Four minutes and five seconds past four in the morning.
In a guest room at the Moses Estate.
The weather outside was freezing, with thick frost coating the windowpanes.
Yet, inside the room, it was warm.
The floor was covered with a thick wool carpet.
Stepping on it felt like sinking into soft clouds, giving a strong sense of unreality.
Mr. Green Rade, respected by the world, wore only a thin cotton bathrobe but felt no chill.
Prominent veins protruded on his hairy feet, radiating a kingly aura as he paced back and forth.
This was the unique aura of a patriarch of a top global affluent family!
"Jessica."
Green Rade held his phone and said, "You are two people now, so you must get plenty of rest. Sigh. Every time I think about how you have to work hard for family matters when you need to rest, I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt."
Jessica had arrived in Ancient Hebrew this afternoon.
After meeting Alexander and exchanging pleasantries, she had spent the entire afternoon negotiating with Green Rade on a certain matter.
In the evening.
They reached a preliminary consensus, and Jessica then left the Moses Estate.
Even though the Moses family and the Rade family had a common ancestor from a long, long time ago.
Their husband and wife could not stay in the same place overnight.
What if Alexander had a sudden whim and summoned both of them to meet God in the dead of night?
Therefore.
The Rade family's ancestral rule clearly stipulated that when the patriarch and his wife left the ancient castle, they absolutely could not spend the night in the same place!
This way, even if one of them met misfortune, the other could take charge and ensure the family's stability.
Alexander was aware of this ancestral rule of the Rade family and therefore did not insist on retaining Jessica.
To avoid suspicion, Alexander would not send anyone to track Jessica's whereabouts after she left the estate.
Similarly.
Green Rade would not inquire about Jessica's current lodging.
This ensured that if Green Rade were harmed by an enemy, he would not be able to reveal Jessica's location.
"My dear Rade, we are currently facing troubles we rarely encountered before. My husband and I, oh."
Jessica, on the other end of the phone, suddenly let out a low gasp as if startled by something.
Green Rade quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
"Damn it."
Jessica cursed softly, "Because the place I'm staying is too warm, a praying mantis appeared. It crawled onto my leg, hmph!"
With a dull grunt—
Green Rade heard the crisp sound of Jessica swatting at her leg as she hit a cockroach.
Dear Jessica was terrified of cockroaches and such.
Green Rade had known this since he was a child.
When a cockroach crawled on her as a child, she would scream in panic and stomp her feet.
It was the same now—
Hearing his dear Jessica screaming and swatting at the cockroach, Green Rade smiled slightly, "Where is Emma? Why didn't you have her clear out those damned cockroaches for you?"
"It's fine."
Jessica was so frightened by that damned cockroach that her breathing became rapid, and she only calmed down after a while.
For the next ten minutes or so, the loving couple made accurate predictions about what conditions Li Qianfan might propose if he visited the Moses family, and how the Moses family would surely seize this opportunity to heavily penalize the Rade family.
"This time, we admit defeat."
Green Rade said in a deep voice, "Although we will suffer great losses, we must first satisfy that damned wolf."
That damned wolf was, of course, Li Qianfan.
Unconditionally satisfying his demands was the only option for the Rade family.
After all, the Rade family's most pressing task was to resolve the siege of Blackwater Forest.
Then.
The Rade family would dedicate their primary energy to dealing with the vampires.
Vampires were currently rampaging across the globe. The "Illuminator" developed by International Ruixue was only effective for a portion of patients.
However, even for this portion of patients, taking the special drug "Illuminator" could bring unimaginable profits to the Rade family!
Especially the Eastern market—
A box of "Illuminator," sold at a price far exceeding its cost by more than ten times, had already been hyped by scalpers to 16,000 Eastern Currency.
Even then, it was extremely hard to find a box.
While the Rade family was amassing wealth, they also demanded that International Ruixue develop a special drug that could combat the "Guanyin Worm" as quickly as possible.
There was also another matter that deeply concerned Mr. and Mrs. Green Rade, which needed to be resolved.
That was finding the missing "Bronze Rust Cross"!
"My dear Rade."
Jessica's voice trembled noticeably, "When I think about having to bow down to that damned Easterner, I can't help but feel heartbroken. I feel like crying for no reason, wanting to slap myself to punish myself for the wrong judgment I made back then!"
As she said this, she finally lost control of her remorse.
She began slapping herself and crying uncontrollably.
Listening to his beloved wife's pained sobs and the sounds of her slapping herself in regret and self-reproach, Green Rade's nose also felt a sting.
He could only repeatedly console her, urging her to calm down and not to harm herself foolishly out of self-blame.
"My dear Jessica, darkness will eventually pass, and light will eventually come!"
Green Rade, unable to bear listening to his beloved wife cry in self-reproach, said hoarsely and decisively ended the call.
