Day three of taking care of Xu Ji.
The first thing Xiao Ya did after waking up was to take his temperature.
"How is it? What's the reading?" Xu Ji asked.
He had been "stripped" of his right to read the thermometer himself.
Before getting an answer, he added, "I feel like I'm better already."
"You are better!" Xiao Ya put down the thermometer with relief.
Thankfully, she hadn't let Sheng Yuxiao's young uncle die under her care.
Still maintaining her conscientious attitude, Xiao Ya leaned in and asked, "Are you still dizzy?"
Not dizzy at all. But when the words reached Xu Ji's lips, they transformed into: "Maybe a little bit."
"How about your throat? Does it hurt?"
"A little."
"Oh."
Xu Ji looked at her. Hm? That's it? Wasn't the little one going to show more concern?
"Let's go. We need to see Dou Dawei before leaving," Xiao Ya shouldered her backpack and walked ahead through the door.
Xu Ji disappointedly fidgeted with his fingers and followed, asking, "Who's Dou Dawei?"
Xiao Ya turned back: "You don't know?"
"Should I?"
"Well, you said you're very smart and know everything."
Xu Ji paused mid-step and placed his hand on Xiao Ya's shoulder, turning the little one around.
He was met with Xiao Ya's innocent expression.
He suspected the little one was teasing him, but he had no proof.
*
Dou Dawei had received Xiao Ya's call early and rushed to buy fish, shrimp, beef, and lamb.
After shopping, he ran into Xiao Ya downstairs.
"Xiao Ya! No, no, should I call you Ruoshui now? Hehe, I saw the news," Dou Dawei approached cheerfully with his hands full of groceries.
However, before Xiao Ya could speak, Dou Dawei noticed Xu Ji standing to the side.
His expression immediately became reserved as he carefully asked, "And this is?"
Just as Xu Ji was about to speak.
Xiao Ya spoke first: "Secretary Wang, just call him that."
Xu Ji's lips curved slightly – quite clever. She knew he didn't like revealing his identity to others.
"Oh, oh, nice to meet you, Secretary Wang. I assume you were assigned by Young Master Sheng?"
Xu Ji nodded from behind: "That's right."
Relieved that he wasn't some rich second-generation heir, Dou Dawei huddled with Xiao Ya, the tall and short pair whispering and muttering together.
They would occasionally glance back at Xu Ji.
Xu Ji rarely saw such behavior performed in front of him, and he narrowed his eyes, feeling somewhat irritated.
What were they talking about?
Once upstairs, Dou Dawei handed the meat and vegetables to his wife, then led Xiao Ya to one side.
Xu Ji's expression remained gentle, but his gaze had grown cold.
Dou Dawei's wife came out with dishes and asked in surprise, "Where did they go?"
"Don't know."
The woman noticed his expression and instinctively remained silent.
There was a creaking sound as another door opened.
Xiao Ya walked out first, holding a bowl.
"What's that smell?" Xu Ji's nose twitched.
"Here, drink it," Xiao Ya handed it over, "After drinking this, your throat won't hurt, and you won't be dizzy anymore."
Xu Ji hesitated: "This is...?"
"Medicine! Just brewed it," Dou Dawei rubbed his hands together.
This thing... was pitch black. Xu Ji looked at Xiao Ya, who gazed back at him with complete sincerity: "Drink up."
So they had gone to brew medicine for him?
All that whispering was about this?
Xu Ji raised the bowl and drank it all in one go.
...Ugh.
His face instantly turned green.
If it weren't so impolite and out of character for him, he would have spat it right in Dou Dawei's face.
Xiao Ya counted on her fingers and told him: "Just three more days, twice a day."
Xu Ji: "..."
His assistant nearly burst out laughing.
How rare to see him mess up.
Xu Ji wiped his mouth: "I suddenly remembered I have something to do."
Xiao Ya moved closer to his face: "What is it?"
Xu Ji looked at his assistant.
The assistant immediately said seriously: "The overseas schedule has already been delayed for several days."
Xiao Ya blinked: "If it's been delayed for several days, that means it wasn't very important to begin with."
The assistant broke into a cold sweat.
Since when had lying to children become so difficult?
Xu Ji stepped in to smooth things over: "It's not that it's unimportant – the delay was intentional to show our strength to our business partners. Now that we've made our point, it's time to go."
The assistant let out a sigh of relief.
When it came to lying, their boss was a professional.
Xiao Ya lowered her head and said softly: "So you're not coming home with me?"
Xu Ji couldn't see her expression.
This inability to see actually led to endless imagination.
If she cried, would his nephew give him the cold shoulder for half a month?
