Yun Yi was quick. She grabbed him.
“I’m not chasing you away!”
Xiao Zhi stood still, pretending to be a roadside utility pole.
The night wind lifted her soft long hair. Her eyes couldn’t contain the surging emotions.
“Why aren’t you talking?” Anxious and angry, she punched him with her fist. “Quick, say ‘I’m not leaving, I’m staying put.’”
Xiao Zhi: “I’m not a parrot.”
Yun Yi raised her giant hammer and pounded him bam bam bam.
This man—not a single beating was undeserved.
Third-floor guest room balcony.
Yu Lian’er looked down.
She saw Miss Yun punching flesh with every blow, treating her master as a human sandbag.
In Yan, this behavior would warrant ten beheadings.
Yet her master curved his lips. The harder he was hit, the deeper he smiled.
For a moment, Yu Lian’er felt her master was enjoying being beaten by Miss Yun. He seemed to relish it.
This era truly turned heaven and earth upside down.
Yu Lian’er looked up at the sky and sighed.
In the ink-blue sky, a red light blinked, trailing an eerie luminous path.
This was…?!
Something from beyond the heavens?
She pressed her wildly beating heart. Her blood surged.
.
At 6:30, Yun Yi got up—not out of ambition.
A certain someone practiced standing meditation and martial arts daily, rain or shine.
Her biological clock had been conditioned.
Unexpectedly, someone had gotten up even earlier today.
In the open kitchen, Yu Lian’er was bustling.
Yun Yi yawned: “Sister Lian’er? You’re up this early?”
Yu Lian’er still had the bearing of a senior palace maid: “I wanted to make something for my master, but… I’m useless.”
Yun Yi rubbed her eyes.
On the cutting board lay a small scallion and two eggs, still raw, waiting for the pan.
“What time did you get up? Pregnant women need more rest.”
“This servant…”
“…”
Yun Yi didn’t want to hear her talk anymore.
Under her stare, Yu Lian’er sheepishly shut her mouth and obediently sat down.
Yun Yi opened the fridge. It was dazzling inside, full of things ancient people had never seen.
She took out honey, butter, and milk.
Yu Lian’er’s eyes went wide.
“First, give the toast a bath…” Yun Yi muttered a lot. This was the only “quick breakfast” she knew how to make.
The toast slices brushed with honey and butter went into the oven.
“Here, this is blueberry jam. Spread some.”
Before the words landed, she cut open an avocado, scraped it into mash with a spoon, and spread it on another slice of toast.
Yu Lian’er took a careful bite. Purple-red jam smeared the corner of her mouth.
Yun Yi pushed the tissue box over, signaling her to wipe.
She carried a tray of quick breakfast and wobbled to the backyard.
Just then, the sword blade left its sheath. The sound of cutting air resembled a dragon’s cry.
Xiao Zhi bent, a white gleam slicing past grass leaves, dew scattering.
Yun Yi, facing the morning warmth, put on airs: “Your Imperial Majesty, this servant has made you toast.”
“I haven’t washed my hands.” Xiao Zhi sheathed his sword, acting like a rogue. “You feed me.”
Yun Yi, uncharacteristically docile, handed over the toast. Xiao Zhi opened his mouth in satisfaction.
She suddenly snatched the toast back.
Slyly: “What’s ‘toast’ in English? Only if you answer correctly can you enjoy Teacher Yun’s feeding service.”
This girl—gentle on the surface, full of bad water inside.
Xiao Zhi’s face darkened. He walked straight through the backyard.
The grass sprouts were trampled down, flattened softly against the ground.
“Angry from embarrassment?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh~” Yun Yi gleaned a clue from his expression. “‘Toast’ in English isn’t hard, is it? You forgot that too?”
“No!” A certain someone raised his voice, meaning she had punctured his lungs.
English.
His most feared subject.
Bar none.
Yet Yun Yi insisted on pushing him toward the world.
She even spent heavily to enroll him in online English courses!
“Today at 9, online class.”
Yun Yi was like a CEO’s all-capable assistant, presenting the schedule.
[English Speaking Foreign Teacher (1-on-6)]
[Afternoon: Math Olympiad]
[Evening: LEGO Power Mechanics]
Xiao Zhi’s mouth twitched: “I’m going to look at houses.”
“Ah, you have an hour and a half of free time at noon.”
“…”
“Hey, how do you spell ‘toast’? We just learned it in yesterday’s online class.” Yun Yi grabbed his hem, insisting he give an answer. “If you can’t spell it, and your classmates laugh at you in class, I won’t help you switch courses.”
Another class… Xiao Zhi slumped limply in the rattan chair.
The gold-medal assistant handed over paper and pen.
He wore a smoke-blue shirt, sleeves neatly folded to his forearms. Even deflated, the bearing was still in his bones.
After a moment, he finished writing. The corners of his eyes relaxed, only his pupils still pitch-black: “Toast?”
On the paper, the letters outlined in pen were classic copperplate script.
Yun Yi’s gaze nailed to the paper, confirming again and again it wasn’t printed.
“How did you do that?” She’d practiced the Hengshui font in high school but couldn’t bear the grind and quit halfway.
Xiao Zhi was indifferent: “Copy from the book. Practice a few more times and it’s fine.”
Yun Yi: “I’m fighting you dragon-blooded people.”
Xiao Zhi laughed lazily: “I am the true dragon son of heaven.”
.
On the tablet screen, the foreign teacher’s and classmates’ images lined up vertically.
Xiao Zhi had thought he was going to a school for English class.
Unexpectedly, it was within a tiny screen, via the internet, attending class with students from all over the country.
His classmates included kindergarten kids and first graders.
Shamefully, he was the oldest among them.
