Chapter 4

Jiang Li and Lin Luoxuan stared in wide-eyed astonishment. Ning Qingxue's reaction, her entire demeanor... she was not mad at all. Was she... truly awake, just as Ning Chen had said?! "Qingxue, how—how are you feeling?" Once the siblings had tearfully recognized each other, Lin Luoxuan could not help asking. "I'm fine." Ning Qingxue let go of Ning Chen. Her tear tracks were still wet, but she was smiling. However, she quickly turned her head away, covering her cheeks and dodging his gaze. "Little brother, don't look at me. Sister is very ugly right now, and I don't want to ruin the wonderful image of me you hold in your heart." A pang struck the bridge of Ning Chen's nose. "Sister, you're not ugly. You used to be the campus belle of Chuzhou University, and you're the most beautiful sister in my heart," he said softly. Before his sister, he possessed a softness unlike any other side of him. Lin Luoxuan hurriedly tugged at Ning Chen's sleeve and glared at him, signaling him to watch his words. Talk about bringing up a sore subject—at a time like this, mentioning that Ning Qingxue used to be the campus belle was practically ripping open her scars. The brother-in-law also signaled Ning Chen to drop the subject. Yet Ning Chen said, "I have a way to restore my sister's appearance to what it used to be." What? At these words, everyone's gaze instantly converged on Ning Chen. "Ning Chen, do you really have a way?" Lin Luoxuan asked eagerly. "Yes. Lend me your kitchen for ten minutes." Ning Chen turned and left the bedroom, heading toward the kitchen. "Jiang Li, take good care of Qingxue. I'm going to go see what he's up to." Lin Luoxuan immediately followed him out. The kitchen was clean and tidy, but likewise, it showed very little sign of being lived in. Clearly, Lin Luoxuan rarely cooked, and the kitchen was merely for show. But for Ning Chen, it was just right. "Do you have a clay pot?" Ning Chen asked. "I think so?" Unsure, Ning Qingxue immediately started rummaging through the cabinets to look. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, Ning Chen located the clay pot and took it out directly. "How did you know the clay pot was there?" Shock appeared on Lin Luoxuan's exquisite, aloof-beauty face. "I guessed," Ning Chen smiled. "Sister Luoxuan, you should go back out and pull the door shut for me." Looking suspiciously at Ning Chen, Lin Luoxuan had no idea what he was up to, but she didn't ask further. She turned and left to look after Ning Qingxue. Ning Chen took out medicinal herbs from his Storage Ring. These were herbs he had bought at a pharmacy before returning, specifically intended to refine an ointment for his sister that would help her recover her peerless looks. Eight minutes later. Ning Chen returned to the bedroom carrying the clay pot. "Huh, what is this?" Seeing that the clay pot was filled with a black, highly viscous substance that emitted a strange odor—while not exactly foul, it certainly wasn't pleasant either—Lin Luoxuan asked. "This is an ointment I concocted. Once applied to my sister's face, we just need to wait until tomorrow morning, and her appearance will be restored as good as new." As Ning Chen spoke, he directly applied the ointment from the clay pot onto his sister's cheeks. Ning Qingxue did not stop him. Soon, Ning Qingxue's face looked as though she had put on a layer of volcanic mud mask. Afterward, Ning Chen fetched gauze and wrapped it around his sister's face. "Ning Chen, will this... really work?" The rather silent Jiang Li finally spoke up, mainly afraid that Ning Chen was giving Ning Qingxue hope only for it to turn into disappointment later, delivering a devastating blow to her. "We'll know tomorrow." Ning Chen smiled. Then, seeing that there was still ointment left in the clay pot, he handed it to Lin Luoxuan. "Sister Luoxuan, there's some extra here. Would you like to try it?" Lin Luoxuan waved her hands repeatedly, stepping back and shaking her head. "Don't come begging me tomorrow to make you this kind of ointment," Ning Chen joked, his mood greatly improved and his spirits relaxed now that he had found his sister. "Absolutely not." Disliking the smell, Lin Luoxuan said with absolute certainty. "Then make sure you don't regret it." Since Lin Luoxuan didn't want it, Ning Chen tossed the remaining ointment into the trash can. "Rest assured, I will never regret it," Lin Luoxuan declared defiantly. "If I ever beg you to make this kind of ointment, I'll call you Daddy." "Fine." Ning Chen gave a strange smile. "Luoxuan, stop messing with my brother," Ning Qingxue interjected at this point. "Little brother, you can't stay in Chuzhou. Take advantage of the fact that no one has noticed your existence yet and leave Chuzhou immediately. Never come back." Her advice matched Lin Luoxuan's word for word. Ning Chen said, "Sister, I'm not leaving. I must get to the bottom of what happened back then."Ning Qingxue said anxiously, "No way! Chuzhou is far too dangerous for you! The only reason I'm still alive is that I used to be out of my mind, and with my disfigured face, I lived like a beggar, scraping by. Besides, being a woman, those big shots never cared whether I lived or died. But you're different. If they find out you're still alive and back in Chuzhou, they'll never let you go."

