059 Respectful Disciple, Yu Yourong
Because Qin Ren was very sleepy today, he walked slowly.
In addition, when he got off work, he was holding a lidded mug in his arms, so his whole person looked like a small neighborhood committee leader from the last century, carrying a tea mug and visiting everywhere.
“Damn, what’s with this crappy focus…”
As a straight-as-steel man, Qin Ren had never had any requirements for his phone’s camera. As long as it could scan a QR code, it was fine. But Meizu’s camera always had a mysterious focusing problem. Qin Ren held the mug in his left hand and aimed his right hand at the QR code on the shared bike, adjusting the distance for a long time without being able to scan it.
And when he finally managed to scan it, Qin Ren realized with embarrassment that he had forgotten one thing:
He couldn’t ride a bike while holding a mug full of something.
“Tsk, I need to get a travel mug…”
After all, this was the first time Qin Ren was raising a slime. He didn’t know if it needed to be kept in a tank like a goldfish or if it needed to be walked like a dog. So he thought he should buy a travel mug soon just in case.
As Qin Ren was thinking, he casually lifted the lid and glanced at the slime, Mizhi, in the cup.
The little thing’s pink color from eating the strawberry milk candy had already faded. It was in the cup, playing with itself. Small triangles and circles floated on the surface of the water, like a child building a sandcastle on the beach.
“Goo-gee?!”
Sensing the light, Mizhi was startled. It found that Qin Ren was observing it. The two little beans on the surface of the water blinked. Its “face” blushed a little shyly again, and it smoothed the surface of the water as if hiding its building blocks.
“…”
Qin Ren silently put the lid back on, and then felt a warm, itchy feeling in his heart.
Mmm…
A little cute.
Almost as cute as Tuantuan.
“Hi~”
“!”
A pat on his shoulder. Qin Ren turned around, a little surprised.
“Cheng Siyu? Didn’t you get off work with Sister Yun half an hour ago?”
“Mmm…”
The little sister-in-law thought for a moment with her hands behind her back.
“I was eating oden at the convenience store after work. When I came out, I just happened to see you getting off work too.”
“Really…”
Qin Ren was a little suspicious. Cheng Siyu bounced on her toes with her little mouth slightly open.
“Smell me if you don’t believe me.”
“Go, go…”
Qin Ren pressed on her small shoulders to stop her from bouncing around. It was easy to twist an ankle jumping in small high heels.
“Brother-in-law, I saw you smiling foolishly just now. Thinking of my sister?”
“Yeah.”
Qin Ren nodded.
“Which day do I not think of her?”
“That’s perfect. Let’s go home together. You can look at me and think of her slowly.”
The subway again…
But it was true. Holding a slime, he could only take the subway. Anyway, the two of them were getting off work together.
They got off work relatively early today, so there were actually empty seats on the subway. Cheng Siyu still sat quietly next to her brother-in-law, and as she sat, she started to lean on his shoulder and fall asleep.
Just as Cheng Siyu had said, and just like yesterday, Qin Ren looked at his sleeping little sister-in-law’s serene and quiet appearance. He could easily substitute it with Cheng Siyun’s. He missed her a lot. His gaze gradually softened. He recalled the shy days of his past relationship with Cheng Siyun, and leisurely looked at this beautiful girl who was cast from the same mold as her. Then, unknowingly, his gaze lingered for a moment on her fair and lustrous feet below her pant leg.
“…”
Just after this absent-minded pause, Qin Ren’s peripheral vision sharpened. He suddenly found that his little sister-in-law, who was leaning on his shoulder, had at some point opened her eyes. Her soft eyelashes were blinking.
“Brother-in-law, it’s a little hot today… so I didn’t wear stockings…”
“Cough…”
A big misunderstanding. Qin Ren’s old face turned red.
“Why are you telling me this…”
“I’ll wear them tomorrow.”
“Are you even listening to me…”
“I’m wearing no-show socks today.”
