Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 73

Chapter 217: Geniuses Are All Such Mutants!

What entered his view was the score ‘120’ written in big red text.

Raymond was dumbfounded. He swallowed, looked at Fatty, and subconsciously asked, “How many marks is a perfect score?”

A puzzled Fatty answered, “100, of course!”

Raymond breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the tutor and said, “Mister, even if you’re trying to give Pete extra marks, surely you can’t just go beyond the full score? This is a test with a perfect score of 100, yet he scored 120?”

As soon as Raymond said that, the whole room fell silent.

The children of the Hunt's outside the office were utterly stunned.

However, Raymond was still going on. He asked, “Is he cheating? Could it be that this is how Pete had gotten all his scores in the past? Justin, even if you want to highlight how clever your son is, surely you can’t do that, right?”

He prattled on and on until Fatty, whose expression had already changed next to him, pulled on his arm.

Only then did Raymond stop. He looked at him and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Fatty, who couldn’t hold his head high anymore, said, “Grandpa! There are also bonus questions in the paper. The bonus questions are usually questions beyond our current level of difficulty and are worth twenty marks!”

Raymond, “!!”

Dumbfounded, he flipped to the back of the paper. Sure enough, he saw two bonus questions worth ten marks each. Pete had answered both correctly.

Those were questions beyond their current level of difficulty, yet he could answer them perfectly?

Raymond swallowed. “H-how can this be? Didn’t they say that he has been playing games the whole month?”

The tutor was totally convinced by now. He stood and said, “Mr. Hunt, I was opposed to Pete playing games previously, but I didn’t expect that it wouldn’t affect his studies at all. I was worrying too much!”

As soon as he said that, Mrs. Hunt immediately understood. She burst into laughter at once, hugged Pete, and kept calling him her little baby. She said, “My goodness, my Pete is just so smart. He can still get the first place even if he plays games for a month. Now, this is what you call a genius, Raymond! No matter how hard a normal person tries, they can never catch up with a genius!”

Raymond, “!!”

She was shutting him up with his own words from just now!

Raymond was so furious that even his expression changed. He looked straight at Fatty and smacked him on the head. “What kind of inaccurate info are you sending me?”

Fatty rubbed his head and burst into tears. “How could I have known that Pete would turn out to be that huge of a mutant? He really did play games for a month! Yet, his learning progress hasn’t fallen behind at all!”

The children around them also sighed in admiration.

“Pete is as impressive as ever!”

“I’m so impressed!”

“No wonder Mom and Dad said that Peter is a genius! The Hunt's will definitely do even better in his hands in the future!”

“…”

Raymond had originally come here to blow things up, and like what he had hoped for, things had indeed blown up. However, it had instead brought even more prestige to Peter!

He had totally shot himself in the foot!

He was so furious that he pulled Fatty’s ears. “So, the test is over, right? Then come with me!”

“Grandpa, don’t be so rough! It hurts!”

A hint of murderous intent and frostiness flashed across Justin’s eyes as he watched the pair walk off. However, when he saw Mrs. Hunt, he concealed the emotions in his eyes.

Since his grandmother was still around, he would ultimately still have to show a bit of mercy to certain people.

He got up and saw Mrs. Hunt back home. Then, he took Pete to the Quinn School of Martial Arts.

When Quinn was receiving Pete, Justin deliberately gave Pete a reminder and said, “Remember to let Ms. Smith know that you’ve come for training.”

Pete was puzzled. “Why?”

It’s to see whether she’ll come over to pick you up or not, of course! This way, you can switch places with Cherry!

However, Justin did not voice that thought out loud. Instead, he lowered his gaze dispassionately and said, “Let her know that you’re working hard to become a man and that you will protect her in the future. Don’t you want her to be your Mommy? Feelings have to be cultivated.”

“… Oh.”

He couldn’t help but feel like the tyrant was acting weirdly. Had he found out something? Surely not, right?

But when he observed the tyrant’s expression, he found that his eyes were deep and his countenance expressionless. He couldn’t tell at all.

Pete couldn’t make out what he was thinking, so he simply entered the Quinn School of Martial Arts.

Justin turned and drove off. When he was turning the corner, a car went past his and stopped at the entrance to the Quinn School of Martial Arts.

Paul got out of the car and neatened his suit. Then, he strode toward the entrance and entered.

One could say that Paul was doing the best among all of the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ unofficial disciples. Therefore, the sect would usually show him some courtesy. Seeing that he was here, Lucas himself came over to receive him.

