“Yang Xin, let’s go out and take a look. There is probably a storm in the city right now. I want to listen to what people outside are saying about the eldest son of the Bai family.”
“Okay, Young Master.”
Feng Ming walked out of the Feng house and came to the street outside. Not long after, he arrived at his destination, a restaurant.
There was a sign with the words ‘Fengyu (wind and rain/trials and hardships) Tower’ hanging directly above the restaurant. Feng Ming felt that the name of this restaurant complemented the current situation of Qingyun. Moreover, this was the largest and busiest restaurant in Qingyun. If he wanted to hear any interesting news then he should come here.
Feng Ming heard from his father that the owner behind Fengyu Tower was City Lord Duan of Qingyun City. This was another master in the late-stage essence liquid realm besides his father. For other families, only masters in the early and middle stages of the essence liquid realm were in charge.
It was precisely because the owner was City Lord Duan that no one in Qingyun dared to cause trouble in Fengyu Tower.
The waiter of the restaurant saw the Feng Ming master and servant instantly. He immediately greeted them enthusiastically, “Young Master Feng, please come in quickly.”
Feng Ming was a celebrity in Qingyun City. His biological father was in the late-stage essence liquid realm. So when Feng Ming came here, everyone from the storekeeper to the waiters knew that they had to treat Feng Ming well.
Under the guidance of the waiter, he stepped over the threshold. Then the lively sounds in the lobby suddenly paused. Someone said in surprise, “Brother Ming, you are here. I happen to have a seat here.”
At this time, someone leaned out from upstairs. He called out ‘Feng Ming’ and walked downstairs. “Feng Ming, you’re here. There is a seat by the window upstairs. I know your favorite.”
Someone else ran out of a box. “Brother Ming, I have a seat in a private room. It is quiet to eat in the private room.”
The other guests in the lobby looked at each other. Then some people shrugged and continued their conversation while eating and drinking.
It could be said that there were very few guests in Qingyun City, especially Fengyu Tower, who didn’t know Feng Ming.
Who didn’t know that marrying this little ger would allow them to get the full support of the Feng family?
In fact, everyone wanted to be the son-in-law of Feng Jinlin, the boss of the Feng family. However, there were the children of the Bai, Ding and Sheng families rushing forward, so the others didn’t have confidence in themselves.
They simply stayed aside and watched the drama to see who would be the final winner and marry the Feng family’s ger as they wished.
There were even people who placed bets in private. Among them, Bai Qiaolan from the Bai family, Ding Zhengze from the Ding family, and Shen Duo from the Shen family were most favored by the public.
They thought that the final winner must be among these three because they were the same age as Feng Ming and also had good looks and cultivation qualifications. They were all direct descendants trained by their respective families.
Of course, the side descendants of these three families weren’t willing to admit defeat. The family forces in Qingyun, who were inferior to these three families, also wanted to compete.
City Lord Duan also had a son and daughter. City Lord’s son, Young Master Duan was two years older than Feng Ming, so he was about the same age. However, everyone knew that City Lord Duan only came to Qingyun City to serve. He had a background, and none of his children stayed in Qingyun City. They stayed in the family to study and train. They only occasionally came to Qingyun to visit their father.
The children of the Duan family were exposed to a wider world. The person they wanted to marry was naturally from a higher-level, well-matched family. Even if they were interested in Feng Ming, everyone thought that Feng Ming could only be used as a concubine. There was no need to think about being the official spouse.
—
The one who called out ‘Brother Ming’ in the lobby was Song Yunchen of the Song family. The power of the Song family in Qingyun wasn’t strong. However, Song Yunchen had a good appearance, and this attracted the admiration of many women in Qingyun City.
However, Song Yunchen only had Feng Ming in his eyes. This caused many people to talk with Feng Ming behind his back or in front of him.
The person upstairs was Sheng Duo from the Shen family. He was one year younger than Feng Ming, so he was only 15 years old. In Feng Ming’s view, this Sheng Duo was like a younger brother. The baby fat on his face hadn’t completely receded. Feng Ming really couldn’t have any thoughts about such an underage brother.
By coincidence, the third person was Bai Qiaolan from the Bai family. He and Bai Qiaomo were half-brothers and the second son of the head of the Bai family.
Feng Ming had long heard that Bai Qiaomo didn’t have a good relationship with his stepmother and younger brother. Now this rumor had been confirmed. Bai Qiaomo had come home seriously injured, and his younger brother still had time to go out to eat and drink in a restaurant. This showed that the feelings between the half-brothers were really indifferent.
