Chapter 61 The antiques are now sorted out; they can fetch at least two billion!

Duan Wu stammered.

Xiao Qidi frowned. "Don't worry, I won't take the Xuanjia Army away."

"That's not what I meant!" Duan Wu knelt down with a thud. "Although the Xuanjia Army were originally soldiers of Xitun Pass, they were personally trained by His Majesty. How could I dare to keep such a fine and elite army by my side!"

Xiao Qidi narrowed his eyes slightly, "Then you..."

Duan Wu took a deep breath. "This humble general is Hope, Your Majesty, please don't go back. The soldiers and people here are all reluctant to part with you!"

"Hmm?" Xiao Qidi chuckled. "As a king, if I don't return to the capital, am I supposed to stay here with you forever? You must have other intentions."

Duan Wu could only tell the truth: "If Your Majesty returns to the capital, I'm afraid... it won't be safe..."

"What do you mean?" Xiao Qidi asked with a look of amusement.

Duan Wu's expression was solemn. "Does Your Majesty still remember when Ba Yong first invaded Xitun Pass, Your Majesty immediately ordered several soldiers to send a message to the court requesting reinforcements?"

"Of course I remember."

"Your Majesty, more than a month has passed, yet there is still no news of reinforcements, and even the soldiers you sent have disappeared without a trace..."

"What is General Duan's view on this situation?"

“Those soldiers grew up with me, and I know they would never fail the emperor’s trust, even if it meant risking their lives. This situation could mean either they were being obstructed or the court was ignoring them. Either way, it proves that… someone wants the emperor to be in trouble, and that person is very capable.”

Duan Wu forced himself to voice these thoughts, his forehead gradually becoming covered in cold sweat.

He was merely a border general, and for him to speak ill of the court in front of the emperor was already an offense.

"General Duan is truly intelligent," Xiao Qidi said calmly.

When Duan Wu heard that the emperor not only didn't reprimand him but also praised him, he breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "Your Majesty flatters me. I'm not that good-witted. Actually, it was a few of us lower-ranking officers who analyzed it privately. It's mainly because Li Yao is very meticulous..."

"Ahem." Ning Jinli coughed softly to remind him.

She could tell that Xiao Qidi's tone was off, but Duan Wu, that simpleton, was still grinning foolishly.

Duan Wu scratched his head. "Fairy Jinli, what's wrong?"

Ning Jinli: ...

Xiao Qidi spoke slowly, "Do you generals think I'm a fool?"

"Huh?" Duan Wu was taken aback, and hurriedly said, "We wouldn't dare!"

Xiao Qidi's tone was cold. "I never said I planned to return to the capital, yet you all speculated about it in private. You even said that there are capable people in the court who want me to get into trouble. Do you think I'm useless and incapable of handling this?"

Duan Wuren was terrified and hurriedly kowtowed, "Your Majesty! We had no such intention! If...if Your Majesty wishes to punish, please punish only us!"

Seeing this, Ning Jinli even wanted to plead for Duan Wu.

They meant well, but Xiao Qidi misinterpreted it like this. This guy's paranoia is too much!

Just as she was about to speak, she noticed a mischievous sly smile flash in Xiao Qidi's eyes.

Um?

What does he mean...?

Are you trying to scare people on purpose?

"Considering your merit in guarding Xitun Pass, I will not punish you. You may leave now," Xiao Qidi said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Duan Wu felt as if he had been granted a pardon, kowtowed, and withdrew.

Ning Jinli glanced at Xiao Qidi, then quickly chased after him out the door.

"General Duan, please wait."

"Fairy, what are your orders?"

"I'm asking you, have you offended Xiao Qidi?"

Duan Wu looked blank and shook his head. "Reporting to the fairy, no."

Ning Jinli frowned. "That's strange."

Judging from Xiao Qidi's reaction, she initially thought that this guy's paranoia had relapsed.

But then he thought about it again. Xiao Qidi should be able to see what kind of people the generals of Xitun Pass were and what kind of thoughts they had been harboring these days.

