"That's true too. You've never even been to school, how could you have a job? The security guards at all the companies in our family have at least college degrees!"
Chen Xiaoran's smile grew even wider.
"Then what can you do? You're a grown adult, surely you have some kind of trade?"
......
Chen Xiaoran's questions were all extremely sharp.
After a whole battery of questions, the three of them had a general understanding of Ye Lingtian.
Ye Lingtian had nothing, and could do nothing.
Hopeless!
Hopeless to the extreme!
Chen Guiyuan had been observing the young men around his daughter all this time.
Ye Lingtian couldn't measure up to a single one of them!
After learning all this, Chen Xiaoran didn't have an iota of interest in Ye Lingtian.
This was undoubtedly the worst of all the young men around her.
Not to mention comparing him to her idol, her peerless hero the Kunlun War God.
Because she was angry, she couldn't focus on the documents and could only play with her mobile phone. As she scrolled through it, she suddenly said, "I know why the Kunlun War God and the others came to the airport!"
"What?"
Chen Guiyuan and his wife leaned in close.
"The Four Great Guardian War Gods came to welcome a distinguished guest!"
Chen Guiyuan was dumbfounded. "What kind of distinguished guest could possibly require the Four Great War Gods to turn out together to welcome them?"
"According to the reports—the Four Great War Gods are holding a grand ceremony tonight to welcome this distinguished guest!"
Chen Xiaoran cast a sharp gaze at Ye Lingtian. "Heh, weren't you trying to stop people from coming to the Dragon Kingdom? Your lies have been exposed just like that!"
He Wenqian's expression turned awkward.
Her adoptive son's lie had been exposed with such ease.
She had even entertained a sliver of a thought just moments ago—that Ye Lingtian might actually be some big shot.
Chen Guiyuan spoke in a deep, earnest tone: "It's fine if a young man lacks ability and education, but he must keep his feet on the ground!"
"Oh, they're just afraid of my wrath and are holding some ceremony just to try and please me!"
Ye Lingtian had already received word from the Black Emperor earlier.
"You..."
Chen Xiaoran couldn't understand it. His lies had been exposed right to his face, yet how could Ye Lingtian possibly have the nerve to utter such words?
In Chen Guiyuan's eyes, Ye Lingtian was completely unreasonable.
Before long, they arrived at Jiangcheng's famous villa area—Junting Villa.
There were only eight independent villas in total, and each one possessed its own private gardens.
"Huh?"
"This is an ice vein?"
He discovered with surprise that there was actually an ice vein running beneath the Lin Family villa.
Wasn't this precisely what was needed to suppress his Congenital Fire Poison?
He had already instructed the Black Emperor to search for a subterranean energy vein that could suppress the Congenital Fire Poison!
How could it be such a coincidence?
Taking another look inside the villa, he saw pieces of fire-stone placed about, clearly intended to neutralize the chilling qi emanating from the subterranean vein.
Otherwise, anyone living here for a few months would surely die.
It seemed someone here actually knew what they were doing!
Yet this look of pleasant surprise, when falling into Chen Xiaoran's eyes, simply looked like a bumpkin who had just entered the big city, utterly stunned by what he saw.
This made her even more determined not to let him stay in her home.
"Tian'er, from now on this is your home! Your room has already been prepared for you. Settle in and make yourself at home!"
As soon as He Wenqian said this, Chen Xiaoran immediately cried out, "Dad! I don't want him staying here!"
Chen Guiyuan immediately chimed in, "Wenqian, suddenly having a strange man live in the house is far too inconvenient! Especially since our daughter is all grown up!"
Chen Guiyuan looked at Ye Lingtian and said, "Here, I'll buy you a villa! I'll arrange for a housekeeper and servants to take care of you!"
Ye Lingtian smiled. "Adoptive dad, there's no need to go to all that trouble. I'll just stay right here!"
Having finally encountered a blessed land capable of suppressing his Congenital Fire Poison, how could he possibly let it slip through his fingers?
"This..."
Chen Xiaoran and her father were both dumbfounded.
They never expected Ye Lingtian to be so shameless!