The eldest among the three was Song Yunchen. If other people were talking to him, Feng Ming was willing to talk to Song Yunchen. After all, good-looking people were pleasing to the eye. Feng Ming was a bit of a beauty con and preferred good-looking people. In particular, people who say nice things made him happy.
But forget about it today. Feng Ming refused. He clasped his fists toward Song Yunchen and said, “Brother Song, please don’t inconvenience yourself. I’ll go upstairs to eat with Younger Brother Sheng.”
Sheng Duo immediately beamed and walked up to Feng Ming with his head held high like a victorious little rooster. Feng Ming stretched out his hand and nodded before saying, “You have to call me Brother. Call me Brother Ming.”
Then he walked in first with an attitude of not being a guest. Yang Xin followed with a wooden face. In any case, he was well aware of the popularity of his young master. His young master could still mix among people like a fish in water. Thus, he wasn’t bothered at all.
It was because Feng Ming didn’t treat himself as a ger to be married at all. Deep down, he still felt that he was a grown man.
Sheng Duo followed him up and fought for his own power. “That won’t work. They all call you Junior Brother Ming. If I am the only one who calls you Brother, I am too far behind. If I can’t call you Junior Brother Ming, then it is better for me to call you by name directly.”
Feng Ming laughed at him. “Can a title change the fact that you are my little brother?”
Song Yunchen and Bai Qiaolan, who were guarding the stairs, both laughed. In their opinion, Sheng Duo was the least competitive because of his young age.
Of course, they couldn’t be completely careless. Look at the fact that Sheng Duo took advantage of his young age to shamelessly get close to Feng Ming. This kid was very cunning.
Feng Ming and Sheng Duo went upstairs. The guards in the lobby downstairs were even happier. Someone said, “Young Master Ze of the Ding family didn’t come. Otherwise, our Fengyu Building would be even more lively. Oh, I can’t see which one Young Master Feng prefers.”
“Hey, why are you worrying about Young Master Feng? There is the entire Feng family as the dowry. Does Young Master Feng have to be worried about getting married? What’s more, Young Master Feng has an outstanding appearance.”
Song Yunchen watched Feng Ming disappear up the stairs and heard others discuss it. Then he shook his head, sat down, and continued drinking and talking with his friends.
Upstairs, Bai Qiaolan glared at Shen Duo. He said a few words to Feng Ming before returning to his box. There were guests in his box.
Shen Duo ordered a few dishes that Feng Ming liked to eat. Yang Xin was entertained by his entourage while he shamelessly approached Feng Ming to talk.
“Feng Ming, do you know what happened to the Bai family?”
Feng Ming drank the spiritual tea poured by Sheng Duo. His father didn’t allow him to drink outside. Anyone who wanted to please Father Feng wouldn’t make a mistake in this regard, especially in public.
Feng Ming nodded. “Yes, I stayed in the alchemy room for a few days and heard about it after coming out. Is there really no way to save him? It is a pity for Bai Qiaomo.”
He was obviously a man who was the pride of the sky. Who would’ve expected that he would fall from heaven to hell overnight? Feng Ming felt that he wouldn’t be able to withstand such a big blow.
Sheng Duo shared the gossip with Feng Ming. “Now everyone in our city is talking about the Bai family, but look at Bai Qiaolan. This is his biologically older brother, but I see that he is happy in his heart. In the past, his half-brother always suppressed him. Every time people mentioned the Bai family, the first thing people thought about was his older brother and then Bai Qiaolan. Now his older brother has become a useless person. Bai Qiaolan must be feeling proud.”
It could be seen that everyone knew about the discord between these two brothers. Feng Ming asked, “This Bai Qiaomo really can’t be saved?”
Sheng Duo quickly told his information. “He was in danger in the secret realm and was seriously injured. His dantian was abolished. You know that the pills and heavenly treasures to repair the dantian aren’t that easy to come by. Not to mention, now that he is useless, would the head of the Bai family be willing to go to all the trouble and ruin his fortune to obtain at least a fifth-grade pill for him? He loves his current step-wife more. Bai Qiaomo used to be valued by him and the Bai family because of his talent. But once he became a useless person… look, he is probably regarded as a burden by the head of the Bai family.”
Feng Ming put down his tea cup. “Tsk, aren’t they both his own children? No matter how useless, Bai Qiaomo’s qualifications are still there. Marry him so he can have children. Perhaps he can have a few good children who inherit his qualifications.”
Sheng Duo chuckled. “This is called waste utilization, right?”
Feng Ming glanced at him. “It is too hurtful to tell the truth.”
Feng Ming asked again, “Have you seen this eldest son of the Bai family?”
