A boy with neat, short hair, a slender frame, and clad in a blue and white school uniform, gently held the little girl in his arms, letting her soaking clothes dampen his shirt.
Qi Zhi lightly patted Xiaxia, disregarding the mud on her face, and nuzzled the poor child with his cheek. His voice sounded like a heavenly melody: "Sorry, brother is late."
"Brother...?" Xiaxia asked faintly in confusion. She opened her eyes with difficulty and saw a familiar face.
"Brother. Woo woo—" Suddenly, Xiaxia wrapped her arms around Qi Zhi's neck, burying her small head in his embrace, whimpering softly like a little animal.
It was her brother, her brother had come.
Waaah, I thought Daddy and brother didn't want Xiaxia anymore.
Xiaxia's sobs pierced Qi Zhi's heart like sharp thorns.
Qi Zhi's heart was weeping blood, throbbing with pain, even the fingertips that wiped away her tears were trembling slightly.
Only five years old, the pitiful child in his arms, light as a cotton ball, had suffered bullying because of his late arrival.
Qi Zhi secretly blamed himself, even though the time node for entering the mission world was beyond his and the system's control.
Qi Zhi cast a deep, cold gaze at the two children who had pushed Xiaxia into the water. The surrounding servants were stunned by the sudden intrusion of the boy into the Xin family's backyard.
It wasn't until two minutes later that the two servants remembered to go find the master and mistress.
Qi Zhi looked down at the two brats, his entire being exuding a menacing aura, his gaze was sharp and terrifying which frightened Xin Yue and Xin Yang so much that they stepped back repeatedly.
The two little devils fell to the ground in a mess. Xin Yang leaned against a bush, not even noticing the leaves falling onto his shoulders.
The slightly older Xin Yang scrambled to his feet, wanting to utter harsh words as he looked at Qi Zhi.
But when he actually met the boy's gaze, Xin Yang trembled all over with fear, even his pupils filled with terror.
"You two—"
Qi Zhi spoke, his tone seemingly calm and flat, yet carrying a terrifying pressure: “Can you both swim?”
"Yes!" Xin Yue reacted, lying cleverly and without changing her expression, unaware that her voice was full of panic: "My brother and I just wanted to teach Xiaxia how to swim!"
Hearing this, Qi Zhi suddenly chuckled softly. His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes gleaming with a hint of murderous intent.
"Cough, cough. Brother, I'm cold." Xiaxia suddenly coughed, her voice as soft as the buzzing of a mosquito.
Qi Zhi's eyes flickered slightly. If his hearing wasn't exceptional, he wouldn't have heard the poor little thing calling him.
Having had a fever all night and then being soaked in cold water, Xiaxia's body was gradually turning cold. Qi Zhi had no choice but to first feed her a life-saving pill produced by the system.
[Host, send the mission target to the hospital first.] The system, sensing the growing murderous intent in Qi Zhi's heart, spoke up to remind him.
Qi Zhi's eyes flickered slightly, and the murderous intent towards the two brats in his heart was forcibly suppressed. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and his eyes were full of coldness.
"It's so hot today, since you both can swim, how about playing in the water for a while?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Zhi temporarily put Xiaxia on the ground.Then he grabbed each brat by the back of their collars, pretending to drag them toward the pool.
"Ah!" A servant exclaimed in surprise, not expecting the boy to be so ruthless. They were just children!
"Stop it!" The servant wanted to step forward to stop Qi Zhi.
The servants, who had been standing motionless like wooden figures, became like living people when it came to their young master and young miss.
Qi Zhi's eyes flickered slightly. Originally, he only wanted to throw the two brats by the side of the pool, but Qi Zhi suddenly threw them with force.
The two bodies formed two parabolas in the air, and two seconds later, they splashed into the lake pavilion, splashing water in all directions!
"Ah—waaah." Xin Yue was terrified by the sudden weightlessness and burst into tears.
Because of her short stature, Xin Yue swallowed several mouthfuls of dirty water after falling into the pool, choking her and causing her to cry loudly. The beautiful little princess instantly became a drowned rat.
