Chapter Thirty: The Request

Hearing Fuxi’s words, Yu Qian seriously considered for the first time in her life what kind of love she wanted, and what kind of person she might like.

“I don’t really have high standards for looks. I don’t mind if he’s ordinary, and it doesn’t matter if he’s handsome either.” Yu Qian did care about appearances, but only when it came to outsiders; for those she considered her own, as long as their looks weren’t jarring, it wasn’t important to her at all.

“And what else?” Fuxi’s voice was gentle, with a hint of coaxing.

“A harmonious family, I suppose. I don’t want any mother-in-law disputes in the future. And as for family background, absolutely no ‘Phoenix Men’!” The thought of all those stories about ‘Phoenix Men’ from her previous life made Yu Qian’s expression twist in disgust.

“Go on.”

“He needs to be ambitious, and it would be best if he has a gentle temper. Actually, if his personality is like my dad’s, that’s good enough. My dad has a really nice temperament!” Yu Qian wasn’t exaggerating; she truly believed Yu Wen had a wonderful character. After decades of bickering with her mom, they’d never had a real fight.

In Yu Qian’s eyes, Yu Wen was like a prickly, proud cat with his wife—he’d raise his voice louder than anyone, but his actions were always gentle.

“Anything else?”

“Hmm... that’s all I can think of for now.”

“To summarize: One, looks above average. Two, family background that matches. Three, no family burdens and a harmonious household. Four, ambitious. Five, good personality. Just these five for now, right?” Fuxi made a list of her requirements.

Yu Qian felt something was off, but after thinking it over, she couldn’t spot any problem and just nodded.

“All right, we’ll keep an eye out for you. You just focus on studying and making yourself better.” He patted her on the head and sent her off to class.

After Yu Qian walked away, Nuwa and the Jade Emperor, who had been waiting nearby, gathered around. “Well? Did you get anything out of her?”

“Let’s talk back at my cave.” Fuxi wrapped an arm around Nuwa and transported them away with a spell.

“Now can you tell us?” Nuwa asked impatiently.

He opened the Water Mirror to observe Zhou Jingchen.

The Jade Emperor and Yanluo joined them before Fuxi began, “Let’s go through the list one by one.”

“Hurry up, enough with the nonsense!” Yanluo shot him a glare, pressing him to get on with it.

“First, he needs to be good-looking.”

Nuwa glanced at the young man studying intently in the Water Mirror and muttered with some frustration, “Even if I’m biased, I can’t say he’s not good-looking. He passes this one.”

Indeed, Zhou Jingchen was strikingly handsome. Even in his previous life, when he was as thin as a reed, he looked good—let alone now, with his face still plump with youth and collagen. With sword-shaped brows and starry eyes, a high nose, and lips neither too thin nor too full, he still carried a touch of baby fat that made him look like a dashing young man. And at fifteen, he was already nearly six feet tall.

A fine face and long legs—no matter how prejudiced they tried to be, they couldn’t deny it.

“Second, family background.”

The Jade Emperor also seemed a bit put out. “His family has a business, owns a house, a car, and has savings. Even if we’re being critical, that’s a decent background.”

Indeed, Zhou Jingchen’s family business had no messy shareholders or high-ups; all the shares were in his hands. The money he made each year couldn’t compare to the mega-rich, but it was still considerable.

He could more than provide for Yu Qian.

“Third, no family burdens, harmonious in-law relations.”

Yanluo almost wanted to cry. “How is he passing every single one? Did you give something away?”

Fuxi couldn’t help himself and kicked Yanluo aside. “I didn’t!”

Zhou Jingchen’s parents had both passed away, and he had no grandparents—he was all alone, with no burdens and nothing to worry about regarding in-law issues.

“Fourth, ambition.” Fuxi massaged his brow and saw the boy in the Water Mirror switch to a new book, not even waiting for their comment before cutting in himself, “No need to check, he passes.”

