VAP - Chapter 17
Chapter 17: The Sleeping Beauty Whose Words Are Law (16)
As it turned out, Qi Jiu really didn't want to go to that so-called "home" Qi Tianhe kept mentioning.
The phrase "come home," in particular, made her feel a deep-seated revulsion.
Come home? Not just any random, bizarre place could be called a home.
The only places Qi Jiu would ever grace with the name "home" were the house she currently used for rest or the old residence she had once shared with the An family. In any case, it would never be the wretched Qi family home where Qi Tianhe enjoyed domestic bliss with his delicate wife and young son.
So, after flying back to Shengjing City, Qi Jiu had no intention of seeking out her scum dad. She simply holed up at home, comfortably lazing about for ten-odd days.
During those ten days, the puppet talisman continued to attend school in her stead, and so far, there hadn't been any mishaps.
In fact, if the frequency of Qi Tianhe's calls hadn't escalated—from one every few days to several a day—Qi Jiu could have easily remained a shut-in until the end of the month.
"Even with my phone on silent, seeing all those missed call notifications every time I wake up is still annoying," Qi Jiu said.
Thus, when her scum dad called yet again, and it just so happened that Qi Jiu was awake, the young miss finally answered.
"I let you live on your own, and now you've gotten a temper?" Qi Tianhe tried to suppress his anger but couldn't stop his voice from rising. "Where's your basic respect for your elders? I've called you so many times. Why didn't you respond?"
"Ah, my apologies. I've been busy lately, so I forgot," Qi Jiu said languidly, her perfunctory tone obvious to anyone.
Qi Tianhe heard it too, but he had to pretend he didn't and continue the conversation calmly. Otherwise, this rebellious daughter of his would probably hang up in the next second.
Swallowing his anger, he asked, "When exactly are you coming back? It's been half a month. You still don't have time?"
Qi Jiu replied, "Tomorrow, I guess."
The answer came so quickly that Qi Tianhe was rather incredulous. "Are you sure?"
Qi Jiu scoffed. "Not sure. How about the day after tomorrow, then?"
"No, let's make it tomorrow. Your Auntie Yang and I miss you very much, and so does Yuanhong. Just yesterday he was clamoring to see his big sister. Can you bear to make him wait any longer?" Fearing she would change the time again, Qi Tianhe immediately sealed the deal. "Tomorrow is Saturday, so you don't have class. I'll come pick you up at noon."
Qi Jiu couldn't be bothered to say more. "Mm."
Qi Tianhe was still a little uneasy. "Don't forget, now."
"Oh," Qi Jiu replied.
Qi Tianhe hung up, satisfied.
Yue Du had listened to the entire conversation, remaining completely silent throughout.
"This is even more ridiculous than the chestnut-braised chicken incident. Qi Yuanhong misses me? He probably wishes I were dead..." Qi Jiu tossed her phone onto the pillow and complained to Yue Du with her eyes closed.
Qi Yuanhong was the Qi family's second child, about ten years old.
Although Qi Jiu couldn't be bothered to get involved with the Qi family, she still had to attend the New Year's Eve dinner every year. If she didn't go, Qi Tianhe would resort to any means necessary to pester her—it couldn't be helped, he was just that obsessed with keeping up appearances.
If outsiders found out he didn't even have his own daughter home for the New Year, how could he show his face?
A few years ago, when Qi Yuanhong was younger, he had never been pleasant to Qi Jiu.
He was a total brat, constantly trying to pull pranks on his nominal older sister. Even though he only had New Year's Eve to cause trouble, he still managed to get on Qi Jiu's nerves.
And so, Qi Jiu taught him a harsh lesson.
The brat behaved much better after that. Perhaps because Qi Tianhe placed great importance on his son's education, he had been well-raised over the past two years. He now seemed like a clever, sensible little adult who greeted everyone with a smile and was polite and poised no matter who he met.
Of course, his behavior toward Qi Jiu was no exception.
But that was just his outward behavior. Who knew what he was really thinking?
In any case, Qi Jiu didn't believe that one lesson from her could have fundamentally changed the brat's nature.
Yue Du asked her, "Do you need to make any preparations?"
"There's nothing to prepare," Qi Jiu said.
"But you're going to the Qi family this time to discuss your mother's inheritance, aren't you?" Yue Du said with a frown. "You should hire a lawyer. Otherwise, it'll be easy for them to exploit loopholes."
Qi Jiu waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. They won't get the chance."
Yue Du sighed. "I know you have your own ideas and the confidence to execute them. But I'm your System. I should have the right to know what you're planning to do. Otherwise, I can't rest easy."
It was great that her host was so capable. But if the host always charged ahead alone, without even needing the cheats from the System store... then what was the point of having a System?
At the very least, she should give a rough outline of her plan so the System could prepare a backup, lest an unfixable mistake occurred.
Qi Jiu seemed thoughtful. "Hmm, you have a point."
Yue Du said, "Right? So it would be better to tell me."
So, Qi Jiu told her.
The young miss's plans were always simple and crude, yet brutally effective, and this time was no different. First, she would walk through the Qi family's front door. Then, she would listen to the family of three finish their nagging. After that, she would slap down the evidence of Qi Tianhe's secret embezzlement of the An family's assets over the years. And finally, she would unleash her mockery.
