His cheap daughter suddenly became more lively, and Qin Jingzhou couldn't help but smile.
Xiao Jinhai's anger vanished in an instant. He just told Zuo Rongcheng to "get lost," then turned and rejoined his younger brother and niece.
Zuo Rongcheng knew he had narrowly escaped disaster. He shot a heartfelt thanks to his cousin standing a few steps away. "Thank you, Cousin Wanwan, for sparing my life!"
His cheap daughter completely ignored him.
But being ignored was actually good news. Zuo Rongcheng slowly pushed himself up, and then, well, turned and ran.
On this side, his cheap daughter quickly arranged a meeting spot with her brother. Qin Jingzhou put his arm around his daughter's shoulder and led her out. Xiao Jinhai turned to watch his brother and niece, and finally broke into a smile.
The back seat of the luxury business van was quite spacious. Not only could the two Xiao brothers, both over 185 cm, sit side by side, there was even room left over for his cheap daughter.
She sat next to the car door, head down, messaging her brother. "I really look like Dad. Oh, and I met Great Uncle too. You’ll see for yourself soon and then you’ll understand everything."
She had known from a young age that she was pretty, and had instinctively learned to protect herself. Even when she had no choice but to enter the entertainment industry, she usually resisted letting strange men get close. But this time... Not only did she not resist, she even wanted to get closer to her dad.
At this moment, Qin Jingzhou was messaging his brother on his phone. "Bro, check into the adoptive father of the two kids. From what I know, both of them stopped going to school after junior high because they had to pay off their adoptive father's gambling debts."
His cheap son and daughter’s adoptive father was surnamed Zhao, and the kids’ real names were Zhao Jinbao and Zhao Zhaocai.
After his daughter entered the entertainment industry, the name Zhao Zhaocai obviously wouldn't fly, so when she signed with the company, the deputy general manager gave her the stage name "Zhao Wan." That’s why Zuo Rongcheng had shouted "Cousin Wanwan" earlier. Actually, his cheap daughter liked her stage name quite a bit. She'd even liked a fan's comment calling her "Wanwan" on her social media.
Back to the kids' adoptive father—let’s call him Father Zhao, he was a real scumbag.
The kids' birth mother had been ambitious, thinking she could become the Second Young Madam of the Xiao family through her children, but she died during childbirth back in her hometown. The children's uncle and aunt didn’t know who the biological father was and didn’t want to raise the two kids, so they sold them to Father Zhao.
Father Zhao originally ran an underground casino, and perhaps out of guilty conscience, he and his wife never had children—at least, that's what they both firmly believed.
It just so happened that the kids’ uncle and aunt were selling them in a small alley outside the hospital when Zhao Father passed by, and on a whim, bought the two children.
While Father Zhao’s wife was alive, he wasn’t good to the two kids, but at least he didn’t go out of his way to hurt them. When they were in their second year of junior high, their adoptive mother passed away. After handling her funeral, Father Zhao simply stopped providing for their tuition or living expenses.
If not for the nine-year compulsory education policy preventing them from being forced out of school for lack of money, the kids wouldn’t have been able to graduate from junior high at all.
The reason Father Zhao's attitude changed was because his mistress became pregnant while his wife was gravely ill.
The mistress soon gave birth to a son, and a year and a half later, she had another.
After repeated police crackdowns,Father Zhao went to jail several times. It was only because "he was the real boss behind the underground casino" hadn’t come to light that he avoided serious time, but he knew the days were numbered. He had to prepare and was planning to take a lot of cash and his own sons with his mistress and run far away.
Before he left, of course he wanted to cash out his adoptive son and daughter... He couldn’t just raise them for nothing.
So the beautiful daughter was pushed into the entertainment industry instead of being randomly married off for a big bride price—after all, in his mind, selling her to many was better than a one-time sale.
The adoptive son worked on construction sites by day and delivered food at night. Using the excuse of gambling debts, Father Zhao squeezed 10,000 to 20,000 out of the boy each month.
Within the System’s revealed plot, the adoptive father had always intended to bleed them dry before cutting his losses, and him writing a declaration of forgiveness for money was only "logical."
Although the cheap son, Zhao Jinbao, had already harshly gotten revenge on the adoptive father through his own efforts before returning to the Xiao family... Qin Jingzhou glanced at the daughter giggling on her phone. "Leave the kids’ adoptive father to my brother. I have to give Big Uncle a chance to shine."
The System chuckled. “Right, Xiao Jinhai’s been feeling guilty ever since you were kidnapped. I bet Xiao Jinhai will treat your cheap kids better than his own two sons.”
"Once I’ve settled the kids’ affairs, I need to get started on taking disciples," Qin Jingzhou said with another laugh. "The original host had no expectations for his children. I have to rescue the kids before I get on with my quests. Not being a dad for even a day and I feel all itchy."
The System let out a deep, emotional "Goose, goose, goose," then asked, "Are you going to form a sect as before? The crystal wall of this world is really thin, Brother Zhou, isn’t it super convenient for you to travel between worlds and gather resources?"
Qin Jingzhou replied, "Forget traditional sects. If I start an immortal cultivation sect before spiritual energy fully recovers, even if I train some Qi Refining disciples ahead of time, it’ll just make us a target for everyone... I have a different idea, but I need to travel through the crystal wall to the other world and do some fieldwork. I want to see some old faces first."
Realizing Brother Zhou had big plans, the System flashed and replied, "Sounds great!"
Half an hour later, they arrived at the agreed location and picked up his cheap son, Zhao Jinbao, still dressed in his food delivery uniform.
