Chapter 53
Chapter 53: Throw Hands? Then Can I Fake an Accident?
The moment class ended, Li Shu Yun sprinted to find Li Hong Sheng.
She barged into the dean’s office of the Magic Plant Department clutching a freshly bought towel, only to find her grandfather seated at the desk, hunched over a page of scribbles like he was reviewing a battlefield.
“This round is hard to crack,” Li Hong Sheng muttered, rubbing his chin. “I don’t have a handle on her. I know too little, and I need something from her. As the only seller, she’s holding all the cards.”
He’d been careless. He should’ve studied Qian Qi first, then designed an approach.
Li Shu Yun glanced down at the paper. It was packed with notes: their dialogue, their gestures, the shifts in who held power and when. He’d been analyzing every second like it was an investment pitch.
That was Grandfather. As director of the Magic Plant Research Institute, he’d clawed for sponsors and funding for years. He did everything himself.
Then Li Shu Yun spotted a line and her brow creased. “Grandfather… don’t tell me you and the principal didn’t even offer her tea.”
Li Hong Sheng froze. Then he slapped his forehead.
He’d made a basic, stupid mistake.
Maybe because Qian Qi was technically “his” student, he’d subconsciously treated her like the lower party, trying—along with the principal—to squeeze benefits from above.
No wonder her attitude had turned to iron. She’d left without giving him another chance.
Li Shu Yun sat down with a heavy sigh. “Forget it. Do you have the ten million ready?”
“No.” Li Hong Sheng didn’t even look up. “You know our situation.”
“Did you try borrowing from friends?” Li Shu Yun asked. “If we buy the planting method for Fire Qilin Lotus, we can pay it back.”
Li Hong Sheng went silent for too long.
Li Shu Yun’s stomach sank. “Grandfather… don’t tell me you already borrowed from everyone before.”
Li Hong Sheng coughed. “Your parents control the money like a vault. I had no choice. I borrowed from old friends…”
Borrow too many times, fail to repay, and you don’t have a face left to ask again.
Li Shu Yun pressed her lips together. In this area, Grandfather really couldn’t compare to Qian Qi. At least Qian Qi had grown Fire Qilin Fruit—and not only grown it, grown it absurdly well. The Fire Qilin Lotus she’d kept was already producing another fruit.
By any calculation, she’d struck gold.
“So what now?” Li Shu Yun asked.
“I borrowed from Little Zheng.” Li Hong Sheng finally looked up, eyes bright with stubborn hope. “The two of us are thinking of a way to push the price down.”
Then he leaned forward. “Yun Yun, do you know Qian Qi’s weakness? I need a trump card.”
Li Shu Yun’s eye twitched.
If Qian Qi had a weakness, it was that she’d somehow gotten nicer and hadn’t beaten her grandfather senseless yet.
“Grandfather,” Li Shu Yun said, slow and emphatic, “do not threaten Qian Qi. Don’t test her patience.”
Li Hong Sheng waved her off.
“You don’t understand,” Li Shu Yun insisted. “She smiles now, but she used to be ruthless. If you push her, she’ll hit you.”
“Hit me?” Li Hong Sheng’s eyes lit up like he’d just discovered a new strategy. “Then can I fake an accident? Would that work?”
Li Shu Yun nearly slid out of her chair.
Help. Does he understand anything at all?
“She’s not bluffing!” Li Shu Yun blurted. “She used to wreck classmates’ magic plant assignments and get into fights constantly. Even the finished E-rank Fire Qilin Lotus I grew—she smashed it into survival with her bare hands when she didn’t even have sodium bicarbonate solution!”
She sucked in a breath and raised her voice. “If you get beaten until you break a bone, I’m not going to the hospital to take care of you!”
Li Hong Sheng blinked, thinking hard. Then he slapped his thigh with delight. “Brilliant. I’ve got it. Tomorrow I’ll threaten her with expulsion for bad conduct!”
Li Shu Yun stared at him in horror.
So she’d screamed herself hoarse, and he heard exactly none of the point.
…
Li Hong Sheng invited Qian Qi again.
This time, he dragged the principal along and booked a restaurant downtown.
He went all out—an entire table of dishes. It was an obvious show: he intended to close the deal no matter what it cost.
Qian Qi took one look at the spread and grinned. She normally couldn’t bear to spend like this. Since Li Hong Sheng was being generous, she had no intention of being polite.
She reached for her chopsticks—
And Li Hong Sheng dropped the first blade.
“Qian Qi,” he said mildly, “I heard you used to fight with classmates. And that you destroyed their magic plant assignments?”
Qian Qi paused midair. Then she set her chopsticks down and nodded. “Yes.”
No denial, no excuses. When she’d first transmigrated, she’d asked the System if those things had been the original owner’s actions, if there was some hidden story.
The System had been certain: it was all real.
So she wasn’t going to “clean up” the original owner’s past.
And she wasn’t going to pretend she was innocent now, either.
“As for the losses,” Qian Qi said, lacing her fingers and resting her chin on them, her smile soft and unreadable, “I’ll compensate them later. They won’t hold it against me.”
Li Hong Sheng blinked. He clearly hadn’t expected her to admit it so easily.
But fine. That was only the appetizer.
“Even so,” he continued, “those incidents caused serious impact. And I also heard you charged classmates to do their assignments.”
“Not only that—you’ve been selling magic plant byproducts and magic plant fruits to students without the Magic Plant Research Institute’s permission. Unlicensed products. No safeguards. You’re risking student safety and damaging the school’s reputation.”
He took a sip of tea, letting the power settle into his voice. “As director, I have the authority to expel you.”
He believed the threat had weight. If she was expelled, she’d lose access to seeds. If the institute issued a statement claiming her products had chronic side effects, no one would dare buy from her again.
Even if a few did, she’d spend her life selling in the shadows, always looking over her shoulder.
It would be scorched earth—hurt her badly, hurt themselves a little—but surely Qian Qi would understand the cost.
Qian Qi rubbed her chin, gaze steady.
Of course she’d considered this. Li Hong Sheng was exactly the type to grab expulsion as a weapon.
She could leave school and farm with past-life knowledge, sure—but it wouldn’t be as profitable as growing magic plants and making magic potions.
If she wanted a sweet, comfortable retirement, she needed the official path: dual degrees from the Magic Plant Department and the Magic Beast Department. That meant legitimate sales channels and policy benefits.
She wanted to make money in the open, not live like a thief in a gutter.
But she also wasn’t about to lower her price for nothing.
She’d been hard earlier on purpose—to push Li Hong Sheng to the brink, to force him to come to the table with do-or-die energy.
Only then could she squeeze out benefits beyond cash.
Qian Qi raised her hands to cover her mouth. Behind her fingers, her smile slowly stretched—sharp, sly, and far too pleased.
“Lowering the price isn’t impossible.”
Her shoulders trembled, excitement leaking through. Her dark eyes glinted with foxlike cunning, and with her expression control slipping, she somehow managed to look both thrilled and mildly unhinged.