Chapter 400: The Secret to Growing Taller Has Been Unlocked

"Why didn't Qingqing and Xiaoxiao come over?"

"Hey! Do you really think they're orphans without parents? They have a mom and dad too, you know?" Chen Shu rolled his eyes.

"I even bought hand-peeled bamboo shoots for Qingqing and potato chips for Xiaoxiao."

"What did you buy for me?"

"I bought you a few pounds of beef."

"Braised, mixed, or soy-sauce marinated?"

"Raw."

"I thank you so much..."

"Don't mention it. It's beef brisket; we'll cook it tomorrow."

"..."

"What did you buy for me?" Chen Banxia also leaned in.

"I bought you wind!" Wei Lvshi replied, using dialect, which roughly meant "I bought you nothing," then looking at this daughter, her expression finally softened, "I bought a watermelon in the fridge; if you want to eat it, go cut it yourselves."

"Alrighty!"

Chen Banxia immediately ran to the fridge.

She cut a watermelon in half, grabbed two spoons, kept one half for herself, and brought the other half over for her younger brother.

Truly moving...

Chen Banxia thought to herself.

"Leave it there, I'll eat it in a bit." Chen Shu gestured casually, his attitude indifferent; right now, he was more interested in the hand-peeled bamboo shoots Wei Lvshi had bought for Ning Qing.

He picked up a bag, took a look, and tore open the packaging.

The packaging was similar to pickled chicken feet; inside were three whole small bamboo shoots, still in their husks, with plenty of brine and a single pickled chili pepper. Chen Shu first stood up to pour the brine from the bag into the kitchen sink, looked left and right, then pulled out two disposable gloves to put on.

He peeled the husks layer by layer, revealing the crisp bamboo shoot.

Seemed like it was ready to eat?

Chen Shu took a tentative bite.

The taste wasn't bad.

Small, tender shoots, pickled, but with only a hint of acidity and a hint of spice; very crisp, a refreshing texture, carrying a faint, fresh fragrance of bamboo. Qingqing would likely enjoy eating them.

It was just that the very bottom root part was a bit tough, but only a little; the closer to the tip, the more tender it was.

At the same time, Chen Jiaoshou's voice came from the side:

"Not taking classes next semester?"

"Not taking them."

"Starting to look for an internship?"

"Oh my! Chen Jiaoshou is concerned about me!" Chen Shu hurriedly nudged Chen Banxia's waist with his elbow, "Look! Chen Jiaoshou is concerned about me!"

"Hey, stop it!" Chen Banxia squirmed.

"Asking you." Chen Jiaoshou felt a headache.

"I've joined the Spirit Sect; it can count as an internship, so I'm not in a rush for one."

"Oh." Chen Jiaoshou was very calm.

"When did that happen?" Wei Lvshi asked.

"A while ago." After Chen Shu finished answering, he turned his head to look at Chen Banxia, "Didn't Chen Banxia join too?"

"..." Chen Banxia was holding the watermelon, having scooped up a large piece, just about to put it into her mouth, but she put it back down, glared at her brother, and still responded, "Joining the Spirit Sect is perfectly normal. For peerless geniuses like us, the Spirit Sect would definitely extend an olive branch. It's just being an Outer Sect Disciple; there are no restrictions, and in fact, there are many benefits."

"Mm."

Chen Jiaoshou nodded, feeling that what she said made sense, and without dwelling on it, continued to ask Chen Shu:

"Then what do you plan to do after..."

"We'll see. If I'm in a good mood, I'll do like Chen Banxia and continue my studies, just grab a Doctoral Degree." Chen Shu paused, "If I don't want to, then forget it. Anyway, the main focus later is researching Spell Principles; researching at school is research, and researching at a company or institution is also research."

"Are you staying in Yujing too?"

"Probably."

After Chen Shu finished speaking, he grinned and glanced at Chen Jiaoshou and Wei Lvshi: "Oh my, how pitiful, you've suddenly become empty-nesters..."

Chen Jiaoshou couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind, and Wei Lvshi also rolled her eyes.

In fact, the old couple were both Cultivators, just not with very high cultivation, nor did they pursue personal martial prowess like ancient cultivators. But as long as one had cultivation, lifespan and physique were genuinely increased, so Chen Jiaoshou and Wei Lvshi looked like they were in middle age. This also had to be blamed on their style of dress; if they were willing to dress and wear makeup like young people, they could completely achieve the look of people in their twenties.

They were far from being empty-nesters.

Chen Shu finished one shoot, feeling a bit of a kick.

He picked up a second one.

Chen Banxia was still holding the watermelon, eating it spoonful by spoonful while watching him:

"Is it good?"

"Open your mouth."

Chen Shu had just finished peeling the second one, so he simply stuffed the whole thing into her mouth.

"Mmph!"

Chen Banxia mumbled, chewed and chewed; she couldn't swallow it in one bite, so she had to use one hand to hold the tip of the shoot and eat it bit by bit. Her nose caught the scent of the pickled chili and vegetables, and she glanced at the gloves on her brother's hands, commenting: "It's good, it's just a bit troublesome to peel, and you have to wear a glove."

"How about I peel them for you? You just be responsible for eating?" Chen Shu offered her a suggestion.

"Okay, okay~"

"Keep dreaming!"

"..."

Chen Banxia's smile gradually stiffened.

She saw her younger brother finish the last bamboo shoot, pick up the watermelon she had prepared for him, and without even acknowledging her, start eating it on his own.

