The next day.
In the side hall of the Inch Heart Dojo, the morning light slanted in through the old wooden lattice windows, and tiny motes of dust drifted in the air, mingling with the aroma of aged Pu'er tea and the scent of floor wax.
An enormous solid-wood table had been temporarily commandeered to serve as a conference table.
Su Yu sat at the head. To his left was Kiana, sitting bolt upright with a face that said "I am the Little Grandmaster and I am very serious"—while she was actually sneaking glances at the tea snacks on the table.
To his right was Su Mei, with her aura cranked to full power.
Further down sat the members of the Inch Heart Dojo.
Fu Hua wore a faded blue training uniform, her back ramrod straight, like a javelin stuck into a chair.
Beside her, Lin Zhaoyu was hunched over doing the accounts, the beads of his abacus clattering away.
Ma Feima's slabs of muscle were stretching his T-shirt to the bursting point as he stared blankly at the projection screen.
As for Cheng Lingshuang... she was leaning back in her chair, her gaze vacant, as if she had already entered some realm of spiritual wandering through the Great Void.
In the center of the table sat a tablet and a laptop.
On the tablet was Nuwa's video window—though the camera was off, showing only a profile picture with a big "GRIND" character on it. Every so often the microphone carried the violent hammering of a keyboard and muttered grumbles like "the lighting's wrong" and "redo it."
On the laptop was a black rabbit silhouette, representing that mysterious cybersecurity expert, Bronie—who, in order to keep a hidden identity from Kiana, had specially gone by the initials of the name as an alias.
"In conclusion."
Su Mei rose from her seat, the laser pointer in her hand drawing a circle on the projection screen.
Today she wore a deep-purple fitted skirt-suit, cut with extreme boldness, perfectly tracing out her mature, voluptuous curves.
As she moved, the hem rode up slightly, revealing a pair of long, beautiful legs wrapped in semi-transparent black stockings.
"According to Eldest Senior Brother's—ahem, President Su's plan."
Su Mei pushed up her glasses, her gaze sweeping over everyone present, her tone professional and intensely persuasive.
"The Inch Heart Dojo will serve as the exclusive motion-capture base for Honkai Impact 3rd. And all of you will officially join the studio as core motion-capture actors and action-direction consultants."
"This is the proposed salary package and first-phase profit-sharing plan."
A spreadsheet popped up on the screen.
The numbers on it made Lin Zhaoyu's hand—still working the abacus—jerk so hard he nearly sent the beads flying.
"This..."
Lin Zhaoyu's eyes went wide as he stared at the figure, then looked at Su Yu, his lips trembling a couple of times.
"Mr. Su, this... isn't there an extra zero written on the end of this?"
How was this a salary? This was more than the dojo's total income for the past three years combined!
"There's no extra zero."
Su Yu leaned back in his chair, fingers interlaced on the table, his expression perfectly calm.
"This is the industry standard. In fact... considering all of your skills and how irreplaceable you are, I actually think it's a little low."
"Out of the question!"
A crisp shout cut off Su Yu's words.
Fu Hua shot to her feet with a whoosh.
She braced both hands on the tabletop, brows knit tight, her whole face full of disapproval.
"Senior."
Fu Hua looked at Su Yu, her gaze clear and stubborn.
"No merit, no reward. We haven't done anything remarkable—we just helped Kiana… helped the Little Martial Aunt demonstrate a few sets of fist techniques. We didn't even do any proper teaching."
She paused, then turned to look at Ma Feima and Cheng Lingshuang.
"If anything, it's we who have been taking advantage of you."
"Ever since we used that set of equipment, and with the Little Grandmaster's guidance on top of that, Ma Feima's punching power has grown thirty percent fiercer, Lingshuang's sword intent has become even more lucid, and even I myself…"
Fu Hua clenched her fist, feeling that surge of vital energy within her that seemed about to break through some kind of shackle.
"I, too, have benefited greatly."
"This is the kindness of passing on the Way and imparting instruction. We're already being shameless enough not paying tuition—how could we possibly take your money on top of that?"
"That's right!"
Ma Feima scratched his head too, nodding along with a look of understanding on his face.
"Eldest Senior Brother, I'm a crude man, I don't understand any of this business stuff. But I do know that the force behind a punch doesn't lie. You gave me the chance to grow stronger, and if I took your money on top of that, what would that make me? Betraying my master and disgracing my ancestors?"
Though Cheng Lingshuang said nothing, she nodded along too, her eyes writing out loud and clear: "taking this money would burn my hands."
Even the ever-frugal, calculating Lin Zhaoyu gritted his teeth at this moment and pushed the abacus away.
"Master is right. Even though the dojo is short on money... we of the Tai Xu Sect cannot throw away this backbone of ours."
The scene grew extremely awkward for a while.
This was the stubbornness of traditional martial artists.
In their eyes, progress in the martial arts was priceless. Su Yu had given them this opportunity, which made him their benefactor.
Talking money with a benefactor was an insult.
From the laptop came a low, electronically processed chuckle, run through a voice changer: "Heh, a bunch of stubborn fools."
That was Bronie's voice.
Kiana's ears twitched, and her brow furrowed slightly.
That tone of voice... why did it sound so familiar? That mocking "heh" lilt was exactly like a certain wild rabbit's.
But she looked at that pitch-black rabbit silhouette, then at the perfectly serious Su Yu, and shook her head.