He was clinging on tooth and nail, insisting on moving into her house!
It was obvious he was up to no good with her!
When He Wenqian heard this, she immediately stated, "Alright, Tian'er will stay right here!"
"Mom, you guys!"
Chen Xiaoran was furious.
However, she had more important matters to attend to for now.
As for Ye Lingtian, she would definitely find a way to kick him out eventually.
Next, Chen Guiyuan and his daughter ignored Ye Lingtian and instead began discussing the grand ceremony.
"If I can attend the ceremony, wouldn't that mean I can finally meet the Kunlun War God I've been yearning for day and night?"
Chen Xiaoran's eyes lit up fiercely.
She grabbed her father's arm and began shaking it. "Dad! You have to find a way! I want to attend the ceremony!"
Chen Guiyuan frowned. "If we can attend the ceremony hosted by the Four Great War Gods, that would be an absolute supreme honor! It would also elevate the prestige of the Chen Family! But a ceremony of this caliber—hardly anyone in the entire Jiangcheng is qualified to attend. Let alone it falling to our turn!"
"Dad, please, I'm begging you, you must have a way!"
Chen Xiaoran coaxed coquettishly.
Hearing this, Ye Lingtian was amused.
Who could go? Wasn't that entirely a matter of a single word from him?
He couldn't help but speak up. "If you want to go, I..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, Chen Xiaoran interrupted him: "Stop daydreaming in broad daylight, there's no place for you!"
"Alright, let me pull some strings!"
Chen Guiyuan immediately went to make some calls.
A few minutes later, he laughed heartily and said, "This time the ceremony is being held at Dragon Well Manor!"
"Isn't that Uncle Wei's manor?"
Chen Xiaoran was startled.
"That's right, Old Wei's manor is hosting it! Old Wei is in charge of everything! He promised us invitations! But there are only three tickets!"
Chen Guiyuan glanced at Ye Lingtian. "You don't get one!"
"How about I give my spot to Tian'er?"
He Wenqian offered.
Chen Guiyuan immediately refused. "No way! For security reasons at a ceremony of this level, invitations must be registered under a real name! Nobody can take someone else's place!"
Ye Lingtian smiled. "Adoptive mom, it's fine! I can go too! I'll be able to see me when the time comes."
Chen Xiaoran was about to fly into a rage.
Still boasting?
What is your status, exactly?
Do you even have the qualifications to attend a ceremony of this caliber?
They just happened to run into an acquaintance.
Otherwise, even her father's status as the Medicine King of Jiangcheng wouldn't give him the qualifications!
That evening, Chen Xiaoran and the other two excitedly headed for Dragon Well Mountain Villa.
At that moment, Dragon Well Mountain Villa was exceptionally lively, thronged with luxury cars, while legendary bigwigs conversed with one another.
"I'm going to see my peerless hero very soon!"
Chen Xiaoran was filled with boundless anticipation.
"Huh? Ye Lingtian, why are you here?"
Chapter 4: Even a dog can sit at the table! He can't!
Chapter 4: Even a dog can sit at the table! He can't!
Ye Lingtian walked over. "To attend the ceremony, of course!"
"What ceremony could you possibly attend? Do you have the qualifications? Do you have an invitation?"
Chen Xiaoran sneered.
Ye Lingtian shook his head. "No! But this ceremony cannot begin without me!"
"Pfft!"
Hearing this, the people around them burst out laughing.
Everyone treated Ye Lingtian like a complete fool!
Just how terrifyingly high-level was this ceremony?
Even the Four Great Guardian War Gods were merely supporting roles!
And it can't happen without you?
You must think you're the ruler of the universe!
"Old Chen, is this someone your family brought along?"
"You shouldn't just say things like that! Not only will it make people laugh, but offending someone wouldn't be good!"
"This is hilarious!"
......
The surrounding crowd began pointing and whispering at Chen Guiyuan.
Chen Xiaoran wished she could find a crack in the ground and crawl right into it.
It was simply too humiliating!
Chen Guiyuan's expression was also extremely awkward!
His impression of Ye Lingtian had dropped to the absolute bottom!
