Chapter 185: Chapter 181: From Now On, Our Own Ways
 

Before the semester started, Jiang Cheng sensed something when Yue Linger was about to introduce Shen Menghan to him. She already had a premonition.

Because for someone like Jiang Cheng, his allure to female cultivators was indeed quite strong.

To avoid the worst-case scenario, Yue Linger even specifically chose Shen Menghan, who had a boyfriend, to introduce to Jiang Cheng.

What Yue Linger never expected was that Shen Menghan would still fall into Jiang Cheng’s hands within a mere month, even though she had a boyfriend.

However, Yue Linger herself didn’t have the right to mock Shen Menghan.

After all, she was even worse back then, nearly surrendering to Jiang Cheng without even lasting a month under his influence.

“Sigh!”

Yue Linger sighed deeply.

She knew that liking someone like Jiang Cheng wasn’t entirely Shen Menghan’s fault.

If anyone was to blame, it was Jiang Cheng for being so addictively toxic!

If you only had a casual acquaintance with Jiang Cheng, you wouldn’t find anything too special about him.

But if you were foolish enough to deeply engage with Jiang Cheng in communication, life, and work, you would find that he was truly extraordinary!

All other male cultivators paled in comparison to Jiang Cheng, appearing utterly mediocre, superficial, sordid, and boring.

Just like someone who has eaten divine peaches wouldn’t want to eat rotten ones again, perhaps Shen Menghan broke up with her boyfriend because of Jiang Cheng?

Yue Linger’s mind wandered for a long while before she snapped back to reality.

She realized she really had no right to judge the relationship between Jiang Cheng and Shen Menghan.

At least Liu Qing could still throw a tantrum at Jiang Cheng, but what right did she have, as a daughter, to nitpick her stepmother?

Wait a second!

Yue Linger realized a serious problem—their family hierarchy would be a mess if Shen Menghan joined!

She couldn’t complain about Liu Qing overpowering her because, apart from her talent in talisman drawing, she wasn’t a match for her everywhere else.

But the newcomer Shen Menghan couldn’t possibly lord over her as her “stepmother” either!

“Yue, what are you thinking about?” Jiang Cheng said as he returned to the table with breakfast he had just bought.

Yue Linger quickly lowered her head, fearing that Jiang Cheng would notice that she was thinking about something rebellious.

“Nothing, nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

“Oh.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t care.

Yue Linger and he were old friends, and he was quite confident in her character.

People should have some secrets and privacy, after all. Yue Linger wasn’t his pet; prying into everything would just be disrespectful to her.

“Eat it while it’s hot.”

Jiang Cheng shared the breakfast with Yue Linger and Shen Menghan.

Shen Menghan began to bring a steamed bun to her mouth when Jiang Cheng kindly reminded her, “Sister Shen, the bun is fresh out of the oven. Be careful, it’s hot.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Menghan bit her lip, her eyes flickering and her cheeks growing more charming as she lowered her head even further.

A moment later, she spoke softly, “Jiang Cheng, when do you want the ‘sincerity’?”

“The sooner the better,” Jiang Cheng said.

The bankruptcy and reorganization of the Miaodan Workshop would take quite a while.

Jiang Cheng had no previous experience in managing a business, and could only rely on his knowledge from his previous life, groping his way forward as he went.

“Okay, I understand. How about tomorrow?” Shen Menghan asked in a low voice.

“That works. Just go to the Immortal Sect Tea House outside school tomorrow, and we’ll sign the contract there.”

“Alright.”

The next day.

Outside Lotus University, at Immortal Sect Tea House.

Shen Menghan was the earliest arrival, sitting upright and nervously at the dining table, clutching the bag beside her.

She still remembered that just over a month ago, she had sat here, high and mighty as a senior, giving Jiang Cheng pointers.

But unexpectedly, in just a month, her status with Jiang Cheng had completely reversed, and she was now the one who had to curry favor with him.

Fortunately, Jiang Cheng wasn’t the unreasonable type, so her days ahead shouldn’t be too hard.

