Chapter 11 - Eight Pieces of Brocade, Seventh Brother's Livestream
"Don't worry, Master. I'll handle this right away," Manager Li said hastily, nodding repeatedly.
He'd been thoroughly frightened by the incident with Madam earlier in the day and was also furious. After all, the servants in the villa were under his management, and the presence of a traitor reflected a major failure on his part.
As for the new young lady of the household, he held her in great reverence. This was someone who could crush ghosts and demons effortlessly—how Madam managed to coax her into the family was beyond comprehension.
With her around, what ghosts or monsters would dare trouble the Gu family? Purely courting death!
The old manager couldn't help but feel that the Gu family was now the safest place in the world.
"This matter is resolved. Everyone, go back to sleep," Gu Xuesong said, glancing at the clock on the wall.
It was 3:30 a.m., and the peaceful night had been completely ruined by that ghostly commotion.
Yawning slightly, Yao Yao noticed Gu Xuesong's irritation and said, "Don't worry. I've already broken the curse cast by that person. They should now be suffering from the backlash and won't be able to harm anyone anymore."
In the metaphysical arts, many spells were classified as dark practices because they carried severe backlash. If the spell failed, the caster might even die on the spot.
At the very least, failing would result in significant loss of cultivation—one of the reasons such practices were forbidden.
Yet many people, tempted by the power of these spells, still chose to take the risk.
"Hm. You've worked hard today. I'll tell the kitchen to prepare something special tomorrow so you can recover," Gu Xuesong said.
"Mm-hmm!" Yao Yao nodded seriously, clearly in agreement.
After all, the roast duck she was about to enjoy had been interrupted, and something delicious would definitely help heal her wounded heart.
Seeing her so earnest, Gu Xuesong couldn't help but smile. This new "daughter" of his was surprisingly easy to please.
The back-and-forth between them was unexpectedly harmonious. Watching from the side, Gu Yu's eyes widened in disbelief.
This was the first time he had ever seen his father coax a child. And, honestly, it was so clumsy that only someone like his little sister would fall for it.
Back in his room, Gu Yu, a natural night owl, had no intention of sleeping after the earlier events.
After tossing and turning for a while, he suddenly jumped up and opened WeChat, sending photos he had just taken to a group chat called "The Seven Sons of the Gu Family."
[Gu Xiao Qi: Spoiler alert! Our new little sister is super cool and fierce—she tore apart a ghost with her bare hands. A must-have addition for every family!]
[Gu Xiao Qi: Photo.jpg]
The group had seven members, as the name suggested, representing the seven brothers of the Gu family. Naturally, the group's creator and admin was Gu Xiao Qi (Seventh Brother), while the remaining six were his elder brothers.
Normally, no one would respond at this hour, but soon the group chat was buzzing with notifications.
[Gu Lao Er: Seventh, are you crazy? Posting stuff like this in the middle of the night?]
[Gu Lao Er: But wait, this is the new sister Dad mentioned? She's so adorable! Mom really has an eye for people!]
[Gu Lao Liu: Promoting ghosts and gods? You're spreading feudal superstitions. Don't think I'll overlook this just because it's family. If my performance stats drop one day, this chat will be evidence in court.]
[Gu Xiao Qi: Sixth Brother, are you even human? You'd arrest your own brother?!]
Staring at the screen, Gu Yu felt his blood pressure spike. His intention had been to flaunt his proximity to the new little sister and make the others jealous.
Instead, they were either scolding him or threatening to arrest him. Are these even my real brothers?
[Gu Xiao Qi: Just wait! I can't wait to see your jaws drop when you realize the truth.]
He had witnessed the supernatural firsthand and had completely abandoned his materialist worldview.
Now, seeing his brothers' skeptical messages, he couldn't help but smirk coldly. They reminded him of his own initial disbelief.
Feeling disheartened by their reactions, Gu Yu closed the chat and opened a game instead, intending to pass the time.
Suddenly, a private message popped up on WeChat.
[Sister Qin: Xiao Gu, why is your livestream time so low this month? The company has rules—you need to meet the quota. Starting tomorrow, you'll need to make up three hours a day.]
[Light of Ultraman: What? Sister, it's 4 a.m.! Do you really need to squeeze me like this?!]
The other side seemed surprised that he was still awake at this hour. The chat indicated that the user was typing.
[Sister Qin: I didn't say you needed to stream now.]
[Sister Qin: Considering you just got back from training, I'll allow you to livestream from home this time. But I'll have someone monitor your stream—don't you dare start rambling nonsense again.]
Gu Yu's face turned green. What nonsense rambling?
Sure, he had gotten a little emotional during his last stream and analyzed how to spot toxic partners, but how was that "rambling nonsense"?!
Feeling utterly defeated, Gu Yu tossed his phone aside and pulled the blanket over his head. Fine. I'll just sleep. Enough torment for one night.
Three hours later, Gu Yu stumbled downstairs in a daze.
He had never thought insomnia would be the reason he'd lose sleep.
The villa was quiet except for a few servants busying themselves.
When they saw him, one of the servants politely asked if he'd like breakfast.
"No need," Gu Yu waved them off. He had eaten too much the night before and didn't have an appetite yet.
"Alright then, sir. I'll go prepare food for the Miss," the servant replied, turning to leave.
"Little sister's up so early?" Gu Yu sat up straighter at this, his curiosity piqued.
"Where is she? I don't see her."
The servant hesitated, her expression a bit odd. "The Miss… she's in the back garden practicing some martial arts forms."
What now?
Gu Yu, who could hardly keep his eyes open moments ago, was instantly wide awake. He almost thought his ears were playing tricks on him.
A three-year-old practicing martial arts at the crack of dawn?
Was she from one of those metaphysical sects? Couldn't they take it easy?
"I need to see this," he muttered, getting up and heading outside.
Sure enough, near the rose garden, Gu Yu saw his little sister dressed in the same tattered Daoist robe as yesterday, practicing a series of deliberate and precise movements.
Gu Yu couldn't make sense of her technique but decided to approach her anyway. "Yao Yao, what are you practicing so early in the morning?"
"It's the Eight Pieces of Brocade!" Yao Yao turned her head when she heard him.
Seeing her tired-looking seventh brother, she eagerly explained her practice. The Eight Pieces of Brocade was a health-preserving martial art that relaxed the body and rejuvenated the spirit. Her old Daoist master loved it, often saying it could prolong life, and he always brought her along to practice it.
Having done it daily, Yao Yao was long accustomed to practicing a set every morning. Coming to the Gu family hadn't changed that habit.
"Does it really work? Could you teach me?" Gu Yu's eyes lit up.
He figured it'd be a good way to kill time since he couldn't sleep, and it'd be a chance to bond with his sister.
"Of course!" Yao Yao nodded enthusiastically.
Practicing alone was boring anyway.
"Wait a second!" Gu Yu suddenly remembered something and ran back to the house.
A short while later, he returned with a tripod and his phone. Under Yao Yao's curious gaze, he set up the equipment and fiddled with it until his livestream was running.
"Alright, let's begin!"
Yes, Gu Yu intended to kill two birds with one stone—spending time with his sister while making up his livestream hours.
Didn't Sister Qin ban him from rambling nonsense? Fine, he'd focus on learning martial arts during the stream. Perfectly safe.
"Okay, let's start!" Yao Yao, oblivious to his antics, had no idea what a livestream was. After all, she hadn't even seen TV shows in the mountains.
Gu Yu didn't bother introducing himself to the stream. After all, who would be online this early to watch?
But Gu Yu, the Seventh Young Master of the Gu family, was in for a surprise: this particular livestream would be anything but quiet.
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