Chapter 777: with translation of chapter title

Xiao Jiu became very calm.

It was so calm that Li Qingying felt afraid.

During that time, Li Qingying directly set aside the children and all the work at Jūnzhú Shān Chénghuáng Miào, staying at the Dang Pu to guard Xiao Jiu.

Li Qingying even felt they had returned to the very beginning: Xiao Jiu went to the seafood market to find her, then she came to the Dang Pu, and the two depended on each other.

But now, it's really different.

Because they each have families and a big group of friends… every now and then, the kids come back to hang out, friends gather a little, and the Yin Dang Hang is lively.

Moreover, after that order from the old turtle, the business at Yin Dang Hang gradually warmed up.

Xiao Jiu remained consistently calm, orderly handling all the affairs inside and outside of Yin Dang Hang.

Previously, she didn't often go to Jiǔyàn qū, because Liu Junyan was stationed there, and each sub-division had managers, so Xiao Jiu didn't need to worry.

But now, Xiao Jiu regularly goes to Jiǔyàn qū to hold meetings with everyone, listening to their various arrangements for the upcoming work, etc.

After a long time, Li Qingying's hanging heart finally let go completely.

Xiao Jiu genuinely accepted Seventh Lord's ascension calmly, not just putting on a brave face.

But there is one thing that has remained like a thorn stuck in Li Qingying's heart, leaving her somewhat unable to understand.

In Li Qingying's view, Xiao Jiu is very young and has a phoenix body; as her cultivation rises, she can guard Yin Dang Hang for many, many years.

But she early on found herself a successor—Ran Ran.

Ran Ran is a child of bitter fate.

After Xiao Jiu screened through multiple fate patterns, before finding her in the vast sea of people, Ran Ran's life was a blank darkness.

She was a posthumous child.

When her mother had just become pregnant with her, her father died unexpectedly.

Her mother suffered a difficult labor when giving birth to her, and two hours after delivery she died from massive bleeding.

She was raised by her blind, elderly grandmother, mouthful by mouthful of rice porridge.

But when she was three, her grandmother also passed away.

Ran Ran became a true orphan.

Because of her special fate, she was eventually bought and kept in a dark basement together with three other girls who shared the same fate.

When Xiao Jiu found her, the other three girls had already succumbed for various reasons.

Only Ran Ran, clinging to life, was curled up in the basement.

Because she hadn't seen sunlight for a long time, her skin was pale and her vision impaired; because she didn't get enough to eat, she was skin and bones; because she rarely interacted with people, even speaking was difficult… She even had no name, only a number, called 044.

In other words, she was likely the 44th child selected.

Before her, there had already been 43 such children who were harmed, and after her, there might still be…

Xiao Jiu is not a savior, lacking the ability to save all beings; all she could do was hold that tiny, dirty girl in her arms, wrapping her in her own clothes like a frightened little beast.

Xiao Jiu didn't take her straight back to the Dang Pu, but sent her to the hospital where Bái Jīngmò works, asking him to help her recuperate for a while.

044, upon meeting Xiao Jiu, gained a new name of her own.

She is called Feng Ran.

Feng, taking the foster mother's surname.

Ran Ran, meaning vigorous and upward, full of vitality.

Feng Ran indeed lived up to Xiao Jiu's expectations; after about a year, she was raised to be fair and clean, becoming lively.

So when Xiao Jiu first brought her into Yin Dang Hang, everyone saw a delicately carved, jade-like, very clever little girl.

Xiao Jiu personally taught Feng Ran how to hold a pen and write, to recognize pawn tickets and antiques, and took her to places like Gui Shi that she would encounter in the future.

At first, Feng Ran could sense that her foster father felt some rejection toward her.

But soon she discovered that her foster father was a very good person, tough-talking but soft-hearted.

Just as Feng Ran thought she would stay in Yin Dang Hang forever, learning skills from her foster parents, her foster mother sent her to school.

From then on, Feng Ran spent most of her time like an ordinary child, receiving at school the education appropriate for her age.

She is very smart, her academic performance has always been among the best.

Whenever vacation came, her foster mother would pick her up from Yin Dang Hang to teach her skills.

Feng Ran was sensible even when very young, but during the time her foster father ascended and left, she didn't really understand what "ascension" meant.

Li Qingying Ayi always made her lots of delicious food, then told her to spend more time with her foster mother, but never to mention her foster father.

Feng Ran grew up little by little like that.

Her abilities grew more and more, and the reputation of Yin Dang Hang grew louder.

In the fourth year after her foster father's ascension, she was twelve and already able to guard Yin Dang Hang together with her foster mother.

It was during that time that Feng Ran noticed her foster mother seemed off, constantly drowsy.

Before, her foster mother wasn't like that; she was a cultivator with profound cultivation, able to stay awake for three days and three nights.

But now, her foster mother would fall asleep at the counter before ten o'clock while guarding Yin Dang Hang.

She slept restlessly, brows furrowed, muttering incomprehensible words in her mouth.

Feng Ran was very worried about her foster mother; she called Li Qingying Ayi back, called Shulan Ayi over, called Shan Shan older sister back…

But no matter how they investigated or observed, nobody could tell what was wrong with her foster mother.

Feng Ran was very worried, but Li Qingying Ayi said it was fine and sent her back to school to continue lessons.

Feng Ran had dedicated caretakers, and there was housing near the school for her to live in.

Every day after school she would video call Xiao Jiu, asking this and that, just fearing something might happen to her precious foster mother.

Xiao Jiu always insisted firmly that it was nothing, just too many dreams; taking some calming medicine would make it fine.

After all, Feng Ran was just a 12-year-old child, and Xiao Jiu's brushing it off eventually passed.

But Xiao Jiu knew that she indeed had a problem.

Her vitality was very poor.

The problem wasn't with her cultivation, nor did any unclean thing dare approach her, and it wasn't the drowsiness of pregnancy... It was mainly because of her dreaming.

But each time she woke up, she couldn't remember what had happened in the dream.

She only vaguely remembered that in the dream, someone always held a ruler, scolding her, asking her something, and if she couldn't answer, they would hit her...

This situation had lasted for over three months, and the year-end was approaching; both Yin Dang Hang and Jiǔyàn qū needed to do their year-end accounting.

In the fifth year after Liu Junyan's ascension, both Yin Dang Hang and Jiǔyàn qū achieved remarkable results, accumulating a large amount of Merit.

At the end of that year, Xiao Jiu added a little to the Merit that should have been hers and distributed it all to her subordinates.

That night, Xiao Jiu slept her first peaceful sleep in over three months.

She slept until the sun was high three poles, waking naturally.

Everyone knew about her recent problem; seeing her sleep so soundly, they couldn't bear to wake her.

After Xiao Jiu got up, she hugged the quilt and sat on the bed, feeling refreshed and clear-headed.

At the same time, she realized something.

She had been dreaming a lot lately, and it seemed related to the fact that she had borne too much Merit...