Chapter Forty-Seven: Once Again, He Doesn't Believe Her

“Huh? My grandson-in-law—” Tong Wan quickly covered her mouth with a cough, casting a glance at the four men who pretended not to hear her. She then asked, “Where is that boy from the Zhan family?”

“He said he missed his grandfather and went home,” Wan Qi Yi replied with perfect composure.

Tong Wan looked at Wan Qi Yi with suspicion, and then glanced at her two sons—one expressionless, the other grinning cheekily. In the end, she reluctantly accepted Wan Qi Yi’s explanation.

Gazing out at the dim morning light, she turned to Wan Qi Lian Hao, “What does Xuanxuan like to eat?”

“She’s not picky,” he replied, weighing the child in his arms for a moment. “But she prefers vegetables.”

Vegetables? For breakfast?

No.

Xuanxuan shot upright from Wan Qi Lian Hao’s embrace, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Tong Wan. “Meat!”

“What?” Tong Wan hadn’t caught it. “What kind of meat?”

“Xuanxuan says she doesn’t want meat, she wants more vegetables,” Wan Qi Lian Hao said evenly, deftly covering Xuanxuan’s mouth.

“But doesn’t Xuanxuan love eating meat?” Tong Wan asked.

Xuanxuan bared her tiny teeth, attempting to bite the hand that was silencing her. Villain! She didn’t want vegetables.

Without so much as a flinch at the pain in his hand, Wan Qi Lian Hao replied calmly, “She’s just eaten too much of it and is tired of it.”

“Oh.” Tong Wan nodded with a smile. Children often tire of eating the same thing and avoid it for a while. She started thinking about what good vegetables were in the kitchen.

As she bustled off, Xuanxuan felt a sudden sense of being an outsider in the family.

She glared at Wan Qi Lian Hao. Maybe she really wasn’t his biological child after all?

Wan Qi Lian Hao wiped the saliva off his hand with a tissue, seemingly oblivious to his daughter’s glare.

With a heavy sigh, Xuanxuan slumped against his chest.

“Why doesn’t Xuanxuan eat meat these days?” Wan Qi Yi asked. “Grandpa even prepared jerky for her.”

Xuanxuan poked her head out at once. Jerky?

Her gaze toward Wan Qi Yi grew much softer.

“If Xuanxuan doesn’t want it, give it to those two rascals instead.”

Falling from the heavens to the earth—this must be what disappointment felt like.

Xuanxuan’s sorrow deepened.

It wasn’t until she sat at the dining table that she finally met the legendary two older brothers.

The eldest, Wan Qi Wei Hao, and the second, Wan Qi Wei Han, were said to be twins. They looked almost identical, though their personalities differed slightly. At fifteen or sixteen years old, they would have nearly been adults on Earth thousands of years ago.

But here in the Federation, they were still in elementary school, just boys.

They had inherited the family’s fine genes, with delicate and handsome features—true little beauties.

Xuanxuan glanced at them both. The difference was huge.

Still, most people only looked at appearances. Her talent for sensing spiritual power meant she, of all people, had little right to comment.

With her tiny rosewood bowl and matching spoon, prepared thoughtfully by Tong Wan, she could only poke dejectedly at the mass of greens on the table.

“Grandpa, Grandma, Father,” the two boys chorused in bright, clear voices, their adolescent tones untouched by puberty.

“Oh? Second Uncle, when did you come back? Third Uncle, you’re here too?”

Tong Wan looked at them, “Why are you only just coming down? Your little sister has already started eating.”

“It’s so early, Grandma. Even when school starts, we don’t get up this early,” one of them said, winking at Wan Qi Lian Chen as he yawned.

Xuanxuan looked at him, unsure if he was the elder or the younger one.

But his wood-type talent was decent.

The other one squeezed up to her. “Third Uncle, is this our little sister?”

Wan Qi Lian Hao nodded. “Xuanxuan, say hello to Brother Hao.”

So this one was the eldest.

Xuanxuan dodged his hand as he reached for her face. Although he looked a little awkward, his good intentions were clear. She wrinkled her nose and spoke, “Brother Hao.”

A bright, sunny smile broke across the boy’s face—so dazzling it almost hurt to look at.

Xuanxuan’s mood lifted as well.

“What about me?” Wan Qi Wei Han eagerly pressed in, and Wan Qi Wei Hao shifted to give him space.

“Hanhan, why are you always in such a hurry?” Wan Qi Lian Hao ruffled his head. “You two have grown a lot taller.”

“Of course! You’ve been gone for six years, Third Uncle!”

Hugging Xuanxuan, Wan Qi Lian Hao laughed. “Now that I’m back, I’ll have to take a good look at you, Hanhan. Xuanxuan, say hello to Brother Han.”

Xuanxuan looked at him. He’d inherited the family’s signature space ability.

“Brother Han.”

Wan Qi Wei Han perked up. “Hello, little sister!”

“Is she really six? She’s so tiny,” Wan Qi Wei Hao asked.

“She was sick before,” came the answer.

“From now on, we’ll protect our little sister!” both boys declared at once.

