Along the way, Sun Yimei walked in fits and starts, carrying the bag of meat until she arrived at the foot of her apartment building.
Just as she was about to head upstairs, she suddenly noticed a crowd gathered near the entrance of her building.
The group was engaged in a noisy discussion, voices overlapping in excited chatter.
"Did you see that just now? That was quite a spectacle—so many luxury cars, and that young man... his aura was simply extraordinary."
"Did you notice? That Lin family girl was with him! Unbelievable!"
"Could he be Lin Yunhan's boyfriend?"
"Hard to say. They didn't seem that intimate. But Sun Yimei's daughter—she's clearly hit the jackpot."
"Even if they're just friends, Sun Yimei's life is about to take off."
"What on earth is going on?"
Blocked by the crowd, Sun Yimei stood in confusion.
Had there been an accident? Why else would everyone be so tightly packed and unwilling to disperse?
"Yimei! Over here, quickly!"
A neighborly aunt, carrying vegetables, spotted her and hurried over, pulling her into the crowd.
After all, she was the person of interest. Idle speculation was one thing—but now they could get the truth.
People loved gossip, and today was no different.
"Yimei, that young man with your daughter—do you know who he is? What's his background?"
"Exactly! Yimei, is your daughter seeing someone? Come on, give us the scoop!"
"Boyfriend?"
At those words, Sun Yimei's eyes narrowed.
She didn't know why there was such a commotion, but from the snippets she'd heard, it seemed her daughter had been seen acting very close with a young man.
Could it be… Yunhan had ignored her warnings and behaved improperly?
A pale hue swept across her face at the thought.
Sun Yimei knew very well how many suitors her daughter had at school, all drawn to her beauty.
Yet most were either rich playboys looking for fleeting amusement or delinquent troublemakers.
None were to be trusted.
Yunhan had dared to disobey her?
Anger flashed in her eyes as she ignored the crowd and made her way up the stairs.
She would confront Lin Yunhan. She needed to know—had her daughter disregarded all her heartfelt advice?
The onlookers exchanged confused glances.
Sun Yimei hadn't even responded to their questions.
What was that about?
They were longtime neighbors, after all.
"What's going on?" an old man asked, puzzled.
"Hmph, looks like Sun Yimei's gotten too proud for her own good. Doesn't even bother acknowledging us anymore," a woman muttered, her eyes glinting with jealousy.
She had always disliked the Lin family.
Now that Sun Yimei's daughter had seemingly found herself a wealthy benefactor, her disdain only deepened.
"Don't speak nonsense. Yimei's not like that," someone retorted.
The argument flared briefly but ended in futility as the crowd slowly dispersed back to their homes.
"Lin Yunhan, you've grown bold."
Sun Yimei burst into the apartment, trembling with fury, eyes rimmed with red.
"Tell me the truth. Which classmate of yours are you dating? Is it some thug from your school?"
Seated at the table, Lin Yunhan turned pale. She had been quietly reflecting on the events of earlier.
Startled, she stood up to explain.
"Mom, listen to me—it's not what you think."
"Don't speak yet."
Sun Yimei's tone was sharp. She interrupted Yunhan and stepped cautiously toward the table.
There, neatly stacked, lay piles of money—wads upon wads, clearly wrapped in a black canvas bag.
It was the bag that had caught her eye first, revealing the money within.
"What… what is all this?"
Sun Yimei's jaw dropped so wide it looked as though an egg could fit inside.
"Mom, this money… the young man gave it to us for buying a small pill bottle Dad brought back."
"A pill bottle?" Sun Yimei's voice tightened. "You expect me to believe that?"
"You think your mother is a fool?"
As Lin Hai's wife, she knew all too well the value—or lack thereof—of the trinkets he brought back from his grave-robbing ventures.
They were usually unremarkable, barely worth selling, and always dealt off the books.
That bottle couldn't possibly be worth so much.
Unless… this young man was attempting to keep her daughter.
