The entire hall was brightly lit.
A figure walked into the hall under everyone's gazes.
He immediately became the center of attention.
Zhuang Weize was surprised; he quickly straightened his attire and went to greet the hero along with his daughter.
"Earl Wang!"
His attitude was respectful.
"Governor Zhuang!" The young overlord glanced at the young girl accompanying the official. He then looked back at the host and smiled. "It's quite lively!"
"Everyone is here to greet you," said the man, offering a slight bow.
"Good work!" the hero patted his shoulder.
The planet's overseer was definitely more deferential than before. The contrast was massive.
The fellow was flattered. He then introduced the young girl next to him, "This is my daughter, Zhuang Caixuan. She has heard a lot about your exploits and admires you very much. I took the liberty to bring her to meet you."
The girl rolled her eyes after hearing her father.
The young hero glanced at her and felt a little odd when he clearly caught her reaction.
Her attitude reflected the complete opposite of what the governor said!
As for the admiration part, he didn't believe it, at all.
Most people in the hall had shown up with beautiful girls in tow; all of them looked over towards him.
The young earl could smell their intentions better than anyone.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})He had experienced such encounters more than once.
Sometimes he couldn't help being so handsome and outstanding.
However, he didn't expose the governor's intentions and merely smiled. He then reached out for the young girl's hand. "Nice to meet you!"
Zhuang Caixuan looked at the handsome, confident and smiling hero. She unconsciously avoided eye contact and offered her hand. "Earl Wang, nice to meet you."
Their hands parted as soon as they touched.
"Earl Wang, you didn't bring a companion tonight. Why don't you let my daughter keep you company then?" Zhuang Weize smiled.
"If Miss Zhuang doesn't mind," the young hero replied.
"You can just call me by my name." She approached the latter and held onto his arm.
Everyone who saw this was cursing the governor for his shamelessness. They were beaten to the punch.
"Earl Wang, please!" The host ushered them into the hall.
Wang Teng nodded and walked together with Zhuang Caixuan.
Those present regained their composure and greeted their overlord.
"Earl Wang!"
"Earl Wang!"
…
One by one, they greeted and toasted the hero.
"Earl Wang, everyone has prepared gifts to congratulate you for winning first place and being inducted to the Star Rankings," Zhuang Weize said.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Oh?" The young hero was taken aback.
Gifts!
He loved this.
However, he kept a poker face and said gracefully, "So nice of all of you. Your presence is enough; there's no need for gifts… I can't accept this."
"You have to." The governor smiled. "You are about to enter one of the Seven Stellar Academies and will be pressed to consume a lot of resources. This is why I've prepared thirty billion universe coins for you!"
He then took out a bank card and offered it with both hands.
"Thirty billion!" Wang Teng was startled. It wasn't a small sum for families of their status.
Even Zhuang Caixuan widened her eyes as she stared at her father in disbelief.
He just gave thirty billion like that?
She was knowledgeable in regards to her family's finances. They did have many businesses on planet Yuming, but most of them didn't have much liquidity. Their yearly expenses weren't small, either. Thirty billion UC would definitely make them feel the pinch.
Does he have to sacrifice this much to befriend this Earl?
The governor's daughter wasn't ignorant; she was just having trouble accepting this. Her expression looked troubled, since she understood what the young earl's background implied.
"You have to accept this. This is a token of my appreciation," said the governor in a hurry, noticing the young noble hesitate.
Wang Teng pondered only for a moment.
The amount wasn't much for him.
He would have given it further thought if it were too much. After all, favors weren't that easy to return.
Once the governor started, the rest followed, approaching their overlord with gifts. Everyone handed out money, roughly pooling ten billion. When adding all that by the dozens, it was a considerable amount of money.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Zhuang Caixuan was flabbergasted; Wang Teng's income in one night was almost her entire family's fortune.
The young hero was elated due to such windfall.
Being an overlord, receiving some bribes was commonplace.
He now had six territories. It would be great if he could visit each galaxy and collect. Alas, there was no time.
Wang Teng sighed.
Suddenly, a soft voice was heard close to him, "Earl Wang, you've earned a lot today." His ears were tickled by the fragrant and warm air.
