July 13, 2017, Super Sunny
Li Xinyu dashed through the scorching sun that blanketed Qingyun City, sweating profusely despite being a Cloud Surge Realm Cultivator, but he managed to get ho just before alti.
His mother Zhao Yan had been waiting by the dining table. Seeing Li Xinyu enter the house, she glanced at the clock by the dining room, nodded, and gave a gentle smile, "Hmm, quite punctual, co sit and eat."
As she spoke, she flicked a clear spirit true essence to rid Li Xinyu of his sweat.
Li Xinyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. His mother Zhao Yan was good in every way, especially doting on her children, but she had a mildly obsessive-compulsive personality that couldn’t tolerate breaking the rules. For example, the timing of the three daily als was fixed, and no one was allowed to be late. Even if soone missed by a tea mont, they could forget about eating that al, and would get nagged and chastised for half an hour before it ended.
Of course, if soone tried to cut corners, choosing not to enter the dining room after being late and ordering takeout instead... the outco would be clear to all, and they would never step into the dining room again in this lifeti.
Li Kongcheng of the third household had tested this out and made an exemplary demonstration for the family. It’s been more than two years since he last stepped into the dining room... even when hosting guests at ho, he had to awkwardly choose the tea room or his own bedroom.
Li Xinyu certainly didn’t want to follow in his dad’s footsteps, so no matter if the sky collapsed or a stunning beauty appeared on the street, he dared not delay alti.
Strict punctuality did have its rewards. Looking at the table full of sumptuous dishes, slling the mouthwatering aroma, Li Xinyu couldn’t help but get his appetite going, as if his blood was surging.
In the Li Family Mansion, Zhao Yan’s culinary skills were unparalleled, even better than the professional chefs hired with high salaries by the family when it ca to homade dishes and pastries. Li Xinyu’s plump figure was not undeserved.
As he sat down, Li Xinyu slightly glanced sideways. Next to his seat, a delicate girl had already taken her seat, staring straight ahead without looking at him.
That was Li Chaolu, Li Xinyu’s most cherished sister, aged 13, already at the Middle Tier of the Wind-Rising Realm, and could break through to the High Tier at any ti. Her aptitude was even better than his, and what’s more rare, her features were delicate, her figure tall and slender, eting the standard for a beauty even by the strictest standard.
As for any shortcomings... perhaps it was the cold sibling relationship, which often made Li Xinyu hit his chest in frustration. A few years ago they were inseparable friends, but now they hadn’t spoken in a long ti.
Li Xinyu hesitated for a mont, then mustered up a smile and said, "Well, Chaolu..."
The next mont, the delicate girl snorted coldly, "Don’t talk while eating, don’t speak while sleeping."
Li Xinyu looked at his mother Zhao Yan, but she didn’t seem to care about the cold relationship between her two children, only gently pushed a plate of soft pig knuckle towards her son, gesturing for him to eat more.
While helping himself to the pig knuckle, Li Xinyu couldn’t resist trying to converse with Li Chaolu again, "Chaolu, ah..."
But Li Chaolu imdiately took out a tiny screen from her mustard bag and placed it beside her, perfectly blocking Li Xinyu’s face.
"..." Li Xinyu was on the verge of tears.
His sister’s attitude was resolute enough. If he dared to strike up a conversation or lift the screen, her Hundred Flowers Sword was waiting.
The al was tasteless, and when Li Chaolu put down her chopsticks to indicate she was done eating, Li Xinyu quickly followed suit, telling Zhao Yan that he was full too, and hurriedly chased after his sister out of the dining room.
After taking a few steps, Li Chaolu spoke coldly without turning her head, "Don’t follow ! Disgusting!" while speeding up.
Disgusting... Li Xinyu felt his knees go weak as if he was about to kneel, but if he did kneel now, he could forget about talking to his sister today, so he endured the agony to speak.
"I saw Wang Jiu today."
The next mont, Li Chaolu froze in her steps.
Li Xinyu hurriedly added, "The Wang Jiu you girls have been talking about lately, the one who was just hired as an Honored Guest Elder by our uncle, that handso guy living in Shen Garden!"
Li Chaolu finally turned her head, her eyes bright and shiny as they scrutinized Li Xinyu.
"I spoke with him."
Li Chaolu’s breathing beca a bit rapid.
Li Xinyu continued, "I saw him at the spice shop today, and I talked with him for a long ti."
In an instant, Li Chaolu’s face turned pale, "What!? You—you actually talked with him for a long ti!?"
After which she angrily walked over, grabbed Li Xinyu by the shirt collar, lifting her few-hundred-pounds-heavy brother off the ground, "How dare you contaminate Wang Jiu with your filthy breath!"
Filthy breath... contaminate... Li Xinyu really felt like crying.
"Wang Jiu is a particularly easy-going person, I even made friends with him!"
Thud.
Li Chaolu directly dropped her brother, letting the atball land on the ground, then retreated two steps with a face full of regret.
"Made friends... that soone like you would make friends with him, my God, why does this happen, I shouldn’t have let you go buy spices! That opportunity clearly should have been mine!"