Cheng Siyu’s cheeks were slightly red. She lowered her head and slightly lifted her rounded heel from her shoe. You could see that they were the same kind of lace no-show socks that Su Yu wore, except Su Yu’s were gray and a bit more gentle, while Cheng Siyu’s were white and a little cuter.
If her brother-in-law liked to look at this kind too, then she would have to deliberately take out her entire foot for him to admire. It felt like a very private matter, so even Cheng Siyu couldn’t be so bold.
After all, Little Orange was not Orange. If some things were overdone, they would ultimately be improper…
…
Ring, ring, ring—
While his little sister-in-law was lost in her thoughts, her brother-in-law’s phone rang.
“Hello?” Qin Ren answered, lowering the microphone volume a little.
“Hello, Ge? Are you off work?”
Yu Yourong’s voice sounded softly, mixed with the background noise of pots and pans clattering.
Today, classmate Yu Yourong had rushed to cook again and said that she would be in charge of dinner from now on. To avoid a repeat of yesterday’s standing-up incident, Qin Ren had specifically told her that she could call him anytime around the time he got off work.
“I’m on the subway,” Qin Ren replied.
“How much longer, roughly?”
“About half an hour.”
“Mhm, then I’ll cook the congee first and stir-fry the dishes when you get back.”
“Mhm, thanks for your hard work.”
“No, Ge is the one who works hard.”
…
You really have to try some things to know how wonderful they are.
For example, in his tired state today, being able to eat a hot meal at his own home after work without having to cook himself, instead of just making do with something from a convenience store or takeout, really felt different.
Although it had only been two days, including today, Qin Ren had already started to cherish such days.
After all, it was fine during this period when he didn’t have much overtime. But when the next wave of overtime started, he would only be able to get home at eleven or twelve every day. He couldn’t possibly still let classmate Yu Yourong cook for him then, could he?
She called him “brother,” after all. Although she wasn’t his real sister, after being with such a well-behaved, sensible, and capable “sister” for a long time, he also knew how to cherish her.
“Hey, Luo Yao, don’t… tsk, this kid…”
Yu Yourong on the other end of the line was calling out to the Pixiu, then helplessly confirmed with Qin Ren.
“Ge, Luo Yao said her good friend died, and she can drink iced Coke to celebrate. Is that right?”
Died, my ass…
It should be that her good friend had left. But Qin Ren was already used to Luo Yao’s choice of words.
“She can. But she needs to take it slow. Don’t let her drink too much at once. That’s all.”
“Mhm, Ge, I’m hanging up now. The water is boiling.”
“Alright… oh right, there’s one more thing…”
Beep, beep, beep—
Before Qin Ren could tell her the latest news about Yu Ling’er, the call had already been disconnected. And Cheng Siyu beside him was incredibly curious.
“Who was that, brother-in-law?”
“Brother-in-law is Qin Ren, and Qin Ren is your brother-in-law.”
Qin Ren played a perfunctory word game, which made Cheng Siyu even more curious.
“Who was it, really?”
“A friend.”
“A friend…”
…
Of course, Qin Ren also knew that the matter of Luo Yao and Yu Yourong couldn’t be “hidden” forever. Actually, there was nothing to hide, and he didn’t plan to.
He was a former exorcist and a good person. As long as you accepted the setting, wasn’t it reasonable for him to adopt two otherworldly beings?
But just like his attitude towards Gu Qing, this setting was not something that could be accepted in a short time. If it wasn’t necessary, Qin Ren didn’t want to reveal it, to avoid causing any unnecessary trouble.
When it naturally couldn’t be hidden anymore, for example, when Gu Qing came home, then they could all sit down face to face and have a proper talk, right?
The same logic applied to his little sister-in-law. If he let her know about all this messy stuff now, she would definitely tell her sister, Cheng Siyun. Then Cheng Siyun would call, and it would take several days to explain everything, which would be a hassle just thinking about it.
