Chapter 98: The Second Young Master Was Truly a Coward

“What?” Aunt Rong’s eyes went wide. “A girl who can’t even tie a bit of yarn is going to knit a scarf?”

“Grandma!” Exposed so quickly, Jiang Xiaoling flushed with both embarrassment and indignation.

Aunt Rong kept scolding her. “You’ve been clumsy since you were little. Let alone knitting a scarf, you can barely sew on a button without making a crooked mess of it.

“If this were ancient times, you’d never have been able to marry!”

“I... I hate you, Grandma!”

Jiang Xiaoling’s face turned scarlet with anger. She stamped her foot and stormed out in a huff.

Aunt Rong picked up the bag as she shook her head and sighed. “That brat’s temper really is getting bigger by the day!”

Xianyu Qing silently handed over the scarf. Aunt Rong stuffed it into the bag and took it back to her room.

Seeing that the wound on Jiang Mohe’s forehead had already faded to a faint scar, Xianyu Qing asked in surprise, “Your injury healed?”

“Mm.” Jiang Mohe answered coolly.

“Is that a trait of your family?”

He had clearly been hurt worse than she had, yet he had recovered far faster. Xianyu Qing found it incredible.

Jiang Mohe did not deny it. He took the little blue kitten from her arms and remarked, “It’s gotten fat.”

During these past few days, while Xianyu Qing had been on leave at home, the little blue kitten had stayed in its nest every day, sleeping after eating and eating after sleeping. Of course it had gotten fat.

Insulted at being called fat, the little blue kitten was placed in Jiang Mohe’s hands and immediately began to lick his hand ingratiatingly.

Jiang Mohe lifted it by the scruff of its neck, and it let out plaintive meows: Don’t let me go, don’t let me go!

Xianyu Qing found it rather amusing. They had only been apart for two or three days—did it really need to be this clingy?

“Mr. Jiang, have you found any news about my brother?” Xianyu Qing had been worrying about this all along.

Jiang Mohe had gone out to investigate for several days, and all he had found was that Xianyu Feng had been sent abroad by Chengnan University to study. In truth, they had been letting him join an international medical organization.

That medical organization had been founded jointly by several countries. Its purpose was to study various ability users and uncover their powers for their own use.

Back when Jiang Mohe was in Country K, he too had been targeted by that organization. Later, after he and several comrades were injured, they were captured and taken to the organization’s base.

He vaguely remembered meeting “Yu Xiangsheng” there, who was actually Xianyu Feng.

When Xianyu Feng escaped from that base, he had taken Jiang Mohe with him. But only a few days later, the two of them and several comrades traveling with them were caught in an enemy bombardment zone.

By the time Jiang Mohe woke up, he was already with a medical unit from Country C. His injuries healed quickly, and he secretly went back to look for his comrades, only to find the remains of Han Zhong’s younger brother.

Perhaps he had grown weary of that life of licking blood from the blade beneath the daily hail of gunfire and shells. Perhaps it was because he had accepted his comrades’ trust. Or perhaps he felt that he should return and reclaim everything he had once lost...

In the end, he returned to the country with that medical unit.

Yet the person who had given him the chance to set foot on this land of his birth could never return to the side of his family.

Jiang Mohe did not want to tell Xianyu Qing such a cruel truth. Lowering his eyes, he said quietly, “Not yet.”

Disappointment was plain in Xianyu Qing’s eyes, but she still forced a smile. “That’s true. After all, my brother is overseas. Information isn’t easy to find.”

Ignoring the kitten’s meowing protest, Jiang Mohe set it down on the floor, then took a few hawthorn candies from his coat pocket and held them out to Xianyu Qing.

Xianyu Qing stared at Jiang Mohe for a long moment before taking the candies. Holding them in her hand, she said softly, “Thank you.”

Then she asked, “How did you know I like this candy?”

Jiang Mohe did not answer.

