Chapter 63: Because It Suits My Eye
After a long, tiring day, the two of them had no intention of going out again once they got home.
One big and one small sat on the sofa to rest.
Qin Mochen sat upright. Even with his legs crossed, his posture was strict and disciplined, making his already long, straight legs look even more so.
Su Keke glanced at him and tried hard to straighten her own small frame, striving to sit like he did.
Although Qin Mochen was looking at his phone, the corner of his eye caught all of the little girl’s movements. He couldn’t help but find it amusing. “You don’t need to imitate me. At home, just sit however you’re comfortable.”
Su Keke immediately relaxed her waist a little and said shyly, “Uncle sits so properly—it makes me feel pressured.”
Back in Peach Blossom Village, her posture had been considered fairly proper, especially compared to her master. But now, compared with her uncle, it didn’t even come close.
Qin Mochen paused, then said, “This is a habit I’ve developed over many years. I can’t really change it…”
As if recalling something from the past, his voice trailed off, growing lower. His gaze slowly darkened, and for a fleeting moment, a cold, gloomy glint flashed through his eyes.
“Uncle,” Su Keke suddenly called out.
Qin Mochen’s eyes moved slightly as he turned to her. The trace of strangeness was already gone. “What is it?”
“The curved saber you bought at the antique shop today—where did you put it?” Su Keke asked.
“In the cabinet in the study.”
“Just as I thought. Uncle, you should move it.”
“Is there something wrong?”
Su Keke hesitated before answering. “I don’t know what that saber was used for before, but I can sense a lingering trace of baleful energy on it. I wasn’t sure this morning at the antique shop, but when I went to the study earlier to look for you, the feeling suddenly became very clear.
“It’s probably because your house is located on an auspicious node, with abundant spiritual energy, which makes that trace of baleful energy stand out more clearly.
“Although it’s very faint and won’t really affect you, it can still influence a person’s mood. So Uncle, it’d be better to place the saber at the heart of the node—your bedroom—and let the spiritual energy of heaven and earth dissipate that remaining baleful aura.”
Qin Mochen fell silent for a few seconds, then nodded.
The two of them went into the study. In front of Su Keke, Qin Mochen opened the cabinet at the lower right of the desk.
The large desk had a cabinet on each side underneath, with two drawers above them. Su Keke had never dared to touch them.
Although she’d never opened those cabinets or drawers herself, she had seen her uncle open them—except for one: the second drawer on the left.
Once, driven by curiosity, she had gently tugged at it—not because she truly wanted to open it, but just to see whether it could be opened.
It couldn’t. That drawer was locked.
The other three drawers and both cabinets weren’t locked; only this one was. It was hard not to be curious.
But her master often said that curiosity killed the cat. Apart from maintaining curiosity in learning, one shouldn’t be curious about things one shouldn’t be curious about.
So after discovering that the drawer was locked, Su Keke never touched it again.
Qin Mochen took the curved saber out of the cabinet and ran his fingertip over the mottled patterns on the scabbard. His brow furrowed slightly. “I can’t pull this saber out. It’s probably completely rusted inside, so the blade and scabbard have fused together.”
“Then why did Uncle spend so much money buying a rusty saber like this?”
Thinking about the amount Assistant Wu had paid, Su Keke felt heartache on her uncle’s behalf.
Even if she stayed with her uncle for a full month, she’d only earn 1.5 million.
But to her, 1.5 million was already a huge sum—and it didn’t have to be handed over to her master. She felt she’d soon become a little rich woman.
Qin Mochen stared at the rust-covered curved saber for a long time before quietly saying, “Probably because it suits my eye.”
Hearing that, Su Keke chuckled and said very earnestly, “Uncle, the way you talk really sounds like someone from our line of work. You should seriously consider joining this profession.”
Qin Mochen replied just as earnestly, “I’m too busy.”
“No rush. This kind of thing depends on fate anyway. If Uncle really has a connection with this line of work, that fate will come sooner or later.”
“Right—Uncle, wait here for a moment. I’ll go get something from my bedroom and be right back.”
Su Keke trotted off, then quickly trotted back.
When she returned, she was holding a full sheet of yellow talisman paper covered in symbols. “Here, Uncle. This is for you. Use this to wrap the saber, then place it in your bedroom. Even though the baleful energy on the saber is very faint, I’m worried it might affect your sleep. Wrapped like this, it won’t—it’ll suppress the baleful aura.”
“All right.” Qin Mochen took the yellow paper and wrapped the saber in it.
“How did Uncle know to wrap the side with the talisman symbols on the inside?” Su Keke poked her round chin with a finger and smiled brightly. “The talisman I gave you for protection has the symbols on the outside.”
Qin Mochen glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t we suppressing baleful energy? If that’s the case, the symbols should face the saber. It’s different from a protective charm.”
“Uncle is so smart.” Su Keke looked at him with smiling, crescent-shaped eyes.
Qin Mochen laughed softly. “Kid, your definition of ‘smart’ might be a bit different from mine.”
During dinner, Qin Mochen suddenly said to the little girl, as if remembering something, “From today on, you can eat freely. Just know your limits—don’t stuff yourself. It’s not good for your body.”
Su Keke secretly rejoiced and answered loudly, “Okay, Uncle! Then I won’t hold back!”
That evening, when Aunt Lin learned that Su Keke had eaten an extra small bowl, the way she looked at her grew even more affectionate.
After dinner, the two of them went for their usual walk. Later, Qin Mochen returned to the study. Assistant Wu called midway—there seemed to be documents to look over. Su Keke didn’t go along and instead stayed in the living room, fiddling with her phone and memorizing words with a learning app.
As she studied, she couldn’t help opening her little “treasury” and counting the zeros inside.
Staring at all those zeros, Su Keke’s eyes went a little blank.
Wasn’t she making money a bit too easily?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt she should be doing a better job.
Tomorrow, her uncle was going to attend his old friend’s birthday banquet. He didn’t want to take her, but was she really just going to stay home?
That felt far too unprofessional.
She had checked—her uncle’s glabella looked normal. There shouldn’t be any bloodshed or disaster in the next day or two. But things like this could change in an instant. Just because nothing was wrong today didn’t mean something wouldn’t suddenly go wrong tomorrow.
After some thought, Su Keke decided she still needed to persuade her uncle to take her along. But before that, she called Assistant Wu.
After they’d gotten familiar with each other, they had exchanged phone numbers.
“…Uncle said that place isn’t suitable for me, so he’s not taking me. I thought about it—so what if there are more people? I’m not afraid of crowds.
“I know Uncle has many bodyguards, but there are a lot of things bodyguards can’t handle. Otherwise, Uncle wouldn’t have hired me in the first place. I take so much money every day without doing anything—I feel uneasy about it.”
As soon as she finished speaking, another possibility occurred to her. She froze, her gaze gradually dimming, and asked softly, “Assistant Wu, do you think Uncle might be worried that I don’t know proper etiquette, and that I’d embarrass him if I went? I—I know I’m a country bumpkin who hasn’t seen the world, but I can stand off to the side and not say anything. As long as I can keep an eye on him and make sure he’s safe, that’s enough.”
Listening to her on the phone, Wu Zongbai thought to himself: Why is this little darling so heart-wrenchingly lovable?
And so, without realizing it, Wu Zongbai began helping the little darling come up with a plan.
