Qiao Qing answered, "It's the birthday gift I bought for my brother."
Jun Yexuan's tone was sour, "What is it?"
Qiao Qing, "A wristwatch."
Jun Yexuan, "He doesn't lack those."
Qiao Qing, "... You don't lack belts."
Jun Yexuan, "Then, can you buy me something I lack right now?"
Qiao Qing, "What?"
"Security." Jun Yexuan answered, "Qingqing, I've never really been afraid of anything all my life. But now, I'm just scared to lose you. I don't feel as cool as I make it seem. I worry that once you reveal your identity, the Qi family won't accept me."
Qiao Qing paused, "How do I provide you with security?"
Jun Yexuan pulled her into his arms, "We can have a baby or get a marriage license. What do you prefer?"
Qiao Qing, "..."
In the end, Jun Yexuan failed to trick Qiao Qing.
After they returned home, Qiao Qing continued to split her time between the library and the laboratory.
When it was past nine, Qiao Qing watched the equipment react and her eyes almost shot out light inside the laboratory.
Jun Yexuan dealt with his work inside the living room and was almost tackled.
Qiao Qing ran into his arms and lost all her normal composure. She was excited like a kid.
Jun Yexuan was a little dumbfounded. Then his heart sped up, "You found a way?"
Qiao Qing nodded, "If I'm not wrong, then I'm just missing one ingredient. Once I gather all I need, I can perform surgery on my dad."
Jun Yexuan couldn't help but hug her tightly. On the inside, he highly admired her, "What do you need? I'll help you."
Qiao Qing took her time to snap out of her happiness. Then she frowned.
"I read about that particular medicinal herb in an ancient book. It's a bit difficult to find. I actually don't know if we can track it down in today's environment."
Before Jun Yexuan could ask more, a loud sound interrupted them.
The scratchy and shrill sound made it obvious how impatient the driver was.
The pair looked outside the door. There, Qi Yuyang impatiently got out of his car and slammed his door shut.
The pair exchanged glances – confused.
Qiao Qing watched as Qi Yuyang walked into the living room and asked, "What happened?"
Qi Yuyang saw Qiao Qing and felt even worse.
When he looked back at his brothers who followed him in, he coldly hissed.
"It's all your fault! Because you refuse to reveal our sister, our grandpa is trying to adopt his war comrade's granddaughter!"
"He's even now saying he's going to go through with a ceremony on their birthday in order to show the world how they are fully accepting her as a part of the family."
"Now, everyone in the house is looking at that girl like she's a treasure. Everyone's giving her gifts. Fifth bro even gifted her the present he's been saving for his future wife! All of this spoiling should be enjoyed by our little sister!"
Qiao Qing heard this and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Qi Yunyan rolled his eyes, "You're talking like you didn't agree to keep our sister a secret."
Qi Yusen also added, "Even if we did reveal our sister, you think our grandpa would ignore the granddaughter his fellow soldier asked him to take care of?"
Qi Yuyang stuttered, "No matter what, I don't feel good seeing the entire family spoiling someone else's girl!"
"Plus, if we did introduce our sister to the family, they wouldn't be treating that random girl with such high importance!"