VAP - Chapter 39
Chapter 39: The Sleeping Beauty Whose Words Are Law (38)
As it turned out, Qi Yuanhong wasn't a complete idiot. The very next day, he showed up at their door with his parents in tow.
"I'm sorry." Qi Yuanhong's face was haggard, his apology utterly sincere. It seemed a brat really wouldn't learn his lesson until he was taught one.
Yang Yun's apology might not have been as heartfelt, but the gesture was there—she had always been a woman who knew how to read a situation.
Qi Tianhe, however, couldn't bring himself to swallow his pride.
He had been a man of status for decades, after all. How could he apologize to a daughter he couldn't stand just because he'd had a run of bad luck?
Thus, despite looking even more haggard than his wife and son, he maintained a stern expression and remained silent.
In her mind, Qi Jiu said to Yue Du, "I think he's forgotten how I put him in his place three years ago."
Yue Du glanced at Qi Tianhe, easily analyzing his current emotional state. "Oh, he remembers. He's just putting on a good act."
"A family of drama queens," Qi Jiu concluded.
Once their mental exchange was over, Qi Jiu spoke up leisurely, "I don't see your sincerity, Mr. Qi."
Qi Tianhe gritted his teeth. "Don't push it. Who's ever heard of forcing their parents to apologize? Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you if word gets out?"
Qi Jiu sneered. "Is that so? Well, now you have."
Qi Tianhe was furious, glaring at her with his murky eyes. "If I'd known you'd turn out like this, I never should have had you!"
"Pardon me for being blunt, but the one who gave birth to me was Ms. An—my mother. You only contributed a single cell, thank you," Qi Jiu mocked, sparing no effort.
Don't be fooled by Qi Jiu's usual reluctance to speak; when it came to a war of words, ten Qi Tianhes wouldn't be a match for her.
Qi Tianhe was now puffed up like a pufferfish with rage. Yang Yun stepped forward to comfort him in a low voice, only to be shoved aside.
Watching the farce unfold, Qi Jiu said with a distinct lack of interest, "To be honest, I don't really care if you apologize or not—"
Before they could respond, she continued, "After all, I'm not the one suffering from bad luck."
Yue Du thought she could hear the sound of Qi Tianhe grinding his teeth.
"You see, I really hate being bothered, especially by people I find disagreeable, like you, Mr. Qi." Qi Jiu sighed. "When I'm displeased, my mood sours. And when my mood sours, the people who displease me tend to have bad luck."
"Who can help it... I'm a woman blessed by the heavens, you know."
"..." Yue Du.
You're probably blessing yourself, aren't you?
At Qi Jiu's words, Qi Tianhe's expression faltered, but he still stubbornly refused to yield.
The older generation of the Qi family believed in gods, and Qi Tianhe, having grown up with it, naturally held a certain reverence for such things. He would have scoffed if someone claimed the curse was an Esper Ability, but if it was the favor of a deity—
Then he thought about how Qi Jiu had never really suffered a loss over the years, and his expression immediately tensed.
Yang Yun tugged at his sleeve.
Qi Jiu quietly watched them exchange glances, the corners of her mouth lifting in a lazy curve, though her eyes held no trace of a smile.
Yue Du observed her expression.
Although her host wasn't the original "Qi Jiu," watching such a farce probably didn't put her in a good mood.
With this thought, she felt a pang of sympathy. She tiptoed to the rarely used kitchen and redeemed some exquisite little pastries from the System store, all in flavors that Qi Jiu loved.
Qi Jiu was gazing down at the family of three when the sweet, utterly enticing aroma of pastries suddenly filled the air.
"For me?" she asked, smiling happily, already knowing the answer.
Seeing the teasing glint in Qi Jiu's eyes, a faint warmth rose to Yue Du's cheeks. She concealed it well, placing the tray in front of her host. "They're all yours."
Qi Jiu picked the one in the very center, held it by its paper liner, and brought it to Yue Du's lips.
Yue Du hesitated. The gesture was a bit too intimate.
But out of the corner of her eye, she could see the family of three staring right at them. She couldn't just turn away and refuse, could she? She had to save face for her host.
So Yue Du accepted the pastry and silently took a small bite. Meeting Qi Jiu's slightly brightened gaze, she threw caution to the wind and took a second bite, and then a third.
Qi Jiu nodded, satisfied, and picked up a pastry for herself.
For a moment, Captain Yue and Vice-Captain Qi ate their pastries as if no one else was there, and the atmosphere instantly became light and cheerful.
The Qi couple: "..." How dare they! This is utterly humiliating!
Qi Yuanhong: "..." The pastries look so good. He... he wants some too!
This was the chaotic era; there certainly weren't any pastry chefs making and selling desserts every day. Even if there were, they wouldn't be something Qi Yuanhong could get his hands on.
The brat felt a pang of jealousy.
Qi Jiu finished a pastry. Casually glancing at Qi Yuanhong's face, which was a mask of resentment and longing, she deliberately provoked him. "Our Xiao Du is quite the baker, isn't she?"
The hand Yue Du was using to hold her pastry trembled.
...Whatever. Let her say what she wants, she thought. She'd known for a long time that her host was secretly wicked.
The Qi couple fumed but dared not speak, forced to watch the two of them put on their little show.
