Chapter 3 — The Family Table, System activation
The Li family's main villa rose like a white giant against the morning light — sprawling gardens, sculpted fountains, and the kind of architectural arrogance that whispered: old money never fades.
The car rolled to a stop before the marble steps. Li Feng's gaze trailed along the line of black sedans gleaming in the courtyard — a silent parade of hierarchy. The Li family's other three branches were all here. Every luxury car represented someone's ambition. Someone's claim to power.
His father, Li Guohua, stepped out first, adjusting his suit cuff with the calm precision of a man who'd long since learned to hide his exhaustion. "Remember," he said quietly without looking back, "Be careful."
"I understand," Li Feng replied, voice steady.
Calm and collected.
They entered through the side entrance — the one unofficially assigned to the second branch. The corridor smelled faintly of sandalwood and expensive polish. On the walls hung portraits of past patriarchs, each man bearing the same sharp eyes, the same thin-lipped authority.
When they reached the dining hall, conversation was already flowing.
The long table gleamed beneath a crystal chandelier, each seat occupied by someone important enough to believe they belonged there. At the head sat Li Zhonghai, the patriarch — silver-haired, dignified, his presence commanding without effort.
To his right: Li Guowei, the eldest son, and his wife, wearing matching smiles as crisp as their suits. Their son and daughter — Li Yichen and Li Xinya — seated next to them.
To the left: Li Guotao, the third son, broad and loud, his two boys — Li Shun and Li Wei — sitting beside him with the relaxed arrogance of those born favored.
Across the table: Li Guifen, the patriarch's daughter, elegantly dressed, her three children conversing in low tones, their laughter like the background music of power.
And at the far end — three empty chairs.
Li Guohua inclined his head. "Father."
"You're late," said the patriarch without glancing up from his tea.
"There was—"
"No excuses. Sit."
Li Guohua nodded once, took his seat. Li Feng and Li Xue followed quietly.
The clatter of cutlery resumed, but tension hung like humidity before a storm. Polite voices, carefully measured laughter — all surface. Underneath it, rivalries sharpened like knives.
Before long, the first branch began their reports. Li Guowei, smooth as always, spoke about the new investment projects; his daughter Li Xinya added charmingly precise statistics.
The third branch bragged about pharmaceutical expansion, while the fourth dressed their achievements in showy PR figures.
The second branch — as always — remained silent. The room treated their existence like background noise.
Then the subject turned.
"The Zhou family reached out again," Li Guowei said mildly. "Their heir's engagement proposal for Li Xue remains… generous."
Li Feng felt his sister tense beside him. Her hand, resting under the table, clenched tightly. He noticed, and without looking at her, he placed his palm gently over hers — steady pressure, a silent reassurance. Her trembling eased.
Li Guowei added smoothly, "The Zhou heir is quite accomplished. It's a good match. The second branch should feel honored."
Li Guohua's voice was tight but controlled. "The Zhou heir's reputation—"
"—is irrelevant," the patriarch interrupted. "Marriage is not about romance. It's about advantage. You of all people should understand that, Guohua."
Silence.
No one dared breathe too loudly.
Li Feng exhaled slowly through his nose.
"Grandfather," he began, his tone respectful but firm, "forgive my ignorance, but does the family truly believe an alliance with the Zhou family outweighs the reputation risk they carry?"
The room went dead still.
Even Li Xue's head whipped toward him in horror.
Li Zhonghai's gaze turned on him — slow, heavy, piercing. "What did you say?"
Li Feng met his eyes calmly. "The Zhou heir's scandals are public record. Associating with such a man could damage the family's image — especially with Li Media pushing for a cleaner public image. I just thought it was worth considering."
His tone was measured, almost conversational — but beneath it, his words were an elegant blade.
Even Li Guowei's expression faltered slightly. The boy's composure… it wasn't the same as before.
Li Guotao snorted. "And since when does a seventeen-year-old lecture us on strategy?"
Li Feng simply stared at him, unnerving him slightly.
"You've learned to speak of markets and risks," Li Zhonghai said, his tone neutral. "Yet some things are decided by necessity, not sentiment."
Li Feng didn't answer. He only inclined his head once, then returned his gaze to his plate — conversation ended.
He had no intention of trying to change their minds, he has always been a strong believer of "Only reasonable people are to be reasoned with".
