Cousin Ma Ning

"Xiao Fan, why don't you go upstairs and play for a while before you leave?"

"I just bought a game console. It's a product from the Pre-Tech Era! It's really awesome!"

"Come play it!"

Jiang Fan had cultivated in the space for more than ten hours, while only about an hour had passed in the outside world.

When he said goodbye to Lei Ming, Lei Ming tried to persuade him to stay, but Jiang Fan found an excuse and politely declined.

"No need!"

"I'm staying at Aunt's Home these next few days. Their place is in the Outer City, and I won't be able to get back if it gets too late!"

In the Blue Star world, exotic beasts had been driven into the wilderness.

Humanity, meanwhile, lived in towns and cities.

At night, exotic beasts might make their way into the towns, so the gates of both the Inner City and the Outer City had closing times.

Lei Ming immediately felt disappointed when he heard that.

"All right, then!"

"Next time, I'll take you to play when we have more time!"

After saying goodbye to Lei Ming, Jiang Fan waved to Sister Bingbing at the front desk as he passed by.

"Sister Bingbing, I'm heading home!"

"Are you done cultivating, Xiao Fan?"

"Mm. Bye, Sister Bingbing!"

When Jiang Fan returned to Aunt's Home, it had just grown dark.

He knocked on the door, and a delicate face immediately appeared before him.

"Brother, you're back!"

His cousin Ma Ning grabbed Jiang Fan's hand and pulled him inside.

"Are you feeling better?"

"I heard Mom say you're already fine, but I didn't believe her. Let me take a look!"

As she spoke, she reached for the buttons at Jiang Fan's chest.

Jiang Fan awkwardly pushed her hand away.

"You're not a little girl anymore. How can you just put your hands on a boy whenever you want?"

Ma Ning giggled.

"You're not a man!"

The moment she said it, she hurriedly changed her words before Jiang Fan could glare at her.

"You're not an outsider. You're my brother!"

Jiang Fan breathed a sigh of relief, then shot her a glance.

"Even if I'm your brother, that doesn't make it okay!"

The two of them entered the house, and Su Qingwan hurried over to greet them.

"Xiao Fan, you're back?"

"Did anything happen at school?"

Jiang Fan did not want to tell her about the unpleasant things at school, so he merely smiled.

"Nothing happened. I explained everything to the teacher!"

Su Qingwan nodded, then seemed to think of something. She quickly took Jiang Fan's hand and pulled him to her side.

"Is your body really all right now?"

"Are you still feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

After going to school that afternoon, Su Qingwan had thought about it more and more and felt that something was wrong. Jiang Fan's injuries had healed far too inexplicably, so she still could not fully put her mind at ease.

"I'm fine now, Aunt. Don't worry!"

Su Qingwan let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good, that's good!"

Then she remembered something and said to Jiang Fan and Ma Ning, "Wait a little longer."

"The food will be ready soon. We'll be able to eat in a moment!"

Jiang Fan and Ma Ning were both high school students in their adolescent years, and they had enormous appetites!

Even waiting a little longer left them famished!

Jiang Fan had long been so hungry that his stomach felt stuck to his back, but he had never eaten this much before.

He had eaten so much at noon that he did not dare act too exaggerated now.

So he smiled and said, "It's fine, Aunt. Don't rush!"

Su Qingwan went into the kitchen to prepare the food.

Ma Ning sat across from Jiang Fan.

"Brother, don't go back anymore. Just stay here from now on!"

"Whenever I come home by myself, I always..."

She lowered her voice.

"Mom chases me around and makes me cultivate every day. I really can't take it anymore!"

"If you come, you can help draw some of her fire!"

Her voice was low, but Su Qingwan still heard her.

"I nag you every day because I want what's best for you!"

"If you can become a Martial Artist and get into a good university, won't your life be better than ours in the future?"

"That way, I'll have less to worry about too!"

Jiang Fan and Ma Ning exchanged a glance and smiled helplessly.

These were the words Su Qingwan often used to lecture Ma Ning. The two of them had heard them so many times that their ears were practically covered in calluses.

"But Xiao Ning is right. Xiao Fan, don't go back anymore!"

"Stay here. If anything happens, I'll go talk to them!"

After Jiang Fan had been seriously injured yesterday, Ma Jiang and Su Qingwan had discussed it and decided that they absolutely could not let him go back.

Although they were struggling too, at least the child would not be in danger of losing his life.

"All right, Aunt!"

"I already severed ties with them yesterday!"

Jiang Fan had come over yesterday and recovered by this morning, so Su Qingwan had not yet had the chance to ask him about his injuries.

She and Ma Jiang had only managed to guess most of what had happened through their deductions.

Hearing Jiang Fan's words now, she froze for a moment, then said, "All right, all right!"

Not long afterward, Su Qingwan told the two of them that the food was ready.

The two of them helped carry the dishes to the table.

Su Qingwan had made three dishes and a soup that day.

Besides the home-style dishes, there was also the pièce de résistance: exotic-beast meat.

"Wow!"

"Such a sumptuous meal today!"

Ma Ning drooled with hunger.

"Your brother was injured yesterday, so he needs to replenish his strength."

"That's why I bought some exotic-beast meat at the market today. You little girl, you're just benefiting from your brother!"

Ma Ning's face lit up with joy when she heard that.

"Thanks, Brother!"

Jiang Fan shook his head and piled a large portion of the exotic-beast meat onto Ma Ning's plate.

"That's enough, that's enough!"

"I can't eat that much!"

Although Ma Ning was very eager to eat it, Su Qingwan's words had just been a reminder not to eat too much. The plate of exotic-beast meat had mainly been prepared for Jiang Fan.

Ma Ning was a clever girl, so she easily caught the information hidden in Su Qingwan's words.

Seeing Jiang Fan relentlessly putting food on her plate, she immediately felt uneasy.

"Just eat it!"

"I already ate an entire pot at noon!"

"I'm not hungry now!"

Only then did Ma Ning feel slightly more at ease.

The meal was exceptionally cheerful!

Ma Ning had already awakened. Although she had not yet reached the Martial Artist level, she still had an enormous appetite and ate four full bowls of rice.

Jiang Fan did not dare eat too much, so he also ate four bowls, just like Ma Ning.

"Mom, when will Dad be back?"

After dinner, Ma Ning asked.

When Ma Ning had come home from school earlier, she had asked about Ma Jiang.

Su Qingwan had used the same excuse to fool her, telling her that Ma Jiang had gone out with the patrol team and would not be coming home for dinner.

Now that they had finished eating and Ma Jiang still had not returned, Ma Ning immediately grew worried.

"Soon, soon!"

"He probably got held up by something!"

"You two should rest first!"

"Xiao Fan can stay in this room tonight!"

Jiang Fan took one look and realized that this was Ma Ning's room.

Seeing the puzzled look in his eyes, Su Qingwan explained, "The small study used to be filled with miscellaneous things. I cleaned it up today and had Xiao Ning move in there!"

Jiang Fan immediately froze.

After much persuasion, he finally got Su Qingwan to switch the rooms back.

Jiang Fan entered the small study and looked around.

The miscellaneous items that had originally been there had already been cleared out. A mattress and quilt had been spread over the tatami area.

Although the space was a little small, he finally had a private place of his own and would not have to keep running to Thunder Martial Hall.

But...

His arrival had brought a great deal of trouble to Aunt's family!

The family had never been well-off to begin with, and now they had to support both him and Ma Ning.

Ma Jiang had even risked his life to hunt exotic beasts on Phoenix Mountain in order to treat his injuries!

He had to hurry up and make money!

Suddenly, he regretted smashing that bottle of gene serum!