He seemed like an ungrateful wretch.

"Forget it, forget it."

Chen Banxia shook her head to herself—

Although she had prepared the watermelon for her brother, her brother had also peeled the bamboo shoots for her, so they were even. Besides, the watermelon had to be cut anyway; she had merely brought the other half over to her brother and grabbed an extra spoon, which didn't take much effort, whereas peeling bamboo shoots required several motions. Calculating it this way, her brother's respect and love for her were still slightly greater than her selfless contribution to him.

Thinking this, she felt relieved.

"Heh haha..."

"Like a fool." Wei Lvshi, watching from the side, couldn't help but say this, then simply stood up and walked into the house, out of sight and out of mind, leaving behind only a piece of advice that showed clear favoritism: "Don't finish all the peeled bamboo shoots; Qingqing will want to eat some when she arrives."

Chen Shu and Chen Banxia exchanged a glance and curled their lips at the same time.

After finishing the watermelon, Chen Shu also stood up, preparing to return to his room, but before entering, he called out: "What are we cooking with the beef tomorrow?"

"Carrots."

"White radishes."

"Bamboo shoots."

Three voices rang out at once.

Chen Shu immediately felt a splitting headache.

The next day, early morning.

The little girl, wearing shorts and slippers and a t-shirt that had become slightly misshapen after being worn for several years, her figure still undeveloped, walked in from outside carrying a few bags of breakfast.

Both Mom and Dad were home this morning.

That was rare.

The little girl slowed her pace slightly, rolled her eyes, and walked over with composure: "I bought breakfast."

Both of them turned their heads to look at her.

President Ning looked very handsome, dressed like a businessman, mature and charming.

Director An had the Night Person Bloodline, but it wasn't very apparent on her; she just had a fit figure and very fair skin. Besides that, she had black hair and black eyes, and if one looked closely, her features were actually somewhat sweet, not much different from a Wise Human.

The three of them soon sat at the dining table, eating breakfast.

The little girl secretly peeked at them.

She used to be very afraid of Mom and Dad.

Because Dad was always very cold, just like her older sister.

No, that wasn't right; Dad was even colder than her older sister. At least, as long as she had been alive, she had seen smiles on her sister's face—many times, and they were truly beautiful—but she had never once seen Dad smile, not even once. It was as if, as if he didn't possess the function of smiling.

Mom, on the other hand, was obsessed with martial arts and had a worse temperament than her sister, being more irritable and prone to anger; no matter what happened, her first thought was always to use violence to solve it.

Even Dad was always being beaten by her.

Now the little girl wasn't afraid anymore, but it wasn't because Mom and Dad had become gentler, or because her relationship with them had improved; it was because she had grown up, and through the process of growing up, she was able to gain more of a sense of security.

This was undoubtedly a sad thing.

According to her brother-in-law, Mom and Dad's families met during a nationwide turmoil. At that time, people had just gained power comparable to ancient cultivators, yet they couldn't truly compare to them, so they were both fearful and jealous of ancient cultivators. Under the secret and vigorous instigation of Lanya, some people picked up weapons, viewed the ancient cultivators in their lives as dangers hidden by their sides and the source of violence and crime, and began to resist them.

Of course, they were very cowardly.

Let alone top-tier sects with thousands of years of heritage like the Spirit Sect or Sword Sect, they rarely dared to provoke even an ordinary large sect, a famous and powerful ancient cultivator, or a wealthy and influential ancient cultivator. Most of the time, their weapons were aimed at those small ancient cultivators around them who were not much stronger than them and had no ability to harm society.

Because President Ning and Director An's fathers possessed the bloodlines of Heavenly Humans and Night Persons, they were naturally stronger than ordinary people and were also in the ranks of those being ostracized.

The two families met in tragedy.

Later, both sets of parents were persecuted and died, and the two of them met again in an orphanage as children, growing up together while suffering cold looks and hardship. Later still, the two people who lacked love and the ability to love others, and who could no longer accept anyone else, formed a family and lived their lives together.

The little girl often pondered a question—

Was there love between them?

Like the love between her brother-in-law and sister.

Were she and her sister the crystallization of love, the result of a mating season, or a product of responding to national policies for tax cuts?

But even now, she couldn't think of an answer.

The little girl still secretly peeked at them while breaking open the potato in her hand and spreading thick chili powder in the middle. During the meal, Mom and Dad didn't have the slightest communication, not even a collision of gazes.

She didn't like scenes like this.

It wasn't until her sister walked down from upstairs and sat at the dining table that the little girl felt much more at ease.

She peeked at her sister.

Her sister also glanced at her faintly.

"Hoo..."

The little girl blew on the potato to cool it and took a bite. The inside of the boiled potato was very hot, turning into mashed potato in her mouth, and combined with the chili powder, it was both spicy and scalding, making her involuntarily puff air out.

After breakfast, Mom and Dad went out.

The little girl and her sister cleaned up the trash can. Her sister went upstairs to change clothes, while the little girl, still wearing the same outfit, waited at the door holding the trash bag.

When her sister came out after changing and walked past her, she subconsciously tilted her head up to look at the top of her sister's head, secretly measuring the height difference.

Then her gaze moved down, stopping on her sister's chest. She blinked, then continued to lower her head to look at the pair of small leather boots on her sister's feet. The soles of these small leather boots were at least three centimeters high, right?

"No wonder Qingqing is so tall..."

The little girl was lost in thought, her small, pinkish-white toes curling inside her slippers.