Not to mention that sly smile he just gave.

"Is there something you haven't done well?" Ning Jinli thought it was unlikely. How could Duan Wu not try his best to complete Xiao Qidi's orders? But she still asked, just to give it a try.

Duan Wu scratched his head, "Not really—"

Before he could finish speaking, his face froze, he slapped his forehead, and clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for the reminder, fairy!"

Ning Jinli was surprised, "There really is? What's the matter?"

"This..." Duan Wu looked embarrassed. "Um... His Majesty once ordered me to repair the outhouse, but I was a little lazy and haven't finished it yet."

"What?" Ning Jinli was even more surprised. "Just this little thing? How could this offend him? But why should I ask you to fix the outhouse?"

At this moment, Xiao Qidi's tall figure appeared behind Ning Jinli.

Duan Wu was covered in sweat. "Fairy, please don't ask."

He dared not mention the time the emperor almost fell into the latrine again. Last time, he was punished for mentioning it and had to repair the latrine. If he brought it up again, he might be forced to fill the latrine.

"Your Majesty..." Duan Wu bowed his head and clasped his hands in a fist, "This humble servant will continue to repair the latrine... This humble servant promises that I will never slack off again."

Ning Jinli turned around and saw Xiao Qidi's lips slightly curved upwards.

Okay... that's really the case.

Sigh.

"Go quickly," Xiao Qidi uttered.

Duan Wu quickly retreated.

Immediately afterwards, a soldier reported that some of the drones and walkie-talkies had run out of power, and that they had been sent to the Fairy Cave in Linxian Village to charge them, but there was no response. He wanted to ask the fairy why this was happening.

The soldiers had heard Fairy Jinli explain what it meant to be without electricity and how to charge their devices using the sockets she had placed in the cave.

However, they did not understand the specific principles behind it and simply assumed it was some kind of magic from a fairy.

Ning Jinli sighed, "The power cord is broken, so it definitely won't charge."

The time-space portal has been moved to Medicine King Valley. Once this one is closed, the power lines are cut off.

Thinking about this problem gave her a headache.

Doesn't this mean that if we want to return to the modern world, we still have to drive to Medicine King Valley?

Fifty kilometers isn't far, but there aren't any proper roads, so driving there is exhausting...

“Miss Ning, I heard that the people of Linxian Village have built a temple for you at the entrance of the Immortal Cave,” Xiao Qidi suggested. “Let’s go take a look.”

Ning Jinli had never wanted any temples, but since it was the people's wish, she agreed to go and take a look.

It was quite a distance from Xitun Pass to Linxian Village, so she continued driving her Mercedes-Benz G-Class with Xiao Qidi on board, heading towards the Fairy Cave in Linxian Village.

When we arrived at the place, we took a look.

The entrance to the cave has been repaired very neatly and turned into an open gate.

The gate is built against the mountain with eaves, and the four stone pillars supporting the eaves are carved with simple patterns.

Although this simple temple is entirely made of stone and the workmanship is somewhat rough, it is clear that a lot of care was put into it.

Once inside, you can see that Ning Jinli's walkie-talkie and socket are all treated like treasures, neatly arranged on a stone table.

Suddenly, Ning Jinli saw a fluorescent glow emanating from the inside of the cave.

Xiao Qidi also saw it.

The two quickly strode closer and were pleasantly surprised to find that the time-space portal had reopened.

After crossing it, we went straight to the factory's small warehouse, just like before.

"I understand!" Ning Jinli patted Xiao Qidi's arm, her eyes shining. "It seems that the entrance to the space-time tunnel follows you there! When you're in Medicine King Valley, it connects here and Medicine King Valley; when you're in Xitun Pass, it connects to Immortal Cave!"

Xiao Qidi touched his arm and nodded. "It seems that's indeed the case."

As Ning Jinli pondered, she asked, "So here's the question: why did the time-space portal appear in Medicine King Valley? Did anything unusual happen while you were there? Or did you do anything special?"

