A few days later.
At eight in the morning, at Eternal Botanical Garden.
Li Chengyi removed his hand from the transplant of more than a dozen Feilian plants.
He frowned slightly.
None of these had blossod, only common plants.
"Is this all we have?" he asked the visibly nervous young man standing beside him.
The young man’s na was Zhu Hong, whom he had specifically sent to search for wild Feilian plants, but from the looks of it now, the efficiency was too low.
Only this much was found in so many days.
"Boss, these wildflowers usually grow on mountains in the wilderness, a bit far from the botanical garden... plus, the season for flowering is already over..." Zhu Hong replied helplessly.
"It’s already December, and the weather has gotten a lot colder; honestly, your requirent is just not feasible."
"I’ve overlooked that." Li Chengyi nodded. He hadn’t taken into account that the Feilian only flowered from May to October in reality.
"Does it have to be in bloom?"
Not far away, manager Chen Yuqin, holding a signed contract, approached, clearly having heard their conversation.
"It has to be," Li Chengyi replied. "Manager Chen, do you have a solution?"
"I could inquire with the suppliers, or put up a purchase order online. Our climate here is cold, and they don’t bloom, but so places are warm all year round," Chen Yuqin said with a smile.
"A purchase? That’s actually a good idea." Li Chengyi nodded in agreent.
"Boss, I ca to ask about the opening hours of the Exotic Garden you’re setting up, and how much space we’d need to lease if we want to expand the surrounding area," Chen Yuqin shifted the topic to the managent side of things.
That was also Li Chengyi’s intention.
Since he had successfully nurtured the Jiutou Flower with a special nutrient solution, the flowers, originally a purple-red color, had now turned to a dark purple-black.
Moreover, a strange pale gold liquid continuously flowed out from the center of the flower pistil, which he had nad Fierce Essence.
This essence had now beco the largest source of inco for the botanical garden, an excellent ingredient for creating stimulants.
Unfortunately, this source of wealth would inevitably be cut off in the not-too-distant future due to the complete divestnt of Silent Store.
Li Chengyi needed to co up with new revenue sources quickly.
Creating a unique Exotic Garden had beco his new idea.
"We have enough money for now; let’s expand the surrounding area by threefold then hire professional designers to plan the visitor routes and the distribution of stores. Initially, let’s install automated vending machines in the stores," Li Chengyi began discussing the developnt direction of the botanical garden with manager Chen Yuqin.
Because of his own needs, he had to maintain large-scale planting of Sunflowers, Gladiolus, Wisteria Flowers, and Feilian, ensuring they were blooming all year round.
So finding compensation in this area was crucial for profitability.
While discussing, he also considered that if the flowering periods were too concentrated and his Floral Dress got damaged mid-way and couldn’t be repaired, it could be quite troubling.
Therefore, in choosing other Divine Flower Positions later, he would have to take into account spreading out the flowering intervals.
"By the way, could you take soone to handle the hiring procedures later?" Li Chengyi brought up another matter. "It’s for my assistant secretary."
After consideration, he decided to have Zhou Xingtong stationed at the botanical garden, not at Hongjin Biotech.
"No problem. You should’ve hired a secretary long ago, boss. Often, trying to find you on the phone is such a hassle," Chen Yuqin complained.
"Isn’t that why you’re here, Manager Chen? I don’t have to worry about a thing with you in charge," Li Chengyi said with a smile.
After chatting idly with Chen Yuqin for a while, he gave her Zhou Xingtong’s phone number.
Li Chengyi left the botanical garden and headed towards the adjacent Everpeace Garden.
No sooner had he stepped out than his phone rang.
He crossed the roadway and walked down the farm path toward the entrance of Everpeace Garden.
Then he took out his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen; surprisingly, it was his ntor, Yu Long.
Yu Long rarely called him, and if there was sothing important, it was mostly by text ssage. He hadn’t expected a call now.
After pressing the answer button, Li Chengyi put the phone to his ear.
"ntor, is there sothing wrong?"
"Xiao Yi, did you encounter a strong, bearded old man at my place before?" Yu Long asked in a grave voice.
"I did," Li Chengyi laughed, "That guy said he was coming to challenge you to a fight, spouting so nonsense about the old days. I couldn’t quite understand whether it was true or not. Then, he wanted to get into a fight with right there, so I sent him packing."
"You fought him?" Yu Long’s voice rose slightly.
"Not much, just intimidated him a bit," Li Chengyi replied.
"That old man... nad Jiao Chenwei, was an old foe from my youth, and this morning... he jumped from the twelfth floor of his building, headfirst..." Yu Long spoke, his voice filled with a hint of regret.
"He’s dead?" The smile on Li Chengyi’s face froze.
Although the man was hot-tempered and prone to resorting to violence, at most he was a provocateur, which would be considered disturbing the peace in legal terms, certainly not a capital offense.
"Why would he jump?" Li Chengyi couldn’t understand.
"I don’t know... maybe your scare affected him. That old fellow had practiced his iron-whip boxing all his life, then he t you. Little Jing told , you held him down with one hand, right?"
"Yeah, after all, I didn’t want to genuinely fight an old man, just give him a warning," Li Chengyi responded.
"Ah... now, people from the Public Security Bureau have co knocking on my door, and the Military Judiciary Departnt has sent soone too. Fortunately, there’s a surveillance video recording the whole thing; otherwise, this would’ve been really troubleso," Yu Long’s voice betrayed his helplessness.
"You shouldn’t have scared him."
