I was a very capable child

Fei Huangjin grabbed the opportunity to ask her about one of the things he was curious about. Things that weren't in the intel report. "Who took care of you when he was out for months?"

My brother did, she thought. She smiled wider at the question.

Ying Yue gave him the rehearsed version of her supposed past. She had run through the story with Big Boss countless times when she first entered Juyan. "Dad left me to the care of the old lady next to our house. She was kind enough to watch me. But when I turned seven, dad taught me to be more independent. So a lot of times, I was home alone."

Her thoughts drifted to her older brother, Ying Shen. My brother taught me everything dad had taught him, and more. He was seven years older than me, but while my dad treated me like a fragile porcelain, my brother made me who I am today.

"Home alone?" Fei Huangjin frowned. Leaving a seven-year-old kid on her own, even if she was independent, was quite dangerous. When he was barely seven, different kinds of people had already attempted to kidnap him in an attempt to threaten Fei Yangcheng.

None of them was successful though, and Fei Yangcheng obliterated their families as payback. It was because of this that Fei Yangcheng sent him to train with the Dragon Club's elite fighters.

"Yes, I was a very capable child."

He glanced at her with a knowing look. She was a very capable secretary. She wouldn't be surprised if she was already like that as a child. "I can imagine."

"He started teaching me how to cook and clean, he taught me to always wake up before the sun rose, and he taught me how to defend myself. By eight years old, I could throw off someone twice my size, use a knife, and fire a gun. I was even enrolled in a dojo to master aikido. I got my black belt when I turned eleven." Ying Yue turned to Fei Huangjin with a smug look. She wanted him to know he wouldn't be able to bully her even if he wanted to.

"Really?"

"Really."

The image of a little Ying Yue filled Fei Huangjin's mind and made him amused. "You're really something, aren't you?"

She winked at him and looked out the window. As she thought about what she just said, the memory of her black belt examination quickly swallowed her.

The examination for Ying Yue's promotion for a black belt drew to a close. She was thrown into several rounds of randori [1] to test her speed, skill, and endurance. She was given several strength tests, and had been questioned on the history of aikido. She was physically tired, but she was mentally alert and excited for the session to end.

After she was awarded the black belt in a special ceremony, she ran out of the dojo waving her belt at Ying Shen, who was waiting for her outside.

"Brother Shen! Brother Shen! Look!" She ran as fast as her little legs would carry her and threw herself at Ying Shen, who caught her and spun her around, laughing.

"I told you that you could do it, didn't I?" He set her down on the ground and examined the belt she was waving in front of him. "Nice. Why does this look better than mine? Let me trade my black belt for yours, Xiao Yue."

She grabbed the belt from his hands and hugged it to her chest. Her brother Shen had a black belt in Judo, Aikido, and even mastered Kung fu, and she looked up to him for that. She thought he was the best fighter in the world.

But today, she finally earned her own black belt. Even if Ying Yue knew he was joking about taking it, she couldn't help being defensive. "Your belts look old because you got them years ago, brother Shen. You can't have this one! This is mine!"

He laughed. A melodious kind of laugh that wasn't held back. It sounded so carefree to Ying Yue's ears, like he didn't have a problem in the world.

"Well, since you got your belt now, let's celebrate with ice cream!"

Ying Yue cheered. Ying Shen took her duffel bag and slung it over his back, circling his other arm around his sister's shoulders. Together, they walked to their favorite ice cream parlor just a few blocks away.

"Guess what flavor I'm getting today!"

"Let me see…" he pretended to think it over for the moment before asking, "Vanilla?"

The little girl beside him laughed aloud, "No! Guess again!"

"Hmm… strawberry?"

"No! I got that last time! I'm getting the lemon cheesecake flavor today. Lemon cheesecake!" she exclaimed, happily walking alongside him.

"Oh." Ying Shen then pretended to be sad. "How could I not know that?"

Ying Yue giggled at her brother. He was really the best big brother in the whole world.