Volume 1, Chapter 7: Family Like Demons
The loud crowing of the rooster added a touch of life to the silent village.
Qiao Yuan reluctantly got up; she still couldn’t fall asleep.
Stepping out of the yard, she saw a sliver of dawn light in the distance—daybreak was near.
With nothing to do, Qiao Yuan headed to the grocery store, where the shelves had already been fully restocked.
At six o’clock, her system panel suddenly appeared before her.
【Ding dong! Daily Blind Box】
She glanced up and saw three identical boxes on the panel.
Right, one of the rewards from yesterday’s system upgrade package was a daily blind box draw at six in the morning. She had nearly forgotten.
Qiao Yuan casually tapped the box on the far right.
The box gradually grew larger, its lid suddenly popping open to reveal a pair of gloves as thin as cicada wings.
【Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the item—“Hand in Hand, You Walk Together.”】
【Usage: Do you have someone you dislike? Do you want them to disappear? Put on the gloves, touch any part of the target’s body, and say “Let’s go.” This will send the person into a parallel world.】
【Note: Can only be used three times a day.】
Holding the pale blue gloves in her hand, Qiao Yuan was startled.
Sending someone to the apocalypse was no different from killing them. She couldn’t think of anyone she absolutely had to kill yet.
She tucked the gloves into her space.
After breakfast, she left a note on the warehouse door: if Ning Jue came by, he could take whatever supplies he needed.
...
At Qing Shan Pawnshop, ever since he met his monthly target two days ago, Wang Xin had been walking to work with a lighter step.
He changed into his work uniform, humming a tune as he approached the counter.
“Burp~”
Seeing the woman standing in the hall, Wang Xin choked and hiccupped.
Qiao Yuan arrived just as the pawnshop opened. She saw an old acquaintance and immediately smiled, running over.
“Miss Qiao... you’re not here to pawn something again today, are you?” Even with his extensive experience, Wang Xin had never seen anyone like Qiao Yuan before.
“Yes! Today it’s a necklace!”
The necklace Qiao Yuan intended to pawn was definitely no ordinary trinket. Wang Xin decisively brought out a velvet tray and put on gloves.
“Go greet the boss first; let him take a look too.” As he spoke, Qiao Yuan pulled a string of gemstone necklaces from her pocket.
Wang Xin blinked.
Pigeon blood red!
Without hesitation, he pressed the call bell.
Ten minutes later, Xu Qiuyun’s eyes lifted from the ruby necklace.
He and Wang Xin exchanged looks of shock, seeing the same astonishment reflected in each other’s eyes.
“Miss Qiao, where did you get this necklace?” Xu Qiuyun asked.
He didn’t care much about jade plaques or gold bars, but pigeon blood rubies were not something just anyone possessed.
...
“From a friend,” Qiao Yuan explained.
Xu Qiuyun’s first thought was that it was a gift from a boyfriend. He scrutinized Qiao Yuan from head to toe—who was this wealthy second-generation heir?
Such wasted passion~
“How much do you want for it if it’s a dead pawn?”
Xu Qiuyun hesitated for a moment before pulling out a calculator.
“This piece isn’t large, but it is indeed a top-quality pigeon blood ruby. I can offer...”
He flipped the calculator around for Qiao Yuan to see.
Units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten millions...
Ten million! I’m rich! I’m rich!
Suppressing her ecstatic joy, Qiao Yuan feigned calm.
“Alright, that number will do.”
Qiao Yuan left the pawnshop and hailed a taxi.
Unnoticed, Qiao Qiu happened to be passing by.
After the taxi left, he entered the pawnshop.
...
Qiao Yuan felt as if she were still dreaming.
Twenty-four million, fresh and hot!
With this money, she could finally get her grandfather into a nursing home.
She spent the entire morning researching the West Suburb Hot Spring Nursing Home. The attendant she met was indifferent at first.
That changed immediately after Qiao Yuan paid the two million deposit; the attendant’s attitude made a complete turnaround.
After listening to his introduction, Qiao Yuan nodded in satisfaction.
Sixty thousand a year.
She could afford it!
