Chapter 11: Entering Meditation, Joining the Monastic Path on the Spot
“You want… to raise a turtle?” He asked again, hardly believing it. “Why would you want a turtle?”
Was this really something a girl would like?
Chi Qian nodded firmly. “Without a turtle, my wishing pool would lose its soul!”
Turtle… wishing pool…
Chi Lisen rubbed his temples. So that was her plan all along.
“Fine, as you wish. But one thing: no matter how your classmates come to beg you for mercy, you mustn’t pay them any attention.”
“Mm-hm!”
Chi Qian thought her grandfather was only talking casually. To her surprise, He Fangzhi and Xu Zhiqing really did come knocking with apologies.
But it was obvious they were forced into it, not sincerely remorseful.
Chi Qian couldn’t be bothered to deal with them and refused to meet.
They wouldn’t give up and started sending her WeChat messages.
He Fangzhi: “Chi Qian, tell your grandfather to stop targeting my family’s business, I beg you.”
He Fangzhi: “Once this passes, we can still be friends. Don’t forget how good I was to you before!”
He Fangzhi, eyes red: “Chi Qian, answer me!”
Xu Zhiqing was even bolder: “Chi Qian, if you let your grandfather spare us this time, I can help you win Ling Qian back.”
Chi Qian was utterly disgusted.
But she knew how to disgust them even more.
Chi Qian: “Letting you off isn’t impossible, but only if you…”
She sent the unfinished message—then immediately blocked them both.
He Fangzhi and Xu Zhiqing were left tearing their hair out at the dangling sentence.
“Only if we… what? What was the rest?!”
They planned to wait and confront her at school. But she never showed up.
The reason? Chi Lisen had caught her using a turtle shell to divine multiple-choice questions.
After scolding her for gambling on luck, he discovered her answers were all correct—making him even angrier.
He confiscated her turtle shell and hired three private tutors to supervise her studies.
He didn’t expect her to ace every exam, but if she failed too badly, how could the Chi family keep its face?
Day one of tutoring: Chi Qian was groggy, on the verge of sleep.
Day two: her eyes were vacant, her expression blank.
Day three: she entered meditation mode on the spot, transcending into monkhood.
By day seven…
The tutors approached Chi Lisen to thank him.
“Mr. Chi, thanks to your child, my years-long insomnia has been miraculously cured. I won’t be charging tuition.” Tutor One was full of gratitude.
Chi Lisen: “?”
“And how is her progress in her studies?”
Tutor Two: “Oh, excellent! Miss Chi eats well, sleeps well, brimming with health, and her positive energy even rubs off on us.”
Tutor Three: “Yes, indeed. Even a long-standing issue in my cell research was resolved thanks to Miss Chi’s enlightening perspective. Truly grateful!”
“…So what exactly did you all teach her?”
The tutors’ smiles froze.
Right. They were supposed to be teaching her, not the other way around.
What had they even taught her?
Chi Lisen waved his hand for Butler Nan to see them out.
One tutor hesitated before leaving. “Mr. Chi, I believe Miss Chi may not need extra lessons. What she needs is a psychologist. She isn’t unintelligent—just pessimistic, unwilling to use her brain.”
Chi Lisen nodded. “Thank you for the advice.”
Not long after the tutors left, Chi Muze called.
“Dad, how’s Qian Qian doing lately? Is she eating on time, is she happy?” Chi Muze finally had a free moment from his busy schedule.
Chi Lisen’s brow twitched. “Since when did you turn into a nagging old lady? She’s doing just fine. Eating, sleeping, riding pigs around the estate like a mad thing—and she just drove off three tutors.”
Chi Muze picked up on the odd tone. “Dad, you even hired tutors for her?”
“Mm. She doesn’t study seriously, won’t even do her homework. If she flunks at the end of the term, I’ll lose all face.”
“You’ve never hired tutors for any of us before.”
“She’s a girl. Can you compare yourselves to her?”
Chi Muze choked. His sister—Chi Qian’s mother—was also a girl, wasn’t she? Yet as soon as she reached adulthood, Father had tossed her out to fend for herself.
“By the way, you said last time that Chi Qian’s mental state wasn’t good. What exactly did you mean?”
Chi Lisen opened the investigation file on the desk, his voice deep.
Chi Muze explained again.
It was nothing more than Chi Qian being unwelcome in the Gu family. Things only improved when Ling Qian appeared, and the two families arranged a childhood engagement.
But in that relationship, it was Chi Qian who had the upper hand—Ling Qian was the one always chasing after her.
After Gu Hua returned to the Gu family, Ling Qian and their other playmates all abandoned Chi Qian. That might have dealt her a psychological blow.
“I don’t think her mental state is bad. She’s just plain lazy.”
Chi Lisen hit the nail on the head.
“She won’t even walk a few steps anymore—she rides around on that ridiculous pink pig.”
Chi Muze chuckled. “She’s just gone through a huge change. It’s normal that she hasn’t adjusted yet. That’s why she needs her family’s company all the more.”
Chi Lisen snorted. “Don’t think I don’t know what scheme you’re running.”
“As long as you’re willing to spend time with her, maybe you’ll end up liking her too—just like I do.”
“Impossible.” Chi Lisen shot down the idea coldly. “One month. Not a day more. You know the terms.”
He hung up the phone, as if covering something up.
If he was honest with himself… having such a cute granddaughter wasn’t bad.
But raising her long-term? Absolutely out of the question.
Even Chi Qian’s mother, once she became an adult, had been forced to stand on her own two feet—not relying on the family.
Spoiling a child was like killing them. That principle, Chi Lisen had always upheld.
Hands clasped behind his back, he left the study and walked to Chi Qian’s room. Through the half-open door, he saw her bent earnestly over her desk.
He felt a flicker of satisfaction. There, he knew it—there were no slackers in the Chi family.
But when he got closer, his face darkened.
Chi Qian wasn’t studying at all—she was secretly eating instant noodles, and even using two chopsticks to knit a sweater for the noodles!
“Chi Qian!”
“Who bought you this junk food? Throw it out!”
“If I catch you eating this garbage again, don’t bother coming to dinner!”
Chi Qian wailed, “Grandpa, I was wrong! Just one more bite—the very last bite!”
In her flailing, she accidentally knocked her schoolbag over. Its contents spilled across the floor.
Other people’s schoolbags: textbooks, workbooks, reference guides.
Chi Qian’s schoolbag: spicy sticks, potato chips, dried fish, soda, beef jerky, QQ gummies…
Chi Lisen’s temple twitched. Was she going to school, or running a wholesale shop?
He mercilessly confiscated her “stock,” and ordered her never to touch junk food again.
If she didn’t do well on her finals this time, she’d never taste another snack.
Chi Qian: Her happiness flew away like a little bird of youth—gone forever, QAQ.
*
Final Exam Day.
Back at school, the way her classmates looked at her had changed. No longer disdain or disgust—but fear and wariness.
Chi Qian knew why, but she didn’t care. Her mind was entirely on the upcoming exams.
Sigh.
No matter how terrible the plot twists ahead, nothing was scarier than an exam.
When she sat down at her assigned seat, her classmates immediately shifted away, gathering in small clusters far from her.
A wide empty circle formed around her.
The familiar setup—here it was again.
