Xiao Hongchen felt that his younger sister had been acting a bit strange lately.
It was one thing that she ran to Kong Ming'an's cold laboratory every day, unbothered by anything.
After all, he had to admit that following someone to Cultivate, although the medicine was so bitter it could kill a person, and the Body Tempering Method would occasionally be updated, forcing him to relearn it, the improvement in his Cultivation and physique was undeniably fast.
But the problem was, every time she returned from the laboratory, he would always see Meng Hongchen holding a thick stack of books or notes, reading with such intense concentration that she often didn't hear him, her own brother, calling her.
He could tolerate that. What truly made Xiao Hongchen's heart pound was the content of those books Meng Hongchen was reading... He had secretly glanced at the covers and contents a few times, and they were all titles like 'Detailed Explanations of Human Meridians and Acupoints,' 'Treatise on the Circulation of Tendons, Bones, Qi, and Blood,' 'Preliminary Exploration of the Origin of Life'... and there was even 'Atlas of Human Physiological Structure'!
Even more alarming was during meal times.
Previously, his younger sister, though picky and preferring sweets, always had a good appetite.
But recently... several times now, upon seeing the food on the table, her expression would crinkle into a frown, and she would cover her mouth, looking as if she was trying to suppress nausea and a gag reflex... Reading books about the human body... feeling like throwing up at the sight of meat... running to Kong Ming'an's place every day... These keywords flashed through Xiao Hongchen's Genius brain, and finally, a terrifying conclusion emerged!
He couldn't hold back any longer. After lunch one day, Xiao Hongchen called someone aside.
"Kong Ming'an, tell me honestly! What have you done to my sister?"
Kong Ming'an: "...?"
Kong Ming'an listened to Xiao Hongchen's unprecedented seriousness and the hint of indignation in his words, and slowly formed a "¿" in his mind.
What had he done... wasn't it just compiling a set of teaching materials for her to study, then having her help record experimental data, occasionally explaining some basic Energy theories, and letting her start hands-on experiments? What else could he have done?
"Don't play dumb!"
Seeing his "innocent" look, Xiao Hongchen became even more furious, "Meng has been reading those books on human meridians every day recently! She feels like throwing up at the sight of food! And she runs to your place all day long! You..."
Xiao Hongchen paused, his tone becoming serious:
"...You must take responsibility for her!"
"...Huh?"
Kong Ming'an's thoughts uncharacteristically stalled for a moment.
Turning his head, Kong Ming'an unconsciously cast his gaze towards the dining table not far away, only to see Miss Meng frowning and pushing away the spicy rabbit head that had just been served.
His gaze swept back and forth several times between Miss Meng's distressed expression and the plate of spicy rabbit head, combined with Xiao Hongchen's phrase "reading books on human physiological structure"... A somewhat absurd, yet perfectly fitting chain of misunderstanding began to form in his mind.
"..."
Kong Ming'an was at a loss for words for a moment, lightly rubbing his forehead, only feeling a mysterious headache.
Although Miss Meng was indeed very cute, he wasn't some pervert. Having thoughts about the current Miss Meng would be grounds for execution, alright!
Was this the typical precociousness of a Douluo? He had certainly witnessed it.
Sighing, he began to explain: "You're overthinking it, I really haven't done anything. As for why she feels like throwing up at the sight of food... "Perhaps it's because she's been having extra meals every day these past few days?"
Since the spirit ring experiments began, dozens of Soft Bones Rabbits had to die in the laboratory every day.
Throwing them away would be a waste, so, a hundred ways to eat rabbit came into being... Because the cooking methods were novel and the taste was good, Miss Meng had become quite addicted to eating them these past few days.
With too many extra meals, she naturally had no appetite for the main meal.
"Extra meals?"
Xiao Hongchen frowned, his expression still unconvinced.
You're telling me this is the reaction one gets from having an extra meal?! This guy really doesn't want to take responsibility, does he?!
He was about to open his mouth to accuse him again, but the next moment, Miss Meng poked her head out from the side.
She glanced at Kong Ming'an's helpless expression, then at her elder brother's face, which was full of anger and quite aggressive. In a moment, she came to a conclusion.
"Brother, what are you trying to do again!"
Xiao Hongchen: "???"
No, younger sister? It's not what *I'm* trying to do, it's what this guy next to you is trying to do!
Xiao Hongchen tried to speak, but seeing his expression, Meng Hongchen seemed to understand something and directly hugged Kong Ming'an's arm, pulling him back.
"Ming'an is very good to me, big brother. You just focus on your Cultivation, you don't need to worry about me."
With that, Meng Hongchen directly pulled Kong Ming'an away.
Xiao Hongchen watched the two leave, his expression slightly stiff, but he didn't stop them after all.
It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with someone; he simply felt that his younger sister was giving herself away too quickly, making her vulnerable to being taken advantage of... Still somewhat misunderstanding, Xiao Hongchen hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to tell his grandfather about this matter.
And then... just a few hours later, Kong Deming arrived at the laboratory with Jing Hongchen, just like that... With everything explained clearly, the misunderstanding was naturally resolved quickly.
After understanding the situation, Jing Hongchen, who had originally been unsure whether to be happy or sad, breathed a sigh of relief, then left with Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.
For a time, only the grandfather and grandson remained in the laboratory.
"...I really didn't expect you, Grandfather, to make a special trip because of this."
Looking at the dignified old man in front of him, Kong Ming'an sighed softly.
"It concerns you after all, and moreover... this is not a small matter," Kong Deming said calmly.
"Uh..."
Kong Ming'an inexplicably had a bad premonition.
As the sole descendant of the Kong Family at present, he was aware of many situations. A long time ago, because the Kong Family had some Bloodline ties to the Sun Moon Imperial Family, they were naturally considered nobles, and thus their Bloodline flourished.
However, because the then-head of the Kong Family chose the wrong side, the Kong Family was directly purged. Only his grandfather survived because of his good personal relationship with the former emperor.
From then on, his grandfather was the only Bloodline of the Kong Family, and after that, his father was born, grew up normally, and had him with his mother.
However, not long after he was born, his parents both died in a spirit tool experimental accident... Yes, it was a genuine accident, not someone else's malicious plot.
Because of this incident, he truly became the sole descendant of the Kong Family, and his grandfather doted on him, holding him in his palm, fearing that anything might happen.
He had been watched over and raised like this until now.
But... with a slight hesitation, Kong Ming'an tentatively spoke:
"Grandfather, you're not going to say that you want me to revitalize the Kong Family Bloodline, are you?"
Kong Deming looked at Kong Ming'an strangely, but shook his head, "Not so..."
Kong Ming'an immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good..."
As he spoke, he unconsciously picked up a glass of water nearby and took a sip to moisten his throat.
"...It's just that Your Majesty intends to betroth a princess to you."
"Pfft—"
Kong Ming'an, rarely losing his composure, turned his head, pointing a finger at himself, looking at his grandfather with some disbelief.
"No... huh?"