Zhou Xuan saw Shangguan Mingyue and Li Wei glancing at him while looking at the kettle. He smiled faintly, without even moving his hand or lifting it to place it on the table, and said calmly, "Third brother, I've already started!"
"What?" Li Wei was a little surprised. He hadn't seen Zhou Xuan make any move yet, but he said it had already started. He quickly reached for the kettle and pressed down. The tablecloth immediately collapsed and stuck to the table, lying flat. It was clear that there was nothing on the table under the tablecloth!
Zhou Xuan smiled as he looked at Li Wei and Shangguan Mingyue, gesturing towards the table with the corner of his mouth.
Shangguan Mingyue lifted the tablecloth and slowly pulled it open. Half of the table was empty; the glass kettle was nowhere to be seen. Shangguan Mingyue and Li Wei were both astonished, shocked once again! Under their watchful eyes, Zhou Xuan had still managed to remove the kettle without anyone noticing! Li Wei stood up and went to Zhou Xuan's side, looking at his hands. Zhou Xuan smiled and raised both hands.
Zhou Xuan was only wearing a single layer of clothing. Even if you put a lighter in his pocket, you could tell that something was different, let alone such a large glass water bottle. There was no way the pocket could hold it, and what about the kettle of boiling water from before?
Li Wei looked around the floor and the room. The room was empty, with no other furniture except for a table and chairs. Xi Zhouxuan hadn't gotten up or moved since he came in, so it was impossible for him to have taken anything outside.
There were hardly any umbrellas in the room, not even for the slightly damp spots, let alone a kettle full of boiling water. It would burn you if it came into contact with your skin.
But no matter how Li Wei and Shangguan Mingyue looked at it or thought about it, they had no clue where Zhou Xuan had put the boiling water and the glass kettle!
Li Wei thought for a moment, scratching his head helplessly. He was both excited and frustrated, and said with a bitter face, "Brother Xuan, can you teach me this trick? You name it, you name the conditions. As long as I can do it, I'll do anything!"
Zhou Xuan was speechless. This third brother was really tough to beat. After thinking for a moment, he mocked, "Third brother, let me ask you something. Have you read the book 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'?"
"Well..." Li Wei scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and replied, "Aside from textbooks when I was in school, I haven't read any novels. As soon as I open a book, especially a long, thick one, I start snoring and falling asleep!"
Shangguan Mingyue frowned. She had grown up abroad and received a British education. She had read many foreign classics, but only a small number of Chinese novels. She was fairly familiar with Eileen Chang, then Dream of the Red Chamber. She knew about Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin but had never read them. Journey to the West was the only novel she had read and watched. But she had never read The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, which Zhou Xuan mentioned!
Judging from the appearance of these two, Zhou Xuan is really ignorant. To be honest, it's one thing for them to be good at studying, but they don't even know who Jin Yong is or have read his books. That's really very ignorant.
Unfortunately, I managed to attract two people today. Shangguan Mingyue is a girl, and people from her upper-class family probably went abroad to study, so it's not surprising that she doesn't know. But Li Wei, a playboy, doesn't know either!
Zhou Xuan sighed and said, "Third brother, there's a line in the book 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' that goes, 'To practice divine skills, one must castrate oneself.' Understand it before you come and ask me for help!" Anyway, Li Wei was a playboy who was just fooling around, so Zhou Xuan just watched him ramble on.
Shangguan Mingyue muttered the words "To cultivate the Divine Palace, one must castrate oneself" to herself several times, but still didn't understand what they meant.
Li Wei thought for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed, "Ah!" and said, "Look, I understand. I think I've seen a TV series where there was a line like that. Was it Dongfang Bubai, the one with Linghu Chong?" Zhou Xuan nodded with a grin. Although this guy didn't read books, he was pretty much familiar with TV series.
Li Wei was smiling and about to speak when he suddenly paused, then leaned closer and whispered in Zhou Xuan's ear, "Brother Xuan, is what you're talking about... about cutting off one's penis?" Zhou Xuan couldn't help but laugh, but seeing Li Wei secretly glancing at Zi Shangguan Mingyue so she wouldn't hear something indecent, he lowered his voice so only the two of them could hear. His expression immediately turned serious, and he said solemnly, "Yes, that's it!"
Li Wei paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "So, Brother Xuan, are you also...?"
Zhou Shi chuckled and shook his head, saying, "I started practicing when I was seven years old. If..." He then leaned close to Li Wei's ear and whispered, "If you're still a virgin, you can practice. But if you've slept with a woman, it's terrible. You'll die if you try. You won't be able to practice and you won't survive either. But if you cut... that part off, you can practice. Do you want to practice?"
Li Wei was stunned for a long time, feeling both regret and helplessness. He sighed and shook his head, saying, "Forget it, I can't train anymore!" Shangguan Mingyue snorted and said, "What are you doing? Are you afraid I'll hear you?"
Seeing Zhou Xuan's barely suppressed smile, Li Wei suddenly said, "Brother Xuan, are you trying to comfort me? Nothing you say sounds like the truth. How could such a thing happen?"
Zhou Xuan quickly put on a serious face, shrugged, and said, "If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do!"
Li Wei bit his lip, then chuckled and said, "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I, Li Laosan, am still Li Laosan. Brother Xuan, how about you give me another go?"
