"Sizzle!"
A sound rang out, followed by a scent.
Smelling this scent, Li Xiaoyu, who was hiding in her room, trembled and her expression gradually became strange.
She was all too familiar with this smell.
It was the smell of traditional Chinese medicine.
There were only two people in the house: Li Xiaoyu and Qin Jie.
When did her brother learn to brew medicine?
When she was young and often sickly, her master's wife would frequently brew traditional Chinese medicine for Li Xiaoyu, and that bitter taste once left a deep psychological shadow on Li Xiaoyu.
But with her mother's passing, Li Xiaoyu sometimes began to miss that taste.
Sniffing, Li Xiaoyu put down the controller in her hand and walked out of the room barefoot. The moment she stepped out, a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine instantly wafted over.
Although her nose was a bit stuffy from her cold, the rich and strong scent of Chinese medicine still rushed into her nasal cavity immediately, and Li Xiaoyu easily recognized the familiar smell.
Cinnamon twigs, white peony, ginger, red dates—this scent was always too familiar. Just by smelling it, Li Xiaoyu instinctively recalled that bitter taste, and her mouth couldn't help but water.
It was a taste from memory; back then, she only found the medicine bitter, but now Li Xiaoyu somewhat missed the past when her mother was still alive.
Following the scent, Li Xiaoyu saw an unbelievable scene.
In the living room, Qin Jie was sitting on the sofa, and in front of him was a pot bubbling with a dark brown liquid.
Qin Jie was tilting his head back, holding a bag of dregs wrapped in oiled paper, and then, in front of Li Xiaoyu, he poured the entire bag of medicine into his mouth.
Disgusting.
Qin Jie frowned as he chewed the medicine dregs in his mouth.
[Analysis complete, proficiency +36.]
But acceptable.
Qin Jie's frown relaxed.
Although Li Xiaoyu had walked over barefoot, Qin Jie still sensed her footsteps. He spat out the dregs from his mouth, turned his head, and said,
"I bought you some traditional Chinese medicine from outside. I'll call you when it's ready."
"Brother, why are you eating the medicine dregs?" Li Xiaoyu asked in shock.
It was too terrifying; she couldn't even imagine what it would taste like to chew that stuff raw.
Sure enough, she was seen.
Qin Jie's expression didn't change, "Ahem, I have to taste it for you to see if it's poisonous, right? Also, you have a cold and you're walking around barefoot. Do you want to recover slowly or something?"
Fifteen-year-old Li Xiaoyu was scolded like a child in front of Qin Jie, but she surprisingly didn't get angry. As if used to it, she shrank her neck, then scurried back into her room, put on her favorite cartoon-patterned slippers, and then ran out again, sitting next to Qin Jie and directly hugging one of his arms, clinging tightly.
Qin Jie stroked Li Xiaoyu's head, "What, not playing games anymore?"
Li Xiaoyu didn't speak, just rubbed against Qin Jie again, but then she realized something was wrong, and her fingertips poked Qin Jie's arm.
Originally, Qin Jie's arm was of a normal thickness, but due to long-term exercise, it had well-developed muscles, which felt very secure to hug.
But for some reason, Qin Jie's arm was rock-hard at this moment, his skin like cowhide, and the feel of his muscles was almost like stone; leaning her face against it felt a bit rough.
So hard.
When did her brother's arm become like this?
Li Xiaoyu punched it twice in disbelief, the cost being her own fist hurting.
All of a sudden, a terrifying thought quietly emerged in Li Xiaoyu's mind.
Could her brother have been replaced by some imposter?
Because she spent a lot of time surfing the internet, Li Xiaoyu's thoughts were a bit too free. Combined with Qin Jie's previous 'resurrection from the dead' performance, Li Xiaoyu suddenly felt that her idea seemed to have some merit.
Qin Jie saw Li Xiaoyu's expression change slightly, but he didn't mind. Not only was this girl's level of wild imagination always off the charts, but he also found it hard to understand.
At this point, the cold medicine was almost ready. Qin Jie skillfully filtered the dregs, then scooped out the brewed medicine. After letting it cool, he fed Li Xiaoyu with a spoon.
But Li Xiaoyu looked at the medicine in front of her, her expression somewhat uncertain.
"What are you overthinking now?" Qin Jie said helplessly.
"I don't think you're my brother. I suspect you've been replaced at some point, ugh!"
Before she could finish speaking, Qin Jie directly spooned a mouthful into her.
The bitter yet familiar taste left Li Xiaoyu speechless. Looking at Qin Jie in front of her, Li Xiaoyu swallowed the medicine in her mouth, then protested discontentedly,
"Who feeds Chinese medicine spoon by spoon? Are you torturing me here?"
Then, Li Xiaoyu picked up the bowl of Chinese medicine and directly tilted her head back, chugging it down. She drank a large bowl of Chinese medicine in one go, then let out a bitter burp.
"Ugh, it's so awful," Li Xiaoyu felt terrible.
"Alright, drink it and then sleep for a while. Sweat a bit, and everything will be fine after that," Qin Jie instructed.
"Okay—"
After drinking, Li Xiaoyu returned to her room and closed the door.
This girl—Qin Jie shook his head. Just as he was about to get up to wash the bowls, his phone rang.
If he remembered correctly, this phone number should belong to Sun Baihe, a Contractor responsible for maintaining stability in the real world.
Why would he call him at this time?
Qin Jie answered the phone, puzzled.
"Is this Mr. Qin?"
Sun Baihe's voice came from the other end of the line.
"It's me," Qin Jie replied.
"Didn't we meet before? You left your address with us. It's 173 Wutong Road, correct?"
Qin Jie frowned and said, "That's right. Is something wrong?"
To avoid unnecessary trouble, he had indeed given them his address.
"It's like this, I need your help. A rapist and murderer has fled to this city. He is very strong and also understands anti-reconnaissance techniques. We suspect he is a Contractor."
"Wait a moment, Mr. Sun." Qin Jie interrupted him, "I said I'm not interested in helping you. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Sun Baihe was silent for a moment, "Of course, Mr. Qin is a free spirit, we understand. But there's one more thing to mention: someone found traces of this murderer near where you live, and there was also a naked female corpse."
"Photo."
"Huh?"
"I said, the murderer's photo. I'll help with this."
To Sun Baihe's surprise, Qin Jie's attitude changed 180 degrees in an instant.
"I'm sorry, we don't have a photo of this murderer."
Useless.
Qin Jie cursed inwardly, then said,
"Alright, I understand. I'll help you."
Hearing that Qin Jie was willing to help, Sun Baihe was overjoyed. He wanted to say something more, but Qin Jie had already ended the call.
On the other end of the phone, Qin Jie put down the bowl he was washing, his gaze instantly turning extremely cold.
He didn't care about the life-and-death struggles in the Paradise. Even if someone killed him, he had nothing to say; it was just that his skills were inferior.
But if anyone dared to disturb his peace in reality, or even threaten the safety of his important family members...
Then that person was dead.
"Xiaoyu, I'm going out for a bit. Lock the doors and windows tightly. Don't open the door casually if someone knocks."
In the empty living room, Qin Jie spoke to Li Xiaoyu.