Chapter 101: Baby Qian, Without You How Could I Live?
Xia Zhenzhen’s face went red and white. “Who are you calling shameless?! You fake everything, bribed the crew to give you special treatment, and use it to bully people—you’re the one who—ahhh!!”
Before she could finish, Chi Qian had the ostrich turn around. It kicked back, flinging a whole mound of sand straight into Zhenzhen’s face.
The ostrich scraped and whirled, showering sand until Zhenzhen’s body was half-buried in it.
“Pfft—ugh!” Xia Zhenzhen struggled frantically, shrieking, “Chi Qian, you’re sick in the head!!”
“Yeah, I am. Bad luck for you that you provoked me.” Chi Qian smiled sweetly. “Looks like you peeled the skin off your left cheek and pasted it on your right—half thick-skinned, half shameless—before daring to yap at me like a dog.”
“When one side of the East isn’t shining, the West still glows—but you? You’re just a dumbass all around.”
“I’ve seen stupid before, but never your level of stupid—so bad it’d shake the medical world, and they’d flip through the dictionary without finding a word big enough to describe your case.”
Even with her face covered in sand, Zhenzhen’s fury and hatred were still visible.
“You dare treat me like this?! My father won’t let you off!”
“First condition—he’d have to actually be your father.” Chi Qian’s tone was meaningful.
Xia Xinyue’s face went pale. She glanced at Chi Qian in fear, unable to say a word.
[Ohhh I smell fresh dramaaa!]
[Fun fact: Sis Qian never shoots blanks. One casual remark from her equals a paparazzi’s year of work.]
[Not-so-fun fact: They say on Sister Qian’s birthday, she dressed as a turtle sage and did fortune telling. She predicted one arson case, two kidnappings, one attempted husband-murder… The police pulled an all-nighter. Let that sink in.]
[Zhenzhen, of all people, you had to mess with the deadliest one here.]
[Poor Xinyue, stuck with such an uncivilized sister. Her reputation’s tanking.]
The Xia family’s PR team caught the storm of comments and reported it to Chairman Xia.
They hadn’t been invited to Chi Qian’s birthday banquet, so they didn’t know about her “Turtle Sage” reputation. They assumed this was malicious slander.
Since the Xia and Chi families were business rivals, there was no chance of letting it slide. The chairman immediately ordered his people to gather evidence and prepare to sue Chi Qian for defamation.
None of those in the live broadcast knew any of this.
Once Chi Qian’s group moved on, Xia Xinyue asked Luo Fan and Ling Qian to help dig Zhenzhen out of the sand.
Zhenzhen sobbed breathlessly, “No one’s ever dared treat me like this—no one! She’s dead, she’s—”
Xinyue quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, hissing, “We’re still live. Do you want to lose your reputation completely?”
Zhenzhen kicked and flailed in rage.
“This was Chi Qian’s fault,” Gu Hua frowned. “No matter what, you can’t just bury someone like that. She’s still so unreasonable. Sigh…”
Ling Qian added, “Crazy as always. I don’t know how the Chi family raised her.”
Luo Fan frowned slightly—something felt off—but still agreed: “Last season she messed me up bad. Honestly, she’s got zero manners.”
A psycho isn’t scary. What’s scary is a psycho with real power.
And Chi Qian was exactly that kind of psycho.
After walking some distance, Shen Jing grew worried. “If people twist what just happened, it could be used against you.”
Chi Qian stretched lazily. “Uncle Shen, I always believe in one principle.”
“Oh?”
“The lower your manners, the higher your happiness; the more selfish you are, the clearer your joy. If I can be shameless, I will be.”
Shen Jing gave her a mock salute.
Shen Jiashu leaned over. “Princess, aren’t you afraid people will hate you?”
Chi Qian tucked her hands in her sleeves. “If one person hates me, that’s their problem. If a group hates me, that means they plotted it together. Trouble’s for others, joy’s for me. Cheers.”
The others: “…You’re really something.”
With a mentality like that, no wonder she flattened anyone who got in her way.
It took at least ten years of deep-rooted madness to build up this level of confidence.
“…By the way, don’t you feel like something’s missing?” Chi Qian suddenly said.
She had felt it for a while, but couldn’t pinpoint what.
“Baby Qian!!!!!”
A heart-wrenching scream echoed from behind.
Chi Qian jolted and looked back.
Chi Fengxiao was running after them, shouting as he went: “Baby Qian! Baby Qian, how can I live without you! Stop right there, Baby Qian!”
Chi Qian: …Oh crap.
She’d forgotten her uncle!
Chi Fengxiao finally caught up, collapsing weakly onto the ostrich’s back. His face was full of grievance. “I just went to fetch an egg and you ran off without me?! Chi Little Qian, where’s your conscience!”
Chi Qian raised both hands. “Uncle, I swear I was just thinking of you! I was about to turn back for you! The world could live without skunks, but never without my uncle!”
That soothed him—until it hit. “Wait. Why skunks?”
“Because I hate them the most.”
“…You’re comparing your own uncle to the animal you hate most?”
Chi Fengxiao’s heart went cold. He sat there, miserably peeling the egg he’d brought. Then, scowling, he shoved it into Chi Qian’s mouth.
“Eat! May you choke on it, you heartless brat!”
Chi Qian swallowed it whole, munching happily.
Next to her, Shen Jing’s lips twitched. Even angry, Chi Fengxiao still waited on his little ancestor. Poor guy, he was doomed.
“Look! There’s a helicopter here!” Shen Jiashu suddenly shouted.
Luo Zichuan glanced up. “Nobody inside.”
Chi Qian rode the ostrich closer, circling around it.
“The tail rotor transmission system’s busted. Probably internal wear and tear or external impact, caused the shaft to break, lost all thrust,” she commented casually.
Chi Fengxiao raised an eyebrow. “You know this stuff?”
“Wanted to fly, so I studied up.” She often missed her greatsword… Oh, Uncle.
Chi Fengxiao grinned. “Don’t worry, while you’re still short, Uncle can lift you up. I’ll take you flying.”
“…I’m not short! I’ll grow taller soon!”
“In your dreams. I’ve never seen a kid as short as you.”
Chi Qian put on a solemn face. “I’m already fifteen. At this age, I can call myself ‘old’ if I want.”
“….”
The others tried to hold back their laughter.
They remembered how, in the previous season, Chi Qian had downed all the milk they’d looted from pirates—Yet, smack, she still hadn’t grown even a single centimeter.
After checking out the crashed helicopter, the group moved on.
Not long after, they finally reached the water source.
What Chi Qian had seen earlier, the light refracting off the water, turned out to be a gourd-shaped lake.
Surrounded by trees and lush vegetation, it was a small oasis.
“Baby Qian, the water’s so clear here, want to take a swim?” Chi Fengxiao suggested.
The lake was split in the middle anyway.
Chi Qian shook her head. “No thanks, I’m an introvert.”
“Then you stand guard. We’re going in!” Chi Fengxiao whooped and jumped straight into the water.
Shen Jiashu did a perfect dry dive, plunging headfirst.
Chi Qian couldn’t bear to look, so she led the ostrich around to scout.
Creak.
She heard footsteps ahead.
Parting through the trees, she saw a man leaning under a tree.
His black uniform traced the outline of a strong, perfectly built frame. Wheat-colored skin glistened with a sheen of sweat, making him look even sharper.
His face was half-hidden under a camo cap and the shadows of the branches, but his defined features were still visible. Thin lips, expression cool and detached, like someone apart from the world.
In the blazing desert heat, he was like a gust of cool air.
