The crowd conversed amongst themselves, showing great admiration for Chen Shu.
Especially upon learning that he lacked any family background and had reached such heights purely through his own efforts,
they felt a sense of respect.
The current Beast Tamer profession was essentially a pay-to-win path, making it difficult for commoners to succeed.
Soon it was noon.
"Everyone, please prepare for lunch."
The group moved to the dining hall on the second floor, where only core family members were invited, filling two large tables.
"Xiao Bao, go call Grandpa downstairs."
Ouyang Bao nodded and soon descended with an elder from the third floor.
The elder was tall and upright. Although his temples were flecked with grey, he was still vigorous and clearly a Beast Tamer as well.
"Oh? Who is this young friend?"
The elder's gaze was sharp, and he immediately spotted Chen Shu in the crowd.
"As expected, the brilliance of a genius cannot be hidden!"
Chen Shu sighed and said, "Greetings, esteemed elder! I am Ouyang Bao's friend."
"A peer?!"
Ouyang Xun's expression was one of surprise as he looked Chen Shu up and down.
"Grandpa, Chen Shu is in the same year as me," Ouyang Bao whispered.
"Bronze rank in his third year of high school?! What a talent!"
Ouyang Xun's eyes were filled with admiration, never expecting his grandson to associate with such a person.
"Wait! Chen Shu?!"
He seemed to recall something, his gaze odd as he scrutinized Chen Shu.
"Bronze rank?!"
The others finally reacted, their gazes fixed on Chen Shu, their hearts filled with shock.
It had been many years since a Bronze ranker appeared before university in China.
"Is it that big of a deal?"
Ouyang Bao shrugged, not understanding.
Currently, students from prestigious universities in China were basically all Bronze rank.
"You don't understand."
Ouyang Xun patted his grandson's head and said no more.
Breaking through on one's own and breaking through with the help of university resources were not the same thing.
"Please, everyone, be seated!"
The elder chuckled and said, "Young friend Chen Shu, please sit next to me."
The family members were all surprised that the elder regarded Chen Shu so highly.
"Elder, you truly have a discerning eye for talent!"
Chen Shu grinned, showing no sign of being reserved.
The family dined harmoniously.
Chen Shu took this opportunity to learn about Ouyang Bao's family background; they were the owners of the Tian Hua Beast Taming Group.
The Tian Hua Beast Taming Group had been established for hundreds of years and was a top enterprise in China, possessing immense scale.
After lunch,
Chen Shu found himself engaged in an enthusiastic conversation with Ouyang Xun, as if they were old friends who hadn't met in years.
"Little Chen, take this card! You can use it at any Tian Hua store in the capital for buying or selling items."
Ouyang Xun handed him a gold card.
Although it wasn't direct cash, students from the Huaxia Academy frequently traveled to alternate dimensions and would purchase needed resources while also selling excess materials.
This card's value was immediately apparent!
Chen Shu accepted it without hesitation.
He arrived at the villa entrance and, holding Ouyang Xun's hand, said, "Thank you, Brother Ouyang!"
With that, he turned and ran off without looking back.
"This kid!"
Ouyang Xun shook his head, showing no anger.
The others were stunned, all of them having now become Chen Shu's juniors.
"Father, do you really need to value him so highly?"
Ouyang Ao frowned and said.
"The group's gold cards are only given to people from major powers or top experts."
"A high school student doesn't seem to qualify."
"I went to the capital last month, and Old Liu praised him highly. I'm also optimistic about him!"
Ouyang Xun explained, his eyes filled with admiration.
"Professor Liu Feng also thinks highly of him?"
The others were slightly taken aback, not expecting Chen Shu to be so highly regarded by a professor even before enrolling.
"To be precise, he admires his cunning!"
Ouyang Xun chuckled and said, "It's all about how much one earns. A gold card isn't that important."
Although he was a Beast Tamer, he was also a businessman and naturally wouldn't make a losing deal.
The gold card's function was to offer a discount. While it meant earning a little less, building a good relationship with Chen Shu might bring greater value.
"How could a family of merchants take a loss?"
Chen Shu was also in good spirits, understanding the other's intentions as a win-win cooperation.
Talent and strength indeed brought status.
Chen Shu sighed, thinking that if he were an ordinary Beast Taming student, the Ouyang family would likely not have paid him any attention.
He returned to the hotel, took a comfortable bath, and spent a leisurely afternoon.
As evening fell, Ouyang Bao invited him to dinner again, but Chen Shu resolutely refused.
After all, he had just taken advantage of them, what if he was met with a beating?
Besides, he had things to do that night.
At that moment, Chen Shu summoned his husky in the hotel.
"Awooo~~"
The husky was bouncing around, looking extremely active.
"Silly dog, do you feel anything different?"
Chen Shu asked, having completed the system's option to upgrade his beast-taming space, expecting some additional effects.
"Awoo!"
The husky met his gaze, making no other movement but staring at him.
After a long while,
"Forget it!"
Chen Shu shook his head. The contracted spirits would definitely know the difference in the beast-taming space,
but with the husky's intelligence, it was too difficult for it to express itself.
He then used a partial summon, and a pair of adorably naive big eyes appeared.
"Xiao Huang, is there anything different?"
"Goo-gee!"
The golden slime's eyes were naive, but it made no other gesture.
Chen Shu looked between the adorable eyes and then at the eyes full of wisdom.
Finally, he sighed.
Although contracted spirits could not speak, they should understand his words and could respond through certain actions.
Some contracted spirits could also communicate simply with their masters, such as certain mental-type contracted spirits.
However, for the golden slime and the husky, the possibility of communication was likely zero for the rest of their lives.
"It would be great if I could awaken a mental-type contracted spirit."
Chen Shu sighed and opened his computer, preparing to do some research himself.
While there were no precedents for upgrading beast-taming spaces, some special contracted spirits had unique spaces.
Some beast-taming spaces contained mysterious substances that could heal wounds faster!
Others could increase the contracted spirits' attributes with prolonged stays, and some could even reduce the summon cooldown time.
"Is it an improvement in this aspect?"
Chen Shu rubbed his chin. He recalled the husky and waited to summon it again.
However, the time remained unchanged.
It seemed it wasn't a reduction in summon cooldown, but some other benefit.
Chen Shu pondered, unable to test it for the time being, and could only put it aside. As long as it wasn't a disadvantage, it was fine.
The next morning,
Chen Shu packed his things, preparing to head to the Daxing City airport.
He called Xia Bing, wanting to ask about the specific time.
"Beep~ beep~ beep~"
No answer?
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow, not understanding what had happened.