An Ordinary Old Man

A Grade F degree of fusion, a non-combatant—Xin Mingzhi was a towering name. Open the history of the World Azure Alliance, and right at the top of the list of contributors to the revolution from seventh- to eighth-generation source energy combat devices, this name stood out in plain sight. At the same time, the reason the Huaxia Front currently commanded nine seats on the World Azure Alliance Council and stood alongside the others as one of the Council's three great powers was also tied to Xin Mingzhi's presence. He had been elected independently as a researcher, without occupying any national quota. And he was Xin Yaoqiao's grandfather. The old man was draped in countless honors, but the thing he boasted of and took the greatest pride in was having a granddaughter who had entered the Sub-Sequence roster at seventeen, had swiftly become one of the primary hopes for a breakthrough in Great Spike linguistic research, and was simultaneously the very first Grade A combat genius in the family's history. By the logic of coveting most whatever one lacked, if the two achievements were compared side by side, it was most likely the latter that made the old man prouder. Because with that, whenever he argued with officials from the combat branch, he could scoff, "To tell you the truth, in a few years you might not even be able to beat my granddaughter." Speaking of which, when it came to the transition from the seventh- to eighth-generation devices in Azure, Huaxia had always had an anecdote. It was said that back when Xin Yaoqiao was still very small, Xin Mingzhi had playfully coaxed his granddaughter by asking, "Does our little Qiaoqiao want to wear a device and fight monsters when you grow up?" Little Yaoqiao had shown nothing but disdain at the time, replying, "Grandpa, do you mean that thing that looks like a turtle shell? I don't want that at all." And just like that, the wheels of history had begun to accelerate. As it happened, the seventh-generation device featured an equilateral triangle set atop a disc on the wearer's back. Even now, it was still used by some members of the Cleansing Faction, and it truly was not much to look at. People later claimed Xin Mingzhi had begun researching device reforms precisely because of that remark from his granddaughter. That was mostly meant as an amusing tale, of course, but claiming it had nothing to do with it at all would likely be untrue as well. The old man's doting on his granddaughter was famous. *** "So, Qiaoqiao, what kind of person is your grandfather, really? I mean, he sounds like some huge figure." Unfortunately, this bunch never read. Although Azure actually offered history classes, aside from Shen Yixiu, who had spent the last two days alone in the sparring grounds, none of the rest had ever properly cracked open a book. When He Tangtang asked this, all he knew was that Xin Yaoqiao's grandfather was the head of the special research task force—essentially, an "office team leader." "Grandpa? Well..." Drawing out the syllable, Xin Yaoqiao tilted her head, rolled her large eyes, and stole a glance at Han Qingyu sitting beside her before decisively declaring, "He's just an ordinary old man." "Anyway, he's very gentle. You don't have to be afraid at all." Xin Yaoqiao had come by specifically to deliver the news, and before heading back, she made sure to add that comforting note. Her grandfather had already agreed to meet Han Qingyu. After all, he was the first person to have entered the python cave; even from a purely official standpoint, meeting him in person was perfectly reasonable. Yet the problem lay in Xin Yaoqiao's private thoughts: she did not want her grandfather to meet Han Qingyu in an official capacity in the slightest. In that mode, her grandfather was actually exceedingly stern, carrying an overwhelming aura. Never mind her grandfather—even Xin Yaoqiao herself, whenever she went out to attend scientific conferences, would put on formal attire, apply slightly more mature makeup, assume a grave expression, and lower the pitch of her voice. Otherwise, it was difficult to make people take her words seriously. *** Returning from Han Qingyu's place, it was right around lunchtime. During his stay at Institute 2, whenever time permitted, her grandfather always came home to eat. At the dining table, Xin Yaoqiao secretly nudged her mother's elbow with her arm. Mother Xin turned to look at her daughter, remembered the plan, and hastily spoke up: "Dad, try some of this stir-fried pork with winter bamboo shoots. Qiaoqiao made it." "Really?!" A broad smile bloomed across Xin Mingzhi's face, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "When did Qiaoqiao learn to cook?" As he spoke, he picked up a morsel with his chopsticks. Before it even reached his mouth, words of praise were already fully prepared. "Just tod—recently," Mother Xin said. "Isn't it all because you came, Dad? If it were just me and her father, the two of us would never have this much sway." "Hahaha!" The old man chuckled heartily and said, "Delicious! Truly delicious! These winter bamboo shoots were clearly marinated beforehand... They weren't? Well, it's still delicious, very distinctive!" Turning toward his elder sister—Xin Yaoqiao's great-aunt—Xin Mingzhi added, "Have a taste. It's really quite good." Great-Aunt smiled, took a bite, and said languidly, "Come to think of it, back when I learned to cook, it was also after I took a fancy to someone... I literally dissected an entire pot of sliced fish until not a single bone remained." For a moment, the expressions around the table varied wildly: some were mortified, while others quietly stifled their laughter. After lunch, Xin Yaoqiao brewed tea for her grandfather, then stood off to the side, stammering and hesitating. "If Qiaoqiao is too shy to say it, there's no need to speak. Grandpa understands everything." Sipping the tea his granddaughter had made, Xin Mingzhi said with a smile, "Still, I heard from your great-aunt that that kid is carved out of solid wood, with nothing in his head but source energy blocks... Tsk, Grandpa has to see for himself just how wooden he really is. We can't have him angering my precious Qiaoqiao to death later on." The time the old man had arranged to meet Han Qingyu was during the midday break, at his research institute office. *** On the other side, lunch had also just wrapped up. "Do we really have to hand it over?" Wen Jifei sat in the corner of the room, stroking that source energy brick, completely loath to give it back to Han Qingyu. "If we hand it over, what are we going to do once we go back?!" "There's no choice. It's for the greater good," Han Qingyu said. Under current circumstances, there truly was no way around it. They had no way of inquiring about the findings inside and did not know whether the researchers had discovered traces of a massive metal block. Furthermore, even if the researchers found the impressions and deduced what had happened, their investigation would be severely restricted without the actual metal block. With the physical object in hand, perhaps through some subtle differences in the metal, they might be able to uncover where this thing originated. Perhaps its origin truly was different. Having thought this through over the past two days, surrendering the source energy brick had become unavoidable. "The greater good... lost a gold brick for the greater good!" Wen Jifei wailed. Cradling the source energy brick, he turned to Shen Yixiu. "Rusty Sister, say something! Your very life is in this!" Though severe, the words were nothing less than the truth. They only had twenty blue crystal blocks left, meaning Shen Yixiu's continued survival was already in jeopardy. Yet now they had to turn in a source energy brick worth twelve metal blocks... That was five hundred blue crystal blocks! "I..." Shen Yixiu looked left and right, then whispered, "There's no choice. I'll just... I'll just try my best to be frugal from now on." Her gaze shifted toward Han Qingyu. Han Qingyu stood up and said to Wen Jifei, "Give it to me." "..." Resigned, Wen Jifei let out a heavy sigh, tossed the source energy brick to Han Qingyu, and turned his head away, refusing to look. "Make sure to negotiate a good reward with him." "All right," Han Qingyu answered from outside the door.