It was Wednesday afternoon. Qiao Zhenyun and his wife should be at work, and Qiao Qiu was a junior at a university in the city, rarely coming home.
It was the perfect opportunity to sneak her grandfather away while no one was home.
Qiao Yuan took a taxi to Happy Homeland. On the way back, she bought a hat and mask to avoid being recognized by neighbors.
Unit 1101, Building 7, Entrance 1.
“Weren’t you supposed to come home tonight, Qiu, craving braised pork? Look at what you bought instead—useless old stuff!” Li Hua stood in the kitchen with hands on her hips, her voice sharp and piercing.
The elderly man hunched his back and picked up the vegetables from the floor, not daring to breathe loudly. “I—I’ll go out and buy some now.”
He grabbed his vegetable basket and prepared to leave. Qiao Zhenyun, sitting on the sofa watching TV, didn’t even lift his eyelids as he heard the scolding.
Sigh~
The door opened, and his eyes lit up, then quickly tensed.
“Xiao Yuan, you—you’re back?”
Standing in the doorway was Qiao Yuan; she hadn’t expected anyone to be home today.
Just as she was about to leave, her grandfather opened the door.
...
“Oh, it’s you, Xiao Yuan. Where have you been all this time? Come in!” Li Hua, seeing Qiao Yuan, immediately gave Qiao Zhenyun a meaningful look.
She pulled Qiao Yuan into the living room, while Qiao Zhenyun quietly shut and double-locked the security door.
“I’m here to take Grandpa with me.” Qiao Yuan said bluntly.
“What?” Qiao Zhenyun stared in disbelief.
“You all think he’s useless, right? I’m taking him away to care for him.”
Li Hua gave Qiao Yuan a long, deep look.
This little brat was decked out in designer brands—and real ones at that!
It seemed that what Xiao Qiu had said on the phone this morning was true—the little bastard really did strike it rich!
Just as Qiao Zhenyun was about to curse, Li Hua suddenly grabbed him, then smiled warmly at Qiao Yuan.
“Alright, alright, even if you want to take Grandpa, we need to discuss it properly, don’t we?”
Li Hua’s attitude puzzled Qiao Yuan, but then she realized: maybe it was because Grandpa was old and they’d have to spend money to care for him anyway, so it was better to pass him off to Qiao Yuan.
Qiao Yuan sat on the sofa while Li Hua pulled Qiao Zhenyun into the kitchen, whispering about something.
Grandpa looked at her uneasily and whispered, “Xiao Yuan, Zhenyun wants you to marry his boss’s son. Don’t you ever agree—he’s an idiot.”
Qiao Yuan held his hand. “Grandpa, don’t worry. I won’t marry anyone. You and I will leave. We won’t endure this abuse anymore.”
“Okay... okay...”
Grandpa’s murky tears fell one by one onto the back of Qiao Yuan’s hand, burning hot.
“Xiao Yuan, if you want to take Grandpa, we agree, but there’s one condition.” Li Hua handed her a glass of water.
Tch! Their water? She wouldn’t dare drink it—what if they poisoned her again?
Qiao Yuan placed the glass on the coffee table. Li Hua’s mouth twitched slightly upon seeing this.
“What condition?”
“Give us ten million, and you can take Grandpa.”
“Are you crazy?” Qiao Yuan’s eyes widened.
The next moment, Qiao Zhenyun spoke, “Xiao Qiu said you pawned a bunch of treasures; you have at least ten million on you!”
“We raised you all these years; even if you haven’t done much, you owe us. You got rich and only think about Grandpa—what about your parents?”
Qiao Zhenyun’s words sounded justified, as if raising Qiao Yuan had really cost them a fortune.
Qiao Yuan was no fool; she knew Qiao Qiu might have seen her at the pawnshop.
“I was pawning things for a friend. The money was transferred to her long ago,” she said, eyes darting. “I have no money. If you don’t want Grandpa to leave, then take care of him yourselves.”
With that, Qiao Yuan stood up, about to leave.
“You little bitch! Ungrateful!”
“Bang—”
Qiao Yuan suddenly fell forward, a sharp pain shooting down from the top of her head.
Her vision blurred until it faded into complete darkness.