"ntor, if he killed himself, that’s because he was ntally fragile. At his age, if he couldn’t even withstand that much, I don’t think it’s my problem," Li Chengyi said, frowning.
"That’s one way to put it, but in this world, in this society, being right doesn’t always an you win," Yu Long seed to have had many experiences on this front, and he hesitated before speaking.
"Like between nations, what’s the use of talking reason with other countries? The outco is what’s most important. In the current situation, he’s dead, and we’re the pri suspects. Your side will probably be investigated soon too. Because you have another identity, your suspicion is even greater. Just be prepared for what’s coming."
"I understand. Thank you, ntor," Li Chengyi replied.
"Next ti, when you encounter such matters, just restrain yourself and don’t get physical. Better to avoid trouble than seek it," Yu Long advised.
"Teacher, I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong. We’re all adults. He ca looking for trouble of his own accord, lost, and then committed suicide. Why should we bear the responsibility? That makes no sense!" Li Chengyi said with a frown, his voice low.
"Xiao Yi...you’re still young...If we want to live a quiet life, a stable life...we need to learn to retreat when it’s ti to retreat," Yu Long sighed, "Back in the day, if I had not made a tily escape, I wouldn’t be living such a settled life now."
"Right or wrong doesn’t matter, the truth doesn’t matter. Even if you’re in the right, even if you’ve done no wrong, now that you’ve beco a suspect, you still have to face an investigation from the Security Bureau. Who loses out?" His last sentence seed to speak to the greatest enlightennt of his life.
"Teacher, you’ve grown old," Li Chengyi ended the call, his eyes narrowing slightly.
So people are destined to live a life as dazzling as a shooting star, but like a teor, they flash by—brief and beautiful. They revel in their passions and quick thoughts, indulging in their wildness and pride.
Others may never have monts that shine bright, but they live longer lives. All they need is to yield and draw back, to seek advantage and avoid harm.
The difference lies in what kind of path you’re willing to choose, what kind of life you want.
Li Chengyi knew.
If it were the him of the past, perhaps he would choose the latter path.
But, unfortunately...he is a Blind Spot Individual, with no other choice.
Standing in front of Everpeace Garden’s gate, he looked up at the three large characters spelling out Everpeace Garden.
For a mont, he did not move forward, but simply stood at the entrance, motionless.
"Why don’t you co in? Brother Cheng?"
Da Hei, carrying a basin of dirty laundry, passed by the courtyard and saw Li Chengyi, his voice rising in confusion.
"It’s nothing," Li Chengyi bowed his head.
"Is everyone there?" he asked.
"Yes, they’re all gathered here because they could be prompted at any ti," Da Hei nodded.
Li Chengyi smiled and strode through the gate.
He also needed to prepare. Without the Silent Store, he needed to carve out a new channel for acquiring Blind Spot items.
Otherwise, the external cultivation of the mutation flowers he had placed great hopes on might have to be aborted.
He walked into the hall inside.
Rainbow Candy and Da Xiong were sitting on the terrace reading e-books, sipping hot milk tea on the side.
Xiao Zhong was in a flurry cooking sothing, but a distinct burnt sll was spreading.
Dragon Gate Crane lay on the sofa, yawning lazily, one slly foot lifted high.
Seeing Li Chengyi enter, he lazily waved his hand in greeting.
Rainbow Candy and Da Xiong waved, then lowered their heads to continue reading.
Li Chengyi greeted them and headed upstairs.
They had reserved a room for him upstairs as well.
He entered a bedroom at the far end of the second floor.
He pushed open the door.
Inside the heavy tal door was a spacious bedroom, its walls, floor, and ceiling all covered in a thick layer of tal paneling.
The silver-gray coating gave the whole room a sci-fi style.
All the furniture—desks, shelves, and lights—were likewise silver-gray.
Entering the room, Li Chengyi’s gaze turned to the corner where the Flying Yi briefcase was stored, along with a black bag containing small items from the Silent Blind Spot.
He walked over, rummaged through it, and took out sothing gray and dusty, resembling a can of fish.
Heart of Greed, this was a little thing he had once bought in the Silent Store.
He had never been able to find a use for it, but now might be the ti to try.
Holding this invisible item, Li Chengyi stood up and began to ponder how best to proceed.
Without the Silent Store, there was still the Tightening Grasp.
He hadn’t forgotten that Heserine had ntioned the possibility of trading with those in the Black Sea.
But Tightening Grasp was not a place one could simply enter at will.
’Unless I go back to the prototype place in Sutan, entering will be troubleso. I can only wait for it to pull in,’ he thought.
"Yserine, I want to go to your place. Do you have a way?" he suddenly asked aloud in a low voice.
There was no response.
Clearly, Yserine could not answer in reality, and it was uncertain whether she had even heard the question.
Li Chengyi thought for a mont, then walked slowly to a corner of the bedroom, where a standing rectangular wooden cabinet was placed.
He pulled open the cabinet door, and inside, a little girl’s skeleton was standing straight, fixed to a black base.
The skeleton was supported at various points by special fixtures.
Rembering what Yserine had said before, he reached out and gently placed his hand on the skeleton.
"Yserine, I want to go to your place. Do you have a way?"
His voice trembled slightly, the vibration transmitting gently into Yserine’s skeleton through his palm.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Click.
A faint sound ca from behind Li Chengyi.
He let go of the skeleton and turned around.
A girl with golden hair in a black corseted long dress was looking at him cheerfully.
Reviews
All reviews (0)