Grandpa Li had set up an education fund specifically for Yuan Chu, enough to cover her university education.
He also arranged a reliable guardian for her as a consultant for her life and studies.
Although Grandpa Li knew about Yuan Chu's background, that she had lost both her parents and had no other relatives, he had decided to treat her like his own granddaughter.
Yuan Chu started school earlier than Li Xi. The school was not far from Li Xi's middle school.
On the first day of school, Li Xi was very worried that the little girl might not adapt well or be bullied by classmates.
He had a stern face the entire time, his eyes scanning others like lasers, as if trying to identify any potential threats.
In reality, Yuan Chu had no need to worry and actually enjoyed this ordinary life.
The power system in this world was much weaker than in her previous world, and the level of danger was also incomparable.
Her abilities were also greatly limited, but as long as she didn’t tamper with the rules, there was hardly anything that could harm her.
However, she was only 8 years old and looked small and easy to bully.
"You're completely capable of entering middle school," Li Xi critically assessed the school, finding faults everywhere, "Why not skip a grade and join me in the ninth grade?"
"I prefer to go step by step," As a bug, keeping a low profile was her basic operation.
Li Xi reasoned with her, "Staying with those elementary school kids for too long will lower your IQ."
"You often call me 'idiot', 'stupid', 'silly girl', don't you?" Yuan Chu earnestly said, "My IQ is not high to begin with, and we are all immature elementary school kids, so there's no need to look down on anyone."
Li Xi: With you saying that, don't you feel guilty? Who was the 'immature elementary school kid' that just completed a set of junior high math competition questions last night and scored a perfect score?!
Li Xi ultimately failed to persuade Yuan Chu and could only reluctantly send her to school.
The house felt empty without Yuan Chu. Li Xi found it particularly uncomfortable.
Fortunately, he also started school a few days later, and the two began to slowly adapt to their new lives.
Li Xi had experienced separation from death, torment from illness, and his temperament was far more mature than his peers.
He approached everything with scrutiny and rejection, exuding a cold aura that kept people at a distance.
He was handsome and exceptional, but he had almost no friends at school. He only smiled and let his guard down when he saw Yuan Chu.
Unlike him, she was strong against the strong and weak against the weak, capable of being the class monitor and able to handle all sorts of mischief, making her the best playmate for an elementary school student.
The school curriculum posed no challenge for the two of them, so they found other interesting things to do in their spare time.
Li Xi, considering he would eventually manage his parents' company, decided to start a business now.
The first thing Li Xi thought of was designing websites and acting as an agent for TB shops.
It was low-cost, flexible in time, and allowed him to understand the prices and sales of various products.
Yuan Chu was well aware of Li Xi's earning abilities and was not worried about him making a loss.
Influenced by him, Yuan Chu also found herself a part-time job: A child model.
For this, Li Xi specially collected data from the top 100 child clothing stores on TB, selected fifty or sixty shops with good reputations, secured ten design and promotion projects, and introduced Yuan Chu as a child model for several of them.
Yuan Chu didn't need to buy clothes for herself until she was 10 years old.
As the features of the young girl gradually matured, Li Xi began to dislike photos taken by others and took it upon himself to learn photography, taking pictures of Yuan Chu whenever he could.
In the first month, the photos he took were mostly unusable, and he didn't allow anyone else to take pictures of Yuan Chu, leaving her without any extra income for a long time.
Yuan Chu didn't mind and went along with his experiments. She would change into any clothes he wanted her to, adopt any style he chose, and pose however he instructed.
With her relaxed and natural demeanor, Li Hao gradually found his touch. He became more proficient, and by the second month, he finally produced a set of good works.
"Don't you send them out?" Yuan Chu asked casually as she watched him save the photos one by one into his album.
"These are my private collection." Li Xi saved the photos and flipped through them with satisfaction.
He accidentally came across their old photos from the hospital, and the change was like night and day.
The old Yuan Chu was weak and frail, pale-faced, with dry and yellow hair that eventually fell out completely.
Looking at her now, with her short, dark and lush hair, fair skin, and slender figure, there was no trace of illness.
The only thing that hadn't changed were her eyes, always bright and clear no matter the circumstances.
"Who's this ugly guy?" Li Xi pointed to the photo of himself, looking disgusted.
"That's not an ugly guy, it's a sickly handsome guy."
Li Xi: "Haha."
Looking at that ghostly, almost doomed appearance, he was scared just looking at it. Where did he get the courage to call himself a sickly handsome guy back then?
"Let's take some new ones." Li Xi set up the camera, activated continuous shooting mode, and took dozens of shots with Yuan Chu, finally satisfied.
That night, as soon as Yuan Chu stepped out of the bathroom, Li Xi knocked on the door and walked in holding four or five sets of pajamas, looking serious. "I've done this style before, let's try it?"
Yuan Chu laid out the pajamas on the bed one by one - rabbits, bears, cat ears, pigs, foxes... Was he trying to collect an entire zoo?
"I'm going to bed." Yuan Chu climbed into bed and wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, not even leaving a single hair exposed.
"It's still early." Li Xi crouched by the bed, poking the lump under the blanket with his finger.
