Chapter 644

At night, around 6 p.m., it was still that same French restaurant.

There were six people, two costs involved: the culprit was Su Lin, who got caught off guard by his own slip of the tongue, and the rest he forgot.

Rain poured endlessly outside the window, contrasting sharply with the atmosphere inside the private room—so solemn it felt like a meeting between two diplomatic delegations.

Su Lin looked up at the crystal chandelier used as decoration; how to put it—right now, he could do something, but it was better to just let his mind go blank.

Eirena clasped her sleeves tightly over her knees, avoiding eye contact, lips pressed together, head bowed, believing this posture could shield her from the warm, satisfied, and affectionate gazes of Su’s father and mother.

She pressed hard on Su Lin’s left foot while sending a message: “It’s all your fault!”

After sending it, she saw the culprit turn his head toward her.

“Disagree? After all this, the blame is 100% yours!” Eirena sent another message.

“It’s just a matter of time anyway,” Su Lin replied. “At this point, you don’t think you can back out, do you?”

Smiling, he reached out under everyone’s gaze, took hold of Eirena’s hand gripping her sleeve, and after her token resistance, pried open her soft little fist, sliding his fingers between hers, intertwining them tightly.

“Of all times, you decide to become proactive,” Eirena sighed silently.

Thus, as usual, regaining the rationality and demeanor befitting a mage, she smiled serenely and nodded to Su’s father and mother.

“Last time you lied to me saying you two weren’t dating—no responsibility at all!” Su’s mother scolded, but her tone was clearly more praising than reprimanding:

“This girl is beautiful, kind-hearted, and full of justice—last time she stood up for you. Look at you, after a bit of cultivation, you’ve changed. Learn from her humility and grace.”

Then she proceeded to heap praise on the girl by criticizing her own son—something typically done for the other family’s benefit.

Eirena’s mother, Victoria, understood perfectly and took the opportunity to politely respond and engage in conversation.

But that’s not—

Except for her looks, everything you said is wrong, Mom.

Su Lin: “When this narcissistic little witch has no travel funds, she scams them through fortune-telling, pyramid schemes, and other tricks. When she loses bets, she uses girls who like her to raise money and flee—any of these actions in Los Santos would earn her a full five-star rating.”

“Justice? That was probably just too much generosity.”

Eirena: “?”

Su Lin: “Sorry, I accidentally sent my thoughts as a message.”

In short, she’s vile and narcissistic, but she never cheated me out of money, so how to put it—

Su Lin: “Even so, I still like this witch.”

Eirena: “Are you trying to explain it with something so obvious?”

She half-lidded her eyes and looked at Su Lin.

Their small gestures naturally brought joy to some and sorrow to others.

For instance, Eirena’s father’s face was clouded with despair, as if the world were ending.

In contrast, Su’s father’s smile grew even brighter—he’d spent decades in a state-owned enterprise; he knew exactly what was happening.

At this moment, he needed to raise a topic to divert the attention of this oddly dressed in-law.

Of course, the topic couldn’t be unrelated—it should have some connection.

“Ahem,” Su’s father cleared his throat. “Didn’t Eirena’s sister come?”

“Sister?” Eirena’s father looked up, frowning. “My child is an only daughter.”

“Only daughter? That’s not right!” Su’s father paused, pulled out his phone album, and asked, “Then is this child a relative of yours?”

The photo showed a little girl with gray hair and Liuli -colored eyes, happily eating cake.

Su’s mother covered her mouth and laughed. “This kid joked last time that she was their daughter. I told her, you two are too young to have a daughter.”

Eirena’s father froze—he instantly recognized the girl as a miniature version of young Eirena, yet she was posing in a photo with Su’s father and mother.

“Daughter? Isn’t that just little Eirena?” Victoria leaned over, astonished. “We don’t have any relatives like this.”

The atmosphere, which had just begun to warm up, suddenly chilled.

As Victoria cast her first questioning glance toward the two with stiff smiles, the other three pairs of eyes followed—astonished, confused, bewildered.

This is troublesome.

“This child,” Eirena nervously lifted her head, forcing a smile and waving her hands frantically. “It’s a long story, with complicated reasons—I’ll explain everything to you and Dad when we get home!”

How could she possibly say aloud about exploiting parallel-world counterparts, selling them into black factories, or forcing them to work as maids?

Squeezing counterparts from parallel worlds and selling them into black factories or forcing them to work as maids daily—how could you possibly say that with a straight face?

This was the classic trope—digging yourself deeper with every lie.

And your dad’s gaze is practically dead.

Fortunately, at that moment, the restaurant server wheeled in a cart and began the Western dining ritual—food that wouldn’t taste good but cost more—which temporarily defused the barrage of questions.

