“You are……! Right, I had thought that you looked familiar a moment ago – it’s really you. You are the owner of Shuguang International! The richest man in the world!” Steven was startled by the realization, “No wonder, no wonder; it’s said that whoever gets that ring will stand at the top of the world! So… you have understood the mysteries of the ring?”
“What are you talking about?” I looked at the old man strangely. If I didn’t see the huge number of titles on his business card just now, I would really think that the guy had gone insane! What ring, what peak of the world? What he was talking about was really bewildering!
“Mr. Liu, we don’t speak in code words between us people of knowledge. You can rest assured that what you have right now is what you earned legally, I will not snatch what is yours!” Steven said.
“Mr. Steven, I don’t understand what you are trying to say. Do you want to say that you won’t snatch my company from me? My company is of course legally owned by me. What nonsense are you talking about?” I asked impatiently.
“Mr. Liu, do you still want to hide it? Don’t you think you will just get more exposed this way? Don’t forget, I was once also the owner of this ring, so you certainly cannot conceal the truth from me!” Steven said.
When Steven spoke of me “concealing the truth” from him, my heart turned cold. Was this guy talking about my rebirth? Impossible, the only person who knows this is Xu Qingwei. It’s possible that Zhao YanYan also knows a bit, but I had never talked about it with anyone else! But when I heard him mention the ring again, I knew that I was overthinking!
“Mr. Steven, first of all, I think you should talk about the matter clearly. What am I trying to hide from you? I really don’t understand what you are saying. What you said basically revolves around the ring? Is there anything special about the ring? What could be so special about this ring?” I said as I waved my hand and put on a serious face.
Steven looked at me and determined that I didn’t seem to be lying, so he shook his head strangely but still explained to me, “This ring is an artifact! It’s an artifact given to Empress Dowager Cixi by a God!”
“Artifact?” My mouth opened wide in amazement, “Mr. Steven, you wouldn’t be trying to crack a joke with me, right? How come this turned into an artifact? As far as I know, this ring is the masterpiece of a British sculptor from the 18th Century!”
“Haha, the masterpiece of the 18th century? It’s indeed a masterpiece, but it was certainly not developed by some British sculptor – that’s just a story that was made up! The ring had been in my hands and I was afraid that there might be people with hidden motives coming after it, so I made up a story like that! Even those words inside the ring were carved out by me!” Steven laughed, “According to a history book found in the Old Summer Palace, this ring was a gift given to Empress Cixi from a God!” {TL Note: https://bit.ly/2nJSnjJ – Old Summer Palace}
“History book? Why have I never heard of that?” I asked as I felt something was off.
“You naturally won’t know. That history book and this ring were both in the Old Summer Palace. That year, my father was a major in the Eight-Nation Allied Forces. He plundered a lot of treasures from the Old Summer Palace, and these two things were included in that!” Steven said, “Naturally, this is a matter of the history long gone and if I talk about it, it might make you feel uncomfortable. Hehe, but right now, you Chinese are at the epitome of technology in the world right now, so I don’t think that part of history matters much anymore!”
I nodded. Who could be blamed if the imperial court was incompetent? Not like I could be reborn in that era and change the history of the Qing Dynasty, right?
“As for what was recorded in the history book – it’s that a God from the Heavens above gave the ring to Empress Dowager Cixi and told her that the ring was the key to the epitome of the world!” Steven saw that I didn’t interrupt him, so he continued, “But I don’t know why, but Empress Dowager died before she got anything out of the ring, while the God never appeared again!”
“Do you think this is credible?” I looked at Steven and felt somewhat amused, “God? Do you think there are Gods? Even if there were Gods, why would they give a key to Empress Dowager Cixi?”
Steven shook his head as he said, “I don’t think that the person was a God!”
“Huh?” I felt even more strange now, “Since you don’t believe that, then why are you still so attached to this ring?”
“Because what I think is that he wasn’t a God… but an alien, an extraterrestrial visitor!” Steven said seriously, “China is an ancient country. The imperial court is the place where the most authority is centralized, so they might have the chance to get in contact with many mysteries. For example, Qin Shi Huang – no matter what the recorded history said, I am absolutely sure that he certainly met aliens in the past!” {ED Note: If there hadn’t actually been aliens mentioned earlier in the book, this theory would’ve been your typical conspiracy theory about Illuminati and aliens from other galaxies.}
“Yeah, I know that as well. I have seen that in history books and academic research, but does it matter that he saw aliens? He pursued Gods and Immortals for his entire life, but didn’t he still end up dying?” I said while shrugging.
“This is also what I feel is strange! In theory, since aliens can come to Earth, it proves that their technology was far ahead of us by centuries or even millennia. Anything that they provide should be an absolute treasure for us! But no matter what they gave to the Supreme Rulers of their time, the rulers always failed, with no exceptions. I suspect that their method was not right!” Steven said, “I have studied this ring for over 30 years but I still haven’t discovered any special features! In other words, I have not been able to find it’s concrete application!”
“Perhaps… it’s just an ordinary thing. You’re making it complicated just because it was connected to Empress Dowager Cixi. Leads to the epitome of the world? I think it was just a compliment, to praise the Empress how she would be remembered forever!” I said with a smile.
“You might be right, but I still want to believe that there is something special about this ring. Moreover, after I saw you, I believe it even more!” Steven suddenly changed the topic and asked, “Mr. Liu, you still haven’t admitted that you have found out the secret of the ring?”
“I found the secret of the ring? You must be joking!” I shook my head and told him, “Before I met you, I didn’t even know there were so many stories to the ring!”
“Impossible, then why are you still refusing to give the ring to me?” Steven asked.
“First, let me make this clear, but I am not short of money! The most important reason is that this ring is the one I gave to my fiancée as the betrothal gift! You think that I will sell it?” I said as I looked at Steven with displeasure.
“But you can’t deny that Shuguang International became the number one company because of this ring!” Steven said.
“Haha,” I finally understood why Steven was saying all those things. He must have believed that I was able to find the secret of the ring and established such a big corporation, becoming the world’s richest man!
“I have to admire your imagination!” I said as I laughed dissolutely, “This is the funniest thing I have ever listened to, and it’s also the most childish thing!”
“Humph, don’t try to shift the topic!” Steven said with a cold snort!