Chapter 57

Gu Eldest Sister and Gu Second Sister both shot a glare at Gu Third Sister. One of them pulled Gu Ming down to sit, while the other began lecturing.

“This time, Little Brother is right! Third, you always like to nitpick and stir up trouble, but today is your sister-in-law’s first visit to our home. Yet you still had to cause a scene—no wonder Little Brother scolded you. You deserved it!”

Gu Third Sister’s expression stiffened.

“What—what did I even say? I was just asking about whether Li Huan has the authorization to sell the recipe for the Dew Pill!”

“I said one sentence, and Little Brother shut me down with ten.” At the end of her words, Gu Third Sister sounded a bit guilty.

Since it was their sister-in-law’s first time visiting, she had just wanted to give the newcomer a hard time—let her know that the Gu family wasn’t easy to deal with.

Who would’ve thought that the family’s little tyrant would be so protective of her?

And even Eldest Sister and Second Sister weren’t taking her side. Great. So now she was the villain?

“You know full well whether you were simply asking about the recipe authorization,” Gu Ming said with an annoyed huff.

Gu Third Sister took a deep breath, her temper flaring up.

“Enough!” At that moment, the head of the family, Gu Qian, spoke up.

With just one warning look, Gu Third Sister immediately backed down and lowered her head.

Gu Qian smiled and turned to Chu Ning.

“Cui Ning, your Third Sister is just straightforward and stubborn. Don’t take her too seriously.”

“That Li Huan, the livestream host—her stream about refining Dew Pills helped advertise your Dan Sect well. You all did a great job.”

“Your sect’s official flagship store—did it really sell that many pills overnight?”

“Of course it’s true! Mom, why don’t you believe it?!” Before Chu Ning could answer, Gu Ming jumped in.

“I wasn’t asking you!” Gu Qian’s face darkened as she scolded Gu Ming.

Gu Ming, however, still had a cheeky grin, clearly unfazed.

“It’s true,” Chu Ning replied, then briefly explained the situation with the online store.

“This time, I actually came to borrow money from you.”

Hearing this, Gu Third Sister immediately pulled a face of disgust.

But a single warning glare from Gu Ming made her rein in her expression and avert her gaze awkwardly.

“Oh? How much do you need?” Gu Qian asked, ignoring her daughter’s reaction and looking at Chu Ning.

Being stared at by so many people, Chu Ning felt a little embarrassed.

“If possible… 15 billion.”

The room fell silent.

Even Gu Third Sister was momentarily stunned and, for once, didn’t make a sarcastic remark.

Chu Ning quickly added, “I’ll pay it back as soon as the patent payment comes in, in half a month. Plus, I’ll add 6% interest.”

The three Gu sisters exchanged subtle glances—they had just remembered that Chu Ning held the patent for the Dew Pill formula.

And the Gu family had already planned to purchase a first-tier patent authorization.

Their little brother had mentioned before that he could get them a 20% discount. Based on market prices, that would still cost them around 8 billion. And that was just their own family’s expense.

With the release of this new pill, major institutions, noble families, and clans would all be purchasing first-tier patent authorizations. When that happened, the incoming funds would be even greater.

Their sister-in-law clearly wasn’t lacking money—she just happened to need some liquidity at the moment.

“Fifteen billion,” Gu Qian murmured.

“Since your Dan Sect is newly established, there must be many expenses. I’ll lend you 20 billion instead. As for interest—” Gu Qian glanced at her three daughters, whose eyes flickered with concern.

“Let’s go with what you said—6% annual interest. And there’s no need to rush to repay it in just half a month. Take your time.”

The military had already informed her that in a month, they would begin large-scale external sales of the Dew Pill patent authorizations.

In half a month, the Gu family would still need to follow the military’s lead and use the timing advantage to make a profit. Pressuring her daughter-in-law to repay the money too soon wouldn’t be a wise move.

The three Gu sisters exchanged looks again but said nothing.

Since their sister-in-law had the means to repay the money and was offering a decent interest rate, they had no objections.

Chu Ning let out a silent breath of relief.

She thought to herself—her mother-in-law was much easier to talk to than expected.

“Alright.”

“Then let’s sign the loan agreement now. Mom, if you’re available—”

“I’ll have the finance department transfer the funds right now,” Gu Qian said with a smile, dialing a voice call.

“Thank you, Mom!”

After thanking her, Chu Ning opened her light-brain device.

She quickly drafted the loan agreement, sent it to Gu Qian, and waited.

Gu Qian had already given the necessary instructions.

After briefly scanning the agreement, she stored her light-brain away.

At the same time, Chu Ning’s light-brain chimed with a notification.

Opening it, she saw that the money had already been transferred.

Without hesitation, Chu Ning immediately forwarded the funds to Xia Ye.

“Heh, Sister-in-law, I heard from Mom that you’ve become an Advanced Alchemist?” Gu Eldest Sister suddenly asked.

“Mm.”

“Then what’s your current mental power level? Mom said your potential rating is S-rank—is that really true?!” Gu Second Sister’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

Gu Third Sister acted like she didn’t care, but her gaze kept darting toward Chu Ning.

“My mental power… I haven’t tested it recently. But my potential rating is indeed S-rank.”

“Wow! Does that mean our family will really have a top-tier alchemist in the future?!”

“Sister-in-law, how do you train your mental power? Do you have any special techniques? We’ve never slacked off in our training, but the highest among us is only A-rank. Here—your Third Sister, she’s got the highest mental power in our family right now.”

Gu Third Sister stiffened her neck.

“Ahem, my mental power is almost at late-stage A-rank.”

“But you’re already 26! My wife is only 20,” Gu Ming scoffed.

“You little brat—!”

Chu Ning nearly burst out laughing but managed to hold it in.

“A-rank before 30 is already considered a genius. Third Sister is impressive,” Chu Ning said sincerely.

She truly meant it.

Whether in this world or her previous cultivation world, reaching the equivalent of a Golden Core stage before 30—without relying on much external assistance—was an achievement worthy of respect.

She had prior experience in alchemy, access to high-quality pills to boost her power, and she was a natural prodigy. Comparing herself to others wasn’t exactly fair.

Gu Third Sister glanced at Chu Ning, her expression finally softening a little.

“Now that you’re an Advanced Alchemist, you can enter any top university you want. Have you thought about which one you’d like to attend?”

It was then that the others realized—Chu Ning wasn’t even a university student yet.