Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Smoke hung thick over the Old City District of Yunlan City.

In the living room on the first floor of Qin Ying’s house, Tom and Jerry was playing on the TV.

The sofa cushions had been laid flat, and a furry little nest of red Hou was squeezed into them.

There were over a hundred Hou in all, and the flattened cushions made perfect theater seats for them.

Next to them lay Huodou, who looked utterly uninterested, though its eyes kept sneaking sideways glances at the screen.

Fuzhu, meanwhile, was sprawled on the coffee table. Qin Ying had cut it a slice of apple, and it sat beside the apple, having already gnawed a missing crescent out of it.

The white deer Fuzhu had atrocious table manners. Its loud smacking noises echoed through the room along with the music from the TV.

Qin Ying was in the bathroom, soaking in the tub while applying a repair mask to her face.

Her newly molted skin was simply too tender. After one trip through those smoke-choked, fire-scorched streets, it had started turning red and itchy the moment she got home.

When she had soaked enough, changed into clean clothes, and came out, she heard movement downstairs.

Thinking the group watching TV had gotten restless, she hurried downstairs.

Halfway down the stairs, however, she ran into Han Lie holding a broom.

He was currently in human form, wearing the beach shorts and tank top Qin Ying had bought him. Over them, he had thrown on a long Black Trench Coat, and on his feet were blue plastic slippers.

It should have been an extremely ridiculous outfit, but his figure and looks were so unfairly good that he somehow wore it like a runway model.

Qin Ying looked at him, then at the broom in his hand, and asked hesitantly, “You… what are you doing?”

Han Lie did not answer. He took Qin Ying by the hand and led her to the sofa, motioning for her to sit.

Qin Ying turned her head just in time to see Tom’s owner on the TV grumbling while cleaning the house.

If she looked a little closer, she could also see that the dust on the first floor had already been swept clean. Only, instead of being dumped into the trash can, the black ash had been swept into a pile by the door.

“You learned it from that?”

This kid. He really did still notice what needed doing!

Han Lie nodded, pointed at the scene on the TV, then lifted the broom in his hand.

His eyes were asking Qin Ying where he had still fallen short.

After being burned, Qin Ying had rarely heard him speak.

The only time he had spoken fluently was when Han Lie had seemed to regain his intelligence and mentioned the Chimei Skin.

Qin Ying could not quite tell whether he was clearheaded right now or still muddled.

The two of them stared foolishly at each other for a while.

Qin Ying decided to teach Han Lie how to use the floor scrubber in the laundry room.

“People hardly use brooms now. We use this.”

“When you hear the female voice prompt saying it needs the water changed, put it back at the base station… back into this dock. It will automatically clean itself and change the water.”

Han Lie crouched beside her, studying with extreme seriousness, looking as though he only regretted not having a little notebook to take notes in.

Once she saw that he had genuinely learned it, Qin Ying raised a hand and pressed it to his shoulder. “All right, then. The task of cleaning the Supreme Deity’s temple is now yours.”

With that, she put a floral apron on Han Lie and stuffed two dusting cloths into the apron pocket. “If you see dust anywhere, wipe it down while you’re at it.”

“Once you’re done cleaning, I’ll treat you to a late-night snack!”

Han Lie gave an extremely resolute “Mm” and got to work.

Shamelessly, Qin Ying washed herself an apple, sat down beside the sofa, and watched cartoons with the little ones.

When she said she would treat him to a late-night snack, she really did order a lot of takeout.

Seeing her come over, Fuzhu began acting spoiled. A great deal of white mist puffed from its mouth, filling the entire room with the scent of apples.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang.

Qin Ying assumed it was the delivery driver and shuffled over in her slippers to open the courtyard gate.

But as soon as the door opened a crack, she froze completely.

Standing outside was Qin Zhiguo, covered in gray dust.

“U-Uncle, why are you here?”

On a holiday like the Ghost Festival, Qin Zhiguo would definitely be on standby for joint defense duty.

Qin Ying had never expected him to show up at her door at a time like this.

Qin Zhiguo was covered in ash from head to toe. He clenched a fist and coughed twice. “I was assisting with defense in the south of the city, so I took a moment to come see how you were doing.”
He knew someone from the Cultural Preservation Institute had been severely burned in the incident on the island at the water park.

