Five acres of thin land with no one to till it

  Qiu Qiu thought she was quite grown up, but because of a single word of thanks, she felt embarrassed and a bit humiliated. She smoothly found an excuse to change the subject: "Your hair is messy, let me help you comb it."

  She took out a small comb from her small purse and helped Shi Er to comb his hair. Shi Er took over her purse and looked at it, although the purse was small, but the things that could be put inside were not as few as they seemed on the outside. This was a gift from Autumn's senior sister when she had just started practicing her heart method, it was a small universe bag, Autumn put many of her small items together in it, not only combs, medicine balls, books, hair ties, and sometimes even snacks were stuffed inside. According to her senior sister's words, this thing could only be considered a small toy, playing with it couldn't be taken seriously. If there really was a famous universe bag that could hold hundreds of things, that would be a treasure, but it wasn't something they could have in their humble household.

  "Do you like this?" Qiū Qiū helped Xiǎo ěr tie up her hair and even added a bow. Although it was tied a bit crookedly, at least it was tied up: "This was given to me by Jing Xin Shī Jiě, otherwise I'll go ask Shī Jiě again if there's any more, if there is, I'll get one for you too."

  The child shook his head and returned the purse to her.

  "You shouldn't always stay cooped up in the house, our mountain scenery is great, like Lingyun Peak, Pan Snake Valley, and Hancui Lake, they're all good places. In a couple of days, I'll take you out for a walk to clear your mind, it will definitely be beneficial for your health."

  Qiu Qiu was quite enthusiastic, but the child's attitude had always been like that, neither taking the initiative nor refusing, with no expression on her face, and a pair of eyes that made people feel inexplicably nervous. At first, Qiu Qiu thought that this kind of beautiful girl was nothing new, and even if she was particularly beautiful, getting used to it over time would be fine. Now, every time they made eye contact, she felt a little dizzy, which must be because the heat hadn't arrived yet, and it would be better after a few more days.

  This way, she had made two more successful attempts, and Qiuqiu felt that she was vaguely about to break through the second layer of her Heart Method.

  This time it's absolutely not an illusion.

  Not only did she herself realize it, but also her master and senior sister noticed it.

  Master was not surprised at all, called Qiuqiu over and asked her a few questions about her recent situation, touched her head and pinched her face: "At that time, Master Fangzhen originally had his eyes on Jingyi, I also thought that your senior sister Jingyi is older and more stable, but Jingyi was not willing, so this matter fell to you. Master Fangzhen told me that practicing the skills of the body with our heart method at the same time is beneficial for both parties, it can cure his injuries and also improve your abilities. Now it seems that this benefit is not ordinary."

  Qiu Qiu rubbed her sore face as she walked out of Shifu's room and ran into her senior sister, Jing Yi.

  This matter was not thought of by Qiuqiu as a secret, and Jingyi must have known it already.

  "Older sister."

  Jing Yi gave her a glance, with an ambiguous smile on his face, hummed and directly entered Yu Xia Zhen Ren's room.

  She doesn't bother with people, and Qiuqiu won't take the initiative to curry favor either.

  After noon, the sky turned cloudy and it started raining, pattering down. Autumn got up to prop up the window, when someone came knocking on the door.

  Just by listening to the rhythm of knocking on the door and footsteps, I can tell who it is.

  The elder sister stood still with an umbrella in her hand and smiled as she entered the house.

  "What is someone doing in the house?"

  "Write."

  She walked to the window and looked at the paper spread out on the desk. She knew Autumn's lazy temper all too well, and on rainy days like this, she loved to sleep in. The idea that she would voluntarily write was simply unthinkable. As expected, the ink hadn't even been ground yet, and the paper was still blank, with a suspicious water stain at the bottom.

  Jing Xin cast a suspicious glance at Qiu Qiu's mouth, and Qiu Qiu wiped it with her hand, smiling and saying: "Sister, how did you come?"

  "That thing you asked me to help you find that day, I happened to see it when I came down the mountain this time, so I brought it back for you."

  "Thank you, elder sister."

  "What's the big deal, it doesn't cost anything." He sat down calmly, with an air of settling in for a long conversation: "Write a few characters and let me see if there's any improvement."

  Qiu Qiu was taken aback: "Now?"

  Jing Xin smiled and nodded: "Right, now is the time. Write, I'll grind the ink for you."

  Qiu Qiu sat down with a bitter face, her fingers short and stout. Usually peeling walnuts and pine seeds was effortless for her, but as soon as she picked up the pen, it felt like a thousand pounds. The strokes of her writing were uneven, sometimes thick and sometimes thin, and the characters were also irregular in size. Those with fewer strokes looked clumsy but still recognizable, while those with more strokes became a big ink blot, making it impossible to decipher what the original character was supposed to be, even with great concentration and visual effort.

