang Ye’s. Since Zhang Ye had gone begging for mercy in front of so many people without caring about whether he was embarrassed or not, it would be hard for Gu Qingshan to deal too harshly with him.

Su Xue’er was even more soft-hearted. As long as Gu Qingshan forgave Zhang Ye, Su Xue’er would probably just consider this matter as settled.

This whole incident hadn’t caused any serious consequences, so as long as Su Xue’er didn’t pursue it, then the Su family wouldn’t bother trying to torture a poor student like himself.

As expected, Su Xue’er looked toward Gu Qingshan and said hesitantly, “What are you going to do?

He’s… a classmate after all.”

Aunt Su immediately cut in, “Young Mistress, this matter is not so simple. We ought to get to the bottom of it.”

She scanned Gu Qingshan with a steely gaze.

Gu Qingshan didn’t say anything.

He just lifted a leg and kicked Zhang Ye’s chest hard.

Zhang Ye flew several meters out from the kick, knocking two dining tables over, and was covered by all the dishes on the table.

He then fainted.

Gu Qingshan replied, “Aunt Su, I’ll have to leave the rest to you. Please find out who’s behind him.”

Aunt Su looked him up and down and said, “Don’t worry.”

She waved her hand, and a sleek flying shuttle landed.

This steel flying shuttle had a special engraving on it, and it was a symbol of how distinguished the Su family of the nine counties was.

The old man dragged Zhang Ye into the flying shuttle.

Aunt Su said, “Young Mistress, it is not good for us to stay here any longer. Let’s go back as well.”

Su Xue’er nodded, then turned to Gu Qingshan before leaving as she calmly said, “Tomorrow night, I’ll go to your stall for BBQ.”

That meant she had agreed to his request.

Gu Qingshan was a little stunned as he replied, “Sure.”

This was the last minute ridiculous request that he had used when he was supposed to confess earlier. He didn’t think Su Xue’er would take it seriously.

But Gu Qingshan had nothing to worry about. He really did set up a BBQ stall after school every day to earn enough money to live.

Su Xue’er nodded slightly at him, then went into the Su’s flying shuttle with Aunt Su.

The flying shuttle quickly left.

After Su Xue’er left, several other representatives from powerful families also left, so this grand graduation ball came to an end just like that.

This was probably the worst graduation ball in Changning Exclusive Private High School’s history.

But to Gu Qingshan, this was the best ball he had attended in his life.

He had finally avoided that tragic situation of him being completely unable to defend himself, so he wasn’t going to be expelled from the school like what had happened in his previous life.

He would now be eligible to take the Federation’s college entrance exams.

Judging from his usual results, he could definitely use this entrance exam to get into a university of his choice.

After the apocalypse came, some of these universities would become a place where many players would gather.

Many of the high-level players had come from these places.

On a different note, Zhang Ye was going to end pretty badly.

Su Xue’er wasn’t close to Zhang Ye, plus this incident had been orchestrated by Zhang Ye and it had targeted both Gu Qingshan and Su Xue’er.

Su Xue’er wouldn’t plead for Zhang Ye, and the Su family would interrogate Zhang Ye in order to find out who was behind him.

The terrible things that had happened to Gu Qingshan in his previous life would land even harder on Zhang Ye.

In this life, everything had changed.

Gu Qingshan was in a good mood as he took confident strides out of the school.

He was an orphan from the slums, so he couldn’t afford to buy a flying shuttle nor take a cab. He had to rely on his two legs to walk between home and school every day.

After half an hour.

Gu Qingshan walked out of the developed area and was about to reach the slum area when he suddenly stopped walking.

There was a nine-meter-long, streamlined flying shuttle quietly parked in front of the next street.

A middle-aged man in a white shirt and black bowtie stood next to the flying shuttle and politely bowed at Gu Qingshan.

“Mr. Gu, my Young Master is waiting for you inside the flying shuttle,” said the middle-aged man.

Gu Qingshan looked quietly at the closed-circuit cameras at the corner of the street to find that its usual blinking red light was off.

There wasn’t a single person around this entire area, either.

“Who’s your Young Master?” asked Gu Qingshan.

The middle-aged man didn’t explain and stepped aside as he held an arm out. “This way, please.”

Gu Qingshan thought this was very interesting. He smiled and walked straight into the flying shuttle.

The interior of the flying shuttle was fairly luxurious, and there was a young man seated on the wide leather sofa with two girls kneeling in front of him and gently massaging his legs.

In the bar on the side, a girl wearing cute bunny ears made a cocktail in record time and placed it in front of Gu Qingshan.

“Thanks,” Gu Qingshan took the glass and thanked her.

“Qingshan, come and sit here,” said the young man.

Gu Qingshan sat across from the young man and put the glass down on the table as he laughed and asked, “You’ve been waiting here for me?”

