After the meeting, Qin Ruqing and his sister followed their father back to their own courtyard.

Qin Deming walked ahead with a serious face and his hands behind his back.

As soon as they entered the gate, he couldn’t help turning around and saying, “Ruyu, why did you say such things in front of the elders today!”

His tone was urgent but he paused for a moment, seemingly searching for words, stunned by what had happened.

During the meeting, due to Ruyu’s strong rebuttal, although he wasn’t angry, Qin Deming had to consider his son’s opinion.

Just as he was caught in a dilemma, the Grand elder spoke up, proposing a severe punishment for Qin Moli and a lighter one for Qin Luxuan.

Acknowledging Ruyu’s correctness and deciding not to punish him, this settled the matter.

He wasn’t the kind of father who got annoyed just because his son disagreed with him.

But the situation had developed strangely, and he needed to discuss it thoroughly later.

It wasn’t unusual for Qin Ruyu to be consulted by his father, and he was about to explain when suddenly a clear female voice came from the side.

“What’s this I hear? Today, how did I hear that Ruyu and the second child had a conflict?”

They all turned their heads and saw the Luo Xian hurrying over.

When she reached them, she passed Qin Deming directly and looked at Qin Ruyu behind him with concern. “Son, did you fight with Luxuan? Are you injured?”

Qin Ruyu shook his head.

Luo Xian sighed in relief and then hurriedly asked, “Who won?”

Qin Ruyu seemed a bit shy and replied with his head down, “I… won against my younger brother.”

Qin Ruqing peeked out from behind Qin Ruyu and mischievously added, “Brother made a breakthrough in the battle, it was a big victory!”

Luo Xian’s face brightened. “Really?”

She looked Qin Ruyu up and down and praised, “Well done! You fought well, my son!”

Qin Deming, ignored on the side, finally couldn’t help but speak up, helpless. “Why are you praising him… Although Ruyu made a breakthrough in the battle, he also injured the other person… I saw the wound, it nearly touched a vital spot, it’s no laughing matter.”

Luo Xian rolled her eyes directly. “So what? Winning or losing in battle is common in training ground. It’s not intentional. Do you want my son to apologize?”

Qin Deming couldn’t argue with his wife and was so angry that his beard stood up.

Meanwhile, the family of four had already sat down at the round table in the hall.

Qin Deming recounted today’s events from start to finish.

Luo Xian listened, first frowning and then relaxing.

“From this perspective, Ruyu did nothing wrong!”

“What’s wrong with him? He was provoked from the beginning. Ruyu repeatedly declined, but had to agree to the challenge in the end.

Moreover, he made a breakthrough in the battle—from beginning to end, inside and out, Ruyu’s performance was excellent!”

“But…” Qin Deming hesitated, wanting to argue.

Luo Xian. raised an eyebrow and smoothly cut him off. “Oh, are you talking about Luxuan being injured? That was an accident—since you dare to provoke first, naturally you have to be prepared to lose or get hurt!”

Qin Deming admitted that his son didn’t do anything wrong. “But, the way Ruyu handled things today was rather firm. I’m afraid it might leave a negative impression on the clan.”

Luo Xian stared back and argued “What does it mean to accommodate someone? Is it to swallow one’s anger or to admit to something one hasn’t done?”

Luo Xian raised a delicate eyebrow and coldly snorted, “Let me tell you, today I didn’t publicly punish Qin Moli on the spot, but handed him over to the second branch for private handling. That in itself was accommodating!”

Their voices had started to rise, and the servants nearby discreetly dispersed and closed the door.

The couple was engrossed in their argument.

At the round table, Qin Ruyu sat upright, listening to his parents’ quarrel with a serious expression.

He felt that his mother’s reprimand had struck a chord with him.

In some ways, his views were quite similar to his father’s.

Qin Ruqing, on the other hand, treated his parents’ argument as background noise, boredly playing with his nails on the table.

At only eight years old, her actions sometimes didn’t match her age due to her youthful impulses.

Finally, the argument between the two parents concluded predictably with Luo Xian prevailing.

After just winning a verbal battle, the elegant Luo Xian smoothed her hair and gathered her composure.

Suddenly, her expression froze as she remembered something and asked Qin Ruyu, “Ruyu, did you suddenly have an epiphany today? Your actions seemed quite different from usual.”

Feeling a bit ashamed, Qin Ruyu admitted truthfully, “No… it was my sister who gave me pointers.”