"It's still okay," he replied. He took his seat and sipped some wine. He didn't take the initiative, nor did he refuse the gifts.
Zhuang Caixuan: …
Earl Wang sure likes to talk big.
However, he looked extremely calm, as if he didn't care about the money in the slightest.
That's several billions of universe coins!
Zhuang Caixuan was exasperated by his attitude.
It would be great if the gifts were hers.
She dreamt of starting her own company ever since she was a child and made a lot of preparations for this, studying various ways of how to run them. On top of that, she had also opened a small company in secret, making good profits.
If she had that money, she was certain it would help her build something even stronger than what her Zhuang family had.
However, her family didn't believe in her, including her own father.
Running a small company was different from running a giant corporation.
They said that she was too naive. Without protection, any company could be swallowed up.
The girl glanced at the young earl discreetly. If she could get his help, wouldn't everything be much easier?
She tried her luck. "The Empire probably gave you a lot of rewards."
The hero glanced back at her and smiled. "If it's about universe coins, I did get a few trillion."
Zhuang Caixuan didn't know what to say. Her mind was abuzz as the 'few trillion' answer kept echoing in her head.
She was amazed. Goodness!
The girl remained in a trance, all the way until the banquet was over.
The governor sent their overlord off and looked at his daughter. "I'm afraid Earl Wang doesn't really care about the money, but he still accepted it. This means that he's still willing to accept us; our roots are here and we'll need to hold on to his leg. Our family can rise higher with his protection."
"He really doesn't care." Zhuang Caixuan felt conflicted. "Father, do you know how much money the Empire gave him as a reward?"
"How much?" Zhuang Weize asked. "It should be at least a few hundred billion. But that's not the point; the point is that he has six territories. That's a constant source of income."
"A few hundred billion?" The girl looked at him oddly.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" The governor frowned.
"The Empire gave him a few trillion as part of his awards," Zhuang Caixuan replied, "Earl Wang said so himself."
"A few… trillion!?" Zhuang Weize's face froze. "Are you sure you heard correctly?"
"Father, do you think there's something wrong with my ears?" She rolled her eyes.
"No, it's just too shocking." The man felt troubled. "The Empire's regard for Wang Teng is beyond our wildest imagination. I should have thought about this… After all, he even became an Earl. He wouldn't have just received a trifling amount of coin."
"But we're talking about trillions. Why would the Empire give him so much?" Zhuang Caixuan couldn't wrap her head around the idea.
"Maybe it's because of the Star Rankings." Zhuang Weize shook his head, then suddenly thought of a possibility. "I'm afraid Earl Wang told you that on purpose."
"On purpose?" The girl was perplexed. "You don't mean he's trying to use this to woo me?"
"You think too much," her father interjected mercilessly, "Given his status, do you think he would need to do that for someone from a small family?"
"Father, am I adopted?" The girl's face turned red as she stomped her foot.
"Hahaha, just helping you to keep your feet on the ground. Earl Wang is not someone you can handle." Her father laughed.
"All right, all right. I know his status is different. You don't have to remind me again." Zhuang Caixuan rolled her eyes and asked, "Then, why would he do that?"
"The message was for me," said the governor with a glint in his eyes.
"A message for you?" The girl wasn't stupid, immediately making guesses about the situation.
"That's right." Zhuang Weize nodded. "He's telling me that he accepted my gift, but he doesn't treat this money too seriously."
"That's going too far. He took the money just to send a message?" The girl was unhappy.
"No, this is actually good. It was a subtle reminder; no one was embarrassed with this method." The governor shook his head and smiled. "Besides, he only said this to you and not to the others. Do you know what this means?"
"This means… he accepts us," the girl murmured.
"That's right." The man nodded and smiled in return. "Looks like my daughter is smarter than the rest."
"This doesn't feel like a compliment." Zhuang Caixuan rolled her eyes again.
"Little Xuan, I hope you can find chances to interact more with Earl Wang. It'll benefit you later," Zhuang Weize said.
"Got it, got it." The girl waved her hand impatiently, running away to prevent her father from prattling on.
"This girl." Zhuang Weize shook his head helplessly. He couldn't have his way with Zhuang Caixuan.