Paul asked, “Where’s Master? I’ll go and pay him a visit.”

Lucas replied, “He’s teaching a junior martial arts at the moment, and has forbidden others from disturbing them.”

Paul frowned. “A junior? When did he take another disciple?”

Lucas smiled and replied, “He took one recently. Our first senior, Big Sister, is too lazy to take over the sect, so Master has no choice but to look for a little disciple. He calls him his little disciple, but he’s actually training a successor for Big Sister!”

It was known to all that the Quinn School of Martial Arts had a Big Sister. She was a disciple that Quinn had taken over twenty years ago. However, her identity was a mystery, and no one had ever seen her except for a few selected people.

Paul grabbed Lucas and said, “On account of how we’ve been fellow disciples for so many years, can you tell me who Big Sister is? Lest we engage in friendly fire and end up attacking our own!”

The Quinn School of Martial Arts held a very weighty position in the pugilistic world. Their direct disciples were not allowed to operate in other industries outside.

Paul and Jordan had both set up their own factions in the pugilistic world and specialized in helping others do things that they found inconvenient to do themselves.

They were considered underworld forces. This violated the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ principles, so Paul had never become an official disciple all this time. Instead, he stayed as a titular unofficial disciple.

Of course, Quinn also felt that he overly pursued material things, so he had always disliked him.

Lucas smiled and said, “I can’t tell you that.”

He led Paul into the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ reception hall and changed the subject. He said, “By the way, your request for an additional five places has been rejected by the official disciples.”

Paul narrowed his eyes. “Oh? Why not? From what I remember, Master doesn’t bother with trivial matters like that.”

Lucas smiled and replied, “It’s Big Sister’s order.”

Paul knew at once that it was a lost cause the moment he heard that.

Big Sister had always stood by her words.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he said, “Since Big Sister has given the order, and the sect has rejected my son’s friends, the sect won’t accept other children, either, right?”

Lucas lifted his chin and replied, “Of course.”

Paul nodded. “Alright, then.”

Pulling strings for his son was just his secondary objective in coming here. What mattered the most was keeping in contact with the Quinn School of Martial Arts. Although he couldn’t get another five places for his son, he could at least ensure that Cherry, or whatever her name was, couldn’t bring anyone in, either. This way, his son wouldn’t be embarrassed. Thus, he didn’t pester them about it anymore.

He got up, looked at the training gym, and walked straight over.. He said, “How about letting me take a look at who Master’s newest little disciple is, Lucas? I want to see just who it is that can make Master personally teach him.”

Chapter 218: The Quinn School of Martial Arts’ Disciples Are Not To Be Messed With

Lucas stopped Paul after he took a couple of steps toward the training gym. He said, “Master doesn’t allow unofficial disciples to enter the training gym, Paul. No one is allowed to break that rule.”

The Quinn School of Martial Arts only imparted martial arts techniques to their official disciples and never the unofficial ones.

All official disciples were required to be in the training gym when they were practicing their techniques. The reason why Paul had tried so many times to go there was just so he could take a look at the sect’s official disciple-exclusive techniques.

Upon being stopped by Lucas, he laughed and smacked his head lightly. “Oh, would you look at that? The moment I get busy, I just forget all the rules. Alright, I’ll just sit outside and have some coffee for a while, then!”

Lucas nodded. The two of them stayed outside and chatted for two hours before Paul finally left with a big smile.

Paul didn’t go home. Instead, he went to the Hoffmans’.

Jordan was currently training in the gym. Fierce and menacing-looking veins surfaced on his arms as he lifted the dumbbells, forming a fearsome sight.

Paul was also taken aback when he entered and saw his sturdy and muscular physique.

To be honest, it was hard to say whether or not he could really beat Jordan in a one-on-one fight. After all, the martial arts techniques that he had picked up at the Quinn School of Martial Arts were just some fancy-looking moves that were all show and no substance.

However, that didn’t stand in the way of him expanding the Quinlan Sect.

A smiling Paul said, “Sorry for coming over unannounced so abruptly, Mr. Hoffman!”

Jordan was a boar, so he detested such meaningless small talk from Paul the most. He put down his dumbbells, patted his arms, and bellowed in a voice so loud that it could deafen, “What brings you here, Mr. Quinlan?”

Paul walked over, sat down, and replied, “I’m here to discuss a business opportunity with you, Mr. Hoffman.”

The Hoffman's and the Quinlan Sect were rivals, and both had different turfs, so what kind of business opportunity could they possibly share?

