Chapter 16: Properties

“Knock, knock, knock.” There was a second of silence outside the door, followed by louder knocks, along with a shrill scolding, “Xie Sen, you have grown bold. How dare you fling the door in front of us!”

Xie Sen turned around, and was about to go back to his room when he heard his name. He thought about it, and reopened the door. He ignored the two men’s black faces, and asked politely, “May I ask who you are?”

“You actually ask who we are?” The short middle-aged man’s voice became even more high-pitched. “My son and daughter-in-law raised you to adulthood. So now that they’re gone, you’re pretending you don’t know us, aren’t you?” He pointed at Xie Sen and cursed, “I knew you would be a wolf. I should not have let them adopt you even if I had to die.”

He didn’t even breathe for a moment, then his voice changed, “You were acting like a good boy for the first two years, but now that you’re about to graduate, you’ve gotten your wings and don’t see us anymore?” He pointed his hand from Xie Sen’s body to the house. “Do you know whose house you are living in now? Since you have hardened your wings, you should hurry up and move out. We have no responsibility to continue to support you.”

Xie Sen listened to his shrill curses, and just wanted to cover his ears. But now he knew the identity of the two men, and when he thought about how he was occupying his predecessor’s body, he forced himself to listen quietly.

The predecessor’s notes had mentioned his grandfathers with very little ink.

‘Grandfathers don’t seem to like me.’

‘Dad and Grandfather quarreled because of me. I blame myself. How can I make the Grandfathers like me? I will be good.’

Xie Sen looked at the two men expressionlessly, and took a step back to make way in the doorway. “Please come in and sit down if you want to talk about something.”

Father Xie and Father Xie glanced at each other, and both showed surprise in their eyes. Why did this white-eyed wolf feel different from before?

The three of them sat in the living room. Xie Sen poured them tea. “Sorry. I just woke up a little confused. What are you here for today?”

Father Xie cleared his throat, and said seriously, “Your adoptive father and his family have been dead for three years. We have been too sad these years, and have not made a complete inventory of their assets. Now that you are an adult, we have to do a proper accounting.”

Xie Sen thought about the balance of his predecessor’s account, and the corners of his mouth slightly deflated. “Father didn’t leave me any property.”

“I know they don’t have any savings,” said Grandfather Xie. “The money piece was settled three years ago. I’m not talking about the savings.”

Because of Grandfather Xie’s previous words, Xie Sen had a rough guess in his mind, and thought that they were mostly here for the house.

Xie Sen pointed to the ceiling. “Is it the house?” He had a bad impression of the two, but the house was their son’s, and they deserved it. After all, he was not the real predecessor.

What’s more, he had just made a fortune and wasn’t too worried. “I can move out.”

Grandfather Xie and Grandfather Xie were even more surprised. Grandfather Xie looked much better. “Quite understanding. You have lived here to adulthood. We have done our duty.”

Xie Sen thought it would be easy to settle things, and got up. “I’ll go pack my bags.”

However, things went beyond his expectations. Grandfather Xie said, “Wait, there is one more thing.”

Xie Sen sat down again. He thought and thought about it, but he couldn’t come up with anything of value from his predecessor. He wondered, “The shuttle?”

“That’s your father’s gift to you. It’s yours,” Grandfather Xie said, his eyes looked sharply at Xie Sen. “Now you don’t hide it anymore. Your fathers, before their last expedition, did they leave something good at home?”

Xie Sen was confused, “No.”

“Liar!” Grandfather Xie glared at him. “The whole of Star City knows about it, and you still want to lie to us?”

Xie Sen was confused, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“That chili pepper bush,” Grandfather Xie said in a deep voice. “The video of you and your classmate’s sparring match was posted online, and the plant experts pointed out that the plant you used to attack was Brandt Star’s extinct edible plant, the red chili pepper bush.”

Grandfather Xie followed up. “Needless to say, this must have been brought back by my son and his expedition, which is an inestimable property!”

Xie Sen was stunned. He never thought that they would have the idea to take the chili pepper bush.

“That’s not what they brought back from their expedition,” Xie Sen explained. “Edible plants grow in the ground, and aren’t aggressive.”

Grandfather Xie’s face sank. “You mean you don’t want to take it out?”

Xie Sen was speechless. “I won’t take what is yours, and I won’t give what is mine.”

“Shame on you. What are your things? If it weren’t for you, my son and I would be so close. If we were closer, why would they put the chili pepper bush here with you?” Grandfather Xie scolded, with an ugly face.

Xie Sen looked at him helplessly. He clearly, stubbornly believed that the pepper bush was brought back by the adoptive father.

“I said, the pepper bush is mine. They didn’t bring it back. They were researchers of the Plant Research Institute, and every expedition has peer researchers. Even if they found a new species, it would be put into the Research Institute, not brought back privately.” Xie Sen said patiently.

“Hmph, you can’t fool me! You’re acting as if I don’t know! The two of them liked to run around when they were on vacation. I know that the pepper bush is something they inadvertently got when they were on vacation.” Grandfather Xie looked insistent.

