101: Chapter 101 Taking a bribe makes you feel obligated.

The moment the words "Capital City" were spoken, Zhou Tianhao's expression changed for a fleeting moment.

But he quickly returned to his usual smiling face: "I'm sorry, but no matter where you come from, our stance remains the same—"

"Understood." The man nodded, not pushing the issue, "Then I won't disturb you further."

He pulled a card from his pocket and offered it to Zhou Tianhao with both hands.

"This is my address for the next few days here in Jianghai. If it's convenient for Zhou Yun, feel free to come find me to chat anytime. We don't have to talk about investments, just a chat."

Zhou Tianhao did not take it.

The man did not withdraw his hand either.

The two remained at a stalemate for two or three seconds.

Finally, Zhou Yun walked out from the back room.

"I'll accept it." He took the card from the man's hand and nodded, "Thank you."

The man glanced at him, smiled faintly, turned around, and left.

Once the man was far away, Zhou Tianhao turned back to look at Zhou Yun: "Why did you accept his?"

"He's from the Capital City." Zhou Yun flipped the card over to look at it; there was only an address and a phone number on it, no name, no title, "He's different from the ones before."

Zhou Tianhao gave a hum of acknowledgment and didn't say anything more.

At noon, the father and son sat in the shop eating instant noodles.

The fruit had been sold out yesterday, and new stock hadn't arrived yet, so the shop was empty, with only a few empty cardboard boxes stacked in the corner.

Zhou Tianhao sat on a plastic stool behind the counter, slurping his noodles, sweating profusely.

Zhou Yun took a couple of bites, then set down his chopsticks.

"Dad."

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you accept any of them?"

Zhou Tianhao took a big slurp of noodles, chewed, and swallowed slowly.

"You mean those investments?"

"Yeah. Some of the terms were quite good. Just the price offered by Huasheng Capital is enough for us to... stop running this fruit shop."

Zhou Tianhao didn't answer immediately.

He put down his noodle bowl, wiped his mouth with a tissue, then leaned back in his chair and looked at Zhou Yun.

"Xiaoyun, you are a real City Lord now."

Zhou Yun nodded.

"Then there's a principle you must understand."

Zhou Tianhao's tone was different from usual.

It wasn't the tone of the fruit shop owner shouting "Ugly oranges on sale today," but rather—Zhou Yun couldn't quite put his finger on it, it was like words that had been bottled up for a long time, finally finding the right moment to be spoken.

"If you eat someone's food, you lose your voice; if you take someone's things, you lose your standing."

Zhou Tianhao said these words slowly, emphasizing each one.

"Once you take someone's things, you become beholden to them. If they give you money today, they'll have a reason to make demands of you tomorrow. If you agree, you lose your freedom. If you don't agree, they'll call you ungrateful."

He looked into Zhou Yun's eyes.

"Only by not being beholden to others can you be truly free. Only then can you do what you truly want to do."

Zhou Yun's hand holding the chopsticks stopped in mid-air.

This sentence was like a pebble dropped into water, with ripples spreading out in circles.

He thought of Flower City. He thought of the words he had established at the City Lord's Mansion: "Take what you need, and use the rest to help the world."

He thought about how he abolished the execution line, took in refugees, and refused to cooperate with the powerful elites—what did he rely on when he did those things?

It was the System.

The System gave him the confidence to not be beholden to anyone.

He didn't need to borrow power from anyone, so he could act according to his own will.

And his dad's words were the other side of the same principle—if you don't take other people's things, they can't control you.

"I'll remember that." Zhou Yun said.

Zhou Tianhao nodded and picked up his noodle bowl to start eating again.

Zhou Yun hesitated for a moment, then asked: "Then... what about the Capital City? The Great Han Nation is, after all, our motherland."

Zhou Tianhao, with noodles in his mouth, laughed vaguely: "You silly boy. Just because you don't take benefits from the country, doesn't mean you can't contribute to it?"

Zhou Yun was stunned for a moment, then laughed too.

"That's true. Dad is wise."

"Stop flattering me. Eat your noodles."

In the afternoon, Zhou Yun curled up in the shop, checking his phone.

At some point, the vibe in the class group chat had completely changed.

He scrolled through the chat history.

After the news that "The world's number one is Zhou Yun" spread yesterday, the sentiment in the group chat had taken a 180-degree turn.

Just a few days ago, this group was uniformly praising Wang Shuai and stepping on Zhou Yun.

"An F-Level City Lord is hilarious."

"Fighting against Han City is just asking for death."

"@Zhou Yun, don't cry when the beast tide comes."

—scrolling through the previous records, it was all like this.

Now—

"@Zhou Yun, Brother Yun! Number one in the world!!! Awesome!!!"

"I knew Brother Yun wasn't an ordinary person! I always thought Brother Yun was just keeping a low profile!"

"Emperor Yun!!! Well-deserved!!!"

"@Zhou Yun, Brother Yun, come out and hang out? Let the brothers celebrate properly!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Brother Yun, set a time, we'll host!"

"Emperor Yun"—Zhou Yun remembered this title.

Previously, someone in the group had used this term to mock him, meaning "an F-Level City Lord who thinks he's an Emperor."

Now, the same group of people was using the same term, but the tone was completely different.

He scrolled down and found that Wang Shuai hadn't said a word.

From yesterday until now, Wang Shuai's avatar had been lying quietly in the group member list, neither speaking nor leaving the group.

It was as if he didn't exist.

Zhou Yun looked at it for two seconds without thinking too much.

He typed a few words in reply: "Thanks everyone. I've been busy lately helping my dad watch the shop, so I won't be able to make it to the gathering. Let's talk about it next time."

After sending it, he exited the class group interface.

Just as his finger left the screen, a private message popped up.

It was Chu Xinran.

"Congratulations, Zhou Yun! Number one in the world!"

It was followed by a thumbs-up emoji.

Just as Zhou Yun was about to reply, a voice came from the shop entrance.

"Little Boss Zhou, how much are the apples?"

He looked up.

Chu Xinran was standing at the entrance.

She was wearing a light blue dress, her hair tied in a ponytail, and she was carrying a small shoulder bag.

The afternoon sun shone from behind her, casting a long shadow on the ground.

Zhou Yun was stunned for a moment, looked down at the message that had just popped up on his phone, then looked at the living person at the door.

"You... were you already here when you sent the message?"

Chu Xinran smiled: "I was on my way when I sent the message. I arrived just as I walked over."

"Oh." Zhou Yun stood up, "However—our apples were all bought out yesterday."

"Huh?" Chu Xinran poked her head in to look at the shop; it was indeed empty, "Then why are you still keeping the shop open?"

"Just habit. My dad went out to get new stock, and I'm helping him watch the shop."

Chu Xinran walked into the shop and looked around.

A small fruit shop, a counter, a digital scale, a freezer, and a price list posted on the wall.

It was very ordinary, so ordinary that it didn't match the four words "Number one in the world" at all.

"You are the number one in the world, after all," she turned her head to look at Zhou Yun, her eyes curving, "and you still have to watch a fruit shop when you come back?"