So Qin Ren just made things up. The identity of a “friend” came out of his mouth easily.
…
“What friend? A guy or a girl?”
Cheng Siyu was still asking, and as usual, she was getting excited.
“Is it a girl! So you really did cheat, brother-in-law, right~?”
“Shh!”
Qin Ren looked around and glared at this little sister-in-law who was always hoping her brother-in-law would cheat.
“Can you not talk nonsense? There are so many people. Social death is still death. Are you trying to murder your dear brother-in-law again?”
…
In the end, Cheng Siyu still didn’t find out whether that “friend” was a guy or a girl. Her brother-in-law had changed the subject, and she soon forgot about it.
And what was also forgotten was Mizhi.
If it hadn’t gurgled and bubbled, pushing the lid of the cup to the floor, Qin Ren would have almost stood up and left when the subway arrived, leaving the mug and the Crystal Slime inside on the seat.
“Sorry, sorry…” Qin Ren quietly apologized to Mizhi.
“Goo-gee~”
Mizhi, who didn’t have many complicated thoughts in its head, was not so much easy to forgive Qin Ren as it was never angry at him in the first place. As long as Qin Ren picked it up again, it would be happy.
“I’m leaving. Are you still waiting for Bus 520?”
Qin Ren stood in front of Exit A and casually asked Cheng Siyu, who was heading towards Exit C. But Cheng Siyu was stunned.
“What 520?”
“Hiss…” Qin Ren frowned. “Didn’t you say yesterday that it was faster to get off at the same station as me and then transfer to 520?”
“Oh, oh! That…”
Cheng Siyu’s eyes darted around. She scratched her low ponytail.
“I misheard. Right, I’m going to take Bus 520… Bye-bye, brother-in-law~”
Cheng Siyu quickly walked out of the station. Qin Ren shook his head and also went home with Mizhi. He also had a small bag of cherries that his little sister-in-law had given him.
————————
“I’m back.” As soon as he got home, he could smell the fragrance of rice. Qin Ren felt a warm sense of happiness.
“Qin Ren, Qin Ren~”
The Spirit Beast at home, with a milky, sweet scent, skillfully crashed into Qin Ren’s arms. It was probably because she had drunk iced Coke today and was very happy. The pink skirt that reached her thighs even flew up, revealing a bit of her cute little panties. She covered them shyly, then her eyes landed on the mug and bag in Qin Ren’s hand.
“How do you eat this?” She tapped the lid of the mug.
“Do you even know what’s inside to be eating it?”
Qin Ren quickly slapped her little hand away and put the mug on the table. The timid Crystal Slime must have been scared and trembling inside after hearing this kid wanted to eat it.
“Then what about this?” Luo Yao looked at the other bag.
“You can eat this. It’s cherries. Someone gave them to me. We’ll wash them and eat them after dinner.”
Qin Ren also put the bag on the table, patted Luo Yao’s little bottom, and sent her to wash her hands. Then, the sound of washing hands also came from the kitchen. The snake clan cultivator and little chef, classmate Yu Yourong, wearing an apron, came out, shaking the water from her hands.
“Ge, you look so tired today.”
“Mhm, it’s mainly because I had insomnia last night.”
“Then I’ll stir-fry the dishes right away. You can go to bed early after eating… and… I mopped the floor in your bedroom. It might not be dry yet…”
Yu Yourong hung up his jacket and tie, and then, muttering, she quickly went back to the kitchen. Qin Ren was truly both heartbroken and warmed. He took her wrist and stopped her.
“No rush. Sit down and rest for a while. I have news about your master today. I’ll tell you first.”
Yu Yourong’s pretty big eyes blinked.
“Master? What master?”
“…”
“Oh!”
Yu Yourong paused and remembered. She rolled up her sleeves.
“Alright, I’ll stir-fry the dishes first. We can talk about her while we eat.”
“…”