It had to be her imagination, right?
Su Yu and Su Mei exchanged a glance.
Su Mei gave a helpless shrug, signaling with her eyes: See? I told you Master has this kind of temper.
Su Yu smiled faintly, not the least bit flustered.
He had foreseen this scene long ago.
With an old fossil like Fu Hua, talking business logic would never work. You had to defeat magic with magic.
"Ahem."
Su Yu cleared his throat and leaned his body slightly to the left.
That was Kiana's direction.
Under the table, he stretched out his foot and lightly tapped the tip of Kiana's shoe.
Signal received successfully.
Kiana gave a full-body shiver.
She remembered the special training Su Yu had given her last night.
"Kiana, tomorrow you're in charge of just one thing. Put on a show of being forceful! Bring out your bearing as the eldest young lady of the Kaslana family… ah no, as the Little Grandmaster of the Tai Xu Sect."
"You have to tell them this isn't money—this is… an order."
Kiana took a deep breath.
She set down the half-eaten mung bean cake in her hand and brushed the crumbs off her palms.
Then she put on a stern face, doing her best to make herself look like a dignified elder—though the bits of pastry crumbs at the corner of her mouth somewhat ruined the atmosphere.
"Um… ahem!"
Imitating Fu Hua, Kiana braced both hands on the table and stood up.
"Fu Hua… and everyone."
She lowered her voice as much as she could, trying to make it sound deeper.
"Do you all think… the legacy of the Tai Xu Sword Sect is important?"
Fu Hua was startled, and immediately bowed her head and cupped her fist: "Of course it's important. That is the lifelong mission of our generation."
"Exactly!"
Kiana slapped the table with a sharp "crack," which gave Ma Feima beside her a fright.
"Since it's important, then people have to know about it! It has to be carried forward and made glorious!"
"This game Su Yu is making… is precisely to let the whole world know how formidable the Tai Xu Sword Sect is."
She pointed at the contract on the screen.
"This money isn't for you. It's… it's for the Tai Xu Sword Sect!"
"It's to be used to repair the dojo, to recruit disciples, to make the Tai Xu Sect… great again!"
The more Kiana spoke, the more fluent she became, the words Su Yu had taught her merging perfectly with her own chuunibyou soul.
She walked up in front of Fu Hua, tilted her head up, reached out, and patted Fu Hua hard on the shoulder twice.
"Xiao Hua."
That single "Xiao Hua" made Fu Hua's whole body stiffen; she nearly dropped to her knees on the spot.
"You have to understand, times have changed."
Kiana spoke with earnest, weighty feeling.
"In the past we… ahem, in the past the founding patriarch conquered the world with his fists. But now… you've got to rely on this."
She pointed at the numbers on the screen.
"Without money, how do you fix up the building? Without money, how do you buy the disciples nice things to eat… ah no, nutritional supplements?"
"Or do you want the Tai Xu Supreme Arts to just end here, in your hands?"
That was quite a large hat to pin on someone.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on Fu Hua's forehead.
Severing the legacy? That would be a monstrous crime.
"And so!"
Kiana put both hands on her hips, bringing out her ultimate trump card.
"This is an order!"
"As… as the Little Grandmaster, I command you all to accept this money!"
"And then cooperate properly with Su Yu, and make the game well! Make the Tai Xu Sword Sect's name ring out!"
"And if anyone dares to refuse…"
Kiana narrowed her eyes.
"Then that's not giving me face! That's… betraying your master and disgracing your ancestors!"
Boom.
The moment those words came out, the effect was outstanding.
Fu Hua's face went deathly pale in an instant.
Ma Feima shrank down in fright like a quail.
Even Cheng Lingshuang snapped out of it, staring at Kiana with a face full of terror.
Betraying your master and disgracing your ancestors?
Who could shoulder a charge like that!
"This—this disciple wouldn't dare!"
Without another word, Fu Hua immediately bent into a ninety-degree bow.
"I respectfully obey… the Little Grandmaster's divine decree!"
"Same here!" Ma Feima bowed along with her.
"We listen to the Little Grandmaster." Cheng Lingshuang nodded.
Watching all this, Lin Zhaoyu felt something was off somewhere in his heart, but looking at that number, he rationally chose to shut his mouth and followed along with a bow.
Sitting off to the side and watching the scene, Su Yu raised his teacup to hide the smile at the corner of his mouth.
Nicely done, Kiana.
This wave of borrowing the tiger's might was an absolute perfect score.
Inside the computer, that black rabbit silhouette flickered.
Bronie's voice rang out again, carrying an extremely obvious, the-bigger-the-spectacle-the-better delight:
"Pfft… betraying your master and disgracing your ancestors… that phrase… is… really quite the cultured one, eh."
Kiana's ears twitched again.
She whipped her head around to look at that laptop.
That tone… that infuriating, wanting-to-laugh-but-holding-it-in vibe…
It really was a lot like a certain rabbit!
But… this was a top-tier expert Su Yu had brought in.
Kiana shook her head, flinging that absurd notion out of her mind.
Forget it, never mind.
The mission was accomplished anyway!
She turned her head to look at Su Yu, her eyes sparkling like a puppy begging for praise.
"How was that? I acted well, didn't I? Tonight can I get an extra chicken drumstick?"
Under the table, Su Yu once again lightly tapped the tip of her foot.
"Perfect score. Tonight, double cheese pizza, all you can eat."
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