NEW FAMILYAside from eating, bathing, and a minimal amount of sleep, Qin Xuan was always cultivating her inner qi. Maybe it was due to her body’s weak const.i.tution; no matter how much she tried, her Inner Qi reserve did not improve and her dantian remained empty. The day she fully recovered her strength seemed to still be beyond reach.
The greatest benefit from her diligent cultivation was that her body recovered at a much faster rate. Unfortunately, her leg was covered in a thick layer of plaster, making it impossible for her to determine the current state of the injury.
Because she was single-mindedly cultivating her Inner Qi, she did not notice that Wen Meixia had already signed the divorce contract and left. There was now even two new strangers frequenting the house. The only thing she knew was Qin Shuhua had replaced all the broken furniture with new ones.
Today, Qin Shuhua knocked on the door of Qin Xuan’s room, “Qin Qin? Are you free?”
Qin Xuan who was sitting crossed leg on the floor slowly retrieved the Qi circulating chaotically in her body and forced it back into her dantian. She then patiently waited for the Qi to settle before opening her eyes, “Come in.”
Qin Shuhua opened the door to Qin Xuan’s room. Seeing that she was calmly meditating on the ground, he gave her a strange look. He still remembered how she had previously knocked Wen Meixia unconscious with a single move. She even ordered him to throw Wen Meixia out, causing him to experience a big shock. He quietly thought about how ever since several years ago, when his relationship with his wife was in the midst of breaking down, he had stopped paying attention to his own daughter. Now that she had become such a cruel and cold-blooded person, he was the one mostly to blame.
Qin Xuan glanced towards Qin Shuhua once, and then closed her eyes, “Is something the matter?”
Qin Shuhua woke up from his regretful stupor and quickly spoke: “Un, Qin Qin, I just wanted to let you know ahead of time that Aunt… Auntie Jiang and your younger brother will be officially moving over today. Ah, regarding the wound on your leg, we should head to the hospital and get it examined. Let’s see if we can take the cast off yet.”
“Understood.”
Qin Shuhua smiled awkwardly. As he was about to leave, he paused and said hesitantly: “When you meet Auntie Jiang and your little brother, can you, urm, promise daddy to not cause them any trouble?”
“Sure.”
Hearing her smooth reply, Qin Shuhua did not feel any relief. Instead as he thought about her previous decisive attack towards Wen Meixia, he felt a sense of unease. However, since he couldn’t think of anything else to say, he simply said: “Then you should prepare for a bit, daddy will take you to the hospital for a checkup.”
Qin Xuan did not need any preparation and left with Qin Shuhua immediately. She sat inside the large horseless metal carriage. Ever since her first day here, she had seen many of these strange metal boxes. She pat the seat and asked Qin Shuhua who was driving: “What is this?”
“It’s a BMW!”
Qin Xuan was secretly alarmed. The horses in this place looks like this? (TL note: It’s a pun. A common name for BMW in China is Precious Horse.)
Since his daughter rarely ever talked to him, Qin Shuhua excitedly elaborated, “I just recently bought this car. Do you like it? Later on, do you want me to drive you to school in it?”
“School?” Qin Xuan asked with some reservation.
“That’s right. Since the accident you have stayed at home for some time in order to recuperate. Since it’s already your third year, and the high school test is coming up, you must be quite worried about the exams. Today we will visit the hospital to see if we can take off the cast yet, and if yes, let’s bring you to school tomorrow since it’s Monday. Do you wanna go to school?”
“No.” Normally rich families would be able to invite scholars to come and tutor their daughters to read letters, but only males could go to a school to study. Unexpectedly, girls can go to school here? Furthermore, this body is already at marrying age, and yet it is not currently engaged?
The result of Qin Xuan‘s checkup was extremely positive, and the doctor removed the cast. The moment she was freed from the irritating shackle, Qin Xuan felt much more relaxed. Even the terrible smell of the hospital stopped bothering her.
As they left the hospital, Qin Shuhua took out a piece of metal as big as his hand from inside his bag. All she could see was a bunch of symbols on the glowing device, including moving images like those on the TV. She watched as Qin Shuhua pressed several b.u.t.tons before starting to speak at the piece of metal, “h.e.l.lo? Is it Huilin?”
Even at such a low volume, Qin Xuan was still able to hear the reply clearly. The sound came from inside the metal piece, “Un, where are you right now? I and Pengcheng are nearly there.”
Qin Shuhua continued talking as he got inside the car. The now experienced Qin Xuan also quickly got in and buckled up. Qin Shuhua than said: “Huilin, we are also almost home. We’ll continue the talk when we are there, I’m hanging up.”
The entire way home, Qin Xuan quietly stared out the window, her eyes carefully observing the surroundings.
Qin Shuhua took the initiative to break the silence. He spoke while laughing: “Qin Qin, now that your injuries have been healed, is there anything you want? I’ll give you a gift.”
Qin Xuan stared at the traffic outside the transparent gla.s.s window, “I want a horse.”
“Horse?” Qin Shuhua suddenly felt that the conversation was heading towards a strange topic.
“Yes, like yours.”
“This, Qin Qin ah, I don’t have any horses. Please be a little clearer, why do you want a horse again? Do you want to learn how to ride them?” Qin Shuhua was shocked by the difference between him and his own daughter, and tried his best to understand her request.
