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Chapter 89
Qi Huan smiled with satisfaction, her eyes crinkling. It seemed that girls understood girls better.
Overhearing this, the system realized something.
From now on, it would refer to its host as the Fairy Host!
Qi Huan, whose voice was muted from the system, didn't hear its new moniker. Instead, she led Qing Cai to the registration desk for the housewarming ceremony and grabbed a candy, handing it to her.
"Thank you, Sister Qi," Qing Cai said, putting down the tray she held in her other hand and peeling the candy wrapper before popping it into her mouth.
Qi Huan squatted down to meet Qing Cai's eye level with a concerned expression. "Weren't you supposed to be washing vegetables? Why are you serving dishes? You're so young, what if you get burned?"
"Don't frown, Sister Qi. I saw they were too busy, so I secretly came to help. The vegetable washing is covered by Shitou and the others. I'm strong enough to carry these dishes."
"No matter how strong you are, you're still a child. Children shouldn't do dangerous work."
Thinking Qi Huan doubted her strength, Qing Cai rushed to the kitchen and picked up a thick piece of uncut wood, snapping it in half with her bare hands.
"See, Sister Qi? Cai is really strong!"
Qi Huan was stunned.
So that's what Qing Cai meant.
She hadn't realized Qing Cai was born with supernatural strength.
Yan Wu, who had intended to sneak to the table and mooch some food, also witnessed the nine-year-old girl breaking the thick wooden staff with her bare hands.
He was deeply shaken.
Immediately, he approached Qing Cai and enticed her, "I see you have an extraordinary build. How about learning martial arts from me?"
"What's the use of learning martial arts?"
"...You could split logs even thicker than this one."
"Okay, I'll learn! When I become powerful, I'll protect Sister Qi!"
With that, Qing Cai knelt down and said sincerely, "Master, your disciple bows to you."
"Good disciple, get up. Your master invites you to eat."
Even as Yan Wu dragged Qing Cai away, Qi Huan still hadn't recovered from her shock. Everything had happened so quickly, like a whirlwind. 𝘧𝓻ℯ𝑒𝑤𝓮𝒷𝓷𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝓬𝓸𝓂
At that moment, Chen Jinyou's chubby little hand waved in front of her face.
Chen Jinyou had a slender physique, but his hands were unusually plump and cute.
Snapping out of her daze, Qi Huan smiled and greeted him.
"Ah Huan, guess what housewarming gift I brought you?"
"Silver?"
"Silver is a cash gift. I have another present for you...or rather, it's a gift from my father."
Qi's father and mother were killed by a ferocious tiger on their way to treat Chen the county magistrate's back injury. Although it was an unfortunate tiger attack, Chen still felt guilty.
So when Qi Huan first faced Chen the shopkeeper in court, he unconsciously sided with her and warned his own little ruffian son not to bully the Qi family orphan.
Originally, after his back injury healed somewhat and his spirits recovered, he intended to give Qi Huan some silver. But seeing that she could still make a living, and had even teamed up with the former prince, he dropped the idea.
Now that Qi Huan distributed food aid monthly, helping many impoverished people, Chen the county magistrate was quite moved as the parent official of Mo County.
Coinciding with her moving into her new residence, he had his son deliver a housewarming gift.
Understanding the circumstances, Qi Huan expressed her gratitude politely.
Although her parents had passed away before she had a chance to meet them, her father's status and title had provided her with many conveniences, from which she had greatly benefited.
Qi Huan decided that on an auspicious day, she would renovate their graves and burn more paper offerings for them.
Everyone would live together in the new residence.
Together, they would become wealthy.
Recollecting her thoughts, she asked curiously, "So, what gift did Chen the county magistrate send?"
"Come with me."
Chen Jinyou led her to the ox cart hired specifically for transporting goods. He lifted the red silk cloth covering the cart's bed, revealing a set of wooden couplet panels and a horizontal inscribed board.
At first glance, the deep red wood with gold-lacquered calligraphy looked stately and imposing.
The two vertical couplet panels were carved with the phrases: "Auspicious stars shine on the good people's residence" and "Blessings cover countless households."
The horizontal inscribed board read: "Little Qi Bodhisattva Mansion."
"Heh heh, even though my father wrote the characters, I came up with the content. Not bad, right?"
