Chapter 65 1/2

As a senior novel enthusiast, Shengquan had seen many plots where domineering CEOs owned private planes.

When she watched those, she thought it was impressive enough.

After having one herself, she realized… It was indeed quite impressive.

And really cool.

Traffic in the Magic Capital was severe, and although her luxury car was stylish and comfortable, when stuck in traffic for one or two hours, it didn’t feel very cool.

Especially since she had been traveling frequently lately and was almost stuck in traffic every day.

Shengquan could enjoy idling away her time comfortably, but indeed, as she expanded and strengthened her various businesses, she gradually became intolerant of wasted time.

She even suspected that one of the reasons why Gu Zha made his office the home office was that he didn’t want to be stuck in traffic.

Indeed, it was something he could do. After all, he was a person who would buy most of his daily necessities online to save time.

After Shengquan forced Gu Zha to take a three-day rest in the vacation area, the first thing this guy did when he came back was, as expected, work.

The good news, however, was that Gu Zha’s complexion visibly improved.

When Shengquan asked what he had done during his vacation, Gu Zha, who had seemingly increased his beauty in just three days of rest, thought seriously for a few seconds and answered:

“Read books, look at plants, and watch the sunset.”

Seeing Shengquan’s expression freeze for a moment, the well-prepared Gu Zha assured her that he did indeed have a good time because he even brought her a gift.

a small green plant.

“Thank you.”

Shengquan took the flowerpot, looked at the tiny plant inside for more than ten seconds, and asked, not too sure, “Is this a… grass?”

“Yes.” Gu Zha explained to her, “These three pieces of grass are ones I found under the slate. I watched them push up the slate.”

Shengquan looked at the plant in the pot and said, “Three pieces? How come there’s only one here?”

Gu Zha explained with seriousness, “I left one for myself, planning to keep it in the office. Another one is for Ryan. Plants are not easy to bring overseas, so I’ll keep it with mine until he comes to Huaxia.”

Shengquan: “…”

Gu Zha even thoughtfully added, “If you’re afraid you can’t take care of it yourself, you can leave it to me. I have experience.”

Shengquan looked at the small plant in her hand and the even smaller one in the flowerpot. “I think I should be able to take care of it.”

Gu Zha really seemed to have experience. He even customized several “small slates” online, wanting to create a familiar environment for them.

Shengquan didn’t understand.

She felt she could just pick up some stones from the flowerbed downstairs.

Although raising a single plant seemed a bit strange, Shengquan got used to it over time. Because Gu Zha gave names to the grass he gave her, she followed suit and named her plant “Getting Rich.”

It can be said that the implication was quite clear.

To match the name “Getting Rich,” Shengquan went to the mall, unknowingly bought a bunch of beautiful and exquisite cups, bowls, and plates, and finally found a delicate flowerpot adorned with small gold ingots.

Once she had decorated her own flowerpot, Shengquan snapped a photo of the two small flowerpots on Gu Zha’s office desk and took another one of her own. She sent all the photos to Ryan overseas, with the caption:

【The one on the left is yours.】

Ryan: 【What kind of plant is this?】

Shengquan: 【Didn’t your brother tell you? This is the gift he intended to give you. I also have one. The picture behind is mine.】

Ryan: 【Haha, why did he suddenly give us gifts? Also, what kind of plant is this? I can’t tell.】

Shengquan: 【I made him take a vacation. He went on vacation for three days. This is a vacation gift. It’s a wild grass. I thought you knew. He said he received a piece of grass as a gift when he was a child and raised it for over a year.】

For a long time, Ryan didn’t reply. Shengquan had already gone home, had a comfortable bath, and only then received his response:

【Tell Ryan for me that I really like this gift. I will come to Huaxia to see it as soon as possible.】

He even specifically mentioned coming to Huaxia to see this grass.

Indeed, they were two brothers, and their interests were quite similar.

Looking at it this way, when giving them gifts in the future, she could consider giving them large ant towers, the world’s largest grass, which would be suitable for large potted plants.

As Shengquan prepared to binge-watch a drama before going to bed, in the distant country of A, Ryan was still lying comfortably in bed and hadn’t gotten up. He repeatedly opened his phone to look at the two wild grasses in the first picture.

The tender green grass grew firmly in the small flowerpot, even looking somewhat beautiful.

It was like when he first saw Ryan.

When Ryan was a child, he wasn’t as lazy as he is now.

He lived in a harsh and terrifying atmosphere. The elders couldn’t tolerate the gradual decline of the family. Starting with Ryan’s grandfather, the family’s method of marriage was to pair up with highly intelligent individuals.

Like breeding pets, they hoped to produce outstanding children through this method, allowing these children to revive the family’s past glory.

Ryan was the highly intelligent child “bred” in this way, and naturally, he received rigorous education from an early age.

They hired various famous teachers to instruct him; he wasn’t allowed to rest, couldn’t play like children of the same age, and if he dared to be lazy or didn’t produce satisfactory results that pleased the elders, he would be locked in a terrifying little black room.

For him, who was still very young, every day was exhausting. But at that time, he didn’t even know that treating him like this was wrong because, to prevent him from being “tempted by the outside world,” they even didn’t allow him to interact with other children.

However, Ryan was never one to accept defeat. He planned an escape, got lost in the enormous garden, and then ended up in another little black room.

Inside, another child was being held.

The two, separated by a door, didn’t even meet. When the other asked who he was, young Ryan, afraid of being reported, casually picked up a piece of grass from the ground and passed it through the gap under the door.

“Speak softly. Isn’t this room dark and scary? I secretly came to see you. This is the gift I brought for you.”

In fact, after so long, Ryan had almost forgotten about this incident. But now, recalling it, that distant scene seemed to be replaying before his eyes.

He still remembered that the child in the little black room didn’t speak for half a day. When he was nervous, the wild grass was cautiously pulled in through the gap under the door.

Then, a very subtle thank-you came from inside.

At that time, Ryan vaguely felt a smell of blood. He felt scared, so he quickly ran away. Not long after he ran, the adults caught him and brought him back.

Later, he learned that the child in that room was called Ryan, and he also had a Huaxia name, Gu Zha.

Both were geniuses, but because Ryan’s mixed-blood status wasn’t favored by the adults, they relied on his genius IQ. Thus, he suffered more and endured more than Ryan did.

Compared to Ryan’s parents, who were sometimes incompetent but would occasionally protect their child, Ryan’s parents wouldn’t protect him. They were all intensively instilling the concept of “must succeed” in him, regardless of whether he was still just a child.

In reality, the family did indeed nurture two geniuses, but both of them were unwilling to revive the family’s glory as their family wished.

On the day they became adults, Ryan left the family completely.

As for Ryan himself, he didn’t leave. He lived lazily and happily, acting like a grain of rice in the family. Every time he saw those people looking at him with heartache and wishing he had “failed,” he was happy.

Ryan’s life trajectory always made people feel that he was living very freely, and indeed, he was. But only he knew in his heart that there seemed to be a huge void in him forever. No matter how much he enjoyed himself or sought pleasure, it kept expanding with time.

But when did it start? Perhaps after taking up this job, he found that he didn’t seem to resist work as much as he had imagined.

Especially when the boss was Shengquan.

Turning over in bed, Ryan sent a message to Gu Zha:

【Has that void in your heart been filled?】

The two hadn’t discussed such topics, but he knew that the other would understand the meaning behind these words.

—Ding.