Chapter 7: Investment

Chapter 7 Investment

Hypoglycemia is unpleasant when it hits, but improves quickly after sugar is replenished.

Shen Ci pressed his temples, and after a brief dizziness, sat up on the soft cushion. "Thank you."

He still had the candy in his mouth, his words were slurred and nasal, a stark contrast to his usual cold and detached tone. Xie Yu glanced at him, turned the key, and said, "Don't you have a meeting? Go ahead, I'll catch up with you later."

With that, he closed the door, locked it, started the engine, and turned onto the main campus road.

Shen Ci watched him leave until the Bentley disappeared from sight, then lowered his eyelashes and took out the lollipop he had been holding.

This unassuming little thing was an expensive imported product, vanilla milk flavor, with a soft, creamy beige color, made with premium milk and vanilla.

Shen Ci examined the stick briefly but couldn't guess the price.

He didn't eat much candy as a kid; his family had always been poor. The town's shop was hours away from the village, and even if he wanted it, no one would get him these fancy treats. Later, when his grandmother fell ill, Shen Ci's meager salary went entirely to hospital bills. He usually ate in the cafeteria, hesitating even to add extras to his noodles. He had never tasted Young Master Xie's pricey and frivolous snacks, nor had he ever thought of trying them.

But now...

Shen Ci looked at it for a while, then put it back in his mouth.

It was indeed sweet.

He drifted off in thought with the candy in his mouth, thinking about the evening's experiment. There was still over an hour before the meeting, so Shen Ci planned to return to the lab to get the experimental materials, then go eat and change clothes. As he pondered, he walked back, swiped his card without thinking, and entered the lab.

The lab was lit, and both Li Yue and Han Yunyun were still there.

Han Yunyun was transcribing experimental data and looked up at the sound: "Senior, you're back at last. This is our experiment for today... huh?"

She paused abruptly.

Shen Ci hadn't thought much of it, but Han Yunyun's sudden reaction made him realize something, and he also paused.

"Senior?"

Shen Ci hummed in response, feigning calm, took the data, glanced at it, picked up the report, and left.

Han Yunyun was silent for a while.

Only after Shen Ci had walked away did Han Yunyun snap out of it: "Li Li Li Yue, what is senior eating?"

Li Yue: "..."

He looked suspicious: "A lollipop?"

The usually stern Senior Shen came to the lab with a lollipop in his mouth, the candy puffing up his cheeks into a round shape. The two of them stared in silence as he walked away, not daring to say a word.

Han Yunyun murmured: "Did senior get possessed, or was it me?"

On the ring expressway, the system quietly reappeared in front of Xie Yu.

The fluorescent blue light flickered: "Congratulations, the important plot point [Racetrack Incident] has been completed, key lines 100% completed, character retention 80%, the protagonist felt emotions such as [humiliation], [pain], [dizziness] in the timeline, emotional match 50%."

"According to the system's judgment, this performance has a 75% match."

Xie Yu: "That's quite high."

He only aimed to pass, 60 points was enough, but getting an extra fifteen points was a pleasant surprise.

"Do I have any scenes to shoot tonight?"

System: "There’s no main plot for tonight. The next event is the [Weekend Gathering], where you will take the protagonist to He Zhiyuan's dinner party."

"Am I free to do what I want?"

The system scans the novel: "Hmm, your father will summon you home."

In the original story, 'Xie Yu' was furious at the protagonist's defiance. He not only tormented the protagonist in the car but also wanted to drag him to a hotel to continue. The protagonist only escaped because Xie Yuanshan called, demanding his son come home.

Xie Yu asked: "What’s Xie Yuanshan like?"

He’s acting as the original host’s son, so he needs to know his father's temperament to avoid revealing any flaws.

System: "According to the system’s analysis, he’s 'irritable, quick-tempered, and controlling.' But he has little contact with the original host, so you don’t need to worry about being exposed."

Xie Yu had been tuning the radio. He repeated it and sneered: "Why does he sound just like my own father?"

System explained: "As the selected host, you share some similarities with the original host. These include name, height, appearance, family background, childhood experiences, and so on. So, if you feel that the 'father' in this world resembles the one in your original world, it is possible."

As they were speaking, Xie Yu's phone rang three times. The caller ID displayed Xie Yuanshan’s name.

The original host’s overbearing father.

Xie Yu answered the call: "Hello?"

Xie Yuanshan's voice came through: "Xie Yu, where are you?"

The voice was deep and stern, laced with anger. It felt less like a father talking to his son and more like a boss scolding an employee. Xie Yu didn’t respond for two seconds, and the other side said sternly: "Speak."

Xie Yu paused, then chuckled, adopting a playboy’s tone: "Out having fun. What’s up?"