A small hand emerged from the blanket, pointing to the alarm clock on the bedside table, which showed: "00:12."
Li Xi: "..." Ever since the last time he secretly changed the time, the alarm clock had never been right.
At this moment, Yuan Chu's small hand pointed towards the door and made a few gestures, signaling him to kneel down.
Li Xi gripped her small hand, his eyes filled with a deep sense of longing.
Ever since Yuan Chu turned 10, she didn't let him share the bed with her anymore. It was really heartbreaking. They were still children, why couldn't they hug and cuddle each other?
Now 15-year-old Li Xi, with a height of 178 cm, had long been excluded from the child category.
Yuan Chu was no longer the naive girl from the previous world; she had a deeper understanding of relationships and her emotions had become much richer.
She didn't necessarily have to fall in love with the son of luck, she cherished any pure feelings.
In the end, Li Xi reluctantly gave in.
The next day, he bought Yuan Chu three new alarm clocks, in large, medium, and small sizes, as if one wasn’t enough, he got two more!
Yuan Chu: "..." She didn't want to be gifted an alarm clock, let alone three.
In return, the next day, Yuan Chu sent Li Xi three watches, in red, blue, and black, with three different styles, all on special discount for 388.
Yuan Chu: Come on, let's hurt each other. (╰_╯)ψ
Li Xi: Come on, let's show affection. (*^▽^*)┛
The two made money through entertainment while studying.
Li Xi's fortune increased steadily, and in just two or three years, he earned over three million through sales alone.
Yuan Chu made money through modeling and shooting advertisements, and earned around two hundred thousand.
Although not a lot, it was the result of their part-time efforts, and almost zero-cost profit.
Until Li Xi entered his senior year of high school, the two temporarily put aside these miscellaneous matters and focused on their studies.
However, fate seemed unwilling to let Li Xi enjoy a peaceful life. A sudden incident shattered their calm life.
"Young Master Xi, Grandfather Li has been hospitalized. Please return as soon as possible." Secretary Zhang found Li Xi and delivered the bad news.
"What? Hospitalized? What happened?" Li Xi's face turned ugly. How could his grandfather, whom he had chatted with via video just a few days ago, suddenly be hospitalized?
"It's a stroke. I wasn’t there at the time, but when I received the news, Grandfather Li had already been admitted for a stroke." A coldness flashed in Secretary Zhang's eyes.
"The servant said that Grandfather Li fell in his room, and then suddenly had a stroke."
"How did they take care of him?" Li Xi kicked the coffee table hard, making a harsh scraping sound.
Now 184 cm tall, his features had matured and become more three-dimensional, and he was no longer the skinny boy he used to be. When angry, he was like a fierce lion, full of explosive power.
Yuan Chu's eyes flashed, recalling a recent incident.
In a bedroom, an old man and a young man and woman were arguing. Suddenly, an old man clutched his chest, his face turned pale, and he collapsed onto the bed.
The young man and woman seemed unaware of his condition, leaving hastily after a few words.
The old man fell to the ground, in pain, clutching his chest, reaching out towards the door.
When the servant rushed in, the old man had fainted. After being taken to the hospital, the doctor diagnosed it as a hemorrhagic stroke, barely managing to save him.
Over the years, Grandfather Li had been very caring towards Yuan Chu, treating her like family.
She had actually known about Grandfather Li's near-death experience for a long time, but she foresaw many possibilities, and what happened was the one she least wanted to see.
"Don't worry, it'll be okay." Yuan Chu held Li Xi's hand, her gentle voice soothing his ears.
Li Xi took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his anger and impatience, and ordered, "Secretary Zhang, please book our flights. We'll leave tonight."
Years of maturity had taught him to remain calm on the surface, even if he seemed impulsive, he was actually composed and self-restrained.
Grandfather Li had three sons and one daughter. Li Hao's father was the youngest but the most capable.
He managed most of the family's businesses and held the largest share among the four siblings.
A few years ago, a gas leak accident led to the accidental death of Li Xi's parents. The inheritance they left behind was taken over by Grandfather Li, intending to pass it on to Li Xi.
However, others believed that Li Xi had no chance of survival and began to secretly compete for the inheritance.
While Grandfather Li was alive, he could still control the situation. If he were gone, there would probably be no one left to restrain these greedy individuals.
To be on the safe side, Grandfather Li had prepared a will early on, leaving all of Li Xi's parents' inheritance and half of the family's businesses to Li Xi.
However, the news of Li Xi's survival and recovery is still unknown to most. Everyone was eagerly waiting to divide the inheritance of the deceased brother and his family.
Unexpectedly, the legitimate heir didn’t die and survived a disease with a death rate as high as 98%!
This time Li Xi returned, it was unclear what kind of storm he would stir up and he would also face suppression and schemes from the family's elders.
However, for him, who had experienced life and death and illness, the struggle for power and profit was trivial and not worth mentioning.
"Only one month left until the college entrance exam," Yuan Chu reminded Li Xi, sitting beside him.
"It's okay," Li Xi replied nonchalantly.
"There's still time."
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