Charlie’s 520 had a mere 184-horsepower engine while his 540 had 340 horsepower. His car should be much faster and powerful than Charlie’s! How could he overtake him so easily?!Similarly, the people watching the race were dumbfounded!No one would have thought that Charlie, whom they assumed was bound to lose, would overtake Clinton in a swift motion like an arrow released from the bow! In fact, Charlie’s car sped off and left Clinton far behind instantly!Clinton wasn’t even halfway through the race and Charlie had already turned around at the intersection at the end of the road!When Clinton reached the intersection, Charlie had already driven the car back to the starting line!Charlie had won!A landslide victory at that!After turning around at the intersection, Clinton saw Charlie already at the finish line and he almost fainted!What was going on!What the h*ck was going on!Since when could the BMW 520 surpass the 540 so much?No, it couldn’t be! That b*stard must ha
Clinton had lost his mind at this moment.He didn’t want to be humiliated by Charlie the loser in front of his friends.So, he bit his lips, grabbed the fireworks from Douglas, and threw them into his car.Then, as he picked up a lighter and grabbed the end of the firework, he shouted, “Look here, all of you! I’m not a sore loser! I don’t need Charlie’s sympathy!”Then, he lit the lighter and lit the fireworks!In an instant, the fireworks were ignited and burst into cracks in the car!At first, flames were burning inside the car, but very soon, the car was filled with thick white smoke. The sound of the constantly exploding fireworks made Clinton’s heart bleeding in agony, but it made the onlookers extremely excited and thrilled.Many of them took out their phones to record the bizarre scene. They planned to post these videos online to share it with the netizens.The 3-meter fireworks continuously exploded and popped and soon, the cushion seats of the BMW 540 were blown up. Th
Many guests gave Douglas their gifts. With the painting in tow, Charlie walked towards Douglas and said, “Congratulations, buddy. This is a little gift from us to celebrate your opening ceremony.”Claire said with a smile, “Douglas, congratulations and best wishes on your grand opening. May your business be prosperous with many years to come!”“Thank you, thank you!” Douglas said hurriedly. Then, he leaned to Charlie’s ear and whispered with a mischievous smirk, “Hey, I see that you and our belle have a pretty close relationship, unlike what the rumors say! When do you plan to have a baby?”Claire blushed timidly when she heard the whisper. Charlie answered, “Stop it. If we are pregnant, you’ll be the first to know and I expect a gift from you!”“Of course!” Douglas laughed and nodded. “I’ll give the kid a big present!”At this moment, an average-looking woman with heavy makeup came up to Douglas and asked, “Douglas, who are they?”“This is my college buddy, Charlie! This is Clai
Charlie, Claire, and Loreen sat together at the same table. Clinton joined them and sat beside Loreen.He asked Loreen with a wide smile as soon as he sat down, “Loreen, I heard that you’ve come to Aurous Hill to work for Emgrand Group, is that true?”Loreen nodded. “Yes, I just started.”Clinton smiled even wider. “What a coincidence! My dad is the deputy general manager of a department in Emgrand! I’ll ask him to look after you at work.”Many people exclaimed in surprise, “Wow, Clinton, your dad is the deputy general manager of Emgrand Group?”“Yup!” Clinton nodded proudly. “He was promoted last year.”Someone quickly said in a flattering tone, “The annual salary of a deputy general manager must be several million dollars, right? That’s amazing! It’s no wonder your family is so rich!”Clinton laughed and said, “That’s just the wages. My dad has quite a vast authority and a lot of side incomes. You guys must have heard about the luxurious hotel project from Emgrand Group, right
Douglas had no intention to do such a thing, but Lily was overpowering his decision and he had no choice but to compromise to her shenanigans.However, the attendees were not surprised at all. When she announced how much each gift was worth, they could judge how well or bad their old classmates were doing after graduation. After all, comparison and jealousy were human nature.Then, Lily started the announcement.“Thank you, Jack Brown, for your one thousand dollars!”“Thank you, Bella Walsh, for the pair of gold ingots!”“Thank you, Ola Rivers, for the beautiful vase!”“Thank you, Clinton Tucker, for your ten thousand dollars!”The first few gifts, whether money or physical items, were mostly worth around one thousand dollars. Suddenly, when it came to Clinton, his ten thousand dollar monetary gift sent a shock wave across the restaurant.Ten thousand dollars were a big amount for the opening ceremony!Many people looked at Clinton with amazement and praised his generosity.C
When everyone heard that Lily’s father was a cultural relic appraiser, they immediately cast a contemptuous and sympathetic gaze at Charlie.All of them shared the same thought—Charlie was so unlucky!His show-off moment was interrupted by the presence of an expert! It was like a slap right across his own face!It would be so humiliating if Lawson Lewis, Lily’s father, came downstairs!Claire blushed timidly. She leaned closer to Charlie and whispered, “So many people are watching you. You’d better not be stubborn, it would be so embarrassing otherwise!”On their way here, Charlie did tell her about the painting he bought but he said that it didn’t cost him a lot of money. Right now, however, he changed his attitude and claimed that it was very expensive. His sudden change of reaction made Claire a little doubtful and skeptical, figuring that Charlie might have lied for the sake of his reputation.On the contrary, Charlie was indifferent. He blurted, “If you don’t believe me, let
