Chapter 153: Chapter 151: Suffering Again_1
Fang Ren watched her rush over in haste and slowly stuffed the bun in his hand into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
Bai Qi plopped down opposite him, still holding a duckbill cap in her hand, her face wearing an expression of extreme grievance while her eyes, slightly red, looked at him.
"What's wrong?"
After seeing her expression, Fang Ren slightly frowned, feeling like she was about to cry.
"I got scolded again," Bai Qi said with a slight huskiness in her voice.
"Ah?"
The bun in Fang Ren's mouth almost fell out in shock. Were the citizens of Linyang City so fierce, not even sparing Princess Tianjiang, not caring for their lives? Last time it was a supermarket auntie, this time who could it be, a grandma-level figure?
"Who scolded you? Why?" Fang Ren asked.
"Last night I was serving food at the BBQ joint and someone at a table spilled tea on the floor, which I didn't notice. I slipped over it, and the soup spilled on someone's foot. I apologized, but they still scolded me, even said they would hit me... It wasn't until the boss came to speak for me that things were okay," Bai Qi said, growing even more aggrieved as she spoke.
"Hit... hit you?!"
Fang Ren was stunned. Were the citizens of Linyang City so hot-headed, threatening to hit a powerful early-stage Xuanyang Realm fighter, not valuing their lives?
"Yeah, even though the boss stood up for me, I still had to compensate for the damages at full price, lost my wages, and... was told to resign," she said helplessly.
As she spoke, more tears started to form in Bai Qi's eyes, making her look like a stray kitten at the height of pity.
Seeing her like this, Fang Ren began to feel a surge of sympathy in his heart, which, because of the Spiritual Root, grew very strong.
Bai Qi rested her arms on the table and buried her head into them, her voice very quiet with a slight sob: "Do you think I'm useless... If I don't have an innate Spiritual Root or a family background, I can't do anything right. As soon as someone bullies me, I don't know what to do..."
Watching her like this, Fang Ren instantly lost his appetite.
Regarding this matter, spilling tea on the floor instead of the trash can was already somewhat of a bullying act towards the server. Then, after she slipped and apologized, they not only scolded her but also threatened to hit her. That was just too much.
Even if they were technically right, that was no way to behave.
"What about your steward? With all this happening, he's not doing anything?" Fang Ren frowned and said.
"I called for Steward Grandpa, but he ignored me. When he arrived, he said he was only responsible for my safety and to deal with other matters myself," Bai Qi said, feeling helpless.
Upon hearing this, Fang Ren became even angrier. The steward was clearly trying to dump the problem onto him, knowing that Chen Cheng would not disregard such matters.
The bigger the family, the more eccentrics—absolutely true!
Though those who threatened to beat Bai Qi wouldn't be reprimanded immediately, the Bai Family would certainly record the incident.
After seething for a while, Fang Ren looked at Bai Qi crying on the table and sighed softly. Regardless of anything, Bai Qi was wronged, and to him, it felt as though someone very important to him was wronged. He couldn't just ignore it.
Ever since Bai Qi had fled her family to discuss calling off their engagement with him, she hadn't had a single good day. But among the children of big families, her character was quite strong.
She didn't stir up trouble, didn't use her status to gain wealth, and never demanded anything from him with a sense of entitlement.
She worked jobs to earn money, never resorting to improper channels. Every time she borrowed money from him, she would seriously tell him about her plans to repay it, even considering his finances when she was most strapped for cash, thus borrowing very little.
She was naive and pure, born into a big family in this era. Lacking the arrogance of other nobles, she could humble herself during hard times and lived simply.
"It's okay, if the job is gone, it's gone. It wasn't your fault. They had ill intentions spilling the tea on the floor to begin with. Let's eat first," Fang Ren comforted her.
"But... how are we going to live..." Bai Qi whimpered.
"Ha?"
The words made Fang Ren stunned, as if they were a couple, and he the type who did not earn, while she was the breadwinner.
It gave him the feeling of being taken care of.
"Cough cough, I've told you, I have money. Why are you worried?" Fang Ren said.
"You must be lying to me." Bai Qi lifted her head, her eyes red as she looked at him and said, "What if...what if you're donating blood secretly from me?"
"Gah?"
Fang Ren was completely bewildered. How could this girl's thought process be so different from normal people? How many soap operas had she watched?
"Eat your food and stop with the wild fantasies," Fang Ren slapped his forehead in exasperation and said.
Saying this, Fang Ren stood up, bought a few more buns, and came back to find Bai Qi still not eating. Seeing her pitiful look, he suspected it might be because of the verbal abuse from those people.