Xiao Qidi recalled for a moment, "It seems not."

Ning Jinli muttered, "Could it be that new entrances and exits are randomly generated in the place where you are?"

Xiao Qidi took out his phone. "It's out of battery. I need to charge it."

Without realizing it, a picture flashed through his mind of himself being seriously injured, and in his dazed state, he seemed to be looking at the photo Ning Jinli had sent him on his phone...

After losing consciousness, it seems like I was dreaming?

"Give it to me." Ning Jinli took the phone, found a socket in the warehouse to charge it, and then said, "How about this, I'll get a diesel generator and put it in the Immortal Cave, and send some diesel fuel over there to store."

"That way I won't have to run cables from the factory to charge your drone walkie-talkies."

"Otherwise, if you need to leave Xitun Pass again, the power lines will have to be cut off again."

"We'll make do with the diesel generators for now. They'll definitely be enough to power the drones and walkie-talkies. I'll try my best to build a power plant for you in the future. Once Linxian Village has electricity, many things will be much easier!"

"How about it?"

Ning Jinli finished speaking quickly and turned to look at Xiao Qidi.

Xiao Qidi seemed to be thinking about something before he came back to his senses. "Hmm... whatever you say."

At that moment, Ning Jinli's phone vibrated.

She took out her phone to answer it. It was a call from the security guard at the factory gate, saying that someone had come to visit and that the person on the other end said he was her uncle.

Ning Jinli frowned. Ning Hai?

What is he planning to do now?

Ning Jinli initially didn't want to see him, but then she thought that rather than not knowing his intentions at all, she might as well see what his purpose was.

"Take him to the conference room in the office building, I'll be right there."

Ning Jinli hung up the phone and casually picked up Xiao Qidi's phone, which was charging.

While turning on the phone, he said, "I have something to do. You can play on your phone here for a while."

Just as the boot screen was about to end.

Xiao Qidi abruptly snatched it away, saying, "Okay, you go ahead and do your work."

Ning Jinli pouted, "What? You're from ancient times, and you've only been using cell phones for a short time. Do you already have some secrets?"

Xiao Qidi glanced at the photo wallpaper displayed on the screen and secretly breathed a sigh of relief without any expression.

"Fine, I'm not going to bother with you anymore." Ning Jinli didn't think much of it and turned to leave.

When she arrived at the conference room, Ning Hai was already waiting.

“Xiao Li,” Ning Hai greeted her, puffing on his cigar, “you’re really busy these days. Your uncle has to wait more than ten minutes to see you.”

Ning Jinli crossed her arms. "Excuse me, the factory is too big. What brings you here? What are you planning to rob this time?"

“Hehe,” Ning Hai chuckled, “We’re all family, why say such harsh things? I’ve already explained the situation to the police about that incident last time. It was purely He Kai’s personal act, and I was completely unaware of it.”

Ning Jinli sneered, "It's only because there's no actual evidence, otherwise you would be the one spending your life in jail."

Ning Hai's eyes darkened slightly, but he still maintained a forced smile. "Of all the people in the Ning family, you and I are the closest left. Do you really want to lose your family?"

The mention of her family caused Ning Jinli a sharp pain in her heart.

If it weren't for remembering how good my uncle had been to me when I was little, I wouldn't have been kicked out of the Ning family by him later. I would still have had illusions about family ties, and I wouldn't have been tricked into inheriting a debt-ridden factory.

But now, Ning Jinli no longer feels any affection for him.

Seeing Ning Jinli's eyes gradually turn cold, Ning Hai vaguely sensed that this once innocent and naive girl seemed to have changed in a short period of time.

However, he didn't take it to heart and continued to put on a friendly tone, saying, "I heard that some production areas of your factory have restarted their production lines, and production of grains, oils, rice, flour, clothes, shoes, fertilizers, and pesticides has resumed."

"You're quite well-informed," Ning Jinli said.

