Chapter 16

Chapter 16
As Xie Yubo stepped through the gates of No. 2 High School, he faintly heard construction noises from somewhere nearby—the screech of a saw blade grinding against wooden stakes, the clang of hammers striking stone slabs—making the early morning campus unusually bustling.
Su Changfen had mentioned building a botanical garden, and Xie Chenbo immediately sponsored a generous sum; by the next day, workers were already on site.
These noisy, sharp-edged tasks had to be completed before the first class began.
“Boss!”
Liu Fei called out as he ran over. The winter morning was bitterly cold, and he, along with the few people behind him, wore only thin sports jackets, running to ward off the chill.
Meanwhile, Xie Yubo had been wrapped up by Xue Jing like a sticky rice ball, complete with a scarf and gloves, and a bulky down jacket layered over his school uniform.
Wang Ping exclaimed in surprise, “Liu Fei, you’re actually running voluntarily?”
Liu Fei scratched his head sheepishly. “Just wanted to get some exercise.”
The other eleven classmates who had joined the morning run nodded with lifeless expressions. “Yeah, yeah. A healthy body is the foundation of revolution.”
Yesterday, they had played games with Liu Fei, and the losers had to fulfill one request from him. Liu Fei was a seasoned gamer who often pulled all-nighters, so naturally, they couldn’t compete. But high school boys always love a challenge, and besides, Liu Fei wouldn’t make things too difficult for them.
Who would have thought that losing meant having to join Liu Fei for a morning run!
The eleven of them regretted it deeply; waking up early for a morning run was sheer torture.
Liu Fei said, “Uncle Wang, let’s take Yu Bo into the classroom.”
Xie Yubo nodded, so Uncle Wang did not escort him into the classroom.
Liu Fei wanted to support Xie Yubo, but Xie Yubo waved his hand and said, “No need, thank you, Liu Fei.”
“Why so formal—” Liu Fei paused mid-sentence, suddenly realizing that Xie Yubo, being so sharp, might actually be thanking him for something else?
He had taken eleven people on their morning run today mainly because all twelve of them had purchased the Boss’s Health-Boosting Talisman. Fearing the talisman might not have worked—thus tarnishing the Boss’s reputation and breaking his heart—Liu Fei had decided to proactively ensure a positive outcome, going to great lengths with the best of intentions.
“Heh, it’s nothing. The botanical garden is under construction now; do you still dare to go take a look?” Liu Fei teased the others.
Having all been frightened at the botanical garden before, the boys from Class Two instantly perked up upon hearing the morning run was over. “Why wouldn’t we dare? Come on, let’s go check it out.”
It’s broad daylight, and there are so many workers in the garden; it’s perfectly safe.
Xie Yubo watched their retreating figures helplessly; they were still causing trouble at the botanical garden even though class was about to start.
“Boss, boss! They’re flipping the tombstones over, cutting them up, and smashing them—it looks like they’re planning to haul them away. Wow, they’ve even filled in the well!”
Liu Fei provided a real-time voice commentary, striving to use his limited vocabulary to vividly describe the entire scene for Xie Yubo.
The garden was in chaos, littered with rubble, broken branches, mud, sand, and lime, along with something invisible hovering above it all.
“It’s so cold; I’m going back to the classroom to put on some clothes.”
“The warning bell has rung; let’s go.”
Xie Yubo handed his schoolbag to Liu Fei: “You guys go up first. Please tell the teacher I need to stand here for a while.”
Liu Fei: “Huh?”
Another well-informed worker said to Liu Fei, “The botanical garden was funded by the Xie family; the boss probably wants to supervise the construction here.”
He wasn’t the only one who thought so; other workers who knew Xie Yubo’s identity shared the same assumption.
Being watched always put one in a foul mood. Seeing Xie Yubo step into the botanical garden, the workers couldn’t help but sneer at him for riding on his family’s coattails—barely grown yet already throwing his weight around under the Xie name. Truly a second-generation rich kid, born with such talents.
The workers whispered among themselves, and soon everyone knew that Xie Yubo, a blind man, had taken it upon himself to come supervise the project on behalf of the Xie family.
Slacking off right under the employer’s nose was apparently quite thrilling. Someone deliberately positioned himself two meters in front of Xie Yubo, pushing a cart of soil back and forth just for fun, while the others gathered around with grins, eager to see whether he could actually see anything.
Xie Yubo’s gaze remained indifferent as he took a single step out of the botanical garden.
“Hah, he’s gone—”
At this moment, the botanical garden suddenly grew dark; the air drawn into the lungs turned bone-chillingly cold, as if centuries of subterranean frost were seeping deep into one’s body.
Many workers were so frozen they could no longer grip their shovels.
Ever since Xue Sibo’s ritual had disrupted the garden’s yin energy last time, it had grown somewhat unrestrained. Yet, with new hope blossoming everywhere across the campus, these spirits could only wander within the garden, unable to gather any real strength.
