Bai Zhe figured out how to make money while he was going back home. He knew that his freelance job took a lot of time, and the pay was only enough to live on day by day.
He did not look down on the job. He knew that freelancers could even have some savings if they were frugal. But it would be better if he had more money. He needed it to buy herbs that were the ingredients of medicine to strengthen qi power. Though he had his power sealed in his soul, he could not use it until he reached the earth qi.
After making calculations in his mind, Bai Zhe decided to write a martial arts novel because he had experiences from Da Xian, so he had a lot of stories to tell.
‘If I cannot be a superstar, at least the money from the novel will help with living expenses,’ he thought before jumping down from the roof next to the building of the Bai family’s apartment.
The Private Hospital Where Yi Han Was Being Treated…
Yi Han’s limbs were tied to the bed. His wrists and ankles were red from fabric burns. He still squirmed and screamed in pain, even though his throat was sore.
Outside, his father, a politician in the capital city, was furiously shouting at the doctor who took care of the boy’s case.
“How could you say that everything is normal? Do you think he’s faking it? How can someone pretend to be in pain for hours?” Yi San pointed at his son who was writhing on the hospital bed.
“We did a thorough check on his body, sir. Everything is normal. If there was some new disease, we would have found some abnormality. But there is none. We even injected him with some sleep medication, but it did not work. It’s something we have never seen before,” said the doctor.
As Yi San opened his mouth to berate the doctor once more, Yi Han stopped screaming. The men immediately looked at the boy. The doctor hurried to Yi Han when he noticed the boy was lying still.
“Huff…huff.” Yi Han was panting. His chest went up and down heavily and sweat dripped down his face. His clothes were damp. The pain had vanished into thin air because the power of the qi character was gone.
“Son, are you all right?” asked Yi San.
“It…it doesn’t hurt anymore. But…I’m thirsty,” Yi Han told his father. His eyelids felt heavy. He was tired and his body ached.
“I will have the nurse come clean you and change your clothes. You should eat and drink something before getting rest.”
“Dad,” the boy called his father. He wanted something.
“What is it?” Yi San asked.
“I want to move to a new school,” the boy answered. He recalled himself writhing on the floor while his classmates looked at him. Yi Han felt embarrassed enough to decide to transfer out of the school.
“All right. I will find you a new school,” Yi San told his son, just before his phone rang.
“Thank you, dad. You should pick up the phone,” said Yi Han.
After answering it and talking for a while, Yi San walked toward his son with a furious expression and slapped the boy.
Slap!
“Dad, why did you do that?” Yi Han touched his left cheek, which had been struck.
“You used my name to sign out drugs?” he asked.
“It was just a small amount,” answered the boy.
“Small amount, my foot! It was a half-kilogram of crystal meth. Tell me where the rest is. If not, my future in politics will be doomed.”
YI Han instantly told his dad about the drugs and apologized for his mistake. Then, he realized that all his friends had been sent to rehab; he would soon follow.
The Bai Family’s Apartment
Bai Zhe placed his bag in the corner of the room when he arrived home. He then brought out all the equipment for sewing dolls and swiftly threaded a needle.
“Sigh.” Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply and then exhaled.
When Bai Zhe opened his eyes, the needle in his hand started to move smoothly. The fabrics for the dolls were sewn together with his skillful hand. All the seams looked exactly like they had been sewn by a machine.
“Damn. I did not know that the Myriad Flowers Piercing Swordplay from the Emei Sect could be adapted to sewing dolls. If all the sisters knew, they would definitely spank my behind,” he thought and continued to sew the dolls.
He took a break to eat with his family, then went back to work. Bai Zhe finished sewing and stuffing the dolls at 3 a.m. The boy sighed deeply, looking at his hands shaking without a stop.
‘My body cannot handle this any longer. I will never do this kind of job again. I still have some homework to do. Seems like the qi practice will not happen tonight.’ He looked at this schoolbag, which had been abandoned since the evening. He got up and cleaned up everything before he started to do his homework.
Since he understood all of the lessons at school, today’s homework was a piece of cake compared to the last assignment.
‘Let’s take a shower. Mum will wake up soon.’ He took a shower and got dressed. Bai Zhe used the qi character to restore his shirt and pants, making them look new.
He spotted a pile of books in a corner of the room, which were the novels that the original Bai Zhe had bought. He chose the most damaged one, thinking it might have been read the most frequently. But when the boy opened it, he found that it was a pornography book, filled with naked models. Then, memories of the original Bai Zhe masturbating popped into his mind.
“Ewwww. Are you really so horny as to use these pictures for some release?” Bai Zhe mentally cursed.
After he finally collected himself, Bai Zhe closed the book and hid it at the bottom of the pile, then searched for an actual novel.
It was not long before his parents’ bedroom door opened. Bai Lian Hua exited the room to see her son reading a book. It made her ask him a question curiously.
“Did you stay up all night? I heard noises,” she asked.
“Yes. The sewing job needs to be finished today so I did it ‘till 3 a.m. I’ve already showered and gotten dressed. Just breakfast and I will be good to go,” said Bai Zhe. He did not forget to give her his puppy dog eyes. No one in Da Xian ever got mad at him when he made those eyes.
“Well, I will make breakfast. Meanwhile, you should get some rest. I will tell you when it’s ready.” Bai Lian Hua was worried about her son. He always chose to work to get money for the family over studying. That was the reason why his grades had dramatically dropped. Though she had told him that they were doing just fine, he never listened.
“Okay.” Bai Zhe closed the book and put it in its place. He used his qi to clean the area up before taking out a pillow to lie on.
“Hey, do not sleep here. The floor is dirty. Your uniform will…” Bai Lian Hua had to stop her lecture when she saw Bai Zhe’s uniform, which had been old and dirty.
“I saved some money and bought a uniform when I had enough. We can use this white shirt for a couple of years,” he lied so she would not get suspicious.
“That’s great. Your uniform was looking like a dirty rag more and more every day. Anyway, do the dolls belong to Auntie Chen?” she asked.
“Yes. I will deliver them when I walk to school,” he answered.
“No. If you go this early, you will disturb her. I will leave a little late today. I will do it.”
“All right.” Once Bai Zhe laid his head on the pillow, his eyes immediately closed.
He started to control his qi by purifying the qi power around him before absorbing it into his body and directing the power to his Dantian. He used this power to strengthen every part of Bai Zhe’s body: bones, blood vessels, tendons, nerves, and muscles. His body did not get enough nutrients, so his insides were weaker than they seemed.
Bai Lian Hua woke him for breakfast after a while. Bai Zhe's father walked out of the bedroom with a big yawn and a hand in his pants to scratch at… No matter how one looked at it, they were the mannerisms of some old uncle who had let himself go completely. What contradicted these mannerisms was that his body looked like that of a well-trained soldier. All of his muscles were well-defined. It could be said that he had less than 12% body fat.
Even though Bai Qing Yun, Bai Zhe’s father, had his face covered by a beard, appearing to be on the fierce side, signs of his handsomeness were still evident. He also had a body that was the envy of many men. Bai Zhe was very curious about how he had developed those muscles, even though the food and eating habits of this house were quite poor. It did not make sense or follow the scientific principles that Bai Zhe had learned from this world.
‘It may be possible that he is a martial artist. I will check it out later,’ Bai Zhe thought.