Yu Ke... Upon seeing the content, Qiao Sang immediately remembered who this person was.
How did she find her?
Why was she looking for her?
She had only drawn a bit of attention back when she auctioned the Breeze Compass; surely she wasn't after the compass?
One question after another surfaced in Qiao Sang's mind.
After thinking for a while, she tucked the letter into her pocket.
She decided to contact the other party after finishing her training; after all, she was quite curious as to why this person had specifically sought her out and how they had found her.
...
Yulai Bay.
A luxury villa community in a prime location in the northern district of the Imperial Capital.
The grayish-black pet that had delivered the letter to Qiao Sang floated into one of the tall, three-story villas.
Sitting on the sofa, Yu Ke saw the floating pet and stood up, asking impatiently
"Was the letter delivered?"
"Li li."
The grayish-black pet nodded.
Yu Ke's eyes lit up. She picked up her phone and checked it, her expression unable to hide her disappointment: "Then why hasn't she contacted me yet?"
At that moment, a beautiful girl sitting on the sofa, looking to be around sixteen years old, spoke up
"Sister, are you sure you didn't mistake her for someone else?"
Though she was speaking, her eyes never left the virtual screen in front of her, which was playing a replay of today's National Campus Beast Taming League.
"How could I have mistaken her? She was the only one wearing a school uniform at the time," Yu Ke said. "I remember her appearance vividly; it's definitely the Qiao Sang who trended on the hot searches today."
"But she's from the Yuhua region, how could she have an invitation card for the Muzhen Auction?" Yu Le asked.
Yu Ke put down her phone: "What's so strange about that? Probably some elder in her family saw she had come to the Zhongkong region and got her one."
Yu Le said, "Even if it really is her, she probably won't want to deal with you. Didn't she refuse to even tell you her name during the auction?"
"The time and place are different," Yu Ke countered. "Back then, she came to an auction in another region alone without any company; it's normal to be a bit guarded."
"You'd better not hold onto hope," Yu Le said, staring at the match on the virtual screen. "These people with great family backgrounds and high beast-taming talent are all incredibly arrogant. They always feel they're different from people like us who only have background. There's a boy in my class who made it into the individual combat group of the school team; he was eliminated in the regional qualifiers this time, yet he still acts every day like there's a wall between us. Let alone someone like Qiao Sang."
"Sigh..." Yu Ke sat back down on the sofa, her face looking slightly weary.
Although she was reluctant to admit it, she had to say her sister's words weren't without merit.
In great families, talent was viewed as exceptionally important.
If one's talent was high, even a member of a collateral branch would be given high-quality resources by the Yu family.
After all, setting aside everything else, high talent meant a much longer lifespan than the average person.
The longer one lived, the more possibilities they had in a certain field.
If one's own talent wasn't high, they wouldn't be held in high regard by people in the same circle, even if they relied on their family to contract a rare pet with heaven-defying talent.
For instance, the Yu family once had a direct descendant named Yu Youwei. The family spent a great price to let him contract a purebred Heller Dragon. In the end, his brain domain never developed to the point where he could contract a second pet, and he kicked the bucket after living to his seventies.
By then, the Heller Dragon had already become a General-level pet, the Water-Riding Giant Dragon, and it was unwilling to contract with anyone else.
It is very dangerous to force a contract with a General-level pet if it is unwilling, so the family tried a soft approach, providing for it for a period of time to wait for its attitude to soften before bringing up the contract again.
Who would have thought that the Water-Riding Giant Dragon would take advantage of the family's lack of attention, enter a secret realm, and never appear again.
From then on, the Yu family placed even greater importance on talent.
Although she was a direct descendant, she hadn't awakened spontaneously, and her brain domain developed slowly. Now that she was in college, she still only had one high-level pet.
If things continued like this, the truly top-tier resources of the Yu family would never come her way; she would likely be sent off for a political marriage in a few years.
She didn't want to spend her whole life like that, so she worked hard to build good relationships with people in her circle, hoping to find another way out.
It was at this moment that Qiao Sang appeared.
Originally, when the person vanished after the auction ended, she hadn't thought much of it, feeling at most a bit melancholy, but then she happened to see the hot searches.
Having three high-level pets at fifteen, and maintaining an undefeated record in the senior high school division of the National Campus Beast Taming League to date.
Such a figure had never appeared not just in the Zhongkong region, but in history. Heaven knows her eyes nearly popped out when she realized the person on the hot search was the girl who had sat next to her at the last auction.
If she could establish a connection with such a figure of limitless potential, once she grew up, would she still be randomly arranged by her family?
Her future beautiful life might just depend on clinging to the leg of this future powerhouse.
At this thought, Yu Ke couldn't resist searching for Qiao Sang, but the other party simply ignored her.
"Qiao Sang and I got along quite well at the auction. If she doesn't contact me, it must be that the Dream-Departure Monster delivered the letter to the wrong person," Yu Ke said, in order to maintain her dignity in front of her sister.
Yu Le looked at the Dream-Departure Monster: "Is that so?"
"Li li!"
