Chapter 147: Century-Old Lantern Light, Rekindled Today

However, what shocked both Xu Yunzhou and Xu Nuo the most simultaneously was the last woman to walk in.

She looked to be in her early forties, her figure maintained extremely well.

Crucially, that confident composure between her brows—settled after experiencing countless commercial slaughters and deciding on tens of billions of capital—made her whole person seem to carry a halo, attracting all the eyes in the room the moment she appeared.

Apple's legendary CEO, Zhou Zhiwei, English name Vivian.

In the late 1990s, Apple fell into its darkest hour:

Not long after the soul figure Jobs was exiled by the board of directors, the product line became chaotic and lost direction, the stock price plummeted a thousand miles, internal morale was in a state of panic, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and liquidation.

At that time, the merely 27-year-old Zhou Zhiwei, who was still just a senior engineer, argued strongly on moral grounds at the final desperate board meeting, requesting five minutes of speaking time.

It was exactly those five minutes, her, and a product reshaping and ecosystem blueprint so bold it was almost crazy yet logically rigorous, that subdued all the directors present.

Of course, afterwards, some insiders joked that the board perhaps also had no other choice at the time—could they pull down their faces to admit their mistake and go invite back that foul-mouthed, bad-tempered Jobs? Where would they put their faces?

Since then, Zhou Zhiwei accepted the mandate in a time of crisis. With iron-fisted methods, she laid off staff, restructured, cut redundant product lines, and bet on the integrated design of graphical interfaces and personal computers, which was still viewed as a "toy" at the time.

Leading Apple step by step, she fought her way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, returning to the peak, until forging this business empire today with a market value of a trillion, leading global technology trends.

She was also hailed as the "Queen of Silicon Valley," the "Eastern Miracle," and "the true soul of Apple after Jobs."

At this moment, this legendary figure smiled and walked to the side of Xu Nuo's bed, proactively extending her hand.

(TL: We got Tim Cook from Temu before GTA 6...)

"Xu Nuo,"

She spoke, in fluent Chinese,

"Welcome."

Xu Nuo shook hands with her somewhat helplessly, but Zhou Zhiwei gently patted the back of her hand, saying in a low voice only the two of them could hear clearly:

"Don't be afraid, child."

"Second Great-Grandfather and Aunt Lan waited for you for a long time."

"All of this is his arrangement. Since you've come home, just live here with peace of mind."

After saying that, her gaze seemed to inadvertently sweep over the void beside Xu Nuo, which was exactly where Xu Yunzhou's illusory figure was located, a faint light almost of nostalgia and respect flashing through her eyes.

This look made Xu Yunzhou's heart quake massively!

Holy shit, could she be one too?

Xu Yunzhou sighed with emotion. Just the ones I know of, are already "Eight Great Diamond Guardians"...

Could the follow-up... really be gathering "Eighteen Good Women," or even "One Hundred and Eight Ladies"?

(TL: Parodying the 18 Arhats and the 108 Heroes of the Water Margin.)

Future me... are you trying to form a "Goddess Legion" to sweep the globe?

...

A week later.

San Francisco, deep in Chinatown.

On the surface, this place looked no different from the old-style tong laus (tenement buildings) in other blocks.

But if one passed through a certain inconspicuous narrow alley and pushed open a heavy, unmarked mahogany door, the scene before one's eyes would suddenly open up.

Incense Gang Ancestral Hall.

This was a Chinese-style building with an archaic exterior but extremely magnificent and solemn interior.

A three-courtyard compound, with gray bricks and black tiles, flying eaves and dougong brackets.

At this moment, dozens of core members of the Incense Gang who had rushed back from all over North America and even the globe had already gathered in the main hall of the ancestral hall.

They mostly wore traditional formal attire, their ages ranging from thirties and forties to seventies and eighties, conversing in low voices, the atmosphere solemn yet faintly revealing excitement.

Everyone's gaze frequently darted toward that huge silk portrait hanging at the very front of the ancestral hall, as well as the empty armchair covered with a brocade cushion under the portrait.

That portrait was exactly the one Chen Xiaobai had caught a startling glimpse of in her childhood and engraved in her heart.

In the lower right corner of the portrait, a line of delicate and agile small regular script was clearly visible:

"Spring of the Guihai year, photo taken with Benefactor-mentor and the lantern-bearing child Xu Nuo. Respectfully painted by Qinglan."