"Help—" The slightly older Xin Yang scrambled to get up.
The pool's dark green water submerged his chin. With his constant struggling movements, the water splashed, sending floating green algae and duckweed into his mouth.
"You're crazy!!" The servant scolded anxiously, quickly jumping into the pool to rescue their young master and young miss.
"A small punishment as a warning." Qi Zhi said in a cold voice. After speaking, he picked up Xiaxia and prepared to leave.
Qi Zhi reached out and touched Xiaxia's cold forehead. His brows furrowed, and worry crept into his heart. His steps quickened from long strides to a jog.
"Qi Zhi!"
Qi Zhi had just reached the wall of the Xin family's villa when a woman's sharp voice came from behind. "Where are you taking her?"
Her tone was panicked and flustered, seemingly wanting to force the boy to yield through this questioning.
Qi Zhi slightly turned his head. Xin Tai Tai (Mrs. Xin), dressed in a high-end white dress, was radiant and exquisite, making it hard to look away. It was impossible to tell that this thirty-five-year-old woman was the mother of two children.
Of course, she didn't deserve to be a mother either.
Qi Zhi sneered coldly in his heart. He slightly parted his lips, looking at the woman and saying word by word: Zhang Xingran, you're finished."
"Arson, child abuse, premeditated murder." With each word Qi Zhi spoke, the woman's face turned paler.
Until the end, the woman's face was pale, and her brightly painted lips trembled constantly. She watched helplessly as that burden was taken away by her eldest son.
Mrs. Xin didn't like the child named Xiaxia, but she didn't expect her to leave in this way.
Not a liberation, but as the start of a new torment.
The boy, who had just taken the college entrance exam today, had a frighteningly gloomy expression. For a moment, Mrs. Xin even suspected that he had found evidence of her murdering her ex-husband.
But... I’m just a careless mother, she thought. I just didn’t take good care of Xiaxia, that’s all.
"How did they fall into the water?" Mrs. Xin suddenly heard a man's voice in her ear.
Mrs. Xin smiled awkwardly. "The two children were being naughty, it's nothing serious."
She didn't dare to say that the Xin family's two children fell into the water because of her eldest son, that was a stain she couldn't mention.
"Sir, the young master and young miss were thrown into the water by a boy wearing a blue and white school uniform." The servant, who had finished rescuing the children and came ashore, reported truthfully with his eyes lowered.
The man glanced at his wife, understanding everything, and didn't hide the displeasure on his face. He turned his head with a cold expression and ordered the servant, "Hurry up and take them to take a bath and change their clothes."
“So dirty—what kind of appearance is that? It’s not like they’re fatherless.” The man said meaningfully, arrogantly adjusting his glasses before returning to his study to continue work.
*
"Daddy, brother..."
Xiaxia was talking nonsense all the way, her soft little hands tightly clutching Qi Zhi's collar, afraid that if she let go, she would never see her brother again.
"Brother is here." Qi Zhi gently patted Xiaxia's small head. Seeing that she was delirious with fever, he anxiously wanted to feed her another pill.
[Host! Xiaxia is too young and can't handle more medicine.] The system reminded him.
[I understand.]
Qi Zhi lowered his eyes, suppressing the rage in his heart, and urged the driver: "Master, please take us to the nearest hospital."
Qi Zhi coaxed the constantly feverish Xiaxia all the way, wiping away the tears in her eyes again and again.
Ten minutes later, Qi Zhi finally arrived at the hospital.
A boy in a blue and white school uniform, holding a dirty and soaking little girl, stopped the nurse at the front desk. Qi Zhi said urgently: "Sorry to bother you, my sister has a fever and fell into the water, please take her to change into clean clothes first."
Xiaxia was a girl, and already five years old, Qi Zhi couldn't change her clothes himself, so he stopped the nurse immediately.
The nurse reached out her right hand to the little girl's forehead, her expression changed slightly, and while taking Xiaxia, she muttered: "How do the parents take care of their children?"
