Lin Qingyuan felt a little unsettled.

It wasn’t that he looked down on Meng Lihua’s status, but he felt there should be a proper order to things.

Perhaps this was what they called being overprotective.

"Ma, let’s just wait here at the door. Take this chance to tell the kitchen to send some delicacies over," Xue Zhong said, lighting a cigarette and blowing out a puff of smoke.

Ma Long said, "Good idea. I’ll get right on it."

Lin Qingyuan, however, pretended to be careless and pressed the doorbell with his shoulder.

"Old Lin, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?" Xue Zhong grumbled, his eyes wide.

Lin Qingyuan quickly explained, "It was an accident. A complete accident."

「Five minutes later.」

The door opened.

It was Jiang Xinghai. "I heard the doorbell just now and thought I was mistaken. Come on in, all of you."

"Master!" Xue Zhong was the first to rush in, his eyes scanning the room.

The TV was on in the living room.

Meng Lihua was busy in the kitchen.

It seemed like nothing had happened.

Lin Qingyuan’s gaze followed suit, and he finally relaxed.

He had definitely been overthinking things.

"Brother Hai, where’s Nini? Is it just you and Sister Meng at home?"

Ma Long came up to Jiang Xinghai’s side and chuckled slyly.

THWACK!

Jiang Xinghai flicked Ma Long on the forehead. "What are you talking about? Nini is cultivating."

"Cultivating? Nini?" Ma Long looked astonished.

"Nini has already stepped onto the path of Martial Arts," Jiang Xinghai said with a smile.

"But Nini’s only five, right?" Ma Long was still in shock.

Meng Lihua came out of the kitchen. "She’s actually a few months shy of her fifth birthday."

She had a smile that was as warm as a spring breeze, and her skin still had a faint, rosy flush.

"That’s amazing," Ma Long said, smiling as well.

"Excellent, excellent. To think Nini is a martial arts prodigy," Lin Qingyuan said, nodding repeatedly.

Meng Lihua immediately ushered Lin Qingyuan and Xue Zhong in. "Master, please have a seat. Elder Xue, you as well."

"Alright, Meng, no need to be so formal." Lin Qingyuan gave Meng Lihua an apologetic look.

Just before, he had been suspiciously wondering if Meng Lihua and Jiang Xinghai were... you know.

Xue Zhong, meanwhile, looked at Jiang Xinghai and asked, "Master, Nini’s cardiovascular malformation..."

"It’s completely healed," Jiang Xinghai said.

"You’re incredible, Master!" Xue Zhong exclaimed, overjoyed.

He just knew that in Jiang Xinghai’s hands, any illness was a piece of cake.

What he didn’t know was that in order to cure Nini, Jiang Xinghai had exhausted all of his True Qi.

And he was still in the process of recovering.

The group chatted and laughed together.

"Grandpa Lin, Grandpa Xue, Uncle Ma."

Soon, Nini walked out of her bedroom, her entire demeanor having changed quite a bit.

"Nini, come here and let Grandpa have a look," Lin Qingyuan said, clapping his hands in delight.

But Xue Zhong beat him to it, scooping Nini up. "Grandpa Xue gets to look first."

He placed his hand on Nini’s wrist to check her pulse, and Lin Qingyuan did the same.

A moment later, both of them looked at Jiang Xinghai in disbelief.

Nini’s pulse couldn’t be more normal!

"Oh, Xinghai, I think it would be a great idea for Nini to take you as her master," Meng Lihua suddenly suggested.

"Take her as my disciple?" Jiang Xinghai had never thought about taking on any students.

Besides, his sect had extremely strict requirements for accepting disciples.

When he had accepted Xue Zhong, it was only as a nominal disciple.

"A nominal disciple would be fine too! Or even just an apprentice," Meng Lihua said, looking at him with anticipation.

She herself was Lin Qingyuan’s apprentice, and she knew that Xue Zhong was Jiang Xinghai’s nominal disciple.

"Let’s have her start as a nominal disciple, then," Jiang Xinghai said with a genuine smile.

"Nini, quickly, kneel and kowtow to your master," Meng Lihua said, crying tears of joy.

Nini knelt on the floor without hesitation. "Master, Meng Nini kowtows to you."

"Good," Jiang Xinghai said, lifting Nini up.

Nini gave him a sweet smile.

"Then that makes you my Junior Sister," Xue Zhong said, looking at the five-year-old Nini with a wry smile on his old face.

"Old Xue, even though you study medicine and Nini is learning Martial Arts, you both have the same master. It’s only natural you’ll have to call each other Senior Brother and Junior Sister," Ma Long teased with a laugh.

"Of course. Becoming Master’s disciple is an extremely rare opportunity. Unlike some people, who aren’t even nominal disciples yet," Xue Zhong shot back, teasing Ma Long in return.

Ma Long immediately put on a pained expression and looked at Jiang Xinghai.

"We’ll see how you perform. Maybe in the future, you’ll be Nini’s Junior Brother," Jiang Xinghai said, also smiling.

For the next two hours, the group ate and chatted together.

"It’s getting late. I should head home."

Jiang Xinghai had suddenly received a message from Shen Lingxue and hurriedly got up to leave.

When he left at noon, Shen Lingxue had been cultivating.

The message he had just received read: Xinghai, I’m not feeling well. Come home immediately!

RING RING RING...

Just as he was approaching the Shen Family residence, his phone rang.

The caller ID showed Mi Hong.

’Crap. I promised Mi Hong I’d do her final acupuncture and massage session tonight.’

Jiang Xinghai answered the phone with a wry smile. "Sister Hong, I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it tonight."

"I was just about to tell you, I don’t have time tonight either. Zhiqiu and I are on our way to Central State and will be there for a few days. Just wait for me to get back," came Mi Hong’s charming voice, tinged with a hint of reluctance.