Chapter Thirty-One: Qingyi’s Magical Moment

“A wager?” Xie Gong asked with a hint of curiosity. “What kind of wager?”

“Within one year, he must turn a single Golden Leaf Clover into one million of them,” Carlos replied calmly.

Xie Gong nearly sprayed her soda out in disbelief.

“What did you say?”

She found it utterly incredible.

Such a bet was utterly outrageous.

So Carlos repeated it calmly.

“How is that even possible?” Xie Gong blurted out.

“Why don’t you ask what my stake is in this wager?” Carlos smiled as he looked at her.

Seeing her puzzled expression, he continued, “If he can truly turn one Golden Leaf Clover into a million within a year, I promise to make him the president of the Student Council.”

“Nonsense! That’s just ridiculous!” Xie Gong couldn’t help but exclaim loudly. “How can you take this so lightly?”

“Perhaps, in some sense, we are a certain kind of person,” Carlos smiled faintly. “But do you really think he can pull it off?”

Xie Gong shook her head.

Carlos chuckled, then glanced at the soda in Xie Gong’s hand.

“How does it taste?”

“Pretty good—refreshing, energizing, and actually quite tasty. Even those worthless things have some use after all,” Xie Gong said, finishing the drink in one gulp.

“What if I told you that this was something he concocted in his very first month?” Carlos said calmly, watching her.

“What?” Xie Gong was genuinely surprised. She looked back at the bottle in her hand with a deep glance. “No wonder you specifically asked me to help him.”

“So what does he plan to do now?” Xie Gong couldn’t help but ask. Since he had created this ‘happy water’ in just one month, why was he building a factory by the lake?

“That you should ask Qing Yi,” Carlos said, looking toward the vice president who had been silent all along.

“She’s the one who has been coordinating with Su Zi Ye.”

Upon hearing this, Qing Yi stood up and smiled at Xie Gong. “Please give me three minutes.”

With that, Qing Yi turned and walked into the inner office, which served as a lounge mainly reserved for the Third Prince. Correspondingly, the inner office offered various services.

For example, brewing tea, or cooking meals.

“What’s she up to?” Xie Gong was a little puzzled by Qing Yi’s mysterious behavior.

“She’s been fond of showing off lately. The Third Prince has already firmly rejected her, so you’re quite a precious audience,” Carlos said, barely holding back laughter.

Three minutes passed quickly.

Afterward, Qing Yi came out carrying a steaming bowl of noodles topped with a poached egg.

“Perfect, I haven’t eaten yet,” Xie Gong said without bothering with formalities and immediately took a big bite. She didn’t mind the heat and finished the bowl in minutes, even seeming a bit unsatisfied. “When did you learn to cook noodles? Not bad at all. Got any more?”

“How many bowls?” Qing Yi’s eyes lit up with joy.

Xie Gong thought seriously for a moment, then held up five fingers. “Five bowls of this size.”

“Give me three minutes,” Qing Yi said, leaving those words behind as she went back inside.

“Three minutes?” Xie Gong was incredulous. One bowl takes three minutes to cook, but five bowls still just three minutes?

Though the pot could be larger, making noodles and preparing the water surely takes time.

Three minutes later, Qing Yi returned carrying a tray with the five bowls of noodles Xie Gong had requested.

All neatly arranged.

Xie Gong was truly amazed, but with food in front of her, she had no time to be polite. She grabbed the tray and sat down with great gusto. Her appetite was formidable—she wondered how someone so slim could have such a big stomach.

Before long, she finished all five bowls, wiped her mouth, and muttered, “Not bad, not bad.”

It was unclear whether she meant the taste or her satiation.

Then she looked at Qing Yi. “You still haven’t answered me. I got carried away eating.”

“This is what Su Zi Ye has been working on,” Qing Yi said calmly, looking at Xie Gong.

Xie Gong glanced at her empty noodle bowls.

“I still don’t quite understand.”

Qing Yi quietly returned to the inner room again, this time coming back quickly.

She brought out a bowl, a pot of hot water for brewing tea, a neatly shaped round dough cake, and a few small solid pellets.

She placed the dough cake into the bowl.

She added the pellets into the bowl.

She poured the hot water into the bowl.

She covered the bowl.

Waited two minutes.

Lifted the lid.

Like performing a magic trick, Qing Yi pushed the bowl back to Xie Gong.

“All done,” Qing Yi said.

Xie Gong was stunned.

“That’s all it takes?”

This was simply too effortless.

“So this is what Su Zi Ye has been making?” Xie Gong finally began to understand. “That might actually be something.”

“One bowl costs three iron coins in materials,” Qing Yi added calmly.

Xie Gong immediately cursed under her breath.

“Damn it!”

...

...

“That’s how it is. Even someone like Qing Yi, who’s never been good at cooking, can use this stuff to fool people. But since the taste is rather mediocre, the Third Prince tried it twice and then refused to eat it anymore,” Carlos explained solemnly to Xie Gong, clarifying the background.

“That’s actually quite impressive,” Xie Gong muttered to herself. “No wonder you’re willing to help him.”

“But does he really have the capability to mass-produce this stuff by the lake?”

“You have to understand that merely having a factory won’t solve everything. I don’t know the details, but just imagining the countless challenges to overcome is enough.”

Anyone with a bit of sense could realize how deceptively difficult this task was.

There would be a multitude of problems to handle, and as the work progressed, even more issues would arise.

Xie Gong wasn’t exactly confident that Su Zi Ye could overcome them all.

“So I’m very curious to see what he’ll do next,” Carlos said. “I was eager before, and now I’m even more so.”

“What do we need to do now?” Xie Gong asked.

“Just wait,” Carlos said calmly.

“One year is actually a short time.”

“And almost one and a half months have already passed.”

“He will surely bring us even more surprises. It’s truly something to look forward to.”

“And witnessing someone unleash their full potential and willpower in the face of desperation is simply beautiful.”

He said this with a smile.

“Truly beautiful.”