Ning Hai said with a smile, "You're my own niece, so I should at least care about you. Xiao Li, why do I get the feeling that you haven't even thought about how to sell the products before you started producing them?"

Ning Jinli said coldly, "You don't need to worry about that."

Ning Hai flicked his cigarette ash and put his feet up on the table. "You have no experience in business management. You've just messed things up and all you've done is lose money. I've thought about it, and I really feel bad for you before. This time, I genuinely want to make it up to you."

"Oh?" Ning Jinli feigned interest. "Tell me about it?"

Seeing her reaction, Ning Hai thought to himself that this young girl was still young and he could still control her. So he put on a sincere look and said, "I want to offer a high price to buy your factory."

"How much are you giving?" Ning Jinli asked with a smile.

Ning Hai held up one finger, "One hundred million."

"Wow, so many?" Ning Jinli's eyes widened, showing surprise.

Ning Hai chuckled inwardly.

After that incident, he became even more certain that there were a large number of antiques buried under the factory. He just didn't expect things to go wrong, which almost landed him in jail and even earned him a warning from the police.

Therefore, he had to change his strategy and could no longer resort to force.

One hundred million is not a lot for him, especially since he is currently trying to secure a huge investment.

The investor is the Lu family, one of the top wealthy families in Xinghan City, who are very wealthy.

Thanks to his efforts over this period, the investment is basically on track.

Therefore, spending 100 million to acquire this factory is a simple matter.

“Xiao Li,” Ning Hai said earnestly, “one hundred million is enough for you to live a very good life without doing anything for the rest of your life. You don’t need to suffer and work hard running a factory, do you?”

“Hmm, that makes sense.” Ning Jinli nodded in agreement.

Ning Hai added, "I know you young people always think about making something of yourself, but making something of yourself isn't that easy."

“Yes, that’s true.” Ning Jinli nodded again.

Ning Hai's face lit up with joy. "So, you agree?"

Ning Jinli grinned, "Ten billion, I'll think about it."

“You…” A hint of anger flashed in Ning Hai’s eyes, but he quickly regained his smile. “That’s an exaggeration. Young people shouldn’t be so greedy.”

Ning Jinli teased, "You mean, you can only be greedy once you reach your age?"

Ninghai: ...

“I’m not kidding you,” Ning Hai said, trying to remain patient. “Two hundred million, that’s the most I can go.”

Ning Jinli said, "What if I don't agree? Can you force me to move the factory? Don't forget, when you tricked me into inheriting the factory, you signed a contract to lease this land to me for fifty years."

Ning Hai's eyes turned slightly cold. "I'm doing this for your own good, so don't be ungrateful."

"Thank you so much!" Ning said with a beaming smile. "The first time you tried to help me, you left me without a home. The second time you tried to help me, you almost left me with a debt of over 70 million. I really can't accept that."

Ning Hai frowned, his eyes scanning her up and down, thinking to himself, "Could it be that this little girl is not as easy to fool as before?"

But this time, I'm genuinely willing to spend real money to acquire it.

"Xiao Li, as long as you sign the contract, I'll transfer the money to you immediately." Ning Hai tried to persuade her further. "If you have any objections to me, we can go our separate ways from now on. You can take the two hundred million and live your good life. Isn't that okay?"

Ning Jinli smiled enigmatically, "Why are you suddenly interested in this factory? Didn't you used to complain that its production technology was outdated and had no future, which is why you used it to incur debt?"

Ning Hai sighed and put on a sincere expression. "I only realized it later. In the end, even the worst projects were built up little by little by your grandfather. As the heir to the family business, I can't just abandon the old man's hard work. Besides that, of course, there's also the feeling of making it up to you. You can trust your uncle."

Ning Jinli also sighed, "Ah, Uncle, your acting skills are still so good, but as a viewer who has been fooled before, I won't be fooled by you again."

"Ning Jinli!" Ning Hai finally couldn't hold back any longer and slammed his hand on the table.

