Neither Yin Jinian nor Grandpa Yin was asleep when they reached the Yin family house. Instead, the dining table was filled to the edges with piping hot dishes.

“Did you come back today to take care of family matters?” Tang Yanling sat down with Gu Xiqiao at the table, chatting and watching her as she ate.

Gu Xiqiao peered up, revealing a slightly astonished expression. “Mama Tang, how did you know?”

“Well I received a notice today.” Tang Yanling didn’t seem particularly surprised about it. She looked back at Gu Xiqiao with gleaming eyes. “Does that mean that the huge ruckus in N City today was also a result of your actions?”

To be honest, her question was irrelevant. She already knew that Gu Xiqiao was more likely than not, behind today’s incident.

“How big was it?” Surprisingly, Gu Xiqiao was the one who was puzzled. She had no idea what she had actually done.

Tang Yanling laughed when she heard her question. She then whipped out her phone and logged onto the ancient martial arts world’s forum which she then showed Gu Xiqiao. She appeared to be overjoyed when she swiped across the pages. “Look, these are the posts of the old geezers from the ancient martial arts world. Get a load of this old man. He has abandoned his job and ran off to meditate someplace else!”

She looked up at Gu Xiqiao who was bewildered by the posts. It was quite obvious that she had zero idea on how large of a ruckus she had stirred up now.

She had struck fear into the hearts of many within the ancient martial arts world. They all scrambled around, in search of the place from which such a powerful figure emerged. On the contrary, the people who were directly involved in the matter were much more indifferent.

This really… made Tang Yanling feel sympathy for the elder.

Still, her feeling of sympathy was overwhelmed by schadenfreude.

“… they’re still alright, right?” Gu Xiqiao was not aware of her own otherworldly potential.

Tang Yanling grunted coldly. “They can’t do anything! All they do is abuse their authority and order people around; they were asking for it! Darling, you did well! At least you taught them a lesson they would never forget!” She did something which no one in the ancient martial arts world could achieve and in an effortless manner!

After saying that, she gave Gu Xiqiao a warm hug. This must be the legendary rib-crushing hug!

“…”

Gu Xiqiao was being hugged so tightly that she couldn’t speak.

‘Oh god at this rate, I’m gonna get asphyxiated!’

Tang Yanling watched as Gu Xiqiao finished up her meal before snapping a couple of photos of her, which she sent to her friends’ group chat.

Mama Tang: JPEG JPEG JPEG

It was getting late, and yet her photos still received quite a number of likes and comments the moment she posted the photo on WeChat. Of course, the first one to like the photos was none other than Jiang Shuxuan, which gave Tang Yanling a good laugh, followed by her rich lady friends in N City as well as friends from the ancient martial arts world, including Baili Wenxi.

Tang Yanling stared at Baili Wenxi’s like which came mere seconds after she uploaded her post. In the end, she chose not to reply to that person. Still, seeing the comments made by someone else shocked her so much that she almost fell out of her chair.

Shu Chen: “I didn’t know that you were familiar with Qiao Qiao ?”

Shu Chen: “Ah Bin told me a few days ago that you were living in this tiny residential district. I did not expect to hear that you have returned after moving here today.”

Tang Yanling was stunned by this comment. She looked up instantly at Gu Xiqiao and asked, “Qiao Qiao, do you know who this person is?”

Tang Yanling tapped on Su Chen’s profile photo and presented it to Gu Xiqiao.

Gu Xiqiao glanced at it briefly before responding bluntly.

“You’re talking about Aunt Shu. We met a couple of times and I saved her once.”

‘You’re referring to her as aunt?! Baby do you know who she is?! Are you aware that she’s now living in the same area as you?!’

“Mama Tang, I’d like to have some milk.” The robot next to her feet snapped her out of her state of shock.

Tang Yanling looked down at the intricately-made robot. It was so smart that it almost seemed sentient. Weird things were the prerequisite to living with Gu Xiqiao, which explained why she wasn’t surprised by it that much. “Hold on for a minute, I’ll get it for you right this instant!”

Was she really gonna grab some milk for this thing?

Gu Xiqiao looked down emotionlessly at the system. “Do not bully Mama Tang.” Robots do not typically drink milk, do they?

The system sulked. “… you think I’m an ordinary robot?”

