Douluo V: Daily Intelligence - I Want All of Tang San's Opportunities

Seeing his reaction, Shi Zhenxiang's last hope was shattered.

She stood there with her mouth agape, tears finally falling, mingling with her foundation and covering her face, making her look utterly disheveled.

She suddenly turned around and looked at Sisi in the crowd, but Sisi kept her head down and didn't look at her either.

Qin Yan waved to Master Xiu Nuo beside him and said:

"Take her out of here, stop making a scene."

Master Xiu Nuo stepped forward and politely gestured for them to proceed: "Shi Zhenxiang, let's go."

Shi Zhenxiang stood there stunned for several seconds, then, as if she had finally resigned herself to her fate, she wiped her face haphazardly with the back of her hand, lowered her head, and quickly walked towards the door.

She paused as she passed Su Yuntao, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say a word and staggered out the door.

The hall fell silent again.

Su Yuntao stood beside Qin Yan, his gaze sweeping over the various expressions on the faces below the stage.

He didn't look in the direction Shi Zhenxiang left, but suddenly noticed that Sisi was standing at the back of the crowd, with her head down, and his expression was not visible.

From the moment the appointment was announced until now, she hasn't said a word. She just stands there quietly. Even when Shi Zhenxiang looks at her for help, she doesn't raise her head, as if all of this has nothing to do with her.

But Su Yuntao noticed that her fingers were unconsciously twisting near her cuffs, as if she was trying her best to restrain something.

Sisi was indeed restraining the surging emotions in her heart.

She lowered her head, feeling as if her mind had been jumbled up like a stick.

How did Su Yuntao become a branch hall master?

How did the man she had known for so many years, the taciturn man with a meager monthly salary who she disliked for having no future, suddenly become the Lord of the Notting Branch Hall?

She remembered clearly that day in the teahouse, when Su Yuntao took back the jade hairpin and walked out without looking back, she was angry. She was angry that he actually left, angry that he actually dared to dump her.

But she thought to herself, "So what if he leaves? Anyway, Liu Yuanlang is much better off. Su Yuntao is just an ordinary nobleman who has no chance of inheriting a title. How can he compare to the young master of the Liu family?"

But she never imagined that Su Yuntao would become the branch hall master.

Sisi raised her eyelids slightly and glanced at him quickly.

He stood beside Qin Yan, his back ramrod straight, his expression neither humble nor arrogant, a stark contrast to the timid and obsequious Su Yuntao of his memory, who would still grin even after being scolded.

She pinched her palm with her fingernails.

If you had done this a long time ago... why would I have bothered...?

She bit her lip, not wanting to think any further, but an indescribable feeling stuck in her chest, like swallowing a pill that hadn't dissolved, something she couldn't swallow or spit out.

Qin Yan ignored the subtle commotion below, simply patted Su Yuntao on the shoulder and smiled:

"Alright, everything that needed to be announced has been announced. Now you can say a few words yourself."

Su Yuntao stepped forward, facing the various faces in the hall, and cleared his throat:

"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Qin, and for the trust of the Spirit Hall. I will do my best to handle the affairs of the Notting Branch Hall in the future."

He paused, then added earnestly:

"I don't ask for anything else, I only ask that our branch halls work together as one, do what we should do, and get the credit we deserve. I see everyone's efforts and I won't let everyone work for nothing."

Su Yuntao's tone was not particularly impassioned, nor was his posture particularly flamboyant, but he struck the perfect balance between being neither arrogant nor overly humble.

After listening to this, Qin Yan nodded in satisfaction, patted him on the shoulder, and said:

"Well said. The rest is up to you."

Su Yuntao nodded. The stewards in the hall looked at each other for a moment, and then one after another they bowed and congratulated him. Their voices were loud and soft, and their attitudes were warm and cold, but at least no one questioned him to his face anymore.

Only Sisi remained standing in the same spot, neither offering congratulations nor leaving.

She simply looked at Su Yuntao quietly, her gaze so complex that even she herself couldn't quite grasp the nature of her emotions.

That evening, the study in the Liu family mansion in Nottingham was brightly lit.

When Liu Yuanlang hurriedly pushed the door open, Liu Yingda was leaning back in his armchair, flipping through an account book. Seeing his anxious and nervous appearance, Liu Yingda frowned and said:

"What kind of behavior is this, rushing around like that?"

"Father, something terrible has happened!" Liu Yuanlang rushed to the desk. "I was having dinner with Sisi and the others just now, and they told me that Su Yuntao has been promoted to the position of Hall Master of the Notting Branch of the Spirit Hall."

Liu Yingda paused in flipping through the account books, looked up at his son, and his expression changed from casual to serious:

"What happened? Wasn't he just a junior steward in the Spirit Hall? How did he suddenly get promoted to branch hall master?"

Liu Yuanlang swallowed hard and rattled off all the information he had gathered:

"According to Sisi and the others, Su Yuntao went to Holy Soul Village a couple of days ago to awaken the martial souls of a group of children. As a result, a boy named Tang San awakened twin martial souls with innate full soul power. The Spirit Hall took this very seriously and even sent an elder at the Title Douluo level. Moreover, Su Yuntao also provided the Spirit Hall with a clue about a Title Douluo-level wanted criminal. Although the criminal wasn't caught, the credit has already been given to him. With these two things combined, the Spirit Hall made an exception and promoted him directly to the position of branch hall master."

Liu Yingda remained silent for a long while before slowly closing the ledger in his hand.

He leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

Looking at his father's expression, Liu Yuanlang hesitated for a moment before finally speaking:

"Father, why don't we give up? Su Yuntao is now the Hall Master of the Notting Branch Hall, and the Su family is no longer the impoverished family it used to be. It's basically impossible for us to covet their title anymore..."

"give up?"

Liu Yingda abruptly stood up from his chair, paced back and forth in the study a couple of times, his voice low but his tone extremely somber:

"Do you think we can just back out of this?"

Liu Yuanlang shrank back in fright at his father's tone.

Liu Yingda stopped and turned to look at him, his gaze sharp:

"We've already taken action against Su Yunfeng. Although we handled the soul beast attack discreetly, given Su Yuntao's current status as a branch hall master of the Spirit Hall, if he discovers something amiss and starts investigating, how long do you think we can keep it a secret? Once he follows the clues back to us, do you think he'll still be on good terms with us?"

Liu Yuanlang opened his mouth, but didn't dare to reply.