"The ceremony is about to start! Everyone hurry inside!"
Someone nearby urged.
Chen Xiaoran stared at Ye Lingtian and said, "Alright, today I want to see how you're going to get in without an invitation! If you can actually get in, I, Chen Xiaoran, will marry you! A promise is a promise!"
Today, she had to cure Ye Lingtian's habit of boasting once and for all.
"Fine! Where is the special passage?"
The Black Emperor had told Ye Lingtian that upon arrival, he should take the special passage where the Four Great War Gods would be waiting to welcome him.
"Can you stop bragging?! A special passage? What qualifications do you have? That's a passage meant only for the Four Great Guardian War Gods!"
"Weren't you going to prove you can get in without an invitation? You can't even get through the regular entrance, and you expect to take the special passage?"
Chen Guiyuan couldn't stand it any longer and snapped in anger.
He marched straight over to the manor entrance, dragging Ye Lingtian along with him.
Here, invitations were being verified alongside facial recognition scans.
"Excuse me, can someone enter without an invitation?"
Chen Guiyuan asked directly.
"Are you joking, Mr. Chen? How could a ceremony of this high a level possibly not require one?"
The staff member was stunned.
Chen Guiyuan pulled Ye Lingtian to the front. "Then do you recognize him? He claims he can get in without an invitation!"
Hearing this, a dozen or so staff members all turned to look at Ye Lingtian.
After inspecting him closely, they all shook their heads. "We don't know him!"
"And we have never received any notice about special guests arriving."
"Hahahaha......"
By this time, bursts of mocking laughter had already erupted from the surrounding crowd.
Chen Xiaoran was on the verge of crying from anger.
"I, Chen Guiyuan, am a man of status and face in Jiangcheng! You've completely disgraced me!"
Chen Guiyuan flew into a rage.
"Didn't you say you could get in? Go on, let's see you walk in!"
Ye Lingtian said helplessly, "I told you, I'm taking the special passage!"
"Stop bragging!!!"
"You can't even get through the regular entrance, and you still want to take the special passage!?"
Whether by logic or the facts right before their eyes, nobody could believe it!
You're a big shot!
Yet you can't even get through the regular entrance, and you're still expecting a special passage?
He Wenqian couldn't bear it any longer. "It's alright, Tian'er, go on back home first! We'll just consider this matter over!"
"Alright!"
Ye Lingtian nodded.
At the same time, he took out his phone and dialed a number. "I'm angry. Cancel the ceremony!"
Hearing Ye Lingtian's words, Chen Xiaoran and the others grew even angrier.
This was sheer childish petulance!
Willful, arrogant, and completely unreasonable!
Who do you think you are?
With a single phone call from you, the ceremony can be cancelled?
"Alright, ignore him! Let's go inside!"
Chen Guiyuan took out his invitation to be verified.
Soon, the three of them entered the manor.
But right at that moment, chaos suddenly erupted inside the manor.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Chen Guiyuan grabbed a passing staff member and asked.
"We just received notice, the ceremony has been cancelled! The distinguished guest is angry!"
"Boom!"
Hearing this news, Chen Xiaoran froze in place, as if struck by lightning.
Utter disbelief was plastered across everyone's face!
The three of them felt their eyes pop out of their heads!
Could it be that Ye Lingtian really was the distinguished guest personally welcomed by the Four Great Guardian War Gods?
Everything he said was true!
The ceremony really was cancelled because of a single phone call he just made!
"This..."
Chen Xiaoran's mind went blank, her consciousness blurring.
Yet at that moment, another wave of exclamations rose from the surroundings.
"The Four Great Guardian War Gods have appeared......"
Someone shouted, and the crowd rushed over in a flurry.
Aside from raising their prestige, everyone who came to attend the ceremony wanted to catch a glimpse of the majestic bearing of the Four Great War Gods.
"The Kunlun War God?"
Chen Xiaoran and the other two also snapped back to reality one after another.
Not far away, the Kunlun War God and the other three were walking swiftly.
Chen Xiaoran caught a fleeting glance and still managed to spot the peerless hero of her heart.