Jordan’s eyes narrowed. He picked up a bottle of mineral water and poured it all over himself from the top of his head. It was only after he rinsed off the cold sweat on himself that he felt much more comfortable.

“What business opportunity can we possibly share?” He asked.

Paul gave him a smile. “That sports car club of yours is suffering from poor management, right? The Quinlan Sect intends to buy it. What do you say?”

Jordan’s men, who were standing behind him, were furious to hear that. They stepped forward at once and shouted, “What the hell do you mean by saying it’s suffering from poor management? You have no idea how much money our sports car club is making!”

Paul neatened his suit. He continued to say with a smile, “When has it ever been the subordinates’ place to interrupt us when we’re talking, Mr. Hoffman?”

Jordan’s subordinate in question became even angrier. “You—”

However, Jordan stretched out his arm to stop him. “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s listen to what Mr. Quilan has to say first.”

To outsiders, calling it a sports car club might sound pretty nice, but in truth, it was actually their private racetrack. All gambling dens charged entry fees, so how would it possibly not make any money?

This was especially so after Yanci’s appearance brought even more people to the sports car club, causing it to become all the more overcrowded.

This was because Logan had races scheduled throughout the upcoming month, so Nora would undoubtedly have to race in his stead. With that, even if the car racing enthusiasts didn’t place any bets, they would still purchase admission tickets to watch the races.

That must be the part that had caught Paul’s interest, right?

That was why he had developed thoughts of taking a shot at the sports car club!

Paul adjusted his sleeves again and said with a smile, “Linson Leigh can be said to be someone under my care, but he’s currently lying paralyzed in the hospital, unable to ever stand for the rest of his life. Of course, I’m not here to hold anyone accountable for it. It’s just that I personally also like racing very much, so I’d like to buy over the club.”

Jordan’s jaw tensed up. “How much are you offering?”

Paul replied unhurriedly, “$800,000.”

Jordan, “?”

He was livid. “Mr. Quinlan, you must be kidding, right? Can you even buy that piece of land with $800,000?”

Every inch of land in New York cost an arm and a leg. Even though it was a suburban area, it was a huge plot of land. There was no way $800,000 would ever be enough to buy it.

Paul smiled. “Didn’t you buy that piece of land for $800,000 twenty years ago?”

Jordan, “!!”

Property prices had multiplied dozens of times by now!

His expression darkened. “If you’re just here to joke around, then you can go now, Mr. Quinlan!”

Paul stood and said, “Well, I’ll leave you with what I’ve said. Do give it some proper thought, Mr. Hoffman.”

Jordan sneered, “There’s no need for that. If you’re short of money, I can sponsor you some, Mr. Quinlan. Why bother coming over to beg? How unbecoming!”

Paul didn’t get angry. “Do you know where I was before I came here?”

Jordan, “?”

Paul gave him a smile but didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned and left.

Mrs. Hoffman entered the room after he left. She asked with a frown, “What did he mean by that?”

Jordan’s brows drew together. He beckoned to his subordinate and instructed, “Ask around and find out where he was before he came here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Five minutes later, his subordinate got the answer. He said, “He was at the Quinn School of Martial Arts.”

Jordan was astonished.

The man explained, “He supposedly chatted for over two hours with Lucas, who oversees all miscellaneous affairs at the Quinn School of Martial Arts. He came straight to us after he left the sect. Could it be the Quinn School of Martial Arts that had told him to take the car racing club from us?”

Jordan frowned. “The Quinn School of Martial Arts is a very big sect with many disciples. Not only do they have to sustain such a big sect’s expenses, but they are also located in the city center of New York. Their expenses are indeed significant. It’s said that Paul has been amassing wealth all these years outside because of the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ instructions.”

Mrs. Hoffman became angry at once. “They are too much! It was on account of the Quinn School of Martial Arts that we allowed Paul to be one up on us all this time, but they have come right up to our doorstep to slap us in the face now! How can you tolerate that, Jordan?”

Jordan held her hand and patted the back of her hand lightly. He heaved a sigh and replied, “The Quinn School of Martial Arts and the Irvin School of Martial Arts are the two sects that we cannot afford to mess with the most. I’ve been wanting to seek refuge with the Irvin School of Martial Arts all these years so that I can contend with Paul, but that person is their current leader. That person has never been short of money, so they are not interested in the olive branch that we offer.”

Mrs. Hoffman became even more furious. “But how can we just let him go so far? If you back down this time, he’ll buy over all of the Hoffmans’ assets at a low price sooner or later!”