Ning Jinli's smile faded, and she said seriously, "It seems you won't reveal your true purpose. We have nothing more to discuss. Goodbye, and don't bother seeing me out!"

"You, you, you..." Ning Hai was furious.

He jumped up, threw the half-eaten expensive cigar on the ground, and stomped it out. "Ning Jinli! Doing business isn't child's play! You're definitely not cut out for it! I've already given you a chance. If you mess up the factory and lose everything, don't regret it!"

"Do you want me to call security?" Ning Jinli picked up her phone.

Ning Hai's face turned ashen. He stared intently into her eyes for a while before finally gritting his teeth, turning away, and walking away.

After leaving the factory and getting into the car, Ning Hai closed his eyes and calmed himself for several minutes before his complexion gradually returned to normal.

"Ha, how ridiculous," he opened his eyes and muttered to himself, "Ning Jinli, Ning Jinli, do you really think you're all grown up now? You insist on restarting the factory to produce goods and do business, is that it?"

"Fine, I'll show you just how ruthless the business world can be."

He then made a phone call and instructed the person on the other end: "Ning Jinli's factory is resuming production and needs a lot of raw materials. Keep a close eye on it for me."

“Yes, Mr. Ning,” the other party said, “Do you want to restrict the raw material supply channels?”

Previously, most of the factory's material suppliers and distributors were partners of the Ning family. With just a word from Ning Hai, Ning Jinli could forget about buying any raw materials needed for production in Xinghan City.

Ning Hai said, "No, not only should we not restrict the supply of raw materials, but we should also provide her with as much as possible. As much as she wants, you should have the raw material suppliers sell her that much."

The person on the other end of the phone was clearly taken aback. "What? What...do you mean?"

A sly smile crept across Ning Hai's face. "With this sucker around, the raw material suppliers can make even more money, and then I'll naturally gain the favor."

"Ning Jinli only focuses on production and doesn't consider sales. Once she's produced a huge amount of stuff, and you cut off her distribution channels, what do you think will happen to her?"

The person on the other end of the phone visibly gasped.

That's a really ruthless move.

After making that phone call, Ning Hai felt much better.

"You little brat, you've got a hard time! You asked for this! Hahahaha!" He laughed as he started the car and sped away.

In the factory.

Ning Jinli had just stepped out of the office building when she received another phone call.

This time it was Third Master Wu who called.

Third Master reported to her that the huge pile of antiques from last time had all been sorted out.

"Thank you for your hard work," Ning Jinli said with a smile. "What kind of things do you have?"

Master Wu took a deep breath. "Miss Ning, listen carefully."

"There are 18 cultural relics, all of which have been donated to the relevant cultural relics departments."

"Two thousand seven hundred and three pieces of various jewelry and jade; eight hundred and sixty-two catties and four taels of gold bars, gold cakes and gold ingots; more than five thousand catties of silver; twenty-five pieces of calligraphy and paintings made of silk, leather and paper; one hundred and forty-one pieces of cultural artifacts; two hundred handicrafts..."

Hearing this, Ning Jinli felt a sudden headache coming on.

"Stop, stop," she interrupted, rubbing her temples.

Master Wu chuckled and said, "I've made a table here, Miss Ning, you can check it whenever you have time. I'll just highlight the key points. Apart from cultural relics, the rest that can be traded on the market can conservatively fetch at least two billion. Most of them are sought-after antiques. If Miss Ning wants to keep them for herself, she can keep them. If she wants to sell them, I'll take full responsibility!"

"Hiss... It can sell for at least two billion?" Ning Jinli was taken aback.

This is another huge source of income!

She thought about it carefully and said, "Then let's sell them all."

She really doesn't know anything about collecting, nor does she have any interest in it.

Selling the goods and using the money to develop the factory would definitely be the best option.

"Good, good, good!" Old Master Wu on the other end of the phone was grinning from ear to ear.

