Chapter 79: Girl, It’s for Your Own Good
The man lay quietly on the sofa, not moving at all, sleeping soundly.
Su Keke suddenly remembered: Uncle’s body, after all, couldn’t compare to hers and Master’s—people who cultivate the Dao. So she went back to her room and fetched a blanket.
Because Uncle was sleeping so sweetly, Su Keke didn’t want to wake him up, so her footsteps as she approached were so light they were almost nonexistent.
She secretly unfolded the thin blanket and draped it toward him.
Just as it was about to cover him, the sleeping man suddenly snapped his eyes open.
In that instant, a bone-chilling cold light burst from the depths of his eyes—pure killing intent.
Su Keke was almost instantly counterattacked. He flipped her over and slammed her hard to the floor.
One powerful arm pinned her arm down; his five fingers clamped her throat. At the same time, his solid kneecaps pressed her legs ruthlessly into the ground. She couldn’t move an inch.
Su Keke’s little face scrunched up in pain.
Her arm hurt, her legs hurt, she couldn’t breathe—she was about to suffocate.
The haze and ferocity in his eyes faded. Qin Mochen suddenly came back to himself. “Girl?”
He hurriedly released the person beneath him and sprang up almost at once.
Su Keke coughed as she rubbed her arm.
Qin Mochen glanced at the sofa behind him, then at the thin blanket messily wrapped around her, and immediately understood what had happened.
A trace of self-blame flashed in his eyes. He lifted the little girl up in his arms and placed her on the sofa.
“Are you okay?”
Su Keke coughed for a while, then shook her head at him. “I’m fine. Uncle, did you have a nightmare and think I was some big villain in your dream? Otherwise why did you hit so hard?”
“…When I’m asleep, I don’t like anyone getting too close. Sorry—I scared you just now.”
“It’s okay.”
Qin Mochen’s gaze fell on the little girl’s arm, and he froze slightly.
On her fair, tender arm, five bruised purple finger marks stood out glaringly, making his brows knit tight.
“Wait for me.”
Qin Mochen quickly brought over some ointment and began applying it to the bruised area.
He was puzzled inside: Did I really use that much force just now? It was only a normal restraint move—how did it bruise like this?
“Girl, does it hurt?”
Su Keke shook her head. “It’s okay. It doesn’t really hurt now. This kind of bruise just looks scary. Sometimes I wake up and my legs and arms are all blue and purple for no reason, like I bumped into something in my sleep and didn’t even notice. So it really doesn’t hurt. If it hurt from a bump, I would’ve woken up.”
Qin Mochen’s furrowed brows still didn’t relax.
The little girl was just too delicate.
He spread a thick layer of ointment over the bruised finger marks, then gently massaged around the bruise.
Only when the marks looked less obvious did he put the ointment away.
“Uncle, go lie down in the bedroom for a bit. I’ll call you later.”
“No. I don’t feel sleepy now.”
So the two of them—one big, one small—sat on the sofa and watched cartoons for a while, then went together to the study to read.
One read finance books; the other read middle-school textbooks.
Ding.
Su Keke’s phone chimed. She picked it up, took a look, and couldn’t help feeling happy.
Qian Yunze?
Qian Yunze: Are you home yet? I’m sharing a feng shui book I’ve been reading lately—the author uses modern science to explain a lot of feng shui knowledge. The viewpoints are really unique.
There was a link attached at the end.
After Su Keke tapped it, she saw an introduction to a book on modern feng shui, with the first ten pages available for preview.
It was in full color, rich with pictures and text—very interesting.
Su Keke let out a little “Wow,” and quickly replied: I’m home. Thank you for sharing the book—I really like it!
Qin Mochen turned his head to look at her. “What happened? Why are you so excited?”
Su Keke said happily, “It’s a friend I met at the banquet today. Uncle, do you know? He actually understands feng shui and metaphysics too! Just now he recommended a feng shui book to me. I think it’s really interesting.”
Qin Mochen was a little surprised.
A friend she met at today’s birthday banquet?
He’d only been gone for ten minutes or so, and this girl had already made a new friend?
Qin Mochen’s brows knit slightly. “I won’t interfere with you making friends, but girl—someone you’ve only met once, don’t open your heart too easily.”
Su Keke hurriedly said, “Uncle, don’t worry. I can read faces. I only make friends with people who have good physiognomy. Qian Yunze has a really good face—only a tiny bit worse than yours.”
“Who did you say?” Qin Mochen’s brow had only been faintly furrowed, but the moment he heard the name, it tightened at once.
Qian Yunze? Old Master Qian’s grandson.
Back in the day, Qin Mochen had received guidance from Old Master Qian, and there had been a shallow master-disciple connection between them. They weren’t exactly close, but he had met Qian Yunze before. He was the only grandson Old Master Qian was most proud of—highly talented, and at a young age he had already become a member of the presidium of the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
He hadn’t noticed at the banquet—so this person had been there too?
And he’d become friends with the little girl?
Old Master Qian’s grandson’s character was something one could trust, but still…
Qin Mochen looked at the little girl, his mood turning a bit complicated.
“Because his face is good, you became friends with him?”
“Mm, yes. But that’s only one reason. The main reason is that he understands feng shui!” Su Keke showed her little excitement openly in front of her uncle, without the slightest restraint.
Qin Mochen thought for a moment, then put on a serious face and lectured her. “Girl, I have to say—this kind of thinking is very problematic…”
After listening to a long string of elder-style admonishment, Su Keke finally promised that from now on she absolutely wouldn’t casually become friends with someone she’d only met once—at the very least, she’d have to spend some time with them first.
Qin Mochen rubbed her head and sighed. “Girl, I’m doing this for your own good. You’re still too young, and your nature is too pure. It’s easy for you to be deceived.”
“Got it, Uncle. I’ll listen to you.”
Qin Mochen nodded in satisfaction.
—
After a busy day, and with school again tomorrow, Su Keke went to bed very early.
Before sleeping, she held that piece of rough jadeite she’d picked up and stroked it.
She hadn’t brought Shifu’s diamond grinding wheel—after all, it was too heavy and not used often. Otherwise, she could cut the rough stone herself right now and slice the jadeite out from inside.
Before drifting off, Su Keke was still thinking: should she find time to go back to Peach Blossom Village, bring the grinding wheel over, and then she could work on this piece? When the time came, she wanted to use the jadeite inside to make a few small pendants.
One for Shifu, one for Uncle—if the jadeite was big enough, she’d make one for herself too.
Su Keke wanted to text Uncle and ask what kind of small pendant he liked, but then she thought: Uncle might already be asleep, so she let it go.
In fact, at this moment, Qin Mochen still wasn’t asleep.
Probably because he’d dozed off earlier, he wasn’t sleepy now.
As if possessed by a ghost, Qin Mochen opened his browser and typed “beginner feng shui knowledge” into the search bar.
A few minutes later, Qin Mochen called Wu Zongbai. “Old Wu, make time tomorrow and go buy me a few feng shui books.” A slight pause. “For beginners.”
On the other end of the line, Wu Zongbai listened with a blank face, agreed with a blank face, and hung up with a blank face.
