“Run! Hurry up and run! If you don’t, I’m going to ruin my eyes!”
Lin Wan covered her face, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and dashed out of the second-floor corridor in a flash.
Her mind was completely filled with what she had just seen in the bathroom.
White, bare flesh.
A V-shaped back with sculpted muscles.
And those long, powerful legs.
【Ahhh! Help! Even so… it’s really big… no, I mean really impressive!】
【Is this the male lead standard? If this were in the modern world, he’d be a top male model for sure. Those abs… huff huff.】
【No, no, Lin Wan, calm down! You’ve seen the world! Don’t be blinded by this kind of beauty!】
【But it’s really hard to forget! The way the water droplets slid down those muscle lines… sinful, sinful. “Form is emptiness.”】
She ran all the way to the courtyard downstairs of the guesthouse before stopping, bending over her knees and gasping for air.
It was just after dinner, the compound was lively.
A group of aunties and middle-aged women were gathered around the old locust tree by the flower bed, pointing and discussing something.
From the center of the crowd came a sharp shouting voice.
“You little prodigal! That was a brand-new alarm clock! Fifteen yuan!”
“And this radio—you even took apart Uncle Zhang’s storytelling radio?”
“You’re a wild child! No mother, no proper upbringing! Commander Qin kindly took you in, and this is how you repay him?”
Lin Wan had originally wanted a quiet place to calm down, but her curiosity instantly overpowered her embarrassment.
She straightened her slightly messy hair and casually took out a handful of melon seeds from her pocket, then walked over.
In the center of the crowd was a little girl of about four or five years old.
She wore an ill-fitting dress made from an old military uniform, her face smeared black and white with grease stains.
She tightly hugged a pile of scrap metal, her eyes as stubborn as a little wolf cub, refusing to shed a single tear.
At her feet were scattered parts.
Gears, springs, coils, and a few messy sketches.
A chubby middle-aged woman was standing there with her hands on her hips, spitting as she scolded.
This woman was Zhang Guifang, the most notorious gossip in the compound and a neighbor of Qin Zhan.
“Say something! Are you mute?”
“Looks so honest on the surface, but secretly doing this kind of destructive stealing!”
“I knew it—she takes after that short-lived father. It’s in her bones!”
When the little girl heard this, she suddenly looked up, her eyes red like a rabbit’s.
“Don’t talk about my dad! My dad is a hero!”
Her voice was childish, but full of fierce determination.
“Oh? You still dare talk back?”
Zhang Guifang raised her hand to hit her.
“A hero? And a hero raised someone like you, a worthless troublemaker?”
Lin Wan found a clean stone stool and sat down, cracking melon seeds while mentally ranting.
【Tsk tsk, who is this auntie? Early menopause?】
【Why bully a five-year-old like that? That radio was clearly broken by Uncle Zhang himself. I read this part in the book.】
【This little girl is Qin Zhan’s comrade’s orphan, Tangtang, right?】
【In the story, she grows up to be a famous physicist. And now she’s being called a useless kid by these ignorant women?】
【Look at these parts… wait a second!】
Lin Wan’s gaze landed on the pile of seemingly useless components, and she froze.
As a transmigrator with a system, a light-blue analysis panel automatically appeared in her mind.
[Item: Miniature gyroscopic stabilization device (unfinished)]
[Technology level: 20 years ahead of the current era]
[Main function: Maintains aircraft attitude stability]
[Damage cause: Wiring error, excessive coil winding]
The melon seeds in Lin Wan’s hand dropped in shock.
【What the hell! This isn’t messing around—this is building a drone!】
【This kid is five years old? Building a gyroscope at five?!】
【Einstein was still playing in the mud at five!】
【This isn’t a “wild child,” this is a wild genius!】
【Are these people blind? Calling a future national talent a troublemaker?】
Lin Wan’s gaze locked tightly onto the little girl.
Although her face was dirty, her eyes were astonishingly bright, filled with passion and obsession for machinery.
