Chapter Twenty-Seven: So Familiar

After Xia Moyan finished introducing Fang Nian, the handsome man's body visibly trembled. Then Xia Moyan shifted her gaze to the bespectacled young man and introduced him to Fang Nian.

"This is Xuefeng Xiao, the eldest son of Zhen Xiao, the tycoon of the Hunter Camp in District 16. Today, Mr. Xiao is visiting the R&D Center mainly as a technical consultant, to advise us on the construction of hunting grounds for next month's District 16 Hunting Tournament."

"You should know, Mr. Xiao is one of the outstanding young talents of District 16, an expert in the design of mechanisms and props for hunting grounds, holding numerous records. His achievements are remarkable, and he’s quite handsome—a dream man for countless girls in our district."

Fang Nian was a bit surprised. But what amazed him was not Xuefeng Xiao's abilities and titles—it was Xia Moyan herself.

To him, his wife was a treasure; her formal introductions and public relations skills were exceptional. If Fang Nian had to do it, he surely wouldn’t measure up. They hadn’t known each other long, but Xia Moyan truly impressed him—he couldn’t imagine how many more surprises she would bring in the days to come.

Yet, thinking further, Fang Nian felt a pang of sorrow. She was a young woman, in the prime of her life, who ought to enjoy it but instead had to shoulder so much. For a moment, his gaze toward Xia Moyan was full of tenderness, completely ignoring Xuefeng Xiao beside him.

Xuefeng Xiao came from a wealthy family, monopolizing the hunter camp business in District 16 and wielding immense influence. When he learned that Fang Nian was the infamous husband of Xia Moyan—the so-called useless junk collector from District 4—his sense of superiority grew. He looked at Fang Nian with contempt, just about to make a mocking remark.

But then he noticed Fang Nian gazing lovingly at his own wife, paying him no mind at all, which irritated him even more.

Xia Moyan noticed Xuefeng Xiao’s expression and, feeling awkward, glanced at Fang Nian. Only then did Fang Nian come back to himself, somewhat embarrassed as he reached out his hand.

"Ah, hello, Mr. Xiao."

Xuefeng Xiao’s expression became even more disdainful. He simply couldn’t fathom why such a beautiful woman would marry someone like Fang Nian.

"Oh... Brother Fang, hello. I’ve heard of you—the door-to-door son-in-law from District 4. Now that I’ve met you, your reputation precedes you. You certainly have the look of a proper live-in son-in-law."

Fang Nian caught the hostility in Xuefeng Xiao’s words, but he didn’t react, only smiling politely. He wasn’t here to sow discord, and if he couldn’t be of help, he certainly wouldn’t make trouble for Xia Moyan.

Sensing the unfriendly tone, Xia Moyan quickly changed the subject. She had intended for Fang Nian to wait in her office, but when she learned he wanted to study hunting ground construction, and with Xuefeng Xiao’s consent, the three of them went together to the R&D department on the 23rd floor.

The R&D department was the heart of the entire center, with nearly all of Xia’s Hunting Ground’s elite gathered there.

When the three arrived at the conference room, it was already filled with people. After taking their seats, Xia Moyan stood and introduced Xuefeng Xiao, then introduced two core talents from Xia’s R&D Center to him.

One was Wei Jian, director of the R&D lab, who had twice won the gold medal at District 16’s top R&D competitions.

The other was an elderly man in his sixties, Dumen, an honorary professor at Xia’s R&D Center. Fang Nian had seen his résumé during his tour—he had witnessed the entire evolution of soul hunting grounds, working alongside Xia Moyan’s grandfather Xia Hong for over twenty years, and was highly respected in District 16.

Today’s meeting was chaired by Wei Jian. He activated a three-dimensional projection, which instantly displayed a high school classroom.

"Hello, everyone. We are honored to have Mr. Xiao visiting Xia’s R&D Center today to provide technical guidance on mechanisms and props for the new themed hunting ground, 'Class Three of Grade Twelve.' On behalf of the center, I’ll explain our setup for this hunting ground’s mechanisms and props."

Wei Jian’s commercial presentation skills were truly impressive. For three whole hours, he didn’t take a single sip of water as he dissected every aspect of the hunting ground and its mechanisms and props, detailing strengths and weaknesses with remarkable precision.

But in Fang Nian’s view, the theme 'Class Three of Grade Twelve,' in terms of mechanism and prop design, was hardly outstanding. At best, it was passable—fit for an F-grade hunting ground launch, perhaps.

Xuefeng Xiao listened attentively to Wei Jian’s introduction, then raised his lips in a slight smile and looked at Xia Moyan.

"Moyan, forgive me for being blunt, but as far as mechanisms and props go, the design here is simply garbage—not even worth showing. It’s like your husband; if you take this theme to the hunting tournament, you’ll be laughed out of the place."

The story of Xia Moyan marrying a bargain husband was widely known—though people whispered behind her back, none had ever insulted her to her face. Now, Xuefeng Xiao openly compared her husband to trash, making the atmosphere instantly awkward.

Fang Nian sat there, fuming.

Damn it... I’ve been sitting here quietly, just listening—how did I provoke you? Why diss me? What does my existence have to do with you?

Xia Moyan was angry too. Though she needed his help, Xuefeng Xiao calling Fang Nian useless to her face, with Fang Nian right beside her, was too much—it crossed her bottom line.

She was about to stand up and confront Xuefeng Xiao, but before she could, Fang Nian suddenly spoke.

"Mr. Xiao, isn’t that a bit pretentious? Though you’re an expert in mechanisms and props, talk is cheap. Since you think our design is trash, would you care to show us what you can do? Let us witness your skills so we can be convinced."

Fang Nian’s words immediately resonated. Though Xia’s researchers didn’t know him, they all stood behind him. After all, these mechanisms and props were the fruit of their labor—being so disparaged was naturally upsetting.

Xia Moyan said nothing, knowing Fang Nian was right. Endless concessions would only make the other party more arrogant. The purpose of inviting Xuefeng Xiao today was, after all, to gain new technical support from him.

Xuefeng Xiao looked at the passionate Xia staff, shook his head disdainfully, then had his assistant hand a disk to Wei Jian, who quickly displayed a complete set of mechanism and prop diagrams on the screen.

Everyone was shocked at the sight. Though they didn’t want to admit it, these mechanisms and props were leagues above their own designs—some parts were so ingenious that even with detailed analysis, they couldn’t necessarily replicate them. For a moment, heads bowed; compared to such a giant in mechanism design, their own experience was simply lacking.

But Fang Nian was stunned. He gazed at the three-dimensional projection, his eyes flashing with a trace of brilliance.

"This looks awfully familiar... I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before..."