What!
Yang Caidie clutched her heaving chest, her face pale with fright as she stammered, "You said... you said Yang Chen went off to gamble in a duel again?"
"Y-yes, that's right." Gu Mingyue's pretty face was flushed red.
She had just wanted to explain, but Yang Caidie immediately covered her head and collapsed heavily onto the bed. Weakly, she asked, "How much did he gamble this time?"
"Three hundred..." Gu Mingyue recounted everything truthfully.
"Three hundred... Why is it three hundred again?" Yang Caidie felt utterly miserable. The last time he had gambled against the Wang family, it had been three hundred. This time, it was still three hundred.
Why was her little brother so hung up on that number?
But she soon resigned herself to it and said, "Three hundred, then three hundred. His big sister can afford it. Go tell Yang Chen this: a true man can win or lose as surely as soldiers face victory and defeat. He mustn't lose heart or go looking for death again. His big sister can still bear the loss of three hundred spirit stones."
Clearly, in Yang Caidie's eyes, her little brother was still more important. Three hundred spirit stones—if they were lost, then so be it.
Seeing Yang Caidie look so heartbroken, Gu Mingyue blinked. "Um, Miss. Actually, this time Young Master, he..."
"What is it? Don't tell me he gambled more than three hundred?" Yang Caidie's eyes widened. She only had a little over three hundred spirit stones left. Any more than that, and she truly would not be able to produce them.
"N-no. What I mean is, Young Master wagered three hundred spirit stones this time, but the final result may be a little different from what you imagined. Young Master... Young Master won." Gu Mingyue said.
When Yang Caidie heard this, she did not look delighted. Instead, she reached out and touched Gu Mingyue's little head. "Mingyue, are you sick? Do I, his elder sister, not know exactly what my little brother is capable of? Yang Heng is a First Grade Intermediate Alchemist. Even Second Master, our Yang family's Grand Alchemist, has praised him, saying his talent in the Dao of alchemy is outstanding beyond compare. My little brother beat him? Are you joking with me?"
Though she had never blamed Yang Chen, Yang Chen was her little brother. How could she, his elder sister, not know what sort of goods he was or how much he weighed?
Their parents had died early. To put it bluntly, when her little brother was young, she had been the one changing his diapers. She knew her little brother inside and out. But what could she do? He was her little brother. No matter how useless or good-for-nothing he was, he was still her little brother.
"It's true." Gu Mingyue did not know how to explain it and could only mumble through gritted teeth, "I saw it with my own eyes."
"Really?"
Gu Mingyue explained the entire course of events clearly.
Yang Caidie was dumbfounded.
She tugged at her ear. "I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"Probably... not dreaming!"
"What do you mean, probably not dreaming?"
"Because Mingyue feels like she's dreaming..."
Yang Caidie slapped the table with one hand, then paused for a moment. "My hand hurts. Looks like I'm not dreaming. My little brother, Yang Chen, actually won? Three hundred spirit stones, wahahaha, three hundred spirit stones."
An expression of wild delight burst across Yang Caidie's face.
Gu Mingyue's pretty face was likewise brimming with joy.
Yang Caidie suddenly slapped the table again, making it rattle unsteadily beneath her palm. "Mingyue, tell me, what does my little brother love to eat most? Today, I, his big sister, will make it for him. Whatever he wants to eat, I'll make it. Three hundred spirit stones—it's such sweet revenge. I almost want to kiss my little brother and see whether his brain has finally opened up!"
Yang Chen took a brief stroll around the Yang family, visiting several places that felt quite familiar in his memories before slowly returning the way he had come. By the time he returned home, it was noon. His elder sister, Yang Caidie, had surely prepared food and was waiting for him to come back and eat.
Sure enough, the moment Yang Chen pushed open the door, a rich fragrance rushed at him. The waves of aroma entered his nose and left him feeling refreshed and at ease. In his previous life, he had never stepped onto the path of martial cultivation and could not avoid the five grains and coarse fare; he had to eat meals. But this was the first time he had encountered the fragrance of food carrying the warmth of home.
Yang Caidie...
After Hua Wanru had harmed Yang Chen, he instinctively felt some aversion toward women. It could be said that his wariness toward everyone was strong. Yet toward this elder sister, Yang Caidie, he could not summon even the slightest rejection. It was genuine familial affection, beyond all doubt.
"Yang Chen, you're back?" Yang Caidie said with a beaming smile. "Look what your sister made for you today. Stewed goose—your favorite. Let me tell you, your sister's cooking has improved quite a bit lately. I guarantee I'll raise you into a fair, plump fellow, haha!"
Seeing his elder sister laugh foolishly without the slightest restraint, Yang Chen knew that Gu Mingyue had already told Yang Caidie about how he had won three hundred spirit stones.
He smiled faintly, emptied all three hundred spirit stones from his storage ring in one go, and said, "Sister, these spirit stones are for you."
"Why give them back to me?" Yang Caidie asked as she chewed her food.
"Didn't I lose three hundred spirit stones? You covered it for me back then, so I'm paying you back now!" Yang Chen said.
Yang Caidie blinked. "Let me tell you something, Yang Chen. Right now, you only need to understand one principle. You're the only man in our branch of the family—put simply, the only one down there with a handle. The family line will have to depend on you in the future. So, what belongs to your sister belongs to you, and what belongs to you still belongs to you. There's no need to give your sister anything."
Yang Chen was completely stunned.
What kind of logic was that?
