Almost immediately after Shen Tian stepped forward, he was completely surrounded.
Chu relatives rushed over one after another.
"Young Master Shen!"
"I’ve heard so much about you!"
"Here’s my business card!"
"If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call!"
Everyone wanted to build some kind of connection with the heir of the Shen family.
Shen Tian handled it gracefully.
He smiled.
Shook hands.
Exchanged a few polite words.
Then, after gently excusing himself, he finally made his way through the crowd.
He stopped in front of the four Chu sisters.
A warm smile appeared on his face.
"It’s good to see all of you."
Then, one by one...
He politely took each woman’s hand and lightly kissed the back of it.
Chu Zijin.
Chu Luoshen.
Chu Mei.
Chu Chuchu.
Each sister instantly blushed.
"It... It’s good to see you too..."
They all spoke almost simultaneously.
Though every single one of them did so in an embarrassed whisper.
The surrounding relatives immediately erupted into excited chatter.
"They’re so close!"
"What perfect manners!"
"They look wonderful together!"
Before the atmosphere could become any more romantic...
Chu Fang suddenly squeezed his way between them.
"Hey!"
He shoved his sisters aside slightly.
"I didn’t invite you here so you could flirt with my sisters!"
Shen Tian blinked innocently.
"...Then why did you invite me? I assumed that was the whole point."
Chu Fang groaned loudly.
"No! I invited you so you could witness my greatness!"
He pointed toward the living room.
"Everyone! Follow me!"
Curious, the guests all headed inside.
Soon, everyone gathered around the large television mounted on the wall.
Chu Fang proudly connected his phone.
His investment accounts immediately appeared on the screen.
Green numbers.
Open positions.
Massive unrealized gains.
Standing proudly before everyone, Chu Fang spread his arms out.
"In just a few minutes... All of these positions will settle!"
He pointed proudly toward the television.
"And once they do—"
He puffed out his chest.
"I’ll become the first self-made millionaire in this family!"
The room immediately filled with applause.
"Well done!"
"Amazing!"
"So young too!"
Several relatives looked genuinely impressed.
Shen Tian casually raised a hand.
"...Um."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What about Chu Zijin?"
He looked toward her.
"Her song has already earned several million. I’ve also heard multiple record companies are trying to sign her for enormous contracts. Wouldn’t she already qualify?"
Everyone immediately looked toward Chu Zijin.
She awkwardly smiled.
Before she could answer...
Chu Fang waved his hand dismissively.
"That doesn’t count."
The room became quiet.
Chu Fang continued confidently.
"She had help. And people offering you money isn’t being self-made."
Shen Tian slowly blinked.
A question mark practically appeared above his head.
Then, inside his mind...
[ ...Where exactly do you think your money came from? ]
The sisters all heard it.
They slowly turned to look at Chu Fang.
Each of their expressions became noticeably colder.
Especially Chu Zijin.
Hearing her own hard work dismissed so casually genuinely stung.
She had spent countless hours practicing.
Writing.
Recording.
Performing.
Yet to Chu Fang...
It somehow didn’t count.
Chu Fang remained completely oblivious.
Still proudly staring at the television.
Waiting for the numbers to officially settle.
Shen Tian simply yawned as he watched.
He casually walked over to the couch and sat down as though none of this concerned him.
Naturally...
The four Chu sisters immediately followed.
Chu Zijin sat beside him.
Chu Luoshen took the other side.
Chu Mei and Chu Chuchu claimed the remaining spots.
Before long, Shen Tian looked less like a guest...
And more like an emperor surrounded by his imperial harem.
Chu Mei held out peeled grapes.
"Ah~"
Shen Tian opened his mouth, eating them without hesitation.
Chu Chuchu placed cubes of cheese onto a small plate before feeding him herself.
"Try this."
Chu Luoshen handed him crackers.
"I think these go well together."
Even Chu Zijin quietly poured him a fresh drink before smiling gently.
None of the relatives found this strange.
If anything...
They looked delighted.
’Please...’
’One of our girls has to marry him.’
’All four marrying him wouldn’t be bad either.’
The Shen family represented wealth beyond imagination.
If even one daughter married into that family...
The Chu family would rise several social classes overnight.
Nobody wanted to stay middle class forever.
They all wanted something more.
Across the room...
Chu Fang rolled his eyes.
Still...
He swallowed his anger.
[Ignore it.]
[My moment is coming.]
He wasn’t going to ruin the biggest opportunity of his life by acting emotional again.
This...
Was the beginning of his future.
Money opened every door.
Businesses.
Influence.
Power.
Freedom.
He didn’t want to rely on the hundred dollars of monthly allowance his father gave him anymore.
...Granted.
Most of that allowance had gone toward games.
But that wasn’t the point.
He wanted to stand on his own two feet.
Soon...
The room gradually became quieter.
