Chapter 107

Chapter 108: Qian Qi, relax, we won’t leave you behind~

As a champion of grudges, Qian Qi even remembers beef with seven year olds, and she has to get payback: double payback.

Qian Qi smiled in a chilly way: “At your age, you should be in elementary school doing homework every day, right?” Kid A blinked: [???]

She tapped two finger guns and grinned creepily: “I’ll mail you eight workbooks every month, so study hard, okay~” Kid A jolted: [!!!] [Are you a demon? What kind of kid does that many problems?]

Kid A frowned and asked, “Qian Qi, are you rich? I don’t need you to worry about me. Just make sure you can live on your own out there.” Qian Qi snorted, then gave a snarky smile: “Of course I’m rich. I’m nineteen, a full adult, so making big money is easy.” She lifted her chin and added with fake kindness: “When you turn nineteen, if you can’t beat me, I’ll look down on you so much~”

[Revenge can wait twelve years,] she told herself with pride: [in twelve years I’ll come back to laugh at him!]

Kid A went speechless: […] [Is she really nineteen? She’s so childish.] He shook his head, then lowered it to keep fixing an old toy.

These toys had stayed with his younger siblings since they were little. They stood in for parents and meant a lot. Time wore them down, though, and many had broken. He didn’t want his siblings to be sad, so he tried to repair them.

Swaying in her seat beside him, Qian Qi watched and gave the occasional pointer: “Hey, you can’t do that or it’ll short out,” and, “Your stitching is wrong. The marks are too obvious.”

Annoyed by the nagging, Kid A stuffed a teddy bear into her arms and snapped: “If you’re so good, you do it.” Qian Qi, stung by the challenge, puffed up and grabbed a needle and thread: “Fine, I will.” She barely started threading when the needle went crack and snapped.

Qian Qi stared: […] Kid A stared back: [?_??]

Feeling guilty, Qian Qi cleared her throat. She had stacked a lot of Strength buffs lately and used force all the time, so with tiny stuff she sometimes couldn’t control her power: “Why is this so brittle? Is it fake?”

“Can’t be,” Kid A muttered as he picked up the broken needle. It felt pretty solid. Scratching the back of his head, confused, he took another needle from the box.

This time Qian Qi eased up, threaded the needle carefully, and raised the teddy to sew the tear. The moment she started, the middle of the needle bent.

Qian Qi: […] Kid A: […]

Kid A let out a long, sad sigh: “What are you even good for.” Qian Qi: […]

She tried to defend herself: “Where did you buy these needles? They’re not sturdy. I’ll go buy real ones later.” Kid A waved it off and said coolly, “No need to explain. Relax, even if you become a Strength Awakener, we and the Dean won’t sell you.”

Qian Qi paused: […] “Thanks, I guess.”

She lowered her voice and tilted her head: “Keep this secret. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know.” Kid A nodded and answered with a sincere look: “Okay. Then can you not make shepherd’s purse buns tonight? I just saw you order shepherd’s purse on your Light-Brain.”

Qian Qi froze: […] She grumbled, canceled the shepherd’s purse, and swapped the order to peaches, his favorite.

Shaking out her hand, she bent the warped needle back little by little, then stitched with care. In her past, she often sewed clothes for the kids at the home. To build their skills, the Dean taught everyone life tasks as they grew up. As a half foster daughter, Qian Qi got extra lessons.

She tied off the last thread and held up the teddy with pride: “Well? You can’t even see the stitches, right?” Kid A’s eyes lit up. He loved it and hurried to ask how she did it. Qian Qi taught him step by step, then moved on to fix other toys.

Time slipped by. When Qian Qi finally looked up, she found kids surrounding her. Some had fallen asleep hugging newly fixed toys. Some crowded close to watch her repair work. Others peeked from the side, and when she looked up, they gave shy little smiles.

They were not scared of her anymore. Maybe it was because she had saved the orphanage. Maybe it was because she made dumplings with her own hands and fed them. Maybe it was because she sat quietly fixing toys so her face didn’t look so scary, and instead made them feel safe.

“Thank you, Qian Qi,” said Little Min and Little An, a brother and sister clutching a pretty doll, as they grinned: “You’re a good person~ you’re nothing like the big brothers said, not a Magibeast at all.” Qian Qi blinked: [??] Kid A covered his mouth: “Pfft~”

After Qian Qi got closer with the kids, she lost her queen bee status. Once they learned she didn’t hit people, they started climbing on her like she was a helicopter, riding her shoulders to play the flying game. When they got tired and went for a nap, Qian Qi sat alone in the yard and questioned her life: “I guess I really can’t be too nice to them. My mighty image is gone.”

System replied in her head: [True. I shouldn’t be too nice to you either, or my mighty image will be gone too.] Qian Qi rubbed her hands and flattered hard: “Don’t say that! The better you treat me, the more mighty and unbeatable you are in my heart!” System gave a short laugh: [Heh.]

It had watched her sweet-talk so many times that it did not believe her mouth anymore.

With a quiet moment, Qian Qi opened Li Hai Sheng’s Light-Brain to see if Chen Tong had transferred money. What she found instead was Chen Tong going full meltdown at her. Well, at Li Hai Sheng.

From the contact “Chen Tong-not-sad” she scrolled past a flood of messages: “Why aren’t you replying?” and, “Where did you go?” and, “Can you lower the price?” and, “Hey! Hello! You there? You didn’t die, did you?”

“What’s with our dear Chen? Since when did he start haggling?” Qian Qi wrinkled her nose as she flipped through the wall of texts: “Tsk. He’s changed. He used to be generous.”

System went silent: […] [Look at who pushed him into being stingy.]

“The formula is already half off. The horn can’t be any cheaper,” Qian Qi decided, then sent a taunt from Li Hai Sheng’s account under her alias Sea King Sage: “If you can’t afford it, buy fewer. Are you dumb?”

“???” popped up from Chen Tong, followed by a storm of swear-filled texts: “You jerk? Did you just call me dumb? You’re getting cocky, huh? Don’t push me or I’ll…” He kept going. Qian Qi couldn’t be bothered to read the rant, so she cut to the chase: “Here’s the deal. I’ll sell you three first. I’ll hold the rest for you. When you have the money, buy the rest, okay?”