He felt ashamed that his younger sister had to guide him on such matters.

However, thinking of how intelligent and capable she was from a young age, equal to him in intellect, he felt less embarrassed and lifted his head again.

He recounted the phrase Qin Ruqing had written on his hand: “Step back once, and you’ll step back every time.”

“Later, when I asked her about it, she explained that it wasn’t a big deal in itself, but backing down because of it would make others think you’re easy to bully.

Today, if you concede what shouldn’t be conceded and admit to things you haven’t done wrong, it will only embolden others.

By then, they’ll think your goodwill is expected, and if you don’t, you’re narrow-minded and ‘harsh to clan members.'”

The impact of his younger sister’s words, spoken in her childish voice with her youthful face, deeply affected him psychologically.

The round table fell silent for a while.

Qin Deming and his wife were both deeply pondering over this statement.

Qin Deming was mulling over “step back once, and you’ll step back every time.”

At that moment, he felt both shaken and bitter inside.

“In the future, others will think your goodwill is expected, and if you don’t, you’ll be seen as narrow-minded and harsh to clan members.” — Wasn’t this sentence a true reflection of him as the clan leader?

His cautious concessions were partly due to his personality, but also because of the situation he found himself in.

Putting aside his inner complexities, Qin Deming looked at Qin Ruqing and asked, “Qingqing, is that so?”

Qin Ruqing blinked a few times as their parents looked at her, nodded, and then smiled slightly, her eyes sparkling.

“Yes,”

she said, “and I deliberately encouraged my brother to accept Second Brother’s challenge.”

“Deliberately encouraged…” Qin Deming and his wife exchanged a glance.

Luo Xian asked “Why did Qingqing urge her brother to do this?”

“Because I noticed that my brother is always being bullied at school!” Qin Ruqing wrinkled her nose, then frowned and corrected herself, “Well, maybe not bullied, but he’s somewhat, not well-received? Not taken seriously?”

“They take advantage of my brother, speak to him casually, and Second Brother leads in provoking him. They always enjoy watching the drama, as if they take my brother’s kindness for granted.”

“So, I felt really uneasy about it. That day, Second Brother came looking for trouble again, and I encouraged my brother to confront him—because I think the current situation at school is largely due to my brother’s retreat.

My brother thinks he should give in to his younger brother because he’s the elder, but the others don’t see it that way at all.

They just think he’s weak and incompetent, and then they start looking down on him.”

Qin Ruqing’s tone was casual, infused with her strong personal emotions, but it also revealed a lot of information—

Qin Ruyu’s position as the eldest grandson of the Qin family isn’t good at school.

There are clear factions at school, with evident polarization.

Qin Ruqing admitted that she deliberately revealed this information to her parents.

Otherwise, with her brother’s reserved nature, he wouldn’t speak up for another five years.

After listening, Qin Deming and his wife remained silent for a long time, their gazes showing both emotion and complexity.

After a while, Qin Deming seemed to find his voice.

He first squeezed out a gentle smile at Qin Ruqing and said, “Qingqing, well done.”

But when he turned to look at Qin Ruyu, his face involuntarily darkened, “Ruyu, is what Qingqing said true?”

Qin Ruyu hadn’t expected his sister to disclose such details, which made him feel ashamed—being the eldest child among the grandchildren of the Qin family, he believed he should have some authority at school to gain the trust of his younger relatives.

However, his approach seemed to have backfired.

Now that things were exposed, it required his parents and sister to worry about and intervene, which… made him feel ashamed.

Qin Ruyu wanted to lower his head, but he forced himself to meet his father’s gaze and admitted, “Yes… it is.”

Contrary to his expectation of a reprimand, his father sighed instead, saying in a complicated tone, “What you did today… was right. You don’t need to feel burdened. I know my son’s character. In the future, be more assertive at school. With this breakthrough in the fight today, no one will dare to trouble you again.”

His son’s predicament was also his own predicament.

This incident wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; it served as a lesson for both father and son.

As for Luo Xian, she naturally praised Qingqing without reservation.

After praising her, she also reminded her a little, “My son is talented, but such remarks should only be shared within the family. It’s better not to reveal them in front of outsiders.”

A tall tree catches the wind; Qingqing is exceptionally gifted, so it’s better to be cautious.

Qin Ruqing naturally nodded.

As for her astonishing wisdom at this age, Luo Xian and her husband weren’t too surprised privately because—they had known for a long time.

Qin Ruqing’s intelligence and maturity beyond her age were no longer secrets in their family.

