Raising Me Isn't in Vain

Qin Rui walked in, seeing no one in the room, and his heart completely relaxed. He shook his head with a smile, finding it amusing. What was he thinking? The child clearly went to the adjacent room just now.

He walked over and paid his respects to the wooden puppet in the shrine box, added incense, and placed something there before leaving.

After he left, Zhouzhou took off the invisibility talisman from her body and looked at what he had left behind. Her little face suddenly turned serious.

Ten minutes later.

"A'lie, you're leaving already? Let me give you something to take back, and also some snacks for the little girl who came with you. Don't be polite."

As he spoke, someone opened the door to the children's room from outside. Qin Rui glanced at Zhouzhou, who was sitting there playing with a doll, and his smile deepened. He turned to Qin Lie.

Qin Lie walked in, seeing Zhouzhou sitting there obediently, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Dad!" Zhouzhou saw him and immediately ran towards him, throwing herself into his arms. At the same time, she quickly stuffed something into his pocket and winked at him.

Qin Lie looked at her with a hint of confusion but didn't say anything. He hugged her in cooperation. "No need, let's go."

Upon hearing this, Qin Rui's smile deepened, and as he walked out, he said, "Oh, why are you leaving so soon? Can't you stay a little longer?"

He said that, but he reached out and opened the door for them, eager for them to leave quickly.

Qin Lie wasn't foolish and could tell, but he didn't expose it.

Catching a whiff of the sandalwood scent on him, Qin Lie's gaze flickered slightly. It seemed that the little girl coming here might not be without reason.

"No need to send us off," he said calmly and walked away without looking back.

They remained silent throughout the journey and arrived at the hotel while holding Zhouzhou. Qin Lie glanced at his assistant and said, "You can go and attend to your tasks, no need to come in."

"Yes."

After the door closed, Qin Lie immediately put Zhouzhou aside and took out the item she had hidden in his clothes at Qin Rui's house. Seeing that it was a piece of talisman paper, he furrowed his brows and threw it aside. "Speak up, what's going on?"

Zhouzhou glanced at his leg, wanting to continue sitting.

But when she looked up and saw his cold face, she wisely didn't approach him. She opened the talisman paper, revealing the contents inside.

It was a strand of hair.

Qin Lie frowned and asked, "You went into that room just to get this?"

Zhouzhou nodded, still puzzled. "How did Dad know that I went into that room?"

They clearly saw her going into the children's room.

"Isn't it obvious?" Otherwise, why would she suddenly go upstairs? Although he didn't know how she entered that room or why she didn't have the sandalwood scent that Qin Rui had, his intuition told him that she went there.

He looked at her and speculated, "What did Qin Rui offer inside?"

Zhouzhou vigorously nodded, admiringly looking at him. "Dad is so clever!"

As she spoke, she pointed to the hair in the talisman and said, "This is Dad's hair."

His hair?

Qin Lie was surprised and took a look. The length and color did resemble his own.

His gaze fell on the paper below. "Did you draw this?"

Zhouzhou shook her head and also looked at it, her eyes chilling. "This was drawn by the bad guy."

She looked somewhat disgusted at the dark red patterns on it. "I wouldn't use this dirty thing to draw talismans."

She used cinnabar to ward off evil spirits, but this talisman was drawn with blood, which had the opposite effect and attracted negative energy.

With a cold expression, she said, "This is a luck-transfer talisman. By placing someone's personal item on it, their luck will be transferred to another person. The person whose luck is transferred will experience increasingly bad luck until all of their luck is stolen. At that point, they will face great misfortune, either death or injury."

As she spoke, she looked up at him.

Seeing her gaze, Qin Lie's eyelids twitched. "Are you saying that Qin Rui is stealing my luck?"

Zhouzhou nodded. "That's right, Dad. Think about it, haven't you been unlucky since Qin Rui appeared?"

At her words, Qin Lie calmly glanced at her. What did she call him? Who was the unlucky one?

Her words went beyond Qin Lie's realm of understanding, and he found them somewhat absurd. But as he looked at her serious expression, he couldn't help but follow her train of thought.

It seemed to be true.

He had been experiencing bad luck for the past five years, coinciding with Qin Rui's arrival in Jing City.

Could it be that his luck was really stolen, just as she said?

But could that be possible?

Qin Lie skeptically looked at Zhouzhou. The little girl had a fair and lovely appearance, but she wore three copper coins around her neck and her bag was filled with talismans, giving her the appearance of a little charlatan.

He couldn't help but feel a headache.

It was too absurd.

"You don't believe me, Dad?" Sensing his changing expression, Zhouzhou perceived his thoughts and couldn't help pouting. "I wouldn't lie to Dad."

As she spoke, she took out a talisman from her bag and handed it to him. "This is for Dad. Wear it for now, it will prevent your luck from being stolen. When I prepare some things and eliminate that evil deity, Dad will be able to return to normal."

Speaking of which, wealth and spiritual energy were related, and if one's luck diminished, it would also affect their financial fortune.

If Dad ran out of money, she couldn't be well taken care of.

That wouldn't do; the breadwinner must not lose their job!

Zhouzhou held the talisman tightly in her small hand, her expression serious and determined. She didn't waste any time and immediately stood up, ready to find the things needed to eliminate the evil deity.

Qin Lie grabbed her collar with a stern face, pulling her back. "Planning to run around again?"

"I didn't run around," Zhouzhou said. Faced with his cold gaze, she suddenly remembered what had happened earlier. It seemed that she did run here, although Dad was in a meeting at the time, and she didn't want to disturb him. She was just in a hurry, so she didn't tell him.

But ultimately, she was at fault, and Zhouzhou didn't try to argue. She pleasingly held his hand, and her chubby little face pressed against his palm as she rolled it around, coaxing him. "Dad, I'm sorry. I'll tell you next time I go anywhere, so you won't be angry."

The little girl had chubby cheeks, and her baby fat was soft. Rubbing against his palm, Qin Lie instinctively pinched it—it was soft and elastic, with a fantastic texture.

Realizing what he had done, he stiffened his face, retracted his hand, and said coldly, "Stay put. There's a banquet tonight."

"Oh, okay." Zhouzhou replied and then stared at his expression for a while.

Fine, with her talisman, Dad wouldn't encounter any problems for the time being, so there was no need to worry.

In the evening, Qin Lie brought Zhouzhou to the banquet.

The assistant glanced at the time and was somewhat surprised, muttering, "How come we had green lights all the way today?"

It was abnormal.

Since he started following CEO Qin, whenever he was in the car, they never encountered green lights, only red lights. But this time, it was the complete opposite—all green lights. They arrived half an hour earlier than expected.

Qin Lie also noticed this change. He unconsciously touched the talisman that Zhouzhou had handed to him and looked down at the little girl.

Sensing his gaze, Zhouzhou proudly puffed out her chest and smiled. "How about that, Dad? My talisman is effective, but I'm even more effective. From now on, wherever you go, as long as you have my talisman with you, no negative energy can come near you, and no one can steal your luck!"

As she spoke, she hugged his hand and gently shook it. "Dad, I'm amazing! It's worth raising me!"