My Younger Sister Wasn't That Sarcastic

When Le Yu returned home, he found that his younger sister, Qian Yuya, had already come back and seemed to be washing vegetables in the backyard.

The Qian Family had a backyard. The most important tool there was undoubtedly the water pump; all their household water came from it. Tap water technology had already been implemented, but it had nothing to do with ordinary people like them.

Le Yu thought about it. He was willing to shamelessly wait for dinner, but there was nothing to do while waiting. He had no phone or computer, and the only books at home were either Qian Yuliu's reference books or Qian Yuya's textbooks. Reading those would be worse than helping prepare dinner.

Qian Yuliu normally wouldn't return home before dinner was ready. In fact, after graduating and starting work, Qian Yuliu had never once returned home before dark. He either worked overtime openly while secretly eavesdropping at the Statistics Department, or went to the Statistics Department's training grounds to practice combat arts.

Le Yu had also considered whether he should practice combat arts, but Qian Yuliu's experience told him that this wasn't the sort of training where "working hard for a few weeks" would produce any obvious results.

To use table tennis from his previous life as an analogy, the combat arts realm of most people in this world was equivalent to the level of a good neighborhood table tennis player. Graduates of military academies were roughly at the level of city-level table tennis athletes. Someone like Qian Yuliu had probably only just stepped over the threshold of a provincial-level athlete.

Therefore, if Le Yu wanted to surpass Qian Yuliu's combat arts realm, it would be equivalent to advancing further from the foundation of a provincial-level athlete. That wasn't something he could accomplish through "hard work" alone.

Going from zero to sixty points was easy, but the effort and talent required to go from eighty to ninety points were several times greater than what came before.

Even someone as extraordinarily gifted in physique and talent as Qian Yuliu could only reach the level of "beginner Eight-Grain Flow Bite Combat Arts" at this age. If Le Yu thought he could surpass Qian Yuliu just by working hard for a while, then he would be underestimating this world's geniuses far too much.

Besides, combat arts were genuinely difficult. Even after Le Yu had digested Qian Yuliu's memories, applying the higher realms of combat arts still left him with the feeling that "his brain seemed to understand, but his body hadn't understood at all."

Study? What a load of crap. He might as well honestly go home and eat with his sister.

When Le Yu arrived in the backyard, he saw Qian Yuya sitting on a small stool beside the water pump. Her long hair had been tied into a ponytail for convenience while doing housework. Her sleeves and trouser legs had been rolled up, revealing her fair, translucent ankles and wrists. She wore a white apron over her uniform and was washing vegetables in a basin of water.

Qian Yuya heard the sound of boots and turned to look at Le Yu. Her eyes held a hint of surprise, but she immediately lowered her head and continued plucking the vegetable leaves.

Le Yu glanced curiously at the flowers and plants in the backyard. It was obvious even without thinking that Qian Yuya tended them. "Is there anything I can help with?"

"No."

"Really nothing? Don't be shy. I know a thing or two about cooking."

Le Yu no longer cared that much about whether he was acting out of character. Even Chen Fu had noticed something was off, so it was impossible to hide the changes from his biological younger sister, Qian Yuya. Gradually getting them used to his changes was the best approach.

More importantly, the greatest difference between Le Yu and Qian Yuliu was that Le Yu didn't want to wear a mask for the rest of his life.

For Qian Yuliu, the life of a spy was practically an instinct etched into his DNA. But Le Yu wasn't some macho man who could etch everything into his DNA!

Coming home from work to eat dinner wasn't merely a way for Le Yu to survive the ordeal of Transcending Calamity. Instinctively, he regarded returning home as a form of relaxation, a period of rest amid a dangerous spy life that left him unable to breathe.

Even his younger sister, who was washing vegetables, looked so cute and pleasing to the eye.

She was much better than Chen Fu, who did nothing but pour out his woes.

"You really don't need any help. Go do your own thing." Qian Yuya didn't raise her head, as if plucking vegetable leaves were some important task.

Since she didn't need his help, Le Yu could sit back and eat for free with a clear conscience. But he had nothing else to do, so he leaned against the wall and asked:

"How are your grades? Are you enjoying school?"

