My Crippling Secondhand Embarrassment Strikes Again

"I never expected that timid little girl who used to stand behind her mother and look at me would grow up so much."

Qian Daoliu looked at Ya Wen's face and recognized her at once, sighing with emotion.

Time made people old; children grew into adults.

"I grew up, but your appearance hasn't changed at all." Ya Wen meant it sincerely.

Though it sounded rather sarcastic.

It truly was what she felt from the bottom of her heart.

Qian Daoliu was over a hundred years old, yet he looked like a man in his thirties.

"Haha, thank you!" Qian Daoliu laughed awkwardly.

This was way too embarrassing. Why didn't Grandpa invite us into the room to talk? This wasn't exactly the place to catch up!

Shen Nuonuo watched several Titled Douluo repeatedly glance their way.

Her habit of feeling embarrassed on other people's behalf had struck again.

Qian Daoliu's smile stiffened slightly. He thought so too—whatever they had to say, it would be better discussed behind closed doors.

"Follow me inside!"

After saying that, Qian Daoliu headed upstairs.

When Ya Wen saw Shen Nuonuo looking at her, she knew what she wanted to ask. She said to Qingluan Douluo and Guangling Douluo, "You two go up first. I know where the Great Enshrined's room is. Wait for us a moment."

After exchanging glances, Qingluan Douluo and Guangling Douluo followed him upstairs.

They left some time for the two girls to whisper privately.

Guangling Douluo was even thoughtful enough to secretly transmit his voice to the Titled Douluo who had been watching in secret, telling them to go do whatever they were supposed to be doing.

Once the two Enshrined had vanished from sight.

Only the two of them remained nearby.

Ya Wen finally crouched down and looked at Shen Nuonuo. "Miss, you're very cute!"

Shen Nuonuo blushed at the compliment. "Just average!"

"Oh, right, Ya Wen, could you not call me Miss? Call me Nuonuo instead. It'd feel more affectionate!"

Taking advantage of being alone with her, Shen Nuonuo brought it up again.

Shen Nuonuo did not feel much when Qingluan Douluo and the others called her Miss, but Ya Wen gave her a special sense of familiarity.

Ya Wen chuckled softly. "Alright."

"Then I'll call you Sister Ya Wen." Naturally, Shen Nuonuo would not call her Auntie like Qian Renxue did.

Ya Wen raised her brows. "Nuonuo, wasn't that girl just now your younger sister? She called me Auntie."

"..."

Shen Nuonuo thought for a moment. "I think calling you Auntie makes you sound old. After all, you only look like you're in your early twenties."

The biggest reason was that she had already been twenty-two in her previous life. She simply could not bring herself to call someone less than eight years older than her Auntie.

Qian Daoliu was old enough to be her grandfather's grandfather in her previous life, so calling him Grandpa came without any burden.

"I'm fine with anything. Then I'll call you Nuonuo."

Ya Wen did not care about seniority either. She also knew that this child, who appeared to be only six years old, was most likely much older than that.

"Sister Ya Wen, did you know Grandpa when you were little?" Shen Nuonuo asked, recalling what they had said earlier.

"Yes. I was born into a branch family of the Angel Family. If we calculate by seniority, my mother and the Great Enshrined were cousins. In other words, the current Pope is my cousin."

"It's a rather distant relationship. We're already beyond the fifth degree of kinship."

"Distant relatives, then."

Ya Wen's voice remained gentle.

Shen Nuonuo had not expected there to be such a connection. She had originally assumed Ya Wen was merely from the Angel Legion.

"Nuonuo, you call the Great Enshrined... Grandpa?" Ya Wen only realized it belatedly.

Shen Nuonuo nodded lightly. "Is there a problem?"

"No. I just didn't expect the Great Enshrined to acknowledge a granddaughter." Ya Wen shook her head.

"Sister Ya Wen, you don't have some old grudge against the Great Enshrined or the Angel Family, do you?"

Shen Nuonuo sounded a little nervous when she asked.

What if they started fighting the moment they disagreed?

"I have no grudge against the Great Enshrined." Ya Wen paused slightly.

So it was with the Angel Family, then? Shen Nuonuo thought.

She would find out soon enough anyway, so there was no need to rush.

"Miss, Miss Ya Wen, are you two done talking?"

Qingluan Douluo stood on the third floor, looking down at the two of them, his voice as gentle as a spring breeze.

Hearing Qingluan Douluo address Ya Wen as "Miss" and speak to her so politely, Shen Nuonuo knew that Qian Daoliu must have said something to them. There probably would not be any trouble.

"Alright."

Ya Wen and Shen Nuonuo went upstairs.

The third room on the left belonged exclusively to Qian Daoliu.

The door was open.

Shen Nuonuo and Ya Wen walked straight inside.

"Grandpa!" Shen Nuonuo called out first. She had not had the chance to greet him earlier.

"Nuonuo, Xiao Wen, have a seat," Qian Daoliu said, nodding gently at Shen Nuonuo.

Shen Nuonuo obediently sat down, but Ya Wen remained standing.

"Xiao Wen, have you and your mother been well these past years?"

There was a trace of heaviness in Qian Daoliu's voice.

"Great Enshrined, my mother is already dead."

Ya Wen's voice was calm, but her eyes revealed a deep sorrow.

"What?" Disbelief flashed across Qian Daoliu's face, and he rose directly from the sofa.

"How could that be?"

"How dare Qian Daojun deceive me?"

The fury in Qian Daoliu's voice was impossible to conceal when he spoke those words.

Upon hearing the name Qian Daojun, Shen Nuonuo knew that he should belong to the same generation as Qian Daoliu.

"Gods suppress evil souls, enduring through the ages; radiance never fades, the path stretches far beyond the blade's edge."

The Qian Family drew all its names from this verse.

Ya Wen's voice turned icy. "Qian Daojun put on one face before others and another behind their backs. And because you trusted him so deeply, you naturally had no idea what my mother went through."

"I..." Qian Daoliu was left speechless.

Ya Wen's mother was the younger sister of Qian Daoliu and Qian Daojun, named Ya Qing.

Flowers fell in faint chill, dreams serene and secluded; plain robes, a clear face, light as dust.

Qian Daojun was the current head of the Qian Family. Only a few years younger than Qian Daoliu, he was his younger cousin. The two had grown up together, and their relationship had been quite close.

By rights, Qian Daoliu belonged to the main branch and should have become the family head. But because he found managing such matters troublesome, he declined the position and recommended his cousin Qian Daojun, with whom he had grown up, to take it instead.

Ya Qing had grown up in Spirit Hall ever since awakening her Four-winged Angel martial soul at the age of six. Qian Daoliu had practically raised her and regarded Ya Qing as half a daughter.

However, after coming of age, Ya Qing had somehow interacted far less with Qian Daoliu. Over time, they gradually grew distant.

"Ya Wen, what exactly happened?" A surge of anger rose in Qian Daoliu's heart.

"Before Qian Daojun expelled my mother from the family, he deliberately fought her. At the time, my mother was only a Soul Douluo. How could she possibly defeat someone who had already been a Titled Douluo for many years?"

"After Mother was severely injured by him, she had no healing medicine at all. Even the property that belonged to her was confiscated by Qian Daojun. Left with no choice, Mother could only drag her sick body around, working while caring for me."

As a Soul Douluo, Ya Qing should still have had places to go even after leaving the family.

One had to know that soul masters held exalted status in the Douluo world. Even a Soul Elder or Soul Ancestor could be recruited, let alone Ya Qing, who possessed the cultivation of a Soul Douluo?