"To have achieved this, what more could I ask for."
Green Rade's heart swelled with emotion, and he softly murmured as he slowly pushed open the window.
Whoosh—
The cold wind immediately roared in.
It made Green Rade's mind much clearer.
"Why do I feel like there wasn't much sadness in Jessica's crying? And the sound of her slapping herself sounded a bit strange too."
Green Rade frowned and muttered to himself, then chuckled.
How could he forget that Jessica, who was incredibly noble in public, was actually quite willful and impulsive in private?
Especially her high intelligence made her more arrogant than anyone else.
However, in the matter of Blackwater Forest, the incredibly arrogant Jessica had suffered an unprecedented heavy blow.
Her emotional breakdown in private was also very normal.
"It's getting late, time to sleep."
Green Rade closed the window and muttered, "Only by resting well can I deal with that little beast who is likely to visit the Moses family tomorrow."
Yes.
It was getting late.
It was indeed time to sleep.
Looking at Jessica, who had fallen into a deep sleep, and thinking of the irresistible absurdity she displayed during her call with Mr. Green Rade, Li Qianfan felt a pang of guilt.
This sliver of guilt—
Was offered to the respected Earl!
At six-thirty in the morning.
As dawn was breaking.
Jessica, who had only slept for an hour and a half, glanced at Li Qianfan, who was softly snoring, put on her woolen coat, stepped into her sexy little boots, and quietly left.
Her car soon disappeared into the white mist of the early morning.
Picking Stars, who had stayed up all night, curled her lips and muttered something under her breath again.
Li Qianfan woke up at noon.
Full of energy, he walked out of the bedroom and into the living room.
Picking Stars had prepared lunch and was sitting on the sofa, resting her chin on her left hand, her little head nodding as she dozed.
Only when Li Qianfan sat down beside her did she suddenly open her eyes, "Ah, Young Master, you're awake."
"Sit down."
Li Qianfan pulled her arm and said, "Let's eat together."
"Mhm."
Picking Stars hummed softly and quickly removed the covers from the lunch plates.
The lunch was made by Picking Stars herself, and it was just the right temperature.
"Young Master, there's chili sauce in the kitchen here, I'll go get it for you."
After serving Li Qianfan a plate of rice, Picking Stars suddenly thought of something and got up to go to the kitchen.
"There are important things to do today, so it's best to eat less spicy food to avoid being too impulsive."
Li Qianfan shook his head, wrapping his left arm around Picking Stars' slender waist, and with a slight pull, made her sit on his lap.
The little girl immediately became excited.
Although they had "hooked shoulders and embraced arms" many times before while eating, it was usually with the Four Beauties of the Inner Court together.
Now it was just her.
Why was she so excited, even a little scared, by this familiar gesture?
"You have the desire but not the guts."
Feeling Picking Stars' genuine nervousness, Li Qianfan found it amusing and pinched her.
Picking Stars immediately lowered her head, bit her lip with her teeth, and her restless body became alluring.
Buzz buzz buzz.
Li Qianfan's phone rang.
The caller ID was "Guanyin Girl"—
It was a little past six in the morning Eastern Time.
Seeing the caller ID, Li Qianfan's brows furrowed.
Picking Stars immediately sensed the change in his mood, and the strength that had inexplicably flowed away instantly returned.
She quickly regained her composure and quickly walked into the kitchen.
Picking Stars knew very well that even if her wish came true in the future, she still had to excuse herself appropriately when her Young Master received an important call.
The call was connected.
Su Nan Yin's voice had the lazy nasal tone that only comes from just waking up, "You little brat, quickly greet Guanyin Girl."
Li Qianfan replied softly, "Is there something? If not, I'm going to visit Mr. Alexander at the Moses family."
Thousands of miles away in Sijiu, Eastern Land—
The beautiful woman, lazily curled up in her quilt, was stunned when she heard Li Qianfan say this.
An indescribable feeling, like a needle, gently pricked the tip of her heart.
The slight but clear pain instantly dispelled all her laziness.
Before she could react.
Li Qianfan's voice came from the phone again, "Auntie Nan Yin, I'm busy now."
Beep.
The call ended.
"Auntie Nan Yin!?"
Su Nan Yin's face instantly turned pale.
She slowly sat up cross-legged, and the down jacket slid down her fair, porcelain skin without a sound.
It was reflected in the window glass.
This figure—
Was enough to make many women in their thirties jealous and go crazy!
"Auntie Nan Yin?"
Su Nan Yin stared blankly at her reflection in the window glass for more than ten minutes before muttering dazedly, "What does it mean? Why is it like this? Where did I go wrong?"
Thousands of miles away in Ancient Hebrew.
One-thirty in the afternoon.
A luxury car, originally belonging to Saraye, slowly stopped in front of the Moses Estate.