Qian Yuya raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Do you have enough pocket money lately? Is there any new clothing you want to buy?"

Qian Yuya tugged at the corner of her mouth and accidentally plucked off a leaf that could still be eaten.

"Are you dating anyone? I'm very open-minded. I fully support free love, but you have to figure out whether the other person is a good person. You'd better tell me so I can investigate him. I've been a man for more than twenty years. The moment a guy wags his tail, I'll know whether he's a good person..."

Smack!

Qian Yuya slammed both hands heavily into the basin, splashing water all over the ground. Le Yu jumped in surprise and instinctively took a step back. "W-what's wrong?"

"...We're making pickled-vegetable meat patties tonight. Can you mince the pickled vegetables and mushrooms, and turn the meat into ground meat?" Qian Yuya asked, forcing down her anger.

"I hear your wish."

Le Yu went to the stove and picked up the large black kitchen knife. He diced the soaked mushrooms and pickled vegetables, and the rhythmic chop-chop-chop of the knife rang out. After chopping the mushrooms and pickled vegetables, Le Yu found that the knife didn't seem very sharp. It felt terrible when he tried to mince the meat.

He suddenly thought of controlling Mental Power to turn light into claws. If he used it to reinforce the kitchen knife, wouldn't it become a divine weapon?

He did it as soon as the thought arose. Le Yu activated his Mental Power and extended it to the knife's edge, simulating the effect of claws according to the techniques of combat arts. Then he brought it down with force!

Smack! Crack!

The first sound was the chopping board splitting open.

The second was the kitchen knife snapping.

"What are you doing?"

Qian Yuya shook the water from her hands, wiped them on her apron, and walked over. She looked at the kitchen knife, which had several large chips in it, in confusion. "Did the kitchen knife offend you?"

Le Yu explained his idea of giving the kitchen knife a +1 enhancement. Qian Yuya's expression grew even more puzzled. "The kitchen knife doesn't have a Radiant Stone chip. Your Mental Power can't penetrate it at all, so the light crystal you created naturally can't fuse with the knife, and it would damage the knife instead... Only Radiant Stone machinery can serve as an extension of Mental Power. Isn't that common knowledge?"

In other words, a plain kitchen knife couldn't be enhanced, and forcing an enhancement would only break it... Le Yu pretended that nothing had happened. "Oh, I see. I suddenly forgot about that just now."

Qian Yuya said flatly, "Important people have poor memories."

"What should we do, then?"

Qian Yuya took the kitchen knife and examined it for a moment. "I'll take it to the knife repairman at the end of the street tomorrow. It should still be usable. I'll borrow a knife from Auntie Li in a while."

A knife repairman... The slightly wuxia-flavored term was something Le Yu had only ever heard from his grandparents, so he couldn't help blinking. Only then did he notice that the Qian Family's kitchen knife seemed to have been used for many years. It was black all over and clearly had been repaired more than once.

The Radiant Court had only recently developed solar-powered industrialization. Social productivity had not yet reached the point where kitchen knives could be bought casually. Besides, kitchen knives were controlled weapons, and every purchase had to be registered with the Judicial Department. Most households used the same kitchen knife for their entire lives.

Le Yu looked at the meat on the chopping board that had yet to be minced. "There's no need to borrow a knife. I'll have this meat minced in no time."

"The knife's already broken. How are you..." Before Qian Yuya could finish, she saw the light and shadows around her brother's hands twist.

Slice!

Claw!

Dig!

Tear!

The Eight-Grain Flow Bite Combat Arts itself took its form from the action of "tearing and biting." If Le Yu had been asked to slice the meat into layers of alternating lean and fat, he might not have had any way to do it. But turning meat into ground meat was exactly within the Biting Combat Arts' field of expertise!

Before long, Le Yu had torn more than a pound of meat into mince with his bare hands. He shaped it into a ball and placed it on a plate. "Is this all right?"

Qian Yuya nodded. "It's fine. You minced it very well, just as expected of you."

She paused, then added:

"Just like a butcher."

P.S. This newbie just signed for the first time, and I'm so excited! I hope everyone can continue to support me.