My Superpower Is Kind of Cute

Chapter 48: A Man in Debt by a Million

I didn’t pay much attention to the badge incident, and the farce with Yang Shengkun didn’t cause much of a stir in my mind either. I went back to my normal life. During that time, Bai Ling called me and asked me to stop by the research institute again, but as soon as I thought of his driving skills, I immediately refused. As for Qi Yun, he just kept watching whatever movies he wanted—it didn’t seem like he had any intention of “training” me. Two days later, one morning, I was catching up on sleep as usual when a piercing ringtone woke me up. “Hello, what’s up?” Still half-asleep, I picked up my phone without checking the number, my tone brimming with irritation—I practically shouted. “Ahem.” The person on the other end cleared their throat twice, seemingly startled by my harsh tone. After a few seconds, they slowly said, “Didn’t you go to work?” The moment I heard that deep, hoarse voice, my drowsiness vanished instantly. A drop or two of cold sweat even beaded on my forehead. It was actually my dad calling—he’d never called this early before. What on earth was going on today? “No way! I got up early. What time is it anyway? How could I still be sleeping? Do I even want to go to work anymore?” I did a somersault and leaped out of bed, quickly getting dressed. It felt like I’d been caught red-handed. I glanced at the time—it was already 9:30. My old man sounded a bit annoyed on the phone. “All right, I know you’re home.” My heart skipped a beat, and I looked around nervously. Could he have snuck in while I was out to install a security camera? Don’t I deserve any privacy at all? “Stop looking around—I didn’t install any cameras.” Perhaps sensing my silence, he added, “I’ve known for a long time what you’ve been up to every day. Come over to Yadou Village right now; I’ve got something to discuss with you.” Hearing that, I couldn’t help but grow even more suspicious. I scanned the room thoroughly once more, inside and out, and when I found nothing suspicious, I raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why did you go there again? You weren’t sneaking off to dig up some treasure behind Mom’s back, were you?” “Your mom knows about this. Hurry over here.” The old man’s tone left no room for doubt. I replied briefly, hung up the phone, sighed, pushed open the bedroom door, and sat down on the sofa to change my shoes. Qi Yun looked at me in surprise. “You’re up this early today—you’re not rushing to be reincarnated, are you?” “Get lost.” I wasn’t in the mood to bicker with Qi Yun. After getting ready, I went downstairs, hailed a cab, and headed toward Yadou Village. I got out of the taxi on a small road just outside the village and walked toward the village. From a distance, I could hear a clatter and clang, as if something were being built. Qi Yun looked at me, bobbing his head from side to side. “What are you doing here again?” I shot him a glance. “To clear my head, have some fun.” At the village entrance, I immediately spotted that chubby guy from before. He was standing there, wiping the sweat from his forehead and looking around intently; the moment he saw me, his eyes lit up. “Is this the ‘fun’ you’re looking for? Are you sure he isn’t the one looking for you?” Qi Yun kept remarking on my questionable taste, but I couldn’t be bothered to explain all that nonsense to him. The chubby guy sprinted up to me, looking at me eagerly. “Young Master Chen, you’re here.” I shook my head. “Why is it always you? Where’s my dad?” To be honest, this was my third trip here, and I still didn’t even know his name. The fat guy enthusiastically led the way, glancing back to chat with me as he went. “Oh, Boss Chen’s at the construction site. I’ll take you there right now.” “Construction?” I looked up toward the distance. Sure enough, at the edge of the village, several bulldozers and excavators were making a constant “beep-beep-beep” noise, and the workers were all bustling about. I was quite puzzled by the scene. “What’s going on here? Is the whole village being demolished?” “We have Mr. Chen to thank for all of this.” I was taken aback. “What does my dad have to do with this? Does he have a house here that’s being torn down too?” If that were the case, I’d have to seriously reconsider opening a branch of my lottery shop. The fat guy froze when he heard me say that and asked in return, “Has Mr. Chen not told you yet?” “Tell me what?” Before I knew it, he’d led me over to my dad, Chen Sheng. He was wearing a hard hat and had a serious expression on his face; it felt less like a construction site and more like a battlefield. The Fat Guy was just about to explain when he saw Chen Sheng walking toward me; he swallowed his words and ran over with a smile. I looked at Chen Sheng, completely bewildered. “Why did you call me over here?” The old man shooed the chubby guy aside. “Go take a look over there. I need to have a word with my son.” “Okay, okay.” The Fat Guy was smart enough to make a quick exit. Once he was gone, it was just me and Dad left here, which felt a bit awkward for me. He was silent for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words, then pointed at the construction site and asked, “Look at that. What do you think it is?” I thought for a moment and replied tentatively, “Is that the empire you built for me, Dad?” Dad shot me a glare. “That’s my next step in expanding the market.” “What on earth is that?” “Simply put, I’ve taken over this place and started renovating it.” “Hold on,” I interrupted him. “That doesn’t sound simple at all. What exactly is it? Can you explain?” At the mention of this, Dad visibly perked up. He pulled a blueprint from his pocket and pointed to it, saying, ““We’re turning part of this area into a toy amusement park, using toys manufactured by our factory. For example, this section will be converted into a live-action CF arena; that open space over there will be turned into a remote-control airplane field; and this large circular area nearby will feature a four-wheel-drive racetrack. I’ll also be organizing gyro competitions and yo-yo tournaments—I’ll make sure to pull it all off.” “On such a grand scale?” After hearing his explanation, I felt a hint of anticipation, but mostly I was stunned. “When did you decide to do all this?” “I’d been scouting locations for a while, and as soon as I arrived here, I decided this was the spot.” It suddenly clicked. No wonder that fat guy had been so attentive to me earlier—he must have known about this big project all along, while I was the only one kept in the dark. The efficiency was truly remarkable; construction had already begun in less than a month—which was entirely in line with my dad’s no-nonsense, decisive style. “Do you have that much money?” I asked softly. Although it was a bit awkward, I knew our family’s financial situation well—we were comfortably middle class. We’d made some profit in the past, but now the toy factory’s business was going from bad to worse. I conservatively estimated that building this grand project would cost at least ten million to start with. My dad nodded, his gaze carrying a hint of resolve, and said to me, “I had about ten million in savings before, and I mortgaged a few things to secure a bank loan of nearly ten million. That’s enough to get the first phase of the project off the ground.” I couldn’t help but exclaim, “That’s impressive.” I never imagined my family’s net worth had once been nearly 10 million. It turns out I really didn’t know much about our family at all—Dad even mortgaged some of our assets. It looks like he’s really going all out this time. Dad glanced at me and gave a mysterious smile. “There’s something even more impressive.” I immediately pricked up my ears and asked curiously, “What else?” “I took out that loan in your name.” “Holy crap?”