Chapter 391 - 339: Related Matters
Chapter 391: Chapter 339: Related Matters
After leaving the Gu family’s home that day, Xiao Man returned to the Tang family residence to grab a few things. Then, she and Hao Hao said goodbye to Grandma Tang and took a car to school.
She first dropped Hao Hao off at Kyoto University before heading back to the Medical College she was attending. Xiao Man probed the area with her consciousness and discovered that the school’s east and west gates were locked. Only the main gate was open, and in the guardhouse next to it sat two women: Lin Aizhen and Wu Xiaowen.
Xiao Man sneered and had the driver stop near the west gate. She got out, looked both ways, and when there were few people around, she jumped straight over the wall. She walked briskly back to her dorm building. ’If that mother-daughter pair wants to wait, then let them sit there and wait.’
’So what if they came to her door? Even if the whole world thought she was unreasonable and unfilial, Xiao Man would rather bear that reputation than treat Lin Aizhen.’
She even regretted listening to Hao Hao’s advice last time and preparing that medicine for Wu Yu Xuan.
Maternal grandparents—the words were supposed to evoke kindness and affection. Xiao Man had never experienced it in her past life, and she didn’t expect to in this one. The moment Wu Yu Xuan and Lin Aizhen appeared before her, they completely shattered her idealized image of what grandparents should be.
Back when Xiao Man first arrived in Beijing for university, everything was still unfamiliar. Led by Wu Xiaowen, that pair came to her school almost every week, pestering her endlessly. It wasn’t just to acknowledge their granddaughter. Wu Yu Xuan would be all smiles, his gaze fervent, heaping praise on her—"Just as I expected of my granddaughter, so beautiful!"—but after a few words, he would pivot to the subject of jade carvings. Everything he said, both overtly and between the lines, was a demand for Xiao Man to hand the carvings over to her grandfather for safekeeping. Lin Aizhen’s gaze did contain some affection, but Xiao Man saw far more appraisal and calculation in it, as if she were being weighed on a scale. The more she was worth, the thicker the kindness and joy in that gaze became!
Xiao Man did not like that feeling.
’Since I’ve severed my mother-daughter relationship with Wu Xiaowen, Wu Yu Xuan and Lin Aizhen are strangers to me. I have no obligation to treat Lin Aizhen.’
Lin Aizhen was already in a hospital with a dedicated doctor to treat and monitor her. Her condition wasn’t serious and could be controlled with conventional medicine and proper recuperation. But she refused to cooperate with her doctors and insisted on running around everywhere. If something happened, she would have no one to blame but herself.
In any case, Xiao Man had set up a special ward just for these few from the Wu Family. As long as she willed it, they couldn’t even dream of approaching her on campus. Thus, Xiao Man returned to her dorm with a clear conscience and started another week of quiet, peaceful studies.
Over the past six months, aside from being harassed by the Wu Family a few times, Xiao Man’s life at school had been nothing but peaceful and calm.
Every day, besides attending classes, doing research at the library, and grabbing a bite at the cafeteria, she would slip away to one of several spots on campus lush with trees and aquatic plants. She would sit there quietly, a book by her side as a cover, while she was actually seizing the time for her Cultivation.
She had chosen these spots long ago because they had a bit of Spiritual Energy lingering and circulating. She set up a Spirit Gathering Array in each one to gather the ambient energy, amassing enough for her own Cultivation.
The school dorms were crowded with too many prying eyes, so to avoid discovery, Xiao Man would only enter the Treasure Pearl Space with her consciousness, never her physical body.
Her roommates adored their "little sister." Even though Xiao Man was more than capable of taking care of herself, she was often forced to accept their "help"—filling her thermos, fetching hot water, or getting her meals. If she wasn’t paying attention, someone would have already done it for her. The chore list made by the dorm leader didn’t even have her name on it. They claimed that making such a delicate, doll-like girl sweep the floor and wipe tables was an absolute waste, and they couldn’t bear the thought! After Xiao Man’s vehement protests, they all laughed and agreed to put her on the schedule. But when her turn finally came, there was nothing left for her to do; the chores had all been snatched up and completed.
Resigned, Xiao Man could only repay their kindness in her own way. When she went home for the weekend, she would return with food and drinks for her roommates, laced with a bit of spiritual spring water. It guaranteed they would all stay healthy, full of energy, and not get easily fatigued from their studies.
It seemed all teachers loved students like Xiao Man: studious, quiet, and obedient. She was as beautiful and pure as a lotus flower, freshly bloomed and dotted with morning dew. Almost every professor and instructor who had taught Xiao Man gave her extra, well-meaning attention. As she walked around campus, she attracted the gazes of boys wherever she went. Perhaps because she was so young, her male classmates could joke around and keep her company without issue. But it was as if all the other boys in her year and the upperclassmen had an unspoken agreement: they could look at Xiao Man all they wanted, but if anyone tried to use an excuse to approach and hit on her, they would immediately be bombarded by countless death glares from all corners, forcing the would-be suitor to beat a hasty retreat!
Even the girls who were naturally prone to jealousy were mostly friendly toward Xiao Man; few showed any hostility. This was likely another benefit of her youth.
In short, Xiao Man was very satisfied with the university she had entered on her own merit and with her current academic life.
Jun Ran had once publicly questioned Xiao Man’s ability to get into Kyoto Medical University at a youth gathering. She had even dragged over a doctor who had supposedly studied abroad to grill Xiao Man with questions. Xiao Man couldn’t be bothered with them and simply shot Jun Ran a contemptuous look. ’Who do you think you are? It’s not your place to comment on my abilities.’
Tang Haocheng’s brain may have been wired differently, which was why he was a child prodigy. Xiao Man, despite sharing his bloodline, admitted she couldn’t compare. However, as long as she concentrated, her own learning ability and memory were superb. This wasn’t entirely because of the food and spiritual spring water from the Treasure Pearl Space—she knew this from personal experience, having gone through a three-year information blitz in her past life!
Her ability to compress five years of secondary school into two and skip ahead to university in this life was due to several factors. First, she had already stepped onto the Cultivation Path, so her comprehension was beyond ordinary and her memory was several times better than before. Second, she had the meticulous guidance of her tutors, Mr. Cheng and Mr. Fan, plus Hao Hao had given her private lessons for nearly a year. Finally, the high school curriculum from her past life was far more complex and profound than the two-year high school system of her current one. In fact, when she recalled that knowledge, much of it was too advanced to even be useful.
On Wednesday evening of that week, Grandpa Tang and Grandma Tang came to pick up Xiao Man, after which they went to get Tang Haocheng. In the car, Grandpa Tang explained that with Mr. Tang’s wedding just around the corner, they were expecting guests over the weekend. Everyone would be swamped with wedding preparations, so they needed to talk to Xiao Man about something in advance.
Xiao Man knew in her heart this must be related to the last time at the Gu family’s home, when Gu Shaoling and Tian Sisi had called her a "jinx."
In fact, Shaozheng and Shao Jin had already visited on Monday. They brought a load of snacks and supplies to her dorm and bought her two new wool coats in different styles, both of which looked beautiful on her. Finally, they took her out for Sichuan hot pot and, while they were out, told her how the Gu family had punished Gu Shaoling and Tian Sisi.
This time, Grandpa Tang told her about the investigation into the gossips under the old locust tree in West Head Alley. And, just as Xiao Man had suspected, the malicious rumors about her had been orchestrated by none other than Jun Ran.