Li Xinyu broke into a cold sweat imdiately. This morning, he had volunteered to help his sister by buying condints from an obscure spice shop, in an attempt to please her, but now it seed he was in trouble for it.
Fortunately, Li Chaolu didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she looked up and asked with a mix of disgust and irresistible curiosity, "So, tell everything about Wang Jiu."
Li Xinyu bead with excitent, "Sure, sure, okay. First of all, he is truly handso."
"Hmph, that’s a given. My friends who have seen him in person call him the Prince Cyan Cloud."
Prince Cyan Cloud... Li Xinyu continued to sweat, imagining the scene of a group of star-struck girls squealing with delight.
Li Chaolu asked, "Exactly how tall is he? Is he more slender or well-built? What’s his hairstyle, how’s his skin? What color are his eyes?"
Faced with this barrage of questions from his sister, Li Xinyu kept stepping back, feeling as if the ti he spent with Wang Jiu had been completely wasted. He could answer almost none of Chaolu’s questions...
What could he do? Besides a star-struck girl like Li Chaolu, who else would scrutinize a guy so closely?
Left with no choice, Li Xinyu had to rely on his mory and concoct a bunch of nonsense to get by.
Li Chaolu continued to ask, "You chatted for a long ti... What did you talk about? What does he enjoy doing in his free ti? Are there any novels or poems he likes, any musical preferences?"
Li Xinyu knew that if this line of questioning continued, it would be disastrous. He had to turn defense into offense, so he interrupted, "We mainly talked about cultivation issues."
"Cultivation?" Li Chaolu tilted her head, a smile spreading on her face. "So Wang Jiu is indeed an impressive cultivator. His cultivation must be very advanced, and he’s kind and generous, so he’s willing to guide you in cultivation, right?"
Biting his teeth, Li Xinyu, forced into cultivation guidance, said, "Yes..."
"What realm is he actually at now? People say he looks about seventeen or eighteen, so in comparison to Sister Wanqing’s level, he should be at the late stage of Cloud Surge, or even the Cloud Flipping Realm, right?"
At this question, Li Xinyu’s expression turned serious, "To be honest, I can’t see through it at all. Even when I was less than an inch away from him, I couldn’t discern his realm. He doesn’t show even a hint of True Essence fluctuation — no, not even a bit of presence. If he weren’t standing right before , it’d be like he didn’t exist."
Li Chaolu’s face turned pale with astonishnt, "That’s so incredible! If even a Cloud Surge Realm cultivator can’t sense him, then he must at least be in the mid to late stage of the Cloud Flipping Realm, right?"
"...I suppose so."
"Ah, ah, Wang Jiu truly is a super genius! No wonder he was hired by Uncle as an Honored Guest Elder at such a young age." Li Chaolu cupped her chin in both hands, her eyes dreamy.
After a mont, Li Chaolu suddenly asked nervously, "When you were chatting, did you happen to ntion ?"
"Of course!" Li Xinyu replied firmly, "He said that if there’s a chance, we could et for tea together."
"Ahhh!" Li Chaolu cheered, "Wang Jiu wants to have tea with ! Just the two of us having tea!"
"No, I an, all of us, like, the three of us together..." Li Xinyu stamred, but his sister completely ignored him.
"Alright, once I finish this stretch of assignnts, help set up a eting with him. After July 20th, I should be free." Li Chaolu nodded, instructed her brother, and turned to leave.
Li Xinyu was dumbfounded, "Is that it?"
"Wait, Chaolu, there’s sothing else..."
Li Chaolu turned back, "What is it?"
"Well, it’s been ages since we’ve done sothing together as siblings. Next week, Lu Family’s Golden Crow Manor is opening to the public. Would you be interested..."
"Boring." Li Chaolu shook her head in disgust, "I thought you were going to say sothing important... I don’t want to go out with you."
"Why?!" Li Xinyu couldn’t help but ask, "Didn’t we often play together when we were little? We’ve been to the Hundred Flowers Lake in the suburbs, climbed Cloud Mountain and Qingshan, and even explored the Silver Fox Cave. Weren’t those tis as siblings wonderful? Don’t you miss them at all?"
Li Chaolu said, "I don’t ever rember having such a fat, ugly brother."
"..."
"And my brother wouldn’t carry around those kinds of shady books!"
Li Xinyu couldn’t help but say, "Those aren’t shady books at all..." Seeing his sister’s face turning cold, he quickly corrected, "I’ve quit! I don’t read those kinds of books anymore!"
"Hmph." Li Chaolu clearly didn’t believe him.
"It’s true, really!" Li Xinyu hurriedly unsealed his storage pouch, opening it to show Li Chaolu. "I used to keep them here secretly. See, they’re gone; I’ve thrown them all away!"
"Hmph, because you’ve morized them long ago!" Li Chaolu snorted, though her expression softened slightly, "Fine, rember to arrange the tea party for . If it goes well... I’ll agree to go out with you once, just once, though!"
"Oh yeah!" Li Xinyu leapt up several ters high.
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