"You're really clever...but wouldn't it be blasphemous to call it a 'Bodhisattva Mansion'?"
"I don't think so?...The common folk all call you the 'Living Bodhisattva.' Chief Clerk Liang said that ever since you started distributing food aid monthly, far fewer people have come to cancel their household registrations due to family members starving to death. My father also said you live up to those two words."
"One should be humble. I dare not call myself a Bodhisattva...How about 'Little Qi Fairy Mansion' instead?"
After saying that, she considered Li Shuchen and the others living in her household, as well as Li Shuchen's contribution to building the residence.
Finally, she said seriously, "I was just joking earlier. A simple 'Qi Mansion' will do."
Originally, as a criminal, she hadn't intended to hang an inscribed board outside her residence. But since Chen the county magistrate had this made, she might as well take advantage of the opportunity.
After all, the inscribed board was a gift from Chen the county magistrate. With his support, there wouldn't be any issues hanging it up in the remote Mo County, far from the imperial court.
"Okay, no problem." Seeing her hopeful expression, Chen Jinyou readily nodded in agreement.
After all, his father had written the calligraphy and paid the artisan to carve the inscription. He didn't need to spend money or effort, so he happily agreed on his father's behalf.
"Ah Huan, I won't take this down for now. After it's modified, I'll bring it over together. I'll go eat first, or else all the seats will be taken, and I'll have to wait for the next round."
With that, he dashed off.
As wave after wave of guests left, the sun began to slowly set.
The busy workers started cleaning up the remnants of the event.
Watching their busy figures, Qi Huan found Xu Xiansheng.
"After everyone is done, give each worker one tael of silver as a reward for today's work."
Among the housewarming gifts were some loose silver pieces. Xu Mingda counted them and found there was enough to pay the workers, with some left over. He just needed to keep track of the accounts.
After interacting with her for so long, Qi Huan was confident in his ability to handle tasks.
After making the arrangements, she took another ten taels of silver and went to look for Little Shitou, Qing Cai, and the others.
When she reached the courtyard, she saw ten children surrounding Heizi, taking turns petting its fur.
Heizi lay on the ground with drooping ears, eyes closed, neither rejecting nor responding to their affection.
Afraid they would overstimulate Heizi, Qi Huan called them over and gave each child one tael of silver.
"Keep this safe. It's the wages you earned today through your labor."
"Thank you, Sister Qi."
"Thank you, Fairy Sister." Qing Cai's mouth was sweet, perhaps from the candy she ate.
Qi Huan burst out laughing in amusement.
After laughing for a while, she pursed her lips, trying to look more serious.
"Alright, Sister Qi will take you all to a place. Wait for me a moment."
She knocked on Yan Wu's door. Previously, he had driven the carriage when she, Xiu Wen, and Yan Qinghe went to Lu's mansion, so it made sense to find him.
After Yan Wu responded, he led the horses to the front of the carriage and secured the ropes. Then he brought the carriage out from the back gate and stood at the main entrance, calling for them to come out.
After helping all ten children onto the carriage one by one, Qi Huan was about to climb up the carriage step when she was suddenly embraced around the waist and placed on the front board of the carriage.
It happened to be the day when news arrived in the capital city, and since there was nothing Li Shuchen could help with at Qi Huan's place, he had gone to Cloud Shadow Trade Company early in the morning to gather intelligence.
Seeing that Qi Huan was going out, he didn't ask too many questions and simply jumped onto the carriage with her.
The carriage gifted by Lu Yueming was not very large, and with ten children already cramped inside, Qi Huan decisively ordered Li Shuchen to the front board.
Enjoying the evening breeze, Li Shuchen glanced at Yan Wu: "Drive slowly, don't jostle Sister Qi."
Thinking about the young disciples he had just taken in who were also in the carriage, Yan Wu realized Li Shuchen made a valid point.
He drove very slowly.
It took three quarters of an hour before they arrived at Qi Huan's other residence.
After the carriage stopped, Yan Wu brought out the carriage step, and the children disembarked one by one, stepping on it.
Fearing that Li Shuchen would carry her again in front of the children, which wouldn't look good, Qi Huan hurriedly got off the carriage.
"Sister Qi, where is this place?" one of the children asked.
"Your new home from now on," Qi Huan replied.