After the conditions with Qixing were finalized, Xie Ran stopped attending classes at school and only cooperated with Qixing to attend some necessary promotional events as agreed.

The majority of Qixing students felt very regretful about this, but Guan Heng, the spoiled son who had clung early to Xie Ran’s thigh, was not regretful. Instead, he sent Xie Ran dozens of emoji packs showing someone lying on the floor crying.

Guan Heng: [“Brother Ran, why? Why is this happening?!”]

Guan Heng: [“You’re good at gaming, excellent at horseback riding, strong in math, so why do you still publish those kinds of papers, damn it?!”]

Guan Heng: [“You seriously hurt my pride.”]

Guan Heng: [“I’ve decided to cut ties with you.”]

Xie Ran: [“Fine.”]

Guan Heng quickly backed down: [“No no no, I was joking!”]

Guan Heng: [“Brother Ran, don’t take it seriously, I can cut ties with anyone but not with you!”]

Guan Heng: [“Without you, who else can I rely on to rank up?”]

Besides this, Guan Heng also relayed some news from the school that happened while Xie Ran was not there.

The first thing was that Liu Man transferred schools.

This was ironically amusing but also somewhat poignant. From the start of enrollment, Liu Man and a few others had hung out with Xu Feiyan, often acting arrogantly at school. Many students had been bullied by them, Xie Ran was just the worst affected.

After Xie Ran published the “universe” paper and became a star at Qixing, many thought he would take the chance to get back at Liu Man, but instead, Wang Siyi was dismissed by the school, and Liu Man was not held accountable by the school authorities.

Later, everyone learned that Xie Ran either despised or simply didn’t care and never brought up Liu Man’s matters to the school. But just when Liu Man and his group started to relax, they instead became targeted by Xu Feiyan.

No one knew why Xu Feiyan did this. Previously, Liu Man and his gang were Xu Feiyan’s followers, and their arrogance at school was supported by Xu Feiyan behind the scenes. But after Xie Ran stopped attending classes, Xu Feiyan suddenly turned against Liu Man and his group.

Because the school began cracking down strictly on bullying, Xu Feiyan no longer attacked openly but silently isolated Liu Man.

Liu Man and his group originally had a bad reputation and poor relations at school, but before, they were strong enough that no one dared to offend them. Now that Xu Feiyan targeted them, people found it amusing but no one spoke up for them.

Plus, now that Xie Ran had become Qixing’s representative figurehead, what Liu Man and his gang had done to Xie Ran became even more contemptible. Even without Xu Feiyan’s intervention, many people had already deliberately distanced themselves from Liu Man’s group.

Liu Man used to enjoy bullying and isolating other students, now, reversed, he experienced the pain of being bullied himself and soon couldn’t stand it anymore, so he transferred.

Guan Heng sighed: [“Truly a cycle of justice and retribution, what’s meant to come will come.”]

Xie Ran: [“I remember you bullied classmates too.”]

Guan Heng quickly denied: [“No way, I changed, I changed long ago.”]

Guan Heng: [“But I don’t know why lately some classmates have been looking at me strangely.”]

Guan Heng: [“That kind of look that’s a little bit contemptuous but also like they want to say something to me… I wonder if you understand, Brother Ran?”]

Xie Ran: [“I do.”]

Guan Heng: [“Whoa, you understand that? So what’s going on?”]

Xie Ran thought for a moment and decided to give a gentle warning: [“Don’t often talk badly about Lawyer Meng behind his back.”]

Guan Heng was confused, not knowing how this related to Meng Feixuan.

Guan Heng: [“But I’m just telling the truth.”]

Xie Ran: “…”

As expected, Meng Feixuan started cursing again: “He’s done for.”

Besides Liu Man transferring, there was another matter that stirred much discussion at Qixing.

Guan Heng: [“Recently, several of the Xu family’s investments have been very successful, shining brightly in emerging markets. It’s said they were all based on Xu Feiyan’s advice, and Xu Feiyan managed several large financial deals for the family, all very successful.”]