This doesn't mean he'd to let the marriage happen.
Two years. That was the window. He needed to have grown strong enough to oppose the Li family and to withstand the heavy blows of the capital's Zhou Family.
---
The ride back to the second villa was silent.
In the car, Li Feng sat by the window, Li Xue beside him, their father at the wheel. The silence was soft, almost comforting after the suffocating atmosphere of the main house.
Li Guohua glanced at the rearview mirror. "You were… different today," he said quietly.
Li Feng met his eyes in the mirror. "I did some growing up dad" he said with a faint smile.
A small chuckle escaped his father. "Growing up, huh", then he continued, "That's good, but be careful, Feng'er. Your grandfather values control more than truth. You shouldn't provoke him unnecessarily."
"I understand dad." Li Feng replied with a smile. This father of his was a brilliant and resilient man. A decade ago or so, due to his grandfather's dislike of his father, his father was assigned to a failing subsidiary to be used as a scapegoat — which would have led to imprisonment by the way.
But, his father, against all odds had changed the subsidiary from a failing venture to a highly profitable one. And his grandfather's response? He reassigned his father from the subsidiary, handed it over to the first branch and placed his father in a retail store to completely suppress him.
To the rest of the family, his father had been totally suppressed and crushed. A mere electronics retail store director. But, Li Feng knew better. According to the novel, his father actually started his own company in secret and the company is a rapidly growing AI and software startup.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt his sister gently nudge him.
"Gege… you really scared me when you spoke like that."
Li Xue said, concern soft in her eyes.
Li Feng smiled faintly and reached over to pat her head. "I'd be more careful next time"
She blinked. "Promise?"
"Promise."
Her laughter lightened the car. For the first time since morning, the air felt breathable.
---
Inside his room, Li Feng closed the door and let out a slow breath.
The scent of disinfectant still lingered faintly — a reminder of the week he'd spent unconscious. His laptop sat quietly on the desk, screen dark. A few books lay stacked beside it.
He pulled the chair out and sat, resting his elbows on the desk.
His mind started to turn.
'My priority right now is to protect and strengthen my family, in order to do that we need strength, and not just economic and financial, but powerful protection units'
While the novel itself was quite light hearted in its portrayal and focus, you cannot ignore the underlying currents. Business sabotage, assassination attempts, kidnapping, strong arming opponents into signing loosing deals, highschool bullies mistakenly killing their victims and the bully's parents wiping out the victim's family in order to protect their reputation, a night at the karaoke leading to getting maimed by a privileged bastard's bodyguards because you stood up for your female colleague, many of these were undercurrents in the original "romance novel". If the original protagonist didn't have his cheat system, he'd have suffered many of the above fates or even worse. So, yea, you need money, but you also need muscles (AN: I mean manpower, not literal muscles).
'Hmm, let's start with securing funds. All my knowledge and skills from my previous life are still useful here, making thousands and millions of dollars wouldn't be a problem for me.'
He opened his laptop. The familiar startup sound filled the quiet room. His fingers moved automatically, surfing through the web, noting down possible opportunities and "potential clients" and compiling them in a neat, organized list. Next, he wrote a list of some of his frequently used personal hacking tools that he'd need to recreate, listing them according to their priority and his current available resources. As a top-level hacker, he wasn't comfortable using tools created by others. In his past life, every of his tools — softwares, servers and all — were his personal creations.
Then, just as he began setting up his hacking lab he heard a faint chime.
> [Detected host possesses multiple skills above Level 1.]
[Detected Skills: Cyber security — Level 1, Software Engineering and Design — level 1, Programming — level 1]
[Requirements met for system activation.]
[Activating Skill Breakthrough System…]
[Initializing System Integration…]
Li Feng froze, eyes narrowing. For a heartbeat, the world was silent except for the faint hum of the air conditioner. Then new lines of text shimmered before him — not on the laptop, but in his mind.
> [Synchronization complete.]
[Skill Breakthrough System: Activated.]
> [Welcome, Li Feng.]
> [Current Skills:]
• Cyber security — Lv. 1 (50%),
• Programming — Lv. 1 (40%)
• Software Engineering and Design — Lv. 1 (30%)
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Hello, Author here,
Thanks for reading — Leave a comment to tell me what you think about this chapter, and drop a Power Stone if you're enjoying Li Feng's story so far! Let's grow this story together.