Chapter 22: Little Aunt

Chapter 22: Little Aunt

Xu Qingran opened the post.

The Xu family was evidently very proud of Xu Qingan's achievement in securing a spot at the medical school and planned to throw a banquet at the Royal Silver Dragon Hotel, a seven-star hotel in the Fairy Star System. The event was scheduled for next Saturday, and the invitees included all the extended relatives of the Xu family, all of Xu Qingan's classmates from high school, and his close friends from school.

In short, almost half the school, including teachers, was invited.

The event was quite grand, and the Xu family had been bragging about it in interviews now and then, so the event had garnered quite a bit of attention.

Someone even asked: Will the eldest son of the Xu family be there?

Xu Qingran's finger lightly tapped on this line of text.

He had not received an invitation, nor any word from the Xu family. If it weren't for stumbling upon this post, he might have almost forgotten about the event.

Originally, since the Xu family hadn't invited him, he wasn’t interested in going. But then he recalled the undeserved bad reputation he and the original host had inherited when he first transmigrated, and his eyes narrowed slightly in displeasure.

—Since he had already been burdened with the blame, not actually stirring up some trouble to confirm those rumors felt somewhat unsatisfying.

The system, sensing his thoughts, immediately raised an alarm: 「Host, what are you planning to do now?!」

Xu Qingran replied nonchalantly, "What can I do? I’m just going to join the fun and wish them well. Don’t think of me as so bad."

The system thought to itself, it didn’t buy its host’s act.

And where did that last line come from, anyway? It sounded so familiar!

Xu Qingran lazily leaned against the sofa, elegantly crossing his legs as he kept browsing the forum. The split reactions of the netizens to the news and his own responses provided him with a good mood for the entire afternoon.

The announcement from the Shen family was sure to stir things up among the major families. Some of the upper echelons' business collaborations might even have to rethink including the Xu family. However, for now, they could only wait and see, as everything still depended on the final stance of the Shen family.

Although the Xu family was a wealthy one, compared to the Shen family, which had centuries of heritage, a stronghold in both politics and business, and even held an imperial title, it paled in comparison. Therefore, Xu's father had recently, for the first time, not been so harsh when talking about Xu Qingran and had even started to make excuses for Xu Qingran's notorious reputation.

Xu Qingran was unaware of all this, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

However, in this matter, there were naturally those who were happy and those who were worried.

The Xu family, considering their interests, was undoubtedly pleased, as in the eyes of a merchant, there was no distinction between camps. But Xu Qingan, who had been waiting to see Xu Qingran's downfall, was pretty annoyed.

"Xu Qingan, you were so sure when you promised me that you would give me a big gift. I was all prepared and even planned to share the fun with my friends, but—today's event, is this the promise you made to me?"

In a bar within the joint governance area of the two camps in the Celestial Star System, Boss Chen sat in a corner separated by beaded curtains, looking lazily at the young man standing before him. His arms were spread out on the long seat, his short legs slightly swinging, and the large gold chain around his neck glittered under the overhead light.

Due to years of irregular sleep patterns, his hair was oily and thinning. His face was round like a pancake, with narrow eye sockets barely containing his turbid, lustful pupils, and a large mole above his thick lips. When he spoke, his big nostrils flared right at the person.

"And you made me a laughingstock among my friends for nothing!" The large man picked up a glass from the table and angrily downed a gulp.

Chen Shengfei had accidentally seen Xu Qingran at an event a few years ago. Back then, although he was still a high school student, he was already coming into his own, as beautiful as a ripening fruit ready to be picked. Chen had taken a liking to him at first sight, but at that time, Xu Qingran was always accompanied by Lu Cheng, and being underage, it was inconvenient to make a move, so the matter was dropped.

When Xu Qingan had come to him with the news some time ago, he had been thrilled. He had even boasted to his dubious friends that once he had trained the person, he’d let them in on the fun.

But now, Xu Qingran had somehow ended up with the Shen family.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. His lecherous eyes swept over Xu Qingan, and suddenly he smirked nastily, "Qingan, this matter is your oversight. Since your brother can't give me what I want, why don’t you make it up to me, huh?"

Xu Qingan, using the act of drinking juice, hid the brief flicker of disgust in his eyes.

If it weren't for Boss Chen's extensive connections and some small collaborations between them, he wouldn't want to have anything to do with such a disgusting person.

After setting down his juice glass, he tried to maintain a polite smile: "Boss Chen, our Silver Dragon's Lu family is not someone you can afford to offend."