"By the way, Miss Ning, there's also a whole bunch of ancient artifacts that can only be considered junk, like tattered burlap sacks, hair ties, stools missing arms or legs, chipped pottery jars and bowls...etc. I won't go into detail, it's giving me a headache. These things have no research value, nor any trading or collection value. What do you think we should do with them?"

Ning Jinli hurriedly asked, "How many pieces are there?"

"How many pieces?" Old Master Wu exclaimed. "Let's put it this way, more than two tons! And that's after they've been cleaned!"

Ning Jinli opened her mouth into an "O" shape.

She knew there were many, but she never imagined there were so many.

Master Wu said, "Although I don't know where Miss Ning got this from, I suggest that the best way to deal with it is to throw it away."

Without even thinking, Ning Jinli immediately said, "No, let's find a warehouse to store it properly."

In her mind, these two tons of things were nothing but garbage to Master Wu; they were all the good intentions of the ancient people.

It's worthless, but very valuable.

"Ah, this..." Master Wu paused for a few seconds, "Alright, I'll do whatever you say."

"Thank you." Ning Jinli smiled. "Is there anything else?"

Master Wu said, "Yes, there is one more thing. I wonder if Miss Ning would be interested..."

"Please speak, Third Master."

"Well, well... I want to transfer 60% of my antique company to you free of charge. From now on, Miss Ning, you'll be the big boss behind the company, and I'll be the second-in-command. I'll do whatever I need to do, and you can just sit back and collect the money."

"What?" Ning Jinli was quite surprised. "Aren't you losing out by doing this?"

Master Wu said frankly, "It's not a loss, not a loss at all. Even if I only own 40% of the company in the future, with Miss Ning around, I can earn more money than before. Of course, I would never cheat you; I have already sworn a solemn oath to that."

In fact, besides what he openly stated, the more important reason why Master Wu wanted to do this was that he was certain Ning Jinli had a powerful backer.

He would never dare to cheat her; he only hoped to use this opportunity to indirectly find a powerful backer, which would truly secure his future.

After a long while, Master Wu still didn't hear a response from Ning Jinli.

He gritted his teeth and said, "If Miss Ning is still not at ease, then... then I'll sell you the antique company. You can just give me a few hundred thousand as a token. But I must be your boss, because I myself am the company's biggest asset... and after all, it's the culmination of my life's work, Miss Ning, what do you think..."

Having said all that, Ning Jinli felt it would be impolite to refuse.

“How about this, Third Master,” Ning Jinli said, “I don’t need that many shares, 10% or 20% will be enough.”

Master Wu was overjoyed. "You agreed?"

"Yes, I agree."

"Alright, alright, thank you very much, Miss Ning! However, since I said I'd give you 60%, it has to be 60%! You can't refuse me! Otherwise, it would be me breaking my promise!"

"Um... okay."

In the end, Ning Jinli agreed.

As the saying goes, good things come in pairs. Just after Uncle Wu finished talking to her about these things, she received another phone call with good news.

This time, it was the president of Xinghan Central Hospital who called personally.

The dean said that the pharmaceutical company has been registered and established, named Shennong Pharmaceutical, and that all ownership belongs to Ning Jinli.

Furthermore, they acquired an existing Chinese medicine processing plant, and when it will begin production is entirely up to Ning Jinli, the owner.

Ning Jinli was still surprised. As expected of the president of a top-tier hospital, his efficiency was truly astonishing. The president then made a suggestion.

"Ms. Ning, the original employees of the acquired processing plant have all been retained, but I would still like to recommend someone to you so that you can effectively manage the company. What do you think?"

"Okay, Dean, please go ahead."

“He is my friend’s son, named Lu Jueming. He is 27 years old this year. Don’t let his young age fool you; he graduated from a prestigious university and has already obtained two doctoral degrees in medical management and traditional Chinese medicine.”

"27 years old...two doctoral degrees?"

Ning Jinli almost bit her tongue.

She graduated from a top-tier university, but compared to this Lu Jueming, she was nothing.

She's a true academic superstar!

