4
In the world of immortal cultivation, as a cultivator, a spiritual pet was one of the essential cultivation items.
Jiang Mian had once ventured into a secret realm and, by chance, obtained a divine beast that she took as her spiritual pet. Like this fat cat named Xiao Mi, it had beautiful green eyes.
Jiang Mian shook her head and stopped thinking about it. Everything in the cultivation world had nothing to do with her now. The present was what mattered—living this life well.
She went into the bathroom to take a shower. All traces of the original owner’s wrist-slitting suicide attempt had been completely removed. From Aunt Liu’s attitude toward her, it was clear Aunt Liu knew nothing about it. The cleaning of the bathroom had most likely been handled by the billionaire tyrant father.
After her shower, Jiang Mian wiped the fog from the mirror, revealing a delicate face with skin so tender it seemed like it could be pinched to produce water. She smiled slightly, and her brows curved beautifully.
Since she wasn’t sure which items in the bathroom Lin Feifei had touched, she had given them all to Aunt Liu. Fortunately, the face masks were still usable.
She hadn’t yet drawn spiritual energy into her body, so she couldn’t purge impurities from within. A girl still needed to take care of her skin.
She tore open a face mask and applied it. Looking in the mirror at her featureless, sheet-covered face—having never used a face mask before—Jiang Mian couldn’t help but want to laugh. But as soon as she laughed, the mask slipped off.
She had to hold it in. After leaving the bathroom, she suddenly heard noises coming from the kitchen.
Jiang Mian: “?”
Aunt Liu had just left and couldn’t have returned. The apartment was supposed to be empty—she had told her two fathers that she was going straight back to school. So, it couldn’t be them either.
Besides, the original owner had made an agreement with all four fathers: if any of them wanted to come to her place, they had to notify her in advance. If they violated it once, she would go on a hunger strike—and she meant it. Given that the original owner had threatened the billionaire tyrant father with a wrist-slashing, it was clear she was as stubborn as a mule. If you didn’t do things her way, she had plenty of tricks up her sleeve to make a fuss.
Now she was just an ordinary mortal, no different from anyone else. For safety’s sake, Jiang Mian didn’t make a sound immediately. She glanced around the bedroom. A golf club stood in the corner. She picked it up.
As she left the bedroom, the sounds from the kitchen grew clearer. Just as she reached the kitchen doorway, footsteps approached. The next second, an unfamiliar face appeared before her. Without a second thought, she swung.
“Mianmian!”
Wait—that voice sounded familiar. Jiang Mian changed the trajectory of her swing mid-motion. The golf club grazed past the top of this person’s head, the gust of wind making his hair stand on end.
The man before her had a boyish face, fair skin, and handsome, delicate features. It was hard to tell his exact age. But the more she looked at his brows and eyes, the more familiar they seemed. Coupled with the voice he had just called out—
Jiang Mian: “…Dad?”
“Yes!” Zuo Xingping answered loudly, smoothing down his hair that had been swept upward. He looked at the club in his precious daughter’s hand with lingering fear. Thank goodness she hadn’t hit him on the forehead. If she had, he’d probably be lying on the floor unable to get up right now.
Jiang Mian: “…”
Zuo Xingping scratched his head. “You said the fake beard I glued on didn’t look good, so I took it off.”
In the hospital, every time Zuo Xingping appeared, he was covered in that beard. And in the original owner’s memories, it was the same. Plus, the original owner had never liked this father to begin with, so her memories of him were limited. Now that Jiang Mian was seeing Zuo Xingping’s real face for the first time, she fell silent.
Suddenly, she understood why Zuo Xingping always wore that beard whenever he saw the original owner. It was because this face was far too deceptive. Who would believe he had a daughter who was already eighteen years old!
Fortunately, in the cultivation world, there were plenty of people who were hundreds of years old with faces that looked twenty. Jiang Mian quickly calmed down. “Why are you here?”