Jordan paced about anxiously. The muscles on his big and sturdy body moved under his skin as he did. His fingers tightened and loosened periodically, but a short while later, he hung his head despondently. “But what can we do? We have no more than 200 men under us, but how many disciples do you think the Quinn School of Martial Arts has in the pugilistic world?”

Everyone in the pugilistic world knew how important sects were.

The Quinn School of Martial Arts had developed very well over the years, so the number of unofficial and official disciples they had could probably add up to almost 10,000!

How were the Hoffman's going to fight against the Quinn School of Martial Arts?

Jordan’s subordinates standing behind him all hung their heads dejectedly. They had followed their boss from their hometown to New York, and only managed to build what they currently had after much difficulty. Yet, in the end, was a mere word from someone else enough to erase it all?

Mrs. Hoffman turned around despondently. She took out her cell phone and said, “I’ll give Ms. Smith a call.”

Jordan was taken aback. “What are you calling her for?”

Mrs. Hoffman’s eyes were all red. She replied, “I’m going to tell her not to participate in the races anymore! Why should we make things easy for Paul?”

Chapter 219: Big Sister Is Here!

Mrs. Hoffman’s intentions were very simple—if they were really going to transfer the car racing club’s ownership rights, then she would minimize the profits! So that Paul wouldn’t make any money!

However, before she could dial Nora’s number, Jordan stopped her.

Mrs. Hoffman looked up to see Jordan with a serious look on his face. With a frown, he said, “Don’t call Ms. Smith yet.”

Mrs. Hoffman was taken aback. “Have you thought of a solution, Jordan?”

Jordan took a deep breath and said, “I’ll head over to the Quinn School of Martial Arts first, and see if we can work with them instead!”

Mrs. Hoffman frowned. “Are we going to let the Quinn School of Martial Arts take part of the dividends without any contributions from them?”

Jordan heaved a sigh. “We don’t have any other choice. What kind of status do you think the Quinn School of Martial Arts holds? In front of the powerful, we can only back down and yield the profits. Besides, they may not even give us that opportunity.Don’t forget, Paul is their unofficial disciple, whereas we’re nothing to them!”

Mrs. Hoffman clenched her jaw, but sighed and nodded in the end.

A decisive Jordan promptly found someone to go to the Quinn School of Martial Arts to find out who he should talk to about such matters.

There were also Quinn School of Martial Arts disciple's among the Hoffmans; it was just that they weren’t well-known within the sect.

However, they did still have connections in the sect, so they quickly found the information they wanted through said connections.

“Lucas is the one in charge of all of the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ miscellaneous affairs now, but he has made it clear before that the sect will not take part in any sectarian disputes.”

The disciple frowned and went on. “However, the Quinn School of Martial Arts does indeed receive a sum of money in their accounts every month, and it’s not a small sum. Everyone secretly guesses that it’s Paul Quinlan who’s providing them with the money.”

Jordan understood what he was implying.

The Quinn School of Martial Arts had strict rules, and it was imperative that they comply with the rules that they had publicly stated.

Therefore, they definitely would not accept his peace offering, because it would be too obvious otherwise.

This was different in Paul’s case, however. Not only was he on close ties with the Quinn School of Martial Arts, but he also made frequent contact with Lucas. As long as neither party admitted to it, no one would know about the matter!

Jordan was in such a panic that he was pacing around the room. He asked, “Is there no way of getting through to Lucas?”

His subordinate replied, “Lucas and Paul Quinlan are on very good terms. Moreover, Lucas does things fairly and by the book, so there’s no way we can convince him. But…”

Jordan prompted him anxiously. “But what?”

His subordinate replied, “I heard that the Quinn School of Martial Arts’ Big Sister has returned tothe city. Big Sister holds a very high position in the sect. If we can get in touch with her, it won’t be impossible for us to replace Paul Quinlan.”

“Big Sister…”

Jordan muttered the two words over and over. Then, he sighed. “But where are we going to find the so-called Big Sister? Has any particularly powerful and impressive woman made an appearance in New York recently?”

A particularly powerful and impressive woman?

Mrs. Hoffman subconsciously thought of Nora, but she immediately shook her head. If Nora was the car racer whom Jordan had talked about, then she couldn’t possibly be Big Sister or whatever her name was, anymore, right?

Besides, it seemed like her profession was of a doctor!

She sighed. “I don’t have any impression of anyone like that.”

