RYEY -Chapter 430 A Different Attitude

“Li Huan, how are you feeling now?”

“Qiao, this poison is really vicious. I thought I was almost recovered, but who knew that just walking such a short distance would freeze me into this state.”

“The Cold Poison has such a fearsome reputation for a reason—it’s not undeserved. But don’t worry. After you finish soaking, just sit and cultivate. Uncle Lata is still waiting to take you as his disciple.”

Li Huan suspected he had misheard. He knew exactly what kind of person Uncle Lata was—a born esper. And now he wanted to take him as a disciple? Instantly, his entire spirit lifted.

“Qiao, do you mean… I might be able to become an esper too?”

“I don’t know either. Uncle Lata just told you to practice that book seriously—what was it called again?”

“Is it this one? Even though it only has a few dozen movements, I’ve only managed to fully comprehend the first one so far. I can’t do the second one no matter what. Wife, how about we practice together?”

Li Huan’s confidence was clearly stirred up. He even started thinking about cultivating together with Cheng Qiao. But Cheng Qiao shook her head—she couldn’t practice this kind of seated cultivation. She had tried before and simply couldn’t enter a meditative state.

This kind of inheritance was mysterious and profound, giving people the feeling of being pushed to the brink of death and then reborn. Anyone who hadn’t endured extreme suffering—who hadn’t stood at the very edge between life and death—would never be able to touch this kind of thing.

Although Li Huan felt it was a pity, his determination to become stronger was now firmly established. Cheng Qiao quickly took the opportunity to replace the nearly extinguished coal in the stove, hoping to raise the room’s temperature.

But the room had no vent for coal fumes. Burning coal indoors required ventilation, yet ventilation would lower the room temperature. For a moment, Cheng Qiao was completely troubled.

“How about we build a heated kang instead? Uncle Niu happens to be here, and Xiao Dan knows how to build one too.”

Li Huan nodded—he listened to everything his wife said.

A knock sounded at the door. Cheng Qiao frowned slightly. Li Huan was soaking in the bath; if the door were opened now, cold air would rush in.

“Who is it? What do you need?”

“Second sister-in-law, it’s Guoqing—”

“Get lost!”

Just as Qin Guoqing was about to continue, an extremely low roar sounded behind him. Hu Lata had merely gone to his own room across the hall to drink a cup of water, and someone was already coming to disturb Li Huan.

“Chief—”

Qin Guoqing turned around and saw Hu Lata. He was so frightened that he nodded repeatedly and turned to leave at once, though he felt somewhat aggrieved. I just wanted to ask if second brother and sister-in-law needed anything so I could help buy it…

“Guoqing, where are you going?”

Cheng Liguo and Cheng Li hurried over. Seeing Qin Guoqing walking away dejectedly, so absorbed that he hadn’t even noticed them entering the dormitory building, they stopped him.

“Uncle, I wanted to check on second brother and sister-in-law, but…”

“What happened? Take us there.”

When Cheng Liguo and Cheng Li reached Cheng Qiao’s door, Hu Lata’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw Cheng Liguo.

“You must be Cheng Qiao’s father, Brother Liguo, right? I’m Hu Lata. And this must be little Cheng Li—I’ve long heard of your great reputation. You’re a little hero.”

When Qin Guoqing saw how respectful Hu Lata was toward those two, his eyes nearly popped out. This was discrimination—no, this was outright bullying.

Hu Lata shot Qin Guoqing a sidelong glance. So what if I bully you? You may be Brigade Commander Qin’s biological son and Li Huan’s brother-in-law, but to me, you’re not even as useful as Xiao Dan.

Qin Guoqing understood the disdain in Hu Lata’s eyes. Though displeased, he made up his mind then and there: One day I’ll make something of myself and show you—I’m useful too.

Little Cheng Li, however, didn’t notice the undercurrent between the adults. He felt that this grandpa was praising him a bit too much. His fair, delicate face flushed red at once.

Hu Lata sighed inwardly. The Li family and Cheng Qiao really had excellent genes. Just look at this child—he looked like a little immortal. It even made someone like Hu Lata, who never cared about appearances, feel that he himself was far too unkempt.

“Thank you, Grandpa, but who are you? And why didn’t you let Uncle Guoqing into my parents’ room?”

“I’m someone who protects your mother… an elder.”

Hu Lata’s heart jolted—how had he let such an important thing slip?

“Protect my mom? I know—you’re the one who saved my mom, right?”

Hu Lata raised an eyebrow, bent down, and lifted Cheng Li into his arms. His rough fingers brushed Cheng Li’s soft cheek as his voice grew low.

“Little guy, tell me—how did you know I saved your mom?”

