The next morning, Zhuo Ran took Zhu Zhongyan to the film crew. She was planning to go home for a nap, but her phone started ringing with consecutive calls from Gu's father.
Zhuo Ran blocked him once, but he kept calling from different numbers. After five or six calls, she was so annoyed that she reluctantly picked up.
"Who is this? What do you need?"
"Gu Ran!" Gu's father's voice was as vigorous as ever. "You haven't been to the company in days. Do you still want to work here?"
"No."
She answered so crisply that he fell silent for a moment.
After the silence, Gu's father finally spoke, "Don't joke with me. I'm your father."
"So?"
He softened his tone, "The company has always been yours. Besides, with what happened to your sister, the company will be yours to manage. Don't take what I said before to heart. Come back to the company quickly."
Zhuo Ran said dismissively, "I don't need it. Donate it wherever you see fit."
Gu's father: "... That's the culmination of my and your mother's efforts. What are you talking about?"
"Then I'll decide to donate my mother's share."
Gu's father's breathing became rapid with anger.
The original host wasn't well-liked in that family. Compared to the loving trio, she was an extra. That's why her personality was always reserved and sensitive. Gu Yingrong's actions after her rebirth had successfully sent her to hell.
And throughout this whole process, Gu's father had never cared if she was framed or if she was innocent. He only saw the company's reputation being damaged, his interests being harmed, and Gu Ran, who caused all this, should be the one to fill those loopholes.
Even if the cost was her lifelong happiness.
When facing the original host's relatives and friends, Zhuo Ran usually spoke according to the person. If they were genuinely good to the original host, she would give them some benefits; otherwise, she would cut ties.
If they still insisted on getting close, she would swat them away.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Gu's father roared. "Hurry back to the company. This is your mother's legacy. Can you bear to see it neglected? Also, you're not getting any younger. Your marriage with Xiao Qin should be put on the agenda. Stop hanging around with those disreputable people all day. What kind of girl are you? It'll sound so bad if it gets out."
Zhuo Ran retorted, "It's not as bad as you getting involved with a nanny. Your wife hadn't even been dead for a year, and her body was still cold. How could you do that?"
"You unfilial daughter! What are you saying!"
"I'm saying I didn't do anything as unsightly as you. Also, I won't marry him. If you want to get married, do it yourself. My mother liked to do good deeds when she was alive. I'll donate my share of the company as I see fit. She should be happy in the afterlife. I'll tell her at her grave someday. You don't need to worry about this."
Gu's father: "..."
"Or, you can give me all your shares, and then I'll donate them. You decide."
After she finished speaking, she hung up the phone with a "snap" and tossed her phone aside.
When Gu's father called again, she directly activated the stranger number intercept.
As a result, at one minute past twelve noon, Sheng Jiangchen called her. He immediately sounded distraught, "Little Ancestor, what's wrong with your phone? My uncle has called you over a dozen times, and it's been busy. I'm in a meeting, and it's been ringing like a soul-reclaiming bell! I set the rules myself, and I can't even keep them!"
"My phone is set to intercept. Give me a number, and I'll call him."
Sheng Jiangchen acknowledged and quickly sent her the phone number before hanging up.
Zhuo Ran dialed Sheng's uncle's number. He answered quickly, his voice as formal and serious as last night.
"Miss Gu, we have approved your proposal from last night. Where are you now? I'll send someone to pick you up immediately."
Zhuo Ran started the car. "No need, I have a car. Please send me the location."
Sheng's uncle hesitated for a moment, then agreed to send her the location.
His research institute was within the city, not more than ten kilometers away. Without traffic, Zhuo Ran arrived in about twenty minutes.
The outermost residential area had security checks, verifying identities. After she passed the first checkpoint, Sheng's uncle came out with his people. With him leading the way, she wasn't stopped again.
It wasn't until they entered the pure white, high-tech building that someone stopped them for a routine security check. Zhuo Ran's bag and person were searched, and electronic devices like mobile phones were not allowed inside.
She frowned, "But the thing I need to show is on my phone."
"Don't you have a computer?"
"It's too bulky to carry conveniently."
Sheng's uncle thought for a moment, then finally made an exception for her to bring her phone in.
In the glass-partitioned laboratories, almost everyone was working. All sorts of experimental equipment were displayed, and the people inside were extremely focused, paying little attention to her arrival.
Sheng's uncle first took her to see the "experimental subjects" they had captured. Zhuo Ran quickly confirmed her idea and requested to take one.
Sheng's uncle agreed, packed her a monster the size of a monkey, and took her to a conference room on the tenth floor.
He asked his assistant to get her water, while he himself went to notify others.
Before long, over a dozen researchers gathered in the laboratory. Their ages ranged from teenagers to septuagenarians, all wearing white uniforms and looking solemn, exuding an invisible sense of tension.
"Miss Gu, hello."
The oldest gentleman stepped forward and shook her hand. "Engineer Sheng told me you are the proposer of the quantum shield. You are truly a hero of a young age. People like you, who are capable and patriotic, are the pride of our nation."
Zhuo Ran felt a momentary sense of shared pride.
Hmm... Perhaps after spending so much time with people, she was developing some humanity.
"It's all just what I should do."
"Please, sit."
The group gradually sat down. They were very curious about Zhuo Ran and even more curious about what she had proposed, all looking at her with anticipation, their eyes filled with a thirst for science and knowledge.
If not for the overwhelming number of alien monsters caused by the karma of the human world, Zhuo Ran would never have brought things from the future here. She would have preferred to teach these people how to cultivate Xuan techniques and use those to deal with the monsters.
But she knew those were not the future.
Many people in the ancient world possessed divine power, and ordinary people in later eras also had their own ways of dealing with crises. Her approach was not entirely correct, but this was the path humanity should take.
To combat the disasters brought about by development with technology.
"Before I explain the shield, I'd like to introduce something first."
She placed the "monkey" on the table and took out a piece of crystal-clear white jade. As she slowly brought it closer to the glass enclosure in front of everyone, the white jade actually began to turn black.
After she placed the jade on the box for a while, the white jade had completely turned into a black stone.
"What is happening?"