“Yes,” Lily answered. “They’ve been buddies since college!”As she was saying this, in her mind, she was thinking, ‘Charlie, you and Douglas are good buddies but you have the nerve to give him a worthless piece of sh*t, let my dad expose and humiliate you in front of everyone!’However, beyond everyone’s expectation, Lawson said with a grateful sigh, “Indeed, it seems that he is a good friend! Why would one give such a precious gift otherwise?”Everyone was dumbfounded upon the statement!What did he mean by ‘precious’? Was he saying that the yellowish drawing was expensive?Exasperated, Clinton cursed inside his head, ‘F*ck you! I can go to Antique Street, buy a fake painting, pee on it to make it look old and yellowish, and it will still look more authentic than that piece of sh*t!’Lawson cleared his throat and said in an earnest tone, “This is the authentic work of Rachel Ruysch, a painter from the Dutch Golden Age. Although she is not as famous nowadays, she was one of the m
At this moment, Clinton felt like he wanted to die right there and then!D*mn it!What was going on!He couldn’t catch a break, could he?How did he get repeatedly humiliated by Charlie the loser?Never did he expect that the painting would turn out to be authentic and worth two hundred thousand dollars!He had already given his word, what should he do now? Did he really have to eat the table?That was absolutely impossible!He could buy a new car after his car perished in the fire, but how could he eat a table?He would really die if he did!The crowd teased him, “Hey, Clinton, you said it yourself that you will eat the table if you lose. Do you want to break your promise again this time?”“That’s right! Everyone is still waiting for your freak show!”Someone slapped on the table hard. “Hey, please start your act now!”Clinton’s face turned into an ugly shade of red and green. He blurted sheepishly, “We’re all friends, do you guys really have to kick me when I’m already d
Nanako could also feel that the energy available for her to draw upon in her Sea of Consciousness had suddenly surged. Her sensory abilities, which had already improved significantly after achieving enlightenment, instantly leaped to an even higher level. The Reiki within her body became exceptionally abundant. With just a slight movement of her divine sense, the Reiki immediately dispersed from within her, making the entire office feel as if it was under her bird's-eye view, completely under her control. Moreover, this sense of control continued to extend outward. In just a short moment, eight nearby rooms also fell within her perception range. Charlie could sense the Reiki Nanako was releasing. Observing her closely, he noticed that her body was already brimming with Reiki, suggesting that it was no longer possible for her to continue taking the elixir. After a while, Nanako retracted the Reiki she had been using for perception and looked up at Charlie, saying, "Previously I co
Although Nanako had just attained enlightenment, she had already realized a critical problem: the Reiki available to her was very little, and there was almost no external channel for obtaining Reiki. For cultivators today, getting Reiki was the most difficult thing. There was no Reiki in the world, so the only external channels to obtain Reiki were elixirs, spiritual stones, or formations. If someone had a complete cultivation method, he could generate Reiki in his body by practicing the method, but for people like Charlie and Nanako who lacked such methods, this self-sufficient path was not feasible. Therefore, the small amount of Reiki that was generated in Nanako's body when she attained enlightenment was basically used up after she tried to sense Reiki. Charlie was slightly better than Nanako. The spiritual stones he accidentally obtained in the early days provided him with a lot of Reiki. Later, he relied on Cultivating Pills to barely make up for the gap in Reiki. Altho
Nanako giggled gently, thinking that Charlie was exaggerating. "You're so funny, Charlie. Who could possibly fail to attain enlightenment for hundreds of years? Those who haven't probably wouldn't live that long anyway, right?" Charlie smiled ambiguously. The matter concerning Vera was, of course, something he couldn't share with anyone, including Nanako. However, it was indeed a fact that Vera, despite taking the Eternal Pill and living for so many years, still hadn't attained enlightenment. Moreover, back in the day, Fumiko had served Marcius faithfully for an entire lifetime. From the paintings, it was evident that Marcius was genuinely devoted to Fumiko at that time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have returned to fulfill his promise after obtaining his opportunities. Yet, despite receiving Marcius's wholehearted support, Fumiko still failed to achieve enlightenment. In contrast, Nanako had managed to attain enlightenment so effortlessly, merely through the guidance of a monk.