Cheng Li pushed Hu Lata’s hand away. His fingers were too rough and hurt his cheek. Then he glanced sideways at Hu Lata and explained calmly:

“My parents left the capital on New Year’s Eve. They only called back twice, and both times they were in a hurry. Grandpa and I had long suspected they were in danger.”

“And now they’ve arrived here safely, and you’re standing at the door. Of course it was you who saved my mom. Thank you. I’ll repay you in the future.”

“Repay me? How will you repay me?”

Hu Lata was clearly intrigued. This child was smart and good-looking, quick-witted, and sweet-tongued. Heaven—he really wanted to abduct him and make him his… grandson.

Cheng Liguo took Cheng Li from Hu Lata’s arms. Cheng Li quickly asked to be put down—he was grown up now and didn’t need adults to carry him anymore.

“Brother Lata, children speak without restraint. Please don’t take it to heart.”

“No, I insist. This time, little Cheng Li must tell me how he plans to repay me. How about becoming my grandson?”

“No way. I already have a grandpa, Grandpa Ye, and so many grandpas in our village. I can’t be that many people’s grandson. Why don’t you go find another one?”

Hu Lata was surprised—and liked Cheng Li even more. Just as he was about to say something, the door opened, revealing Cheng Qiao’s slightly weary face.

“Dad.”

“Mom.”

“Shh—”

“Second… sister-in-law.”

Three people spoke at once. Qin Guoqing was a step too late; when Hu Lata made the “shh” sound, he could only swallow the last word.

“Let’s go talk in Uncle Lata’s room. Li Huan is detoxifying.”

Cheng Li’s expression changed, but he knew that whatever his mother said must be right. He tightly held Cheng Qiao’s hand and followed her toward Hu Lata’s room, turning his head back every few steps.

Hu Lata’s dorm was the same one-bedroom-with-living-room layout, complete with kitchen and bathroom. Only, for Hu Lata, the kitchen was a waste of space.

“Cheng Qiao, are you okay? What exactly happened?”

Cheng Liguo asked anxiously as soon as he sat down. He knew his daughter’s personality—under normal circumstances, she would never lose contact with him or the children.

Yet from New Year’s Eve until now, they had only received one phone call from her, and she’d hung up in a rush after just a few sentences.

At first, they thought the situation in Xiangyang Village was too serious and that Li Huan and Cheng Qiao were simply overwhelmed with work. But Mother Li had sensed something wrong. Ye Jun had been restless the whole time, clearly knowing something.

However, as a widow, she couldn’t directly go to Ye Jun’s study. She could only send Lele to gather information. After learning the truth, Lele cried her eyes out.

With Guoqing’s comfort, she calmed herself. After checking her reflection in the mirror to ensure there were no flaws, she went to Mother Li’s room and told her that everyone at home was fine, that Li Huan and Cheng Qiao were doing well.

The reason no news had been sent back, she said, was because there was too much happening at the county level, and with the New Year approaching, county leaders had Li Huan busy drafting investment plans.

Mother Li half-believed it. Her children never lied, so in principle she trusted Lele’s words—but why did her heart still feel so uneasy?

It wasn’t until Li Huan personally called Mother Li, asking her to bring Li Ming and Lele back to Spring City—business there was booming and needed someone in charge, and Li Ming was about to start school—that her worries eased.

A mother could always recognize her son’s voice. Over the phone, Li Huan sounded loud and strong, full of energy—there was clearly nothing wrong with him.

So she planted a seed of doubt about Cheng Qiao’s in her mind—could something have gone wrong with Cheng Qiao? But when she learned that Cheng Qiao was helping Aunt Wang and the others treat illnesses, she finally felt relieved.

After escorting Mother Li and Lele to Spring City, Qin Guoqing—who knew the inside story—boarded an overnight train back to his unit. Their side also needed to make the necessary preparations.

“Dad, I’m fine. It was Li Huan who was poisoned—he was poisoned because of me.”

“What? Huan was poisoned? How did it happen? Has the poison been detoxified? How is his condition now? Ah, I should go take a look first.”

“Grandpa, don’t go disturb my dad yet. Mom just said Dad is expelling the poison—he definitely can’t be interrupted.”

Cheng Li grabbed Cheng Liguo, who had just stood up, and looked up at him. His eyes were bloodshot, and large tears kept rolling down his cheeks.

“Alright, Grandpa will listen to you.”

Seeing his grandson crying like that broke Cheng Liguo’s heart. This child was extremely well-behaved and exceptionally smart. Many times, he couldn’t even remember who was actually taking care of whom.

“Good child. No wonder you not only escaped from human traffickers but even saved General Wu’s little granddaughter—you really are something.

