Chapter 027: What Are You All Doing?!

That day, she was squatting on the ground sorting medicinal herbs. As she stood up, her vision suddenly went dark and her body collapsed backward, completely out of her control.

"Jin'er!" Little Jiu, who happened to be passing by, hurriedly caught her.

"Jin'er, what's wrong?" Little Jiu asked with concern.

Jin'er opened her eyes, forced herself to stand straight, and shook her head slightly. "It's nothing, thank you."

"Nothing? Look at you—your face is pale, and you've grown even thinner than when you first arrived. I know you still read books in your room at night. Are you staying up too late? Don't be so anxious. Your comprehension is already outstanding. I believe it won’t be long before you catch up to me. Please, don’t exhaust yourself." Little Jiu frowned as he spoke.

Jin'er managed a weak smile. "I'm really fine, don't worry about me." A few years? Her body simply couldn't wait that long. Right now, she wished she could use even those precious two hours of sleep for study.

How could anyone not worry about her like this? Little Jiu furrowed his brow in helplessness. Just as he was about to help her sit down, an irritated voice suddenly sounded from behind.

"Senior Brother, what are you doing?!"

Hearing the voice, Jin'er recognized Qin'er at once. She quickly brushed away Little Jiu's hands. Women's intuition told her that Qin'er seemed to be quite fond of Little Jiu. Usually, Qin'er never showed her a kind face. Was it possible she saw Jin'er as a rival?

At this thought, Jin'er couldn’t help but feel speechless. After all, she was only twelve years old and undernourished—a mere slip of a girl. Wasn't Qin'er being unreasonable and lacking confidence?

In fact, Jin'er hadn't looked in a mirror in over two years. In her mind, she still pictured herself as she was at ten. After all the hardships of the past two years, she had grown frail and thin, so she had little confidence in her own appearance.

Yet in truth, despite her age and slender frame, she was already blossoming into a little beauty.

Little Jiu frowned slightly when Jin'er pushed him away. After giving her a silent glance, he turned around to see Qin'er glaring at them both, bristling with indignation. Only then did he speak: "Qin'er, Jin'er just fainted. Luckily I was nearby to catch her."

"Oh? What a coincidence," Qin'er raised her eyebrows, smiling as she looked at Jin'er.

Jin'er looked up and met the hostile gaze, frowned, and lowered her head. In a soft voice, she said, "I’ll get back to work. You two carry on." With that, she turned to leave, her steps faltering. Little Jiu immediately moved to steady her in alarm.

But Qin'er promptly raised a hand to stop him. "Senior Brother, Master is looking for you. You should go at once."

Little Jiu shot her a frown, then glanced at Jin'er, who seemed to be alright, before finally turning to leave.

Once Little Jiu was gone, Qin'er made her way to the backyard, where she found Jin'er on tiptoe, lifting a tray of drying medicinal herbs. Quietly, she approached and bumped into her, feigning innocence.

Crash—

"Ah!" Jin'er cried out as a shower of poria mushrooms tumbled down upon her head. It didn't hurt, but the entire tray had toppled, raining its contents on her like a sudden storm of poria. Worse still, the herbs now lay scattered all over the ground, and gathering them all would be quite a task.