Chapter 124: Heart Like a Fierce Tiger, Gently Sniffing Roses

**[Review Collection] Heart Like a Tiger, Sniffing a Rose (Part Two) – Fei Yue**

**Fei Yue's Thoughts: Heart Like a Tiger, Sniffing a Rose – On a King's Aura and Concealment (2)**

Continued from the previous article…

As the saying goes: "Before the millet is cooked, a dream of splendid marriage; all things pass like a fleeting glance, why dwell on fleeting fame?"

In a blink, a thousand years passed; turmoil faded, as if an eternity had gone by.

When Ning Yi awoke again, it was already the Great Wu era. He had transitioned from being an emperor of the business world to a minor figure in a merchant family. The drastic change in his status was imaginable. The story, provided by Ideal Literature readers… oh, no, our wonderful story truly began from this point.

We then discovered that our esteemed author, Banana, seemed to greatly enjoy portraying Li Huan's "incompetence," or rather, seemed quite content with others' disdain, earnestly pursuing the life goal of "comfortably living off someone else."

As mentioned in the previous article, many of Li Huan's actions puzzled readers. In short, his primary characteristic was "inaction," and it was a voluntary and enjoyable "inaction." Despite having the apparent support of Old Master Su, Li Huan continued to feign weakness, allowing Tan'er to toil alone for work. Meanwhile, he, the big boss, would take a beautiful young maid with him, spending his days at chess stalls, bragging, drinking tea, and chatting with a group of old men. Even at home, he impressively penned famous lines like, "Three lotus roots float in the green pond, does the raft have thoughts of love? Dewdrops wet the sand wall, admiring the secluded silence of dawn…" These lines made one admire Banana's wit. This also aligns with Fei Yue's previous point about another essential element of a good novel: maintaining entertainment value.

(For comrades who have passed English Level 4, the subtlety of the first two lines might be clear. As for the last two lines, well… adults will understand, they all understand… Within the People's Republic of China, harmony and love always prevail; let’s all agree not to spell it out, in adherence to the Pure Internet Language Promotion Law. Banana clearly expended a great deal of effort on this masterful poem. It seems he dedicated a lot of time to it! Hmm, I just wonder if Nie Yunzhu knew the meaning, would she still appreciate our protagonist? Would she feel like throwing up? Whether you do or not, I certainly did… I’ve digressed; let's get back on track.)

Even when Tan'er refused to share a room with him, he remained unfazed. He was ruthless and cunning when playing chess with the old men. His acquaintance with Nie Yunzhu was equally absurd; it began with him killing a chicken that had fallen into the river, nearly causing the beautiful woman to drown. After she was pulled out, he touched her chest and gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (euphemistically called first aid…), making it impossible for her to forget this scoundrel. Furthermore, he showed no desire to save the nation or care for its people; in conversations with Tan'er, his patriotism was even more indifferent than hers.

Of course, Fei Yue could find countless legitimate reasons to counter the negative points mentioned above. For instance, allowing Tan'er to work so hard was because even if he offered help, Tan'er wouldn't have trusted or agreed at that time. He already had three clever and capable female secretaries himself (Xing, Chan, and Juan'er, please raise your hands, thank you). Why involve an "outsider" and create more chaos? Old Master Su's support was even more of a joke; his clear intentions were plainly written. The so-called consideration for the older generation's friendship was simply to find a "controllable" husband for Tan'er, to prevent the Su family's future decline. How could Li Huan not see through that? Playing chess with the old men was inherently about winning. Writing poor poetry? The literary standards of modern people are at this level; Fei Yue himself might not even be able to write something better. Lack of patriotism? We should have love, embrace the global village, carry passports from a hundred countries. One must be adaptable, and a merchant even more so. Any other questions?

Yes! There are indeed still questions, and these are issues that have been continuously discussed in the forums since the book's release. Why is Li Huan so inactive? Is he truly content with this? How does he view his relationship with Su Tan'er? And with Nie Yunzhu? Below, Fei Yue will discuss his thoughts on each point.

(After four thousand words, I've finally reached what I truly needed and wanted to write. I'm so talented…)

**I. Why Li Huan's Inaction in Business and Life in This Lifetime…**

Regarding this question, in Fei Yue's view, the answer is quite obvious, a bit cliché, yet somewhat complex. The superficial answer, as Banana has mentioned multiple times in the text, is, "I'm tired, so I want to rest. Leave a message if it's important; otherwise, don't bother me" (referencing the fourth point on the protagonist's personality in the previous article). However, the deepest underlying reason is actually psychological…

In four words, to sum it up: lack of passion.

Please do not misunderstand the word "passion" used here. It doesn't refer to romantic passion or the physical release men need when excited. Rather, it refers to the lack of motivation or drive anyone experiences when facing work. Why? Because there's no challenge.

For example, what would be the reaction of a university mathematics professor, after receiving a Nobel Prize, when asked a math question by his middle school son at home? Would he sweat nervously? Absolutely not. (Of course, this isn't meant to belittle China's gaokao exams or math Olympiads; everyone understands how incredibly difficult those problems are—they're arguably the toughest in the world.)

So, do you recall what kind of person Fei Yue described Ning Li Huan as in the previous article? Let me quote it again… "He is an exceptionally capable business genius. In just over a decade, he started from nothing and built a fortune worth hundreds of millions."

And what does this imply?

This means that the business challenges faced by the Su family and the hardships endured by Tan'er, in the eyes of Li Huan from a later era, were akin to a competition between a world-class master and a vocational school student. One must consider that in Li Huan's original era, advanced information and the convenience of the internet significantly reduced the reaction and thinking time for business professionals. To earn money in the market, especially to become a top figure in a world-class enterprise like Li Huan, required a profound understanding of commercial schemes, a keen sense for business opportunities, precise timing for decisive actions, and mastery over the complex ebb and flow of diverse commodities. All these abilities far, far surpassed those of Su Tan'er, who lived a thousand years earlier in the Wu Dynasty (similar to the Song Dynasty), where travel from north to south took over a month, women's powers were restricted within families, and she solely managed a much simpler cloth business. There is simply no comparison.

It's like an expert gamer who has always played on the highest difficulty, consistently achieving perfect scores, suddenly being randomly dropped by the computer into an easy mode—they'd look utterly exasperated and resentful. Thus, Li Huan's old habit resurfaced. Let's paste that excerpt again…

"I always wanted to do it, and I always thought I'd remember, but when I did remember, I felt no urgency and always put it off." (This is the protagonist's inherent flaw, unavoidable—what can I do when I'm just too strong? – Li Huan's words…)

So, if we readers must complain, let's blame Banana. Why write such an overwhelmingly powerful protagonist aura in the first place?

As for other questions, Fei Yue might discuss them tonight or perhaps tomorrow. See you in the next part…