Suddenly, I Can Duplicate Money

"Please get out."

"No."

Yun Hao could only stare at Song Ming as she continued to roam around his penthouse. Yun Hao didn't notice it earlier since her visit was all too sudden, but seeing as she was in her pajamas, she probably already had the intention of staying the night in the first place.

"Why… are you really here?"

"Hm?" Song Ming then slightly turned her head towards Yun Hao as she opened another can of soda, "Because I can?"

"...That's not really a valid reason."

Hearing the frustration slowly growing in Yun Ha's voice, Song Ming just shrugged her shoulders, slightly pushing her finely combed red hair to the sides. "Why are you here?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I live here."

"I mean why are you still here?"

"...What?"

"If I suffered the same fate as you, I would have already run away," Song Ming muttered as she once again relaxed herself on the sofa, letting herself be almost swallowed by its soft confines; careful not to spill her soda, "You were betrayed by your lover, lost an eye, lost your scholarship-- If I were you, I would have already left as soon as it happened."

"..."

"But then again, I have no idea what you really went through," Song Ming then let out a small giggle, "My daughter and I, you see; all we have known is the Song family. We have no choice but to be stuck here because of that. But you, didn't you have the freedom to leave?"

"I had no money," Yun Hao then finally decided to give in and just took a seat on the other sofa, "Even if I wanted to leave, I have no means to. You think it might have been easy since you have everything ready for you… but it wasn't like that for me."

"Oh?"

"Since you know so much about me, then you should know who the Long family is, right?"

"Even if my daughter wasn't stalking you, we would still know about the Long family."

"I owe the old man there everything," Yun Hao then let out another long and deep sigh as he leaned back on the sofa, "I was an orphan, you see. My parents were reported to have died in a car crash… but the truth is, there's a part of my memory that says otherwise. They were killed, and I remember it-- they were killed by a cultivator."

"..."

"Anyway, long story short, Long Ma pretty much adopted me when it happened. I don't really know how close he was to my parents, but it was enough for him to treat me as his own son. I was happy enough to work for their family, but when he found out I have a talent for beating people up, he worked his magic and got me to the most prestigious school in the country…

...He was the reason why I even had the chance for a future in the first place. Call it sentimentality, but I--"

The sound of Song Ming slurping her soda quickly interrupted Yun Hao's story.

"We both know that's bullshit," Song Ming then said as she exhaled loudly after finishing up her soda, "It's because the only thing you know how to be is a slave."

"..."

"You're too afraid to be anything more."

"That's not--"

"You have this sort of hatred for cultivators because of what happened to your family, but that's not enough reason for you to have refused my family's offer to you to become a cultivator twice. You're afraid, Yun Hao."

"You don't know me enough to come up with such a conclusion, Song Ming."

"And when you realize that everything that defined who you are was slowly slipping away… you tried to kill yourself."

"...Is Song Jian truly the only one stalking me?" Yun Hao could not help but be slightly taken aback by Song Ming's words. If she knew that about him, then what else could she know?

"I just want what's best for my daughter," Song Ming then let out another sigh as she once again stood up, grabbing another can of soda from Yun Hao's fridge, "But in terms of having relationships, she is completely clueless. My husband died just a year after she was born, so I didn't really have any time to teach her anything as I had to take over his duties in the family."

"Why… are you really here?"

"To know the kind of man you are now, Yun Hao," Song Ming slightly leaned forward, placing her soda on the table between her and Yun Hao, "You just suddenly changed. Out of nowhere, you suddenly became a different man, almost overnight."

"..."

"I don't care if you have some kind of secret backer, or found some kind of magical treasure that suddenly made you rich. But what I need to know is what you intend to do from now on."

"I don't really think that is any of your business, Song Ming," Yun Hao then lowered his voice as he looked Song Ming straight in the eyes, "I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just dissect my life just like that. Just because you have the means to, doesn't mean you can invade my private life."

"Ho?"

"I don't appreciate it, Song Ming."

"Did you really think my family is the only one investigating you, Yun Hao?"

"...What?"

"With your sudden rise in popularity in the cultivation world, almost everyone in the world has their eyes on you," Song Ming said, "Even now, the floor beneath you is filled with people from other clans, their ears all opened up so they could learn more about you. Better us than them, right?"

Yun Hao could not help but slightly twitch his eye as Song Ming's mischievous giggle echoed through his ears. Didn't she hear what Yun Hao just said? Even if there were other people also spying on him, it doesn't mean that it gives them the right to also stalk him. But it would seem that whatever he tries to say to Song Ming doesn't have any effect on her.

Is this some kind of innate attribute of cultivators, being stubborn?

"Alright, I'm done saying my piece."

With Song Ming standing up from the sofa and heading to the door, Yun Hao could not help but let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he thought; Song Ming would finally leave.

But alas, instead of leaving through the door, she went and opened up the bag she left in front of it, taking out what seemed to be a thick set of blankets before dragging it back towards the sofa; covering herself up with it, and comfortably falling on the confines of the awfully relaxing and soft sofa.

"...Fuck," was the only thing that Yun Hao could mutter as he went to his bed. It would seem that he would not be able to duplicate anything right now so he just decided to sleep again.

***

"Yun Hao! We came to visit you again! Open up, you bastard!"

"Don't hit the door too hard, he might still be resting from his injuries."

"What injuries? He doesn't--"

"He's still asleep."

"Wha--"

Sun Fang, who was about to knock on Yun Hao's door for the nth time, could not help but slightly back away as a red-haired woman, wearing nothing but her loose pajamas, welcomed them.

It wasn't only him, even Jia Ning and Jia Su also looked at each other in confusion as they looked at the red-haired woman. They then turned to look at the door number, to see if they were really in the right room.

But seeing as the hotel only had one penthouse, they couldn't be in the wrong room.

"What the, why are you opening my door!?"

And seeing as they could hear Yun Hao's voice coming from inside the room-- they truly were there.

"Go back inside!" Yun Hao then suddenly appeared from behind the woman, pulling her back to the house before stepping out and shutting the door.

"Why are the three of you here!?" Yun Hao's breaths then littered the entire hall as he scanned the three.

"...We thought we were going to the Academy?"

"What? Since when? Was that today?" Yun Hao breathed.

"If… you're busy, then we could just schedule it some other time?" Jia Ning muttered as her eyes tried their best to avoid Yun Hao's face.

"What? No, we can go. Just wait here for a few minutes."

"Wait."

Yun Hao was going to rush back inside, but before he could do so, his hand was grabbed by Sun Fang.

"Who is that woman, Yun Hao? Spit it out, bro."

"Oh, her? She's Song Jian's mother. She just visited me yesterday," Yun Hao waved his hand nonchalantly as he let out an awkward chuckle, trying his best not to escalate the situation. But seeing the trio's eyes slowly widening...

...it would seem that his words had the opposite effect.

"You…

...you even nabbed the mother!? Nice!"