Chapter 2: Adding Money

Upon hearing Old Man Zhang's words, still struggling with carrots, Xiao Wu turned her clear and foolish gaze towards Ye Qiu.

"Grandpa Zhang, isn't this inappropriate?" Ye Qiu felt a bit awkward. After all, this was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, and the crucial issue was that there was only one bed at home!

Before he could explain further, Old Man Zhang spoke up.

"What's wrong with that? They're just children! Besides, you're here to deliver money, right? Why are you dividing it so clearly? Take this money back, and take the girl back with you. Consider it her living expenses!"

"Uh, this is a bit..." Ye Qiu's expression became somewhat unnatural at Old Man Zhang's words. Honestly, he was tempted.

"You don't want to?" Before he could finish, Old Man Zhang interrupted him.

"It's not that, Grandpa Zhang! You misunderstood." Ye Qiu rubbed his hands and smiled awkwardly.

"What I mean is, this money is not enough; we need to add more!"

"Add more!?" Old Man Zhang was almost about to pull his beard when he heard this.

"Look at how much she can eat. This money is a bit insufficient!" He pointed in Xiao Wu's direction and helplessly shrugged.

"I don't eat that much!" Xiao Wu widened her eyes and glared at Ye Qiu while still munching on a carrot.

"Uh..." Suddenly, a long burp, and she quickly covered her mouth, her face turning red.

Feeling the gazes from Old Man Zhang and Ye Qiu, her eyes became somewhat evasive.

Finally, Old Man Zhang agreed to add more money and made an agreement with Ye Qiu. They would be sent to the Nuoding Academy about a month later when the school year began.

With Old Man Zhang watching, Ye Qiu smoothly brought Xiao Wu home.

On the way, Ye Qiu walked ahead, and Xiao Wu followed behind. Unlike the lively Xiao Wu, Ye Qiu was silent and reserved, just quietly moving forward.

"Hey! How much farther?" Xiao Wu hopped to Ye Qiu's side, tilting her head, and asked.

"I'm not 'Hey.' My name is Ye Qiu. We still have some distance to go. Just hold on a bit longer."

"Humph! Ye Qiu, what's with the toughness? Watch out, Xiao Wu will beat you!" Hearing this, Ye Qiu rolled his eyes and found her lack of manners irritating.

"I'm Ye Qiu. What's with the beating? Hold on a bit longer."

"Huh! What's with the toughness? Watch out, Xiao Wu will beat you!"

Hearing this, Ye Qiu didn't bother responding, just rolling his eyes and thinking, 'Really hard to discipline this beast.'

Silence prevailed during the journey, and as the dusk fell, Ye Qiu finally returned home after having dinner.

"Wow! Such a cute little rabbit! I didn't expect you to have a pet rabbit!" Seeing the rabbit in the cage in front of the stone house, Xiao Wu quickly rushed over to play.

 "That's not a pet." Ye Qiu whispered. As soon as he entered the house, he pointed to the bathing area separated by wooden boards and instructed Xiao Wu, "Hurry up and take a bath. You have a strong smell!"

"Why are you talking nonsense? Where does the smell come from?" Xiao Wu sniffed her sleeve while denying it. As she spoke, her voice got smaller, and her face turned red.

"Smell it? A whole body smell of carrots, and, yes, a bit of the smell of a rabbit." Ye Qiu walked over and sniffed beside her.

"Ah, what are you doing? I'm not a rabbit." Xiao Wu quickly covered her chest, distanced herself from him, and looked somewhat embarrassed.

'Really a silly rabbit!' Ye Qiu shook his head, unsympathetically saying, "I didn't say you were a rabbit. Hurry up and take a bath!"

Watching her go into the bathroom, Ye Qiu began to tidy up the bed.

Since the silly rabbit had no spare clothes, Ye Qiu could only throw his clothes to her. He hung the clothes on a wooden board and gave instructions to the inside.

"For now, wear my clothes. I'll rest first. The other end of the bed is yours!"

"What! Are we going to sleep together?"

"What sleep together? Separated by thousands of miles!" Ye Qiu shouted into the room.

"Why are you scolding? Just sleep!"

After a somewhat friendly exchange, the two fell silent, with only the sound of water flowing inside.

When Xiao Wu came out, Ye Qiu was already lying on one side of the bed. Seeing the size of the bed, which could fit five or six Ye Qius lying horizontally, she didn't want to make trouble.

However, after looking around, she couldn't help but speak up, "Hey!"

Calling out yielded no response. Xiao Wu snorted and spoke again, "Ye Qiu, do you have a mirror here?"

"No, see that water tank under the window? Just make do with that!" Ye Qiu replied, turning over.

Xiao Wu pursed her lips, carefully took out a small comb from her pink bag, holding it like a precious treasure. By the water tank, she combed her hair delicately, the crimson eyes revealing a strong sense of longing.

Once her hair was mostly dry, she carefully put away the comb and climbed onto the other end of the bed, placing the small bag near the pillow.

As if not completely at ease with Ye Qiu, before going to sleep, she left a stern warning, "Hey! Don't cross the line, or see how I'll deal with you!""Receiving only silence in response, she ground her teeth in frustration, thinking he had already fallen asleep. She could only lie down with indignation as the night grew deeper. When Xiao Wu's breathing became steady, the gleam of red light appeared in Ye Qiu's eyes. In the darkness, he gazed at her lying on the other side 

In reality, Ye Qiu had been awake the entire time, simply choosing to ignore the silly rabbit. He sighed inwardly.

'Ah, I don't know if bringing her back was the right decision. Let's just go with the flow. The ten-thousand-year soul beast is still a bit distant from me.'

Ye Qiu believed that once his Sharingan fully awakened, his achievements would undoubtedly be remarkable.

On the horizon, purple energy emerged as the sky gradually brightened. As Ye Qiu slowly woke up, he looked at Xiao Wu, who had flipped over so far in her sleep. 'Even from this distance, she managed to turn over. Do rabbits sleep so restlessly?'

He gently pulled her down, slowly got up, and turned back to look at her pale and delicate face. In Ye Qiu's heart, a protective instinct rose.

After watching for a moment, Ye Qiu covered her with a blanket and placed her small bag beside her. The sound of the door opening interrupted the scene as Ye Qiu left to prepare breakfast.

Still lying in bed with her eyes closed, Xiao Wu suddenly opened her eyes. Seeing Ye Qiu's departing figure, she covered her flushed face with both hands and burrowed under the covers like a wriggling maggot.

A muffled voice came from under the blanket, 'its too embarrassing. Ah!'

The awkwardness didn't last long, interrupted by the protests of her stomach. Xiao Wu hastily washed up, tied her original scorpion braid, and finally walked out.

"Awake?" came Ye Qiu's urgent voice from a distance.

"Yeah, what are you doing?" Xiao Wu couldn't help but approach and squat down, asking.

"Plank, a method for exercising the body."

"Oh, really strange." Xiao Wu muttered, touching her stomach, hesitant to speak.

"Are you hungry? I've already bought carrots; they're on the table. Wash up, and you can eat."

"Really? Carrots are bought!" Being a true rabbit, her eyes lit up at the mention of carrots.

"Why lie to you?" Ye Qiu stood up, glanced at her speechlessly, and led the way into the house.

(End of this chapter)"