Richest Rag-picker

Fang Chenyi’s comment almost made Brother Xiaoma spray out a mouthful of tea.

’Expired?’ Brother Xiaoma thought. ’Good grief, what an imagination.’

"Don’t worry, my friend. This kind of tea is specially processed. As long as we don’t store it in a damp place, it won’t go bad."

After a bit more small talk about the tea, Fang Chenyi cut in. The tea was just a minor detour, and there was no need to waste too much time on it. After all, he would rather use the time to go home and be with his wife.

"Alright, since you’ve put it that way, Brother Ma, and I’m now a shareholder in the Penguin Group, I can’t really refuse you.

As it happens, I’m heading over there today. If you have time, you can come with me and take a look at the site. If you find a spot you like, I can hold it for you."

Hearing Fang Chenyi’s words, Brother Xiaoma was overjoyed and quickly replied,

"Haha, that’s fantastic! Great, let’s go together this afternoon. Oh, right, my friend, I heard that the nine towers you’re building are all set to be the tallest in the world. I wonder which corporations you’re reserving them for?"

Clearly, Brother Xiaoma was also eyeing the Planet Towers. After all, the Penguin Group was one of Huaxia’s top corporations. Being relegated to some small, out-of-the-way office building would be a major loss of face. They would rather not move at all.

Brother Xiaoma’s true objective was, in fact, any one of those nine Planet Towers.

However, he knew those towers wouldn’t be handed over to him so easily, so he continued,

"Oh, by the way, my friend. That virtual reality game you mentioned last time we met—are you still thinking about it? If you are, we could collaborate and form a new company."

Brother Xiaoma was obviously saying this to get closer to Fang Chenyi.

Hearing Brother Xiaoma, Fang Chenyi recalled what he had said before.

He had been so busy lately that the matter had completely slipped his mind. Now that Brother Xiaoma brought it up, he couldn’t help but feel tempted again.

But with so much on his plate recently, he simply didn’t have the time or energy for it. He said to Brother Xiaoma,

"Sigh, there’s just too much going on right now. I don’t have the energy for it. But I’ve always had that idea; it’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I’ve always fantasized about putting on a headset and playing a high-fidelity, virtual reality game. To be honest, that was the real reason I acquired Penguin Games."

Fang Chenyi paused for a moment. After some thought, he continued,

"Let’s do this: we’ll hand the whole project over to Penguin Games. We both have shares in the company, after all. We’ll just let them run with it and see if they can make it a success."

Brother Xiaoma was a little disappointed to hear it would be handed over to Penguin Games. After all, Fang Chenyi was now the majority shareholder, not him.

But since Fang Chenyi had put it that way, he had no reason to refuse. He simply nodded in agreement.

With that matter settled, Fang Chenyi steered the conversation to his main purpose.

"By the way, Brother Ma, I wanted to ask you about something. How much do you know about the Baida Clans?"

That’s right. This was Fang Chenyi’s real reason for being here. The true purpose behind agreeing to dinner with Brother Xiaoma was to ask about this very thing.

After all, his top priority was finding the fragmented Rune Stones, and it was highly likely that those great clans knew of their whereabouts.

According to what Poseidon Robton had said, the Ma Family was one of Huaxia’s reclusive, powerful clans.

Although he didn’t know if this "Ma Family" referred to Brother Xiaoma’s family or a different one, he figured asking him would be the quickest way to find out.

Across from him, Brother Xiaoma was taken aback by Fang Chenyi’s question. A flicker of suspicion appeared in his eyes as he looked at him. He asked, a little uncertainly,

"My friend... which family are you from?"

’After asking that,’ Brother Xiaoma couldn’t help but wonder. ’Perhaps Fang Chenyi really is from one of those reclusive clans.’

’After all, his meteoric rise in just six months... only that explanation made sense.’

But Fang Chenyi just shook his head, waved his hand dismissively, and said lightly,

"Haha, I’m not part of any Baida Clan. If I were, I wouldn’t be asking you, would I? So, are you at liberty to tell me about them?"

Brother Xiaoma didn’t know whether to believe Fang Chenyi’s answer. ’If he isn’t from one of the Baida Clans, how could he have risen so quickly? Maybe... the guy has some incredible secret.’

But clearly, that wasn’t something he could ask about.

"The Baida Clans... to be honest, I don’t know all that much about them myself. I just know they’re ancient families with long, established lineages.

Some are even said to be descendants of the gods of legend. Of course, that’s just their families’ public claim. No one can prove it.

Since you’re asking me about this, my friend, I assume you already have some idea about my background. So, I won’t hide anything from you.

The Ma Family is one of the Baida Clans. But our ranking is quite low. Right now, we’re probably around 90th, and there are even signs we might be pushed out of the clans altogether."

As Brother Ma spoke, Fang Chenyi listened quietly, twirling the teacup in his hand.

Fang Chenyi knew even more about these "descendants of gods" than Brother Ma did. After all, Poseidon Robton himself claimed to be a descendant of the Western god, Poseidon.

Seeing how intently Fang Chenyi was listening, Brother Ma’s expression grew more serious.

"The story starts with my ancestors. The Ma Family was once a renowned Martial Arts Family in Huaxia. One of our ancestors fought alongside Zhu Yuanzhang to establish the Great Ming Empire. It’s said the family’s wealth could rival a nation’s, and we had masters as numerous as the clouds.

Of course, that wasn’t even our family’s peak. Our most glorious era was when my grandfather was in charge.

Under my grandfather’s leadership, our family became one of the top families not just in Huaxia, but in the world. We broke into the top 50 of the Baida Clans!

But fortunes rise and fall. By the time my father took over, our once-glorious family had fallen completely out of the Baida Clans."