Chen Xiaoran was so excited she almost jumped for joy.
"Huh? Who is that person?"
She also saw that the Four Great War Gods were surrounding someone.
The four Kunlun War Gods were frantically apologizing and explaining to the Black Emperor......
"This must be that distinguished guest, right?"
Chen Guiyuan wondered aloud.
Chen Xiaoran said with absolute certainty, "With the Four Great Guardian War Gods crowding around like that and apologizing so servilely! If this isn't the distinguished guest, who else could it be?"
Even though they were far away, everyone still managed to catch a general look at the Black Emperor's face.
He clearly had European facial features!
That also proved that all of this had nothing to do with Ye Lingtian.
It was just a pure coincidence!
The few of them let out sighs of relief.
"Hmph! How could Ye Lingtian ever be a big shot? His mouth is full of lies!"
Chen Xiaoran's disgust for Ye Lingtian deepened a notch.
The ceremony was cancelled.
Everyone had no choice but to leave.
Upon returning home, the moment she laid eyes on Ye Lingtian, Chen Xiaoran's anger flared up again.
"Mom, are you really going to let him stay in the house?"
Chen Xiaoran demanded.
He Wenqian replied, "Of course! Tian'er is my adoptive son! It's entirely reasonable for him to live at home!"
"Not only that, I will be taking charge of Tian'er's future."
Chen Xiaoran felt like she was going to faint.
What brought her some comfort, however, was that her grandparents had both learned about this matter.
They immediately called a meeting of the Chen Family to block Ye Lingtian from entering the household.
The Chen Family Mansion.
A massive table capable of seating twenty people.
Chen Guiyuan's father, Chen Guofeng, sat at the head of the table, exuding an unangered majesty.
"I heard he's the son of Wenqian's good friend, completely devoid of background or status!"
"Now he's rushed over to acknowledge her as his adoptive mother! The motive is far too obvious!"
"The crucial thing is, I hear Wenqian even wants to marry Xiaoran off to him!"
"How could an outsider with no ability and no status ever be allowed into our Chen Family?"
......
Listening to the chaotic bickering all around him, Chen Guofeng bellowed, "Be quiet, all of you!"
"Xiaoran is the most outstanding member of the younger generation in the Chen Family! There's a high probability she'll pass the interview at the Black Gold Consortium tomorrow! Want to marry her? It's not going to be that easy!"
Before long, Ye Lingtian followed the three of them into the Chen Family Mansion.
Every single person's gaze landed squarely on him.
"He was blessed with a decent shell, at least! As for everything else, useless!"
"What good is a decent shell? In our upper-class circles, looks are the cheapest thing of all!"
"That's right! You must possess both background and means!"
......
"Quick, quick, quick, Uncle, take your seats!"
Chen Shijao, the son of Chen Xiaoran's second uncle, eagerly welcomed Chen Guiyuan and the others to the large table, pulling out chairs for them to sit down.
Ye Lingtian followed along, but right beside him was a single empty seat, and Chen Shihao plopped right down into it.
That left not a single seat remaining.
And the only vacant spot happened to have a dog squatting on it.
Even a dog was allowed to sit at the table, yet Ye Lingtian wasn't!
Chapter 5: Unconditional admission!
Chapter 5: Unconditional admission!
Ye Lingtian's expression shifted slightly.
Deliberately making things difficult?
He Wenqian couldn't stand it any longer and blurted out, "Dad, Mom, what is the meaning of this? Even a dog gets to sit at the table, but my adoptive son doesn't?"
This was a blatant humiliation!
Chen Xiaoran's grandmother, Wang Lixiu, sneered, "What do you mean, a dog? Meimei is a member of the Chen Family! Today is a family meeting, so naturally Meimei is entitled to sit here!"
Chen Shihao sneered as well. "This is what we call a circle! Those who don't belong to our circle really aren't even as good as a dog!"
"Some people shouldn't harbor pipe dreams about entering our circle. And wanting to marry Xiaoran? That's even more out of the question!"
"What qualifications do you have to sit down? Your background doesn't even measure up to a dog of the Chen Family!"
