Chapter 85: Chapter 83: Don't Persuade Others to Be Magnanimous_1
After finishing his statement, Fang Ren turned his head to look at Bai Qi and asked, "Is that sufficient?"
"It should be enough," Bai Qi nodded, flipped her sun hat back, faced the camera, and said, "I also voluntarily dissolve my engagement with Fang Ren, not for any benefits, but for the freedom of our feelings."
Having said that, she pulled her sun hat down again, quietly observing whether the people around dining had noticed her.
Then Fang Ren retracted his phone, checked the short video they had just recorded, and felt that the words they had both spoken had a certain ceremonial sincerity. This video would definitely serve as a solid piece of evidence within the extended family.
"All right, what's your account number? I'll send the video to you," Fang Ren said.
After taking a big bite of meat, Bai Qi replied, "My messenger is Easy Chat L, and my account number is 88868...
"Why so many eights?" Fang Ren couldn't help commenting reflexively after hearing her account number.
"Of course, after all, I spent 60,000 yuan to buy it," Bai Qi said, her mouth full of meat, as she gestured at Fang Ren's phone.
"You could have spent 60,000 yuan on better things than buying an account."
"I never cared about that kind of money before, but now it feels like 60,000 yuan could do so much more."
Bai Qi mused over her economically humble journey so far, and her chopsticks began to move faster. Although her cheeks bulged with food, she ate without showing her teeth.
After eating for a while, Fang Ren had only had a few bites from start to finish, with Bai Qi finishing most of it. After finishing her meal and taking a few sips of water, Bai Qi spoke up again, "Oh, there's one more thing."
Seeing her ready to speak, Fang Ren asked, "The money for the plane ticket back? I can lend it to you."
"Not that," Bai Qi shook her head, "I mean... how much do you know about our childhood?"
"I know it all," Fang Ren nodded.
Seeing him nod nonchalantly, Bai Qi paused and then looked down, asking softly, "Then you don't hate me?"
Fang Ren glanced at her expression and casually waved off the concern, "What reason could I have to hate you?"
Bai Qi looked at him earnestly and said seriously, "Your Spiritual Root is with me. You could have had a brilliant life, but you lost your qualification to cultivate because you saved me."
"The Spiritual Root wasn't given willingly by me, but also wasn't requested by me. We were both infants at the time, understanding nothing. Everything was arranged by our families. I'm not insane, why would I hate you?" Fang Ren replied.
Upon hearing his words, Bai Qi's face turned sadder as she said, "I have now grown up safely, and I can now fully control the True Qi within me. Your Spiritual Root... I am truly grateful for it saving my life, and also to you. Even though it was the family's arrangement, the Spiritual Root that saved me was taken from you.
There is no way I can repay this life-saving debt, but I am not prepared to offer myself in return, since I have a man that I love, and fortunately, you've had your eye on another woman for a long time..."
"Isn't that all for the best?" Fang Ren said indifferently.
But Bai Qi was still serious, her voice lowered, "For saving my life, all I can say is that aside from offering myself in return, there is nothing I wouldn't do for you, Bai Qi, if you ask."
"You think too much," Fang Ren chuckled.
"No matter what you think, I will definitely do so," Bai Qi said with determination. "If it hadn't been for the fact that the Spiritual Root could not be removed after infancy, I would have found a way to return it to you... Although I can't repay you for the debt, I hope that my benefactor can live well."
"I am living well now," Fang Ren replied casually. "You don't need to worry about such things. I don't care about debts of gratitude. The decision was made by the patriarch of the Fang Family, not me. You should be grateful to him, not to me."
"I am naturally thankful to Uncle Fang, but I am equally thankful to you."
"I've told you, I had nothing to do with it. It wasn't my sacrifice."
"Even if it was a forced sacrifice, I should..." Bai Qi paused, then asked, "By the way, do you hate Uncle Fang?"
Fang Ren looked at the table, troubled for a moment, then said, "Well, if I had a brother as close as life itself, and his newborn daughter were dying in front of me, and my son had something that could save his daughter's life, I think I would make the same decision as him. In that respect, I can understand him.
But the fact that he left me out there for twenty-two years and never once came to see me, for that, I cannot forgive. It's not that I resent him for not letting me enjoy the luxury of the great family; it's that for the past twenty-two years, I lived as if I were an orphan.
Suddenly this father and a whole family of relatives appear, and I feel as though I am easy to replace in their eyes or could be treated so casually."
