Chapter 5

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Gu Qingshan did a check on his Dantian and found that the Spirit Power in his Dantian had become stronger by quite a bit.

The military bow in his hand seemed lighter now, but this was an illusion that came with an increase in physical strength.

Gu Qingshan nodded satisfactorily and glanced at the hourglass at the top of the interface.

There was no more sand flowing through the hourglass.

A row of words quickly appeared in the middle of the operating interface.

“Player Gu Qingshan has spent 24 hours in the other world and will now return to the real world.”

“All weapons have been stored in the storage bag and can be used anytime.”

“Returning now.”

He felt a little dizzy.

Gu Qingshan opened his eyes to find that he was kneeling on one knee on a soft and expensive carpet and looking at a beautiful girl in front of him.

The hall was decorated fairly luxuriously and looked like a place where high society held their social gatherings.

The only thing that stood out was the noisy and chaotic sound of people cheering and clapping amidst the soothing ballroom music.

“Say yes to him!”

“Dude, hurry up and say it!”

One voice called out after another.

Gu Qingshan looked around him, and his gaze finally stopped at the girl in front of him.

It was true that she looked good no matter what she wore. Even if she didn’t have any accessories on and was wearing a plain, white, long dress, anyone would spot her even in a crowd of other girls.

Su Xue’er.

That was a name that was etched deeply into his memory. A name he never forgot.

Gu Qingshan closed his eyes, then opened them again.

There were some concern and anxiety in the girl’s eyes, but she mostly looked like she didn’t know what to do.

Gu Qingshan didn’t change the expression on his face as he quickly looked around him.

This was a familiar place to him. The scene that he remembered hadn’t happened yet.

So he had really traveled back in time.

This was the turning point in his life.

Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder hard and encouraged him. “Qingshan, go for it! Bravely tell her what’s in your heart!”

Gu Qingshan turned to look at that person.

Zhang Ye, his best friend from high school.

“Su Xue’er, Gu Qingshan has something to tell you!”

“That’s right, he’s prepared this for a long time and wants to tell you how he really feels.”

“Gu Qingshan, say it! We’re all your witnesses.”

There were people who continued to shout among the crowd.

Seeing that Gu Qingshan remained silent, Su Xue’er finally opened her mouth to speak.

“Gu Qingshan, you don’t look like you have anything to say to me. Did you come up because other people dared you to?”

The moment she started speaking, everyone quieted down.

Everyone wanted to see if Gu Qingshan was really going to confess his love at the graduation ball like what they heard.

Gu Qingshan listened to what she said very seriously and smiled faintly.

This girl was still as clever and considerate as always. She had even thought of a way to help him out of this awkward situation.

Unfortunately, in his previous life, he had fallen into someone else’s trap.

Gu Qingshan stood up and dusted his knees off.

“Actually, it’s like this. I sincerely hope that you could promise me one thing,” said Gu Qingshan calmly.

“What is it?”

The girl suddenly became nervous.

What was wrong with him today? Couldn’t he tell what she was trying to say?

Gu Qingshan was very serious as he replied, “Come to my BBQ stall tomorrow and try my cooking.”

Su Xue’er was stunned.

All the people who had been cheering earlier were also stunned.

Everyone watching couldn’t believe this.

“BBQ? Just a meal? Nothing else?” Su Xue’er’s eyes lit up.

“Of course,” replied Gu Qingshan.

Su Xue’er widened her pretty eyes and looked out at the crowd as she said, “But your best friend Zhang Ye said that you wanted to tell me—”

Gu Qingshan cut her off, “I didn’t tell him anything.”

Su Xue’er immediately understood what was going on.

“Oh? So none of this came from you.”

She seemed to be relieved, and there was a smile on her face.

Zhang Ye noticed that this wasn’t going the way he’d planned it to go and hurriedly said, “Qingshan, didn’t you tell me that you were going to confess to Su Xue’er today?”

There was an uproar in the crowd.

Gu Qingshan turned to look at Zhang Ye coldly.

Zhang Ye was just like himself. They had both been born poor and made it into this top high school because of their stellar results.

After three years in high school, the two of them had forged a deep friendship.

Gu Qingshan had thought that Zhang Ye was a brother close to his heart.

But yet at the graduation ball, Zhang Ye had slipped a drug into Gu Qingshan’s drink.

So in the end, the drug had started taking effect in the middle of his confession to Su Xue’er and he had tried to violate Su Xue’er in front of everybody.

Su Xue’er’s bodyguards and a group from the student council had managed to press Gu Qingshan down to stop him.

This matter had shocked the entire school.

Gu Qingshan had had good results, had been fairly talented, and had had a kind personality, which had been how he’d caught Su Xue’er’s eye.

But after this incident, Su Xue’er had been utterly disappointed in him. She’d slapped him in front of everyone and left crying.

The Su family had been enraged and had declared that they wanted to kill Gu Qingshan.

The school had expelled him without hesitation and hadn’t even given him the chance to sit for the college entrance exams.