"Besides, when I came over, I didn't guarantee you a 100% accurate message. I only said that I had caught wind of some rumors, and you might be able to look forward to it. You were the one who couldn't help but show off and pop the champagne early, so now that you're embarrassed, don't go blaming others."

Boss Chen pursed his lips and shrugged: "Alright, I can only admit that I'm unlucky, but I'm really not happy right now."

After saying that, he waved over the young boys who were cuddling and kissing on the nearby sofa. He took out a stack of money and threw it on the table. The two, who had initially felt their fun was ruined, immediately brightened up and then obediently squatted in front of him, starting to engage in lewd acts.

Xu Qingan felt a wave of nausea and sat in the farthest position from Boss Chen, scrolling through his phone to drown out the sordid sounds of intimacy.

The bar here had several floors, and they were currently on the second basement level. It was a members-only area that required a special VVIP card to enter, catering mostly to LGBTQ+ enthusiasts, with a very open atmosphere. Under the sweet music and dim lighting, many people flirted and got down to business right there.

This floor also had young, attractive male escorts arranged by Boss Chen at high prices, for those without partners to enjoy. If the price was right, anything went, and some of the bolder ones even put on group performances on the main stage.

Boss Chen operated such entertainment venues.

Whether rich or poor, people loved to come to such places to indulge, exposing the darker facets of human nature and primal desires. Ironically, the Kayan Empire boasted of having the best social image and atmosphere, unaware that they were just hiding their repressed desires in dark and secret places to release them.

Chen Shengfei was just in a fleeting mood, so it didn't last long. After it was over, his anger subsided a bit, and flushed, he escorted Xu Qingan to the first floor's public bar. This was a place where ordinary folks came to have fun, where many young people came to socialize and party, and it wasn't as chaotic as downstairs.

Xu Qingan was about to leave when he suddenly noticed a long-haired girl in the dance floor.

She was wearing a black, shiny, body-hugging short dress that perfectly showcased her figure, dancing joyfully with her friends and a handful of wealthy heirs.

He recognized her.

Zhang Hongyan's youngest daughter, her most beautiful child. So since childhood, she had been carefully raised with wealth, buying her all kinds of clothes and cosmetics, hoping she'd soon snag a wealthy heir and bring home a golden goose, lifting the whole family to prosperity.

Xu Qingan, unable to witness Xu Qingran's downfall, also felt resentment. He even suspected that Zhang Hongyan had pulled some strings after he left, never intending to help him.

With resentment simmering, he called out to Boss Chen.

Pointing to Zhang Hongyan's youngest daughter in the dance floor, he said: "Although my brother is temporarily out of reach, I think that girl looks quite good. Coincidentally, we've made some breakthroughs in the drug we've been developing, and we can use her as a test subject. What do you think?"

Xu Qingan noticed Chen Shengfei leering at her with a lascivious grin, knowing that he was quite satisfied with this choice.

He patted his shoulder and added: "If I recall correctly, her spiritual mark is on the left side of her lower back. You can handle it yourself."

After saying that, he left through a special secret passage, not letting anyone on the scene notice that he had been there.

The bar's music shifted to a more intense track, and everyone was infected by the music, the atmosphere becoming even more intense.

Tonight, it was another carnival.

·

During Shen Tianyi's vacation, he stayed at home every day and started to feel restless.

He sighed and turned off his asteroid, having temporarily grown tired of the games inside. Thinking about it, he pulled the young man on the other side of the sofa: "Brother-in-law, take me out for a walk. If you don't go out, uncle won't let me go out alone!"

Xu Qingran, hearing Shen Tianyi's address, always felt strange.

Looking at the child's gullible face and innocent eyes, he had an idea and tricked him: "It's too unpleasant for you to call me that, and we haven't established a relationship yet. Change the way you address me."

Shen Tianyi took the bait, blinking and asking: "Change to what?"

Xu Qingran smiled with curved eyes, like a cunning fox: "Call me auntie."

Shen Tianyi frowned in confusion: "But isn't that what I call my other uncles' wives? I think I remember uncle teaching me to call them that before."

Xu Qingran remained expressionless: "You remembered wrong, and by adding 'little' in front, you're not referring to their wives anymore."

It's meant to tease your uncle.

System: 「...」

What a mess.

Shen Tianyi nodded somewhat understandingly and obediently changed his address: "Then, little auntie, can you take me out for a walk? I'm about to grow mushrooms at home. I want to buy toys—the new series of VoltMan models are out!"

