WS - Chapter 123
Chapter 123
Mu Xingzhou knew he had been a bit obvious in the cave that afternoon, but he never expected...
Well, relationships between young men and women are easily guessed to be romantic.
"No, just a friend I know." Mu Xingzhou's gratitude did not make him lower his guard.
Zhao Da poked the fire, his face showing nothing, but inwardly he chuckled.
Those files, though not very accurate in assessing the personalities of Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing, were quite accurate about the main subject.
The handsome, cheerful, and popular little song king was actually, deep down, a love-starved selfish guy.
"Ah, who knows how long the aftermath of this Yaoxing Storm will last. The shortest before was three months, right? Now we have a doctor but no medicine. The little lass is really in a bad spot." Zhao Da did not press further about their relationship but continued with a sigh, "Today, whether they were willing or silent, tomorrow they'll probably be willing to help carry her. But the road is so long, and we don't know what will happen along the way. To the Old Castle, there were originally just over ten days of travel left, but now we have to at least double that. The days ahead, I'm afraid, will be tough..."
Mu Xingzhou's heart tightened, and he looked at Zhao Da.
In the firelight, Zhao Da's face showed a sigh, as if lamenting Feng Qianqian's fate.
"She is my friend, a very important friend." Mu Xingzhou steadied himself and looked straight at Zhao Da. "I hope Brother Zhao Da and Brother Zhao Er can help us. Once we can leave Wilderness Planet, I will certainly offer you a reward that satisfies you."
"Ha ha." Zhao Da laughed lightly, then looked at Mu Xingzhou teasingly, asking in a bantering tone, "What kind of reward would satisfy us?" This Mu Xingzhou was interesting; earlier he had called him Big Brother Zhao, and now that he was asking for a favor, even Zhao Er, who was asleep, became a brother.
Mu Xingzhou paused, but unlike the previous two times, he did not stay silent for long. He quickly said firmly, "All my current assets."
Zhao Da was stunned. For a moment he lost control, and the feigned lightness and banter on his face receded like the tide, leaving only the surprise he didn't have time to hide.
Mu Xingzhou seemed to have made up his mind. Without waiting for Zhao Da to say anything, he continued, "Brother Zhao, I currently have three companies under my name: two in music, and one that started getting involved in film and television last year. On Mingtan Prime, Changhui Prime, and Amusement Planet, I have properties, maybe ten or twenty places. Most are villas for investment, and some are apartments in bustling commercial areas. I also have some savings, in bank wealth management, but not a lot, probably about the same value as those properties. I may not be able to give you the companies, but I can give you some shares. The properties and savings can all be transferred to your names. As long as you help us wait for rescue."
Zhao Da: "..."
Mu Xingzhou looked at Zhao Da. Quiet Zhao Da, silent Zhao Da, a Zhao Da he couldn't quite read.
Before Zhao Da could answer, the StarNet audience watching the livestream couldn't sit still.
"When Mu Xingzhou said Feng Qianqian was just a friend, I thought it was over— a live scene of lovers being like birds in the same forest, flying apart when disaster strikes. I really didn't expect such a twist."
"Yeah... I almost unfollowed. An hour ago, the StarNet had photos proving they were a couple."
"Ah, no matter how underground a celebrity relationship is, it can't withstand the whole StarNet digging together nowadays."
"Actually, saying they're friends, I can understand. After all, Mu Xingzhou is at the right age, and more than half of his fans are probably girlfriend fans. He still has to make a living."
"Being willing to give all his assets is very sincere. After all, the internet dug up that Feng Qianqian is just a girl from an ordinary working-class family on an agricultural subsidiary planet, and I heard there's no one left in her family."
"Although he didn't admit to having a girlfriend, Mu Xingzhou's willingness to give so much for a girlfriend whose legs might be crippled— this boyfriend is really not bad."
"After all, many married couples can't even do this."
"Is the focus on the interstellar good boyfriend? Isn't the point that so much money is offered! Zhao Da and Zhao Er should give up killing him now! I don't believe those two Mu brothers can offer more!"
"Added up, it's over forty houses on prime planets. Lying around eating and drinking for several lifetimes, I also think the Mu brothers can't match that price."
"They can't. I heard those two brothers don't have any Mu Group shares; the shares are all in the old master's hands. How can they compare to our Mu Mu who earns his own money!"
"Praying! Hope that Mu Mu's kindness will be rewarded, and that he'll smash those two killers with money! Once he returns, we can protect you!"
...
Although Mu Xingzhou faced a wave of danmaku complaints when he denied Feng Qianqian's girlfriend status, his swift action of offering all his assets to save her quickly restored his popularity.
After all, who wouldn't want a boyfriend so wealthy and so devoted in a crisis?