Seeing his sister so agitated, Ning Chen could only say, "Fine, then I'll stay in Chuzhou for half a month. Half a month from now is the seventh anniversary of Mom, Dad, and our uncles' deaths. I'll pay my respects at their graves before leaving."

By then, he would make all his enemies kneel before his parents' graves.

Ning Qingxue hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

After seven years apart, seeing each other again, her little brother had grown taller, more handsome, and more mature, giving her a strange sense of unfamiliarity. If she could, she also wanted to spend a few more days with Ning Chen.

Most importantly... it was the seventh anniversary of their parents' deaths!

Since Ning Chen wanted to pay his respects to their parents, how could she bear to drive him away?

"Then these next few days, stay at home and don't go out," Ning Qingxue instructed, warning him not to walk around outside and get recognized.

"Okay." Not wanting his sister to worry, Ning Chen nodded with a smile.

Afterward, he also found a chance to tell Lin Luoxuan not to mention what happened today at the old family estate, lest his sister worry.

This time, Lin Luoxuan didn't argue back.

Brother and sister reunited.

The atmosphere grew cheerful.

"I'll go cook to celebrate you two reuniting," brother-in-law Jiang Li said as he stood up.

...

Lin Luoxuan's apartment had two bedrooms and a living room.

Late at night.

Ning Qingxue and Jiang Li stayed in the second bedroom.

Ning Chen lay on the sofa.

Originally, Lin Luoxuan planned to share the master bedroom with Ning Qingxue and have him share the second bedroom with her brother-in-law, but Ning Chen was not used to sleeping in the same bed with another man, so he had volunteered to sleep on the sofa.

At that moment, Lin Luoxuan was taking a shower. Listening to the pattering sound of water coming from the bathroom, Ning Chen felt somewhat dazed.

It wasn't that he had wicked intentions toward Lin Luoxuan or was letting his imagination run wild.

Rather, he was wondering why their Ning Family had been wiped out all those years ago.

Native to Chuzhou, their family wasn't considered some grand, wealthy clan, but passing down generation after generation, they had accumulated some capital. It wasn't until his father's generation that the business truly grew, resulting in a company worth several billion.

That was also what had made him a moderately wealthy second-generation heir in Chuzhou back then.

Yet, no matter how much he thought about it, aside from perhaps some commercial rivalries and conflicts of interest, their family had never offended anyone to the extent of being completely exterminated.

What on earth could have driven someone to subject the Ning Family to such a vicious slaughter?

Just then, the sound of water from the bathroom stopped.

Not long after.

The bathroom door opened, and amidst a plume of rising steam, Lin Luoxuan walked out quickly.

Ning Chen pulled back his thoughts and looked over at the sound.

To his surprise, Lin Luoxuan was not fully dressed; instead, her delicate body was wrapped in a bath towel, leaving her fragrant shoulders, snow-white arms, and the long legs below the hem of the towel completely exposed to the air.

Beneath her fair, smooth skin was a flush brought on by the rising heat, and a few droplets of water still clung to her, sparkling brilliantly in the light.

"Stunning!"

The thought popped into Ning Chen's head, and he had to admit that at that moment, a wicked thought crossed his mind.

"Stinky brat, stop looking."

Noticing Ning Chen's gaze, Lin Luoxuan gave a soft scold and quickened her pace toward her bedroom.

Her cheeks were burning a little at that moment.

Living alone year-round, she was used to walking back to her room naked after a shower, putting on her underwear only after the moisture on her body had completely dried.

Today, because Ning Chen and the others were staying at her place, she had even gone out of her way to find clothes ahead of time, placing them in her bedroom with the intention of taking them into the bathroom before showering, putting them on, and coming out properly dressed.

Yet—right at the crucial moment, she had completely forgotten about it.

It wasn't until she was already in the shower, covered head to toe in body wash bubbles, that she suddenly remembered she had forgotten to bring her prepared pajamas and underwear into the bathroom.

Fortunately, there was a bath towel inside the bathroom.

So, after finishing her shower, she had planned to wrap herself in the bath towel and rush back to her room silently at top speed. Who would have known that the moment she stepped out of the bathroom, she would run straight into Ning Chen's gaze?

"Alright, I won't look, but don't walk so fast, watch your step."

Ning Chen withdrew his gaze, but the moment his words finished, he heard a gasp.

He hurriedly looked over and saw that right at the doorway of the master bedroom, Lin Luoxuan's foot had slipped, and she had fallen.

"Sister Luoxuan, are you okay?"

Moving like lightning, Ning Chen rushed over in an instant, intending to help Lin Luoxuan up, but he accidentally caught sight of a scene that made his blood run hot.

As it turned out, when Lin Luoxuan fell, her bath towel had come undone. She had managed to grab the towel at her chest to keep it wrapped around her upper body, but she couldn't cover both ends at once, and Ning Chen accidentally caught a glimpse of an astonishing sight.