This time, with the botanical garden undergoing renovation, the wellheads and broken tombstones that had sustained the yin energy were relocated. Unable to contain themselves any longer, these spirits darted left and right in search of a solution. Just as they devised a plan—lowering the temperature to slow the workers’ pace and burrowing into human bodies for shelter—
unfortunately, the moment they began stirring trouble, Xie Yubo arrived. Merely by standing there, he could subdue all formless entities.
The workers were the group Xie Yubo knew best after his rebirth. Carrying loads on their shoulders and in their hands, they resembled those from his past life who dug river channels and built city walls, devoid of the dazzling high-tech tools that once bewildered the Imperial Astrologer.
The Great Imperial Astrologer had once supervised the construction of the Su River canal, living and eating alongside these laborers, forging deep bonds with them.
Lower temperatures can cause chapped hands and feet, while the invasion of yin energy may lead to cold-induced discomfort lasting several days.
None of these are particularly serious issues; they can be endured and will pass in time.
Making a living is never easy. Xie Yubo simply hopes that his friends from his past life might fare a little better.
However, if they dare to mock this Imperial Astrologer, then they can no longer be considered friends.
Sneezes rang out one after another.
A group of students, eager to get to class, dashed from the cafeteria toward the academic building, passing through the botanical garden along the way. Xie Yubo stepped back to let them pass, then reentered the botanical garden.
The worker pouring concrete flicked his wrist, his movements becoming slightly more agile.
Once all the students had gone, Xie Yubo followed at the rear, also intending to head to class.
The sudden shift from cold to warm finally caught the attention of the worker pouring cement. He dropped the bucket, which seemed to freeze instantly, and hurried after Xie Yubo in a few strides. “Young Master! Young Master!”
Scratching the back of his head with an honest grin, he said, “Construction at the school started in such a rush that we didn’t have time to pay respects to the Earth God in the garden. Young Master, you look just like a little Bodhisattva; could you please stand here for a while to help stabilize the area?”
The other workers stared in stunned silence at their colleague’s antics. Some began to realize what was happening, while others remained skeptical, simply waiting to see how the drama would unfold.
The man who had been teasing Xie Yubo by pushing the sandcart was called Da Fei. Having only recently started working alongside fellow villagers, he was young and impulsive. Seeing the young master standing there supervising the construction stirred his resentment toward the wealthy, leading him to act without thinking.
He watched helplessly as Xie Yubo reluctantly stepped into the botanical garden. The moment his toes touched the ground, the atmosphere shifted dramatically; Da Fei felt as though some seal had been broken, like ice melting and spring arriving.
He was rendered speechless. Just moments ago, he had looked down on Uncle Li for bowing and scraping while addressing the young master; now, he desperately wished he could also shout out a few greetings himself to ward off his own bad luck.
But someone was faster than him.
Xie Yubo received the highest level of treatment at the botanical garden; workers who had previously been somewhat lazy now acted as if energized, unloading, carrying, and assembling a stone table with utmost speed.
“The chairs will be ready to sit on shortly.”
Da Fei squeezed in, took out his own insulated thermos, and eagerly poured a cup of hot water: “Warm your hands.”
“Actually, our work is quite fun; you should watch a bit longer,” someone said with a straight face, only to be nudged in the arm by a coworker.
Everyone tacitly accepted Xie Yubo’s role as supervisor and hurried their work even faster, as if afraid he might dash off to attend class.
Worried that the young master might get bored or want to return to the classroom after sitting too long, anyone passing by Xie Yubo spontaneously offered commentary.
Tapping a shovel, one worker said, “Young Master, I’m about to dig some soil; we have a new batch of greenery here.”
Pengpeng tapped the paint bucket: “Time to paint the walls. Prime them white first; apparently, they’ll hire someone later to create ink wash paintings on them.”
Xie Yubo nodded: “Take your time; safety comes first.”
Sitting there, he gradually lifted his gaze to behold the azure sky. The sun hung high overhead, bathing the botanical garden in long-missed sunlight.
Within the sight of his Heavenly Eye, the yin energy gradually clarified, much like Pangu separating heaven and earth: part of it returned to the earth to rest eternally, while another part was carried by the wind to dissipate across the ninety-thousand-li vast sky.
Xie Yubo was just about to leave when someone suddenly yanked him up.
“Are you sitting here acting like a young master? Can’t you see people are working? The floor tiles are almost being laid under your feet—why don’t you move!”
The newcomer also looked like a student, wearing black-rimmed glasses. Xie Yubo didn’t recognize him, but since he had already intended to leave anyway, he didn’t say much. Unexpectedly, this person was excessively righteous and insisted on dragging Xie Yubo away by the arm.
