Qin He's heart felt heavy. The more she understood the value of the stone, the more she realized that Shen Yicong would never give up.
Shen Yicong's ambition, obsession, and ruthlessness would not allow him to miss such an opportunity.
Qin He pursed her lips, looking at the blueprints she had taken out.
"Master said it's an ominous object. Gu Qichen, will Shen Yicong go to any lengths with us for these patterns?"
Gu Qichen's gaze was deep. "There's a solution."
"What?"
Gu Qichen said, "If Shen Yicong wants that stone, we'll find it before him. If it's not what you suspect, like Californium, he'll naturally let it go."
"And if it is?"
Gu Qichen smiled. "Then we'll hand it over to the state."
Shen Yicong would be powerless then.
Qin He's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea!"
And it seemed like the clearest path!
Shen Yicong wanted the ten thousand theories for these patterns, and these patterns pointed to the unknown, mysterious stone.
Once the thing he desired disappeared, he would naturally stop bothering her.
After Qin He and Gu Qichen finalized their plan, they could drive away.
Upon returning to the Qin family, Qin He immediately went upstairs, entered the study, and after opening her computer, entered the management group of Qingyan Mansion.
Qin He @-mentioned everyone and posted the story her master had told her today in the group.
Then she posted her analysis.
The group quickly erupted.
Heartless Rogue: [Forty trillion, are you serious? What's that stone made of?]
Ti Shi: [Is that still a stone?]
Mo: [Qing Xie said it's not confirmed yet, but regardless, her idea is right. As long as we find the stone ahead of time, Shen Yicong will have no choice.]
Qin He typed: [Gu Qichen and I have discussed it. If we can find it, if it's an ordinary stone, we'll ignore it. If it's really the element I suspect, we'll hand it over to the state.]
Heartless Rogue: [That's a good plan.]
Ti Shi: [So much money, I'm so tempted.]
Qin He was a little helpless: [This element is highly valuable for research, and what use would we have for so much money?]
Heartless Rogue: [But there's a problem. Once we find that stone, no matter which choice we make, Shen Yicong will realize his goal is unattainable and will likely disappear. He still owes Qingyan Mansion a lot of blood debt!]
Qin He typed: [If we want him to repay his debts, we still need to find that stone first and lure him out.]
The four discussed for a while and quickly reached an agreement.
Qian Zimo had the patterns, so he would be responsible for investigating the geographical location information hidden within these patterns.
The other four would lie low for now, ensuring Shen Yicong wouldn't know they had learned about the patterns.
After discussing with the members of Qingyan Mansion, Qin He went downstairs.
In the side hall on the first floor, the mahjong game had ended. Di Shishi came out of the side hall holding her phone and immediately approached Qin He when she saw her.
"He'er, is what you posted in the group true?"
Seeing Di Shishi's excited expression, Qin He nodded. "Yes. When we find the stone, if it is indeed Californium, we'll have to rely on your father's channels to help us submit it."
"Boring."
Qin He chuckled. "Why, are you very interested in that stone?"
"Yes, I am interested. I've never seen so much money in my life."
Qin He patted her. "Isn't the money you have now enough for you? If I gain too much effortlessly, I'll feel it's meaningless."
After they chatted for a while, Qin Yun also returned from work.
Mom Xu was also present today. The six of them had dinner in the dining room, and then Mom Xu left.
Qingcheng, the night was quiet.
In an apartment on Tingqing Road, Gu Ranran sat on the sofa, her hands clenched into fists.
The eighty thousand yuan from selling her bag last time had all been spent.
Yang Hao told her today that he had found a few suitable DJs a few days ago and wanted to sign contracts with them, but the prices for those DJs were not low.
For her, in the past, that was an insignificant amount of money.
But now—
Gu Ranran felt a headache coming on. A deposit of one million yuan, where could she get it?
The bar wasn't ready yet, and she wanted to persuade Yang Hao to hire the DJs later, but Yang Hao said the DJ he found was a female internet celebrity with some fame online, praising her to the skies.
Basically, with this DJ, the entire bar might develop better in the future, and if they didn't sign now, someone else would snatch her up.
Gu Ranran checked the time; it was already 12:30 AM. Yang Hao hadn't returned yet today.
Gu Ranran felt a chill creep over her. If Brother Hao returned and knew she hadn't borrowed money from Qin He, and even her own jewelry couldn't be retrieved—
Brother Hao would be very disappointed, wouldn't he?
Gu Ranran gritted her teeth, her resentment towards Qin He growing.
She had poured her heart out to Qin He, giving all her jewelry to help Qin He through her difficulties, but she never expected Qin He to be so cruel. She had lied to her before, and now she was unwilling to return the jewelry that rightfully belonged to her.
What to do?
By one o'clock in the morning, Yang Hao still hadn't returned. Gu Ranran stood up from the sofa. Just as she was about to go back to her bedroom to rest, she heard the sound of the door opening at the living room entrance.
Gu Ranran walked over. "Brother Hao, you're back."
Yang Hao pushed the door open, smelling of alcohol. He hadn't drunk much today, but the scent of alcohol was stronger.
Seeing Gu Ranran, Yang Hao smiled gently. "Ranran, I met that DJ again today. We need to sign her as soon as possible. She said several bars are already contacting her; she's really in demand."
Gu Ranran pursed her lips and remained silent.
Back then, when Xiao Liyan opened Ye Lan, he invited several celebrities to boost its popularity. Now, Yang Hao was praising an unknown internet celebrity DJ like she was a rare gem. Gu Ranran felt uncomfortable.
Seeing Gu Ranran's silent demeanor, Yang Hao had some idea.
He had mentioned this to Gu Ranran a few days ago. Gu Ranran hadn't said anything at the time.
He understood Gu Ranran's personality well; if this fool had money, she would have given it to him long ago. She probably had no money on hand.
Yang Hao felt a bit annoyed. Is this all? And she's supposed to be the eldest daughter of the Gu family?
He recalled Gu Ranran giving a lot of jewelry to Qin He before. Those pieces of jewelry looked valuable. If Gu Ranran could get them back, that would be a solution. So, he had casually mentioned it to Gu Ranran a few days ago.
But even by today, there was no sign of the jewelry or the money.
Yang Hao began to feel worried, staring at Gu Ranran's haggard face.
Was the Gu family really not going to look after Gu Ranran anymore? She had been away from home for so long, yet no one had come to placate and find this daughter.