Xu Qingran was slightly stunned: "What is VoltMan?"

He only knew about Ultraman.

Shen Tianyi was stunned for a few seconds, then asked in shock and anger: "You don't know VoltMan?!"

Then, in anger, he led him to his room, showed off a cabinet full of models, pointed to the toy that most resembled Ultraman, and said: "This is VoltMan! He's our light! A mighty and great savior! All creatures from outer space fear him!"

Xu Qingran: "...Why is he called VoltMan?"

Shen Tianyi: "Because his moves are electric—he can release a hundred thousand volts! A million volts! Ten million volts!—to repel many alien creatures!"

Xu Qingran fell silent.

...Pikachu?

But something felt off.

Until the system woke him up with a remark: 「Oh ho, isn't this just a copy of the host?」

「Your previous life's ability was also thunder-based!」

Xu Qingran: 「...」

Damn, no wonder he didn't find it cool at all—it was so awkward he wanted to dig his toes in!

He refused to continue the conversation and finally let go of his childhood *chuunibyou* tendencies. However, seeing the models reminded him of something interesting. Coincidentally, he was heading to the Xu family next weekend for Xu Qingan's school promotion celebration, and he could pick up some 'congratulatory gifts' while he was at it.

So he agreed to Shen Tianyi's request, sent a message to Shen Tingyu to inform him, and then, escorted by Xiao Zhang, headed to another planet in the same system.

SR Sirius—Crystal Star, New City Center District 1.

Crystal Star's new city is the most bustling technological and commercial hub in the Sirius system. There are few homes here—mostly high-end restaurants, shopping malls, and science museums, along with tech-themed amusement parks perfect for kids to play and learn.

Shen Tianyi knew more about the Golden Wing Battalion, so Xu Qingran headed to the upscale mall he recommended.

At the center of the plaza stood a pure gold phoenix, its head raised and wings spread, tail feathers elegantly fanned out—soft yet firm. The floor beneath it was paved with costly crystal stones, while the high-floor handrails and railings were intricately carved from gold and silver.

At the highest point of the hollow center of the building hung a huge diamond chandelier, which occasionally refracted natural colored light.

This is the Glory Wing Mall, said to be one of the industries under the Su family of the Golden Wing Battalion. Crystal Star itself, along with the surrounding uninhabitable planets, is rich in minerals, so the buildings here are typically constructed with luxurious materials.

Xu Qingran was still soaking in the elegant scene he'd never seen in his past life when his clothes were tugged again.

Shen Tianyi, with a strained face, said: "Auntie, can we hit the bathroom first?"

They'd been on the road for about two hours, and Shen Tianyi, being just four or five years old, couldn't hold it in—which was perfectly normal.

Xu Qingran didn't object. He took Shen Tianyi's hand, followed the mall's signs, and finally found a bathroom on the ground floor. The kid, spotting the bathroom sign in the distance, let go of his hand and bolted over.

As he stepped forward to catch up, he saw Shen Tianyi accidentally bump into a figure coming against the flow of the crowd. The person was about 1.8 meters tall, dressed in loose black clothes and a dark leather jacket, making it hard to discern his build. He also wore a mask, and the brim of his baseball cap was deliberately pulled down, completely obscuring his face.

Shen Tianyi bent over in a panic to apologize, but the man just glanced at the small whirl of hair on his head and walked away without saying a word.

However, as Xu Qingran passed by the man, his steps suddenly halted.

The man had a faint smell of blood.

Though it was very subtle, at the moment of contact, Xu Qingran recognized that all-too-familiar scent. Moreover, if he wasn’t mistaken, he felt an extremely sinister and murderous aura emanating from the man.

When Xu Qingran turned to look again, the figure had already disappeared into the crowd. Recalling that the direction the man came from seemed to be the restroom Shen Tianyi was heading to, Xu Qingran pursed his lips and hurried to catch up, grabbing Shen Tianyi’s small arm, which was as plump as a lotus root, before the child could enter the restroom.

Meeting Shen Tianyi’s puzzled gaze, Xu Qingran paused and asked, “Didn’t you say earlier that the place to buy models is on the third floor?”

“Yeah,” Shen Tianyi nodded.

Xu Qingran subtly steered him away, saying, “The elevator is right ahead. Let’s go up to the third floor and use the restroom there. That way, we can head straight to the model shop afterward, saving a lot of time. Doesn’t that sound good?”

