Auntie Ling stared at Nameless Nie.
Nameless Nie's lips turned up as he actually pulled out an archaic abacus from his jacket. "Great Aunt Ling, just poke around the Independent State. Who doesn't know that I, Nameless Nie, am the king of math, the supreme leader amongst prodigies? You know the Shen family of the Independent State, right? They're the wealthiest clan in the Independent State. But just watch—one day, I'll knock them down using my unparalleled math skills and business-geared brain!"
Auntie Ling's lips twitched. "I finally understand why your parents sent you here… You have such superb talent, but you won't do something proper and want to run off to do business?"
"Great Aunt Ling, you're too stupid." Nameless Nie sighed, his expression serious. "Doing business is great! What's the point of learning martial arts as a boss? When I become a boss, I can hire countless martial arts experts for my usage and I can establish my own mercenary team. I'm rich and I would be the boss, so those experts would all have to listen to me!"
"True." Auntie Ling nodded. "However… I'm afraid this reasoning doesn't suit the Independent State, no?"
Nameless Nie's thoughts would be completely valid in the outside world, but what kind of place was the Independent State? The Shen family was simply an exception; not everyone could become the next Shen family.
"Anyway, does the Nie family lack money? The clan is prosperous and its business is flouris.h.i.+ng, but they simply lack an expert to hold down the clan. Your parents are hoping you will come out successful, so stop thinking about these useless things. I'm confiscating the abacus." Auntie Ling immediately took away his abacus.
"That's fine." Nameless Nie smirked as he pulled another item out of his pocket. "I still have a calculator!"
"Also confiscated." Auntie Ling s.n.a.t.c.hed the calculator.
"You…!" Nameless Nie turned furious at once.
"If you dare to curse, I'll slap your dirty mouth!" Auntie Ling threatened viciously.
"You… you did wonderfully…" Nameless Nie immediately deflated like a leaking balloon.
On the side, a rare faint smile actually appeared on Ling Miao's eternally glacial face. She also didn't know why this boy made her inexplicably happy but watching him was like watching a comedy movie.
"Great Aunt, you confiscated my most valuable possessions! There's no meaning to my life anymore! That's super unfair!" Nameless Nie appeared to be unable to take this lying down.
"What do you want then? You can s.n.a.t.c.h them back if you're capable!" Auntie Ling pursed her lips.
"I'm a civilized and upright person, so you must trade them with something of equal value." Nameless Nie displayed his businessman nature.
Not waiting for her to respond, Nameless Nie continued, "What's your most valuable possession, Auntie Ling?"
"My daughter," Auntie Ling blurted out.
"Then I will trade my calculator and my abacus for Aunt Ling Miao," Nameless Nie quickly said.
"Am I only worth a calculator and an abacus?" Ling Miao looked at Nameless Nie with slightly furrowed brows.
Auntie Ling was intrigued. "Why do you want Ling Miao?"
"Why do you want my calculator and abacus?" Nameless Nie retorted.
"How should I know?" Auntie Ling replied.
"Then how should I know? Anyway, they're both our most valuable possessions, so it's fine as long as I'm not taking a loss," Nameless Nie said.
Auntie Ling: "…"
"Alright, then we've come to a happy decision. Great Aunt Ling, Aunt Ling Miao will be mine from now on, so if you ever want to punish me, it'll be directed toward Aunt Ling Miao and she'll take the punishment for me," Nameless Nie added after a moment of thought.