Jordan gave a wave of his hand and instructed, “Alright, that’s enough. Have all of our men search for Big Sister! I simply don’t believe that we can’t find her if we really search high and low for her!”

“Yes, sir!”

_

At the Andersons’, when Nora woke up after sleeping for another day, she saw a text message on the phone. It was from Pete. He wrote: ‘Mommy, I’m at the Quinn School of Martial Arts.’

Nora was taken aback for a moment. She looked at the time—it was only four o’clock in the afternoon.

Classes were about to end for Cherry. It seemed like she would be just in time to have the two children switch places if Pete wanted to come over.

She was too lazy to type, so she sent a voice message instead: “Shall I pick you up?”

Pete was likely training at the moment, so he didn’t reply to her message in time. It was only ten minutes later when Nora came out of the bathroom after rinsing her face that she saw his reply: ‘I’m alright with anything. Ask Cherry about it.’

Nora raised her brows.

Unexpectedly, her son actually had a sister complex.

She had subtly used a self-concocted calming fragrance to calm and soothe her son’s mind when he was with her. In the kindergarten, he was also gradually opening up to the world, and his autism was taking a turn for the better.

When she thought of that, she felt that it was better for him to be by her side for the time being.

Besides…

Cherry had always been by her side ever since she was born. She also wanted Pete to come over so that she could make it up to him for everything she owed him during the last five years.

Yep, it definitely wasn’t because Cherry was too noisy, whereas Pete was just right.

With that in mind, Nora sent another voice message: “I’ll come pick you up.”

She went downstairs and drove out in the jeep. She went to the kindergarten to pick up Cherry after school first. The little fellow skipped and bounced as she walked, making her look adorable and vivacious. After waving goodbye to all her friends, she finally got into the car.

Tanya also put on a look of astonishment. “Has hell frozen over today? You actually came to pick us up?”

Nora’s lips curled into a smile. She replied, “I’m not here to pick you up. Go home by yourself.”

Tanya, “???”

Nora nodded at Cherry and asked, “Shall we go to the Quinn School of Martial Arts?”

Cherry nodded at once.

It was great being at the Hunt's. Not only did she not have to go to school, but she could even play after just three hours of classes every day! In addition, her handsome Daddy never forced her to do anything she didn’t want to!

She would let Pete go to school instead.

When the two of them arrived at the Quinn School of Martial Arts, Lucas hurriedly came out to receive them.

When he spotted Nora, he immediately greeted her respectfully. “You’re here, Miss Smith!”

Nora uttered a sound of acknowledgment and took the initiative to walk in front leisurely.

Cherry followed her at the back obediently.

Lucas said, “Everyone wants to meet you after they heard that you’ve come to New York.”

“Reject them,” replied a direct and decisive Nora.

There were so many people in the Quinn School of Martial Arts; how troublesome would it be if she had to meet them all? She mustn’t let anyone find out about her identity!

The corners of Lucas’s lips spasmed a little. He had already gained a good understanding of what Nora was like a long time ago, so he instead said, “By the way, this month’s funds have been credited into the accounts. Is the sum larger than last month’s?"

Nora let out an ‘oh’ and replied casually, “Don’t let children come over to disturb the sect. I’m not strapped for cash.”

Lucas, “!!!”

The corners of his lips spasmed. He nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll cancel the classes for the unofficial disciple’s children, then.”

Then, he explained, “The sect isn’t holding a class for them for the money, Miss Smith. We’re doing it free of charge. It’s because the unofficial disciple begged the sect to help out, so I gave special permission this once.”

“Oh.”

Nora didn’t hold much of an opinion on these matters. It was fine as long as they didn’t bother the old man about it, and in turn, cause him to insist on her coming back to take care of such miscellaneous affairs.

After she entered, she left Cherry to Quinn, picked up Pete, and turned to leave.

Meanwhile, Justin had also arrived.

Even as the car came to a stop, he was still wondering about who he would meet after he entered the sect—was it going to be his sweet-smelling and tender daughter, or the stinky little brat?

It wasn’t that he disliked Pete or anything like that, though. It was just that he still hadn’t had enough of spending time with his daughter after realizing that he had a cute and adorable one.

Besides… Nora was a doctor, so she could treat Pete’s illness if he stayed by her side. Pete’s depression symptoms had evidently become better when he came back recently.

Moreover, his grades hadn’t fallen behind, either.

While thinking about it, he entered the sect. As soon as he did, he saw Nora and Pete walking toward him.