“Mianmian, don’t be angry.” Zuo Xingping thought his precious daughter was upset and quickly said, “You said you went back to school, but I called your academic advisor, and he said you hadn’t returned.”
He watched Jiang Mian’s expression as he spoke. Only after confirming she wasn’t angry did he continue. “So, I figured you must have come back here first. You haven’t eaten yet, so I came over to make you something.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll leave as soon as I’m done.” Zuo Xingping handed the plate in his hand to Jiang Mian, looking at her expectantly. “This is an egg pancake I just made. Want to try some?”
The pancake on the plate wasn’t very pretty in shape, but at least it wasn’t burnt. He didn’t dare buy food from outside anymore, he was afraid Jiang Mian would get an upset stomach again.
Jiang Mian graciously took the plate and took a bite. It tasted pretty good and ate a few more pieces.
Seeing this, Zuo Xingping’s eyes curved into a smile.
It seemed that the original owner’s eyes had been copied from the celestial master father. Then Jiang Mian heard a rumbling stomach—clearly not her own. Her gaze paused and fell on Zuo Xingping.
Zuo Xingping awkwardly placed his hand over his stomach, trying to salvage some dignity in front of his precious daughter, who was finally being nice to him. He said with great seriousness, “Mianmian, your reaction speed earlier was so fast that it scared my stomach into growling.”
Jiang Mian: “…”
Celestial Master Dad, are you serious???
Jiang Mian seriously doubted this celestial master father’s real age!
Seeing that his daughter wasn’t responding, and his stomach was only growling louder, Zuo Xingping had no choice but to say, “There’s still something cooking in the wok. Wait a moment—I’ll have it ready soon.”
Jiang Mian watched him turn and run back into the kitchen. Soon, the sound of stir-frying came from inside, followed immediately by a thick smell of burning.
Jiang Mian: “…”
She entered the kitchen and saw flames leaping up from the wok, with so much smoke billowing out that even the range hood couldn’t handle it. Zuo Xingping, probably encountering this situation for the first time, stood there completely dumbfounded.
Jiang Mian was about to go over and help when she saw Zuo Xingping suddenly pull out a talisman paper. He held it between his fingers and waved it in the air. The open flames and thick smoke were all absorbed into the talisman, turning the yellow paper a smoky black.
He quickly rolled the talisman into a ball, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. A soft “puff” sound was heard. When he lifted his foot, the talisman had turned into a small pile of ash.
Then, as if nothing had happened, Zuo Xingping prepared to dump the burnt food from the wok. But when he turned around and saw Jiang Mian, his hand jerked, and the wok clattered to the floor.
“Mianmian, I…”
Jiang Mian was silent for two seconds. “Dad, go sit in the living room. I’ll clean this up.”
“No, no, no. Your hand is still injured.” Zuo Xingping shook his head vehemently. How could he bear to let his precious daughter set foot in the kitchen and dirty her hands?
Jiang Mian tried her best not to crush her father’s enthusiasm, choosing her words as gently as possible. “…I don’t want to have to remodel the kitchen.”
The celestial master father understood and obediently went to the living room. Jiang Mian efficiently cleaned up the kitchen.
In her previous life, her goal had been to ascend to immortality. Just meditating in seclusion wouldn’t allow her to advance quickly—she often went out for training.
Once, she was severely injured and temporarily lost her cultivation. She ended up in an ordinary mortal village, where she lived a mortal life for five years. It was during those five years that she gained many insights, and her spiritual realm broke through to the Great Vehicle stage in one go.
She took ingredients from the refrigerator and quickly prepared two dishes and a soup. When she carried the finished dishes to the living room, her celestial master father was already staring in utter shock.
“Mianmian, since when…” He couldn’t believe that his precious daughter, who had never lifted a finger in the kitchen, could produce two dishes and a soup in such a short time—and they looked and smelled good enough to make one’s mouth water.
Jiang Mian said, “When Aunt Liu cooks, I occasionally watch. It’s very simple.”