The Dream-Departure Monster suddenly became anxious; it had not delivered it to the wrong person!
Yu Le asked, "What did it say?"
"It said it was wrong," Yu Ke translated.
"Li li!" The Dream-Departure Monster's eyes flared with fire.
She translated it wrong! It hadn't delivered it to the wrong person!
Seeing the Dream-Departure Monster's expression was off, Yu Ke quickly changed the subject: "You're hungry, right? Do you want some energy pellets?"
"Li li!" The Dream-Departure Monster instantly forgot its anger and nodded with curving eyes.
Suddenly, the phone screen lit up.
Yu Ke was quick-eyed and immediately saw a friend request.
At this moment, Yu Ke felt as if she could hear her own violent heartbeat.
She clumsily picked up the phone, opened the chat app, and clicked accept.
Before she could even type, a message arrived
[Hello, I received your letter. I wanted to ask how you found me?]
It really was her! Yu Ke bounced up from the sofa, her face excited: "She contacted me!"
Yu Le glanced at her, somewhat incredulous: "Didn't you just say the Dream-Departure Monster delivered the letter to the wrong person?"
Yu Ke didn't care to answer her anymore, throwing herself entirely into typing.
"Li li..."
The Dream-Departure Monster had a black line across its forehead.
What happened to the energy pellets...
...
[You were on the hot searches, so you're practically a celebrity now. Most high school students know you. My sister happens to be in high school; I just had to ask her peers a bit to find out where you live.]
Having finished her training, Qiao Sang was now leaning against her bed, looking at the message on her phone.
So she had asked around. She had thought it was found via some pet skill or characteristic. Come to think of it, why was she on the hot searches again... Qiao Sang complained to herself while typing
[Is there something you need from me?]
Yu Ke replied instantly
[I want to invest in you!]
Invest in me... Qiao Sang paused for a moment.
Before she could reply, another message arrived the next second
[By 'invest,' I mean that if there's anything you want to do, you can leave it to me. Of course, I know that with your family background, you probably don't have to worry about most things, but you're still young. There will always be things you want to do that your family won't allow. In those moments, you can come to me.]
Yu Ke got straight to the point.
She knew Qiao Sang was from the Yuhua region and had only come here for the National Campus Beast Taming League. If she didn't establish a close relationship in a short time, once the other party returned to the Yuhua region, she feared Qiao Sang would forget her before long.
Qiao Sang's eyes flickered as she typed back
[Why invest in me?]
Yu Ke sent three question marks, expressing confusion.
[With your talent, do you even need to ask? There are definitely many people who want to invest in you. Others might wait until your national competition ends or you graduate high school, but I'm just one step ahead of everyone else.]
Yu Ke continued messaging
[I know your family background is extraordinary, but you are from the Yuhua region. Some resources and information are only available in the Zhongkong region. For example, although the Breeze Compass you auctioned this time has transcendent value, most of it is collectible value.]
[It's true that the Breeze Compass can be used to find Qing Qingni, but most people can only get a glimpse.]
[Since the Breeze Compass has been passed down, only three people have successfully seen and contracted Qing Qingni using it. Otherwise, do you think 900 million would have made everyone stop?]
[This information is very difficult to know unless you belong to a family in the Zhongkong region with over a hundred years of history.]
Extraordinary family background? Where did you see that? Qiao Sang instinctively replied, then deleted it and retyped
[I see you aren't much older than me and should still be studying. Will you have time to do other things?]
Yu Ke's eyes lit up as she read the message, full of excitement. She knew that since Qiao Sang asked this, the matter of establishing a relationship was half-successful.
[Don't worry! I'm in college, and I have plenty of disposable time!]
Qiao Sang stared at the chat page in contemplation for two seconds before sending a reply
[Let's set a time to talk after I finish the national competition.]
Qiao Sang currently didn't lack money or resources, but that was only for a limited period of one year. More than a month had already passed, leaving just over ten months.
She had gained a very clear understanding during this time that resources cost money.
Trying to buy houses and land like in her previous life was unreliable; the issue of household registration restricted the purchase of houses in other provinces, let alone other regions.
Purchasing a large amount of existing housing also required paying annual property taxes.
It was true that house prices were expensive, but second-hand houses were hard to sell. If she hoarded them and couldn't sell them, she would have to keep pouring money in every year.
The liquidity of real estate in the beast-taming world wasn't particularly good, meaning it was difficult to liquidate and had little financial attribute.
Ultimately, the things that were expensive to consume and easy to make money from in this world were those related to pets.
Although her mother had opened a pet breeding shop related to Fire-Fang Dogs and made some money, her ultimate goal was to participate in the Interstellar Cup. How could a single pet breeding shop afford the subsequent resources?
After this conversation, Qiao Sang suddenly realized she should prepare in advance for the days after the Black Gold Card expired a year from now.
Yu Ke was in the Zhongkong region, had connections and background, and was young—unlike those old foxes of the capitalist world. She was indeed a very good partner.
[Great! Good luck with the competition! I'll wait for you!]
Qiao Sang looked at the message and exited the chat page.