When An Ruosu passed away, there was no one else left in the An family. The last person with An family blood was Qi Jiu.
Therefore, all of the An family's assets should have been inherited by Qi Jiu.
A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. No matter how far the once-prosperous family had fallen, its foundations were still deep.
However, Qi Jiu was only an eleven-year-old girl at the time. Legally, all the assets left by the An family were to be managed by her guardian—Qi Tianhe.
For all these years, this scum dad had been managing the An family's estate, so it was predictable that he would secretly transfer assets away.
The problem was...
"How did you know he was transferring assets?" Yue Du asked, puzzled.
"And you even have proof. That's the hardest part."
Qi Jiu made a sound of acknowledgment. "Of course, I started making arrangements seven years ago. My mother was a young lady of the An family, after all. It's not strange that she would know some highly skilled people, is it?"
"...No, it's not strange," Yue Du conceded.
The point wasn't whether An Ruosu knew an expert in this field, but how had the you from seven years ago thought to ask for help, and what had you used to persuade them?!
"It wasn't difficult. It was a win-win situation, so I didn't have to waste my breath," Qi Jiu said with a smile.
Yue Du asked with great solemnity and sincerity, "Are you really human?"
Qi Jiu shrugged. "If I'm not human, am I one of your kind? You're overthinking things."
Yue Du replied with a deadpan expression, "Oh. Heh."
Qi Jiu said no more, likely staring blankly at the ceiling again.
Yue Du sat in her mental space. After a long moment, she took a deep breath, leaned back, and covered her eyes with her arms.
Finding loopholes, preparing backup plans... her host probably hadn't taken any of it seriously.
Qi Jiu no longer had any intention of hiding how unusual she was.
Her high intelligence, her strength that far surpassed an ordinary person's, her incomprehensibly lazy nature, and her indifference toward her childhood experiences—she laid it all bare for Yue Du to see, as if to say:
That's right. I'm not the Qi Jiu who was supposed to be here. I don't even seem like a "person." Why don't you guess what I am? No prize for guessing correctly, though.
An instinctive fear of the unknown lingered in Yue Du's heart, telling her not to overthink things—as long as the mission was completed, everything would be fine.
But her instinctive curiosity... was also rearing its head.
Yue Du muttered softly, "I'm really asking for trouble."
"What did you say?" Qi Jiu asked lazily.
"Nothing."
At noon the next day, Qi Tianhe's car pulled up downstairs right on time.
Yue Du had already tracked the car's approach via the surveillance system and was earnestly urging Qi Jiu to hurry up, get out of bed, and get ready.
"What's the rush? Just let him wait." Qi Jiu reluctantly combed her hair. Its quality was so incredible that there were almost no tangles; the comb slid right through.
...Which was truly unimaginable for someone with naturally wavy hair.
Yue Du reminded her, "You could do that, if you want to listen to him ring the doorbell nonstop."
Qi Jiu imagined it and frowned. "On second thought, no thanks."
By the time Qi Tianhe stood outside with an affable smile and rang the doorbell, Qi Jiu was already dressed and ready. She ambled over and opened the door.
It had to be said, the power of beauty was universal, affecting everyone regardless of age or gender.
Even a scum dad like Qi Tianhe was stunned for a moment upon seeing Qi Jiu's otherworldly beauty, and his smile became a fraction more genuine.
He opened his arms and smiled. "Long time no see, Xiao Jiu. Did you miss your dad?"
Qi Jiu was completely uncooperative. "Not at all."
At the same time, she took a step back, as if terrified of being touched.
Qi Tianhe's outstretched arms froze awkwardly in midair.
He recovered quickly, though, retracting his hands as if nothing had happened. "It's all my fault," he lamented. "I've been too busy with work and haven't had time to be there for you as you grew up. Now my daughter has grown distant from me. Sigh."
To be able to say something like that... Yue Du was thoroughly impressed by the scum dad's thick skin.
Qi Tianhe didn't linger. He led Qi Jiu downstairs, intending to head back quickly.
He had wanted to sit with Qi Jiu in the back, chat, and try to foster some father-daughter affection, but before he could say a word, she had already opened the front passenger door and sat down next to the driver.
Qi Tianhe had to swallow his frustration. Throughout the drive, he peppered Qi Jiu with all sorts of questions about her daily life and studies.
When it came to these questions, Qi Jiu was generally too lazy to invent lies, but also too lazy to tell the whole truth—especially when the person asking was someone she thoroughly disliked.
For example:
Qi Tianhe: "Are you studying hard at school, Xiao Jiu?"
Qi Jiu: "It's alright. The teachers think I'm doing great."
Qi Tianhe: "How are your grades? Do you need a tutor?"
Qi Jiu: "Oh, first in the grade, I suppose."
—And so on and so forth.
Yue Du, observing the scum dad from an omniscient viewpoint, noticed that Qi Tianhe's brow furrowed for a split second when Qi Jiu mentioned her grades.
It made sense. Given their relationship, the scum dad probably wished this daughter, for whom he felt no affection, was as stupid as possible.
But he was destined for disappointment.
Author's Notes
Qi Jiu: Guess what I am? There's a prize if you're right~
Yue Du: You are not a thing. [Serious as a pigeon.jpg]
Qi Jiu: emmm
I have the subtle feeling I was just insulted.
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