Caden didn't know what kind of gifts Charlie was planning to give everyone, but from his perspective, since each of the over 400 people would receive one, it was likely something that could be bought with money. Caden was as rich as a king and wasn't particularly interested in things that money could buy. However, since Charlie had mentioned it, he naturally wanted to show his support. He expressed his gratitude, saying, "Despite your busy schedule, you're still thinking of us. I'm truly honored, and on behalf of everyone, I thank you." Charlie chuckled. "You're welcome." Caden respectfully replied, "If there's nothing else, I'll go ahead and ask Miss Ito to come over." "Okay." Caden retreated and went back to the martial arts hall. He called Nanako over and said in a low voice, "Miss Ito, Mr. Wade is at the manager's office right now. He wants to see you." "What?" Nanako squealed in pleasant surprise. "Mr. Wade is here? Oh my, I'll go over now! Thank you, Master Howton."
After that, Charlie asked, "Has everything been going well here lately?" Caden clasped his hands respectfully and replied, "Everything has been going very well. With the follow-up mental techniques you provided from the Taoist Sect Hanbloom Method, everyone's foundations are very solid. This batch of students has made the fastest progress I've seen in all my years of teaching." Charlie remembered his disciple, Sonia, who had previously taken the entire Taoist Sect to Oskia on her own initiative, effectively becoming part of his sect. Since he didn't have time to manage them, he had left everything under Caden's supervision. Curious, he asked, "How are the Taoist Sect disciples doing in their training?" Caden responded, "These disciples' training progress has been much faster than when they were in the United States. Sonia is now like a workaholic, training all day, every day, and her progress is astonishing—beyond my expectations." He continued, unable to hide his admiration, "
"The Rothschild family members?" Hearing Albert's remarks, Charlie frowned slightly and said, "Oh! Are you talking about Edmund and his dad?" "Yes!" Albert nodded and laughed out loud. "That American bastard who poisoned Miss Young's father and caused his kidney failure. Didn't he and his dad always say that they were from the Rothschild family?" Charlie waved him off dismissively. "They're not part of the Rothschild family. Rothschilds wouldn't carry the surname 'Whittaker'." Pausing to think, he added, "The surname 'Whittaker' is likely of Jewish origin. They might actually be relatives of the Rothschild family by marriage." As he spoke, a realization dawned on him. "I think I've got it. Julien coming to Aurous Hill might very well be to look for this father-and-son duo. Harrison has just recovered and wants to remain the family head for a few more years—he's probably trying to strengthen ties with these branch families." Albert gasped, "If that's the case, that bastard i
Meanwhile, Charlie went down the mountain and arrived at the Champs Elys Resort. To avoid disturbing the students during their practice, Charlie informed Albert of his arrival by phone. Albert, being at the bottom of the martial arts students in terms of skill and treating it more as a casual interest, was asked to wait at the entrance of the resort. When Charlie arrived, Albert, dressed in his training outfit, was already waiting at the door. He quickly stepped up to the car, opened the door for Charlie, and respectfully greeted, "Mr. Wade, welcome." Charlie nodded and said, "Tomorrow, have The Heaven Springs temporarily closed to the public and prepare a table with excellent food and drinks. For any customers with existing reservations, make sure to provide them with appropriate compensation." Without hesitation, Albert agreed and asked, "Are you expecting some guests?" Charlie casually replied, "Not exactly guests—just someone coming from afar who's a bit of a fool."
Upon hearing that Charlie would host him, Julien was flattered and expressed his gratitude, saying, "I truly appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me!" Charlie smiled and replied, "We're good friends, no need for formalities. When do you expect to land in Aurous Hill?" Julien thought for a moment and respectfully responded, "I'll be flying in a few hours, with a flight time of about 15 hours. I expect to land in Aurous Hill around 10 a.m. local time tomorrow." Charlie said, "In that case, tomorrow at noon, I'll host a banquet for you at The Heaven Springs, the most famous restaurant in Aurous Hill. It's well-known, so your employees should be able to find it easily. You can just come over directly when you arrive." Although the Rothschild family didn't have personnel stationed in Aurous Hill, their Asian headquarters was located in Eastcliff with high-ranking officials as well as a large number of staff. Julien had already informed the administrative
Fortunately, the Acker family members had weathered many storms and had a far greater perspective than most people. Charlie said, "The infiltration capabilities of the scholars from the Qing Eliminating Society are far beyond what we could have imagined. The individuals who appeared around you and Jaxson back then—those who left a strong impression or even earned some of your admiration—were likely all part of their network. Even if it were me, I might not have been able to discern their true intentions in time." Lulu nodded gently, and Charlie's words seemed to offer her some comfort. Charlie knew that she needed time to process everything, so he spoke gently, "For the next couple of days, don't think about anything. Just rest. After some time, the situation between us and the Qing Eliminating Society should change significantly, and it will give us more control. When that happens, we might need to take the initiative, and at that time, you and Jaxson should try to be involved