Chapter 171: Cute Daughter! The Queen Can Also Act Cute! The Fourth Daughter Returns:
It felt like discovering a whole new world.
Xu Feiyan stared at Yan Wumei in shock.
Yan Wumei, noticing her gaze, felt utterly embarrassed. Her image in front of her close friend had been completely ruined. However, if she could get ice cream from Xu Hao, it would all be worth it.
Xu Hao didn’t let her down. He took out two more ice creams from his personal space.
"Thank you, Uncle Xu..."
"Dad, you’re the best!"
The two girls took the ice creams happily, walked to the side, and enjoyed them with great delight.
Xu Feiyan looked at Yan Wumei and said, "Sister Yan, you were so cute just now..."
The once noble and aloof queen had turned into an adorable little girl. The contrast was simply too cute. Yan Wumei blinked in confusion and responded blankly, "Feiyan, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
"You were just holding Dad's hand..." Seeing Yan Wumei still pretending to be clueless, Xu Feiyan decided not to say more. Clearly, this girl wanted to act innocent and pretend nothing had happened.
"Hehe... Stop acting, you little vixen. I saw everything," Xu Feiyan sneered, rolling her eyes. "If you bully me again, I'll expose your little secret."
"What secret? What are you even talking about? I don’t understand a thing," Yan Wumei replied, feigning innocence.
Xu Feiyan gritted her teeth in frustration. "Alright, alright, next time I’ll make sure to record it!"
After finishing their ice creams, the girls felt a noticeable boost in their strength.
Their eyes lit up with excitement, and they eagerly found Xu Hao again, asking for more.
However, this time, Xu Hao firmly refused.
He gave Yan Wumei a knowing glance, as if to say, "I still have some, but it depends on your performance."
Yan Wumei rolled her eyes at him but felt relieved.
As long as he still had more, she would have no problem visiting the study a few more times.
In the distance, Luo Yan was clinging to a wall, his eyes red with envy. He watched every detail closely. Seeing Yan Wumei holding Xu Hao’s hand and acting so affectionately just for ice cream made his blood boil.
"Are you still a child? You compromised for a snack and even took the initiative to flirt. Is that ice cream laced with something?" Luo Yan's thoughts ran wild.
He had been back in the city for half a year and had never seen Yan Wumei act so childish. If someone had told him before that she would behave like this with anyone, he wouldn’t have believed it.
But now, seeing it with his own eyes, he had no choice but to accept the reality.
"Could there be something wrong with the ice cream?" A sudden realization hit him. He had never understood how Yan Wumei, with her queenly demeanor, had grown so close to Xu Hao in just a few days. It seemed completely unrealistic.
He clenched his fists, veins bulging in anger. "She must have been drugged..."
[Ding! Luo Yan’s mentality exploded, emotional points +951.]
As the sun set, marking the end of the day, Yan Wumei was still immersed in the joy of her improved strength. But for Luo Yan, the day had been nothing short of torture. It felt like an eternity.
Finally, the day was over.
He had to wait for Yan Wumei to come out and confront her. He needed to know why she was so close to Xu Hao.
Was she drugged? Was she forced?
He expected Yan Wumei to leave immediately after her lessons, just like before. But to his surprise, she accepted Su Wanqiu’s invitation and stayed for dinner at Xu’s house.
In the past, she had always refused because she felt awkward facing Xu Hao. But after spending so much time with him, she no longer felt any hesitation. She had already done things she shouldn’t have... There was no reason to worry anymore.
However, when facing Xu Hao’s wife and daughters, Yan Wumei still felt a pang of guilt.
After enjoying a warm meal with the Xu family, Yan Wumei prepared to leave.
"Wumei, it’s getting late. Why don’t you stay the night and rest?" Su Wanqiu offered kindly.
Being six months pregnant, Su Wanqiu had been relying on her daughter’s best friend, Xiao Wanling, to handle Xu Hao. But even with Xiao Wanling’s help, she felt it was too much.
Yan Wumei’s presence could be useful.
