Suppressing the Protagonist in the Start to Seize the Heroine

“Ding-dong~!!”

“Su Lin, phone, phone! There's a call."

Su Lin, somewhat annoyed at being disturbed at a crucial moment, answers the phone gruffly, “Hello~!!”

“Su Lin, Su Lin, has the banquet ended?”

Hearing Lin Xiaowan's voice, Su Lin becomes more alert, “Xiaowan, why are you calling so late?”

“What's wrong? Just now, you sounded a bit impatient. Is something the matter?” Lin Xiaowan asks with concern.

Su Lin, glancing at Zhao Yanyan's smiling face beside him, says, “Nothing... Have you not gone to bed yet, Xiaowan?”

“Mm-hmm, I haven't seen you all day, I missed you so much.”

Imagining Lin Xiaowan lying in bed, Su Lin responds with a laugh, “I missed you too. Just wait a few more days for me, once I’m done here, I’ll come back.”

“Eh~! Didn't you say you'd come back after the banquet? Why the sudden change?” Xiaowan sounds puzzled.

Su Lin explains with a wry smile, “It's because of the third elder of the Qin family. We exchanged treasures. I've already taken mine, but I have to wait for him to come to my house to collect his.”

“The blue and white vase? You just exchanged it like that? What exactly did you get in return?” Xiaowan curiously inquires.

“I'll tell you when I get back. I'm driving right now, Xiaowan, let's talk later.”

“Okay~! Drive safely.”

After hanging up, Zhao Yanyan asks, “Why didn't you tell Xiaowan about us?”

Su Lin shrugs, “That's something you should tell her, not me.”

“I'm not going to say it, but with Xiaowan's intelligence, she'll probably figure it out in a few days,” Zhao Yanyan analyzes.

Su Lin nods, “Right, Xiaowan is smart enough to guess. But no worries, the worst she’ll do is pinch me a few times or bite me.”

“I don't know what kind of spell you cast on that girl to make her like this,” Zhao Yanyan chuckles.

Su Lin laughs, “Did I cast a spell on you too? You've become the same.”

“I don’t like Xiaowan.”

“It's all the same, the result is the same. Anyway, let's not talk about this now. Show me the way, I'll take you home.”

“Okay~!” Zhao Yanyan's face brightens with a soft smile.

After dropping Zhao Yanyan off at home, Su Lin calls his father, Su Zhenguo, to inquire about the evening's events.

Su Zhenguo sighs, “Son, we owe it all to you tonight.” Without the 4G technology, I wouldn't have gotten anything.”

“Father, it's just half a railway line; why are you so excited? Speaking of giving up benefits, we've let go of most of them,” Su Lin jokes.

“Letting go of benefits is normal. When capital accumulates to a certain level, we become capitalists, not just businessmen. We should leverage our strengths to integrate resources and then make more money.”

“You do as you please.” Honestly, I don't really care about making money. Starting a company is just for fun.”

“You say it's just for fun, but look at your supermarket. It's already spreading to Jingzhou and Linhai, and it'll be going out of the province by the end of the year.”

Su Lin laughs, “The end of the year? You underestimate me. By National Day, my supermarket will be out of the province.”

“Once it's out of the province, it won't be as fun. If you need money, just tell your old man, I fully support you.”

Su Lin scoffs, “Relying on you? Better not. As long as you don't hold me back, I'll be grateful.”

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“How can you talk like that, son?”

“By the way, your little rival Lin Tian died in the hotel today.”

“What, Lin Tian is dead?” Su Lin feigns surprise.

“Son, you don't have anything to do with Lin Tian's death, do you?” Su Zhenguo asks quietly.

Su Lin nonchalantly replies, “How could it be related to me? You said he died suddenly, how could that have anything to do with me?”

“Well, it's true he died suddenly, but clearly, there's more to it. Qin and Li families won't just let it go, and recently, the only one who had issues with Lin Tian was you.”

Su Lin says casually, “It's fine, I have nothing to hide, I'm not afraid of investigating them.”

“That's good, then.”

After ending the call with Su Zhenguo, Su Lin quickly summons the system. “System, I still have two chances for the Emperor's Treasure Box lottery and two for the Epic Treasure Box, right?”

[Yes, Host, do you wish to draw the lottery now?] The system responds.

Rubbing his face, Su Lin declares, “Draw! Let's start with the Emperor's lottery, then the Epic.”

[Wow~! A legendary gold reward, congratulations Host for obtaining the skill of Mastering Tea Ceremony.]. [Ding~! Congratulations Host, you've drawn a Decoy Dummy.]. [Wow~! Congratulations Host for obtaining the Thieves' Sect technique, Traceless Snow Steps.] [Wow~! Congratulations Host for obtaining the Thieves' Sect technique, Empty-Handed Miracle.]

With these four announcements, Su Lin's mind fills with various information. First about the tea ceremony, including smelling, brewing, and tasting tea. This skill is rare nowadays, generally only practiced by scholarly elders or powerful leaders who enjoy this tradition.

The Decoy Dummy, an almost identical replica of Su Lin, is quickly stored by him in the system space. Such an item could be useful someday.

Lastly, Su Lin starts assimilating the information about the Thieves' Sect techniques. The Traceless Snow Steps, a set of ethereal light-body skills, allows one to walk on walls and leave no trace in the snow. It's a must-have skill for any adventurer in the martial world, especially for stealth and escape.

The Empty-Handed Miracle, however, seems a bit of a mixed bag. It allows him to take anything unnoticed. The skill is quite overpowered with a hundred percent success rate. Su Lin muses about using it on Lin Xiaowan or Xia Shiyu – would he even need to undress them? A few successful uses of Empty-Handed Miracle, and they would be unclothed.

“Damn, if the master of the Thieves' Sect knew my first thoughts upon acquiring this technique, he might go mad.”

But Su Lin soon realizes that the Empty-Handed Miracle cannot be used carelessly. He attempts it in the air and feels a significant drain on his vital energies, just like the Taiyi Divine Needles, requiring a substantial expenditure of energy.

“Finally not a bust, this time it was quite a good haul.” Thinking of the Taiyi Divine Needles, Su Lin retrieved the ancient jade from the system space.

Without hesitation, he crushes the jade, revealing a small but luminous piece of ancient jade, slightly larger than a one-yuan coin, emitting a greenish glow.

Pressing the jade against his forehead, Su Lin crushes it, and knowledge about the third needle of Taiyi Divine Needles – its application, techniques, and inner methods – floods his mind.

“The Taiyi Divine Needles are truly terrifying.”

After collecting his thoughts, Su Lin drives back to his apartment, then steps out. He decides not to use his car this time, as it might attract unwanted attention, especially with Lin Tian’s recent death stirring up the city.

With no one around, Su Lin starts practicing the Traceless Snow Steps. Tonight, Qin Delin is supposed to discuss an arranged marriage with Qin Jiuyue, and she is likely to leave in anger, potentially meeting the protagonist, Xiao Chen. This meeting is what sparks Qin Jiuyue’s initial interest in Xiao Chen.

Unconcerned with the family power struggles, Su Lin is set on intercepting the meeting between Xiao Chen and Qin Jiuyue, keen on altering their destined encounter.