Bai Qi stayed silent for a while; she didn't tell Fang Ren how busy Uncle Fang was or try to persuade him to understand.
She couldn't grasp his sorrows, so what right did she have to advise him to be magnanimous?
"Enough about that. I don't have enough cash on me for your plane fare, so come with me to withdraw some," Fang Ren said, standing up and heading to the front desk to pay the bill.
"Okay."
…
After leaving the restaurant, Fang Ren led Bai Qi toward an ATM.
Little Qianye still hadn't returned to Fang Ren's side, but instead clung persistently to Bai Qi's shoulder, continuously rubbing her little face against Bai Qi's neck, looking incredibly foolish.
"What kind of animal is this little guy? I've never seen anything like it before," Bai Qi said, reaching out to touch the wriggling Little Qianye on her shoulder.
Fang Ren answered bluntly, "Spirit Form."
"Spirit Form? There's such an animal..."
Bai Qi's expression on her face stiffened, suddenly realizing something was very wrong. After a few seconds, she immediately cradled Little Qianye in her palms, observing carefully.
"The Spirit Form you're talking about... is it the Cultivators' Spirit Form?" asked Bai Qi.
Fang Ren nodded.
"Ah? Are you sure?" Bai Qi was stunned.
Looking at Little Qianye in her hands, she couldn't believe that this creature was actually a Cultivator's Spirit Form. It clearly looked like a living being, so how could it be a Spirit Form?
"If you don't believe it, then forget it."
Fang Ren walked into the ATM, inserted his bank card, began to enter his pin, and casually responded to Bai Qi.
"But... how can a Spirit Form be alive?" Bai Qi touched Little Qianye with her hand, affirming that it was 100% a living, thinking individual, nothing like a Spirit Form.
"Nobody ever said that Spirit Forms must be dead things," said Fang Ren.
"Hee-ha, hee-ha!"
Bai Qi watched as Little Qianye in her hands kept reaching out its arms to her, as if a child wanting to be held, so she placed Little Qianye back on her neck, letting it rub against her face wildly.
For some reason, Bai Qi felt, from the moment she saw this little fellow, not only that it was cute, but that there seemed to be some unseen, intangible connection between them.
She felt a very friendly sensation from Fang Ren, but with Little Qianye... she felt as if it was like a child that had fallen from her own body.
Bai Qi frowned slightly as she looked at Fang Ren, "So, are you its master?"
Fang Ren withdrew a stack of Renminbi from the cash machine, looked at the foolish Bai Qi, stuffed a bunch of red banknotes into her hand, and said, "Isn't that obvious?"
With a dumbfounded look, Bai Qi glanced between Fang Ren and Little Qianye and said, "But your Spiritual Root is with me, how could a Spirit Form possibly be born from you? And as far as I know... this Spiritual Root isn't supposed to have a Spirit Form."
"Who knows?"
Saying so, Fang Ren picked up Little Qianye into his hands and said, "This little guy probably sensed the Spiritual Root on you, that's why it's so affectionate."
Bai Qi looked at Fang Ren and then at Little Qianye, asking, "What abilities does it have?"
"Why, do you want it?" Fang Ren asked.
"No, no, no, I'm just curious," Bai Qi hastily waved her hands and said, "I've already used your Spiritual Root to save my life, how could I possibly think about taking your Spirit Form away? Wouldn't that be utterly ungrateful?"
Fang Ren gave Little Qianye a pat on the buttocks and offhandedly said, "Haven't you seen it before? It can heal injuries rapidly, that's about all it can do."
"Quite a magical ability," Bai Qi nodded and said.
"Hee-ha, hee-ha!"
Little Qianye, upon hearing Fang Ren's words, became discontent, calling out incessantly in his hands as if to argue with him.
"Shut your yap!"
Fang Ren flicked Little Qianye's little buttocks, instantly making it behave, as it looked pitifully at Bai Qi across from them.
"Hee-ha..."
Seeing its expression, Bai Qi felt pity and snatched it back from Fang Ren's hands, saying, "Why are you hitting it? It hasn't done anything wrong."
As she spoke, Bai Qi started to gently rub the place where Little Qianye had been smacked, looking reproachfully at Fang Ren, "As its master, you should treat it well, don't just hit it for no reason. Look how much it hurts."
"..."
Fang Ren's face twitched, It hurts? What a joke, even if he was in pain, it wouldn't be.