Chapter 7: Just Short of Drooling

Due to her position, Lady Chunhan had long developed a strong sense of caution in dealing with people and matters.

Every word spoken to her made her ponder the true intentions behind it.

She had heard countless words expressing concern for her hard work—from her maids, elders, and the Personal Disciples under those elders.

Most of these concerns were polite formalities or the etiquette owed to someone in her high station.

It wasn’t that these were entirely insincere, but how much genuine care or worry was truly behind them? Most often, very little.

Lady Chunhan had long since grown accustomed to this and bore no grudge.

In human interactions, the absence of malice was already a great kindness.

Yet with Chu Yin, she could clearly sense something different.

Sincere and genuine, unaffected by any personal gain.

Every emotional expression he showed was incredibly authentic, somewhat like a child’s natural dependence and trust toward their mother.

This alone puzzled Lady Chunhan—she had only offered him a small amount of help, yet this child held such intense gratitude.

The caution and mental defenses Lady Chunhan had honed over the years became an open door in front of Chu Yin.

The more she scrutinized, the stronger the impact she felt from his sincere feelings.

Now, she was at a loss when dealing with this child…

With a calm dignity masking the turmoil inside, Lady Chunhan selected a few case files and said:

“Chu Yin, I’m entrusting these cases to you.

Write down the results; I’ll use this to assess how well you’ve learned on your own.”

Chu Yin focused intently on the case files and documents, preparing to enter a serious state:

“Understood. However, my divination consumes a lot of energy, so my speed is a bit slow. Please don’t be upset, Mistress.”

“Hmm, a few days of leniency are allowed. Whether you can adapt depends on your performance.”

Lady Chunhan responded lightly, not putting too much pressure on Chu Yin.

With an unexpected guest in the study, her years of monotonous desk work suddenly took on a hint of novelty and interest, brightening her mood considerably.

When their first night’s work ended, Chu Yin’s results were commendable.

The outcomes he divined matched Lady Chunhan’s own judgments almost exactly.

However, after using the Great Six Ren (Da Liuren) method five times, Chu Yin would fall into a state of mental shutdown, causing his divination speed to drop sharply. Lady Chunhan noticed this and would call a halt in time, letting him rest.

“All right, you’ve worked hard tonight. Rest well tomorrow and no need to come.”

Though she encouraged him to rest, late the next night, Lady Chunhan’s window was still knocked as usual.

Chu Yin arrived with night snacks, helping her share some of the workload.

For seven consecutive days, Chu Yin arrived punctually to “knock on the widow’s door” at night.

Lady Chunhan even started to half-close the door in advance, making it easier for him to enter.

Chu Yin completed his work using divination, and Lady Chunhan would review it once more to check for mistakes.

The results mostly matched her own, sometimes even revealing blind spots she hadn’t noticed.

For example, in trade cooperation from other cities, Lady Chunhan could already detect problems from the content.

Chu Yin’s divinations could uncover the other party’s true schemes in advance.

One night, after using Great Six Ren to review six cases, Chu Yin again entered his mental shutdown state.

His whole being was unfocused, eyes glazed, and he looked as if he might start drooling.

The voluptuous, well-rounded beauty that was Lady Chunhan couldn’t help but curl the corner of her mouth into a slight smile upon seeing Chu Yin’s “dazed mode,” though she kept it subtle.

“Chu Yin, you’ve been persisting in your cultivation for seven days. Have you felt any progress?”

Under normal circumstances, Chu Yin would have replied immediately.

But now he had to blankly process before responding after a long pause.

Lady Chunhan was not impatient; during the wait, her beautiful eyes quietly watched him.

Usually, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to stare at Chu Yin like this, but in this situation, it was perfectly fine—it was simply during the waiting period, and she had no other choice but to look.

Finally, Chu Yin’s mind clicked, and he produced an answer:

“In terms of gains, I can break my limits and divine one more time. Also, in these past days, Mistress can rest half an hour earlier each day.”

“…Still slick-tongued after all that delay, only thinking of crafty words?”

Lady Chunhan chided softly, gently flicking Chu Yin’s forehead with her snow-white slender hand, but without using any real force, more like a soft tap with her fingertips.

Chu Yin could only smile foolishly, lacking the energy to explain further.

“Chu Yin, I’m free tomorrow and can guide you in cultivating the Cloud Water Scripture (Yunshuijing). Tonight, you should head home early and rest well.”

“I’m afraid Mistress will secretly work overtime tonight for tomorrow’s rest, so I’ll wait for you and go back together.”

The term “working overtime” was a little unfamiliar, but Lady Chunhan roughly understood the meaning.

She decided to just assume Chu Yin’s mind was foggy and he was babbling nonsense.

“You child… if you want to wait here, then wait.”

Reality,

Late at night, in a rented room’s bedroom.

Yan Lingqi had just finished a hot shower and snuggled into bed when she received a video call from her mother, Wen Chunhan.

Worried that the call might wake her sleeping brother, she put on headphones before answering.

On the other side of the video was a voluptuous beauty dressed in a silk camisole nightgown, her appearance delicate and exuding gentle maternal warmth.

With a simple turn in bed, her ample, snowy bosom nearly spilled out, teetering on the edge.

“Lingqi, why are you sleeping so early? Isn’t Chu Yin playing with you?” the beauty asked, yawning casually.

The girl tilted the camera slightly, capturing her drowsy brother Chu Yin beside her:

“Brother’s asleep. He said he’s adjusting his schedule and will get up early from now on.”

“No wonder it’s so quiet over there. Did your brother say when he’ll be back home?”

“Just in the next couple of days.”

“That’s better. Not coming home the whole summer break—what kind of behavior is that? Give your brother a kiss for Mom!”

“No. If you want a kiss, you’ll have to drive over here yourself…”

Yan Lingqi wanted to tell her mother about the visit from the Supernatural Ability Association but thought better of it.

That would only make her mother worry and lose sleep.

Since she had been having frequent dreams lately, it was best to wait until she returned home and let Chu Yin explain it himself.

“Mom, have you been sleeping well these past two days? Any dreams?”

The woman in the nightgown thought for a moment:

“I probably have, but I don’t remember clearly. It seemed like a good dream, though. I always wake up feeling happy. It’s frustrating not to recall what it was about~”

Judging from her mother’s relaxed tone, Yan Lingqi felt reassured that she had been sleeping well.

A yawn sounded again on the other end.

Not wanting to disturb her mother’s precious sleep, Yan Lingqi said:

“Mom, you should go to sleep now; you keep yawning.”

“All right, so I don’t wake Chu Yin later. Lingqi, keep your phone charging and the video on nearby. Tomorrow morning when I wake up, I can watch you two sleeping~”

Yan Lingqi had long since given up resisting her mother’s affectionate requests and silently complied.

She quietly got up, plugged in the charger, and placed the phone beside her, the camera pointing at her and her brother.

She waved to the beautiful mother on screen, exchanged goodnights, then pulled the covers up and joined the ranks of early sleepers.