Qin Xuan felt angered. If this metal box isn’t a horse, then why did he lie and tell her that it was a Precious Horse?
Qin Shuhua kept his hands on the wheels while his eyes darted towards Qin Xuan. He suddenly felt the temperature in the car drop by several degrees, causing chills to run up his spine. Without needing to ask, he knew he had angered her, and when he saw her dark glaring eyes, he couldn’t help but feel gooseb.u.mps. That’s right, gooseb.u.mps, this was a primal kind of fear.
Qin Shuhua gripped the steering wheel and mumbled nervously: “Hey, it’s not like daddy won’t let you learn how to ride horses. If you really want to, you can!”
Qin Xuan calmed down her chaotic emotions and retrieved her overflowing bloodl.u.s.t. After settling down, she asked slowly: “What are the most common things on the road?”
“Huh? A riddle? The most common things are people I guess? Wait no, there are also plenty of cars, but there must be more people. That’s the answer right? Qin Qin?”
Successfully gathering some information while avoiding suspicions, Qin Xuan resumed watching the scenery outside the car and no longer paid any attention to the person beside her.
Being ignored so blatantly, Qin Shuhua could only keep driving dejectedly. Moments later, they arrived home.
From inside the car, Qin Xuan was able to see the mother and child waiting at the door. Noticing their car, the woman’s face broke into a smile and waved her hands enthusiastically at them.
Qin Shuhua smiled and said: “That’s Auntie Jiang Huilin and your younger brother Qin Pengcheng. Remember to say h.e.l.lo when you get out of the car.”
Qin Xuan quietly observed the two people. This woman seemed to be younger than Wen Meixia, and of course much more beautiful, her body was both graceful and slender. However, the little boy next to her, who seemed to be about seven or eight years old, was currently standing there pouting while facing another direction.
Qin Xuan quickly a.s.sessed that these two new members of the family did not pose any significant threat to her.
When she stepped out of the car, the woman immediately brought the little boy towards Qin Xuan and spoke while still smiling: “Qin Qin, I am your Auntie Jiang, and this is your little brother, Qin Pengcheng.” She then urged Pengcheng to speak: “Little Cheng, quickly call her big sis.”
Qin Pengcheng stubbornly refused to look at Qin Xuan, causing Jian Huilin to knock him on his head and yell: “Little Cheng! Why are you not listening to your mother? Do you remember what you have promised me before we got here?”
Qin Pengcheng winced, he wanted to retort but he did not dare to, so he could only swallow his words.
Qin Xuan was not interested in bonding with her stepmother and younger brother from a different parent, so she remained unfazed as she walked past them towards her room.
When she saw this, Jiang Huilin eyes reddened. She looked at the departing figure of Qin Xuan and hesitantly called out: “Qin Qin…”
In contrast, Qin Pengcheng was sticking his tongue out at Qin Xuan. What a nasty girl!
Qin Shuhua came out from the garage. Witnessing this scene, he could only sigh.
During lunch when they were at the kitchen table, aside from Qin Xuan who was nonchalant as always, everybody’s face was unsightly, especially those of Qin Pengcheng. He aggressively bit down on the chicken drumstick while glaring at Qin Xuan. This girl with an annoyingly calm face was making his food taste bad.
The two adults in the houses obviously did not have much of an appet.i.te, and ate sparingly.
Qin Xuan’s taste buds could not care less about them as she casually continued to eat. This body was definitely too thin, with such a washboard of a chest that was no different from a man’s. If she wasn’t able to confirm it herself, she would have been suspicious that this was a boy. Already at this age and yet her body was still so small and tiny, there was some serious problems here.
As it is, it would be difficult for her to quickly regain her power. The most important thing right now was to feed this body well to help her during cultivation and martial art practice.
That’s why, more than half the food on the table ended up in Qin Xuan’s stomach.
Qin Shuhua eyes brightened. He laughed heartily and picked up a pork rib with his chopsticks and put it in Qin Xuan’s bowl. “Seems like the food Auntie makes fits your taste! From now on you can just let her know whatever you want to eat.”
“Un.” To be honest, the food this auntie makes was tastier than what Wen Meixia made. How long had it been since she had such a delicious meal, she herself was not sure. Ever since she had become a cold blooded a.s.sa.s.sin whose blade tasted blood daily, surviving day to day was her only priority. As long as she didn’t starve, it was enough.
Jiang Huilin nodded, “Qin Qin, just let me know whatever you want to eat, I’ll definitely cook it for you!”
Being ignored by the two adults, Qin Pengcheng angrily threw the unfinished chicken drumstick and ran away. Jiang Huiling worriedly glanced at Qin Shuhua, “I’ll go to talk to him, you two please continue eating.” She put down her chopsticks and ran after Pengcheng.
Qin Xuan ate up all the remaining food inside her bowl and then stood up, “I’m full.” She then turned around and left.
Qin Shuhua looked around at the empty kitchen table and sighed deeply once more.
While meditating quietly, her ears detected the sound of somebody approaching her room. After a while, that person stopped right in front of her door, loitered about for some time before finally leaving.
Qin Xuan continued to meditate for another half a day.
At dinner time, she headed outside. The moment her door was opened, she caught a glimpse of a small figure quickly hiding next to the wall. She looked down on the ground and saw various needles and thumbtacks lying about. It seems like she had already overestimated the plotting capability of this little brat.