Big Data Cultivation-Chapter 1937 - 1939: Pyramid... Scheme?

Good scenery knew Zhong Lijing’s attitude, but she still had to ask about the incident before deciding whether to recommend this person.

Zhong Lijing didn’t hide anything; she openly talked about her breakup.

She carried the reputation of a "jinx." Although this wasn’t an issue when she was in college in the Magic City, where she had many suitors, things were different when she returned to Lin An, especially since her grandfather passed away at the end of last year.

Generally, young men didn’t dare think about pursuing her. Although there were some bold ones, apart from that somewhat ominous reputation, she wasn’t lacking in other areas. Her appearance was excellent, and the inheritance left by her parents and grandfather was substantial.

The Zhong Family had a long tradition of scholarship, and all her grandfather’s children proved themselves worthy. However, Zhong Lijing was the most pitiful one, so before he died, the old man wrote a will leaving most of the inheritance to this unfortunate granddaughter.

Adding to that her parents’ inheritance, her assets were worth at least tens of millions—not to mention she owned four houses in Lin An and another two in the city center of the Magic City, one of which was a duplex.

Therefore, Zhong Lijing was a typical rich and beautiful woman, and she truly wouldn’t consider someone whose conditions were below par.

It was just this past New Year that a colleague introduced her to someone. She met him once. His appearance wasn’t noteworthy, but his family was wealthy, owning three factories with assets worth several hundred million.

The man was very satisfied with her, expressing disbelief in those ominous sayings, and the two began dating.

Zhong Lijing was aiming for marriage, so she indulged in romance, like going to the movies, but didn’t let him take advantage.

The man was a bit dissatisfied, but he couldn’t do much—especially since he was a little intimidated by such an unconventional woman.

After three months, the man’s mother indicated that marriage was possible, but they would have to live in their property’s house in the county—because there were four elders there waiting for their care.

It was framed as "you two," but in reality, it meant Zhong Lijing was expected to take care of them alone, while the man had to go out to work.

Indeed, the man’s mother implied that since she would be marrying into their family, she would have to consider whether she still needed her job as a teacher.

Because Zhong Lijing had money herself, the man’s family worried she wouldn’t be willing, so they hinted that their house in the county had good feng shui; otherwise, it wouldn’t have grown so large. Moving there could suppress any bad aura around her.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Lijing felt like retorting, "Are you looking for a daughter-in-law or a maid?"

She insisted that after marriage, they would have to live in Lin An, and if the four elders didn’t mind the trouble, they could stay at her place—after all, she wasn’t short on houses, and quitting her job was impossible!

As for taking care of the elders, she could help find a caregiver, and if she had time, she would visit more often.

The gap in conditions was too big, so they couldn’t reach an agreement. The man was reluctant to lose her but didn’t dare defy his family—he himself had no abilities; it was his parents who were strong.

After about half a month of standoff, a student’s parent told her that they saw her boyfriend shopping with a woman, acting very affectionately.

The parent wanted to win favor with the teacher, so they took a picture and sent it via WeChat.

Zhong Lijing’s three-month relationship was aimed at marriage, and she was familiar with the man’s family—she could recall relatives like the cousin and in-laws, having received meeting gifts and honored the elders with presents.

When she saw the picture, she was shocked. This level of intimacy was too much to be just a cousin or sister, especially since she confirmed it wasn’t them!

So she directly forwarded the picture, questioning the man, asking who the woman was.

After about an hour, the man explained that the woman was a client of the factory and that it was purely business, hoping to explain in person.

Worried that she might be falsely accusing him out of anger, Zhong Lijing found an uncle who was a police officer, asking if he thought it looked like a client relationship.

The uncle looked at the picture, understood the situation, and simply said, "You’re not trying to check hotel records, are you? With actions like that, there’s no need... If you really decided to trust him, then even hotel trips would be business!"

Being a Chinese major, Zhong Lijing caught her uncle’s drift, so she directly sent a message saying, "Break up!"

After the breakup, the man didn’t agree with it—probably because he hadn’t gotten his way—and even went to the school to cause trouble.

The school supported their teacher, and the Zhong Family had many connections in Lin An, but this commotion made some of Zhong Lijing’s reputations more notable, and being somewhat sensitive, she considered resigning.

She called a relative in the Magic City, asking if they could help her find a job—since she wanted to leave, she might as well leave the city entirely. The Magic City had more opportunities and higher salaries, and she had a house there, so there wasn’t much pressure.

And then, she came to Zhengyang—anyway, Sister Mei was an old acquaintance, likely not to screw her over.

Teacher Mei listened, curious, and even asked her to show the photos before saying, "Men are all the same... Now that you’re here, delete the photos. You won’t be interested in bothering with such trivial matters anymore."

It was then that Zhong Lijing asked, "Is this Daoist Cultural Center funded by the government?"

"The government can’t afford it," Director Mei laughed, "No one in the world is richer than Elder Feng, who could possibly fund him?"

