Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Laying the Groundwork

The next day, the two returned to their usual work routine. Early in the morning, Ethan Caldwell got ready to head to the company. He informed Julian Sterling that he wouldn’t be returning for lunch, then departed.

In truth, Julian understood that Ethan’s upcoming trip to Valkania to negotiate with the technology firm would likely consume a significant amount of time. Therefore, he had to clear all the pending matters here before he could leave.

Julian wasn’t lazy either; not long after Ethan left, he got out of bed and carried his laptop downstairs. Breakfast was already laid out on the kitchen table. Julian took a look: fish porridge and crullers. It appeared the porridge wasn’t made by Mrs. Hughes but cooked by Ethan personally, while the crullers were store-bought. There was also a glass of steaming hot soy milk.

Julian stared at the glass of soy milk for a moment before deciding to drink it anyway. After all, since they were married, there was no need to expect any heirs from their union. At most, Ethan could find a surrogate if he wanted descendants, but for Julian, it wasn’t essential. Drinking a lot of soy milk wouldn’t matter.

Besides, it was only one glass.

After finishing breakfast, Julian carried his laptop to the corner by the window, behind the turn of the living room. The lighting here was excellent. There was a small bookshelf, a beanbag chair, and a small table just right for a laptop. Ever since he mentioned wanting to switch to the Fine Arts department, famous art books had started appearing on the bookshelf, and the shelves were stocked with all sorts of watercolors and tools. Behind the small table, several easels of various sizes, stretched canvases, and a box of paper in different sizes were propped up.

Julian glanced around at the supplies. They were very complete, which pleased him. However, he didn’t rush to paint. Instead, he moved the table closer to the beanbag chair, placed his laptop on it, and picked up his phone to call Lucas Hill.

The phone rang a few times before someone on the other end picked up. Before Julian could even speak, Lucas’s voice came through.

“Little Jules, what have you been up to lately? You’ve missed school for several days in a row.”

Julian felt a twinge of guilt and answered vaguely: “I have some busy matters to attend to. I’ll probably be off through tomorrow before going back.” He certainly couldn’t say he was taking time off due to excessive indulgence in carnal pleasures the day before.

“Since you’ve been gone, that crowd is causing a stir again.” Lucas snorted on the other end, his tone sarcastic. “A bunch of people who can’t study to save their lives, yet they excel at scrutinizing others.”

Some time ago, in preparation for his department transfer, Julian had been trying to gradually pull his grades up. However, this caused the underachievers in the school to start gossiping. After all, to them, Julian represented the image of a rich kid who was terrible at studying. Although they didn’t know for sure that he was the young master of the Sterling family, they could guess based on the cars that picked him up and his miscellaneous belongings.

Consequently, they didn’t like it when someone they considered a stepping stone suddenly rose up to suppress them. When Julian attended classes regularly, rumors were already rife; it was even worse now that he was blatantly skipping school.

“You already said they can’t study to save their lives, so why worry about them?” Julian scrolled through his laptop, opening a webpage to take a look, then asked, “By the way, how is that matter coming along?”

“It’s going very well. The other day I managed to meet a few people from that competition.” Lucas’s voice was cheerful as he chattered away: “Oh right, I even met Vincent Vaughn. Wow, your predictions are god-like, Jules.”

Julian curled his lips into a smile upon hearing this, but Lucas’s voice didn’t stop: “However, there is one person, seemingly named Azure Caine. Rumor has it they are from our country, but neither the organizing committee nor private connections have been able to find their contact information.”

Julian lowered his eyes. Of course they wouldn’t find it. If his alternate identity could be so easily exposed, how could he hide behind that name to stir up waves?

“You don’t need to worry about that person, I can contact them. But Lucas, what field do you plan to develop in?”

Lucas was stunned by the sudden question. He was interested in data, but obviously, there were many types of data, and companies looking to develop had countless industries to choose from. Which path should he take?

“I see you have a talent for technology. Moreover, the people we are building relationships with mostly participated in that competition.” Julian slowly guided Lucas: “Anyone who gets into that competition must be good at technology, don’t you think?”

There was silence on the other end for a moment. After a long while, he heard Lucas’s voice: “You mean you want to develop a technology company? But we don’t have the equipment, nor do we have any software technology…”

“Here, let me send you this.” Julian clicked to open the email interface and sent an attached file to Lucas: “Take a look at it, and we’ll talk another day.”

The other side paused again. Julian heard the sound of a mouse click, and just a moment later, he heard Lucas say: “You’ve already made a whole plan?”

“Mm-hmm, but initially it wasn’t strictly for technology, so I’ve only made a preliminary adjustment; there might be some parts that aren’t very realistic.” The other side hummed in response, seemingly pondering over the plan. Seeing this, Julian said: “You read it over. I’ll try to contact those people.”

Lucas agreed and said goodbye to him.

Julian hung up the phone and looked at his computer screen, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table. He was contemplating how to contact Vincent Vaughn. Obviously, Lucas alone would find it hard to “anchor” this “deity.” If Julian met him using his current identity, it might also be difficult. Perhaps he needed to change things up a bit and formulate a plan to approach him.

Julian pursed his lips, then decided not to think about it anymore. He pulled out the easel and began mixing colors.

In times like this, he should let his mind relax a little.

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