The other party possessed considerable strength, bearing an expression of someone who had stumbled upon injustice and wished to eliminate it posthaste; Xie Yubo was pulled so abruptly that he staggered.
Foreman Li Qing stopped him: “Hey, it’s so chaotic here. Knowing he can’t see, why walk so fast? What if the child falls?”
While clearing obstacles from Xie Yubo’s path, he gently guided Xie Yubo’s arm back to his side.
“With the young master here, we feel reassured and work with extra energy!”
The man with glasses hadn’t expected the workers to defend Xie Yubo instead of thanking him; now surrounded by the group, it seemed they were all blaming him for his recklessness.
Lower-class people are just shamelessly vile.
The man with glasses, feeling rebuffed, muttered, “Fine, I don’t care anymore.”
Xie Yubo watched his retreating figure thoughtfully, then called security: “An intruder has slipped onto campus.”
Twenty minutes later, the man with glasses was cursing under his breath as security guards dragged him out of the school gates.
That evening, a self-media account uploaded a video.
Heartbreaking! School Condones Students Bullying Migrant Workers! Is This Education or Destruction!
Someone dug up the incident involving Xue Sibo from last time and said with a sarcastic tone, “No. 2 High School again? That explains it. This school is notoriously protective of its own; their students could get away with murder and arson.”
“That’s going too far. A student picking on workers—making them serve tea and water, even ordering them to build a ‘young master’s chair’ for him on the spot. What did those workers do wrong?”
“He’s no ordinary student; he’s the young master of the Xie family. Everyone knows the Xies, right? They’re the ones funding this botanical garden project. He skipped class just to go there and play the lord of the construction site.”
“Who built the teaching buildings? Can’t these students show a shred of gratitude?”
The video is muted, and the person filming was quite far away, making it look as if a rich second-generation heir was bullying someone out of boredom.
The online sentiment is also strange, seemingly bent on proving that this generation of youth has no hope.
No. 2 High School has recently been infamous, turning black with red highlights; upon seeing the public opinion, Principal Su nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood!
It’s the botanical garden again! It’s the botanical garden again!
This time, Xie Yubo was clearly implicated; especially given his identity as a second-generation rich heir, which caused such an uproar that some threatened to drive the stock price of the Xie Group to its daily limit down tomorrow.
It was obvious that someone was taking the opportunity to target the Xie family.
He immediately made a call to ask Xie Chenbo how to handle the situation.
At the Xie family dinner table, Xie Yubo shamelessly reported his activities for the day: attending classes obediently, learning massage techniques, and memorizing numerous meridians and acupoints.
The weather was too cold today; Uncle Wang couldn’t bear to let Xie Yubo expose himself to the elements, so after dropping him off at Boss Wang’s place, he refused to leave.
Xie Yubo had no choice but to spend an hour there reading “A General History of the World.”
Xie Chenbo took a phone call, his brow furrowing as he searched and verified information, quickly finishing watching the video.
“Xiao Bo, did you go to the botanical garden today?”
He didn’t believe his younger brother would bully a worker.
Xue Jing glanced at his phone screen and froze for a moment, mouthing silently, “Xiao Bo is very well-behaved; don’t be harsh with him.”
Xie Jianming mimicked Xue Jing’s silent gesture, replying without sound, “Could you please smooth out that furrowed brow of yours? Scaring your subordinates is quite enough.”
Xie Chenbo responded helplessly, “My frowning doesn’t matter since Xiao Bo can’t see it anyway,” even though his voice sounded perfectly kind and approachable.
Watching this group communicate through lip movements, Xie Yubo barely managed to hold back from blurting out, “I can see too, you know.”
Xue Jing said, “Xiao Bo likes the botanical garden. When the holidays come, Mom will take you to the rainforest.”
Xue Jing’s health had improved recently; she even dared to mention the rainforest now.
Xie Yubo could only admit, “The classroom was very stuffy this morning. I wanted to go to the botanical garden to listen to people’s voices. The workers there welcomed me warmly.”
In winter, the classroom doors and windows were tightly shut, making it indeed stifling. Since Xie Yubo, who is blind, had even gone to the construction site, it was clear the child had been driven nearly mad by the confinement.
The Xie family felt both understanding and heartache: “How can people spread such nonsense online?”
Just as Xie Chenbo was about to contact the workers, another news headline popped up online: “Self-media Creator Sneaks into Campus to Secretly Film—What Purpose in Distorting the Facts?”
The news report included telephone interviews with several workers explaining what had actually happened, leaving netizens utterly stunned. All the workers spoke highly of Xie Yubo.
Somewhat blurry surveillance footage revealed that Xie Yubo had originally intended to leave, but it was the worker himself who invited him inside. Midway through, when Xie Yubo sensed the negative energy had been sufficiently dispelled and wished to depart, the worker earnestly begged him to stay. Moreover, when the man with glasses grabbed hold of Xie Yubo, the worker even came to his aid.