In private, Qin Deming and his wife had speculated that Qingqing might be a reincarnation of a powerful being from the cultivation world.

Or perhaps she was one of those rumored “born with innate wisdom.”

Therefore, Qin Deming and his wife were astonished by Qin Ruqing’s remarkable statement, but they also accepted it quite well.

And this phenomenon was exactly what Qin Ruqing had aimed for.

From the very beginning of her journey through time, she had worried about how to present herself—being an adult who had ended up in a child’s body.

Should she show some uniqueness, or pretend to be a child from start to finish?

Qin Ruqing agonized over this for a while until she realized this world wasn’t an ordinary ancient world but a cultivation world.

She suddenly understood—since cultivation allowed for incredible feats like reincarnation and resurrection, what was wrong with showing a bit of intelligence?

She couldn’t keep pretending to be a child indefinitely; it was simply not sustainable and could eventually be exposed.

Moreover, she couldn’t entirely be considered an adult now—her body was too young, making it difficult to completely overcome the instinctual constraints, often revealing immaturity that didn’t match her psychological age.

Because of this, Qin Ruqing decided that she would just be herself.

Whatever others thought, let them imagine it themselves.

So, in front of her parents and older brother, she became known as “a child born with innate wisdom and extraordinary talent.”

Now, seeing their reactions, Qin Ruqing knew they had accepted her well, confirming that her previous attempts were correct.

Once the family meeting concluded and she returned to her room, Qin Ruqing began to check her system.

She had heard the notification sounds in her head earlier, but because she was busy talking, she only now had time to fully review them.

“Qin Ruyu has broken through in battle and advanced in cultivation. Side Quest One (Outstanding Junior) progress updated. Would you like to claim the reward?”

“Side Quest Two (Creating a Harmonious and United Family Atmosphere) new task triggered—Young Clan Leader Achieves Success Early, would you like to update?”

“Side Quest Two Task (1) Increase the Clan Leader’s Prestige, progress updated. Would you like to claim the reward?”

Qin Ruqing didn’t expect such a long list when she opened it, so she quickly said, “Claim and update all.”

Only after the updates did she begin to review everything in detail.

The progress bar for the Outstanding Junior side quest had updated—this was likely related to her brother’s advancement.

As for the newly added task in Side Quest Two, [Young Clan Leader Achieves Success Early]—this was probably due to her brother’s breakthrough in battle, which brought unexpected benefits, greatly changing his mindset and cultivation insights.

Right, after her brother’s speech in the council hall, people looked at him differently.

This change in the clan members’ perception and improvement should also be a contributing factor.

Qin Ruqing nodded to herself, reaching the last task—Increase the Clan Leader’s Prestige? How did this progress bar move? (Even if just a little bit.)

Could it be that this matter also affected her father? Hmm… if that’s the case, it wasn’t in vain for her to deliberately say those things in front of her parents.

After checking the updates, Qin Ruqing finally began to look at the rewards.

This was truly exciting because she had just caught a glimpse that the system had rewarded her with a chance to draw a prize.

Hehehe…

She had heard the system mention the lottery before.

The prize pool comes from the system’s shop and the items are very random.

However, there’s a rule that the items must match her current level and her family’s status.

For example, since she was in the Spirit Nourishing stage, no matter how lucky she got, it was impossible to draw an immortal weapon or something similar; such items simply weren’t in her current prize pool.

Even so, the top-tier items in the pool were still incredibly rare and hard to come by with her current strength.

This time, her rewards included not just one lottery draw but also 236 points.

After collecting the points, Qin Ruqing washed her hands and face carefully, putting on a serious expression.

Being an unlucky person, sometimes she had to believe in a bit of mystic ritual.

Who knows, it might just boost her luck a little?

Suppressing her excitement, she praised the luck gods ten times in her heart, then confidently told the system, “System, start the lottery!”

Please, please, let me be lucky just this once!

A flash of white light from the system refreshed the panel, displaying a line of text.

Qin Ruqing’s eyes froze when she saw it.

The gift pack didn’t contain a bunch of items as she had imagined. Instead, there was only one type of reward.

【Four-leaf Lingzhi Herb*3】

Having attended school and received basic herbal education, information immediately flashed in Qin Ruqing’s mind.

—Four-leaf Lingzhi Herb, the main ingredient for refining Foundation Establishment Pills!

Qin Ruqing: !!

Could she, with such bad luck, actually draw something like this?