By the time he reacted, he’d already walked into the tiger’s den—Yun Yi said the course couldn’t be refunded.
“Wow, Liam, good job!”
“Brilliant, Liam!”
Under the American foreign teacher’s repeated praise, Xiao Zhi gradually lost himself.
This teaching mode was fresh and stimulating.
Lunch break.
Yun Yi handed him an energy drink and lavished brainless praise: “Our little Liam worked hard in class today too!”
Xiao Zhi took it, his gaze lifting from the orange-yellow bottle.
Agent Xiao Wu was attentive: “Mr. Xiao, Miss Yun, please come in.”
The apartment faced the river. Beyond the living room was a 270-degree wraparound balcony. River wind, damp with moisture, rushed at them.
“Our apartment isn’t afraid of damp. It has a fresh air system and underfloor heating.”
Xiao Wu demonstrated the whole-home smart system and led them to see the Chinese and Western kitchens.
The master bedroom was larger, with a hydrotherapy bathtub in the bathroom.
Double the luxury of the hotel-style apartment Xiao Zhi had mentioned.
Yun Yi’s eyes darted. She desperately signaled with her eyes, mouthing silently: “It’s expensive, right…”
His antique gold couldn’t be sold for now.
Where would the money for a luxury rental come from?
Xiao Zhi ignored Yun Yi’s signal and asked Xiao Wu: “What about the one next door?”
“Mr. Xiao, this unit is larger. The rent is indeed higher.”
Xiao Wu had seen this many times. He directly opened the neighboring door.
“Exquisite three-bedroom. Top choice for newlyweds. Study and children’s room are flexibly convertible. School district is Qiuming Mountain Elementary—a solid school-district property. Monthly rent 7500 yuan.”
Agent Xiao Wu said this to Yun Yi.
Her cheeks burned. She instinctively said: “We’re not…” newlyweds.
“We’re not renting.” Xiao Zhi cut in.
Xiao Wu’s breath caught. A faint sense of death.
Though showing clients apartments was his job, most people had no follow-up after viewing.
But this Mr. Xiao was blunt to the extreme, too damaging to a worker’s feelings.
But Mr. Xiao’s tone shifted: “This one and the one next door—I’ll buy both. As for the discount, you negotiate with the landlord.”
Tremendous joy crashed into Xiao Wu’s chest. His heart nearly lost speed.
Three years without a sale, and one sale feeds three years!
“Bro, you’re my real bro!”
Yun Yi was dazed, steered out by Xiao Zhi’s arm around her shoulder.
She looked back. Xiao Wu was still standing at the doorway, waving nonstop.
“Didn’t you say rent? Didn’t you say hotel-style apartment? This complex is prime downtown location. Do you know how expensive it is?”
“I know.” He’d downloaded a home-buying app and compared prices.
“Where did you get the money? If it were rent, I could chip in a bit.” Buy? Selling her wouldn’t afford it.
Buildings stood densely around them. Strong sunlight hit the office tower curtain walls and reflected into Yun Yi’s eyes. In the instant she squinted, a pair of sunglasses appeared on her nose bridge.
The world suddenly darkened several degrees.
The road slowly stretched before her. Plane trees cast shadows. The man beside her was steeped in this dappled shade, his defiance hidden. He blended with this modern city.
Yun Yi: “I’m not used to sunglasses. I can’t see the road clearly.”
Xiao Zhi pondered for a moment, abandoning the argument that “sunglasses are this era’s greatest invention.”
The next second, he unhesitatingly took her hand.
“I’ll hold you. Isn’t that enough?”
Yun Yi propped the frames with her finger and lowered her eyes, her gaze landing on their intertwined hands.
Her heart raced.
Her fingers unconsciously curled, her palm sweating.
Xiao Zhi didn’t let go.
Holding her past a McDonald’s dessert kiosk, she gained an ice cream cone.
Holding her past a balloon vendor, a balloon was tied to her wrist.
Yun Yi’s neck was stiff. She only dared look straight ahead: “You still haven’t said where the money came from.”
Xiao Zhi teased her: “Blown in by the wind.”
“…”
Elder Xiao presided, reviewing the Xiao Family Village account details one by one.
An unexpected discovery: a forgotten land requisition compensation.
It turned out Emperor Ridge’s back mountain had a large forest, requisitioned by the government years ago.
The compensation at the time, due to a village leadership transition, had been forgotten in an unactivated collective co-management account.
The money had accrued interest in the bank for years. By now it was an astronomical sum.
After auditing, they discovered the back mountain’s owner was actually a direct relative of the Xiao Family Village ancestor.
Hearing this, Yun Yi indeed forgot about the hand-holding and clicked her tongue: “I used to think the ancestral tablet was you. Now I think it might have been your brother.”
“Mm.”
Xiao Qian had taken his place on the throne. Naturally, he had ways to leave enormous wealth to descendants.
As for the wealth, it had long been lost in turbulent times. That was normal.
After a thousand years, one branch of descendants had finally left behind a large tract of land.
“Your brother really dotes on you.” Yun Yi carefully traced in her mind that face resembling Xiao Zhi’s.
“Who told him to be born a stick of incense before me?” Xiao Zhi shrugged, relaxed.
“When’s your birthday?”
Xiao Zhi felt warm inside. The hand-holding wasn’t wasted—she knew to celebrate his birthday.
He gave a date.
Yun Yi noted it: “Ah, on your birthday we should buy some paper money.”
Xiao Zhi frowned: “Why?”
“To burn for your brother down there.” Just then they passed a funeral supply shop. Yun Yi pulled him inside. “Villa, BMW, Mercedes, Heaven-and-Earth Bank Hell Money, and a few male models and maidservants.”
“…”
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