Assistant Wang took the initiative to get in the back seat, letting Zhao Jinbao sit in front.
Zhao Jinbao had dark, rough skin and pronounced dark circles under his eyes, but nothing could hide his striking features.
He got in holding his helmet, head down, his handsome face set in a sullen line. When he looked at Xiao Jinhai, his eyes were wary, but when he glanced at Qin Jingzhou... his expression faltered for a moment and he looked away.
His cheap daughter reached over and poked her twin brother, who was sitting in the passenger seat, earning herself an eye roll. She straightened the jacket she’d draped over her shoulders and shot Qin Jingzhou a small smile.
Qin Jingzhou reached out and ruffled her hair.
She didn’t resist at all. In fact, her eyes crinkled happily.
Not bad. If nothing unexpected happened, this would be a kid who had climbed out of the mud under her own strength. Qin Jingzhou’s lips curved slightly.
Xiao Jinhai watched the interaction between his brother and niece and suddenly felt like crying. He kept thinking, with these kids here, maybe his brother could truly move on.
His cheap big brother said nothing, but it was all written on his face.
Qin Jingzhou threw an arm around his big brother’s shoulder and squeezed. Immediately, the big brother slumped into his embrace.
Zhao Jinbao watched this scene in the rearview mirror, pulled a face, but in the end said nothing.
The System: ...This scene feels oddly familiar.
Qin Jingzhou was in a good mood. "This face, truly a weapon for boosting favorability."
Twenty minutes later, the car rolled through the gates of the Xiao family estate and stopped at once—Elder Xiao and Old Madam were already waiting at the door, supported by two housekeepers.
Xiao Jinhai quickly jumped out to make room for his brother. Even if his cheap kids were nervous about returning home, they couldn't let these two old folks with heads of silver hair stand waiting in the autumn wind.
Old Madam's gaze first landed on her youngest son, wearing only a shirt, then quickly turned to the girl draped in her son’s jacket. "Come here and let Grandma have a look!"
His cheap daughter looked to Qin Jingzhou on reflex. At his encouraging smile, she gathered her courage and ran straight over.
Old Madam hugged her tight, eyes brimming with tears. "My darling granddaughter!"
Elder Xiao snorted. "Weren't you just telling me you wouldn’t cry?" He clearly didn’t want to put any pressure on Zhao Jinbao, who seemed unmoved, so he shot his youngest son a look.
Qin Jingzhou turned and placed a gentle hand on Zhao Jinbao's shoulder.
Zhao Jinbao tensed, instinctively wanting to shrug off the hand, but just as he lifted his arm he met Qin Jingzhou’s smile and looked away again.
Qin Jingzhou narrowed his eyes. Don’t be fooled by how the twin siblings were the center of attention—every Xiao family member had their eyes on him.
Elder Xiao was genuinely stunned for a moment, then his delight was obvious. His youngest son was smiling. He was taking the initiative to get close to others. Maybe... just maybe, he would let go of that idea.
Old Madam, still hugging her granddaughter, glanced at her eldest son.
Xiao Jinhai didn’t dodge the look. In fact, he looked a little proud.
Qin Jingzhou took the lead. “Let’s talk inside.”
As long as his usually world-weary youngest son was happy, the Xiao family didn’t care if there was no blood relation after all—even if it was all for show, they would still accept the children openly. The old couple were both around eighty, hardly able to see the children’s features without glasses.
Inside Elder Xiao’s study, once the two uneasy siblings settled down, Qin Jingzhou got straight to the point. “Let’s do a DNA test. It’s better for everyone. Sorry to trouble you, big brother.”
Xiao Jinhai picked up his phone. "Alright."
It was nearly half past ten at night, but Big Brother Xiao could always throw money at a problem and arrange for the experts to come overtime.
In just fifteen minutes, a lab researcher came to collect samples.
The researcher had barely left when sales reps for several of the Xiao family's favorite brands arrived with catalogs and piles of clothes.
Even a simple guy like Zhao Jinbao knew this was for him and his sister. He shot up from his seat—he never believed in free lunches. He assumed his sister got close to this suddenly-appearing man in hopes of escaping their adoptive father’s grip, but seeing how things were going... He had to say something.
But his cheap daughter, Zhao Wan, beat her brother to it, stating firmly, "I can't accept this!"
At that moment, Qin Jingzhou was sitting by the window, legs crossed, smoking a cigarette.
He flicked the ash. "You can see for yourselves how things are in this family. Your birth mother wasn’t the kind who would abandon her children either. I’m guessing your adoptive father has serious issues, so just sit tight and enjoy the show." He nodded toward the ever-smiling, impeccably professional sales reps. "These aren’t compensation. These are things my kids naturally deserve."
Zhao Jinbao blurted out, "So what’s the price we have to pay?"
Qin Jingzhou smiled. "Just study hard."
The tech tree in this world was a bit crooked, and three hours later the results were sent to Xiao Jinhai’s phone.
He looked straight to the conclusion: his brother was the biological father of the two kids.
It was nearly two in the morning, but everyone in the Xiao family, including Elder Xiao and Old Madam, had stayed up to see the results as soon as possible.
When the housekeeper knocked, the siblings—now changed into new clothes—were in the guestroom talking. Mostly, Zhao Wan was nagging her brother: “You let Dad put his arm around your shoulder and couldn’t say a word in protest, could you?”
At almost the same time, Zuo Rongcheng was in his father’s study, pointing at the cut on his own forehead and grinding his teeth. “Dad, we can’t take this lying down. We need to get back what rightfully belonged to Grandma... Let’s go see that master!”