As soon as Su Ning stepped out of her space, she deliberately released her divine senses which covered a kilometer easily in Fengshang Estate.
The estate was vast, stretching over six kilometers of carefully planned luxury, winding roads, manicured greenery, and villas that sat like silent monarchs behind tall gates, yet her senses did not feel strained in the least.
At first, she simply observed with curiosity, not prying into the privacy of enclosed homes, because even now, with power blooming inside her, she maintained an instinctive line she did not wish to cross.
Instead, she focused on the public rhythms of life unfolding beneath her awareness. She saw elderly couples strolling slowly along stone-paved paths, their hands clasped together with a familiarity born of decades spent side by side.
She noticed the evening joggers dressed in tailored sportswear, earbuds in place, their breathing steady and controlled, and children riding expensive bicycles under the watchful eyes of uniformed security personnel who pretended to be casual while missing nothing.
Luxury cars glided through the internal roads of the estate with understated arrogance, engines humming smoothly, each vehicle reflecting the taste and status of its owner. Bentleys, Aston Martins, Maybachs, and Ferraris passed through her senses one after another, yet none of them stirred her interest beyond mild acknowledgment.
Her gaze drifted farther, brushing against a high-end mall that sat at the edge of her perceptive range, and she found herself momentarily fascinated as scenes unfolded like a living mural.
She watched shoppers browse through boutiques lined with soft lighting and minimalist elegance, saw clerks bow politely as customers made selections worth more than most people earned in years, and listened briefly to fragments of conversation, voices overlapping with excitement, dissatisfaction, pride, and casual extravagance.
A woman complained lightly about a limited-edition bag being out of stock, her tone tinged with annoyance rather than disappointment, while her companion reassured her that they could simply fly to another city to purchase it.
A man discussed investment figures over the phone, his voice low and confident, numbers in the hundreds of millions passing his lips as casually as weather remarks.
Su Ning observed these moments without judgment, then gently tuned them out, the way one might lower the volume of background music after satisfying one's curiosity.
Just as she was about to retract her senses entirely, something caught her attention.
A Rolls-Royce, understated yet unmistakably authoritative in its presence, rolled into the compound of Villa Two.
The car came to a smooth halt, and the driver stepped out first, moving with disciplined efficiency before opening the rear door.
An elderly man in his late sixties emerged, his movements steady despite the walking stick he carried.
There was nothing ostentatious about him, yet the aura surrounding his figure was unmistakable—an invisible blend of authority, wealth, and a lifetime of command.
His presence alone altered the atmosphere.
She rarely lingered around Street One, and because of that, she had never truly interacted with the residents there, despite being neighbors in name. Now, curiosity anchored her senses firmly in place.
The man appeared to be in his late sixties, yet there was an unmistakable vitality about him.
Su Ning felt a faint stir of admiration before she consciously acknowledged it. The man's presence was not oppressive, nor was it flamboyant. It was calm, steady, and deeply rooted, like an ancient tree that had weathered countless storms and still stood firm.
Moments later, three figures stepped out from Villa Two to greet him. An elderly woman followed, her appearance refined and elegant, dressed in tasteful attire that emphasized grace rather than extravagance. Though time had etched faint lines onto her face, they did nothing to diminish her charm, instead lending her a warmth that spoke of dignity and careful self-maintenance.
Su Ning immediately assumed her to be the man's wife, not because of proximity alone, but because of the natural ease and familiarity that radiated between them.
Behind her came two younger figures, a handsome boy and a pretty girl who looked strikingly alike, their resemblance so strong that even a casual glance confirmed they were twins.
They were around Su Ning's age, dressed in clothing that spoke quietly of wealth without screaming for attention, and their expressions held a mix of youthful curiosity and reserved politeness.
Judging by their demeanor and age, Su Ning concluded almost instantly that they were the elderly couple's grandchildren, and the way they hugged the elderly man who looked at them with fondness, reinforced that assumption.
As she observed them, a strange sense of familiarity tugged at her mind, and her focus returned to the elderly man. She examined his features more carefully, her perception refining the image with near-perfect clarity, and then her eyes widened slightly in recognition.
Realization dawned with sudden brilliance, and her breath stilled for a fraction of a second. General Wang Teng. The name surfaced clearly in her mind, accompanied by memories of textbooks, news reports on National television, and countless discussions in general affairs classes in school.
He was the country's commander and leader of the Army. A figure synonymous with integrity, discipline, and unyielding principles.
Su Ning had always admired him even then, reading about his refusal to engage in power games, his strict governance, and the way he had offended countless powerful figures by refusing to bend rules for personal gain.
High-ranking officials respected him, not because they feared him, but because they could not corrupt him, and even the President himself had attended Wang Teng's sixty-second birthday just five months earlier, a testament to the weight of his influence.
Now, realizing that such a man lived practically next door to her, Su Ning felt a ripple of amazement spread through her chest. Fate, it seemed, had an odd sense of humor, placing her beside someone whose life and values she had once studied from afar.
Her thoughts naturally expanded to encompass the Wang family as a whole, details aligning neatly as she recalled what she knew.
Wang Teng had three children, two sons and a daughter, each exceptional in their own right. The eldest son was the CEO of the country's largest technology company, a titan in innovation and industry, married with two children and firmly entrenched in the upper echelons of society.
The second son had followed Wang Teng's footsteps into the military, rising to the rank of colonel before dying on a mission that shook the nation.
His death had devastated his wife, who fell ill and eventually slipped into a vegetative state, leaving their twin children to be raised by their grandparents.
Su Ning was now certain that the twins she was observing were those very children, carrying both the legacy and the loss of their family history.
Wang Teng's only daughter, meanwhile, was one of the country's top A-list actresses, Wang Meimei, thirty-three years old, beautiful, accomplished, and famously single, currently based in the Capital where her career thrived.
Su Ning had always assumed that the Wang family resided permanently in the Capital, surrounded by political and commercial centers, yet here they were, choosing a quieter, more solemn life in City F.
The realization left her quietly impressed, and she could not help but exhale softly, a sigh filled with appreciation for the unexpected turn of fate.
With a final lingering glance, she withdrew her divine senses, the world shrinking back into the confines of her immediate surroundings as though a vast curtain had been gently drawn closed.
The silence of her room settled once more, and for a brief moment, she stood still, letting the weight of her observations sink in.
Almost unconsciously, she turned toward the mirror, her reflection catching her attention again, and she stared at herself with a mixture of awe and disbelief.
Even after seeing it several times, she still could not fully adjust to the ethereal beauty staring back at her, a beauty that felt both familiar and strangely new, like wearing a face sculpted by destiny itself.
Her thoughts shifted abruptly as she remembered the press conference scheduled for the next day, the image of flashing cameras and probing questions surfacing in her mind.
She reached out to the system without hesitation asking how much time remained for the mission.
The system responded promptly.
'Time remaining: 20 hours'
Before she could dwell further, the system sounded again.
'Side mission
Task: Make your first attempt at socializing and expanding your connections.
Target: Wang Family
Rewards
250 million yuan
Legendary tier lottery spin (1)
High grade swimming skill.
Time Limit: 2 hours
Penalty for failure: Space disintegration.'
Su Ning blinked, hearing the system threatening to disintegrate her space if she failed left her wondering if it was good or evil.
She genuinely surprised she got another lottery spin so soon, and she would finally be able to swim. Her grand pool, both the one outside and the one on the third floor had been empty because she couldn't swim. And after dying once in a pool, she couldn't risk it.
But now she had no worries.