Li Wei sat in the back seat of the luxurious business sedan. She pressed the window down and swept her gaze over the crowd seeing her off.
Her unfamiliar "parents" stood in the very front, surrounded by people. They wanted to come closer, yet hesitated and milled about. Smiles hung on their faces, but they looked forced.
Li Wei could even sense a trace of ingratiation they were suppressing between their brows...
In short, their acting had completely gone offline...
By contrast, the "lotus spirits" from the Jiang Family beside them were all brimming with enthusiasm. Their scorching gazes fixed on the little white lotus mark at her forehead, making her feel like a husky that had somehow wandered into a pack of wolves.
Relying on her greatly enhanced memory, Li Wei worked hard to identify each face, smiling and waving goodbye until the corners of her mouth nearly went numb.
During that time, she instinctively searched the crowd, but failed to find Jiang Han anywhere.
Strange. Wasn't everything fine before? How come he didn't even show his face before I left?
That fellow had helped her tremendously, and she hadn't even had the chance to properly thank him.
Forget it. There'll always be another chance to meet him, she thought.
At last, the vehicle started moving. The window rose, cutting off the gazes and sounds from outside.
Li Wei let out a long breath and collapsed into the soft seat. Looking toward Liang Qiushi beside her, she spread her hands. "Aunt Liang, thank goodness you came. Otherwise, they would've driven me crazy."
The corners of Liang Qiushi's lips curved into a smile. She clearly felt the same way. Picking up the remote control beside her, she pressed it lightly, and the partition between the driver's seat and the back seat soundlessly rose.
Curious, Li Wei reached out and tapped the partition, which looked extremely high-end. "Is this soundproof?"
Even over the course of two lifetimes, she had never ridden in such a luxurious car with a partition.
"It has a built-in electromagnetic noise-cancellation system. It's completely soundproof," Liang Qiushi explained.
"Oh, oh, so desu... Ahem, I see." Li Wei's face warmed. She had nearly blurted out a Japanese-Chinese phrase. There were no anti-Japanese war dramas here, so she had to break herself of that verbal tic.
Liang Qiushi did not mind. She smiled and said softly, "To be honest, I didn't expect you would still be willing to honor our agreement."
"It was only right."
Li Wei did not think herself particularly noble. They were simply taking what they needed. Her goal happened not to conflict with Liang Qiushi's plans.
Looking at her serene, gentle face, Liang Qiushi's gaze softened. She could not help reaching out to brush away a strand of loose hair from Li Wei's cheek.
Li Wei's body instinctively tensed, and she wanted to lean back, but the movement halted halfway.
The warm touch of fingertips reached her, carrying a trace of unfamiliar warmth. For some inexplicable reason, her eyes began to sting.
The small figure by the orphanage windowsill, watching other families of three enjoying themselves, seemed to surface before her eyes once more.
Had she ever imagined what life with parents would be like?
The original body's memories held an answer, but every time she turned them over, they came with an indescribable agony.
At that moment, Liang Qiushi's gentle movement caused the two blurred faces of mothers in her memories to gradually overlap.
One was the original body's mother; the other was the ordinary, slightly short and plump woman outside the orphanage.
A warm tear slid from the corner of her eye without warning.
Li Wei abruptly came to herself and hurriedly raised a hand to wipe it away, trying to conceal this sudden loss of composure.
But Liang Qiushi's fingers reached her first, gliding lightly across her cheek with unbelievable tenderness.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Liang..." Li Wei tried to explain.
The next moment, under Li Wei's stunned gaze, Liang Qiushi pulled her into her arms. Her warm, smooth chin rested against the crown of Li Wei's head, and her voice carried a barely perceptible sob. "Li Wei, I'm sorry..."
Li Wei's entire face was caught off guard and buried in Liang Qiushi's soft chest. Her blood surged upward at once, and her cheeks grew hot enough to fry an egg.
All that maternal warmth and wistful remembrance were swept away by the sudden suffocation and embarrassment...
Her mind was now filled with nothing but... Snow White... lack of oxygen...
"Mm~"
After quite a bit of flustered scrambling, the two finally separated and awkwardly returned to their seats.
"Ahem, ahem~"
Liang Qiushi cleared her throat and returned to her usual dignified calm. "There are Zhang Family informants over at the Gu Family. Remember, don't expose any flaws."
Li Wei hurriedly sat up straight and nodded hard. "Mm!"
"Don't suppress your strength. Show what you should," Liang Qiushi reminded her, still somewhat uneasy.
Li Wei nodded again. "Got it!"
Liang Qiushi looked at her, her tone gentler. "If you have any questions or needs, you can tell me now."
Li Wei immediately perked up and asked, "When can I see Li Cheng?"
Liang Qiushi pondered for a moment. "Around mid-August. I need to make some arrangements to ensure everything remains discreet."
"Okay." Li Wei nodded in understanding. Liang Qiushi was cautious in everything she did, and rash contact could indeed invite trouble.
Having a definite time is good enough, she thought.
Li Wei continued, "As for etiquette in Britain, I learned it... so-so. What do you think?"
"It doesn't matter." Liang Qiushi waved her hand. "I only wanted you to understand some basic knowledge and avoid making low-level mistakes. We're a martial family, not one of those worldly wealthy families obsessed with empty formalities. There aren't that many rules."
Li Wei sighed in relief, then asked, "I'm a First Order martial artist now. Can I go into the rifts to kill abyssal monsters?"
Liang Qiushi nodded. "You can. It would be good to familiarize yourself with them beforehand. But you can only operate around the outskirts. Don't go deeper. With your current strength, as long as you don't court death, your safety shouldn't be a major issue."
As she said this, Liang Qiushi seemed somewhat dazed.
More than ten days ago, when she had first met Li Wei, Li Wei had still been a Quasi-Martial Artist in the Muscles and Bones Ringing in Harmony stage.
After not seeing her for more than ten days, she had already broken through and become a formal martial artist with a Dao-Approaching Body.
With her talent and foundation now, if she had not concealed her name to cooperate with Liang Qiushi, she would probably have already become famous throughout the Hua Nation, wouldn't she?
Liang Qiushi's eyes gradually lost focus, and her heart seemed to be clenched...
Li Wei had no idea of Liang Qiushi's complicated feelings. Hearing that she could go grind monsters, her eyes lit up, and she relaxed.
The arena-style setup was simply too slow. One match took an hour or two, and sometimes she had to wait for scheduling. How could that compare with personally entering a rift for efficiency?
With the most crucial issue resolved, Li Wei considered the role she would have to play next, yet still could not help asking shyly, "Um... Aunt Liang, your son and I... definitely don't have to fulfill our marital duties, right?"
Liang Qiushi was amused by her blunt question. "Don't worry. You don't."
Li Wei sighed in relief, but she was still somewhat uneasy. Her two index fingers poked against each other unconsciously as she pressed in a small voice, "Then... what if—I'm just saying, what if—your son gets handsy with me?"
Liang Qiushi smiled. She knew exactly what kind of person her son was, and without the slightest psychological burden, she joked, "Your strength isn't weak now either. If he dares misbehave, just beat him up."
Li Wei's eyes instantly lit up, gleaming with excitement. "Seriously?"
She could hit him? Now that was good!
Liang Qiushi nodded firmly. "Seriously!"
Li Wei suddenly remembered Liang Qiushi's conversation with Jiang Xinyue and asked curiously, "Um... who is 'that person'?"
Liang Qiushi's expression turned solemn. "'That person' is 'that person.' Don't ask too many questions..."
Before you continue