Sheng Duo said joyfully, “Of course, I have. Others talk about how good Bai Qiaolan is, but in my opinion, he isn’t even half, no, one-fifth of his older brother. No one can compare to him. Anyone who has met Brother Bai will definitely not forget him. Brother Bai is not only good-looking but also has a good temperament. It is just that he doesn’t often stay in Qingyun. Otherwise, the younger generation of Qingyun would never get a turn. He would suppress not only Bai Qiaolan but also all the younger generations of our family.”
Feng Ming was surprised. “Seeing you like this, do you really like this young master of the Bai family?”
Sheng Duo continued, “Who doesn’t like excellent people? I am not the type of person who is jealous, small-minded, and intolerant of others. Brother Bai has always been my role model. Unfortunately, my qualifications aren’t as good as Brother Bai. I might be able to enter the Kunyuan Sect, but I will definitely only be an outer disciple. I can’t bear the pain of being an outer disciple, so it is better to stay at home and be a young master.”
This was the reason why Feng Ming was willing to get closer to Sheng Duo. Look at how sincerely he spoke. He couldn’t bear hardships and wasn’t afraid of being looked down upon by others if he said it.
Feng Ming had a lot in common with Sheng Duo. He reached out, patted him, and said, “Yes, it is better to stay at home and be a young master. I also can’t bear the hardships, haha.”
In the large family, he and his father were the only two masters. People were all surrounding them. Such a day made Feng Ming just want to lie down.
Sheng Duo agreed repeatedly, and the two of them talked happily. The door of the box wasn’t closed tightly, and Sheng Duo’s duck-like laughter could be heard outside. Bai Qiaolan, who was originally in a good mood, became sullen.
“Young Master Lan, don’t take this Sheng Duo too seriously. He is just a child. I see that Young Master Feng also makes fun of him. How can he compete with Young Master Lan? What’s more, from now on, Young Master Lan’s status in the Bai family will become even higher. There can be better marriage partners than Young Master Feng.
Bai Qiaolan took a deep breath. “This boy surnamed Sheng is too annoying. He is deliberately laughing at me. Okay, don’t mention him, and close the door tightly. I can see that Younger Brother Ming doesn’t have any intentions toward him. He is indeed just teasing.”
The door was closed tightly, and the harsh laughter outside couldn’t be heard. Bai Qiaolan’s mood was refreshed. His mood in the past two days had been really good.
Who would’ve thought that his older brother, who had always been pressing down on him and was highly valued by his father and family, would have his dantian destroyed and become a useless person? What would happen to the Bai family in the future depended on him, Bai Qiaolan. In the future, his father would focus on cultivating him. He would be the only son.
Bai Qiaolan really wanted to thank the ‘kind person’ who crippled his older brother. He felt the desire to laugh out loud when thinking of his older brother’s current situation.
Outside, Sheng Duo saw that Feng Ming was interested in Bai Qiaomo’s matter and mentioned more of what he knew. For example, when the disciples of the Kunyuan Sect sent him back to the Bai family, they gave him some additional medicinal herbs that could regulate the body, indicating that it was the sect compensating Bai Qiaomo himself.
Part of it was paid by his master, who would also send disciples to visit their ‘Senior Brother Bai’ in the future.
“Before Brother Bai was injured, he was already in the late stage of the qi gathering realm. Who didn’t say it was certain he would be an essence liquid realm cultivator? He is so young. He can take a step forward in the future and become an essence dan realm or even soul opening realm cultivator. Brother Bai is only seven years older than me. He is only 22 this year and already has such strength. Compared with him, our over 10 years of life have been in vain.”
Feng Ming nodded. Bai Qiaomo had become a qi gathering realm cultivator at the age of 12. He was indeed a genius. Feng Ming had a lot of resources provided by the Feng family, but he had just passed the body tempering realm and hadn’t entered the threshold of the qi gathering realm. He was very ashamed compared to Bai Qiaomo.
The area outside Qingyun wasn’t a popular place for cultivation. It was said that outside Qingyun, there were not only cultivators in the soul opening realm, but even the fusion realm and nirvana realm.
If Bai Qiaomo hadn’t been abolished halfway, he would’ve walked out of the world of Gaoyang County in the future. There might be a higher peak waiting for him to climb.
After eating and drinking enough in the restaurant, Feng Ming satisfied his craving for melons. Feng Ming took Yang Xin to say goodbye to Sheng Duo without paying a single yuan crystal. He walked around again and finally brought some snacks back to the Feng house.
During the process, he didn’t hear anyone mention the engagement between Bai Qiaomo and the Feng family in Gaoyang County. It wasn’t known if it hadn’t reached here or if someone deliberately blocked the news.
I hope Sheng Duo continues bejng a friend and not… 👀