Ha, Karma! – Chapter 74

Be Good~

Fu Lianxue had left Zhoucheng to participate in the program.

These past few days, she would occasionally spend her evening break time having video calls with Chu Zhaoqiu from her hotel room.

Although they hadn’t admitted it, the two were closer than lovers.

She wanted to see her fur baby, and also check on the recovery of Chu Zhaoqiu’s hand—in no particular order.

Tonight, the sky was full of stars. Fu Lianxue sat at the desk drying her hair, her phone propped up on the table, displaying the ongoing video call.

The video screen showed Chu Zhaoqiu’s bookshelf, with no one in sight.

Chu Zhaoqiu had gone to get Baobao.

Fu Lianxue patiently waited while toweling her hair.

After a short wait, the figures of a cat and a person finally appeared on screen, followed by Chu Zhaoqiu’s voice: “Baobao was just in my parents’ room.”

A very natural explanation.

Hearing this, Fu Lianxue said, “Oh, so the two Chairpersons are still home? Are they not leaving until your hand is better?”

The video screen was taken over by the little cat climbing onto the desk to see its mama.

Fu Lianxue couldn’t see Chu Zhaoqiu, but she could still hear her voice: “They had originally decided to leave two days ago, but because my wound reopened, they were worried about me. So they decided to wait until I’ve fully recovered this time before returning to the Group¹. They sent my younger sister back first.”

Her parents were now afraid that if they looked away for a second, their child’s wound would reopen again.

Baobao meowed right after she finished speaking.

Hearing the kitten’s milky meows, Fu Lianxue’s expression instantly softened. She unconsciously leaned closer to the phone, gently stroking the edge as if petting Baobao’s head. “Oh, our Baobao misses Mama, doesn’t she? Mama misses Baobao very much too~”

After teasing her baby through the screen, Fu Lianxue returned to the topic with Chu Zhaoqiu: “That’s wonderful. Our Young Head of the Chu Family is the treasure of her parents’ hearts², just like before.”

“Hm? Before?”

“You used to be the treasure of many people’s hearts back then, too. So many people doted on you, loved you… unlike this Charm Demon, me, parentless, when I get hurt, I only have…”

Just as Chu Zhaoqiu was about to comfort her, she heard her continue: “Only friends to take care of me.”

Chu Zhaoqiu asked with a helpless smile, “What about your clansmen?”

Charm Demon are born between heaven and earth, without parents, forming their own clan.

Since they were clansmen, shouldn’t they help each other out?

Fu Lianxue on the screen looked nonchalant: “Clansmen? Hmm… I’m not very familiar with most of them. The ones I was familiar with became my friends.”

Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered one Charm Demon and couldn’t help frowning: “The remaining one is the one I detest the most.”

Chu Zhaoqiu’s interest was immediately piqued.

Anything concerning her interested Chu Zhaoqiu.

“Oh? Male or female?”

“Female.”

“Why don’t you like her? Did she upset you?”

“Yes, she upset me.”

“What did she do?”

Fu Lianxue suddenly began to recall the past.

She shook the towel in her hand, draped it over her shoulders, and then said, “She dislikes you humans. Back then, she opposed me getting too close to you and was always meddling³ in my affairs. Very annoying.”

Initially, she had approached Chu Zhaoqiu with the goal of destroying her Dao heart, but in the process of getting along, she gradually forgot her original purpose and unknowingly fell for Chu Zhaoqiu.

That fellow clanswoman was the same age as her and harbored hostility towards humans. Seeing her become so close to a human, and that human still alive and kicking, made her unhappy.

“You truly are naive and foolish. Humans always deceive yao. If you don’t kill her now, are you waiting for her to kill you later?”

“I advise you not to fall for human sweet talk. Otherwise, when you’re killed, have your demon core⁴ cut out along with the Longevity Flower to become their stepping stone to heaven, and even implicate the entire clan to be massacred by these people, it will be too late for regrets.”

At the time, she just thought the other Charm Demon was spreading alarmist talk⁵.

Cut out her demon core? How could Chu Zhaoqiu possibly cut out her demon core and use her as a stepping stone to heaven?

And how could she implicate the entire clan to be harmed?

She didn’t live with the clan, nor would she bring humans to the clan grounds—her cultivation might be shallow, but she wasn’t some love brain⁶ that even zombies wouldn’t eat!

She didn’t believe Chu Zhaoqiu was that kind of person, nor could she bring herself to harm Chu Zhaoqiu.

Her views differed from this clanswoman’s, so naturally, their paths diverged. Gradually, they began to find each other disagreeable, exchanging sarcastic remarks whenever they met. Coming to blows wasn’t out of the question either.

Fu Lianxue nonchalantly took out her hairdryer. “My apologies, we yao are just this crude. When we’re unhappy, we really will strike.”

Born as yao, possessing spiritual power, it wasn’t meant for them to just talk things out reasonably!

“How is she now? Have you seen each other again?” Chu Zhaoqiu couldn’t help but worry.

Fu Lianxue straightened the hairdryer cord.

“See each other? What’s there for us to see each other about? I probably haven’t seen her in one or two thousand years.

“Whatever, I don’t care. Seeing her or not doesn’t matter to me. Even if we did meet, I wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. The suffering I endured during my cultivation wasn’t for nothing⁷!”

As the person on the screen said this, her eyes shone brightly, full of vigor and spirit.

She was long past being that weak and powerless little Charm Demon from back then.

Chu Zhaoqiu smiled faintly, feeling relieved.