“You’re absolutely right. You can’t go in right now. Your father must not be disturbed. If his vital energy becomes unstable, it could cause serious trouble.”

Hu Lata admired Cheng Li greatly, but Cheng Li frowned deeply at his words. He had heard the phrase “unstable vital energy” before. During the winter break this year, Wu Xiaolin had stayed at their family courtyard house and told him about people with supernatural abilities.

Wu Xiaolin greatly longed to become someone with supernatural powers—not only to strengthen her body, but more importantly to fight bad guys. As long as a superpowered person took action, the bad guys would surely be beaten to death.

But such people also lived very hard lives. They had to cultivate every day, and they couldn’t be disturbed during cultivation. Otherwise, unstable vital energy could lead to disastrous consequences.

After learning this, Cheng Li didn’t agree at all. Superpowered people might be powerful, but they had no time to accompany their families, no time to live the lives they wanted, and they could lose their lives at any moment.

“Grandpa Lata, is my dad also going to become a superpowered person?”

“How do you know about superpowered people?”

“Wu Xiaolin told me.”

Hu Lata nodded. Wu Xiaolin was General Wu’s little granddaughter, so it wasn’t strange for her to know these things. Still, this needed to be reported—children spoke without restraint, and she mustn’t say things she shouldn’t.

“Do you want your dad to become a superpowered person?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Cheng Li shook his head firmly. He wanted his dad to stay well by his mom’s side, to be with their children, and to enjoy life properly once they grew up.

Hu Lata’s gaze darkened. He had originally wanted to ask more, but now he had no interest at all. Cheng Qiao’s heart tightened. She glanced at Cheng Li, then answered Cheng Liguo first:

“Dad, don’t worry. Li Huan has already been detoxified, but completely removing it is still difficult. So we should try not to disturb him while he’s detoxifying—otherwise, for the rest of his life…”

The word crippled circled briefly in Cheng Qiao’s mind before disappearing. Her man would definitely get through this—there was no way he’d be so easily ruined.

After all, she had so many rare treasures in her hands, plus the only cultivation meditation manual in the world that Uncle Lata had given him. If he still failed even with all that, it could only mean Li Huan’s fate was too thin.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? How about I cook something for you?”

Hearing Cheng Li’s stomach growling, Cheng Qiao hurried back to her dormitory, tiptoed inside, and came out carrying a large basket.

Inside were oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, chicken, duck, fish, meat, rice, white flour, several bottles of liquor, and some snacks and pastries.

Cheng Qiao first lit the coal stoves—two at once. One was for boiling water, the other for making soup.

She then took out flour to knead dough. Cheng Li immediately went over to help. Watching him skillfully tear cabbage leaves, rinse rice, and wash vegetables, praise rained down on his head without restraint.

Just as they were working enthusiastically, Xiao Dan arrived. He was carrying a large basket filled with ready-made cafeteria dishes—of course, including bear meat.

Cheng Qiao quickly put the dishes on the stove to warm them up, then took out some liquor. With such good food, how could they not drink? Cheng Liguo knew it was bear meat, but he had no appetite.

He drank cup after cup, but barely touched the food. Hu Lata naturally knew he was worried about his son-in-law, but didn’t try to persuade him—he himself had plenty to worry about.

Especially since his future disciple’s son didn’t want his father to become a superpowered person. Should he still take Li Huan as a disciple? If he did, he’d be letting the child down. If he didn’t, he’d be letting himself down.

After several bottles of liquor, Hu Lata decided to leave the decision to Li Huan. If Li Huan was willing to acknowledge him as master, he would accept him. Otherwise, he’d give up the idea.

Judging the time, it should be the end of meditation. Hu Lata went to knock on the door—just as Li Huan opened his eyes and expelled a breath of turbid air.

There were eighteen meditation postures. The second posture, which had been difficult to master yesterday, had just been broken through with ease. His entire spirit and vitality had undergone a dramatic transformation.

While pleasantly surprised, he guessed that the cold had stimulated the poison out of his body. He resolutely prepared to enter the third posture, planning to expose himself to the cold again if he hit a bottleneck.

Hearing Hu Lata knocking outside, he jumped off the bed and opened the door without even putting on his military coat.

Seeing Li Huan like this, Hu Lata felt something stir in his heart. This kid had already entered the second level—he really did have some talent.

“Get inside—don’t freeze to death.”

Hu Lata shoved Li Huan back in and closed the door. The room was warm, but it smelled of coal fumes. That wouldn’t do—they needed to install a chimney as soon as possible.

“I’ll only ask you one thing: are you willing to take me as your master? Oh, I should remind you—your son Cheng Li isn’t willing.”