After all, a superstrong Xuanyang Realm fighter suddenly losing their power and being bullied by ordinary people would make anyone upset.
"It's fine, when I have time I'll take you to get back at them. Getting worked up over a bunch of troublemakers like them isn't worth it," Fang Ren said.
"But I'm thinking about how I can repay you," Bai Qi said with her head down. "There are no places to work nearby, and the ones further away won't hire me because I don't have that much time."
"Stop fretting about that and just eat," Fang Ren replied as he picked up another bun and began munching. He had told this girl many times he had money, but she always imagined strange scenarios. Ah well, he wouldn't talk anymore; he'd find the right moment to lay it out clearly.
"But..."
"But nothing, eat your food," Fang Ren directly countered her words.
Bai Qi looked at him and then wiped her reddening eyes, only picking up a bun to eat after several seconds. Hardly taking a few bites, she spoke again, "Then you promise me, if we run out of money, you must tell me. If it really comes down to it...I'll borrow from someone else, even if I have to write an IOU."
"Alright, alright, focus on eating. If you say one more word, I'm leaving," Fang Ren said.
"Mmm!"
Reassured by his promise, Bai Qi finally started to eat without restraint.
No sooner had she crammed a few buns into her mouth than a gray shadow leaped from Fang Ren's abdomen, landing on the dining table.
"Hee haw, hee haw!"
Little Qianye plopped down onto Bai Qi's arm, grinning at her.
"Little guy."
Upon seeing Little Qianye bounce out, Bai Qi, who was feeling sad, began to cheer up slightly and reached out to touch the little guy's head.
But before her hand could touch Little Qianye, Fang Ren abruptly snatched him away.
"Still laughing? Can't you see your mom is upset?" Fang Ren seriously scolded, flicking Little Qianye's bottom with his finger.
"Hee haw..."
Little Qianye looked bewilderedly at Fang Ren, then at Bai Qi, and then started wailing, trying to run back to her.
"Why are you hitting it?"
As soon as Bai Qi saw Fang Ren hit the child again, she immediately grabbed Little Qianye back, looking seriously at Fang Ren: "It's so small; what if you break it with your hitting?"
"Huh?"
Fang Ren was somewhat dumbfounded by her serious demeanor; he had only meant to make a joke to distract her and had not expected her to take it so seriously.
"Even if you're worried about me, you can't hit the child," Bai Qi added.
"..."
Fang Ren was in disarray, suddenly wanting to slap himself. Why on Earth had he chosen this particular topic as a distraction?
Now Bai Qi was slipping back into 'mother hen' mode.
Bai Qi petted Little Qianye's head, speaking affectionately, "There you go, if daddy hits you again, mommy will hit him, since daddy's cultivation level is way weaker than mommy's."
"Hee haw?"
Little Qianye looked dazed after hearing this.
To it, there was not yet a human on Earth who could surpass Fang Ren, so Bai Qi's claim about her cultivation level being higher than Fang Ren's could only be true for a brief moment in time. In Little Qianye's view, Bai Qi was exaggerating.
Bai Qi glanced at Fang Ren again: "See, you've stupefied the child."
"I..."
Fang Ren felt completely helpless; he couldn't understand why this silly girl was so intent on treating the little creature as if it were their own child.
Was this some kind of delusional syndrome? Or rather, a severe, advanced case!
"Anyway, the little guy doesn't have a name yet, so let's give it one," Bai Qi suddenly spoke up.
"Hee haw?"
Fang Ren said with an exasperated face, "It does have one, it's called Qianye."
Bai Qi froze for a moment before realizing that when Fang Ren had shouted "Qianye, come back" in the classroom yesterday, he was referring to the little creature.
But recalling yesterday's scene in the classroom made Bai Qi's face turn red.
He had seen her most private parts...
Seeing that she had successfully shifted her focus to Little Qianye, Fang Ren was relieved. He couldn't bear to see Bai Qi so downcast; the familiarity within their beings made him extremely sensitive to her subtle emotions.
He even worried that if someone were to insult Bai Qi in his presence one day, he might end up throwing that person out of the eighth-floor window.
Indeed, the affinity between spiritual roots is a remarkable thing, affecting even the mood of their owners.
Of course, it might also be because Little Qianye was a living Spiritual Root with its own thoughts.
By the end of the meal, Bai Qi's eyes were no longer red; instead, she busied herself with amusing Little Qianye with a bun, immersing herself in the joy of "child-rearing."
Fang Ren watched with resignation but thought that as long as his silly girl was happy, it was more than enough.