Xie Yuanshan said coldly: "Come home tonight. We need to talk."

Xie Yu: "What’s the matter at home?"

"It’s about the company."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Xie Yuanshan lost patience: "Be home by eight sharp."

With that, he hung up without any further explanation.

Xie Yu hung up and tossed his phone into the card slot. He gripped the steering wheel, silent for a while, then leaned over to turn the radio knob, just in time to catch a live opera broadcast. The male singer belted out a long, melodious aria. He hummed along for a couple of lines, then set the navigation: "Locate the hotel."

System: "Host? The original host’s father summoned you home. Aren’t you going?"

Xie Yu retorted: "Why should I go back?"

System: "You don’t have to go, but the original host feared his father and usually obeyed. Logically, it would be better for you to meet him."

Xie Yu's performance has been hovering around the passing mark. It's better not to lose points outside the scenes if possible.

Xie Yu was silent for a moment, then suddenly sneered: "Seriously, like a ghost that won’t leave me alone."

The voice of the original host’s father was exactly the same as Xie Yu's own father.

At exactly eight o'clock in the evening, Xie Yu entered the Xie household on time.

This is Xie Yuanshan's residence in Jiangcheng, a spacious riverside apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room facing the river. In recent years, due to urban planning, neon lights have been installed on the high-rise buildings on both banks, creating a dazzling, vibrant scene at first glance.

The room was unlit, pitch dark except for the lights coming through the windows, making it eerily silent. Xie Yu pushed the door open and entered, and Xie Yuanshan glanced up from the dining table, "Back? Turn the lights on."

Xie Yu turned the lights on, and the cold white glow of the downlights flooded the room, illuminating the iron-gray marble countertop, making it even more desolate.

Xie Yu sat down at the dining table and got a clear look at Xie Yuanshan's face.

His cheekbones were prominent, yet his cheeks were hollow. His eyebrows were thick and heavy, with an extremely narrow space between his eyes, resembling two bricks pressing down on his eyes from afar. A deep vertical line between his eyebrows looked like a canyon carved open.

He silently sneered, thinking, "It really does resemble him by about eighty percent."

Xie Yu didn't believe in fortune-telling or physiognomy, but just by looking at Xie Yuanshan's face, it was clear he was a man of violent temper and extreme personality.

The system flashed a line of small text, silently prompting, "The original host had a distant relationship with his father, speaking very little. Please handle it accordingly."

Xie Yu nodded slightly and asked indifferently, "What did you call me back for?"

Xie Yuanshan gave him a once-over, then tapped the table, a gesture he used to signal his secretary to fetch him water. But Xie Yu remained motionless, causing Xie Yuanshan to frown slightly, "You're in your twenties now, right?"

Xie Yu replied, "24."

Xie Yuanshan glanced at him sideways, "Already 24, yet you're still fooling around outside, acting like a scoundrel."

Xie Yu smiled but didn't respond.

He was indeed 24, but the original host was only 22. He deliberately inflated his age by two years, and Xie Yuanshan didn't notice at all.

Xie Yuanshan frowned, "What's so funny?"

Xie Yu chuckled, "Nothing, you're right."

As a well-known entrepreneur in the city, Xie Yuanshan's time was precious, and he had no intention of wasting it on Xie Yu. He simply said, "You're my only son, and at 24, you need to start learning about business. I've set aside some initial funds for you to test your investment skills."

Xie Yu raised an eyebrow as Xie Yuanshan slid a black card across the table to him.

Xie Yu picked up the card with one hand and examined it. The card had a gold edge, shimmering with a diamond-like glow under the light. After a long look, he suddenly smiled, "So, if I use this money to buy a grave for Mom, that's fine, right?"

As he said this, Xie Yu was side-eyeing Xie Yuanshan, his eyes half-closed, the light in his eyes flickering like a deep, cold pool.

Xie Yuanshan was visibly taken aback, "What?"

"Nothing, just joking." Xie Yu laughed again, pinching the card between his fingers, "How much is in it?"

"10 million," Xie Yuanshan clearly despised his son's nonchalant attitude, his brows tightly furrowed, "Xie Yu, you know my temper. If you can't deliver results in six months..."

Xie Yuanshan liked to speak in half-truths, leaving the rest to be inferred.

Xie Yu smiled, "Alright, I know."

In the end, the original host didn't achieve much and was sent abroad by Xie Yuanshan to study.

Studying was no big deal for Xie Yu, but for the original host, it was a punishment. His circle of friends was all in Jiangcheng, accustomed to being the center of attention. Suddenly being sent abroad to study, without his usual entourage and with limited living expenses, the original host found it very uncomfortable.

