Chapter 642: and ===GLOSSARY===

At month's end, I finally found a small bottle of 'Piercing Soul'; after Jin Wuya obtained the 'Piercing Soul', he wanted to immediately return to Wufu Town and personally hand it to Xiao Jiu Zhanggui.

I don't know why, I'm usually quite carefree as a person, but hearing him say he wants to go back, I actually feel reluctant: 'Can't we just send someone to deliver it?'

Jin Wuya, however, said: 'I've been in Lingnan for so long already; over in Jiangcheng I've piled up a bunch of business that needs attending to, all old regular customers—whether I take the order or not, I have to give them an explanation, right?'

It turns out he can't let go of the business and personal connections in Jiangcheng.

If he leaves this time, will he not come back?

I was startled by my own thought—I actually care so much about whether he returns or not?

Even, I impulsively said: 'Then let me drive you there.'

Jin Wuya instinctively refused: 'You're busy; no need to follow me back and forth, I can just take the high-speed rail.'

'It's not specially to send you.' I started lying, 'I happen to have business to go that way, so I can give you a ride along the way, but time is tight—I'll have to return in two or three days.'

I thought, Jin Wuya is such a smooth operator; my clumsy words he probably saw through from the very beginning.

But he didn't expose me.

Not only did he not expose me, he was very cooperative.

We drove all the way from Lingnan to Wufu Town Pawnshop; as the car stopped at the pawnshop's Xijiekou, Li Qingying poked her head out to look our way.

Then she came up to us with a beaming smile.

Jin Wuya looked utterly worthless, his mouth about to split to his ears, as he unloaded the gifts he had prepared one by one.

I sat in the driver's seat, lightly tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, watching them chat and laugh; I then rolled down the window, lit a ladies' cigarette, and leaned against the window frame to smoke slowly.

Along the way, Li Qingying might have also asked me something about this side, which Jin Wuya brushed off.

Then I saw Xiao Jiu Zhanggui again; this young girl looks outwardly not very formidable, yet she bears the burden of Wufu Town Pawnshop?

Actually, this time I came, I secretly brought someone along, specifically to investigate Wufu Town Pawnshop.

This is also my grandfather's intention; he said that in the future our family might have use for Wufu Town Pawnshop, so let me clarify its overall strength first, then consider whether to cooperate later.

Jin Wuya didn't stay long at the pawnshop; Xiao Jiu Zhanggui gave him a bone whistle, seemingly wanting him to carve some rune onto it to suppress its yin and evil qi.

On the way back to Jin Wuya's house, I followed the navigation while driving, and he kept studying that bone whistle intently.

I glanced at him several times from the side, and then realized that his focused work appearance is also quite attractive.

This is my first time coming to Jin Wuya's home.

To be honest, I expected a bachelor's home wouldn't be too tidy.

But Jin Wuya's home is surprisingly clean; aside from a thin layer of dust on the furniture from his not being home these past months, I saw nothing messy.

He simply tidied up the house, boiled water to make me tea, and also ordered takeout for me.

While I was eating the takeout and drinking tea, he was contacting his old regular clients from this period, explaining the situation to each and informing them that he might reside in Lingnan for the next two years, and if urgent matters arise they could contact another qi craftsman to avoid delays.

Hearing his plan for the next two years, with the focus on Lingnan, my heart instantly felt much more at ease.

I ate a few bites, then started wandering around the house.

Jin Wuya is a qi craftsman; his home has a room dedicated to work.

In that room stand several shelves, filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items—animal hides, colored stones, various medicinal herbs, antiques, etc. —all neatly sorted by category.

After Jin Wuya finished his work and came up, he introduced them to me: 'These are things I might use when remodeling qi devices for others; each one I carefully selected or painstakingly scavenged from the market, and each is quite useful.'

He went through each item with me; for the fairly ordinary ones he just skimmed over; for those slightly valuable, he told me their uses; for items frequently used but hard to obtain, he picked and packed them, saying he would bring them along.

I joked: 'Are you planning to expand your qi craftsman business to Lingnan?'

'I need to make a living.' Jin Wuya said earnestly, 'Artisans live by their craft; achieve distinction, gain fame, then your path can only broaden. If I really abandoned it for two years, I'd be ruined—two years later, who would still remember a qi craftsman named Jin Wuya?'

That is indeed the case.

But I still couldn't resist probing: 'However, my Shi family is big and prosperous; even a little bit leaking from between my fingers could support you for the rest of your life—just serve me well, let me conceive a son or daughter smoothly, and that's far better than you fussing over these things.'

Jin Wuya raised his hand to touch his face, sighing: 'I never expected to be old and still eating soft rice; rest assured, I won't abandon my craft, and I will also work hard to cultivate the land.'

I couldn't help but clench my fist and punch him—he actually dared to tease me like that.

We were fooling around, and in the end I don't quite remember how we ended up rolling onto the bed.

Those two days I spent alone with Jin Wuya were unprecedentedly relaxing.

Watching him tidy up, listening to him talk about his collection, the qi devices he had remodeled, and his visions for the future, I for the first time resonated with his interesting and fulfilling soul.

Two days later, we returned.

Not long after returning to Lingnan, I found out I was pregnant.

I was overjoyed; my grandfather laughed so hard he couldn't close his mouth, repeatedly saying he wanted to reward Jin Wuya.

But no one expected that this child would come suddenly and go just as suddenly.

I was very sad, yet deep down I felt reassured... Jin Wuya and I together can indeed conceive, and he hasn't been killed by me.

As for the child, with a bit more effort there will be another.

Heaven hasn't been stingy with me; not long after the postpartum period, I quickly conceived again.

This pregnancy I am being extremely careful, afraid to bump into anything, afraid of disturbing something.

But even so, when the pregnancy reached a few months, the fetus still died in the womb.

I felt extremely sorrowful inside.

I even told my grandfather, 'Why not let my few uncles handle the family business first, while I move with Jin Wuya to Wufu Town?'

Perhaps only Xiao Jiu Zhanggui can safeguard my future child.

But my grandfather sighed and said: 'A-Rou, I'm an old man with frail bones; I could collapse at any time. You still haven't had a new generation heir born, the Shi family's power orientation has already silently shifted—even your pillow companion is likely already caught in the vortex. If you now voluntarily relinquish authority, you will regret it.'

My grandfather's words were like a bolt from the blue, striking me dumb.

I couldn't believe it: 'Grandfather, do you mean Jin Wuya has betrayed me?'