Qi Bingwen had just returned to the sect when he encountered an interesting scene, there seemed to be a person at the entrance of his sect and in broad daylight, insulting him. He was no stranger to insults, everyone who had the misfortune of meeting him wanted to curse him, so as time went on he had accumulated a wealth of experience. In his short time in the jianghu alone, he had heard countless insults thrown his way and many of them were the same boring things, "devil" this or "monster" that.
There was rarely anything that could intrigue him but as he continued listening to this conversation, he found himself growing more and more engrossed. The girlish voice that was insulting him, he didn't recognize but the gentle voice that responded, he recognized it immediately...it was the little beauty he had picked up a week ago.
He had almost forgotten about her, after he dropped her off that night he still had many things to take care of so he had no time to think of her. He didn't even have the chance to give instructions to his subordinates about her treatment, he wasn't sure if they were bullying her properly or not. He had always been a person who delivered what he promised, if he told her that he would let her experience hell then he had to do it properly.
She wanted to work as a servant, he'd let her work until she was exhausted, let her experience a life without a single good day, with nothing and no one to cling onto. He wondered how long it would take for her to beg him to end the deal. He was sure that she would not last the five years promised.
The malice in his eyes couldn't be hidden as his lips curved into a small smile. Lin Qiuyue couldn't see such a perverted smile because he was still hiding but the system who had always been monitoring him couldn't help but shiver.
It hoped that its host would tame the target soon otherwise it didn't want to imagine what would happen to her. It glanced at the affection meter, only -18 and the target was still so hostile, at least its host still had the ability to clear her name since she never did anything directly to him. If she had taken the body of Su Liling's eldest sister or second sister, she would not even have the chance to be spared.
As Qi Bingwen continued watching the two of them talk, the small smile on his face slowly turned into a frown. This servant girl was blaming him for Su Liling's own circumstances?
So what if Su Liling was only a child back then? He didn't need her help, he was able to survive to this day without anyone's charity but even that little bit of effort wasn't done by anyone in the Su Family. They had nothing to show for themselves, Su Liling was the same as the rest of them. There was no need to pity her. She only had herself to blame for her foolish sacrifice, they could have all died swift deaths but she chose this path for herself.
He didn't believe there was a single member of the Su Family that was righteous and able to withstand suffering. He could still remember each of their disgusting faces that delighted to torment him, they were hypocritical and repulsive, they bullied the weak and feared the strong.
Su Liling is no different and she would reveal her true nature in time.
『Ding! Target Affection Meter is at -12』
The more he listened to the servant girl's defense, the more his mood fluctuated. He wasn't sure what he was feeling but he could tell he was influenced by the girl's speech. He had only looked at Su Liling with malicious interest before but this time when he shifted his eyes to watch her expression. He could see the small smile in the corners of her lips and the slight helplessness in her features. It was delicate and beautiful but hidden in the depths of her eyes was a natural sorrow. As though she had long been accustomed to such grief.
Had she truly been helpless back then?
Qi Bingwen tried to recall the little girl in his memories, he had only seen her a few times and each time it was only a glance. She never spoke to him, never demanded anything from him. She kept to herself, she seemed to rarely leave her courtyard and when she did...she was quiet, without the slightest temperament of a child.
A small doubt grew in his heart...he remembered now. She had been kind to him.
On a New Year Day in the past of the Su Fu, the manor had been lively with festivity, guests entered the Fu in droves and firecrackers were lit at the front door. Voices in and out of the Fu were laced with joy, even the servants couldn't keep the smile off their faces. Only he was left in a cold hut alone, he wasn't allowed to join in their celebration and he was given no blessings and no new clothes for the year.
On that day, there was no way for him to get a meal so he would starve but he had already gotten used to the feeling of starving. He could go a few days without eating with ease but he felt a different type of emptiness in his chest. It was his first New Year without a family, his warm life would never return but he wanted the steady stream of noise from the outside world to fool him. When he closed his eyes he could almost imagine the various voices of his siblings and his father and his mother, a smile slowly spread on his features. His first smile in close to a year, it was broken by the noise of his hut's door opening.
His face became expressionless again and he looked to the intruder vigilantly but he had looked too high, so he moved his gaze downwards to meet a little girl's eyes. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold and she was wrapped in a thick wool coat, it was a light pink color that matched the accessories which tied the two buns in her hair. He was stunned for a moment, he had never seen a little girl so cute, his heart started pounding in his head but he quickly tried to calm down. When he was barely able to rein in his thoughts, he recognized the little girl.
It was the third young miss of the Su Family, she rarely left her courtyard so it took him a bit longer to realize who she was. He didn't know why she came here though, was she lost? Or...did she come here to humiliate him too? His eyes darkened at the thought but he was still polite on the surface.
"Third Young Lady, why are you here? Do you need me to do something for you?" Qi Bingwen asked lightly, a part of him hoped that this little girl was as cute as her appearance. He crushed the hope as soon as it surfaced, even the children younger than her looked down on him, how could she be any different?
He waited for the girl to respond but she only stared at him with her large and clear eyes. The way she was bundled up with her delicate features she reminded him of a priceless doll, beautiful and exquisite.
"Third Young Lady?" Qi Bingwen asked again, he couldn't believe that there was no disgust or hatred in her eyes, he couldn't remember the last time anyone looked at him with such a harmless gaze.
"For you," Su Liling replied simply as she revealed the package from behind her back. She held it in front of him and motioned for him to grab it.
Qi Bingwen stared at her without blinking, he was too shocked to accept the package. He never thought that someone from the Su Family would be willing to give him a gift, he almost expected her to pull it back and tell him it was a joke but in the next moment, he reached out to take the package smoothly. He could see her tiny arm getting tired from holding onto the package so didn't continue to dawdle.
He could sense her anxious gaze on him as he held the package, he glanced at her and his eyes softened. He opened it carefully to find brand new clothes. It was a red hanfu, festive clothing for the New Year. He smiled for a second time on that same day, when he lifted his head and met the little girl's eyes again, the warmth in his expression couldn't be hidden, "Thank you."
『Ding! Target Affection Meter is at 5』
Qi Bingwen's eyes had softened considerably, it seemed Su Liling had always been kind. It was him that wronged her by overlooking such an important memory. His disgust and loathing towards the Su Family and her siblings had clouded his memories about her, such a cute little girl had become a cute little beauty.
Since she was kind to him, he would repay her kindness in time. But a deal was a deal. If she wanted him to spare the Su Family, she should be prepared to suffer a little. The corner of his lips curved into a smile but there was no malice this time. When he turned to leave, the image of the pink little bun back then was still fresh on his mind.