Xuanxuan curled her lip. You two little cubs, barely past childhood?

Wan Qi Yi laughed, slapping the table. “That’s how grandsons of the Wan Qi family should be!”

“Why are you banging the table at breakfast?” Tong Wan shot him a glare.

Wan Qi Lian Hao just smiled and nodded, “All right, let’s eat.”

Only then did the twins remember breakfast, glanced at their grandmother, and hurried to their seats.

“Hey!” they exclaimed once seated, noticing the sea of green on the table.

“Grandma, where’s the meat?”

Wan Qi Yi, Wan Qi Lian Jun, and Wan Qi Lian Chen all looked at Tong Wan with longing. Only Wan Qi Lian Hao ate his vegetables with complete composure.

“Lian Hao said no meat for a few days, Xuanxuan is tired of it,” Tong Wan explained, noticing Xuanxuan poking at her rice and wondering if she was so tired of meat she didn’t want rice either.

She addressed her family of carnivores, “You’ve eaten meat for years. It’s time to change things up with some vegetables.”

Everyone turned to Wan Qi Yi—their last, if faint, hope for resistance.

“Wanwan, a balanced diet is better. Maybe we could—”

But before he could finish, Tong Wan silenced him with a look. He swallowed his words and went back to his rice.

Wan Qi Lian Hao glanced at the empty air above the table. Was it his imagination, or did a dark cloud seem to hang over them all?

He looked at his daughter, feeling secretly delighted—finally, a meal without meat.

After breakfast, the twins went off to practice martial arts. Xuanxuan, deprived of meat, flopped weakly in Wan Qi Lian Hao’s arms.

He patted her. “Where are the gifts for Grandpa and Grandma?”

She ignored him—she hadn’t gotten any meat because of him.

“Did Xuanxuan bring Grandma a present?” Tong Wan asked in delight, coming over after clearing the table, her face lighting up with surprise. “What a good girl you are!”

Only then did Xuanxuan climb out of Wan Qi Lian Hao’s arms and, with a flourish, produced several vials: two “Life Elixirs” and a few high-grade “Source of Magic” for Wan Qi Lian Jun, setting them in front of each recipient. After a moment, she added a mid-grade “Source of Magic” for Wan Qi Lian Chen.

Hmph, that was for bullying her.

Tong Wan looked stunned. “Xuanxuan, you can already use your abilities so skillfully? And space ability, too?”

Wan Qi Lian Hao merely nodded, not wanting to say too much and frighten his mother.

“Oh my, Xuanxuan is amazing!” Tong Wan scooped her up, and Xuanxuan squinted her eyes, thoroughly enjoying her grandmother’s praise.

Tong Wan sat down with Xuanxuan, picking up the “Life Elixir” she had received.

“What is this?” she asked Wan Qi Lian Hao.

Xuanxuan glanced at her father.

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“What? Didn’t you prepare this?”

Surely, any gift from Xuanxuan was arranged by Wan Qi Lian Hao.

“I picked it,” Xuanxuan replied. “It’s a Life Elixir.”

“You picked it? Thank you, Xuanxuan.” Tong Wan smiled at her, then looked back at Wan Qi Lian Hao.

Xuanxuan hung her head, feeling wronged. Why didn’t anyone believe her?

Wan Qi Lian Hao nodded. “It was from Xuanxuan, or perhaps her teacher.”

“Teacher? Didn’t you say Xuanxuan was injured not long after starting school?” Tong Wan stroked Xuanxuan’s head.

“Yes, but not a teacher from school.” Wan Qi Lian Hao paused, still unable to forgive himself for letting her get hurt at school.

“As long as she’s better now.” Tong Wan looked at Xuanxuan with concern and opened the vial.

At that moment, everyone turned to look at the elixir in her hand.

Because as soon as the bottle was uncorked, everyone in the room felt a wave of fatigue lift from their bodies.

The effect was most pronounced for Wan Qi Yi and Tong Wan—they felt their bones and joints grow years younger.

Tong Wan quickly recorked the bottle, her voice trembling with excitement. “What is this?”

Wan Qi Lian Hao patted Xuanxuan, who turned her head away in a huff. She had already said, but no one believed her.

Wan Qi Yi opened his own vial—once again, the same delicate fragrance filled the air, and everyone was astonished. Such a generous gift!

“Mother, about lunch and dinner—” Wan Qi Lian Hao began.

Tong Wan looked at him, puzzled. Weren’t they talking about elixirs? Why switch to meals?

Before he could finish, Xuanxuan sat up from Tong Wan’s lap, pouting and threatening her. “That’s the Life Elixir, it restores bodily functions.”

No one seemed to understand. Xuanxuan thought for a moment, then explained simply, “It makes people younger.”

To date, no medicine—even those that modified genes—could do more than extend a lifespan. But to actually make someone younger?

Everyone, including Wan Qi Lian Hao, exchanged incredulous glances.

Xuanxuan huffed again. Still, no one believed her.

P.S. Xiaoxiao’s new book for everyone—[bookid==“Schemes of a Beauty: Femme Fatale”]