This fucking worked too?
"But, Sister..."
"I already said I don't want them. Hurry up and eat the goose." Yang Caidie ordered.
Yang Chen was filled with embarrassment before he finally said, "Sister, actually, there's something I want to discuss with you today."
"What is it?" Yang Caidie blinked.
Yang Chen picked up a piece of goose meat and found that it tasted rather good. Chewing, he said, "I want to cultivate martial arts!"
"No!" Yang Caidie said with utter seriousness.
Yang Chen patted his forehead. Just as expected.
He had completely absorbed the memories of this body's original Yang Chen earlier. It could be said that Yang Caidie had never intended to let her little brother cultivate martial arts.
Sure enough, Yang Caidie placed her chopsticks on the table and wiped her mouth. "Let me tell you, darling. Your sister, as you know, is the Number One Genius among the women of the Yang family. That black-furred wolf from the Sun family that bullied you before—was it formidable or not? It was equivalent to the Body Refining Realm Third Level, yet your sister went whoosh with one slash and killed it. Just focus on alchemy. That thing doesn't make you suffer. Martial cultivation—how much suffering does that bring? How much hardship? You'd train every day until you were drenched in sweat. What if you got bruised or injured? Wouldn't your sister's heart ache to pieces?"
"But if I don't cultivate martial arts, how am I supposed to protect myself?" Yang Chen tried to persuade Yang Caidie.
Yang Caidie's willow eyebrows rose. "I'll protect you."
"..."
Yang Chen said irritably, "Sister, you should think this through carefully. Someday, I'm going to marry and have children. The two of us can't live together forever. Can you take care of me and protect me for an entire lifetime? Fine, even if you can protect me for a lifetime, are you going to protect my children too?"
Hearing Yang Chen's words, Gu Mingyue, who was eating off to the side, felt that he made a great deal of sense.
She was a maid, and master and servant were different, so she could not sit at the table to eat. Yang Caidie had told her so as well, but she felt it was a rule, and rules could not be broken. Thus, whenever they ate, Yang Chen and Yang Caidie sat at the table while she stayed off to one side. Still, she heard every word of their conversation clearly.
Listening to Yang Chen, Yang Caidie blinked her big eyes. She looked charming and adorable, and she seemed to feel that Yang Chen's words made sense. After pondering for a long while, she finally appeared to make up her mind. "That makes sense. How about this? You aren't an adult yet. Once the coming-of-age ceremony begins three months from now and you become an adult, your sister will marry you. That way, I can protect you for the rest of your life."
At first, Yang Chen thought that his silver tongue had finally persuaded his wildly unreasonable elder sister.
But he quickly realized.
Heavens, he had been too naive.
His elder sister was truly no ordinary fool. In order to protect him, she was even willing to marry him.
Yang Chen knew it was possible.
Because Yang Caidie was not his biological elder sister. She had been adopted by his parents, though he did not know the details of her background. Of course, he also knew he could not take those words seriously, because his elder sister had said far too much nonsense before.
For all he knew, Yang Caidie was merely brushing him off.
But there was one thing he could see clearly.
Overindulgence.
This was simply overindulgence.
Yes, Yang Caidie's love for Yang Chen truly was overindulgence.
He finally understood why the Yang Chen who had possessed this body was so useless. How could he not be useless? With an elder sister who spoiled him to such an extent, it would have been strange if her little brother had not turned out useless.
Yang Chen's aptitude for martial cultivation was actually not bad. It was even a little better than Yang Heng's. But Yang Caidie feared that Yang Chen would suffer, so she would not allow him to cultivate martial arts and instead made him study alchemy, because alchemy did not make one suffer as much as martial cultivation did. But what was the result? That "Yang Chen" had no talent for alchemy.
As a result, that "Yang Chen" discovered that he was no good at martial cultivation and no good at alchemy either. Gradually, he walked down the road of a wastrel, while his elder sister covered for Yang Chen no matter what he did.
This made Yang Chen, who had now obtained this body, draw a deep breath.
He knew very well that Yang Caidie's overindulgence came from truly cherishing her little brother. However, he could not allow things to keep developing in such a vicious direction.
Thinking this, he said, "Sister, are you serious?"
"Uh... Anyway, you're not allowed to cultivate martial arts." Yang Caidie said solemnly.
Bang!
Yang Chen suddenly slammed the table and said fiercely, "Then today, I insist on cultivating martial arts! Sister, I will walk my own path. You may have ten thousand reasons, but have you ever seen a man stand behind a woman and let her protect him? I, Yang Chen, will absolutely not be the first man to hide behind a woman."
"Since I am the only man in our branch of the family, then I must shoulder the responsibility of that only man!"
After saying this, Yang Chen turned and left.
He was not truly angry. He simply had to act with thunderous decisiveness. If he continued to be weak and hesitant over this matter, wavering and twisting about, then Yang Caidie would only see him as a child who would never grow up. He had to let her know that a man was a man!
Yang Caidie truly was startled by Yang Chen's attitude. To be honest, it was the first time she had seen her little brother display such a manly bearing.
"Sigh, Mingyue, did you see that?"
"I saw it..." Gu Mingyue wiped her mouth vigorously, as though she did not quite dare believe it.
Yang Caidie swallowed audibly. "My little brother just now seemed... kind of manly."
Had Yang Chen finally awakened after last time he hanged himself?
"Not 'seemed.' He definitely was." Gu Mingyue said.
Before you continue