"Ahem..." Ning Jinli cleared her throat. "Your friend's son is so outstanding, how could you bear to recommend him to me?"

The hospital director smiled somewhat helplessly, "His parents want him to inherit the family business, while I want to groom him to become the future director of Xinghan Central Hospital. But this kid just happens to like dealing with traditional Chinese medicine, otherwise I really wouldn't be willing to give him to you!"

“Family business…surname Lu…” Ning Jinli said as she recalled, “Could he be from the Xinghan Lu family?”

The dean asked in surprise, "Miss Ning knows her?"

Ning Jinli said, "We had contact more than ten years ago, but... we wouldn't call ourselves acquaintances."

She remembered attending some gatherings of wealthy families with her parents when she was a child. At that time, the Ning family could barely be considered a top-tier wealthy family in Xinghan City.

But later, as her grandfather became seriously ill and bedridden, her parents had an accident.

Under her uncle's management, the Ning family declined year by year. Now, although they can still be considered a wealthy family, they have fallen to the second or third tier.

“Jue Ming is currently attending a research lecture at a medical school in another city and won’t be back for a few days,” the dean said with a smile. “When he gets back, I’ll have him meet you so he can get to know his future boss.”

"Yes, Dean, I await your message."

After the call ended, Ning Jinli realized that a few minutes earlier, Xiao Diqi had sent her a WeChat message saying that his phone was fully charged and he was heading back to Linxian Village.

Ning Jinli subconsciously prepared to reply to the message, but then remembered that once he returned there, there would be no cell phone signal, so she gave up and casually opened a shopping website, selected two diesel generators and placed an order.

"Hmm..." Ning Jinli stretched and yawned.

A strong feeling of fatigue washed over me.

She then realized that she hadn't slept since yesterday.

Moreover, last night he drove Xiao Qidi back to Xitun Pass, and then drove with him to chase after the Crown Prince of Yu Kingdom. He was on edge all night.

"Sleep, sleep... I'll die of exhaustion if I don't sleep now..." Ning Jinli didn't bother with breakfast. She yawned as she returned to her dormitory, forced herself to take a shower despite her fatigue, lay down on the bed, pulled the covers over herself, and fell asleep in less than three seconds.

She slept very soundly that night.

It wasn't until nearly noon the next day that she groggily regained consciousness, stretched lazily with her eyes closed and humming.

Suddenly, my hand seemed to bump into something hard on the edge of the bed.

Ning Jinli turned her head and opened her eyes, only to see a figure standing beside her.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, instantly waking up and realizing that it was Xiao Qidi.

"Oh my god...you scared me to death!" She clutched the blanket to her chest, still shaken. "When did you get here?"

Xiao Qidi said expressionlessly, "Just arrived."

Ning Jinli frowned, "Wasn't your phone fully charged? Why didn't you call me before coming straight into my dorm room..."

“I called, but you didn’t answer,” a barely perceptible hint of resentment flashed in Xiao Qidi’s eyes, “so I had no choice but to come to you.”

Ning Jinli quickly took out her phone from the side and glanced at it.

There were more than a dozen missed calls from Xiao Diqi.

"Sorry, sorry," Ning Jinli chuckled, "I was sleeping too soundly... What did you want to see me about?"

Xiao Qidi said, "I've arranged a victory celebration banquet for the soldiers and civilians. I'd like to ask if you'd like to attend."

Ning Jinli's eyes lit up. "A celebration banquet? Great! This time we have to have a big one. Of course I want to attend! Wait a minute, I'll find a restaurant to order food."

“No need,” Xiao Qidi shook his head. “We seized a lot of supplies from the Yu Kingdom’s military camp this time, so there’s no need for Miss Ning to go to any trouble. Besides, the victory celebration banquet has already begun.”

"Okay, let's go!" Ning Jinli threw off the covers and got out of bed.

Xiao Qidi's pupils instantly contracted, and his handsome, rugged face visibly flushed red to the roots of his neck. Then, two streams of blood spurted from his nose...