Shen Qishuang.
Lin An’s childhood friend.
Calling her a young lady might be an exaggeration, but in their small town, the Shen family was certainly one of the top households.
Shen Qishuang had been pampered since childhood, wanting for nothing, and grew up with a spoiled temperament.
Lin An got to know her because their homes were only a street apart.
Aunt Yan ran a small embroidery shop in town, specializing in embroidery and wedding dresses.
The two families were neighbors and got along well, visiting each other during holidays.
Lin An first met Shen Qishuang when he was five.
At that time, he still wasn’t quite used to this world.
He spoke little, didn’t play much with other kids, and often sat alone in front of the embroidery shop, staring into space.
A little girl ran over, stood in front of him, tilted her head, and looked at him for a long time.
“What’s your name?”
“Lin An.”
“Oh,” the little girl nodded.
“I’m Shen Qishuang. Are you mute? My mom said you don’t talk.”
“…Your mom’s right.”
Lin An couldn’t be bothered to argue with her.
“Then you…”
The girl seemed surprised by his answer.
“No, no, you can talk! Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Didn’t you say I was mute?”
The girl blinked, then let out a giggle.
“You’re so interesting. Let’s be friends.”
Children’s feelings are always so pure and straightforward.
Five-year-old Shen Qishuang wore a bright red cotton jacket, her hair tied in two little buns, her face round, eyes bright, and when she smiled, she looked like a doll from a New Year painting.
Lin An was bored anyway, so he agreed.
“Fine.”
If he had another chance, he definitely wouldn’t make that wrong decision.
Because from then on, Shen Qishuang stuck to him like a plaster.
“Lin An! Come out and play!”
“Lin An! Why are you still sleeping? The sun is already up!”
“Lin An! I brought you something good to eat! Hurry up!”
Aunt Yan always watched this scene with a smile, even helping Shen Qishuang “aid the villain.”
“Little An’er, don’t keep people waiting, hurry up.”
Lin An was always the one being dragged around the town by Shen Qishuang.
Going to the river to catch fish, picking wild fruit in the mountains, watching street performances at the temple fair—these were all fine.
But later, Shen Qishuang suddenly took a liking to dressing him up, treating him like a paper doll.
“This blue one looks good!”
“The green one is good too!”
“This red one—you’d definitely look good in red. Try it on!”
“Do I have to?”
“Just try it~”
“I don’t want to.”
“Lin An!”
“…Fine.”
This was Shen Qishuang.
Spoiled, willful, acting on whims, never accepting refusal.
When Shen Qishuang turned ten, something happened.
A wandering cultivator passed through town and discovered her talent for cultivation.
That cultivator was the branch head of the Imperial Court’s Canglong Academy, a cultivator at the Spiritual Martial Realm.
He muttered something about a “natural spiritual body” and “one in a hundred years” and insisted on taking her as his disciple.
Seeing his daughter’s great fortune, Shopkeeper Shen was overjoyed and threw a three-day feast.
The day before she left, Shen Qishuang came to find Lin An.
“Lin An, you’re not allowed to see me off. I hate sappy goodbyes.”
“I wasn’t planning to cry.”
“Shut up. I said you’re not allowed, so you’re not allowed.”
“Fine.”
“Also,” Shen Qishuang stood at his doorstep, the setting sun stretching her shadow long.
“When I’ve finished my studies, I’ll come back and teach you cultivation. You’re too stupid to do it without me.”
“…You should fix that habit of offending people with your mouth once you get to the capital.”
“Mind your own business!”
The next morning, Lin An went anyway.
He stood behind the old locust tree at the town entrance, watching the carriage carrying Shen Qishuang and the cultivator slowly disappear along the official road.
The carriage traveled far, then the curtain suddenly lifted.
A small head poked out, eyes red, waving frantically in his direction.
Shen Qishuang came back every year, and as that cultivator had said, her talent was remarkable.
Every time Lin An saw her, he was amazed at how much her cultivation had grown.
The last time they met was a few months ago, when she returned home during her break.
Shen Qishuang stood in the courtyard, sunlight falling on her.
Her eyes were still so bright, carrying that never-say-die attitude when she looked at people.
“Lin An, wait for me. Once I reach the Spiritual Martial Realm, I’ll come back and teach you. You can’t keep coasting like this. It stresses me out just watching.”
“Mind your own business?”
“I do mind! I’ve been minding your business since we were kids, and I’m not going to stop now.”
“…”
That day’s conversation ended with Lin An’s silence.
Not because he didn’t want to argue back, but because arguing back wouldn’t change anything.
This was Shen Qishuang.
Since childhood, she had never listened to anyone.
—
—
A young woman in a light green dress stood in front of the counter, holding a piece of fabric and slapping it down hard on the wooden surface.
She looked about seventeen or eighteen, already tall and graceful, with a slender waist and straight posture.
Her black hair was tied up in a neat bun with a silver hairpin, a few stray strands falling by her ears.
Her profile was sharp and clean—a high nose bridge, long and curling eyelashes, big and bright eyes.
Right now, those eyes were glaring at the shopkeeper behind the counter, fierce and intimidating.
Lin An silently withdrew his gaze, shifted two steps to the side, and hid himself behind a row of hanging cloth.
‘It really is her.’
Lin An took a deep breath.
His temples began to throb, and his head was already starting to ache.
It was that kind of headache he’d accumulated since childhood—a conditioned reflex.
The shopkeeper broke out in a cold sweat and waved his hands repeatedly.
“Miss, please calm down. This batch of goods was indeed sent by us, but the requirements on this order were put forward by your academy itself…”
“Our requirements?”
Shen Qishuang sneered, picking up the piece of fabric and shaking it.
“How far off is the color of this fabric from what we asked for? We wanted lake blue—is this blue? This is green! You can’t even tell lake blue from green, and you call yourselves a cloth shop?”
The shopkeeper opened his mouth but didn’t know how to defend himself.
Lin An silently wiped a bead of sweat for the shopkeeper in his mind.
If you tried to reason with Shen Qishuang, she’d out-reason you.
If you tried to act tough with her, she’d act tougher.
If you were in the wrong…
Then you were finished.
“Also,” Shen Qishuang took out a piece of paper and slapped it on the counter.
“Take a look yourself. The quantity of this batch doesn’t match what we ordered either. We ordered three hundred bolts, and you sent two hundred and twenty. Short by eighty. Did you think I can’t count?”
The shopkeeper picked up the paper, looked it over, and his face grew even uglier.
Lin An watched her through the cloth, his emotions mixed.
‘A few months apart, and this girl has gotten even sharper.’
‘The little girl who used to just throw tantrums now has a method to her tantrums—well-reasoned and impossible to refute.’
This one-sided argument didn’t last long.
The paperwork was clear—the goods were indeed defective.
Lin An had no interest in what this Demon Sect outpost was up to.
He just wanted Shen Qishuang not to notice him.
Fortunately, after getting compensation, Shen Qishuang left quickly without lingering, not even glancing his way.
A moment later, Qu Hongling also came out from the back.
She said nothing about what had just happened, only casting occasional sidelong glances at Lin An.
Lin An immediately understood something.
‘It seems no matter where you are, there are always people lining their own pockets.’
Walking on the street, Lin An deliberately put on a grim expression, as if he were in a very bad mood.
Just as Qu Hongling was about to start explaining, a voice called out from behind.
“Are the two of you from the Heaven Origin Sect?”
Qu Hongling turned to look back.
What she didn’t notice was that when Lin An heard this voice, the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
‘How did this girl find me?!’