Leaving a sentence, the nurse quickly took Xiaxia to the nursery to change her clothes.
On the other side, Qi Zhi registered Xiaxia for the pediatric emergency room.
Seeing that it was a teenage boy wearing a No. 1 High School uniform, the medical staff who helped with the registration casually asked: "Where are your parents?"
"Dead." Qi Zhi spat out two words without expression.
Hearing this, the medical staff shut up and opened an emergency channel for the poor siblings.
Xiaxia's high fever continued, and she was still talking nonsense when she entered the emergency room, constantly calling for her brother.
"Be good, little one, your brother is outside..." The nurse coaxed her gently.
Qi Zhi stood leaning against the corridor wall, legs crossed, head lowered slightly. His eyes were clouded and unreadable.
The cold touch of the wall came through the T-shirt fabric, and Qi Zhi realized that half of his shirt was soaked, dampened by Xiaxia's wet clothes.
Qi Zhi stared blankly at the words 'Pediatrics' in the corridor. Only when he confirmed that Xiaxia was out of danger, he stood up stiffly and went to buy food for her.
*
"Wuuu, brother, brother..."
When Qi Zhi came back, he heard Xiaxia calling him softly while crying.
Qi Zhi's eyelids trembled. His eyes turned red, after taking a deep breath, he suppressed the sad emotions in his heart.
Qi Zhi pushed the door open and said gently: "Brother is here."
Hearing Qi Zhi's voice, Xiaxia suddenly stopped crying. She looked at Qi Zhi with her watery eyes, blinking again and again, as if confirming that her brother had really come to pick her up.
Two seconds later, her lips trembled, and she spoke again with a sobbing tone, “Xiaxia is a bad child… Daddy, Mommy, and Brother don’t want Xiaxia anymore.”
Hearing the little girl say this, Qi Zhi hugged his sister in his arms with heartache, and coaxed her softly: "Xiaxia is a good child, brother never abandoned you.”
“Wuwu… Mommy became someone else’s mommy…” Xiaxia wrapped her arms around his neck, her hot teardrops the size of beans dripping onto his skin.
"Xiaxia, be good, don't cry, don't cry." That woman doesn't deserve to be your mother.
Qi Zhi thought bitterly, though he didn’t voice that last part to his sister.
A few minutes later, Xiaxia was still sobbing slightly, but her emotions had been soothed by Qi Zhi.
Qi Zhi scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on it again and again, and confirmed that it wasn't hot before feeding it to Xiaxia's mouth: "Good Xiaxia, eat something first."
Xiaxia's eyelashes trembled, and she obediently ate the porridge.
Until Xiaxia ate most of the bowl of porridge and said 'I'm full', Qi Zhi stopped his movements, and then ate the remaining half bowl himself.
At dusk, after the siblings finished eating, Qi Zhi cleaned up the trash and prepared to go out to pay the bill.
Qi Zhi gently pinched Xiaxia's cheek with his fingertips, looked into her eyes, and said: "Brother is going out for a while, Xiaxia be good and wait for brother, okay?"
Hearing that he was leaving, Xiaxia nervously grabbed a corner of Qi Zhi's clothes: "Does brother not want Xiaxia anymore? Xiaxia will definitely be good."
Seeing his sister's cautious appearance, Qi Zhi's heartbeat paused slightly, and he hugged the little girl in his arms again and coaxed her again and again, promising her that he would definitely come back.
It wasn't until night was approaching that Qi Zhi went downstairs to line up to pay the bill.
When Qi Zhi came back, the nurse who had just helped Xiaxia change her clothes came over with the medical record. She stopped Qi Zhi and frowned: "Student, may I ask where the child's injuries came from?"
Hearing this, Qi Zhi clenched his right hand into a fist. He hated himself for walking too fast just now, and not teaching them a hard lesson.
Through the half-closed door, Xiaxia saw that blue and white figure. Her pure eyes lit up as she called out happily, “Brother!”
Author's Note:
I feel like this world will be a bit long to write [scratching head.jpg]