Xiao Ya sighed: "Alright then, you can go."
She turned and took a large bag of prepared medicine from Dou Dawei, handing it to Xu Ji: "Take these while you're traveling."
Xu Ji: "..."
So she was going to make him take the medicine no matter what?
"I'll go home with you after all," Xu Ji said, then added with a smile, "But you have to tell me why you invited me to your home. It's the Wei family's house, right? Is there some thorny issue there?"
Xiao Ya wasn't surprised that Xu Ji had guessed.
Sheng Yuxiao's young uncle was indeed very clever.
"Mm." Xiao Ya honestly explained about the nun's situation.
"This can't be free, little one. Let's make it three more days, and I'll decide when to collect, how about that?" Xu Ji took back control of the situation.
Xiao Ya looked at him without speaking.
"Why the hesitation?" Xu Ji leaned in closer.
"Because taking care of you is really difficult."
"..."
The more Xiao Ya said this, the broader Xu Ji's smile became: "Then what should we do? Your uncle can't handle it. Ask Sheng Yuxiao? Qin Sui? They're too busy with their studies."
Xiao Ya still didn't speak.
Xu Ji pressed: "What are you still hesitating about?"
"Can you definitely solve it?"
"Even if I have to stay at your house for four or five days, I'll definitely resolve it," Xu Ji smiled. If he couldn't resolve it, the solution was simple – just resolve the person causing the problem.
Xiao Ya held out her hand: "Deal, pinky promise."
"Pinky promise." Xu Ji hooked his finger with hers.
After making the promise, Xu Ji felt like he'd been tricked.
The little one's hesitation and silence had all been to strengthen his resolve!
"I shouldn't have taught you so much," Xu Ji clicked his tongue softly.
Xiao Ya responded with another innocent look.
*
After eating at Dou Dawei's house, they returned to Jin City.
As soon as Xiao Ya stepped through the door, Wei Wenqing happily picked her up, while Xu Ji lagged behind to make a phone call to Sheng Yuxiao.
"About that Li Qingqing..." Xu Ji began.
Sheng Yuxiao wasn't surprised by his sudden mention of this person and continued: "She's been sent to a mental hospital."
"Hmm, there's something strange about her."
"My father said the same thing. Li Qingqing once told my father she could predict the future, including foretelling my uncle and aunt's fatal accident... that's why my father kept her around. But she could never specify the exact time and place, not even the type of accident."
Xu Ji's interest was immediately piqued: "Delusional disorder?"
"It's not delusion – before that, she couldn't possibly have known about my uncle and aunt's existence." Sheng Yuxiao paused, "My father even wondered if she might be a time traveler from the future."
"That's possible, but being sent to a mental hospital and still unable to provide accurate information suggests she knows very little," Xu Ji's eyes flickered with cold calculation.
He laughed and said: "No value, just kill her."
"She can't die yet," Sheng Yuxiao's tone was calm.
"Why not?"
"She's been actively seeking ways to commit suicide lately... There are two possibilities. One, she's convinced something will happen after her suicide, like rebirth? Or returning to her original timeline? Though that's not very scientific. Two, more realistically, she'd rather die and use her death to tarnish Xiao Ya's reputation one last time."
"Ah, yes. 'Respect the dead' – a tradition in Hua Country. Especially when the deceased is a child..."
"In a few years, when the public has mostly forgotten about these entanglements and forgotten about her, that will be the time," Sheng Yuxiao's voice was ice-cold.
At this moment, Xiao Ya called from inside: "Secretary Wang, are you having trouble walking?"
Xu Ji smiled in response to Xiao Ya's gaze and said to the phone: "Yuxiao, you've really grown up. You're thinking far ahead now and have learned patience."
"Patience?" Sheng Yuxiao's tone was indifferent, "Perhaps for Li Qingqing, being in a mental hospital is worse than death."
Xu Ji let out a light chuckle and hung up the phone.
He stepped through the doorway, maintaining his relaxed demeanor and gentle bearing.
"Where are the suitcases?" he asked straightforwardly.
Wei Wenqing, still uncertain about Xu Ji's identity, looked at him quizzically while pointing toward the garden.
As they walked over, they found every suitcase in the garden had been completely opened up.
Inside, besides common clothing items, there were mostly Bibles, crucifixes, and religious statues.
"So many," Xiao Ya remarked unconsciously.
"What's so many?" Xu Ji turned to ask.
"These crucifixes and statues, there are so many."
The assistant said, "For clergy members, it's normal to have this many religious items..."
Xu Ji said, "That's not right."
Wei Wenqing froze for a moment. Huh? Had he already spotted the problem?