What's a status? The practical cost of over forty properties is what really matters!
For a time, the topic "Interstellar Good Boyfriend Splurges on Forty Houses" was immediately pushed up on the StarNet.
On Mingtan Prime, Ye Liu, who had drunk three cups of compressed coffee and whose eyes were reddened from staying up, watched the people on the livestream and those danmaku, feeling a little emotional.
To be honest, Ye Liu didn't really like Feng Qianqian.
This real daughter of the Yao family who was brought back by Yao Yuxi, though she was a truly good person, took too much from Yao Yuxi— whether it was the Yao Group shares that could now protect Yao Yuxi, or Yao Yuxi's special attention... she took too much.
As for Mu Xingzhou, when his relationship with Feng Qianqian and his ties to the Mu Group were investigated, Ye Liu disliked Mu Xingzhou even more than she disliked Feng Qianqian.
This underground relationship really gave no sense of security. Moreover, if it weren't for him hiding so much, and the recent changes in their relationship, Feng Qianqian wouldn't have wanted to go to Wilderness Planet to see if she could take care of him by blending into the production team, which in turn triggered the awful situation with Yao Yuxi.
Ultimately, this Mu Xingzhou was really detestable.
But seeing Mu Xingzhou and Zhao Da's conversation reach this point, even Ye Liu's opinion of Mu Xingzhou improved somewhat.
After all, though everyone says that money can be earned again if lost, but a person gone is truly gone, when faced with a choice, those who can truly put a person before all money are still few.
Although Ye Liu didn't like Feng Qianqian, for Yao Yuxi's sake, she still hoped Feng Qianqian would return alive and well. So Mu Xingzhou's "sensible" move at this moment was a pleasant surprise to Ye Liu.
Leaving aside the pleasant surprise of those not on Wilderness Planet, on Wilderness Planet, besides Zhao Da, another person who heard Mu Xingzhou's words was even more intently waiting for Zhao Da's next reaction than Mu Xingzhou.
No matter how dark the night, how soundly the people around slept.
No matter how much she told herself that not sleeping now would mean many times more hardship tomorrow.
Yu Nianbing still... couldn't sleep.
But to avoid appearing too special, to avoid making this side seem too special, Yu Nianbing went with the flow and lay down.
Lying beside Song Shiyue, the two were very close, making it convenient for Yu Nianbing to check Song Shiyue's breath or feel her pulse when she was frightened sick by her own imagination.
Warm, soft, the sign of life still present.
When Ni Jinghe had done this earlier, Yu Nianbing had felt a little awkward, as if it meant doubting something when the person was clearly fine, an unpleasant feeling.
But now, she couldn't help but do the same.
Switching between panic and calm again and again, in the quiet night, it seemed like an endless cycle.
"If she won't wake up tomorrow either..."
This was a guess that Yu Nianbing didn't want to face, but one she could not avoid for much longer, with only a few hours left.
She had endured Zhao Er and Captain Yang's silence, and then Zhao Da and Mu Xingzhou's conversation made Yu Nianbing prick up her ears and even her heart was hanging.
Yes, money.
Wealth moves the heart.
In this team, the ones who could earn the most money might be Mu Xingzhou and herself.
Though it was vulgar, if help could be bought with money, why not buy it?
As Mu Xingzhou meticulously listed his assets, trying to move Zhao Da, Yu Nianbing also calculated what she could give under her name.
At this point, Yu Nianbing finally faced that guess in her heart.
After all, what kind of deep sleep would make a person completely unresponsive when pinched, as if unconscious when picked up, and after several hours of sleeping, show no movement at all except the rise and fall of the chest from breathing?
Savings, investments, houses, cars...
Adding them up, although the savings and investment money could probably match Mu Xingzhou's savings and the possible shares from several companies, Yu Nianbing only had fewer than ten houses, somewhat less than Mu Xingzhou.
Maybe including the dividends from the just-wrapped "Yu Xian" and the endorsements currently being discussed that she had originally not wanted to sign during the Senxin contract period, it would be about the same.
The moment she finished calculating, Yu Nianbing deeply regretted it. If only she had worked a little harder in filming over the years and taken a few more endorsements and ads, she could have surpassed the price Mu Xingzhou offered.
But the moment this regret arose, Yu Nianbing was startled.
What was going on?
Why... was she competing with Mu Xingzhou's bid?
Yes.
Why?
When the situation is a seller's market, the buyers... naturally can only rely on bidding to get what they want.
What surprised Yu Nianbing was how she had, unknowingly, slipped below her own bottom line...
No, not that far.
At least, not yet.
Yu Nianbing temporarily put aside her thoughts on Zhao Da and Zhao Er and began to select among the other team members for those who could be of help.