Ye Lingtian glanced at Chen Shihao and said indifferently, "Get up."
"What?"
"I said get up!"
"Do you even know who you're talking to? You... crash..."
Before Chen Shihao could finish his sentence, he was hoisted into mid-air, his two legs kicking and struggling against nothingness.
Everyone seated at the table was dumbfounded.
They hadn't expected Ye Lingtian to resort to physical violence.
Yet this was merely the beginning!
"Slap!"
Ye Lingtian delivered a crisp, ringing palm strike right across Chen Shihao's face.
Clear!
Resounding!
"What are you doing?"
Everyone present flew into a rage!
Chen Xiaoran hadn't expected that while Ye Lingtian lacked any real ability, his temper was so explosive.
"You deliberately made things difficult for me—unacceptable!"
"You showed no respect for my adoptive mother! Even more unacceptable!"
Ye Lingtian said coldly!
"Thud!"
At the same time, he hurled Chen Shihao sprawling onto the floor.
"What's more, I am a guest. Is this how the Chen Family treats its guests?"
Ye Lingtian calmly took a seat, gazing at the gathered members of the Chen Family.
"Outrageous! Chen Guiyuan! He Wenqian! Is this your adoptive son? Completely self-absorbed and utterly lacking in basic manners!"
"Everything that happened just now was a deliberate test I set up to gauge his temperament and on-the-spot adaptability! And the result? Hopeless!"
"It wouldn't matter if he lacked status, background, or ability—if he measured up in other areas, he could still be cultivated! With an attitude like this, how could he ever enter the Chen Family?"
Chen Guofeng was thoroughly enraged.
"Dad, Mom, no matter what, Tian'er is my adoptive son! If he has flaws, I can teach him! But isn't it going too far to treat him like this on your very first meeting?"
He Wenqian stood up, confronting the Chen Family head-on for Ye Lingtian's sake.
This deeply moved him.
......
After a round of intense argument, both sides reached a compromised decision: "You can let him live in your house! But marrying Xiaoran is out of the question! Unless he can at least reach the level of a supervisor at the Black Gold Consortium!"
He Wenqian's scalp tinged with numbness!
At least a supervisor at the Black Gold Consortium?
Wasn't that pure, deliberate obstruction?
The difficulty level was roughly comparable to Chen Guiyuan amassing ten billion in wealth!
Expect Ye Lingtian to achieve such a feat?
How could that ever happen!
The dinner broke up in discordant gloom.
Chen Xiaoran and Chen Guiyuan were disappointed with Ye Lingtian to the absolute limit.
He didn't possess a single redeeming quality!
Instead, he was riddled with shortcomings from head to toe!
"I have to think of a way to kick him out!"
Chen Xiaoran resolved with firm determination.
"Mom and Dad, I'm going to bed first. I still have to go to the Black Gold Consortium for my interview tomorrow!"
Back in her room, the thought of Ye Lingtian staying in the next room made Chen Xiaoran miserable.
She began venting her frustrations to her best friend.
"Adoptive mom, adoptive dad, I can't just freeload here for nothing! What do you both want? Just tell me!"
Ye Lingtian looked at the two of them and said.
Chen Guiyuan snorted coldly, "What I want, you could never afford to give!"
What he wanted was cooperation and investment from the Black Gold Consortium!
Did Ye Lingtian have that kind of capability?
Not a single soul in the entire Jiangcheng possessed such qualifications!
He Wenqian naturally didn't want anything at all. "What is this child saying? This is your home! Don't talk nonsense! Hurry up and go to sleep!"
Returning to his room, the Black Emperor appeared out on the balcony to brief him on various matters.
"Master, I've already arranged to search for your mother's whereabouts and the list of her enemies!"
Ye Lingtian nodded.
"Invest fifty billion into my adoptive mother's company."
Ye Lingtian had checked; his adoptive mother's company had been struggling over the past few years and was not far from bankruptcy.
"Understood, Master!"
The next day, Chen Xiaoran and her best friend Zhou Xinyi went to the Black Gold Consortium for their interviews.