Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Ruthless Plan of Love

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Ruthless Plan of Love

Shi Bai’s heart skipped a beat; he hadn’t expected this to be the third main storyline mission. Judging by the situation, the failure points awarded must be considerable.

The main missions couldn’t be refused, so he could only nod, “Very well, give me your phone number. I’ll handle some things first, and in a couple of days, I’ll head over to your mining site.”

His second uncle hurriedly nodded, “Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!” As he spoke, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket and offered one to Shi Bai.

Shi Bai paused for a moment, then burst out laughing, and the others followed suit.

Li Jiankui said, “You really are a country bumpkin. Who do you think my grandmaster is? How could he possibly smoke such ordinary things?”

His second uncle laughed awkwardly and was about to take the cigarette back, but Shi Bai accepted it. “Alright, everyone go home. I’m heading back.” With that, he told Old Li to drive him back to the hotel.

Li Jiankui was left standing there, his face filled with embarrassment.

On the way back to the hotel, Shi Bai was brimming with joy. He hadn’t anticipated such rich rewards from this trip. Not only had he gained two disciples, but he’d also acquired a villa for nothing.

If this had happened in his previous life, it would’ve been nothing short of a dream!

How much does a villa cost? At least ten million! With the two thousand a month salary he earned in his former life, even if he didn’t spend a single penny, it would take him three or four hundred years to save up!

Reflecting on it, he felt a sense of melancholy. Life is inherently absurd; some people and some things, you could strive for your entire life and never attain, while others simply fall into your lap as you walk down the street.

Shi Bai couldn’t help but wonder if everything in this world had been predestined from the very beginning.

Back at the hotel, he ate a casual meal and began to lay out his plans for the future.

His primary goal remained unchanged: to collect failure points and exchange them for the Immortal Technique. Especially after being frightened by Li Jiankui today, he felt the gravity of this issue even more acutely.

In this world teeming with martial arts masters, he had no means of self-defense apart from the system. If someone suddenly attacked him, he would surely die on the spot.

He’d considered triggering a mission to learn martial arts, but the system informed him that martial arts were items in the marketplace, categorized under physical attributes, and could not be acquired through missions.

The same applied to knowledge, charm, and the Immortal Technique. Otherwise, what purpose would the marketplace serve?

Missions were powerful, but not without limitations.

So for now, Shi Bai could only let some experts possess him temporarily to fight, but that method had a fatal flaw: when an expert took over, his entire body belonged to them. Shi Bai himself could not control it.

For example, last time when he let Master Qiao possess him, it was actually Master Qiao who crippled Wu Changfeng’s martial arts; Shi Bai had no say in the matter.

Such decisive and bold actions could only be expected from Master Qiao.

Therefore, he couldn’t let them possess him for long periods, only borrow their strength briefly.

Of course, he could choose to upgrade his physical attributes first, but that would only improve his fitness, not teach him martial arts—they were two entirely different concepts.

After thinking it over, Shi Bai decided he must first accumulate a million failure points, then learn the Immortal Technique.

Once he mastered the Immortal Technique, his life would enter an entirely new realm; martial arts would no longer matter.

But right now, he had just over twenty thousand failure points—still a long way from a million. So the matter of starting a company needed to be prioritized.

According to the system, large-scale endeavors like war and starting a company yielded high failure points. War was definitely not an option, so he’d have to focus on founding a company.

He mulled it over and then sent messages to his employees—two days later they would return and start creating “The Adventures of Zhang Gouzi, Part Three.”

With that, he devised a custom mission.

“Custom mission: Have the third installment of Zhang Gouzi surpass ten million readers.”

“Custom mission accepted. Mission activated.”

With everything settled, Shi Bai called his parents. He hadn’t seen them for days and needed to stay in touch.

The voice on the other end sounded excited. His mother said they were eating seafood in the South Sea, clearly having a blast, and after a brief exchange, she hung up. Shi Bai felt a bit out of sorts.

In his previous life, he was always the one eager to end the call. He hadn’t expected the roles to reverse in this life.

But it was for the best; as long as his parents were enjoying themselves, he could rest easy.

The night passed quickly. The next day, Shi Bai went to school again. Though he had decided to go to his second uncle’s mining site, the matter with Liu Feifei, the campus belle, seemed unresolved.

He also wanted to see how Liu Feifei’s attitude toward him had changed—whether she’d truly fallen hopelessly in love.

Sure enough, as soon as he arrived, Liu Feifei hurried over. She stood before Shi Bai’s desk and softly asked, “Xiao Bai, what happened yesterday? Why did you take leave? Are you ill?”

Shi Bai laughed heartily, “No, nothing’s wrong. I just felt like going out for a bit, so I took the day off.”

The classmates around them were shocked—it was the final year of high school, and he was so nonchalant?

Liu Feifei smiled, “You’re really carefree! I envy you.”

The surrounding students were speechless. Carefree? More like a wild child!

As the two chatted flirtatiously, Ye Ying’er in the distance grew uneasy. Her heart belonged to someone else, but watching Shi Bai get so close to another girl filled her with a strange sense of loss.

Shangguan Yunfei observed it all, his mind whirring with schemes.

He quietly came over to Ye Ying’er and whispered, “Look at them. What’s going on?”

Ye Ying’er glanced at him, “Why do you care?”

Shangguan Yunfei grinned, “Aren’t you jealous?”

Ye Ying’er’s expression shifted, “Jealous? Why would I be? There’s nothing between us.”

“Really?” Shangguan Yunfei pressed.

Ye Ying’er nodded.

Shangguan Yunfei became instantly excited, “So I have a chance?”

“Get lost!” Ye Ying’er glared at him, but in her mind, another figure appeared. “Brother Murong, what should I do?”

Shangguan Yunfei had no idea what Ye Ying’er was thinking. He returned to his seat, elated. “Haha! There’s still hope for me!”

Soon afternoon arrived. Shi Bai sat at his desk, confirming that Liu Feifei was deeply in love with him, so he devised a plan.

The plan was simple: in a few days, when Liu Feifei was completely infatuated and her hormones reached their peak, he would orchestrate a public confession from her.

Then, at the very moment of her confession, he would lift the mission’s influence. As she regained clarity, Shi Bai would mercilessly reject her.

In this way, he could deliver a harsh blow to her arrogant and overbearing attitude.

The bell rang, signaling time for physical education. If Shi Bai remembered correctly, there would be a class basketball game that afternoon. In his previous life, he was terrible at basketball and often the butt of his classmates’ jokes.

“So today… hehehe.”