(TL: Guihai year corresponds to 1923 in the 60-year cycle, also "Benefactor-mentor" translates Ēnshī [恩师], a profound honorific in Chinese culture for a revered teacher who not only imparts knowledge but also acts as a life-saving guardian or guide. It souds weird but I can't think of a more fitting translation.)

Low-voiced discussions spread through the crowd:

"Could it really... be this girl in the painting? It's been a century..."

"Personally brought back from Nihon by Instructor Chen, having undergone trials, and approved by the old man, how could it be fake?"

"I heard she is the newly appointed Kisei of Nihon, and even Takemiya Susumu and the head of the Crescent Group fell by her hands. Simply possessing both wisdom and courage!"

"Real or fake? Didn't they say Takemiya Susumu was killed by a middle-aged man?"

"What about her appearance? Really exactly the same?"

"We'll know when we see her later. But Elder Du has already confirmed it..."

Right at this moment, the side door of the main hall opened. Elder Du Xinyuan sat in a wheelchair, slowly pushed in by Chen Xiaobai.

Elder Du was pushed to the side of the main seat. His gaze slowly swept over everyone present, finally landing on that portrait directly in front, his eyes full of almost pious expectation.

He paused and nodded to an old servant wearing a gray long gown standing respectfully beside him.

The old servant understood, walked to the red sandalwood offering table at the front of the ancestral hall, and from an ancient wooden box carved with a Hundred Boys motif, took out a hard-cover notebook with severely worn edges and corners.

He carefully opened it. Inside was densely packed, delicate and neat small regular script written with a brush.

He found one of the pages, cleared his throat, and using an intonation carrying a strong Jiangsu-Zhejiang regional accent yet with perfect enunciation, read loudly:

"The seventh rule of Aunt Lan's dying instructions, recorded in the twelfth lunar month of the Bingyin year:"

The ancestral hall became even quieter, everyone holding their breath, as if afraid of disturbing this voice spanning spacetime.

"Last night I dreamed of my benefactor-mentor again. Benefactor-mentor told me, the lantern has been entrusted to the guiding child, instructing us to wait with a calm mind.

When the lantern lights up, it should be in the Jimao year (the 88th year of the Republic of China).

The one who comes at that time should be a woman, with a resilient temperament and a benevolent heart, who even if experiencing tribulations, still guards her conscience.

The one holding this lantern is the Lantern Bearer who will guide the Incense Gang forward a century later. Seeing her is like seeing benefactor-mentor and me.

The passing down of incense, the continuation of light, are all tied to this."

(TL: Jimao year corresponds to 1999. The 88th year of the Republic of China (Minguo) is also 1999.)

After the dying instructions were read, the ancestral hall fell into deathly silence.

Those sparse few dozens of words seemed to carry the weight of a thousand catties, every word and sentence striking everyone's heart.

"Jimao year... 1999..."

"Resilient temperament, benevolent heart, even if experiencing tribulations, still guards her conscience..."

More people recited this passage in low voices, their gazes subconsciously casting toward the direction of the side door.

This passage... is simply tailor-made for that girl!

The family misfortune, wandering, assassin training, bloody missions she experienced... aren't those exactly "experiencing tribulations"?

But she let Nakamura Sumire go, always keeping a bottom line in her heart, isn't that exactly "still guards her conscience"?

All doubts vanished into thin air at this moment.

Replaced by an excitement and passion of having suppressed for a century and finally finding a home.

The eye rims of quite a few older Incense Gang members had already turned red; that was the emotion of waiting too long and finally witnessing a historical moment.

"The auspicious time has arrived—"

"The Lantern Bearer returns to her position—"

The master of ceremonies stood at the door of the ancestral hall, chanting with a long and loud voice.

Everyone's gaze cast toward that slowly opening main door of the ancestral hall.

Sunlight poured in from outside the door, outlining a slender yet perfectly straight silhouette.

Xu Nuo, wearing a moon-white stand-up collar kung fu shirt embroidered with elegant orchid patterns, accompanied by Chen Xiaobai, stepped step by step into this ancestral hall that carried a century of waiting.

Her gaze was clear, meeting that portrait in front. The girl holding the lantern in the portrait also seemed to be gazing at her.

The gaze across spacetime was achieved here.

The century-old lantern light, rekindled today.