23: Chapter 23 Be Prepared for Danger in Times of Peace

It was too late today to finish everything, and he hadn't even eaten dinner yet, so he decided to call her after eating. There was a restaurant in the neighborhood, so Cao Xiao grabbed a quick bite and returned to the villa. Lying on the large bed in the master bedroom on the third floor, he called Liu Chang. Liu Chang was overjoyed to hear that Cao Xiao had already bought a house. Since she had no classes tomorrow, she would bring her classmates over to help.

Cao Xiao was exhausted today and fell asleep in no time. He was woken up by a phone call early the next morning. Liu Chang had already arrived with her classmates and was waiting outside the neighborhood. Cao Xiao quickly washed up and went out to pick them up; it was Mi Fan and the other girls who had been with her yesterday.

"Wow, it looks like you’ve really made it, Cousin! You can even afford such a luxurious villa. I have to pick my room first." Liu Chang was incredibly excited as soon as she entered the villa, shouting as she led her classmates to wander around.

"You can only choose a room on the second floor. The third floor is my private space. Hurry up and start tidying; there's too much to do, otherwise we won't finish in time. Thank you all for coming to help. I'll treat you to a big feast later." Cao Xiao stopped Liu Chang, who was heading for the third floor, and thanked Mi Fan and the others.

"Hmph, you think I care? The second floor it is then. I want the biggest room, and I'm going to decorate it into a dreamlike fairy-tale world," Liu Chang said dismissively.

Once Liu Chang had chosen her room, everyone started getting busy. It wasn't until five in the afternoon that things were basically settled. The appliance merchant had also brought people to install the appliances. However, this was only the basic setup; the villa still lacked many things, with almost no decorations. Since the villa was decorated in a Chinese style, Cao Xiao planned to visit the antique market in a couple of days to buy some handicrafts for decoration and also go to the flower and bird market to buy some potted plants.

"Brother, can I ask you a favor?" Liu Chang called Cao Xiao aside and spoke mysteriously.

"What is it? As long as it's not unreasonable, I'll agree." It was rare for Cao Xiao to see Liu Chang being so indirect, so it had to be something big.

"Well, there are so many rooms here. Can my classmates move in with me? We have a little over a year until graduation, so they won't be staying long. Having them with me would keep me company; otherwise, with so many rooms here, I'd be scared," Liu Chang said pitifully.

"So that’s what you’re planning. It's not out of the question, but this is my home after all. It’s not very convenient to have so many outsiders move in at once, and I can't exactly charge them rent. How about this: the villa is too big to manage alone, so if they move in, they have to help with whatever chores they can. After all, this will be their temporary home. I won't hire a chef either; a regular chef wouldn't meet your standards, and a real master chef wouldn't come here to cook for us every day. If my parents come over, they wouldn't agree to me hiring a chef either. From now on, you guys handle the cooking. My mom will help when she arrives, and I won't charge them for food. You saw what happened yesterday; that Master Chu was so arrogant. Actually, I think it's better to rely on oneself. You have a real talent for food—your sense of taste and smell are excellent. Since you don't have many classes left, take some time to learn culinary arts. Sis, I have high hopes for you! You'll definitely become a top chef in the future!" Cao Xiao thought about it and felt it was fine, setting some ground rules with Liu Chang first before speaking persuasively.

"I've never even cooked before. Being a chef isn't that easy. But it’s worth a try. It’s a hassle to find good food outside. If I really have talent, I can eat whatever I want in the future, and no one can stop me! Haha! Why didn't I think of this before? I completely agree to your conditions. We'll move in tomorrow. I'm going to tell them the good news." Hearing Cao Xiao's words, Liu Chang got more excited the more she thought about it. She muttered to herself for a bit, then told Cao Xiao she was going to find her classmates.

"Wait, one more thing. My dirty laundry will also be your responsibility to wash from now on," Cao Xiao called out to Liu Chang.

"Hmph, I knew you weren't being that kind-hearted for nothing. You were waiting for this. A grown man who can't even wash his own clothes. Ah...! I get it! You big liar! You wanted me to learn cooking so that if I actually get good, I'll be busy to death cooking for so many people every day. I'm not learning! I won't learn even if it kills me! I can't let you big men have it so easy," Liu Chang said, driven to distraction.

