Chapter 134: Progress

After Li Mochen also took the elevator away, the butler Rosia looked thoughtfully at Angela: "Miss, I guess you must like this classmate Andrew, right?"

"I do like him a lot."

Angela admitted readily: "He's different from others. I like his personality. He's not like those childish boys at school. He and I can become very good friends."

"Miss, you're evading the issue."

Rosia emphasized: "You know what I'm asking. I mean romantic interest."

Angela didn't answer immediately. She puffed out her cheeks, glaring angrily at Lina Adric beside her.

"This has nothing to do with Lina."

Rosia shook his head slightly: "Anyone can see it from your behavior. You deliberately didn't invite the Wiltons today, worried that Andrew would be unhappy, right? And at today's party, miss, you spent at least 35% of the time watching this young master of the Wiltons family. You even admire him. Add to that your insistence on moving to the Unicorn Apartment—if I still can't see it, I'd be blind."

"I don't know."

Angela's gaze was somewhat dazed: "I probably like him? I want to be with him, and I want to see him. Those days he wasn't at school, I felt very lost. Rosia, help me find out what Amo does on weekends. From his tone, he won't be staying in the apartment these two days."

Suddenly there was a clatter beside them. Lina, who had been pretending to wipe the cups while eavesdropping, lost her focus and dropped two teacups in her hands.

"I'll try my best."

Rosia sighed: "Personally, I won't interfere with your private feelings, miss. But Mr. Michel will find out sooner or later, and it's hard to say how he'll react. Classmate Andrew is handsome, well-spoken, and from the Wiltons family. But miss, you also know that the Medici main family has been eyeing Mr. Michel's business covetously. He prefers you to marry into the main lines of families like Hanover, which will help you take over the conglomerate he leaves behind."

Angela frowned, showing disgust: "Enough, Rosia. Can we not talk about this? You've ruined my good mood for the day."

"There's an Eastern saying: 'Unpleasant advice is a good medicine.' You saw what happened half a month ago. Once you leave Mr. Michel's sight, they can't wait to eliminate you, miss. You'd better not be willful. If you like him, you can play with him before marriage, but don't even think about marriage. Many people are watching your marriage now. Unrealistic thoughts will only bring him trouble, all kinds of dangers, even death."

Rosia noticed that Angela's gaze had turned cold enough to freeze someone, and he sighed: "Alright, I'll stop. I'll help you keep the matter of classmate Andrew from Mr. Michel, though I'm not sure how long I can. Oh—"

Rosia suddenly remembered something and handed a sticky note to Angela: "This is a message from Miss Belinda. She came by earlier."

"Belinda?"

Angela's expression changed drastically as she took the note: "When did she come? Why wasn't I told? Didn't I say that wherever I am, that bitch is never allowed near?"

"Miss, you're being unreasonable. Miss Belinda is a magically gifted singer; she's good at disguise."

Rosia shrugged, looking helpless: "I analyzed the footage. She must have come with Lady Kadalin's invitation, then hid nearby, watching you and classmate Andrew for a long time."

Angela had a bad feeling. She looked at the note, which read: 'You took my heart, but gave your love to another—To Angela.'

Rosia had already read it, his expression odd: "She's really persistent with you. I suspect classmate Andrew will soon be in trouble."

...

The weekend was uneventful. Their income in the dark world was decent but nothing surprising. Li Mochen had refined his Outlaw-level external elixir and was inclined to go farther from Ghost City to hunt higher-level dark creatures. But both Eliza and Qi Tai disagreed, thinking it too risky.

Considering his body couldn't yet bear the power of the external elixir, and his comic panel composition had improved significantly along with his line art, Li Mochen didn't insist.

So after two profit splits that week, Li Mochen only deposited a little over 100,000 gold shields into the bank.

The only surprise was that the strand of merit light wrapped around his 'Divine Purple Gold Pagoda' had been restored to full.

Enough for him to use the Wish Spell six times when facing that Wildfire Mammoth. One charge must have come from Lina's continuous supply; the rest undoubtedly from Hazel!

That poor girl's weight on the scales of fate was truly unparalleled.

Over the next week, Li Mochen had a fairly smooth time, with everything going well.

The store plan for Xuri Company was steadily advancing. Kadirun Jebsen had hired the key staff he wanted and was now preparing to recruit young people for training as Li Mochen had instructed.

Of the nine store locations, they had selected seven, with leases signed for five, and the chosen renovation company had already begun construction.

As for supply channels, distribution contracts with Mitsubishi, Samsung, Toshiba, Siemens, and Panasonic were finalized; Sharp and Bosch were still under negotiation. Domestically in America, they had secured distribution deals with Whirlpool and GE.

At this point, supply organization could be considered complete. The rented stores ranged from 680 to 560 square meters, too small to display many brands of appliances.

All necessary permits for opening stores had been obtained. The Nason Sports Group was not only keeping its promise to him but was also highly efficient.

Then came good news from Li Tailai and the Coleson brothers. The three had wrapped up all business in Southeast Asia and retained nearly 90% of the team for him.

Additionally, six more people were willing to work for Li Mochen. They were magic professionals around level 9 to 10, known for excellent marksmanship and close combat skills, formidable and comparable to Delta Force operators.

In total, there were thirty people. Some had already successfully entered the country under Lawrence Coleson's leadership and were en route to Atlanta.

Li Tailai's style was very conservative and cautious, insisting on absolutely safe smuggling channels, even if it meant waiting longer.

Li Mochen fully agreed—what use were these people if they couldn't reach Atlanta?

He estimated that unfair business competition might hit in two to three months, so there was no urgent need for private armed forces yet.

On Wednesday, news came that was hard to call good or bad: the house left by Li Mochen's parents had been successfully sold. The auction price was as high as 5.86 million gold shields, of which 1.1 million went to the bank to clear the debt. Of the remaining 4.76 million, Li Mochen could inherit 50%, or 2.38 million, minus a 30% inheritance tax.