"The entire... world?" Zhong Lijing blinked, wondering if she had misunderstood, "Sister Mei, are you saying Boss Feng is wealthier than those on the Forbes list..."

Director Mei responded nonchalantly, "Boss is too lazy to get on the list, otherwise, even the top ten combined wouldn’t match him."

After a slight pause, she emphasized, "Oh, and don’t tell my teacher about this... you promised to keep it a secret."

"Oh," Zhong Lijing nodded but soon felt puzzled again. Is she worried that my cousin will regret it, or worried that the lie will be exposed? "So what business does Boss Feng do?"

"You’ll understand slowly," Mei Jin waved her hand, replying casually, "Even if I tell you now, you might not believe it."

Zhong Lijing was actually quite bold, but hearing this, she felt a bit like she had encountered a pyramid scheme. She pondered whether to call her uncle for advice.

Seeing her expression, Mei Jin could guess her doubts and thought to herself that the little girl needed some guidance, "Are you still playing the guzheng recently?"

Zhong Lijing instinctively replied, "I don’t like the guzheng, I occasionally play the pipa."

Teacher Mei flipped her hand, and a pipa appeared in it, "Play ’Ambush from Ten Sides’ for me."

"Hm?" Zhong Lijing was startled, looking around, "Pipa... where was it just now?"

Teacher Mei flipped her hand again and now had a box of pipa nails, "Put them on and play."

Zhong Lijing wasn’t a music student, but her family had deep roots in "qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting." Though she wasn’t proficient, she could manage a little of each.

Zhong Lijing played a segment of ’Ambush from Ten Sides’ with a bit of awkwardness, "I haven’t played seriously for a long time."

Director Mei shook her head, "You haven’t touched it for at least a week... If you don’t practice for a day, you know it; if you don’t for two days, your master knows; if three days, everyone knows."

Zhong Lijing first nodded, having heard this so many times it was like a callus in her ears, but the next moment, she was stunned again, "Pi... where’s the pipa?"

Teacher Mei had already put away the pipa, looking at her with a knowing smile, "Still doubting? Not very old, but quite suspicious."

Zhong Lijing wasn’t embarrassed. She smiled and replied, "I learned to protect myself from a young age... Sister Mei, is this real Daoist magic, not just tricks?"

"You even know about Daoist magic," Director Mei laughed, "If it were just tricks, could the boss become the world’s richest?"

Zhong Lijing immediately became excited; over the years, she had sought spiritual solace in Buddhist and Daoist books and really had read quite a few, "When can I be like you?"

"You?" Mei Jin glanced at her, "You stay honest in your work first. See what opportunities come... Do you know how much my recommendation slot is worth if sold?"

Zhong Lijing’s eyes sparkled with excitement, "How much?"

Director Mei replied nonchalantly, "Well, someone offered a billion, but I didn’t sell it... If it were to foreigners, ten billion US dollars could be fetched."

Zhong Lijing’s eyes darted as she laughed, "I guess you’re afraid to sell it... Elder Feng wouldn’t let you, right?"

At first, she thought Senior Sister Mei misspoke in address and took the liberty of calling him "Boss Feng." Now she finally realized he truly was the boss.

"Of course, I can’t sell it. If I dare to sell it, the boss would clear house," Director Mei spoke severely as a warning, "I’m just telling you, this is the real market rate... my teacher suffered a big loss this time."

"I’ll repay them," Zhong Lijing replied straightforwardly, then immediately laughed, "But if my cousin knew the truth in the future, he’d regret it so much he’d turn green."

"Not necessarily," Director Mei spoke leisurely, "What they call opportunity is what you seize; missing it means it’s just fate."

"My luck is actually pretty good," Zhong Lijing surprisingly started praising her luck, showing how carefree she was, "I just thought of quitting a few days ago, and today I hit the jackpot."

Needless to say, she was naturally quite an optimistic person. Teacher Mei was amazed that she accepted the existence of Daoist magic so easily and not only accepted it; she was also very interested, asking left and right.

"Senior Sister Mei... is this ’Universe Sleeve’?"

Director Mei reluctantly explained, "Universe Sleeve is a divine skill. I’m far from cultivating divine skills."

"Then what is this?" Zhong Lijing imitated her gesture, "How did it just vanish suddenly?"

"I can’t tell you for now," Teacher Mei replied seriously, "Learn bit by bit."

She wasn’t deliberately being secretive, but there was a reason. She remembered clearly that when others were using Storage Talismans, she used a Storage Bag. At that time, Feng Jun warned her not to spread this casually, fearing that it might disrupt others’ balance of mind.

Director Mei had also spent a considerable amount of time in this environment and strongly agreed with this notion.

However, Zhong Lijing really had a great mindset, and in the next moment, she asked again, "Do you think my bad luck will affect Elder Feng... shouldn’t you ask first?"

(Recommending an old friend’s new work "Super Medical Son-in-law in the City," Liao Liao God is a veteran writer with over ten years of experience. His new book is online-oriented. Lastly, calling for monthly tickets.)