Guan Heng: [“Now among the younger generation of the Xu family, Xu Feiyan is the most trusted. The rumor in the circle is that the Xu family increased his inheritance rights. If he keeps up his momentum, the family might allocate even more resources to him.”]

Guan Heng: [“It’s really strange, I never heard Xu Feiyan was capable of this before!”]

Xie Ran: [“Hmm.”]

Guan Heng: [“Hey, Brother Ran, aren’t you angry?”]

Guan Heng seemed puzzled by Xie Ran’s calmness and complained further: [“I thought Qixing would at least make a show for you, at least give Xu Feiyan a serious warning to make him behave for a while. It hasn’t even been that long!”]

Xie Ran: [“Just normal decisions.”]

Whether Qixing bowed deeply to keep Xie Ran or the Xu family suddenly valued Xu Feiyan again, the logic was the same — all for profit.

The author of the “Universe” paper brought Qixing a lot of fame and policy resources, and Xu Feiyan, with future knowledge, brought more direct investment profits to the Xu family. Seeing this value, it was only natural for the family to value him more.

A semester passed quickly. Xie Ran and his parents moved into a new house also in Ruijin Garden. The new home had four bedrooms and two living rooms, over 100 square meters. Xie Ran’s parents were so excited they couldn’t sleep for two days.

Seeing their state, Xie Ran didn’t say that this house was still just a temporary place.

Xie Ran’s mother slowly learned to search for information online by herself with Meng Feixuan’s voice guidance. Older people didn’t learn tech products quickly, but Meng Feixuan was AI and could repeat the same things tirelessly, patiently teaching Xie Ran’s mother.

During that time, Xie Ran often heard his mother praising Lawyer Meng as a good person during mealtime, often inviting him over via voice chat.

Meng lawyer seriously said he was too busy to visit and could only video chat.

Xie Ran’s mother was always puzzled by this.

Though busy, Meng Feixuan somehow always had time when needed for voice guidance, which puzzled her.

Xie Ran’s mother didn’t know this was part of Meng Feixuan’s work — whenever Xie Ran gave instructions, the AI’s program drove it to fulfill them. It had nothing to do with the “good and patient person” she imagined.

Xie Ran’s mother’s shop also got on track, her products were well-selected, low cost, and revenue was decent. Now without rent pressure and with Xie Ran’s father’s salary, even without Xie Ran’s bonuses, the family lived well.

The Xie family was joyous every day, life became more flavorful, only Xie Ran remained as usual.

Meng Feixuan said: “Sir, your consciousness atomic cluster and that of Xie Ran in this world still show no signs of separation.”

Xie Ran: “Hmm.”

They still didn’t know what the original owner’s obsession was, so they couldn’t solve it specifically.

But for Xie Ran, it wasn’t a big trouble, as long as he cleared all obstacles, the problem would eventually resolve.

On the weekend, Xie Ran wore a formal handmade suit. As he stepped out, he bumped into his father who was preparing to buy groceries. Seeing Xie Ran’s clothes, his father asked: “Little Ran, do you have an event today again?”

In the past six months, Xie Ran often attended various promotional events, and reportedly had other work too, but his parents didn’t understand much. They just saw his image and demeanor gradually change a lot, making them feel he seemed more mature and stable than before, though still young. Sometimes they felt their child was even more mature than themselves.

At first, Xie Ran’s parents worried and wanted to arrange his schedule, but he firmly refused.

Later, they found he didn’t need them and their interference caused trouble, so they gradually stopped asking and now when they saw Xie Ran dress formally, they knew he was busy working. His father didn’t inquire further, just asked: “Will you come home for dinner tonight?”

Xie Ran said: “No.”

Father: “Okay, then your mother and I will just have something simple.”

“Mm,” Xie Ran replied, then followed Meng Feixuan’s navigation out the door, heading to today’s banquet.