This wasn’t destruction—this was a great scientific experiment!
Just then, hurried footsteps approached.
“Move aside! Everyone move aside!”
A soft voice broke through the crowd.
Lin Xue squeezed in limping, looking like the perfect example of frail determination.
Even with an injured leg and a broken heel, she still maintained her delicate, pitiful demeanor.
Seeing Tangtang crouched on the ground, Lin Xue’s eyes lit up.
This was the perfect opportunity to show kindness.
She could display her generosity and contrast Lin Wan’s coldness at the same time.
If she could win over Qin Zhan—even if he was “in that regard deficient”—the position of commander’s wife would still be hers!
Lin Xue took a deep breath, putting on a gentle smile.
“Oh my, what’s going on here?”
“Mrs. Zhang, don’t be angry. The child doesn’t understand, don’t take it personally.”
She slowly crouched down and reached out toward Tangtang.
“Your name is Tangtang, right? Come, let auntie take you to wash your face.”
“You can’t just dismantle things randomly next time, okay? That’s not right. Be a good child.”
Tangtang cautiously backed away, still clutching the parts tightly.
“No! Don’t touch me!”
Lin Xue’s smile stiffened for a moment, but quickly returned.
“This child is so shy…”
She tried again, but at the moment of contact, her fingers suddenly changed direction.
Instead of helping, she viciously pinched the inside of Tangtang’s thigh.
That spot was tender, extremely painful, and hard to notice.
“Ah!”
Tangtang screamed in pain and instinctively shoved Lin Xue away.
“You’re bad! You pinched me!”
Lin Xue fell backward and landed hard on the ground.
She truly got hurt this time—the previous knee injury hadn’t healed, and now it worsened.
“Ouch…”
Tears immediately welled up in her eyes as she clutched her knee.
“Tangtang… I was just trying to help… how could you push me?”
The crowd instantly erupted.
“How ungrateful! Turning kindness into hostility!”
“She tried to help you and you hit her?”
“This wild kid is hopeless! Should be sent away!”
At that moment, a jeep stopped nearby.
The door opened, and Qin Zhan stepped out in a clean training uniform.
His hair was still damp, cold expression unreadable.
But the oppressive aura around him made everyone feel it instantly.
He strode forward, and the crowd automatically parted.
“What happened?”
His voice was deep and authoritative.
Mrs. Zhang immediately complained, “Commander Qin, you’re finally here!”
“Your kid dismantled Uncle Zhang’s radio, and even pushed this kind-hearted girl!”
“If you don’t discipline her, she’ll turn the whole place upside down!”
Lin Xue on the ground cried even harder when she saw him.
“Qin Zhan gege… I don’t blame Tangtang… she didn’t mean it…”
“It’s my fault, I wasn’t standing steady… it hurts…”
Qin Zhan frowned, his gaze sweeping over the mess, then landing on the trembling child.
He was about to scold her.
Suddenly, a mocking voice appeared in his mind.
【Oh? Acting already?】
【An Oscar-worthy performance, Lin Xue.】
【That “pinch-the-flesh technique” was pretty good, huh. There must be a bruise on Tangtang’s leg.】
【Pinching the inner thigh… that’s pretty ruthless.】
【Looks gentle, but the heart’s black as coal.】
Qin Zhan’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Pinch?
His sharp gaze shot toward Lin Xue.
Lin Xue felt uneasy under that look and subconsciously withdrew her hand.
Qin Zhan ignored her and walked to Tangtang, crouching down.
“Did she pinch you?”
His tone was still cold, but there was suppressed anger underneath.
Tangtang nodded with tears and lifted her skirt slightly.
A blue-purple bruise was clearly visible on her inner thigh.
Everyone around froze.
No one had seen that just now!
Qin Zhan’s aura turned icy, the temperature around him seemingly dropping.
He slowly stood up and looked down at Lin Xue, still sitting on the ground pretending to be pitiful.
“This is what you call kindness?”