Shen Tianyi, who wasn’t particularly good at math, found this reasoning quite convincing. “You’re right! Uncle is so smart!”

Convincing Shen Tianyi was still going smoothly.

The restroom on the third floor was quiet and clean. Xu Qingran waited by the sink for Shen Tianyi to finish, washed his hands, and then they left together. As they exited the restroom and crossed a small bridge, the toy store Shen Tianyi wanted to visit was right across.

The boy had a clear goal in mind and headed straight for the Voltman section. Xu Qingran followed at a leisurely pace, keeping Shen Tianyi in view while casually browsing the store’s merchandise.

It was the holiday season, and many parents had brought their children to buy toys.

Xu Qingran didn’t see anything he particularly liked. When he saw Shen Tianyi pull a model box almost as tall as himself from the shelf, he walked over to help carry it and picked up another one as well.

“Huh? Uncle, didn’t you say you don’t like Voltman?”

Xu Qingran smiled mysteriously. “So I’ll give it as a gift. They’ll probably like it.”

Shen Tianyi snorted. “They must have better taste than you, then.”

After grabbing the model he wanted most, Shen Tianyi wandered around a bit more and picked up some small alien monster toys before deciding he was satisfied and ready to check out. Xu Qingran piled all the items into a cart he had grabbed and walked with the child toward the checkout counter. Along the way, he suddenly noticed a red bow hairpin casually left on a doll display.

It was a red bow hairpin for girls, looking brand new with a price tag still attached. It seemed someone had picked it up but then decided against buying it, leaving it there.

Xu Qingran paused in front of the display, lost in thought for a moment, until Shen Tianyi turned back to urge him. He only then responded faintly.

Then, he grabbed the hairpin, lowered his gaze, and tossed it into the shopping cart.

When Xu Qingran took out his credit card to pay, the cashier recognized Shen Tianyi as a regular customer and smiled, saying, “Ah, it’s the young master of the Shen family. All your purchases today are eligible for a 20% discount.”

Shen Tianyi politely replied, “Thank you, sister!”

This made the cashier smile brightly.

The checkout process went smoothly.

Xu Qingran didn’t know how much money was on his card, but he knew that when he transferred funds into Shen Tingyu’s account that day, the balance seemed unaffected, as if he could spend freely.

The mall provided a shopping assistant to help carry the items, which took all the goods and followed the two of them as they took the elevator back down. As they reached the ground floor and prepared to leave, they passed by the restroom Shen Tianyi had almost rushed into earlier.

Compared to the quiet scene from before, a crowd had gathered, whispering with growing horror, as if they had heard something terrifying.

Several Golden Wing Battalion guards had also arrived, setting up barriers to keep onlookers at a distance and prevent entry.

As they walked past the restroom again, the smell of blood hitting his nose grew even stronger. Shen Tianyi was completely engrossed in his new toys, his attention entirely on the robot carrying the bags, paying no attention to the commotion.

Xu Qingran caught snippets of conversation as he passed by, getting the gist of the situation.

In short, a murder had occurred—the victim was brutally killed, disemboweled, and had their neck snapped in an instant.

If it was a revenge killing, Xu Qingran didn’t have much to say.

But if it was just for sadistic kicks, randomly selecting a passerby to kill, then that was somewhat intriguing.

Shen Tianyi barely made it home before running out of energy.

It was already late, and Auntie Song insisted he wait to open his toys, pulling him away to take a bath and get ready for bed. Shen Tianyi shot Xu Qingran a pitiful look, but the latter clearly had no intention of intervening, so he reluctantly gave in, rubbing his tired eyes as he trailed after Auntie Song.

Xu Qingran took his things back to his room, tossing them onto the desk, then grabbed his tablet and typed some keywords into the search bar.

The murder at Huiyi Mall that afternoon was already in the news.

It wasn’t much of a mystery, since the killer’s name and even a photo were already out.

‘Ming Hai, male, 22 years old.

Born in Fengxing, Jiacheng, Golden Wing AQ Eagle System.

Type E extremist, an S-level most-wanted criminal in the Empire.’

The young man in the photo had black hair and black eyes, his skin paper-white, his cheeks slightly sunken. He was wearing the attire of a high-security prisoner from the Tower of Evil, his face quite handsome, grinning recklessly at the camera, his dead-fish eyes brimming with malice.

Before being sent to the Tower of Evil for punishment, he had already taken dozens of lives, not including the imperial guards who had tried to arrest him. From men to women, the elderly to children, none had any ties to him; they were just unlucky victims he’d picked to torture and kill.