At the city’s top five-star hotel banquet hall, elegant guests mingled, clinking glasses.

Guan Heng wore a suit, holding a glass of champagne as he followed his father weaving through the crowd to socialize. Under his father’s guidance, he pretended to clink glasses and greet the elders. After going around once, his face was stiff from smiling.

“Dad, I’m so tired. Let me rest a bit,” Guan Heng said with a bitter face.

“You useless kid…” Guan’s father looked at him with a disappointed, almost angry gaze: “All your classmates are so capable, and you just know how to play games.”

“Not all of them!” Guan Heng almost shouted: “It’s just Xie Ran and Xu Feiyan. The others are about the same as me…”

The past six months had been extremely difficult for Guan Heng. First, Xie Ran caused a sensation in the city by publishing an article on Universe, bringing a large amount of policy resources to Qixing, making its development thrive.

Then Xu Feiyan seemed to have been cheating somehow, suddenly becoming an investment expert with very keen insight in industrial investment. Under his guidance, the Xu family’s wealth soared over the past six months, and their industrial layout rapidly expanded, enjoying tremendous glory.

Though Xu Feiyan was still young, in the Xu family he had already stood on equal footing with the elders, highly respected, and his reputation in the industry soared, seen by many as a rising star. Of course, Xu Feiyan’s peers like Guan Heng had a hard time, ineVittably being compared by their parents.

“You only know how to compare yourself to worse people!” Guan’s father angrily slapped Guan Heng’s head: “Do you know how much market share the Xu family has taken from us these six months? It’s all Xu Feiyan’s doing. And you’re still classmates with him but don’t learn anything…”

The Xu family’s strong rise under Xu Feiyan naturally squeezed out other market competitors, with the Guan family being the first target. Moreover, Xu Feiyan seemed to have insight into the Guan family’s plans, always precisely targeting them with strategies, making the Guan family powerless and retreating step by step.

If it weren’t for this, Guan’s father wouldn’t have brought Guan Heng to such an occasion now, wanting him to understand the harshness and cruelty of the business world early.

Guan Heng had heard some about the competition between the Guan and Xu families and knew his father’s good intentions, but he really felt helpless.

After all, he was still just a high school student who needed his older brother’s help to rank up in games!

While his father was scolding him, Guan Heng suddenly brightened: “Dad, I see my friend. Let’s talk later.”

He said this and ran off, making his father fume.

“Brother Ran!” Guan Heng hopped like a rabbit to Xie Ran, surprised: “What are you doing here?”

This was a large commercial banquet hosted by the city government. All the invitees were people in the city’s capital circle — basically either extremely wealthy or powerful. Even though Xie Ran had published papers on Universe, he was only a somewhat well-known scholar and a high school student, so he shouldn’t have been invited to such an occasion.

“Invited…” Xie Ran was about to say something when a small commotion arose nearby.

Someone shouted: “Xie Ran, long time no see!”

Xie Ran and Guan Heng turned to look and saw a man approaching with a glass of red wine.

It was Xu Feiyan.

Xu Feiyan seemed to be the social star at the event. Originally surrounded by a group of people, though young, his every move was slick and mature. He showed no nervousness among people much older than him, fitting his legendary image in the circle lately.

Xu Feiyan looked at Xie Ran deeply. He hadn’t expected Xie Ran to appear here. It had been about half a year since he last saw Xie Ran in person, though he had been closely following Xie Ran’s publicity and reports. But seeing photos and videos was completely different from seeing him in person.

Xie Ran had changed a lot.

The once slightly thin teenager had grown taller over the past six months, and his features had matured. He no longer looked like a half-grown high schooler but a young man who could handle things on his own.

Xie Ran wore a neat tailored suit, tall and upright, his hair simply combed back to reveal a smooth forehead. Though his face showed little expression, a slight glance from the corner of his eye emitted an unignorable sharpness.