He had been investigating Xianyu Feng, so of course he had also uncovered some information about Xianyu Qing. However, something as small as her liking hawthorn candies was not the sort of detail anyone could easily learn. He had simply sensed that she would like them.

Perhaps he had once heard Xianyu Feng mention it? Jiang Mohe was not certain. Some of his memories from the past had become muddled after that severe injury.

Suzha and Hua Xiaocui returned from the mall. Just as their car approached the gate of the manor, they saw Nangong Lu’s flashy Maserati already turning inside.

“Damn it, that bratty second young master is here again!” Hua Xiaocui cried.

Before Suzha had even parked the car, Hua Xiaocui jumped out and rushed ahead to block Nangong Lu.

“Stop right there!”

The moment Nangong Lu saw that it was the same little girl who had tried to kick him useless last time, he bristled. “You little flower, move aside for this young master!”

Hua Xiaocui stood blocking the villa entrance. “You’re trying to harass our young lady again, so I won’t let you in!”

“What?” Nangong Lu snapped. “How dare a tiny servant be so rude to me? Have you no desire to keep working here?”

Backed by Aunt Rong, Hua Xiaocui was not afraid of him. “If you want to see the young lady, did you make an appointment with the eldest young master?”

That was a trendy new phrase Hua Xiaocui had just learned. These days, even buying things required an appointment!

“I...” Nangong Lu was furious.

He had never heard of needing his older brother’s appointment just to come see Xianyu Qing.

“Move. Otherwise, I’ll have you thrown out of the Nangong family right now!”

Nangong Lu reached out to shove Hua Xiaocui aside, but she caught his wrist in an instant and twisted it back. Nangong Lu immediately cried out in pain. “Ah! You wretched girl, let go!”

Though Hua Xiaocui was not tall, she was surprisingly strong. Even Nangong Lu, at well over six feet, was pinned down and could not wrench his hand free.

When he saw she would not let go, Nangong Lu began shouting for Aunt Rong. “Aunt Rong! Aunt Rong, come save me!”

Hua Xiaocui: ...

For a second young master, he was really pathetic.

Aunt Rong came out from the kitchen and, seeing Nangong Lu’s miserable state, hurried over and gave Hua Xiaocui’s arm a light smack. “How can you be so disrespectful? How can you lay hands on the second young master?”

“This time he started it first!” Hua Xiaocui muttered as she released Nangong Lu.

Nangong Lu pointed at Hua Xiaocui and complained furiously to Aunt Rong, “Aunt Rong, this brat has been rude to me time and again. She can’t stay here any longer!”

Aunt Rong put on a troubled expression. “I don’t have the authority to decide that. Besides, Xiaocui was brought back by the cousin young lady.”

“What about Qingqing? Hasn’t she been on leave at home these past few days?”

Just as Nangong Lu finished speaking, Xianyu Qing came downstairs. Seeing him, she greeted him politely. “Second Young Master Lu, did you need something from me?”

Nangong Lu immediately changed into a gentle expression. “Qingqing, there’s a performance by Xi Junle tonight. Do you want to come and support him?”

He stepped forward to flatter her, and Hua Xiaocui was about to block him again, but Xianyu Qing motioned for her to step back. Hua Xiaocui huffed at Nangong Lu and went into the kitchen.

Xianyu Qing sat down on the sofa and said, “I’m not feeling well, so I won’t be going.”

The moment Nangong Lu heard that, he went over at once. “Are you sick? Is it serious? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“Thank you, but it’s nothing serious. Just a bit of a headache and a slight fever.” Xianyu Qing’s expression remained cool and distant.

She did not want Nangong Lu to know about her car accident.

But after seeing the headline earlier, Nangong Lu had already guessed as much. He had only just experienced something similar himself not long ago; how could he fail to connect the dots?

What puzzled him was why those people had even set their sights on Xianyu Qing, a distant relative.

That was why he had come to see how things were.

But seeing that Xianyu Qing was not badly injured, it was obvious that the bodyguard by her side was no ordinary man.