The murder at Huiyi Mall that day bore the same hallmarks as his previous crimes. Security cameras near the mall had caught someone with a 99.99% match to his description, so it was almost certain that this Type E, who had recently escaped from the Tower of Evil, was the perpetrator.

Xu Qingran studied the report, lost in thought.

His communicator buzzed just then, and he realized it was Shen Tingyu calling.

"Did you and Tianyi go to Huiyi Mall today?"

Shen Tingyu sounded like he was outside, with wind whistling in the background.

Xu Qingran knew what he was asking: "Relax, Tianyi’s clueless about this and didn’t see anything nightmare-worthy."

"That's good," Shen Tingyu's voice carried a barely perceptible weariness. "If you encounter this Ming Hai outside, don't act rashly. His mental pool is very powerful. If he were my age today, in a real fight, he might be able to hold his own against me."

Xu Qingran raised an eyebrow: "And compared to you at your peak?"

The other end chuckled, the sound somewhat charming: "Let's give him some credit, seven-three."

"Me seven, him three."

Xu Qingran laughed along, but with a firm tone, he said: "So, General Shen, your mental pool is damaged."

The other end of the call fell silent, leaving only the sound of the wind howling in the background.

Finally, unusually for him, he hung up the call without even a word of farewell.

Xu Qingran's smile deepened.

The general still let his guard down around him.

He got up intending to organize the things he had bought today, but when his gaze fell on the red bow on top of the bag, his smile dimmed slightly. He picked it up and looked at it for a long time before opening a drawer and carefully storing it away like a treasured possession.

Before he knew it, another weekend had arrived.

It was a grand day for the Xu family to celebrate their beloved child's educational achievement.

During this time, Xu Qingran had returned to the Xu family once. No one was home at the time, and he smoothly drove back the original owner's spacecraft without alerting anyone. After the original owner's soul departed, all the items in this world had been registered to his soul's information, allowing him to operate them without any hindrance.

So today, he drove himself to the seven-star hotel in the Fairy Star System. The hotel was indeed magnificent and resplendent, with a large front yard, numerous themed gardens, and fountains.

At the very top of the main building, a dragon made entirely of silver lay with its eyes slightly closed, wings folded, resting.

Xu Qingran stood at the entrance, glanced down at the various service orders he had recently placed on his phone, and smiled faintly. The hotel manager, approaching eagerly, asked, "Sir, how may I assist you?"

"I'm here for the Xu family's banquet at your hotel today," Xu Qingran replied.

He didn't have an invitation, but he had the ID of the eldest son of the Xu family. The manager, aware of his identity, instinctively treated him as a guest of the family and directed him to the banquet hall.

The Xu family, known for their love of prestige, had naturally rented the most expensive, spacious, and luxurious banquet hall, located on the top floor. With a gift bag in hand, he took the elevator up. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he saw the banquet hall with its doors wide open in the distance.

Most of the guests had already arrived, with the majority seated, and the rest socializing, their faces lit up with joyful smiles.

Xu Qingran, dressed simply in a white shirt and suit pants, with leather shoes on his feet, walked step by step towards the banquet hall. Xu's father, his stepmother, Xu Qingan, Lu Cheng, and others were at the front of the hall, speaking with what appeared to be prominent elders.

Everyone was busy with their own affairs and didn't notice his arrival.

Xu Qingran, however, was not one to be ignored.

So, he took out the loud party popper he had prepared earlier and set it off right at the entrance of the banquet hall.

The room fell completely silent after that loud bang.

Every eye, whether shocked or fearful, turned to him. The scattered confetti added a festive touch to the ground.

While everyone stood still, Xu Qingran began to move.

The colorful confetti on his shoulders fell to the ground as he walked. He was like someone who naturally drew the spotlight; once he appeared and caught people's attention, all eyes would instinctively follow him, unwilling to look away.

Xu Qingran approached Xu's father and the others, who looked surprised and shocked, his gaze first fell on his stepmother.

Compared to their last meeting, her complexion seemed somewhat pale, as if she had recently been quite ill.

The corners of his eyes crinkled slightly as he handed her the bag in his hand, he said calmly, "By the way, Auntie, I happened to be out shopping with a child at the toy store the other day and picked up a gift for the future baby in your belly."

Feigning ignorance of her momentarily pale face, he added with a chuckle, "It's the latest model in the Voltman series, incidentally."