Baobao was still pawing at the screen.

It could clearly see Mama and hear Mama’s voice, so why couldn’t it touch Mama?

The little kitten let out a confused sound: “Mraow~”

Fu Lianxue’s heart melted.

“Mm-hmm, Mama knows, Mama misses Baobao too. Mama will be back in a couple of days to give Baobao kisses~”

The short-legged kitten on the screen was scooped up single-handedly around the waist.

Fu Lianxue’s view finally included Chu Zhaoqiu’s face again.

She watched her sit back down, comforting the cat while looking at her and saying, “I miss you too.”

Her gaze was intense, sparkling like stars, filled with moving anticipation, longing for Fu Lianxue to respond gently to her own yearning.

Fu Lianxue deliberately chose not to.

She reached out and plugged in the power cord, a sly smile on her face. “Many people in this world miss the Young Head of the Chu Family; you don’t need me to be one of them. So, I won’t miss you, okay?”

“But the Young Head of the Chu Family needs you to miss her,” Chu Zhaoqiu’s eyes were gentle, her voice incredibly pleasant. “Needs it very much.”

The tender affection flowed like a breeze through the screen, landing on Fu Lianxue’s lips, lifting them into a sweet curve she herself hadn’t noticed.

She suddenly became quite spirited, magnanimously saying, “Alright, seeing how sincere you are, I’ll make some time to think about you then.”

After saying that, she began asking about her injury.

What followed were instructions to rest well, protect her hand, and not mess around with magical artifacts again.

Chu Zhaoqiu sat quietly on the other end, listening.

When Fu Lianxue spoke these words, her expression was serious, her tone stern, allowing no room for joking. It was as if Chu Zhaoqiu’s wound were to split open right then, she would immediately charge back to deal with her.

Clearly, a certain yao had always kept her in her heart.

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of myself.”

Chu Zhaoqiu glanced down at the cat in her arms.

“And Baobao.

“We’ll wait nicely for you to come back.”

Only then did Fu Lianxue nod with satisfaction: “Be good~”

The smile in her eyes didn’t fade in the slightest. At this moment, she felt a little happy and a little content.

After several days of hard work, Fu Lianxue was finally returning to Zhoucheng.

Cheng Hanxi had accompanied her throughout this job as well.

After finishing work, the young assistant took their things to the car ahead of them and told the driver to bring the car over. The two just needed to stand and wait for a moment.

Fu Lianxue got bored waiting. Spotting a nearby handmade accessory shop, she immediately put on her sunglasses and pulled Cheng Hanxi along.

“Let’s go, let’s go take a look, buy some gifts!”

“Ah, huh? Buy what gifts?”

Cheng Hanxi was dragged into the accessory shop, muddle-headed.

The shop owner was a young woman. The store was small but warmly and neatly decorated. The various small items displayed were all handmade by the owner herself, delicate and pretty.

The owner recognized Fu Lianxue, excitedly asked for her autograph, and even offered to give her everything for free.

Fu Lianxue smiled and said there was no need for it to be free, just let them pick things out themselves.

The two wandered around the shop. On the shelves, there were even special bibs and collars for kittens. The finished embroidery was well-done, the colors bright, and the patterns adorable.

Fu Lianxue instantly took a liking to several of them, praising them while gesturing for Cheng Hanxi to look: “Wow, look at this, isn’t it adorable? It would look super cute on my Baobao!”

Her mind already pictured Baobao wearing these knitted collars, wishing she could fly back to Zhoucheng right now and bring her little cat home!

Cheng Hanxi agreed.

Little cats are cute; they look cute in anything.

Then, she saw Fu Lianxue turn and pick up a red hand rope, examining it in her palm for a long time without putting it down. She seemed to really like it. Cheng Hanxi jokingly said, “Your little baby probably can’t wear this one.”

“It’s okay,” Fu Lianxue said. “Baobao can’t wear it, but Chu Zhaoqiu can.”

After saying that, she picked up two more hand ropes of different styles and turned towards the checkout counter.

Cheng Hanxi: “?”

She quickly grabbed Fu Lianxue: “Wait, wait, who can wear it?”

“Chu Zhaoqiu, what’s wrong? You haven’t forgotten her, have you? You just added her contact information a few days ago to discuss the endorsement deal.”

“No, I wouldn’t dare forget her. It’s just… what’s going on with you? Why are you suddenly buying her a gift?”

She hadn’t asked about Fu Lianxue’s love life recently.

Firstly, because she was busy, and secondly, because these two… seemed rather unlikely.

Fu Lianxue had been so vexed that day after realizing she liked Chu Zhaoqiu, how could she possibly get together with Chu Zhaoqiu so easily?

Therefore, she only knew that Fu Lianxue had saved Chu Zhaoqiu, but was completely unaware of their relationship’s progress, let alone that Fu Lianxue had actually reached the stage of proactively buying Chu Zhaoqiu gifts.

—A bit strange.

As both a friend and her manager, she needed to figure this out.

The human and the yao stared at each other.

Fu Lianxue looked at Cheng Hanxi, then at the items in her hand, and had a sudden realization: “Ohh~”

Then, looking relaxed, she nudged Cheng Hanxi’s shoulder and waved the hand ropes in her hand: “Hey, don’t be sad, okay? Big Sis didn’t forget you, I bought one for you too, see? If there’s anything else you like, just pick it out, Big Sis will pay~”

With that, she turned and happily went to pay.

Cheng Hanxi: “?”

Who was sad about that?!

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