"You're awful. You just love to tease me."

Noticing a change in him, she squatted down with a coy smile, looking up at Sun Dasheng. "Brother Sun, is it because of the hot weather? Why do I get the feeling you're a little hot and bothered...?"

"HISS... Maybe." Sun Dasheng reached out and stroked her head, his face full of affection. "You're still the most sensible one."

"GIGGLE... Are all of Brother Sun's other women that foolish?" Xiang Yiren shook with laughter as she looked up.

Her messy bangs occasionally brushed against him, providing Sun Dasheng with a unique thrill.

"Focus on your meal and stop talking so much," Sun Dasheng said, his hand applying a bit more pressure.

"MPH...!"

Xiang Yiren was suddenly unable to speak. A hint of pain crossed her face, and her eyelids fluttered upward.

Realizing he had used too much force, Sun Dasheng immediately let go.

She finally broke free, gasping for air. "Brother Sun, are you trying to murder your loving wife?" Xiang Yiren put on an endearingly pitiful expression.

Sun Dasheng quickly placated her, "Just eat by yourself. I won't 'feed' you anymore."

***

「Downstairs from the fitness center.」

Inside a Rolls-Royce Phantom, Sun Dasheng sat in the back seat with his eyes slightly closed, perfectly at ease while looking at the system panel before him.

[Ding! After diligent practice, you have achieved the Beginner level in Boxing!]

[Ding! After diligent practice, you have achieved the Proficient level in Boxing!]

[Ding! After diligent practice, you have achieved the Da Cheng level in Boxing!]

Protagonist: Sun Dasheng

Occupation: Investor

Level: 4 (10,000/100,000) (Grey)

Skill: Boxing: Da Cheng (100/1,000)

Talent: Longevity (80 years → 120 years)

Experience Points: 23,840

Withdrawable Value: 238.4 million

Personal Cash: 318.1 million

Investment Company Cash: 5.8 million

He never thought his first skill would be boxing. What was even more unexpected was that he had never really learned it properly and figured he was at a beginner's level at best. He didn't expect the system to grant him the Da Cheng level.

Interesting.

It must be a bonus from the system upgrade. That made sense. After the system upgrade to level 4, he felt his punches had become much smoother. His punching power, accuracy, footwork, and dodging ability—his reaction speed—had all improved accordingly.

The experience bar shows that he can upgrade again with 1,000 points. Should he do it? Of course. He could certainly afford that many experience points. Besides, wealth is transient. Being able to spend money now to improve his defensive capabilities was fantastic.

He clicked upgrade.

Boxing: Complete

Okay, it couldn't be upgraded any further. It seemed the highest level for a skill was 'Complete'.

The experience required to upgrade a skill from Beginner to Complete was roughly:

Beginner → Proficient (10 points)

Proficient → Da Cheng (90 points)

Da Cheng → Complete (900 points)

That was a total of one thousand experience points. Converted to money, one thousand experience points was 71 million. Damn, when you put it that way, it didn't seem so cost-effective after all.

Hmm... From now on, he shouldn't use experience points on unimportant skills with little practical use. He would save them for skills that were truly crucial and significant.

"Director Sun, where to now?" the driver, Da Yong, asked.

Without opening his eyes, Sun Dasheng said softly, "Let's go to the shooting range. I think you mentioned you have a comrade who opened a shooting club with real guns. Is that true?"

Hearing this, Da Yong was wide awake. "Of course, it's true!" he said excitedly. "My comrade's family has some connections, so he managed to get a license. Director Sun, rest assured, I've tried all the 'little toys' there. They're definitely top-notch. If you want to go have some fun, I can call him now and book the whole place for you."

"Booking the whole place is a bit much. Let's not be so high-profile," Sun Dasheng replied, rejecting the suggestion.

Da Yong immediately understood his mistake. As Director Sun's personal driver and bodyguard, he was so used to saying "book the whole place" that he'd forgotten a shooting club wasn't just any old amusement park. The people who went there were either rich or powerful. After all, the average Joe had neither the time nor the money to spend at a place like that. Perhaps a few did, but they were a tiny minority. The vast majority of the clientele were wealthy. Booking the entire venue would be far too ostentatious and could easily offend people.

"Director Sun, my apologies. I spoke without thinking."

"Alright, I'm not blaming you. Let's go."

"Yes, sir! Sit tight."

「On the city's outer ring road, at a shooting club.」

The Rolls-Royce Phantom had just pulled up to the club's entrance when a burly man came out to greet them.

"Da Yong! You're really moving up in the world, huh? Following a big boss around, living the good life." The burly man pulled Da Yong, who had just stepped out of the car, into a bear hug.

"Alright, Gang Zi," Da Yong said, extricating himself. "I'm with the boss today. I still have to get the door for him."

Hearing this, Gang Zi quickly let go. They could catch up as army buddies anytime; now wasn't the time to interfere with his friend's work.

Da Yong hurried to the rear door, opened it, and bowed his head slightly. "Director Sun, we've arrived."

Sun Dasheng, who had kept his eyes closed the entire time, slowly opened them. He shut down the system interface he had been studying and stepped out of the car.

"Director Sun, this is my comrade, Zhao Gang. We all call him Gang Zi," Da Yong introduced. "Gang Zi, this is my boss, President Sun."

"President Sun, a pleasure to meet you," Zhao Gang said with a wide smile. "I was wondering why the magpies were chirping outside all day. Turns out a distinguished guest was on his way! When this kid Da Yong called, I honestly thought he was pulling my leg."

Sun Dasheng looked at the equally strapping man before him and nodded.

First impression: he was definitely a tough guy, just as you'd expect from someone who served in the same unit as Da Yong.

Second impression: he was much smoother than the straightforward Da Yong.

Then again, being 'smooth' isn't a derogatory term. It's a necessary skill for a businessman and a boss.

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