“The Xie family said not to disturb the students during construction, offering us triple wages to work quietly. Where else can you find such a wonderful client?
To put it bluntly, Young Master Xie cannot study normally anyway; we just let him play around at the construction site. The Xie family offered triple wages for the sake of all students except Xie Yubo. The Xie Group is a company with social responsibility!”
Such praise made the Xie family feel somewhat embarrassed. After a moment of silence, Xie Chenbo contacted the legal department to sue that self-media influencer.
The man with glasses was the videographer. He specialized in filming sensationalist videos and was an expert at twisting the truth. Lacking recent material, he thought of rehashing old stories about Xue Sibo and the botanical garden to grab attention, and coincidentally encountered Xie Yubo.
He had originally intended to step in personally as a hero, recording himself in the footage to expand his personal influence. Who would have thought that ungrateful migrant workers would surround him, condemning him outright? Enraged, he rushed home immediately to edit the video.
After public opinion online shifted, the man with glasses realized he had kicked an iron plate.
Sure enough, his account was banned that very night. The next day, he received not just one, but multiple letters from lawyers. Even the impoverished victims whose videos he had previously edited suddenly seemed to have won the lottery; they now all had the means to hire attorneys and file lawsuits.
With his income cut off and entangled in lawsuits, the man with glasses regretted his actions bitterly within just a few days.
Of course, all of this was a matter for later; Xie Yubo didn’t care.
Someone had swiftly handled the matter for the Xie family, prompting Xie Chenbo to remark involuntarily, “Once again, we must thank President Shang.”
Surname Shang?
Xie Yubo’s ears perked up as he asked, “What is President Shang’s full name?”
Xie Chenbo: “Shang Yange.”
After saying this, he could almost see his younger brother’s invisible rabbit ears drooping in disappointment.
Xie Yubo thought to himself, “It’s different.”
The name isn’t the same as that of the tyrant.
..
Shang Yan acted swiftly and decisively, deleting posts and banning accounts without mercy, then made a decision.
Lin Bei: “Acquire Changfeng Film and Television?”
Is Mr. Shang planning to break into the entertainment industry?
Shan Yige: “I only need a seat on the board of directors.”
While conversing with the workers, he inadvertently overheard them mention that they were also responsible for renovating the rooftop of Lirong Building.
Lirong Building is the venue for the Xie family’s anniversary celebration.
Shang Yange questioned them carefully about the details and learned that the missing third-tier iron scaffold had not been intentionally left behind.
A few days after the project was completed, while taking inventory of their tools, they discovered one iron scaffold was missing. They decided to go back and retrieve it, as buying a new one would cost several hundred yuan.
However, on the day they went, Changfeng Film and Television was hosting a charity auction, gathering celebrities from the entertainment industry, both men and women.
When the workers attempted to go up, everything seemed fine at first, but just as they neared the top floor, they were stopped by someone who claimed it was inconvenient.
They offered to take the service elevator to avoid them as much as possible. The man blocking their way, impatient, handed them five hundred yuan, saying that too many celebrities had arrived today and no one could be allowed up.
The workers found it strange, as it had never been this strict before; the building’s service elevator and stairwell weren’t even on the same side and were completely unrelated. Still, since they were being paid well, they let it go.
Who blocked the way is no longer known.
The anniversary celebration took place just a few days after the charity auction. Many attendees represented Changfeng Film & Television, and since Xue Sibo was also part of the company, Shang Yange couldn’t help but overthink the situation.
..
Today’s weather was clear. Xie Yubo sat on a small stool on the pedestrian overpass, hands tucked into his sleeves.
Uncle Wang decided that sunglasses weren’t selling well in winter, so he switched to applying screen protectors on the overpass instead.
The Imperial Astrologer was hardly enthusiastic about his duties; leaning against the railing, he dozed off, and by noon, he hadn’t even applied as many screen protectors as Uncle Wang.
Xie Yubo reasoned with complete confidence: “I’ve just reviewed the entire history of the world from BC to the year 2000 in a single day; feeling sleepy is only natural.”
Look,” he thought, “that young lady walking over worked overtime all day and only slept four hours; she looks even more exhausted than I am.
Lin Yu reported while walking: “The online commentators have been hired; we’re just waiting for the news to break at twelve o’clock. Sister Zhang told me to grab a meal first.”
Her uniform bore the logo of Changfeng Film & Television.
Xie Yubo twitched his nose, detecting a faint odor similar to the one on Xue Sibo’s body.
This time, it smelled more like a foul sewer.
Not too strong; it seemed as though the young woman had picked it up somewhere around her office.
It seems this Imperial Astrologer has finally located their lair.
Xie Yubo picked up his brush and urgently added a new service to his list: ghost exorcism.