Of course, before he could make any progress, Xie Yuanshan died suddenly from an illness, and Young Master Xie was caught by Shen Ci, who had already become a big shot, and was sent to a mental hospital after having his fingers broken. But there was no need to tell Xie Yuanshan about that.

They sat across from each other, the atmosphere at the table eerily quiet. After discussing the main matter, the father and son couldn't even exchange pleasantries.

Xie Yuanshan had prepared a family banquet, probably intending to lecture his son during the meal, but Xie Yu had no interest in listening. He simply pulled out his chair, "Alright, if there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

Xie Yuanshan didn’t feel like elaborating and waved his hand dismissively, "Go on."

Xie Yu chuckled, tucked the black card into his pocket, and strode down the hallway, shutting the door firmly behind him.

As the Xie family’s door slammed shut, the system typed a question mark, puzzled: "Do you really hate him that much? It seems like he’s been pretty good to you."

The system ticked off on its fingers: "He gave you money, sent you abroad to study, and brought you back into the company. Isn’t that great?"

Xie Yu replied, "That’s because Xie Yuanshan has fertility problems, and I’m his only son."

Otherwise, I wouldn’t even have been allowed through the door.

The host clearly didn’t want to elaborate, so the system paused and asked, "What about the black card? What are you planning to do with the 10 million? Are you really going to invest?"

Six months isn’t even enough time to secure financing. Xie Yu knows nothing about business; six months isn’t enough for him to even get his foot in the door. What kind of reliable project could he possibly invest in?

Xie Yu propped his chin on his hand, "I never planned to make any serious investments anyway."

In a few years, I’ll be locked up in a mental hospital. What’s the point of investing?

He mused, "I remember at the end of the novel, I was locked up in a mental hospital by Shen Ci for over twenty years, right?"

The system was confused, "Yes, but what does that have to do with investing?"

Xie Yu: "Well, then let’s invest in a mental hospital."

The system: "Huh?"

"What?"

"I won’t need to be in the mental hospital for the entire twenty years, but Shen Ci was also seriously ill back then. He often came to check on how I was 'doing.' During those times, I had to be there to put on an act, right?"

"Right..."

Xie Yu shrugged, "It’s going to be my home for the latter half of my life. Might as well spend a few million to upgrade the facilities, get a comfy bed, spruce up the yard—make it more livable for when I’m stuck there."

"..."

"Host," the system remarked bluntly, "You’re the most bizarre host I’ve ever met."

Xie Yu clasped his hands together, "You’re too kind."

He drove back to the hotel and actually fired up his computer to start researching mental hospitals in the city.

The original book didn’t specify which hospital the original host ended up in, so Xie Yu had to check them one by one.

There are three mental hospitals in Jiangcheng. The largest is a public hospital with heavy foot traffic. Locking a normal person there would risk leaks, so Shen Ci definitely wouldn’t choose it.

The other two are private hospitals in the distant suburbs. Their websites look polished, but it’s hard to gauge their quality. Xie Yu decided to invest a bit in both—whichever one he ends up in.

He jotted down the hotline numbers for the mental hospitals, planning to call during business hours the next day to inquire about investment opportunities. But as he saved the numbers to his phone, he paused and raised an eyebrow.

The original host’s phone already had this number saved.

Xie Yu tapped on the note: 1734, Dr. Xu from Qingshan.

And this mental hospital is called Qingshan Mental Hospital.

Xie Yu tapped on the number, linked it to WeChat, and found that the original host and Dr. Xu were still friends. Over the past six months, they had exchanged dozens of messages, with the original host making appointments and the other side confirming times.

They must have a doctor-patient relationship, and it seems to be a long-term and stable one.

Xie Yu scrolled up, but there were no chat records older than six months. It seemed the original owner had switched phones, so no older messages were visible.

Xie Yu: "System, what's going on?"

System: "The novel doesn’t cover this. It should be content automatically filled in by the world."

Xie Yu nodded. He mimicked the original owner's tone and hesitantly sent a message: "Dr. Xu, appointment."

Ten minutes later, Dr. Xu replied: "Saturday night?"

Xie Yu: "Saturday’s no good. I’ve got a gathering in the evening."

According to the novel, Saturday is an important plot point. He Zhiyuan is rescheduling the bar gathering to make up for tonight’s absence. He enthusiastically invited Xie Yu and made a point of telling him to bring Shen Ci along, followed by a lengthy stretch of censored content.

Xie Yu: "Sunday afternoon?"

The other person replied with an 'OK.'

The conversation ended there.

Judging from the fluency of their exchange, the original owner and Dr. Xu were quite familiar with each other. They didn’t need to spell things out—their communication was quick and to the point.