Li Wei thought for a moment, picked up a teacup from the table, poured out the remaining water, put the teacup into his pocket, and then held it tightly in his hands. He chuckled and said, "Brother Xuan, if you can make this teacup disappear, then I'll really admire you. If you don't want to teach me, then I can't say anything. And from now on, I'll do whatever you tell me to do, I'll listen to you completely!"
Li Wei had a plan. Although the boiling water and the glass kettle had magically disappeared, they were not like the teacup he was holding in his hand. Although they were also separated by a cloth and kept in his pocket, his hands were tightly holding them from the outside. Even if they were to be robbed, it would be difficult to snatch the teacup from his hands!
Shangguan Mingyue also watched the two of them with a smile, thinking that Li Wei's move was quite clever, and she wondered how Zhou Xuan would deal with it!
Zhou Xuan spread his hands and laughed, "This is difficult. I don't know if it will work!"
Seeing that Zhou Xuan was stumped, Li Wei chuckled smugly, "Brother Xuan, even you're not doing well now? Hehe... As long as you can transform, I'll truly be impressed... Huh!"
With a gasp, Li Wei noticed that the teacup he had been gripping tightly was now empty. He exclaimed "Shh—Eh!" and quickly turned his pockets inside out, only to find them empty; the teacup was gone!
This left Li Wei stunned, and Shangguan Mingyue was completely convinced. Zhou Xuan's move was no longer like magic, but more like divine magic!
While the two were still stunned, there was a knock on the door. The waiter knocked and said, "Sir, the gentleman who booked this room has arrived!"
Zhou Xuan was taken aback, wondering how Gu Si had risen through the ranks so quickly. He then said, "Please come in, please come in!"
The person who came in was Xu Juncheng himself, around forty years old, fair-skinned, with a scholarly air, but his face was obviously tired, clearly overwhelmed by the deteriorating situation!
Normally, he wouldn't personally handle such matters. But now that the tree has fallen, the monkeys have scattered, and his subordinates have broken up and gone their separate ways.
Upon entering the room, he first asked, "Excuse me, which one of you is Mr. Zhou Xuan?" Then, seeing Shangguan Mingyue, he exclaimed in surprise, "Miss Shangguan, you... what are you doing here?" He didn't recognize Zhou Xuan at all!
Zhou Xuan immediately stood up to greet him, saying, "You must be Mr. Xu Juncheng. I'm Zhou Xuan. Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you!" He shook hands with him again and then invited Xu Juncheng to sit down. After Xu Juncheng sat down, he looked at Li Wei and Shangguan Mingyue suspiciously.
He knew both of them. Li Wei was one of the most powerful young masters in Beijing. In the upper echelons of the capital, there were few who didn't know him. Most businessmen called him "Third Brother." However, Li Wei and Xu Juncheng didn't have much contact. They only met at a few gatherings. Xu Juncheng's business had recently declined, and he was on the verge of bankruptcy. He was said to be seeking help everywhere. But in this day and age, when you have money and your business is booming, you can borrow money from anyone you want. But if you go bankrupt, no one will lend you money. Reality is cruel, and society is realistic. It's not that money is unavailable, but people will say, "If we lend you money, how will you pay it back?"
Shangguan Mingyue's situation is similar to Li Wei's. The wealth of the Shangguan family is far beyond what Xu Juncheng's Xu's Jewelry can match. At its peak, Xu Juncheng's net worth was around 1.5 billion, while the Shangguan family's investments in any major city could easily exceed that amount.
Xu Juncheng knew Shangguan Mingyue, and Shangguan Mingyue also knew Xu Juncheng, but they had no personal relationship whatsoever; they were just acquaintances.
Now, Xu Juncheng's situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse. He is now a desperate man, surrounded by enemies on all sides!
After sitting down, Xu Juncheng glanced at Li Wei and Shangguan Mingyue, wondering why Zhou Xuan was with these two. Was he also trying to attack him from both sides and take over Xu's Jewelry?
Indeed, he couldn't help but think so. Shangguan Mingyue represented wealth, and Li Wei represented power. Even the top businessmen in the capital wouldn't dare underestimate these two, let alone Xu Juncheng. To be continued... For more chapters and to support the author, please visit our website and read the original version!
Volume One: The Lotus Buds Just Begin to Emerge, Chapter 206: Desiring to Practice Divine Skills, He Castrated Himself
Xu Juncheng is now a fallen phoenix, worse off than a chicken.
Several Hong Kong businessmen and foreign-funded jewelry companies that have long coveted Xu's Jewelry all want to take it over for themselves, and they are all using their own methods to achieve this.
When the Xu family was thriving, Xu Juncheng had good relationships with them. But things are different now. Xu Juncheng has failed too badly and there's no way to turn things around. So-called relationships are just like drinking buddies. They're friends when there's food and drink, but not when there isn't.
Xu Juncheng's cash flow has dried up, and he has been unable to find a way to repay his debts. He is also being pressured by banks to repay his loan. Currently, his car and house have been seized by the bank, and his company is on the verge of bankruptcy.
But Zhou Xuan just happened to come to him at this time. The land and factory were purchased by Xu Juncheng more than four years ago. Now, because it is too remote and the price is too low, it has been left unsold. It's not that Xu Juncheng doesn't want to sell it, but the key is that the other party offers you a price that is like a fast food meal. What's the use of that?
After sitting down, Xu Juncheng looked at the group of people, hesitating and unsure of what to say, and he didn't understand what Zhou Xuan's intentions were.