"I'm going to be earning money to support the family in the future; where would I find the time to do laundry and cook? Besides, how did I lie to you? It’s the truth. You really do have talent. If you think cooking by yourself is too much trouble, then bring your classmates along to learn. I'll reimburse all the tuition fees. Besides, don't you really want to eat delicious food every day?" Seeing he'd been found out, Cao Xiao didn't give up and feigned being wronged.

"Fine! You win! But you have to help with the cooking too. Even if you can't cook, you have to help with the prep work, otherwise cooking for so many people will exhaust me to death," Liu Chang said unwillingly.

"Let's go, time to eat. The fast food we had at noon wasn't enough; everyone's hungry now. Pick a good place and we'll have a big meal," Cao Xiao didn't directly agree to Liu Chang, changing the subject instead.

The group had a good meal at a nearby specialty restaurant. Cao Xiao told them to take a taxi back and contact a moving company themselves to bring their things over tomorrow.

Cao Xiao returned to Biyuntian Villa. After washing up, he lay on his bed and began organizing the information in his intellectual brain. He only managed to organize half of it before becoming incredibly sleepy. Waking up the next day, Cao Xiao didn't go to help the girls move. With the moving company, his help wasn't needed, and they would be taking a taxi over later. He went out for some breakfast and continued organizing. Two hours later, the knowledge from high school mathematics was finally organized, coalescing into a book titled "Basic Mathematics" on the virtual panel. Cao Xiao impatiently issued the transmission command, and then he fainted. There was too much information flow; his brain couldn't handle it all at once. Out of self-preservation, his body automatically entered a dormant state.

By the time Cao Xiao woke up, it was already noon. He had missed several calls from Liu Chang. He had already given her the keys to the front door yesterday. Rubbing his throbbing head, Cao Xiao couldn't help but feel a bit of lingering fear. He had been too reckless just now, completely failing to realize the danger of doing so. The mind is a forbidden zone of God; if things went wrong and the brain was damaged, he might never wake up again.

Thinking about that mathematical knowledge, sure enough, it all surfaced in his mind as clearly as his own memories. The theorems and formulas for "Sets and Functions," "Trigonometric Functions," "Inequalities," "Sequences," "Complex Numbers," "Permutations, Combinations, and Binomial Theorem," "Solid Geometry," "Plane Analytic Geometry," and so on were all there without exception. Whatever he thought of, the relevant knowledge would quickly appear. It wasn't isolated; it was as if all this information was on a single mental plane, with all mathematical knowledge interconnected within this plane, so there was no need to recall it item by item.

Cao Xiao went downstairs and saw that Liu Chang and the others were already tidying their rooms. Mi Fan and the others had chosen rooms on the first floor. There were exactly five bedrooms on the first floor, which was perfect for them. Originally, Liu Chang wanted them to stay on the second floor, but they all refused. Cao Xiao's family would be moving in, so it wouldn't be convenient for them to stay there.

Cao Xiao didn't help them tidy up; it was best not to enter a girl's room. Once they were finished, he took the girls out for a meal. He didn't drive; he was going to buy a car for Liu Chang today and also a sedan for himself. Driving the Leopard in the city wasn't very suitable.

The girls chattered and discussed for a long time. As soon as they arrived at the auto city, they headed straight for the BMW 4S shop. Upon entering, they found a white BMW X5. Well, that saved time on looking around; Cao Xiao just had to pay. Originally, Cao Xiao had planned to buy Liu Chang a domestic sedan worth around 200,000 yuan—what kind of fancy car does a college student need? It wasn't that Cao Xiao was stingy, but it was too flashy. He didn't expect the girls to discuss and say that college students driving luxury cars were everywhere. Cao Xiao couldn't argue with them. The BMW X5 wasn't expensive either, costing a little over 400,000 yuan in total. A good car was also safer to drive, so Cao Xiao let her have her way.

Once they were done, it was Cao Xiao's turn. He went to the Mercedes-Benz 4S shop and directly picked up a Mercedes-Benz CLS AMG, which cost him over 1.8 million yuan. Now he only had 12 million left in his card. Starting a company would also cost a lot of money, and he still had to see if there were any suitable large warehouses around the Biyuntian neighborhood. If there were, he would have to spend money to buy one, which would be another large sum. This 10 million or so was completely insufficient. The 50 million plus in payment that Hongdu hadn't sent over yet also had to be reserved for the remaining balance on the villa. So, he had to start thinking of ways to make money now.