Jiang Cheng was the second to arrive, and upon entering the private room, he greeted Shen Menghan with a smile.

“Sister Shen, you’ve arrived quite early.”

“Jiang Cheng, Linger hasn’t arrived yet, has she?”

“She’s not usually late, so she should be here soon, I guess.”

Hearing that the others would arrive soon, Shen Menghan knew she didn’t have much time to hesitate. So, she clenched her teeth and mustered tremendous courage, pulling out a Memory Sphere from the bag beside her.

“My ‘sincerity’ is all in here,” said Shen Menghan, her face reddening.

Inside the Memory Sphere was her “innocence.” Just as Yue Linger had mentioned, if Jiang Cheng were to publicize the content of the Memory Sphere, no matter what accomplishments she, Shen Menghan, might achieve, she would be utterly ruined in an instant.

Jiang Cheng:

What did sincerity have to do with the Memory Sphere?

Could it be that it contained their Miaodan Workshop contract?

“Sister Shen, may I see the content?” Jiang Cheng asked.

Hearing Jiang Cheng intended to “inspect the goods,” Shen Menghan knew she had no grounds to refuse.

But the thought of Jiang Cheng appraising her from head to toe, Every Detail Revealed, right in front of her, filled her with unspeakable shame.

“Can you wait until you’re home to look at it? At least don’t do it in front of me…” Shen Menghan pleaded softly.

“Well, I can, but you have to tell me what’s inside, right?”

“My clea…”

“Clea?”

“My weakness, my lifeline, in short, my greatest sincerity. Take good care of it. I’ll cooperate with you from now on. Also, it’s best not to tell anyone else. Besides you, I don’t trust anyone. Nobody except you is allowed to see what’s inside the Memory Sphere.”

“Oh, okay,” Jiang Cheng agreed.

But he still found it a bit strange in his heart.

Weren’t they in a partnership? One provided the capital and the other the technology, so why did it now seem as though Shen Menghan was selling herself to him as a maid?

Perhaps it was due to the recent major family upheaval, which made her overly sensitive.

That’s what Jiang Cheng thought.

There was nothing one could do about a family disaster except wait for time to slowly heal the wounds.

All Jiang Cheng could do was to stay true to his original aspirations and treat her with sincerity, just as he would treat Yue.

“You all arrived so early?”

Yue Linger had also hurried over.

With a flick of his finger, Jiang Cheng discreetly tucked Shen Menghan’s Memory Sphere into his storage bag.

Shen Menghan had earnestly instructed him not to show it to anyone else, and that certainly included Yue Linger.

After Yue Linger arrived, the signing ceremony had yet to begin.

Shen Menghan asked in confusion, “Is someone else coming?”

Yue Linger replied, “Bai Xiaohe is also coming; all of Jiang Cheng’s money is with her.”

Shen Menghan exclaimed in surprise, “She wouldn’t also…”

Yue Linger said awkwardly, “I don’t know, but I think it’s probably about the same.”

Two minutes later, Bai Xiaohe arrived at the Miaodan Workshop’s “Angel Round” financing event, bringing with her the Top-grade Spirit Stones that Jiang Cheng had previously given her.

Shen Menghan glanced at Bai Xiaohe and couldn’t help admiring Jiang Cheng’s excellence.

As the Department Beauty of the Alchemy Department at Lotus University, she was also considered a rare beauty.

Yet in Jiang Cheng’s company, she had yet to spot anyone who was clearly inferior to her.

There was no need to mention Yue Linger, and this new arrival, Bai Xiaohe, also seemed far from ordinary.

The esteemed Department Beauty of Lotus University, who was the center of attention on campus and frequently faced a queue of suitors, almost risked being the bottom of the pile around Jiang Cheng.

Who would believe this if it were told?

Totally unwinding!

It’s just too intense!

After an afternoon of discussion, at last, Shen Menghan, representing Miaodan Workshop, reached an investment agreement with Jiang Cheng and Yue Linger.