“…”

‘Acting like this will only get you handed over to the state, alright?’ thought Gu Xiqiao to herself.

Tang Yanling brought over a tall glass of milk which she gave to the system. However, Gu Xiqiao’s intimidating presence forced it to hold on to the milk, not daring to take even a single sip.

“This robot of yours is so adorable! Does it have a name?” Tang Yanling’s eyes glowed. She picked up her phone and started snapping away at it. Why does everything Qiao Qiao own have to be so fun?! Being here at N City made her start to reminisce about the time she had spent with Xixi and Haha.

Gu Xiqiao took her final bite before calling out: “Jiji.”

“…”

‘Ah, I forgot, something is inherently wrong with Qiao Qiao’s naming preferences.’ She wanted to laugh at its name but she stopped herself from doing so, fearing that she might hurt the ego of the cute little robot.

“Jiji” AKA The System was at a loss for words.

Seems like there is a price it must pay to remain in the real world. In comparison to itself, Xixi and Haha’s names sounded much more normal!

***

The next day, Gu Xiqiao slept on until late morning. She was still asleep when Li Yanmei called.

She was still half-awake when she made her way to First City High.

“You wake up late? Now that’s something you don’t see often.” Li Yanmei was surprised as it didn’t really fit into the image of a national scholar. Back in their village, Gu Xiqiao would always wake up at half-past five for a morning run. She did things decisively, calmly and her eyes would always seem to be full of wisdom.

The Gu Xiqiao standing in front of her today seemed much more sloppy than the Gu Xiqiao from before.

Gu Xiqiao patted Jiji’s head and smiled. “Vacations are few and far between.” Life would not be as leisurely after today.

“Let’s go, Ying Qi’s probably already waiting for us.” Li Yanmei led Gu Xiqiao forward. Still, I didn’t expect that you would agree to come here.”

Last night, Ying Qi had bothered her over the phone for an eternity, begging for her to bring Gu Xiqiao over. Of course, Li Yanmei was not prepared to agree to his suggestion right away. However, upon hearing how Ying Qi wanted to thank Gu Xiqiao for saving his life, and seeing how desperate he was while pleading, she had no choice but to give in.

Half-heartedly, Li Yanmei gave Gu Xiqiao a call. Her agreeing to come without hesitation definitely took Li Yanmei by surprise.

Ying Qi picked a well-known establishment as the venue for their meeting. He only knew a handful of people here in N City, from which he invited a couple of his closer buddies.

Before Gu Xiqiao and Li Yanmei arrived, Ying Qi’s buddies started gossiping like a bunch of teenage girls. They started speculating about what her face looked like, which was based largely on the fact that she was able to take down ten men in a fight. She probably was a tomboy with rock-hard abs, a face full of muscles, and a hulking figure.

The screen of Ying Qi’s phone lit up, which prompted him to head out and welcome their guests.

The men waited inside their private room. In reality, none of them were particularly excited to see the girl who Ying Qi had claimed to be his savior. They instead, had a deep sense of respect for the girl, as one would towards a powerful champion.

“When she arrives, I don’t want to see any surprise on your faces. She didn’t choose to be a tomboy so no judgemental eyes, okay?” he warned them.

One of his buddies responded immediately. “Aye sir.” The troops have been waiting for so long now. It’s not like this is their first time meeting a female soldier whose strength triumphed over your average guy. Theoretically, nothing should come as surprising to them.

These men started discussing amongst themselves about how they should show their respect to their guest.

Half of this group of battle-hardened special forces soldiers was wasted in their operation to take down the enemy. Even their big boss had decided to forgo the decision to continue the hunt. Who would’ve thought that a girl would swoop right in and defeat their foe? This filled the men with shock and humiliation.

A few minutes later, the door of their private room popped open. Ying Qi and his comrades bowed their heads down unconsciously.

Leading in front was a girl who was sporting a light blue coat. She was looking down slightly, allowing her long flowing hair to cover up part of her face. Though, they could still see her pale white neck peeking from underneath.

She peered up only after entering the room. Her face was mesmerizing and her skin, flawless with near-microscopic pores. Her elegance was such that she almost felt spiritual to these men. Her skin was so radiant that the light that shone from the windows made her painful to look at with unshielded eyes.

“This person here is Miss Gu, who saved my life last night.” Ying Qi walked into the room, introducing his comrades to his savior. With a blushing face, he glanced at Li Yanmei.