Thinking about the money, he almost forgot that the bracelet he had handed over to Liu Guitang was going to be auctioned soon. He had been in the provincial capital for a few days and hadn't contacted him. He had to go and ask about the situation tomorrow. It just so happened that he also planned to go to the antique city to buy some handicrafts. Liu Guitang's Jicui Pavilion should be a shop in the antique city. The market for handicrafts was too chaotic; don't be fooled by them just being handicrafts—some fine pieces were more expensive than real antiques. There were also many fake handicrafts. Without some professional knowledge, one was just waiting to be scammed. It wasn't a fear of not being able to buy the real thing, but rather a fear of buying a fake that was also harmful. God knows what kind of mess those counterfeiters used to process those good-looking handicrafts. With a professional like Liu Guitang to help, these problems wouldn't arise, and buying would be more reassuring. However, for now, he would just get a feel for the market, as he didn't have any extra money to buy them yet.

On the way back, Cao Xiao followed Liu Chang's car closely. Although Liu Chang had gotten her driver's license last year, she hadn't driven in a long time, so he repeatedly told her to drive slowly. Fortunately, Liu Chang became more proficient as she drove. He only breathed a sigh of relief when they reached home and parked the car in the garage. Cao Xiao even slightly regretted buying her a car; he would be worried sick every time she drove out in the future.

Now that they had moved into the new home, they had to start cooking for themselves. They couldn't always eat out. He didn't expect the girls to be able to help with the cooking now; in today's society, few girls could cook well. They were all pampered daughters at home who never lifted a finger. As long as they didn't cause trouble, it would be fine.

Cao Xiao went to the supermarket himself to buy some ingredients and seasonings. While he was busy in the kitchen, he didn't expect several of the girls to come and help. Cao Xiao didn't want them to do anything, fearing they might hurt themselves, but the girls' performance surprised him. Not to mention the others, Mi Fan and Dai Hanqiu actually did very well. Upon asking, he found out that they really knew how to cook. He took a closer look at the two girls and only then noticed that while their clothes were nice-looking, they were of low value. They didn't wear any jewelry, and their skin wasn't very pale. It was clear they weren't the pampered type, so it wasn't surprising they could cook.

With the help of the two girls, a table of about ten small dishes was prepared in no time. Sitting at the dining table, Cao Xiao felt incredibly satisfied. This kind of life was exactly what he had dreamed of before: living in a luxury mansion, driving a luxury car, having no worries about food and clothing, and his parents still being around. What else could he be dissatisfied with?

After happily finishing dinner, the girls naturally took care of cleaning the dishes. Cao Xiao returned to the third floor, moved a lounge chair to the garden, and sat looking at the starry sky. He thought of the Intelligent Industrial Mother Machine from the depths of the stars, and a sense of crisis inexplicably arose in his heart. The universe was far too mysterious and unpredictable. Since traces left by an extraterrestrial civilization had been found on Earth, then one day in the future, other civilized races might visit Earth. One shouldn't expect them to contact humanity with good intentions. The law of the jungle is the basic rule of natural survival; since they could reach Earth, then human beings on Earth would have no right to coexist peacefully with them. No one could guarantee they wouldn't suddenly appear outside Earth the next moment. If that moment truly came, Earth might cease to exist. No one would be willing to be enslaved; at worst, everyone would perish together.

Cao Xiao didn't want to see that happen. He had obtained the Intelligent Industrial Mother Machine. As long as he continued to upgrade his permissions, it would be possible to make Earth's civilization powerful in a short period of time. The earlier, the better. Only by developing to a certain level could they be fearless of external challenges. Only now did he truly understand the meaning of the phrase "with great power comes great responsibility."

A sense of urgency unknowingly arose in his heart, dispelling his thoughts of living an easy and enjoyable life. He was no longer in the mood to continue daydreaming and immediately threw himself into the work of organizing the information in his intellectual brain. Once a person has a goal, they won't slack off and will work harder. In one go, he worked until midnight and organized the physics knowledge. This time, Cao Xiao wasn't reckless; he gave the intellectual brain the command to transmit in several installments. It took half an hour to finish transmitting "Basic Physics," but he didn't faint this time; he only felt a bit tired.

Cao Xiao was in no hurry to find Liu Guitang at the antique street. For the next few days, Cao Xiao was like someone in seclusion, busy organizing knowledge except for eating and sleeping. Not just the important subjects of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, but Cao Xiao also organized the basic knowledge of other natural sciences. However, he still hadn't triggered the conditions for a permission upgrade. It wasn't until a week later, after he had organized the basic knowledge of the humanities, that he discovered an anomaly in his personal options.