Her face turned pale as she urgently questioned Lin Yunhan.
"Tell me honestly—have you become someone's mistress?"
"Mom! That's impossible! He drives a car worth twenty million. Even if I wanted to be his mistress, he might not even care to notice me."
Lin Yunhan flushed a deep red, her voice laced with shame.
"Is that true?"
Her mother's gaze was filled with doubt.
"It's true."
Seeing a trace of belief in her mother's expression, Lin Yunhan nodded firmly, exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
But her mother's next words made her tense up all over again.
"Well then, if this young man is as honorable as you claim…"
"…then invite him to our home next Sunday."
"He's given us so much money. We ought to thank him properly."
A cold smile spread across Sun Yimei's face.
Let's see, she thought, whether this young man is truly the upstanding figure her daughter claims he is.
—
Elsewhere, at that very moment, Chu Yi stood unaware of the storm his small act of kindness had caused.
He was standing before a mirror, admiring the reflection staring back.
The man in the mirror was devastatingly handsome, clad in a designer casual outfit that complemented his figure.
His features were sharp and masculine—thick eyebrows, star-like eyes, and a well-defined jawline.
His torso boasted chiseled eight-pack abs, and his skin was luminous and pale, as if an eggshell had just been peeled away.
Compared to his former self, he looked utterly transformed.
Before, he'd been decently good-looking—handsome, yes—but without the weight of a powerful background, he could easily have vanished into the crowd.
After all, the world didn't lack for attractive faces.
But now… now he was different.
His skin was like snow, his aura rich with masculine allure—enough to make hearts flutter.
His appearance now could outshine even the most photogenic idols in the entertainment industry.
All thanks to the effect of the Xisui Dan—the Bone-Cleansing Elixir.
"System," Chu Yi muttered, "allocate all eight attribute points to Charm."
If one was to pursue beauty, it had to be pursued to its zenith.
As a self-aware villain in this narrative, Chu Yi knew: wealth he now had in abundance.
What remained was to perfect his appearance.
With a command, he felt a tingling sensation in his face, like ants crawling beneath the skin.
Moments later, it stopped.
Chu Yi opened his eyes—and was stunned.
He had become even more handsome.
To the point that even he almost fell for his own reflection.
A strange, seductive feeling crept up inside him.
Was he… falling for himself?
"Damn it, what am I thinking?!"
Chu Yi shook his head furiously, driving the bizarre thought away.
He even backed away from the mirror, wary of being further bewitched by his own looks.
"All right," he murmured, "time to test my Clairvoyant Eye."
This was a power awakened after consuming the first pill—an ability that allowed him to see through matter.
Though the old man who sold it to him had made grand claims—piercing illusions, seeing through all deception—Chu Yi had only found it useful for, well, seeing through walls.
With a breath, a stream of green energy surged from his dantian to the corners of his eyes.
Suddenly, his pupils contracted, and his vision expanded dramatically.
The wall in front of him peeled away like fabric, revealing the rooms beyond.
In one, a heavyset man was moving rhythmically against a pale, delicate figure.
The woman beneath him lay like a tender flower, wilting beneath the onslaught.
The sheer explicitness of the scene made Chu Yi reflexively grimace.
He looked away, glancing into another room.
There, another snow-white silhouette bathed gracefully under the spray of a shower…
He didn't look for long.
His head began to spin.
The qi consumption was too great—his body couldn't handle it.
Understanding this limitation, Chu Yi immediately shut off the power.
Even so, in just those few moments, he had realized the true might of this ability.
Among the three pills, this one was the true king.
Bone cleansing? Medical inheritance?
None compared to the sheer utility of the Clairvoyant Eye.
If given the chance to choose again, and only one pill could be his while the other two went to Ye Fan—
He would choose this one, without hesitation.
Having tasted its power, Chu Yi made a silent vow:
If he ever encountered a protagonist with a similar clairvoyant ability—
He would destroy him.
Gouge his eyes out.
Damn destiny.