Victoria scrolled through the “phone,” noticing something odd in the photos, but remained baffled.

“Why bring up the one thing that’s not open?!” Su’s mother slapped Su’s father hard, her warmth toward Eirena’s parents rising several notches: “Come, come, try the specialty dishes!”

Yet beneath that warmth lingered guilt, and she shot Su Lin occasional angry glares.

Realizing he’d picked the wrong topic but possibly stumbled upon some “truth,” Su’s father chuckled and switched subjects excitedly: “The flavor’s worse than last time—did they change chefs?”

Realizing he’d picked the wrong topic, Su’s father chuckled, then excitedly switched subjects: “Tastes a bit worse than last time—did they change the chef here?”

Su Lin didn’t invite Emiya Shirou or tell anyone in the group about tonight’s event.

For some instinct, he suspected that if those guys found out, they’d enthusiastically organize tonight’s parental meeting themselves.

After all, he was just too kind-hearted, always helping to tie red strings—surely many wanted to repay him?

But they were all bros; Su Mou did good deeds without expecting anything in return.

“Su—” Eirena, sipping juice, widened her eyes, turned to Su Lin, face flushed crimson: “Puh—!”

Irene, who had been drinking juice, widened her eyes, turned to Su Lin, her face flushed crimson: “Puh—!”

Using the Heaven’s Manifestation to pause time and evaporate all the sprayed juice.

Su Lin didn’t understand why this witch suddenly panicked—yet within her panic was a hint of excitement and joy.

Su Lin didn’t understand why this shabby witch had suddenly become so flustered, especially with a hint of excitement and joy mixed in.

Had tonight’s event been exposed in the group?

Would the chat be flooded with congratulations? Not quite there yet…

As Su Lin looked at the group chat, he let time resume.

Inside the group, the screen was flooded with repetitive messages and compliments.

Star: “Even I, hailed as the Galactic Queen of a Thousand Females, feel the pressure of an interstellar warship! An intriguing woman—you’ve captured my interest!”

Huiye of Penglai Mountain: “@Eirena, who is more beautiful—me or her?”

Ye Fan: “The woman by the wine shop glows like the moon, her wrists white as frost and snow. Even the holy maidens and princesses of sacred sects and imperial courts pale beside her.”

Ye Fan: “By the wine counter, she glows like the moon, her white wrists gleaming with frost and snow—even the holy maidens and princesses of sacred lands and dynasties would pale beside her.”

Lu Mingfei: “.”

Ge Xiaolun: “Holy crap—her aura and that look of disdain make up for every inch of her figure! Man, I’m losing interest in pool parties, Bro Tu.”

Tony Stark: “Say that after you crawl out of the pool.”

Zi Jin Shen Long: “Aow! Decided! I’m using this little girl’s image for my livestream!”

What the hell—did someone share a compilation of beauties from other worlds or a hundred goddesses gallery?

Wait, why is your face so red?

Unconsciously, Eirena had tightened her grip on his hand, her cheeks flushed.

Su Lin’s gaze went blank for a moment, his thoughts slowing as he slowly scrolled up the chat history.

Su Lin’s gaze went vacant for an instant; his thoughts slowed, slowly scrolling upward through the record.

Meng Qi had posted a picture of a woman.

Her waist-length hair, dark as the night sky, her eyebrows like distant mountains dusted with faint ink, her skin smooth and fine as solidified white jade.

Her eyes, slightly cold, gazed down with detachment at the object in her hand—not dull or numb, but ethereal, like a winter sun: unblazing, yet distant and serene.

Her eyes grew slightly cold, gazing down from above, empty and detached, not dull or numb, but ethereal—like a winter sun: unblazing, yet distant and lofty.

That gaze matched Su Lin’s own exactly—so much so that beside him, Eirena blinked, then burst into laughter.

She clung to Su Lin’s arm and dragged him away, his mind frozen, utterly vacant: “You guys keep chatting—we’ve got something to take care of.”

Their parents all wore helpless expressions.

“Klein’s dream is dangerous. After I sent the Universal Knowledge Charm into it, a luminous force saturated with order surged forth.”

“Klain’s dream is dangerous. After I sent the Omniscient Talisman inside, it triggered a radiant force brimming with order.”

“The source of that force is this woman in the dream world. Her light resembles Su Lin’s, but it’s purer—so pure it’s terrifying!”

“Had she not been in the Great Luo Heaven, this force would have caused massive disturbances in the Real World.”

“I’m not implying Su Lin’s light is impure—just that a few impurities could be removed.”

