Father-in-law?
Good grief, she was already calling my dad “father-in-law”…
To be honest, He Qiu truly never knew that he even had a father after being reborn.
The earliest memory he had was as a two-year-old baby, raised by a kind mother and daughter in the village.
So he called that auntie “Mother” and her daughter “Sister,” becoming a member of their family.
Later, when He Qiu grew up and showed a strong desire to learn, his mother sent him to study under a blind old grandfather in the village.
Every day, like attending a private school, his sister would punctually pick him up and drop him off for lessons.
Later still, He Qiu lived up to expectations, completed his studies, and left his hometown to travel to the big city to take the imperial examinations…
At that time, after the mother and daughter saw him off, they also left the village without following him into the city.
The old teacher remained in the village, but when they parted, he patted He Qiu on the shoulder with great hope, looking as if heavy responsibilities awaited him.
All in all, in the memory of He Qiu’s current life, there really was no such role as “father.”
Therefore, his senior sister’s words didn’t feel real to He Qiu.
Seeing that the former couldn’t accept it for a moment, An Lingran sighed and said earnestly:
“Junior Brother He Qiu has just entered the Spirit Cultivation Realm, so there are many things he doesn’t understand. But the marriage engagement has deep roots behind it. As your senior sister, I can’t tell you too much at this stage… The more you know, the easier it is to attract disaster. You understand that principle, right?”
“I… I understand…”
Seeing that An Lingran wasn’t joking at all, He Qiu’s little heart tightened.
Although he didn’t know the unwritten rules of the Spirit Cultivation Realm, he had read plenty of fantasy novels in his previous life.
No one understood the principle of “Curiosity killed the cat” better than He Qiu.
Besides, he was a reincarnator himself.
Suddenly learning that he had a mysterious, unfathomable father actually seemed reasonable and not out of place at all—wasn’t that exactly the protagonist’s standard setup?
What’s more, for something to make Senior Sister Ling Ran, the Primordial Saintess, speak so seriously—it absolutely couldn’t be simple!
Unconsciously, He Qiu became convinced by An Lingran’s words.
Seeing this, the silver-haired woman covered her lips with her jade hand and secretly smiled.
She had successfully made her junior brother accept the engagement with her!
In this way, her identity as his fiancée was recognized by He Qiu.
Then He Qiu would inevitably start thinking about marriage with his senior sister.
With this back-and-forth, wasn’t it only a matter of time before An Lingran captured her junior brother?
“Ahem. Junior Brother doesn’t need to be too nervous. Both of us are still young; cultivation should be the priority. You just need to know about the marriage engagement. In the future, I won’t use it to force you into anything, so rest assured.”
To keep her junior brother from getting too tense, An Lingran gave He Qiu a preventive shot.
Otherwise, if her little junior brother got scared one day, couldn’t sleep, and fled down the mountain in the middle of the night to escape the marriage—what would she do then?
If he pulled another “junior brother disappears” stunt, An Lingran’s little heart really couldn’t take it.
On the other side, seeing An Lingran comfort him, He Qiu nodded sensibly and didn’t overthink it.
He referenced the background of similar protagonists from novels in his previous life and guessed:
“Senior Sister is right. So does that mean when I become strong enough, I’ll be qualified to know the truth about my background?”
“Mm, that’s right.”
An Lingran widened her beautiful eyes slightly, then nodded approvingly.
Actually, she was a little surprised, because she had just been thinking of saying something mysterious like “When Junior Brother grows strong enough, you can learn the truth.”
But An Lingran hadn’t expected He Qiu to figure it out on his own.
Sure enough, her little junior brother was as quick-witted as ever~
Look, there was no need to explain big principles to him.
He could draw inferences about other cases from one instance—he caught on instantly!
Worthy of being my fiancé.
“So, now that Junior Brother understands the marriage engagement, that’s good. Earlier, when I came to find you, it was actually to discuss the marriage affair. But I didn’t expect… that you were completely unaware of it from the start, which caused such a big blunder.”
“Alas, it’s also my fault for not being straightforward…”
As she spoke, An Lingran slightly lowered her eyes, looking a little forlorn.
She had originally thought that her junior brother liked her, his fiancée, very much, which was why those geniuses admired her so.
Unfortunately, she was overthinking it.
She had been flattering herself all along, playing a one-woman show.
So every time An Lingran thought about that, there was inevitably a sense of loss, loneliness, and regret in her heart.
“Senior Sister, don’t blame yourself. Since the background of the marriage engagement is so profound, it’s not wrong for you to be conservative when talking about it.”
He Qiu felt that this matter couldn’t be blamed on An Lingran.
After all, the engagement background was so mysterious—they definitely couldn’t talk about it casually.
What if eavesdroppers heard it and it spread to the ears of bad people?
But it seemed that in the end, Senior Sister had still made it public…
Probably because the deadline of the marriage contract was approaching, and he still hadn’t reacted in his oblivious way, so Senior Sister had to rush to propose in public.
“So, since the content of the previous wager was the marriage contract, that means… I’ve actually already completed your test, Senior Sister?”
Cultivating the Fine Snow Sword Manual within three months—He Qiu did it in seven days.
And yesterday, when Senior Sister proposed in public, it indirectly proved that He Qiu had completed the wager within the specified time.
As for the so-called cultivation down the mountain, it was probably all He Qiu overthinking.
In fact, Senior Sister’s standards weren’t that high.
Wait.
Senior Sister gave me a deadline as long as three months, without including a practical trial.
That means Senior Sister was simply giving me a lenient timeline…
Otherwise, wasn’t three months too long?
Even for someone like He Qiu with a Wasted Spirit Vein, he could master such an introductory sword manual in seven days.
It showed that Senior Sister expected me to easily complete the wager and then marry her early?
Could it be that Senior Sister has liked me from the very beginning and has long wanted to marry me according to the engagement…
All at once, He Qiu had an epiphany.
Recalling the scenes when he trained and practiced swordplay with Senior Sister, he suddenly understood all the puzzling details and realized why she had always blushed and looked shy back then.
So, Senior Sister has always liked me?
But I’m just a junior brother who just entered the sect.
Did Senior Sister Ling Ran fall in love with me at first sight just based on a blank marriage contract?
Is that…
A little rash?
If the engagement was with someone else, would Senior Sister still be willing to marry them?
As he thought, He Qiu couldn’t help feeling insecure.
He didn’t know if An Lingran truly liked him as her junior brother or simply wanted to marry him because of the engagement contract.
But He Qiu subjectively leaned toward the former.
Compared to an empty marriage contract, anyone would prefer feelings that were uniquely theirs…
However, no matter which option, He Qiu wasn’t particularly interested.
Having a beautiful woman like him was naturally good news, but right now he wanted to cultivate and get stronger.
He really couldn’t handle romance…
Would that be an emotional betrayal to Senior Sister?
So, how should He Qiu choose?
After some hesitation, He Qiu still sat upright and asked in a very sincere tone:
“Senior Sister Ling Ran, are you truly willing to marry me?”
—
Finally, 300 monthly votes.
One bonus chapter later tonight.
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