He had called Qin Ying, but no one had picked up. He had come to her door twice and still hadn’t seen her.

He’d been worried sick for ages, afraid that the unlucky victim with the severe burns just so happened to be his unfortunate niece.

Today, he had come by again to check on her. When he saw the lights on, he rang the doorbell.

He had planned to take one look and leave, but he caught the split second of guilt that flashed across Qin Ying’s face.

Seeing her hiding behind the crack in the door and refusing to come out, Qin Zhiguo immediately panicked. “Are you hurt? Open the door!”

He had been a criminal police officer for years, and when he wasn’t paying attention, his voice tended to get a little loud.

Qin Ying was still trying to come up with a lie so she could go back in first and hide the Hou, Huodou, and the rest.

But hurried footsteps sounded behind her. Han Lie appeared at her back with a damp rag in his hand, standing there like a door god.

Huodou also shot out of its nest, a tiny little thing baring its teeth at Qin Zhiguo.

Qin Zhiguo, standing outside the courtyard gate, froze completely.

His gaze swept over Han Lie’s clothes and slippers twice.

Then he looked at the barking Huodou.

“Well!”

“Qin Ying, you…”

For a moment, Qin Zhiguo didn’t know whether to be angry or laugh.

It had only been two days, and his niece was already over her heartbreak and had even gotten a new dog.

By the light of the streetlamp, Han Lie looked to have a pretty solid build, miles better than Qin Ying’s crappy ex.

Qin Zhiguo licked his lips and finally said, “As long as you’re not hurt, that’s all that matters. I won’t come in.”

“Wait, Uncle.”

How could Qin Ying let him leave just like that? She hurriedly said, “Don’t rush off. Stay and have a late-night snack with us. There’s something I want to ask you.”

“Give me one minute. I need to tidy up a few things inside.”

She whirled around and went back into the house, scooped up the nest of Hou and Fuzhu on the living room cushions, and carried them all upstairs to the bedroom.

When she came back down, it had indeed only taken one minute.

“Uncle, have some water.” Noticing that Qin Zhiguo kept coughing, Qin Ying poured him a cup of warm water.

When she introduced Han Lie, she hesitated for a moment before saying, “This is my friend.”

“He’s pretty quiet and doesn’t talk much.”

“Han Lie, this is my uncle.”

After the introduction, Qin Ying inserted herself between the two of them, separating them as much as possible to minimize contact.

“Han Lie, go do whatever you were doing.” Qin Ying stuffed Huodou, who was extremely hostile toward other humans, into Han Lie’s arms.

Watching Han Lie walk away with the dog, Qin Zhiguo looked him up and down.

When he saw the Black Trench Coat Han Lie was wearing, he assumed the young man was from the Cultural Preservation Bureau, and his brows knitted tightly.

But when he saw how hardworking Han Lie was, wiping windows and sweeping the floor in a floral apron, his brows loosened again.

After this happened several times, he sighed and said to Qin Ying in a low, earnest voice, “It’s good to date a few more people while you’re young.”

“You have to try things and see the world. Otherwise, what’s the point of being young?”

“But remember, we should only enjoy the good parts. We can’t let ourselves get taken advantage of.”

Hearing him get more and more off track, Qin Ying hurriedly interrupted, “Uncle.”

“I asked you here because of something serious.”

“Today, when I was burning paper offerings for Grandma in the south of the city, I ran into Huang Jun.”

Qin Zhiguo’s brows shot up. “That kid’s out of prison?”

“Counting it up, he must have been out for almost a year now.”

“What, did he cause trouble for you?”

Qin Ying nodded. “He said he was going to repay me.”

Qin Zhiguo’s expression sank at once. “A dog can’t stop eating shit.”

Qin Ying stated her purpose. “This is a society ruled by law. We can’t throw him back in prison just because he said something that sounded like a threat.”

“I want to ask you to help me look into his situation. When he got out, how he behaved in prison, what kind of work he’s doing now.”

Qin Ying pressed the fruit knife against the apple and used the leverage to start peeling it, lowering her lashes to hide the coldness in her eyes. “That way, I can be prepared.”