After a while, once Qi Jiu had eaten her fill, she picked up a napkin, delicately wiped the corner of her mouth, and asked, "Ready to apologize now?"
Qi Tianhe forced himself to say, "You only need to apologize when you've done something wrong. What did I do wrong?"
Qi Jiu hummed. "You don't know?"
Qi Tianhe racked his brain, reviewing everything he had done recently. He guessed someone must have overheard him cursing his daughter and reported back to her. He asked angrily, "I may have cursed you a few times, but it's perfectly natural for a father to scold his daughter. You want me to apologize for that?!"
Qi Jiu said languidly, "You completely miss my point. Your mistake was coming here to bother me."
"I recall reminding you before. I can't be bothered with you, so you three can go on living your happy family life, and stay away from me..." She paused, her dark eyes lowering with cold indifference. "But it seems you let my words go in one ear and out the other."
A sudden chill ran down Qi Tianhe's spine.
He remembered now. About three years ago, this intimidating daughter of his had looked at him in the very same way.
It was as if she weren't looking at her biological father—or even a person at all. It was the gaze one reserved for an object: bored, weary, and utterly indifferent.
Suddenly, he found he couldn't utter a single word.
"I'll give you two choices," Qi Jiu said. "One: apologize now, leave, and never show your faces in front of me again. For every time I see you, you'll have a month of bad luck. And if you deliberately seek me out after that... well, I'm sorry, but sometimes bad luck can be fatal."
As she spoke, she leisurely picked up a glass of water and took a small sip.
Qi Tianhe's Adam's apple bobbed. "And the second option?" he asked with difficulty.
"Do you even need to ask? To be unlucky from this moment on, of course. Unlucky until you die, which probably won't take more than a few days." Qi Jiu smiled. "So, which will it be?"
Without a doubt, they chose the first option.
Qi Tianhe's tone was exceptionally stiff when he apologized, but Qi Jiu paid it no mind. To her, pretty words meant less than their actions from now on.
It wasn't a big deal, though. She always kept her word. If they came to bother her again, she would simply fulfill her end of the agreement.
As Qi Jiu thought this, a strange, unsettling smile touched her lips.
This isn't his daughter, this is an executioner!
Qi Tianhe didn't want to stay a moment longer. He grabbed his wife and son and fled.
Watching the family of three scramble away—as if a wild beast were chasing them—Yue Du was a little surprised.
"I thought your punishment would be more severe," she said.
Qi Jiu drew out her words. "Ehh, am I such a cruel person in your eyes?"
Yue Du replied, "...No, you're overthinking it."
The Word Spirit ability was a terrifying power. When every word spoken became reality, it was like an undeniable judgment, with every aspect of the condemned under Qi Jiu's control.
Someone with such an ability could easily become intoxicated by that power, eventually reaching a point where anyone who displeased them had to die, to say nothing of pests like the Qi family.
—It seemed, however, that Qi Jiu herself had no such inclinations, even though she wasn't human.
Ahem.
"Do you want another pastry?" Yue Du changed the subject.
"Of course. I couldn't even enjoy them properly with those people standing around," Qi Jiu said with a blink. "Now that it's just the two of us, we can take our time."
Yue Du said, "...Speaking of which, why did you say I made these?"
Qi Jiu looked innocent. "Was I supposed to say I made them? They'd never believe that. Besides, the pastries couldn't have just appeared out of thin air."
"Fine," Yue Du said, reluctantly accepting the explanation.
Later, Xing Qingcang paid them a visit regarding the Xin Licheng affair.
After all, his team had been the one investigating Xin Licheng. Though no one held him responsible for what happened, he came anyway.
He also took the opportunity to check in on Qi Jiu and Yue Du.
"I actually know a little about Xin Licheng's past," Xing Qingcang said with a sigh. "It's too complicated to really comment on... In any case, I have to thank you both. If he had actually managed to release that virus, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life."
Qi Jiu offered a perfunctory, "Not at all."
Xing Qingcang, with his low emotional intelligence, completely failed to notice her distraction and rambled on for a while longer before leaving.
As he left, he added, "I've heard about your squad's luck. It's incredible. Perhaps we'll have a chance to work together in the future?"
Qi Jiu replied, "I follow my captain's lead."
Xing Qingcang's eager gaze shifted to Yue Du. Captain Yue had no choice but to say, "We'll see. Your team is the one with the real strength. We'll definitely cooperate if the opportunity arises."
Watching the protagonist leave, satisfied, Yue Du breathed a sigh of relief.
In truth, the current Xing Qingcang was probably much weaker than his counterpart at this point in the original plot... After all, her host had wiped out all the Chaos Factions and mutated creatures he could have used for "leveling up."
Then again, perhaps that was the Main System's goal: empower the villain, weaken the protagonist?
If she followed that line of reasoning, the ultimate mission would likely be to replace Xing Qingcang as the leader of humanity and guide them toward a more prosperous future.
Even if the exact requirements differed slightly, they wouldn't stray too far from that. Otherwise, why call it the Villain Awakening Project?
But that was likely a long way off. After all, the chaotic era had only begun a little over a year ago.
Yue Du shook her head, smiling at herself for thinking too far ahead.
It was best to focus on the present.
But—
If an accident could be foreseen, it wouldn't be called an accident.
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