"No... no, I have things to take care of," Yan Wumei stammered, noticing Su Wanqiu’s meaningful gaze. Her heart raced in panic, and without waiting for another word, she hurriedly left the villa.
Once outside, Yan Wumei patted her chest in relief.
She couldn’t help but worry. "Did Su Wanqiu suspect something?" But thinking it over, she reassured herself. "No way. If she really knew what happened between me and Xu Hao, she would have kicked me out long ago..."
Just as she reached her car and was about to get in, a dark shadow suddenly appeared. Lost in her thoughts and startled by the sudden figure in the darkness, she instinctively lashed out with a powerful kick.
"D..."
Luo Yan hadn't expected her to attack him. Caught off guard and unable to react in time, he was sent flying with a single kick.
The voice sounded familiar, and Yan Wumei looked at the figure on the ground in surprise. Her kick had not been light.
Luo Yan struggled to get up. "It's me. Are you trying to kill me?"
"Why are you here?" Yan Wumei recognized him and frowned slightly.
Luo Yan looked at her with pain in his eyes. "Wumei, didn't I tell you? Xu Hao is a sinister man. Teaching you martial arts is just an excuse—he's actually taking advantage of you. His intentions are not good. Why are you still with him?"
Yan Wumei didn’t agree.
Was Xu Hao trying to take advantage of her?
Maybe, maybe not.
Xu Hao’s teaching method involved close interaction, not just with her but also with his daughters. He hugged and kissed them daily but never crossed the line. That was why he reacted so differently to her—because she wasn’t his daughter. She had confirmed this herself, which reassured her about following Xu Hao’s training.
Besides, even if Xu Hao had ulterior motives, she had no choice.
Red Rose was her years of hard work, and she treated her subordinates like sisters. If Red Rose fell into the hands of two major forces, what would happen to them?
She couldn’t bear to think of how they might be bullied.
Whether for herself or for the sake of her sisters in Red Rose, she had to become stronger. To strengthen herself, Xu Hao was her only hope.
After eating the snacks he gave her, she felt more confident in her abilities.
Luo Yan’s tone was filled with disappointment. He had warned Yan Wumei several times about Xu Hao’s true nature, but she never listened. In the end, she had still fallen into Xu Hao's grasp. He wanted to argue, but Yan Wumei interrupted him coldly.
"I came to see Uncle Xu. What does it have to do with you?"
Luo Yan was stunned.
The words he had prepared were stuck in his throat.
He stared at her in disbelief.
Did he hear correctly?
Yan Wumei actually called Xu Hao "Uncle"?
Was this a joke?
She was the queen of the underground world, the goddess in the hearts of countless people. She was over thirty years old—was it really appropriate to call him uncle?
Yan Wumei realized she had misspoken. She had been calling him that daily and it had slipped out. Though she felt a bit awkward, she maintained her composure and changed the topic.
"I'm only here to learn from Xu Hao. We have a professional teaching relationship."
Professional? Luo Yan was furious.
"A normal relationship? Hugging each other every day? Going into the villa together and coming out with wrinkled clothes and faded lipstick? Is that how you normally eat snacks? Holding his arm, acting coy—does that look normal to you?"
Luo Yan's anger and heartbreak grew. This was the woman he liked, and the thought of her being with another man made it hard to breathe.
Yan Wumei's expression shifted slightly. "Did you see everything?"
No wonder Luo Yan believed their relationship had gone further than it actually had. He must have guessed what happened inside the villa. She felt ashamed, but since it was Luo Yan, it didn’t matter. She never liked him anyway.
Taking a deep breath, she looked at Luo Yan coldly, her disgust growing.
"You call Xu Hao a sinister villain, but aren't you even worse?"
Luo Yan's breath hitched, and he protested, "I came to protect you, to stop Xu Hao from taking advantage of you."
Yan Wumei scoffed. "When Qinglongtang and the Batian Gang surrounded Red Rose, where were you? I’ve been with Xu Hao all this time—why didn’t I see you protecting me then?"
Luo Yan fell silent. He wanted to save Red Rose back then, but he had been severely injured and bedridden. Even now, he hadn’t recovered enough to face Xu Hao.