Xie Sen looked at his attitude, and knew it was useless to say more. He got up and said, “I will move out as soon as possible.”

“You think I wouldn’t dare?” His grandfather’s face was ugly. “Obediently take it out! I can give you a sum of money to live. I know things are not good for you since you are an adopted son. After the death of your adopted fathers, and us elders competing for property, your reputation was damaged.”

“I’m not afraid.” Xie Sen shrugged his shoulders. “I’m telling the truth. I’m not vain at all.”

“You’re not vain? I think you’re a pig face! You’ve been scolded for so long and you’re still fine. You’re not afraid of being scolded at all! But have you ever thought? What if it became public about how your adoptive fathers found an extinct edible plant, but didn’t disclose it, and didn’t report it to the Institute. Then what would people say?”

Grandfather Xie was agitated, “They are the role models of the Institute. If this gets out, not only will they lose their reputation, but they will also be criticized and questioned! Even if they have been dead for three years, as an adopted son, can you bear to see this happen?”

Xie Sen couldn’t help but sneer. This was a blatant moral kidnapping. “You’re right. I can’t stand it. They were dedicated researchers and wouldn’t hide any findings. The pepper bush I have is my own, and has nothing to do with them.”

Grandfather Xie choked. Only after he considered carefully, did he realize he had wound himself up. He originally wanted to persuade Xie Sen to meekly hand over the chili pepper bush, and not make a big deal out of it. But it turned out that the chili pepper bush was Xie Sen’s, and he couldn’t afford to affect his son’s reputation.

Grandfather Xie snorted, “Yours? Where did you get it? You’ve never been out of Star City. There’s no way you could have gotten the pepper bush!”

Xie Sen didn’t know how to explain, and said vaguely, “It’s none of your business. I’ll go pack my bags.”

He ignored Grandfather Xie’s cursing words and quickly went to his room. He said he was packing, but he didn’t have anything to take, so he just packed some clothes in his luggage and carried out his bag.

“Are you unwilling to hand over the pepper bush?” Grandfather Xie asked in a deep voice.

“Yes.” Xie Sen nodded. This was his stuff. Of course he wouldn’t hand it over. Not to mention the pepper bush was in the System, and he couldn’t hand it over.

“I will contact the relevant departments to investigate you. I will not let my son’s legacy fall into your hands.”

Xie Sen waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter, goodbye.”

He drove away in his shuttle, thought about it, parked in the school’s parking lot and then began to wonder what to do. How was he going to explain the existence of the pepper bush? As he pondered, he turned on his bracelet to connect to Starnet and check the video comments of his fight.

With a glance, he saw the top trending comment. A golden name, ‘Dean Ma,’ [It’s a miracle! It’s a chili bush! An edible spicy plant that has become extinct on Brandt Star.]

The comments underneath that comment were extremely numerous, mostly various doubts: [How did he get the extinct plant? A student who had only reached adulthood?]

There were also many questions: [Dean Ma saw it, right? Edible plants can attack people?]

Of course there were many foodies: [What kind of spicy flavor? Is it a stimulating grass kind of spicy flavor? Or what kind, curious to eat!]

While Xie Sen was watching, his bracelet vibrated. He looked at it. It was an unfamiliar number. As he thought of Grandfather Xie’s words, he connected. “Hello.”

“Hello, this is Ma Qun from the Plant Research Institute. Is this Xie Sen?” The person on the other side was a gentle voiced uncle.

“Yes, I am.” Xie Sen gritted his teeth. This was the person who identified the pepper bush.

“I’ve seen your sparring video, and I’m interested in the pepper bush you used to attack. Can we meet?”

Xie Sen said, “Sorry, I’m busy right now.” He hadn’t thought of an explanation yet!

“That’s too bad. Here is my communication number. Please contact me immediately when you have time.” Ma Qun was very gentlemanly and did not pester.

Xie Sen had a much better impression of him, and casually agreed.

He hung up the communication, and continued to brush the Starnet to read the comments. Not long after, he found that Ma Qun’s popular comment actually reached the second place, and in first place was a new comment.

The person who posted the comment was also a golden name called ‘Mu Lin’, [Dean Ma is right, it’s a miracle, but I don’t think his words are all right. I have a bold guess…]

The comments at the bottom exploded: [Holy shit, am I seeing things? The Director of the Institute of Contract Beasts has actually appeared!]

[The most mysterious golden vest director has actually appeared!]

[What conjecture? You say it!]

[Dean Mu is still so precarious! Talking halfway. Why don’t you just say it?]

[Curiosity at the max! Ah, ah, ah! Dean Mu come back quickly! What is your guess, ah?]

[Calling on Dean Mu!]

“…”

The bottom of the comments were all copy and paste, calling to the deans.

Xie Sen secretly thought that it was no wonder there were so many comments all of a sudden. This Dean Mu should go write a novel. A cliffhanger was the worst, he thought as he copied and pasted a comment. He also wanted to know what Dean Mu’s conjecture was, ah!