The agreement stipulated that Jiang Cheng would provide financing of five million Low-grade Spirit Stones to Miaodan Workshop in exchange for sixty percent of the Workshop’s shares, with the majority being Class A shares and a small portion being Class B shares.

Yue Linger would provide financing of five hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones for six percent of Miaodan Workshop’s shares, the vast majority of which were Class A shares.

Because the voting rights of Class B shares were ten times that of Class A shares, and Shen Menghan held the majority of Class B shares.

Therefore, even though most of Miaodan Workshop’s future profits would go to Jiang Cheng, the apparent owner and decision-maker of Miaodan Workshop was still Shen Menghan, representing the Shen Family.

But that was just on the surface.

In reality, Shen Menghan herself had to listen to Jiang Cheng.

After all, her Memory Sphere was obediently lying in Jiang Cheng’s storage bag.

After the financing agreement was signed, Shen Menghan felt a huge relief.

The court’s precise fines had already punished Miaodan Workshop to the brink of bankruptcy, with everything that could be sold, including long-term orders previously signed, basically all sold off. If she couldn’t get Jiang Cheng’s financing today, the now drafty Miaodan Workshop probably wouldn’t survive the week.

However, even with Jiang Cheng’s five million, Miaodan Workshop still wouldn’t last very long.

Miaodan Workshop must urgently come up with profitable products and continuously provide financial support for the Workshop, otherwise, it would still collapse.

On the way back to school, Yue Linger pulled Shen Menghan aside.

“Shen Senior.”

“Ling’er Junior? Do you have something else?”

Yue Linger asked in a low voice, “Do you also have a handle in Jiang Cheng’s hands now?”

Shen Menghan’s face turned slightly red, and she nodded, “Yeah.”

Yue Linger said gravely, “In that case, we’re all on the same side now. There are some things that I need to say up front.”

“Go ahead.”

“Shen Senior, although you’re a year older than me and you’re a third-year Senior at Lotus University, and even my department head in the student council; here with Jiang Cheng, my seniority is older than yours. So by all accounts, I’m actually your Senior.”

Hearing Yue Linger’s words, Shen Menghan’s eyes suddenly widened.

She had never considered the issue of seniority before, but upon hearing Yue Linger’s speech, she suddenly felt that it seemed to make sense.

In Liang Kingdom, many high households had concubines, and the seniority in their backyards was not determined by age but by seniority, according to the order of entry.

Though Yue Linger was younger, her early encounter with Jiang Cheng meant she entered earlier and had older seniority; indeed, she could be considered Shen Menghan’s Senior.

Yue Linger looped her arm through Shen Menghan’s and said, “Senior, let’s keep to our own terms in the future. I’ll call you ‘Senior’, and you call me ‘Senior Sister’. But I’ve called you ‘Senior’ so many times today, so it wouldn’t be too much to call me ‘Senior Sister’ just once, right?”

“I…” Shen Menghan found it hard to say.

“Call me Senior Sister.”

Yue Linger crossed her arms and acted intimidatingly, “Jiang Cheng hates indecisive female cultivators the most, and I might have a chance to…”

Upon hearing Jiang Cheng’s name, Shen Menghan’s attitude immediately softened.

“Senior Sister. Yue Senior Sister is beautiful and kind-hearted, please spare your junior sister this time.”

At that moment, Yue Linger felt utterly refreshed.

She had never dreamed that she would one day be called “Senior Sister” by the lofty department head Shen Menghan.

It was just too exhilarating!

What if she became addicted?

Should she introduce a few more to Jiang Cheng?

PS: I’ve noticed that many readers are guessing about the side effects of the Willpower Empowerment Talisman. To avoid misunderstandings in the subsequent plot, I’ll give an official explanation from the author. The principle behind the Willpower Empowerment Talisman is to trick out the desire to survive and empower it; during the use of the talisman, the user lacks the desire to survive, so they often engage in suicidal actions. The specific effect varies from person to person.