The young man replied, “That’s right.”

This young man was the chairman of the student council of Changning Exclusive Private High School, Nie Yun.

Nie Yun was a descendant of a large aristocratic family, the Nies. He was the Nie family’s current patriarch’s precious grandson.

When it came to distinguished people in the school, he was the only one besides Su Xue’er.

Nie Yun clapped his hands and said, “All right, all of you can leave.”

The few girls quickly packed up and left the flying shuttle.

Nie Yun then picked up a piece of paper that was on the table. He looked at it and said, “Qingshan, your results are really outstanding—crushing Su Xue’er and myself at the final exams every year.”

“Look at it. Basic Mecha Construction, full marks. World War History, full marks. Optical Computing, full marks. Battleship Operation, full marks. Even the topic you chose, Mecha Dynamics, full marks. Only Physical Education got a Pass.”

Nie Yun put the paper down and continued in amazement, “At the same time, you’re an employee at the Changning Steel Mecha Research and Development Department. You didn’t rely on your friendship with Su Xue’er to get there but reached that level with your own effort. I suppose many within the Su family look at you differently now.”

Gu Qingshan replied honestly, “I just want to ensure a better life in the future.”

Nie Yun shook his head and said, “Every poor kid in Changning County wants to get a place in the Su family’s Changning Steel Mecha Tech, but you are the only one who made it there, so I suppose this can be called talent.”

“I respect people like you, so I want to give you a chance.” Nie Yun pulled an envelope from inside his coat pocket and put it on the table in front of Gu Qingshan.

“What is this?” asked Gu Qingshan.

“Open it up and see.”

Gu Qingshan picked up the envelope and pulled out the document inside.

He read it out, “Nanshi County College, notice of guaranteed admission?”

“That’s right,” Nie Yun smiled. “As long as you’re willing, you can go to this college without going through the entrance exams.”

Gu Qingshan put the envelope down and politely refused, “I’m grateful for your kindness, but I don’t intend to attend this particular college.”

Nanshi County College was a pretty good college too.

But Nie Yun must have something else in mind by doing this for Gu Qingshan.

Gu Qingshan had a few universities in mind already. His results could get him into several top universities in the Federation, so he didn’t need to use his future to strike a deal with anyone.

After the apocalypse started, some of the universities had special advantages—in particular, those top universities that had a program to conduct research on cutting-edge military weaponry.

Nanshi County College wasn’t one of those schools with that program.

“Qingshan, don’t be in such a hurry to refuse me,” said Nie Yun.

Gu Qingshan looked at him and waited for him to continue.

“As a poor student and an orphan, knowing your place will help you stay alive,” said Nie Yun.

“Why do you say that?”

“Let me be honest with you. Every single powerful family in the Federation wants to marry the daughter of the Su family, Su Xue’er.”

“What’s the reason?” asked Gu Qingshan immediately.

He felt that this whole thing was very strange.

Su Xue’er came from an aristocratic family and was of very high standing. But among the nine counties, there were countless women just like her.

But Su Xue’er had attracted too much attention and was different from other women with similar backgrounds.

Nie Yun kept quiet, and he looked a little unnatural.

He wasn’t too sure about that himself.

But someone had asked him to do this.

Those were people that he had to please.

Nie Yun said, “Those unethical, lower-class families dare to kill ordinary folk over a barren mine, and Su Xue’er is even more valuable than ten mines.”

He picked up the notice of guaranteed admission on the table and held it out to Gu Qingshan. “Take it and don’t have any more contact with Su Xue’er, otherwise those people would take some action.”

Gu Qingshan didn’t take the notice.

“What sort of action are you referring to?” he asked.

“They’ll kill you,” replied Nie Yun.

Gu Qingshan laughed and patted Nie Yun’s shoulder. “These people you’re referring to seem to have been mistaken about something.”

“What?”

“If they really like Su Xue’er, then they can just woo her.”

“What about you? What do you intend to do next?” Nie Yun smiled faintly with a look of disdain.

“That’s my business.”

Gu Qingshan then walked out of the flying shuttle.

Nie Yun stood by himself for a while and shook his head. “What a joke.”

He pressed the button on the table.

The middle-aged man standing guard outside the flying shuttle came in and bowed his head. “Young Master.”

Nie Yun said, “How’s that matter going?”

The middle-aged man replied, “All good to go.”

Nie Yun asked, “Will anything go wrong?”

The middle-aged man smiled and replied, “I’ve found professionals to do it, so it will definitely look like an accident. That will be the only conclusion even after an investigation is made.”

Nie Yun said, “Go ahead with it.”

“Yes, Young Master.” The middle-aged man looked at his watch and said, “Within an hour, Gu Qingshan will die in an accident.”

Nie Yun nodded and murmured, “That way, this whole matter is settled.”