Time trickled by.
His heart grew colder with each passing moment. The power in his hands increased, but his research hit a dead end, leaving him increasingly numb and weary.
Then, he obtained that crystal.
His numb heart instantly stirred to life, followed by an ambition and desire he could no longer suppress.
He wanted to build his own empire, to reach the pinnacle of the industry, to see the world change because of him. He wanted to be the king of this world.
His ambition swelled day by day, and he used his formidable strength and drive to execute his plans step by step.
He recruited talent, established orphanages, built his information network, and allied himself with all available powers.
He fulfilled their requests, and they, in turn, helped him achieve his goals.
Interests forged an unbreakable chain, binding everything he saw and shaping the world he desired.
But just as he was preparing to add more bricks to his empire, Liu Nuoran and his daughter reappeared before him.
Nuoran was as beautiful and elegant as ever, but the eyes that looked at him no longer held the passion of the past.
And his daughter, she had grown into such an accomplished person; her talent, her perceptiveness, everything about her was something he admired.
Yet, they were no longer by his side.
He didn't regret any of his decisions; he merely felt a sense of regret.
Did he still love Liu Nuoran?
Looking at the photo before him, Xiang Xueyuan felt that a corner of his heart still held a place for her.
Not much, but she was indeed there, having never left.
Taking a deep breath, Xiang Xueyuan pulled himself out of his nostalgia for the past.
He was no longer the man who had been lost in the embrace of tenderness.
His empire had also been ruined by Xia Qingtian.
His world was crumbling, and all he wanted was to destroy everything.
What Liu Nuoran did was no longer his concern.
Thinking this, Xiang Xueyuan's gaze grew colder.
Immediately after, a news item about Liu Nuoran appeared on the homepage. Xiang Xueyuan surmised it was likely the Xia Corporation's routine public relations response to the rumors. Not paying much attention, he clicked on it anyway.
Upon clicking, Xiang Xueyuan discovered the screen had switched to a live broadcast room.
Xia Qingtian's live broadcast room.
Initially, Aunt Liu was quite nervous.
According to Xia Qingtian's plan, she was to make a relatively simple and quick dessert.
Because it was a live broadcast, if it took too long, the gaps in between would become awkward.
So, Aunt Liu chose to bake egg tarts. The tart shells were pre-made, and there was no need for cooling after baking.
To make the broadcast less monotonous, she decided to add some flair to the filling, making them flavored egg tarts.
The broadcast started on the hour. Before that, Xia Qingtian had only posted the news of the upcoming broadcast on social media.
However, the previous sensational consecutive trending topics had been too explosive. Casual viewers wanted to see how the Xia family would respond, and the "Little Sun" fans were worried about Xia Qingtian, wondering if she had been bullied.
Therefore, a large number of people had already gathered in the live broadcast room, with the viewership reaching six figures before the broadcast even began.
When the broadcast officially started, everyone looked a bit bewildered at the person on screen.
Huh? Isn't this the stepmother of that top player in the wealthy circle, Xia Qingtian?
Why is it her?
Where is Xia Qingtian?
Just as they were thinking this, they heard Xia Qingtian's voice from off-screen: "Aunt Liu, it's started."
"Ah? It's starting already?" Aunt Liu first looked at the equipment in front of her with some confusion, blinked, and then smiled a little stiffly, waving her hand as she said, "Hello everyone. Tonight is my first live broadcast. What I'm going to make tonight is flavored egg tarts."
[???]
[Did I enter the wrong live stream? What is this?]
[No, Xia Qingtian just spoke. It's her live stream, so what is this?]
Holding an egg tart shell, Aunt Liu said, "Due to time constraints, we won't be making the puff pastry from scratch this time. We're using pre-made egg tart shells. I personally like this type; it's less sweet and not too oily.
Qingtian, Qingyu, and Xia Shang don't like overly sweet desserts. Girls are afraid of gaining weight and unhealthy eating, and boys have a lighter palate, so I generally choose ingredients that are relatively low in sugar and calories for desserts."
After saying this, Aunt Liu seemed to remember something and raised her hand to cover the outer packaging of the egg tart: "Um, this isn't an advertisement, right? Do I need to cover it like this? I don't watch live streams often, so I'm not sure."
She then smiled a little shyly.
"You forgot something," Xia Honglang reminded her through the drawing.
"What did I forget?" Aunt Liu blinked and looked in Xia Honglang's direction. She was really nervous, unsure of what she was doing right and what was wrong.
"You forgot that I also don't like very sweet things," Xia Honglang said helplessly. There were only a few people in the family. Besides Erya, who hadn't returned, and Miao Tong, who had already returned to Kyoto, Aunt Liu even mentioned Xia Shang but not him. Wasn't that going too far?
"Oh! Annoying!" Aunt Liu thought she had forgotten something important. Hearing Xia Honglang say this, she felt he was deliberately causing trouble. She gave him a娇嗔 (jiāo chēn - a playful, coquettish glare) and then complained to Xia Qingtian, "Can you tell your dad to stop messing around!"
"Dad, don't mess around," Xia Qingtian repeated obediently.
"I'm not messing around..." Xia Honglang felt a bit wronged. "She really..."
"Dad..."
"Dad..."
Xia Qingtian and Xia Qingyu said in unison, their tone identical.
"I really didn't mess around..." Xia Honglang's voice grew smaller, feeling a bit wronged.
"Qingtian, can we start over? Let me say it again," Aunt Liu looked at Qingtian and said, "I'm still so nervous."
"Uh..." Although Xia Qingtian really wanted to remind Aunt Liu that the broadcast had already started, and this wasn't a recorded video where she could just restart, seeing Aunt Liu so nervous, Xia Qingtian worried about making her more flustered. So, she said, "Okay, okay, we'll restart in three seconds. Mm, 3, 2, 1!"
"Hello everyone," Aunt Liu then began introducing herself and the dish she was making to the camera again.
The second time was more familiar than the first. This time, Aunt Liu appeared much more natural.
The audience in the live broadcast room began a lively discussion.
[Qingtian is so mischievous, hahaha.]
[Does anyone else think this stepmother is kind of cute?]
[You can tell she's really skilled. The Xia family is all doting on her, tsk tsk tsk.]
[It's just a show for the camera. You still think she's cute? That's hilarious. I've seen too many of these scheming women!]