NOVEL NEXT Chapter 99 - The Competition 7
Mai Dongzi received a message from the head of the Xi family, stating that the Negri couple wanted to compensate her with 1% of the family’s shares, several properties, and tens of millions of credit coins. The total amounted to over ten billion credit coins.
She refused without hesitation.
As the saying goes, “A soft mouth and a soft hand when you take something from someone.” Mai Dongzi had never intended to accept money from the Negri couple. Accepting their compensation would mean she could no longer hold Zhao Fenni accountable for her past actions.
That was out of the question. Not to mention the torment Lucy suffered at the hands of the couple, Mai Dongzi could not overlook Zhao Fenni’s role in Lucy’s father’s death and mother’s disappearance.
Trying to buy off grievances with money is just a pipe dream.
As for the compensation from the Negri couple to the Zhuang family, that was only right. The compensation was for Zhao Fenni’s years of suppression against the Zhuang family, but it did not cover Zhuang Yuelan’s disappearance.
Mai Dongzi instructed Su’s bodyguard to explain this to the Zhuang family clearly. They should keep the money but stay as far away from the Xi family as possible.
However, Mai Dongzi did not plan to maintain any ongoing relationship with the Zhuang family, as she was not the original host.
She had already done enough for the Zhuang family by exposing Zhao Fenni in front of the Xi family and securing a substantial amount of compensation. In dealing with the Zhuang family, she had been quite fair to the original host.
But life’s entanglements aren’t something Mai Dongzi could just brush off. Seeing Zhuang Huiya’s dependent gaze, she guessed that he was aware of the compensation.
“Focus on your recovery. I will stay outside and keep watch until you come out,” Mai Dongzi said.
Her concern was not due to any sibling affection stirred by that dependent gaze, but because this was the domain of the Ability Department, and Erica was there.
Even though Erica’s identity was somewhat awkward due to the false and true daughter incident, she was not considered at fault in the eyes of the public.
As the top student in the Ability Department and the only Level 5 ability user, Erica’s strong abilities were a fact, and this world especially valued strength.
The new semester has been underway for over four months now. After such a long time of daily interaction, even if the Ability Department students are not entirely aligned with Erica, they no longer have strong negative feelings toward her regarding the true and false daughter incident.
After all, for the students in the Ability Department, Mai Dongzi is an outsider, whereas Erica is one of their own.
When Mai Dongzi came to observe the Ability Department this time, she clearly sensed that the students’ reactions toward her were strange—there was a kind of subtle rejection, but not outright dislike, which felt very contradictory.
Curious, Mai Dongzi used her mental powers to “eavesdrop” and found out that these students felt Erica was very pitiful. They sympathized with her not only because she had believed she was an orphan growing up and had a difficult life, but also because, after finally reuniting with her parents and getting into the Imperial Capital University, she faced online abuse over the true and false daughter issue, making her feel like an outcast in every way.
Mai Dongzi smiled slightly upon hearing this. Erica was truly her mother’s daughter; she had the same talent for twisting the narrative to her advantage.
Despite the fact that the online abuse was directed at Lucy, Erica had managed to portray herself as one of the victims of the scandal to gain sympathy.
If it weren’t for the uproar over the true and false daughter issue, Lucy’s predicament—having to resort to participating in a survival live-stream game to pay for her tuition at Imperial Capital University—would be well-known across the Blue and Black Empire Star Network, leaving a public impression of Zhao Fenni and her husband as abusers.
Mai Dongzi even suspected that the Ability Department students might be brainwashed by Erica, leading them to think Mai Dongzi was ungrateful toward the adoptive parents who raised her.
Because of the apocalypse crisis, Mai Dongzi had no intention of targeting Erica, who had not personally dealt with Lucy.
After all, Erica’s cultivation is decent, and she should be able to advance to level six when the apocalypse crisis arrives. Having one more mid-to-high-tier practitioner gives the human race in the Daggula star system a bit more hope.
However, Erica had been complicit in the online abuse of Lucy, and combined with what Mai Dongzi had “heard” today in the Ability Department, she had significant doubts about Erica’s character.
Since Zhuang Huiya was severely injured and needed immediate treatment, he was sent to the Ability Department’s treatment room.
Erica must have known about Mai Dongzi’s confrontation with Zhao Fenni in the Xi family’s presence, yet Erica had never spoken a word in defense of her mother throughout the entire incident.
Not speaking up does not necessarily mean Erica was too embarrassed to talk; it could also mean that the facts were indisputable. Speaking up might only worsen her position in the family.
Originally, Mai Dongzi was only speculating whether Erica might harbor resentment against her because of this issue. After “hearing” the gossip from the Ability Department today, she was now certain that Erica had never had any goodwill toward Lucy.
Given that Negri was removed from his position as head of the family due to Mai Dongzi’s actions, and Zhao Fenni was publicly exposed by Mai Dongzi, Erica might very well hold a grudge against Mai Dongzi.
Zhao Fenni already knew that Zhuang Huiya had been admitted to the Imperial Capital University, and with the recent compensation to the Zhuang family, Erica should also be aware that Zhuang Huiya is Lucy’s cousin.
Although Zhuang Huiya’s mentor and classmates are present, Mai Dongzi does not know them well enough to trust them completely. Regardless of others, she was determined to stay vigilantly outside the treatment room until Zhuang Huiya recovered.
After hearing Mai Dongzi’s assurance, Zhuang Huiya visibly relaxed and seemed to trust her.
According to the investigation report from Su Bodyguard, there were no issues with the character of the Zhuang family members.
The past days of interaction had already allowed Mai Dongzi to see Zhuang Huiya’s character clearly.
This boy has good character and is Lucy’s cousin. Before the medical staff put him into the treatment chamber, Mai Dongzi administered a new type of energy potion to Zhuang Huiya.
In this situation, administering the potion to Zhuang Huiya naturally required the consent of the medical staff.
As a result, Zhuang Huiya’s mentor and classmates were all aware that Mai Dongzi had unhesitatingly given Zhuang Huiya a new type of energy potion worth over 200,000 per vial. They looked at her with complex expressions, speculating about the relationship between Zhuang Huiya and her.
Mai Dongzi ignored the speculative looks from those people. Her current situation was far from good; assassin organizations were lurking with ill intentions, and they had already attempted to attack her twice.
Within the Imperial Capital University, besides Erica, who harbored hidden hostility, there was also the person indirectly responsible for Lucy’s death, whose whereabouts were unknown and who might still pose a threat.
Mai Dongzi had not forgotten that Lucy was influenced by a classmate to buy cheap enhancement potions from the StarNet black market.
After returning to the Imperial Capital Star, Mai Dongzi intended to contact that classmate via a communication channel to probe for information. However, she discovered that the classmate had already died, reportedly murdered during a robbery while out for leisure.
After Su Bodyguard investigated the matter, the information revealed that the classmate’s death was likely connected to professional assassins.
Moreover, the time of death coincided with the day Lucy took the fake enhancement potion.