  "Earlier, Jingyi went to find Shifu and said she was willing to help pick up the children and transport them for treatment."

  Qiu Qiu turned her head back, and a big drop of ink fell onto the paper with a "plop", forming another black blot.

  "I've heard it all, she also said that her skills are deeper and more stable than yours." Jingyi actually said that Qiuqiu is greedy and playful, how can she take good care of a patient? She must be more reliable than Qiuqiu, and went on and on.

  I knew before that this junior sister was a bit impatient and eager for quick success, but this time, she really had the nerve to speak up.

  If she was as willing to help and reliable as she said, why did she hide when Fang Zhenren was selecting people? Now that there's a benefit to be gained, she's eagerly pushing forward with a fervent expression.

  No wonder her cultivation stagnated after breaking through the third layer, although she had a good foundation, but this temperament of hers...

  Jing Xin didn't say much to Shao Shi Mei, firstly because Shao Shi Mei didn't seem to care about this matter. Secondly, Master also didn't agree, saying that one thing shouldn't bother two masters. Since Shao Shi Mei and Shi Er had already practiced several times successfully, suddenly changing people might not be as good as the beginning, so everything was maintained in its original state.

  Jing Yi was clearly unwilling.

  Although Jingyi has been on the mountain for a longer time, she treats her two fellow sisters with equal respect. However, people's hearts are made of flesh and blood, and there will always be some bias. The younger sister is a bit silly, a bit lazy, but she is kind to others, not petty, and has a pure heart. In trivial matters, it can be seen that she is not stingy or secretive, let alone this time.

  Qingxin watched as Autumn wrote several pages before finally relenting: "Alright, that's enough for today. Did you practice the mnemonic I taught you last time?"

  "I practice every day."

  "Uh-huh, Master said that next year you'll start learning swordsmanship. You need to practice reciting the incantation until you memorize it, don't be lazy."

  "Learn sword?" Qiuqiu was a bit stunned: "Won't it be too early? Last time Master said that within ten or eight years, he won't teach me."

  He stood up calmly, and with a very smooth motion, pinched her face. With a pleasant mood, he looked at her covering her small chubby face in embarrassment: "It's just a matter of time. By the way, later I'll take you to pick out a suitable sword that fits your hand. Otherwise, with your short stature, even a three-foot long sword will be taller than you when held upright. Who knows whether it's you practicing the sword or the sword practicing you."

  Autumn blows mustache staring eyes! The short kid is not her fault! Don't bring such blatant discrimination.

  However, after calming down, she somewhat came to her senses. The master originally said that it would take ten or eight years to learn swordsmanship, which was judged based on the situation at that time. Without a foundation in mental techniques, wanting to learn swordsmanship is no different from a fool's dream. But just like Shifu said, this moment and that moment are different, with her current rate of progress, learning swordsmanship next year has become feasible.

  But Jingyi Shifu hasn't learned it yet. In that case, wouldn't she have surpassed her senior sister?

  Too complicated problems, Qiuqiu couldn't figure out for a while and wouldn't make things difficult for herself. She put aside the annoying things and took Shou'er to play everywhere in the mountains and fields, climbing high and low, eating and playing together. Of course, it was mainly her who was eating... As for playing, it didn't seem like Shou'er was very enthusiastic about it either. But whenever Qiuqiu asked her to do something, she never refused.

  Yu Xiang Zhen Ren originally still had some misgivings about Shi Er, but unexpectedly the rather clumsy little disciple turned out to get along with her. Jing Xin initially also held a similar view. Fang Zhen Ren's disciple was always silent, but his eyes seemed to be able to see through people, making Jing Xin feel somewhat uneasy.

  But perhaps she and her master thought too much, look, the youngest apprentice who had the simplest mind didn't think it was that complicated, yet got along so harmoniously with Shi Er.

  Maybe this is the destined fate.

  The two of them were delighted to see it happen, but there was one person who didn't think so.

  Jingyi hit a wall with Shifu, but she didn't give up. This matter can't be decided by Shifu alone, what if Jing'er changes her mind and wants to help with the operation to heal the injury? In that case, Shifu and Jingxin Shijie won't have anything to say either, right?

  Jing Yi didn't take Qiu Qiu seriously. Even if this little girl had a good natural talent, her lazy and idle behavior was fundamentally incomparable to her own. At the time, she was momentarily confused, thinking that the sickly girl was just a big troublemaker, who would have thought she would bring such great benefits?

  She is much stronger than Qiuqiu in any case, as long as the child understands this point, she will definitely choose her over Qiuqiu.

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  When my son is at home on weekends, I usually have extremely low writing efficiency.