Mu Xingzhou by the fire had no idea what effect his words had on another person. His attention now was entirely on Zhao Da.
Zhao Da's long silence surprised and unsettled him.
This price was all he could offer. If this couldn't move Zhao Da, then...
No.
Mu Xingzhou's eyes flickered; this was not all.
"I... also have shares in another very large enterprise. Though I haven't obtained them yet, they should give me some. I can promise you, if I get them, I'll give them to you. Including what I said before, we can write an IOU, and let others in the team witness and sign." Mu Xingzhou looked at Zhao Da, whose expression seemed to flicker, took a breath, and pressed on, "That enterprise is really, very large. Even if the shares I can get are not many, converted to money they should be as much as I said before. As long as you..."
"Wait..." Zhao Da raised his hand to stop Mu Xingzhou, lowered his head slightly, and when he raised it again, he wore a friendly and genial smile. "I was just joking with you earlier. As bodyguards, we certainly have to protect you. We'll do our best, but we were hired to protect everyone, so we must consider the safety of the majority. That's also our professional ethics."
The smile that had risen on Mu Xingzhou's face at Zhao Da's first half-sentence vanished instantly as the rest of his words came out.
He... was rejected?
What kind of professional ethics could make him hesitate only for a moment before rejecting a price of nearly a hundred properties?
It was simply unbelievable.
Compared to the other guests, Mu Xingzhou always had some natural advantages. For example, before the show started, he had already seen the route, the map, and even knew most of the planning content. The subsequent river crossings, the downward jumps from cliffs, the upward climbs from the valley floor... Even if Feng Qianqian woke up, her legs couldn't receive treatment in such an environment... These special segments designed to increase the show's watchability, these routes that were supposed to be shortcuts— without help, Feng Qianqian with her injured legs would never make it through. It would be hellish.
Even... for some spots, Mu Xingzhou wasn't sure if Zhao Da and Zhao Er together could manage it.
Whether taking shortcuts or detours, Mu Xingzhou needed the help of these two, plus Song Shiyue, the most capable, who would probably lend a hand without needing money, for Feng Qianqian to have a chance to keep up with the main group.
Precisely because, after the initial panic, Mu Xingzhou clearly realized this, he had opened a price to Zhao Da and bid higher step by step without hesitation.
To Mu Xingzhou, money was truly an external thing. With his current fiery popularity, aside from the Mu Group shares, earning back everything else would only take two years of hard work. But Feng Qianqian, there was truly only one.
But he never expected... Zhao Da refused.
Mu Xingzhou's heart turned icy cold.
Not only for Feng Qianqian, but also for the Zhao Da before him, who suddenly seemed even harder to read.
Equally icy cold in heart, of course, was Yu Nianbing, who immediately grasped Zhao Da's intention.
He had already made up his mind: once food and water ran short on the way, or if something went wrong, when the team needed to advance at full speed to the next camp, he would abandon the burden.
And... it would be under the grand excuse of ensuring the safety of the majority.
If Zhao Da and Zhao Er both thought this way, then perhaps they no longer wanted to consider others' opinions.
After all.
In this situation, force is the right to speak.
And they should be grateful for this protection, grateful that for now it was protection rather than exploitation.
What Mu Xingzhou offered was a sincere and sufficiently high bid.
Zhao Da's refusal not only surprised Mu Xingzhou and Yu Nianbing but also stirred an uproar across the StarNet.
"Click [link] to see Mu Group's real-time stock price today. Of course, yesterday's is more appropriate, since today's events caused their stock to drop a lot, but I believe it will definitely rise back after Mu Xingzhou takes hold."
"What a sin... Even if he can only get a little from Old Master Mu, it's still dozens of properties. Zhao Da is really very professional (a killer's professional ethics)..."
"It must be that the Mu brothers have something on them. I don't believe those two can give more money than Mu Mu!"
"Zhao Da was stunned for a moment, probably regretting too. If he were a real bodyguard, he could have made a fortune."
"It's tough. Now with the earthquake like this, and aftershocks to come, they can't move fast. If they only rely on camp supplies, they won't have enough to eat. If they're not full, they'll move slower, and getting supplies will take longer. It's easy to fall into a vicious cycle. And carrying someone..."
"Poor Mu Mu, Zhao Da is determined to kill. I wonder if we can count on Zhao Er to change his mind."
"Forget it... Zhao Er's brain can't outplay his brother."
"We still have Sister Song! When the tired Sister Song wakes up fully, the two Zhaos combined won't be her match!"
"Right! When Sister Song gets up, beat them into slaves! Carry her! Not a single cent given!"
"In that case, I'm much more at ease — from a little star with red-rimmed eyes"
...
And at this moment, on Wilderness Planet, Song Shiyue, whom everyone was counting on, was already a burnt ant.
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