Zuo Xingping thought about his own performance in the kitchen just now and silently said nothing.
Jiang Mian accompanied Zuo Xingping as he ate. She wasn’t hungry and only had a little, leaving the rest for her celestial master father, who patted his stomach contentedly after finishing.
Jiang Mian put the dishes in the kitchen. Aunt Liu would wash them when she came tomorrow.
But as soon as she stepped into the kitchen, something gently pressed against her back. She didn’t pause for a moment and walked into the kitchen as if nothing had happened.
If she wasn’t mistaken, what had been stuck to her back was a talisman Zuo Xingping had quietly placed—an exorcism talisman, no less.
Zuo Xingping was a true celestial master heir. He had likely been both happy and puzzled by Jiang Mian’s unusual behavior over the past few days. Her cooking had pushed his suspicion to its peak. No matter what, he had to test her.
In the living room, Zuo Xingping watched as the exorcism talisman stuck to Jiang Mian’s back had no effect on her whatsoever. He let out a long sigh of relief.
He hadn’t been suspicious of Jiang Mian herself. Rather, he was afraid that some unclean entity had attached itself to her, causing such a dramatic change in his precious daughter’s personality.
Although this change was actually better than before, if it were caused by something unclean, it would surely harm Jiang Mian. That was why he had used the exorcism talisman.
Confirming that his precious daughter was free of any unclean presence, Zuo Xingping got up and, seizing an opportunity, retrieved the talisman from her back.
Jiang Mian pretended not to notice anything. Afterward, Zuo Xingping left after giving her countless reminders and instructions.
Jiang Mian felt no displeasure whatsoever about Zuo Xingping testing her with the exorcism talisman.
Her personality was vastly different from the original owner’s. If the billionaire tyrant father and the celestial master father hadn’t been suspicious of her personality change by now, that would have been the real problem.
Now that the celestial master father’s doubts were resolved, the other fathers would be even less of an issue.
In high spirits, Jiang Mian prepared to meditate, hoping to draw spiritual energy into her body as soon as possible. But just as she crossed her legs to sit down, her phone started blaring. It was an unfamiliar number. After a moment’s thought, she answered.
“Hello, is this Ms. Jiang?” A polite voice came from the other end.
Jiang Mian: “?”
“Your car is parked in the wrong spot. Could you please come and move it?”
A few minutes later, Jiang Mian arrived at the underground garage of the residential complex. She saw that her car was supposed to be parked in spot number 69, but it was instead in spot 96.
The person who had called was a young man who seemed eager to park his car in the correct spot. Jiang Mian said, “Sorry about that. I’ll move it right away.”
But after getting into the car and looking at all the instruments on the dashboard, Jiang Mian was completely dumbfounded.
The original owner knew how to drive. She did not!
Jiang Mian: “…”
A few seconds later, she got out of the car, handed the keys to the young man, and flashed what she thought was a perfectly harmless smile. “Could you please help me move it?”
The young man: “???”
Was he having a stroke of romantic luck?
Hesitating under Jiang Mian’s smile, he said, “Well…”
He glanced toward the inside of his own car. Jiang Mian then noticed that there seemed to be someone sitting in the back seat of his car. However, the window tint made it hard to see clearly.
“Wait a moment,” the young man said. He walked over to his car, gently opened the rear door, and said to the handsome man inside, “Sir, this young lady asked me to help move her car.”
“Mm,” the man replied with a slight nod.
Jiang Mian caught a brief glimpse through the gap in the door and was genuinely struck by his beauty. But just as she tried to get a better look, the door closed.
The young man took Jiang Mian’s keys and moved her car for her. Jiang Mian didn’t leave immediately. She watched as the young man drove the car into the garage, then opened the rear door and helped the man inside out.
Helped?
Looking more closely, she saw that the man’s eyes were covered with a white cloth, with faint traces of crimson seeping through.
Jiang Mian instinctively raised her hand to touch her own eyes. Just looking at him hurt.
**