Clunk clunk clunk…

Ge Ming banged against a basin he was holding to, shouting, “Time to eat! Let's eat!”

The children swarmed towards the canteen. A newcomer boy fell down and started wailing out loud.

Li Xiaoyu stood beside the little boy, speaking in a mature manner, “You're a boy, you have to get up by yourself after falling down. But if you give me 50 cents, I can help you up.”

“I have no money, boohoo…” the little boy wailed even louder.

“The most painful thing in the world is to be penniless,” Li Xiaoyu shook her head and walked away.

From afar, Ning Tao was watching as he smiled wryly and shook his head. He could not imagine what kind of person a child like Li Xiaoyu would grow up to be.

Qing Zhui came to Ning Tao's side. “Brother Ning, I've sent the patient away. I gave him a hundred thousand dollars. His family is really in a difficult situation, they don't even have any proper home appliance.”

A grin appeared on Ning Tao's lips. “You've gone a good deed, but your sister would have to start nagging again.”

Qing Zhui smiled saying, “Who cares about her?”

Ning Tao said, “At this rate, your sins will be slowly reduced, and you'll soon not have to be afraid of entering the clinic.”

“Yup,” Qing Zhui nodded.

“Time to eat!” Su Ya suddenly shouted fiercely.

Ning Tao looked over. A distance of about ten steps away, Su Ya was looking at him and Qing Zhui, as if they were her enemies. He smiled and walked over. Speaking gently, “Su Ya, how is the progress of your nursing studies?”

Su Ya pouted. “You haven't even been teaching me, so how much could I have progressed?”

“I'll teach you when I have the time,” Ning Tao said.

Su Ya did not keep up with her sullen expression and finally smiled. “As long as you come back to visit often enough, I can do it slowly alone too.”

Ning Tao said smilingly, “You're my younger sister. Ge Ming is my childhood friend. This is like my home, I will definitely come back to visit often.”

A sense of disappointment flashed past in Su Ya's eyes. She fancied Ning Tao, but he had only seen her as a younger sister. Furthermore, there was no way of changing this relations.h.i.+p no matter how hard she tried.

Qing Zhui came over and greeted warmly, “h.e.l.lo, sister.”

The way Qing Zhui had called her had slightly surprised Su Ya. Ning Tao called her sister, and this Qing Zhui also called her sister. Could it be?

“Should I call you sister-in-law?” Su Ya probed, as she observed Ning Tao and Qing Zhui's reactions.

Qing Zhui smiled shyly and stared softly at Ning Tao.

Ning Tao said with a smile, “You may if you like to.”

Qing Zhui had grown excited instantly, her gaze cast on Ning Tao looked like it was overflowing with emotions. This was Ning Tao's first time openly acknowledging his relations.h.i.+p with her. As his destined concubine, it was as clear as day how elated she was.

Su Ya's heart felt like it was p.r.i.c.ked on, but she still forced a smile on her face. “h.e.l.lo, sister-in-law.”

Qing Zhui was stunned for a moment, then quickly responded. She removed a golden hairpin from her head and stuck it into Su Ya's hair. “It's our first meeting. You're calling me your sister-in-law so I should give you a red packet. But it's a pity I don't have one with me, so take this hairpin which was once worn by the Empress Dowager Cixi as a red packet from this sister-in-law of yours.”

Su Ya was stunned. Her heart broke too.

This sister-in-law was not only a great beauty, but her bosoms were bigger than her. The main point was that she was a rich beautiful lady, who could afford to casually gift her a golden hairpin worn by Empress Dowager Cixi. She did not know whether the provenance was true, but at least it was real gold. What did she have to compete with her? A sense of defeat was overwhelming her. She felt so awful that she could cry.

Ning Tao sighed internally. “It's better for me to hurt you now than in the future.” But on the surface, he said, “Qing Zhui, was that hairpin really worn by Empress Dowager Cixi?”

Qing Zhui said smilingly, “Of course. Back then, my sister… my sister still has a lot of these. I'll just go back and get another one from her.”

Ning Tao said lightheartedly, “She complains about being poor to me, yet she has millions worth of a.s.sets. What kind of family is she?”

Actually, Ning Tao was not surprised at all. Bai Jing and Qing Zhui were demons who had lived for hundreds of years. How would it be strange for them to own a few pieces of antiques? For example, the sisters could have visited the market on a certain day during Qing Dynasty, saw a flower vase and purchased it at a low price, but it would have become a priceless antique today!

“Then… thank you, sister-in-law,” Su Ya finally calmed down. She was a strong girl. Even though she was only 18, losing her parents at a young age and having to live independently had made her more mature than her peers. She understood that love could not be forced. She had suddenly thought it through, that it was not too bad having a brother like Ning Tao and such a beautiful and generous sister-in-law.

Right then, Ge Ming walked over, and exclaimed, “How long more are you guys going to chat? The food is getting cold. Seriously, you're not even enthusiastic about eating, how different are you from salted fish?”

Su Ya glared and reb.u.t.ted, “You're the salted fis.h.!.+”

Ge Ming rolled his eyes. “So be it. Even if I were a salted fish, I would be the saltiest one.”

Qing Zhui burst out laughing. She had rarely interacted with people, thus such humor was novel to her.