The settlement time was approaching.
Every conversation slowly stopped.
All eyes shifted toward the television.
Chu Fang himself was practically vibrating from excitement.
His hands trembled.
His breathing became quicker.
Then he raised a finger.
"Three!"
Everyone instinctively joined in.
"Two!"
"One!"
Silence.
Everyone stared at the television.
Nothing happened.
Chu Fang blinked.
"...Huh?"
Then...
One second later...
The charts violently refreshed.
Red.
Everything turned red.
One stock suddenly plummeted.
Another reversed direction.
A third company announced unexpected news.
Several competitors skyrocketed instead, completely destroying his positions.
The market moved so violently that the numbers on the screen almost became unreadable.
"What...?"
Chu Fang stumbled backward.
"No... No..."
His face instantly lost all color.
He hurriedly unplugged his phone from the television and frantically opened his brokerage app.
"Sell! Sell! SELL!"
His fingers shook so badly he could barely press the screen.
He desperately tried closing every position.
Trying to salvage anything.
Anything at all.
But...
It was already too late.
The losses continued updating faster than he could react.
His unrealized profits disappeared.
Then his principal.
Then the borrowed funds.
Within moments...
Everything was gone.
Silence filled the living room.
Nobody dared speak.
Chu Fang simply stared blankly at his phone.
His lips trembled.
With a roar of frustration...
He hurled it across the room.
CRASH!
The phone shattered against the floor.
"DAMN IT!"
His voice echoed throughout the house.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Shen Tian calmly accepted another grape from Chu Mei before taking a casual bite.
"...Hmm... These are pretty sweet."
The sisters had to bite the insides of their cheeks to stop themselves from laughing.
They knew exactly why Shen Tian had smiled earlier.
Across the room, Chu Fang slowly fell to his knees.
His expensive suit.
His supercar.
His shattered phone.
His investment account.
Everything that had made him feel like he was standing on top of the world just minutes ago...
Had collapsed in an instant.
"Well... if you’ll excuse us..."
One of Chu Fang’s aunts forced an awkward smile before quietly heading toward the front door.
There wasn’t really any reason to stay anymore.
Soon, another relative stood up.
"Thank you for inviting us."
Then another.
"We’ll see ourselves out."
One after another, everyone began making awkward excuses before quietly leaving the house.
Within only a few minutes...
The once lively home had become almost completely silent.
Chu Fang didn’t even notice.
He remained kneeling on the floor.
His empty eyes stared at the shattered phone lying nearby.
"...I hate it here..."
He muttered quietly.
"No matter what I do... Everything goes wrong..."
He lowered his head.
"I just... I just want to go home..."
His voice grew quieter with every sentence.
Even inside his mind...
The system tried to help him chill out.
[Host, please calm yourself.]
[We can recover from this.]
[There will be more opportunities.]
[Host?]
[...Host?]
But none of it reached him anymore.
His spirit had already been beaten down too many times.
Across the room, Shen Tian quietly watched everything.
His expression gradually softened.
Unlike everyone else in this world...
He understood exactly what Chu Fang had lost.
Because he had come from Earth too.
Watching another transmigrator slowly break apart...
Didn’t feel satisfying anymore.
It just felt sad.
Shen Tian let out a quiet sigh before standing up.
Immediately...
The four Chu sisters looked disappointed.
"...You’re leaving already?"
Chu Mei pouted.
"We were still feeding you."
Chu Chuchu looked equally reluctant.
Shen Tian smiled gently.
"I’ll be back in a few minutes."
Then he slowly walked over toward Chu Fang.
Feeling someone stop beside him, Chu Fang slowly looked up.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Tears threatened to spill over at any moment.
"...What?"
His voice sounded completely exhausted.
"Are you here to laugh at me too?"
Shen Tian quietly shook his head.
Then crouched until they were eye level.
"Come with me."
There wasn’t even any energy left inside Chu Fang to argue.
"...Fine."
Slowly, he pushed himself back onto his feet.
The two silently walked upstairs together.
Eventually, they entered Chu Fang’s bedroom.
Click.
The door quietly shut behind them.
Without saying a word, Chu Fang walked over to his bed and collapsed backward onto it.
He stared blankly at the ceiling.
After loosening his bow tie, he tossed it onto the floor.
"...What did you want to talk about?"
His voice was hollow.
He’d already accepted defeat.
Shen Tian quietly sat on the edge of the bed.
For several long moments...
Neither of them spoke.
It was Shen Tian who broke the silence.
"...Do you want to return to Earth?"
The words hit Chu Fang like lightning.
His dead eyes suddenly focused.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
He turned his head toward Shen Tian.
"...What did you just say?"
(Author Note: IMPORTANT!)
ALL SUPER GIFTS (Magic Castle, Space Ship, Golden Gachapon) = MORE ChapterS!

Comments

Loading...