The head of the Su family had spared his life only because Su Xue’er had begged her family pitifully for three days.

The patriarch of the Su family was the magistrate of all of Changning County, and there were nine magistrates in the whole Federation.

After that incident, everyone had laughed at Gu Qingshan, and they all had looked down on him.

He had been working part-time at a technology research company, and they had immediately fired him.

He had gone around trying to find a school, but no school had dared to take him in. He’d tried to find work to make money, but he hadn’t even been able to find a part-time job; he nearly starved to death in the slum.

All this had been thanks to his best friend, Zhang Ye.

Gu Qingshan had struggled in between despair and aimlessness until the other world had been connected to the real world, and he’d found a chance to make a comeback.

He’d eventually left for Fuxi Empire, a place far from home.

But in that life, Gu Qingshan had recalled what had happened that fateful day countless times in the middle of the night and clenched his teeth so hard whenever he’d thought about it.

Gu Qingshan had also reflected on it before.

There was a tacit sort of understanding between himself and Su Xue’er.

But he really shouldn’t have hoped that the two of them could’ve advanced in their relationship before acquiring any power of his own.

Doing that would’ve only put Su Xue’er in a spot, and it would’ve also put Gu Qingshan in danger.

Thankfully, he got a second chance in this life, and Gu Qingshan wasn’t going to let this happen again.

So Gu Qingshan looked at Zhang Ye and quietly replied in front of everyone, “You got it wrong. The one I really like is Xie Shuangyan.”

Everyone burst out laughing, and even Su Xue’er pursed her lips and tried to hold her laughter in.

Xie Shuangyan was the main vocalist of the world’s most popular female idol group.

From Saint Olanka Empire in the north to the vast nation of Fuxi Empire, and even Freedom Federation in the south, countless men and women—old and young—were all fans of Xie Shuangyan.

There were too many people in the world who liked Xie Shuangyan, so when Gu Qingshan said this, even Su Xue’er wasn’t bothered by it.

There were even some big male fans in the crowd who shouted, “Gu Qingshan! Do you want to join Xie Shuangyan’s fan club?!”

Zhang Ye’s expression kept changing, and his heart slowly sank.

He hadn’t expected Gu Qingshan to be able to defend himself and gain the upper hand, and he had wrapped up this matter so easily.

But there was no way Zhang Ye was going to let him off. He would never get such a chance again.

Gu Qingshan was his last chance at climbing up the social ladder.

Zhang Ye clenched his teeth and walked over as he whispered into Gu Qingshan’s ear, “Gu Qingshan, your happy days are over.”

He then slammed a palm hard on Gu Qingshan’s shoulder.

There was a faint stinging pain.

That was from the needle hiding in Zhang Ye’s hand.

Gu Qingshan looked at him seriously until Zhang Ye had finished doing what he wanted to.

“Oho, so you’ve still got this move,” exclaimed Gu Qingshan.

But Zhang Ye seemed relieved.

The drug on the needle was even stronger, and it would only take another minute before Gu

Qingshan would lose control of his own body.

“Why did you do this to me? I remember that we were friends,” asked Gu Qingshan curiously as he continued to stare at Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye subconsciously looked down and murmured, “Don’t blame me. In this world, poor people have to seize the correct opportunities in order to live a better life.”

With that, he gathered up all his strength and pushed Gu Qingshan violently toward Su Xue’er.

The heat within Gu Qingshan was getting hotter and hotter, his breathing heavier and heavier, as he staggered all the way to where Su Xue’er was.

The drug was starting to take effect.

Gu Qingshan started to feel a chill in his heart.

He suddenly remembered what Su Xue’er had seemingly carelessly remarked about Zhang Ye.

“Qingshan, the way Zhang Ye looks at people is different from you.”

Gu Qingshan nodded in his heart.

Su Xue’er’s judgment was always so brutal.

Instead, he was the one who had been too naïve.

Gu Qingshan shifted his consciousness to make the Spirit Power in his Dantian rush out and suppress the effects of the drug, so his heated body gradually cooled down.

Gu Qingshan’s eyes became alert again as he called out, “Aunt Su.”

A mature and attractive lady appeared with a white-haired old man without making a sound.

These two were Su Xue’er’s bodyguards.

Su Xue’er was the heiress to the Su family and was the only child of the eldest child of the Su family. She was adored and pampered by the entire Su family, so it was only normal for her to have two bodyguards protecting her at all times.

“What’s going on?”

The mature lady glared at Gu Qingshan.

She was by Su Xue’er’s side every day and knew who this young chap was.

Initially, she had felt that this boy was talented, intelligent, and had a good personality, but she hadn’t expected him to actually try to make a confession today.

This sort of rash action put tremendous pressure on Su Xue’er, and even a bodyguard like her was disappointed in Gu Qingshan.

Furthermore, she was supposed to be protecting Su Xue’er secretly, but now he had called her out, and she was even angrier inside now.