Zhang Chulan: “Is there really such a beauty in Klein’s dream? Could he—”

Lu Mingfei: “.”

Huai Shi: “Since it’s Klein’s dream, maybe it’s a tentacle girl projection of the Fallen Mother Goddess?”

Huai Shi: “Since it’s in General Klain’s dream, maybe it’s a tentacle girl projection from the Fallen Mother Goddess or something?”

Meng Qi: “By the way, Lu Mingfei, you also have a projection in Klein’s dream world—I suspect the rest of us do too.”

“But the chaotic abyss of gray mist is too powerful; without a causal medium, none of us can enter.”

“We might truly need a source like the Chaos Sea, and the aid of the Primordial Creator, for me to open a passage into it.”

I might truly need a primordial essence like the Chaos Sea, plus the aid of the Original Creator, to open a passage and enter it.

Meng Qi: “?”

Meng Qi: "?"

The cold wind blew mercilessly, and rain clouds drifted slowly across tonight’s sky.

Su Lin let the rain fall on his face, scratching his head with a tired expression, as if lost in thought.

“The Three-Life Bronze Coffin is too expensive.”

Zhou Mingrui felt unlucky, or rather, he shouldn’t have sought out this Nidhogg prince beside him.

Passing by Yuxing Telecom next to Taichu Group, he suddenly got an idea and bought a lottery ticket at the Yuanhuang flagship store—only to reveal the latest triple-fold smartphone, where every fold showed a screen.

That was the newest model on the market, worth two or three months’ salary if resold—now he could work fewer overtime hours under Huang Zong.

Excited, he took numerous photos of the phone, planning to bring it back to the company and sell it to Huang Zong, that stallion.

But when he reached the entrance of Taichu Group’s building, Li Jiatu suddenly slapped himself, causing the phone to fly out, skidding across the smooth floor until it landed at the feet of a girl talking with Adam, the vice president.

She turned around, bent down, picked up the triple-fold phone, and frowned slightly before

folding it backward into three pieces.

Was he simply not destined for unexpected wealth?

The girl frowned and asked, “Is this expensive?”

“My brother isn’t stingy—it’s just pocket change!”

Li Jiatu slapped Zhou Mingrui’s chest and shoved the three broken screen pieces at him: “Right, Lao Zhou?”

No, pay me market price and black-market price.

Zhou Mingrui had intended to say that, but he stared blankly at the girl—wearing a men’s overcoat over a refined white dress, her expression cold—and suddenly felt she looked familiar.

“What are you doing here?”

Her eyes were white-gold, giving off a contradictory aura: cold and unapproachable, yet somehow compelling you to draw closer.

It was deeply incongruous, just like her outfit.

“You’re trying to acquire Huang Tao’s company, and so am I—I sent my representative. Let’s talk,” Li Jiatu introduced. “This is Zhou Mingrui, Huang Tao’s representative. This is Su Yuling, chairwoman of Taichu Group.”

Zhou Mingrui suddenly remembered when he’d seen this girl—if he hadn’t been fixated on the phone, he’d have recognized her immediately!

Back when he came to Taichu Group for his interview, it was seeing this girl walk into the men’s restroom that shattered his Dao heart.

For a long time afterward, he suspected all beautiful girls were men in disguise, and developed a female antibody!

She/he is Taichu Group’s mysterious chairwoman?!

So young.

The gap between people really is bigger than between dogs.

“Hey, snap out of it. You’re sinking in too deep,” Li Jiatu nudged him with his elbow.

Though he hadn’t meant it that way, he realized it was impolite.

“Sorry,” Zhou Mingrui said politely. “I’m Huang Zong’s representative, not his son-in-law.”

“That daughter-obsessed guy?” Su Yuling asked.

Had the label “daughter-obsessed” already spread through the upper circles, instead of “womanizer”?

“You’re not young anymore,” Su Yuling said without reason. “Let me matchmake you two. I won’t make you pay for the phone.”

“?”

The phone’s cost was negligible—after all, cooperation mattered.

But saying that… are you trying to get me fired?

Just as Zhou Mingrui didn’t know how to respond, Su Yuling tilted her head, a faint smile curling at her lips: “I was joking.”

She turned and gave a few instructions to Vice President Adam, then smiled warmly: “Let’s discuss cooperation.”

Su Yuling walked ahead to lead the way.

Li Jiatu, grinning mischievously, asked: “Do you like a girl like that?”

“A girl?” Zhou Mingrui frowned.

He always felt Su Yuling lacked something—she felt like a robot, yet occasionally revealed a trace of humanity.

“Girl,” Li Jiatu repeated seriously. “She’s a girl. Remember that.”

Had he misunderstood all this time?

So she’s a girl.