Ge Ming was stunned. AT that moment, he felt that Qing Zhui was like a fairy that had walked right out from the paintings.

Su Ya scolded fiercely, “What are you looking at? This is my sister-in-law, quick, call her sister-in-law.”

Ge Ming smiled, “Tao, how could you hide something like this from me.” He paused then looked at Qing Zhui. His look was a lot more proper. “h.e.l.lo, sister-in-law.”

Qing Zhui acknowledged and was about to reach out to her head.

Ning Tao grabbed onto her hand and said, “Let's go, and let's try Chef Ge's food.”

If Li Xiaoyu knew that calling Qing Zhui sister-in-law would get her a red packet, she could summon the entire orphanage out to call Qing Zhui sister-in-law. Would she then not become bankrupt at that rate?

As they were walking, Ning Tao whispered into Su Ya's ear, “The golden hairpin your sister-in-law gave you had indeed been worn by Empress Dowager Cixi. Keep it well and take it out in the future only if you really need it. Don't stupidly sell it off by weight at the gold shop.”

Su Ya pursed her lips. “Yeah, I'm not stupid… brother.”

She had called him “brother” so naturally, it seemed like she had gotten over it.

After dinner, Ning Tao and Qing Zhui left the canteen. Right after the both of them left, Ge Ming and Su Ya followed closely behind them, peeking behind the walls.

“Su Ya, do you think Miss Qing is already living together with Tao?” Ge Ming whispered.

Su Ya rolled her eyes at Ge Ming. “They're already holding hands together at dinner. How could they not be sleeping together already? I've prepared a room for sister-in-law, but I bet that she'll go to my brother's room instead.”

“Yo, when did you start calling him brother instead?” Ge Ming asked in shock.

“None of your business!”

“Hehe, then do I stand a chance now?”

“Scram!”

Ge Ming did not get angry. At this point, Qing Zhui followed Ning Tao into his room, and he was immediately entertained. “They're really sleeping together. I'm going to listen to what they're doing, do you want to go?”

Yet Su Ya was even more anxious than Ge Ming and had already gone ahead, approaching Ning Tao's room.

Ge Ming followed behind Su Ya, coming to in front of Ning Tao's room. He followed Su Ya, putting his face against the door, trying to listen from inside the room.

Inside the room, Ning Tao was whispering into Qing Zhui's ear.

Qing Zhui blushed. Nevertheless, she bit her lips and nodded.

Ning Tao sat on the bed and repeatedly pressed again the mattress, the springs inside made creaking noises.

Qing Zhui inhaled, and let out a string of noises. “Unf… unf… ah… oh…”

Outside the room, Su Ya's heart ached and left in silence. Even though she had already accepted Qing Zhui and started calling Ning Tao her brother, but she still had her soft side deep down. Who could possibly let it go so easily?

Ge Ming followed after her. “Su Ya, shall we have some beer together? We can chat.”

Su Ya contemplated for a moment, then nodded.

Inside the room, Ning Tao stopped pressing the bed with his b.u.t.t. “They've left.”

Qing Zhui had also stopped the moaning. She said with a face blushed red, “Brother Ning, why do we need to pretend… you can do it for real…”

Ning Tao quickly changed the conversation topic. “We should get moving. Your sister and Senior Yin are still waiting for us at the House of Sword Pavilion Cave. I'll take you to the Feminine-moon City first, then bring your sister and Senior Yin there from the House of Sword Pavilion Cave.”

It was a show put up for Su Ya, to make her believe that Qing Zhui was really her sister-in-law. However, Ning Tao had yet been prepared for the performance to be made real. Actually, if Qing Zhui were not a snake demon, he would probably have done it a long time ago.

Being able to stay chaste for 20-odd years was, in fact, a power of self-restraint. If he could not keep to it, he would never be able to hold up against the temptation of his enemies. The reason he had become so accomplished in the journey of becoming a cultivating doctor within such a short timeframe, had very much to do with his super-strong willpower.

Having prepared shortly after, Ning Tao opened a convenient door, then charged right into the Sky Clinic with Qing Zhui in his arms.

The good-evil tripod looked frustrated, but there was no sound of the “heavenly thunder” this time. Over the past days, Qing Zhui had been doing good continuously, and the sins she carried had been reduced. Thus, the degree of repression had also reduced significantly. However, Qing Zhui was still feeling uncomfortable, she curled up in Ning Tao's embrace, trembling non-stop. Ning Tao did not dare to delay any longer. He did not stay, and immediately opened the convenient door to the Feminine-moon City and rushed right through it.

Once through the convenient door, they landed in the secret chamber below the ruins of the palace. It was pitch-black and also completely silent.

Ning Tao used his special spiritual power to help relieve Qing Zhui's discomfort from the repression. This time, she had also taken much faster to recover.

“Brother Ning, I'm okay now. Go fetch sister and Senior Yin. I'll wait for you here,” Qing Zhui said.

“Then you stay here and don't go anywhere else. I'll be back soon,” Ning Tao urged, then left after unlocking the blood lock.

After the convenient door disappeared, the secret chamber beneath the ruins returned to a deathly silence.

A few seconds later, a strange sound resounded in the dark secret chamber. “Unf, unf… unf…”

After the string of odd voices, Qing Zhui shook her head. “Not good. Not natural at all. I'll have to ask Sister to teach me, and keep practicing.”