"At that time, Xu Hao beat me..." Luo Yan started, but Yan Wumei cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"Enough. Stay out of my business. I don’t want to see you again. From tomorrow on, disappear from my sight and stay far away."
Without waiting for a response, she got into her car, stepped on the accelerator, and sped off with a sharp whistle.
Luo Yan stood there in a daze, his face filled with despair.
[Ding! Luo Yan's mentality exploded, emotional value +999.]
[Ding! Luo Yan's mind suffered a breakdown, emotional value +1000.]
…
On a mountain outside Magic City, in a small courtyard—
"Master, Master! I've finally mastered the Taiyi Divine Needle!" A lively and cheerful young girl ran out of the house excitedly. She rushed to a mature woman sipping tea in the yard and grabbed her hand, shaking it enthusiastically.
The mature woman, who exuded an ethereal charm, put down her teacup helplessly. "Alright, alright... You just learned the Taiyi Divine Needle. What's there to be so excited about?"
Despite her words, she couldn’t hide the smile on her face.
Before taking Xu Qingxue as her apprentice, she had already trained three others. Each had their own strengths. The eldest apprentice closely resembled her in character and inherited her superb medical skills. The second was naturally gifted in martial arts, and she had passed on all her techniques to him. The third apprentice excelled in music, inheriting her artistic accomplishments.
With these three apprentices, she was already satisfied...
Unexpectedly, Xu Shiqing, who was introduced to her by the eldest apprentice, turned out to have an even more remarkable talent for medicine. His martial arts abilities surpassed those of the second apprentice, and his musical skills were also impressive. It made her feel like she had discovered a true treasure. Over the years, she had carefully taught him, and today, he had finally completed his studies.
The beautiful, fairy-like master smiled and said, "I promised you long ago that once you master the Taiyi Divine Needle, you could leave the mountain. Pack your things and head home tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Xu Qingxue’s excitement gradually faded, and a sense of reluctance filled her heart. She had spent nearly two years in the mountains, living closely with her master. She had grown attached to every plant and tree around her. If possible, she would have loved to stay with her master forever. However, she had to leave. Her sisters back home were in trouble, having been misled by Xu Hao. She had to return and help them.
On the other side—
In another mountain, inside a dimly lit room, a young man was engrossed in reading a few books under the moonlight filtering through the window. His eyes shone with fascination.
Bang!
Suddenly, the window was flung open with force. The young man was startled and quickly stashed away the booklets.
"Old man, why are you sneaking around in the middle of the night, scaring people like a ghost?" he complained, frowning.
Outside the window stood an elderly man with sharp, cunning eyes and a mischievous expression.
"I knew you were up to no good in the middle of the night. I hid those obscene books, but you still managed to find them!" the old man accused.
"Now that your medical skills surpass mine, don't you know that reading too much of those things is bad for your health?"
"Who said I was reading obscene books?" the young man argued. "I was merely studying with a righteous heart. You're a medical expert and yet you don't understand the balance of yin and yang?"
"Your hands are what you call the balance of yin and yang?" the old man scoffed, his face darkening.
Waving his hand dismissively, he continued, "Enough! You’re already skilled enough. Leave the mountain tomorrow and stop irritating me every day. Go to the city and deal with your junior sisters."
"Old man, do I really have four junior sisters? And are they really beautiful?" Luo Yan asked curiously.
"Of course! How could my junior sisters have bad taste?" the old man replied proudly.
"Really? You always boast about having a junior sister who is as beautiful as a fairy... But you've been chasing her for decades without success. Are you lying to me?" the young man teased.
"When have I ever lied to you?" the old man retorted indignantly.
Suddenly, his face darkened, and he snapped angrily, "Who said I haven't chased her for decades?"
"Hehe... You drank too much and talked in your sleep. I heard everything," the young man said with a grin.
"Nonsense! I'm not, I didn't!" the old man fumed, lunging at the young man.
But the young man dodged swiftly, running off as the whole place erupted into chaos.