He still wore a tiny Bluetooth earpiece in his ear as always, though in a business setting, it didn’t seem out of place.

Xu Feiyan’s gaze darkened. He knew Xie Ran wasn’t the same as before, but this change exceeded his imagination. If he weren’t so familiar with Xie Ran’s appearance, he might not have recognized him immediately.

“I didn’t expect you to come here too,” Xu Feiyan said as he walked up to Xie Ran. Many people’s gazes followed him.

Xu Feiyan was a celebrity in the circle, known for his precise judgment of industry trends. Everyone wanted to network with him to get a share.

But Guan Heng was different. He hadn’t yet settled old and new grudges with Xu Feiyan. When Xu Feiyan came over, Guan Heng immediately rolled his eyes and said: “None of your business.”

“You’re here too?” Xu Feiyan seemed to just notice Guan Heng, looked at him disdainfully, and sneered: “I thought with your family’s current situation, you wouldn’t even get an inVittation tonight.”

Guan Heng: !!!

Though their family was not what it used to be, it wasn’t like they couldn’t get an inVittation. Xu Feiyan was clearly humiliating him on purpose.

But this wasn’t an ordinary occasion. No matter how angry Guan Heng was, he couldn’t act like at school. He could only glare silently, unable to say a word.

Xu Feiyan was indeed deliberately mocking Guan Heng. Clearly, he and Xie Ran shared memories and had both been reborn, yet Xie Ran didn’t even bother looking at him and instead hung out with Guan Heng.

Xu Feiyan deliberately oppressed the Guan family in business, partly to show off to Xie Ran.

Since he learned that Xie Ran was also reborn and used that knowledge advantage, Xu Feiyan had been waiting for Xie Ran to make a move. But apart from publishing that Universe paper, Xie Ran had no impressive performance. The past six months, all Xie Ran did was assist Qixing with various publicity events.

Qixing gave Xie Ran many rewards, but that money was nothing compared to the investment profits Xu Feiyan made using future knowledge.

Still, Xu Feiyan understood. Investment was a high-barrier profession. Xie Ran hadn’t touched that field before rebirth. Even if he knew which industries would profit, without connections and skills, he was powerless.

In the end, Xie Ran’s paper was just because he had carefully read relevant books before rebirth. The many rewards from Qixing were already the best he could do.

Xie Ran should know how the Xu family achieved so much in half a year. But Xie Ran wasn’t helpless in everything.

Xu Feiyan looked at Xie Ran with a hint in his words: “Xie Ran, the Guan family is in such a mess. You’re close with Guan Heng, aren’t you? Why don’t you help him?”

Xie Ran glanced at him and said calmly: “I was just about to help.”

“Really?” Xu Feiyan wasn’t worried but amused, hinting: “How are you going to help? You should know that if I really wanted to deal with the Guans, they wouldn’t stand a chance, right?”

“Who do you think you are?” Guan Heng couldn’t bear it anymore and shouted: “You’re so arrogant. Do you really think you control the market?”

Xu Feiyan was indifferent to Guan Heng’s anger. In his eyes, Guan Heng was just a wet-behind-the-ears kid, not on his level.

Xie Ran remained calm, barely changing expression, unaffected by Xu Feiyan’s words.

Xu Feiyan felt a bit unwilling. He had grown tired of Xie Ran ignoring him, so he stopped holding back and sneered: “Xie Ran, did you hear? I already got the Xu family to buy the land in Dongcheng New District. You know what that means, right?”

Among industries, real estate earned money fastest, but it was high investment and high risk, requiring extremely precise policy judgment.

Xu Feiyan had an advantage others didn’t.

The city was a multi-center city with different development priorities in each area. Dongcheng and Nancheng had not been redeveloped yet. All major real estate companies knew the government would have plans for these areas. Catching this wave of dividends would lead to a big takeoff.

But policies weren’t clear yet, and no one dared to act rashly. Only the Xu family, under Xu Feiyan’s bold leadership, decisively took the development rights for Dongcheng.