Not only did he study diligently, but he also worked hard to expand the family business and make more money. If that wasn’t ambitious, what was?

“Fifth, good personality.”

...Nuwa stared at him as if he were joking.

The boy had only been reborn for a few days; who could say for sure if his personality was good or not?

Yanluo, as the Lord of the Underworld, certainly couldn’t.

“So, for now, it’s only the fifth criterion that can’t be confirmed; the rest are all met, right?” Fuxi, who normally never got sick, was starting to feel a headache coming on.

He’d thought if any criteria weren’t met, he’d simply cut the red thread. Who knew that only the one trait that required long-term observation—personality—remained uncertain, and all the rest were a perfect match for Yu Qian’s wishes.

“We’ll keep watching, and if there’s a problem, we’ll deal with it then.” Fuxi rubbed his forehead and the Water Mirror faded, his expression calm as he addressed the other three gods.

They’d been so eager to cut the red thread, but not only was Heaven itself blocking them, the boy also met all of his precious cabbage’s requirements. Headache after headache!

After living for thousands of years, these deities were experiencing headaches for the very first time.

Yu Qian had no idea what the gods were up to. Once Yu Wen and his wife came home and spent a couple of days together, Yu Qian threw herself back into her studies.

At the same time, Zhou Jingchen was also immersing himself in the sea of high school and university knowledge.

And the people he’d sent to keep an eye on Yu Qian had arrived.

Every evening he’d call to ask his informant what Yu Qian had done that day.

He didn’t understand why he had to know everything about her, but not knowing made him feel unsettled.

No matter how he looked at her, she was just a little girl. Why did she have such a hold on his heart?

Lately, Yu Qian kept feeling as if someone was watching her. She’d look around but found nothing odd, and even when she asked the Six Realms group, they said everything was fine.

But this feeling of being watched was impossible to ignore. Little did she know that her watchers, afraid of being caught, were observing her from afar with binoculars.

Furthermore, when she asked the Six Realms group, Nezha and Red Boy had almost told her she was being watched by a pig, but before they could finish typing, they were struck by lightning! The thunderclouds still hovered ominously above their heads, warning them to keep quiet or face another strike.

Frightened, everyone shivered and obediently said nothing was wrong.

Nezha & Red Boy: …

Burst into tears.jpg

Unable to find who was watching her and sensing no malice, Yu Qian had no choice but to ignore it and focus on her studies. The more Zhou Jingchen learned about her daily life, the more his heart burned, wishing he could fly to her side that very moment.

It was obvious to anyone—he was falling for her.

Zhou Jingchen felt conflicted: on one hand, he thought it was indecent to have feelings for a ten-year-old girl; on the other, he just couldn’t stop thinking about her.

...

Finally, the winter vacation arrived. Yu Qian went out to the lottery station, having looked up several winning numbers from her previous life and planning to buy tickets.

To avoid attracting too much attention, she chose only small prizes ranging from a few hundred thousand to a million, but even added together, it would be several million.

She even bought several wrong numbers on purpose.

At first, the lottery station owner refused to sell her tickets, saying kids shouldn’t be buying lottery tickets.

Yu Qian pouted, pleaded, and acted cute, explaining that her family was nearby, had drunk too much, and sent her over to buy them.

After pestering for a while, the boss finally gave in, convinced by the randomness of the numbers she chose, and figured her story was true.

With several million soon to be hers, Yu Qian happily went out shopping.

She had already told Yu Wen about wanting to buy a computer, and he didn’t object—he even sent her ten thousand yuan, telling her to buy a good one and not be stingy.

In 2005, laptops were thick and heavy, and Wi-Fi wasn’t widespread yet—you still needed to plug in a network cable, which was inconvenient.

Yu Qian remembered that before she graduated high school, desktop computers were still the first choice for most families, much better than laptops. She didn’t want to waste money on a clunky laptop, so she took the list of the best desktop computer components available in 2005 and headed to the store.