An Unexpected Visit

Just two days later, Ning Xiuying came to deliver spirit materials as Ning Shaohong had instructed.

"Here are enough spirit materials for ten batches of Essence Replenishing Pills. Next month, I'll come again with more materials and collect the pills you've refined along the way."

The bright and alluring Ning Xiuying said with a coquettish smile.

This time, she was no longer wearing that fiery red suit of armor, having changed instead into a milky-white one.

Though Ning Fa did not know its exact defensive capabilities, the rosy glow lingering around the armor made it clear that it was no ordinary item.

Its style was much like the previous one, perhaps even more provocative. Beneath the short armored skirt, her pair of long, slender legs were so fair they dazzled the eye.

As she lightly brushed the hair by her ear, the surging curves beneath the thin breastplate over her chest immediately became all the more striking.

"Alright, thank you for your trouble, Sister Xiuying."

Ning Fa answered, but his gaze involuntarily followed the sway.

Ning Xiuying thrust out her magnificent chest, her smile unchanged. "What's the point of just looking? Why not reach out and touch?"

Ning Fa said in pleasant surprise, "I really can?"

"Of course."

Ning Xiuying looked at him with a smile that was not quite a smile.

Yet Ning Fa regretfully withdrew his gaze and said with righteous indignation, "Sister Xiuying, what kind of man do you take me for? I've always held you in the highest respect. How could I possibly harbor such improper thoughts?"

Ning Xiuying's smile vanished. She shot him a vicious glare and said fiercely, "At least you know better. If you really dared, I'd chop off your dog paws!"

Ning Fa could not help shuddering and quickly shook his head to show that he would never dare.

Ning Xiuying turned to leave. After taking two steps, however, she turned back with a radiant smile. "If you can become the family's First-grade Mid-rank Pill Master, perhaps I really will let you touch."

With that, she left amid coquettish laughter.

Ning Fa lowered his head and carefully examined his hands. He could not help chuckling. "Good brothers, wait a little longer. Your good days are coming soon."

He had only just returned indoors when there came another knock at the door. He could not help wondering, Could it be that Sister Xiuying changed her mind and is ready now?

But when he opened the door, the person standing outside was someone he had never expected.

The visitor was none other than the green tea bitch Ning Fa had mentioned—Liu Qinghui.

She wore a willow-green gauze dress with narrow sleeves, graceful and delicate, with skin like ice and jade, her brows and eyes picturesque.

Her beauty and bearing were far more pure and striking than any woman Ning Fa had seen in his previous life. She possessed a peculiar fragile charm that stirred the heart at first sight.

Ning Fa was once again stunned by her beauty. No wonder saying in the Alchemy Hall last time that he had kissed this woman had nearly angered Ning Ruiming to death.

He smacked his lips and muttered inwardly, A fair lady you were—why become green tea?

Ning Fa said impatiently, "What are you here for?"

Ning Fa's vile attitude made Liu Qinghui's willow-leaf brows furrow slightly. In a gentle voice, she said, "You were injured before. I came to see whether you've fully recovered."

At those words, Ning Fa's heart stirred.

This woman seemed to have been showing him goodwill all along. He had heard that she came to visit when he was unconscious last time, and now she had come in person again.

Could I have wronged her? Is she not green tea after all?

Ning Fa immediately scoffed inwardly. With the abundant experience from his previous life, there was no way he could be wrong about something so obvious.

Perhaps she feared that he would rise in the future and cause trouble for her family, so she wanted to ease their relationship.

But how could that be? Ning Fa was famous for being petty. Though it was his former self who had been played by her, he had inherited everything from that former self, which meant it was as good as him being played by this woman.

It had always been Ning Fa who played others. Now, someone else had actually played him. How could he leave such humiliation unavenged?

Especially that old bastard, her father Liu Zhili. Back then, he had publicly broken off the engagement, enraging Ning Fa's father Ning Zhiyuan so badly that he nearly suffered a qi deviation and sustained severe damage to his vital energy. It had also made their whole family the laughingstock of the entire clan.

How could such a deep grudge possibly be set aside so easily?

Ning Fa could not be bothered to waste words on her. Rolling his eyes, he said, "I'm fine. Please leave."

With that, he moved to shut the door directly.

However, the door was blocked by a soft, boneless jade-like hand. Wearing an expression on the verge of tears, Liu Qinghui said, "Ning Fa, do you hate me that much? This time, I even brought the Osmanthus Cake you used to love most. I made it myself."

Ning Fa raised his brows and sneered inwardly. Such a petty trick is useless on me.

Just as he was about to pry Liu Qinghui's hand away and force the door shut, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye. Ning Chuanwei, with his shifty-eyed, rat-faced look, had somehow quietly appeared several zhang away. His eyes glowed green as he stared over with a face full of gossip.

Ning Fa's heart stirred. This man was notoriously loose-lipped. Anything he knew would spread throughout Pingchang Island before long.

Ning Fa thought of a good idea—one that could anger Ning Ruiming half to death again.

Ning Ruiming had targeted him again and again, and Ning Fa had long since come to hate the man to the bone.

He already had a plan for revenge, though the time was not yet right. Still, he could take this chance to collect a little interest.

A wicked smile flashed across Ning Fa's lips and vanished. His impatient expression disappeared as he raised his voice with a beaming smile. "Qinghui, you treat me so well. You even made and brought me my favorite Osmanthus Cake yourself. Come in quickly—we'll have a good drink tonight."

As he spoke, Ning Fa spread his right arm, intending to draw Liu Qinghui into the house. His hand was very close to her shoulder, making it look as though it were already resting there.

Ning Chuanwei, who had witnessed everything from the side, gaped wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief as a raging blaze of gossip ignited in his eyes.

Ning Fa's sudden change in attitude left Liu Qinghui stunned. But when her peripheral vision caught Ning Chuanwei's direction, an inexplicable smile flickered in her eyes, and she obediently followed Ning Fa into the house.

"Big news, big news..."

Seeing the door shut tightly, Ning Chuanwei could not help feeling deeply disappointed. Then, muttering excitedly to himself, he looked left and right before running eastward with a lecherous grin.

The moment they entered the house, Ning Fa immediately returned to his cold demeanor. He was not even willing to bring Liu Qinghui into the main hall.

He sat down by himself on a stone chair in the courtyard and said impatiently, "If there's nothing else, you can leave. Take that Osmanthus Cake with you too. I hate eating that stuff most now."

Yet Liu Qinghui turned a blind eye to Ning Fa's cold expression. She looked him up and down, a strange crystalline gleam flowing through her beautiful eyes. Softly, she said, "I feel you've changed a great deal. You weren't like this before."

Ning Fa's heart could not help tightening, but his expression remained unchanged as he sneered. "Then I should thank you for helping me grow up."

Liu Qinghui fell silent for a moment, then sat on another stone chair. She opened the food box in her hands, placed a plate of tempting Osmanthus Cake onto the stone table, and pushed it before Ning Fa, looking at him expectantly.

Ning Fa narrowed his eyes at her. All of a sudden, he felt that this woman had not come merely to ease their relationship.