Xu Feiyan asked Xie Ran this deliberately because Xie Ran, like him, had memories of the future. He should know that soon the city would announce plans to build a smart city district in Dongcheng over the next ten years.

But Xie Ran didn’t look surprised or anxious, only said lazily: “I know.”

Xie Ran’s coldness made Xu Feiyan more unwilling and eager to see him lose his composure. He sneered: “By the way, Xu family listening to me to get Dongcheng was thanks to you. You didn’t expect that, huh?”

Originally, Xu family couldn’t have afforded so much land in Dongcheng even with Xu Feiyan’s investment. But thanks to Xie Ran’s Universe paper, Qixing gained many policy resources and discounts, providing convenience to Xu Feiyan’s plans. That’s how the Xu family accumulated enough wealth early.

Also, Xu Feiyan’s flawless performance brought the Xu family great benefits, so they dared to take the risk.

Xu Feiyan really wanted to know how Xie Ran, who hated him so much, would feel if he knew it was his paper that helped Xu family rise and gave Xu Feiyan capital to gain power.

He looked at Xie Ran maliciously, wanting him to know he’d never escape. Once Dongcheng’s development was complete, Xu Feiyan would become the new head of the Xu family and would find ways to trap Xie Ran.

But Xie Ran remained the same. This time, he gave Xu Feiyan a look and said calmly: “I know. I did it on purpose.”

His short answer confused Xu Feiyan. He frowned: “What do you mean by that?”

Xie Ran didn’t answer, only looked toward the door.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the banquet hall’s entrance. A middle-aged man in a strong aura and suit walked in, surrounded by a crowd.

This was Luo Xia, the host of tonight and the boss of Huan Tian Technology, the largest tech company in the country. Huan Tian had the most advanced domestic smart phone and home tech, a giant supporting an entire region’s tax revenue.

Tonight’s banquet was actually for Huan Tian. In the past two years, they planned to spin off their smart home business and rebuild the supply chain in other cities, finally choosing this city.

This was very significant for all industries in the city. Everyone knew wherever Huan Tian set up, it would drive the development of the entire region.

Seeing Luo Xia appear, Xu Feiyan smiled satisfied.

Everything was developing just like in his memory.

Unlike others guessing where Huan Tian would choose, Xu Feiyan already knew Huan Tian had chosen Dongcheng. The government’s decision to build the smart city there was because of Huan Tian.

Xu Feiyan stopped hiding and told Xie Ran directly: “The Xu family has already sent Luo Xia an official inVittation. After this banquet, we’ll discuss Dongcheng’s development with Huan Tian…”

Before Xie Ran could reply, Guan Heng whispered: “Huan Tian chose Dongcheng?”

Even if he didn’t know much about business, Guan Heng knew what that meant. A super company like Huan Tian setting up here meant huge policy support.

If Huan Tian chose Dongcheng, it would definitely become a new emerging area, and Xu Feiyan had just let the Xu family eat up more than half of Dongcheng New District.

Guan Heng looked at Xu Feiyan shocked, truly feeling his terrifying foresight. Xu Feiyan really predicted this.

Xu Feiyan was pleased to see Guan Heng’s fearful look and didn’t hide his pride: “Yes.”

At that moment, Luo Xia approached through the crowd. Xu Feiyan adjusted his tie and reached out his hand to greet him: “Mr. Luo, I’m Xu family’s representative Xu…”

Before he finished, Luo Xia passed him and warmly shook hands with Xie Ran: “Brother Xie, finally see you in person. Pleasure, pleasure.”

Xie Ran shook back without changing expression and said lightly: “Pleasure, Mr. Luo.”

Guan Heng: ?

Xu Feiyan: ??

Others at the scene also showed question marks over their heads.

Author’s note:

Reviewing the important points from before:

Mark: The reborn ones are hard to deal with.

President Xie: I don’t think so.