“This girl here is my deskmate.”

As he finished speaking, everyone in the room froze up. Their faces were filled with nothing but pure disbelief.

God damn, where’s the frickin’ tomboy?!

Where are the muscles?!

Where’s the hulking figure?!

She’s your stereotypical weak and dainty girl, no?!

It took a handful of minutes before these men gradually regained their composure. After that, they started treating Gu Xiqiao with unrivaled hospitality.

Ying Qi was instantly left out of the group. He was dumbfounded. Weren’t they curious about his classmate? Why had they kicked him out like this? WTF?

“Ying Qi, Third Young Master’s next door.” The restroom of their private room was occupied by a mate with chronic constipation. Those who needed to take a leak had to use the public restroom outside. Someone whispered this into his ear after he returned to their room.

Ying Qi was wide-eyed. “Why is he here? Tell me you haven’t been sniffed out by him.”

“Nope, I concealed myself in time,” the person replied with a satisfied grin.

“Thank goodness.” Ying Qi felt a weight slide off his shoulders. He then continued listening to his brothers boasting in front of Gu Xiqiao and Li Yanmei.

Gu Xiqiao was apparently really into what they were saying. As special forces soldiers, who had been through a hellish training, Gu Xiqiao had no idea what drills they were put through regularly. As such, she was really focusing on their little education session.

All of a sudden, the door of their room was pushed open by someone standing outside. He was wearing a black suit and his figure was slim and tall. The man had a classic military crew cut which suited his attractive facial features well, especially considering the fact that he was a soldier.

“Third Brother!” Ying Qi stood up from his seat so quickly that he almost knocked over a glass of alcohol.

The men inside the room stood up in unison and greeted, “Big Boss!”

“Are you guys playing?” Ying Qi’s brother scanned the interior of the room, pausing for a split-second when he reached Gu Xiqiao before moving on as quickly as he could.

Ying Qi’s legs were shaking. He feared no man except for his brother. “Third Brother, I promise, I won’t commit anything unlawful!”

“It’s alright. You guys have fun. Today is a day worth celebrating after all.” Ying Qi’s brother looked away. “I’m just a door away so if anything happens, you know where to find me.”

Ying Qi responded hastily. Until he was 100% sure that his brother was no longer behind the door did he let out a long painful sigh. He reached up to wipe the cold sweat off his brows before glaring angrily at his brothers. “Didn’t you say that my brother doesn’t know I’m here?”

“How would I know if he saw you?!” He really had nothing to do with it! He did make sure to hide away in time!

“His brother really does scare the crap outta people, doesn’t he?” whispered Li Yanmei into Gu Xiqiao’s ear.

Gu Xiqiao laughed as she put down her glass of alcohol. “What is there to be afraid of? I’m gonna head to the bathroom.”

“I’ll go with you,” said Li Yanmei.

Gu Xiqiao glanced at the brooding Ying Qi. Rubbing her chin, she replied, “Sure!”

After the both of them left, someone finally decided to say it. “That robot next to Miss Gu seems so human. The way it poured me a drink just now scared the hell out of me.”

“Ignorant fool.” Ying Qi rolled his eyes at him.

***

“Are you blind?! Do you have any idea how expensive these shoes cost me? You think you can compensate me for this?!” roared Yu Silei whose shoe had unintentionally been stepped on.

She was a B-list celebrity working under Bluestar Entertainment. The young master of the Wang family had apparently fallen for her and because she played her cards well, she had gained quite a lot of assets recently. Since her sugar daddy was impressed by her capability, he brought her here tonight. Sitting in the same room as the mayor made Yu Silei feel as if her heart was about to jump out of her mouth.

While everyone was still discussing serious matters, she took the opportunity to leave the room and apply some makeup. Unfortunately, her shoe was stepped on in the process.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!” Li Yanmei jumped up out of shock. She was so taken aback by what Gu Xiqiao said that she wasn’t aware of the person walking towards her.

Yu Silei looked up to find that it was just a plain-clothed girl. In just a split-second, a look of disgust appeared in her eyes.

“What happened?” Gu Xiqiao emerged from the washroom. With a paper napkin, she wiped her slender fingers dry. She proceeded to look up and stare coldly in the direction where the noise was coming from.