Chapter 9: A Mother's Love
After the prosecutor's office sent over some materials and news, both Gu Qin and Cheng Yinqiang calmed down, just waiting for the court session. Cheng Yinqiang was still a bit worried, "Qinqin, what if we don't win the case?" She knew that they were just ordinary people and didn't understand much about legal matters.
Gu Qin, who was practicing her English speaking, paused and replied to her mother, "Mom, don't worry, let's see what the court decides. We have all the evidence." If they lost, she wasn't worried, but she didn't say that out loud.
The video that the young man had promised was quickly sent to her, and she had already copied it onto a USB drive.
These days, Gu Qin had not been idle. She had just graduated from junior high and was about to report to high school on September 1. It was still summer vacation. The original owner was a disciplined person, so as soon as the vacation started, all her homework was completed. Now, Gu Qin was busy practicing martial arts and cultivating her energy. Practicing martial arts and cultivating energy was divided into external and internal techniques. External techniques focused on physical movements like punches and kicks, while internal techniques were about cultivating life energy, involving meditation to sense the energy of heaven and earth, which was a very difficult step, and many people never succeeded in feeling it.
This kind of cultivation could only be done by calming the mind and feeling the surrounding natural energy. After feeling the energy, one would try to draw it into the body and flush the meridians.
In her past life, Gu Qin had learned both boxing and energy cultivation from her master and had reached the realm of refining energy and transforming the spirit, but she was still far from the highest level, the Great Perfection, which was the most desired state for all metaphysical masters and cultivators. Unfortunately, throughout history, only a few people ever reached the Great Perfection.
During these days, Gu Qin woke up at four in the morning, meditated until six, then went for a morning run. Cultivating energy was possible, but martial arts wouldn't be neglected. However, her body was too weak to begin with martial arts, so she started with strengthening her body through regular morning runs until seven, then practiced standing meditation until eight. After having breakfast prepared by her mother, she would study at home.
The original owner's academic performance seemed average, but Gu Qin wanted to do her best in everything. Her master had taught her that whatever she learned, she should strive to do it well, and she knew that knowledge was very important in this era. So, apart from martial arts and energy cultivation, she was focused on her studies at home.
What Gu Qin found difficult was English, which was really hard for her, and she spent most of her time on it every day.
She would take a half-hour nap at noon, then stand in meditation for an hour, continuing to study after. At five, she would make dinner, and by six, when her mother and brother returned, they would eat. After dinner, at seven, she would watch television for two hours.
The rented apartment had a TV, but no set-top box, so there were only seven channels. Watching TV felt strange to her. After turning it on, no matter what was on, she would focus for two hours without changing the channel.
Gu Jia, now in the second year of high school and about to enter his third year, was on summer vacation but had to go to tutoring during the day. He was three years older than Gu Qin, and when he was in elementary school, he didn't study well. While others studied, he was playing outside, scoring zero points in his first-grade exams and having to repeat the grade. Later, he didn't know if he had a breakthrough or suddenly figured things out, but he began studying hard, so now he was just two grades ahead of Gu Qin.
Sometimes, Gu Jia found his sister a bit strange. For example, now, she was watching a weight-loss advertisement on TV, staring at it seriously for half an hour. Gu Jia finally couldn't help but ask, "Gu Qin, do you want to lose weight?"
"No," Gu Qin replied without taking her eyes off the TV. "I want to gain weight." Recently, she was consuming more energy than she took in, so she had lost a bit more weight, but it seemed that her body was starting to develop, and her chest felt a bit fuller.
Gu Jia replied, "Then why are you staring at weight-loss ads? You've been watching for half an hour!"
Gu Qin had some doubts. "Losing weight is only possible by consuming low energy and exercising more. These weight-loss pills stimulate the central nervous system, reduce intake, and suppress appetite, but they usually have side effects, such as liver damage and endocrine disorders. Why would anyone buy them?"
Gu Qin's metaphysical studies included medicine, so she knew a lot about traditional Chinese medicine, and recently she had been learning some Western medicine. If possible, she wanted to buy a human model to study.
Gu Jia replied, "Because they're lazy and want to take shortcuts. But there's no shortcut in this world."
Gu Qin nodded thoughtfully and continued watching seriously. She didn't change the channel but just found TV interesting.
After dinner, Gu Yuanjiang called Cheng Yinqiang. "Cheng Yinqiang, how could you be so heartless? You're even suing me? I'm the father of Qinqin and Jia Jia, and Qinqin voluntarily donated her kidney. Why are you suing me?"
Cheng Yinqiang went to the balcony with the phone so as not to disturb her daughter. She closed the door before shouting angrily, "Gu Yuanjiang, you're a scumbag, selling your own daughter's heart! I'm suing you! You just wait to go to jail!" Without waiting for him to react, she quickly hung up and blocked his number.
Entering the room, Gu Qin had just turned off the TV. Cheng Yinqiang said, "Qinqin, go to bed early."
Gu Qin replied, "Mom, can you give me a few hundred yuan? I want to buy a bicycle. It'll be more comfortable for me to ride to school, and buses aren't very comfortable."
Gu Qin often felt dizzy in cars and also in closed elevators. Additionally, the energy in the city was too scarce, which wasn't good for cultivating energy. So, she planned to ride a bicycle to Mount Daishan every day.
Mount Daishan, located in Daishan City, was named after the mountain, and riding for an hour would get her there. Places with more energy were often deep in mountains or forests, and while Mount Daishan wasn't a deep forest, it was still large and had far more energy than the city.
Cheng Yinqiang gave her a thousand yuan. The next morning, Gu Qin went out and bought a foldable bike, a small one that was just the right size for her. However, she had forgotten one thing: the original owner didn't know how to ride a bike. So, after buying the bike, Gu Qin found a quiet spot to learn. Learning to ride a bike required courage, and after twenty minutes, she was nearly there.
She rode the bike back home and carried it up the five floors to their apartment.
From then on, every morning she would wake up at four, carry her bike downstairs, and ride to Mount Daishan to meditate. By seven, she would return and practice standing meditation for an hour. The rest of the time, she was still studying at home. Cheng Yinqiang was already at work, so Gu Qin was usually alone at home.
One morning, Cheng Yinqiang went to work, and Gu Jia went to tutoring. Gu Qin continued studying English at home. Not long after, her phone rang. She took it out and saw it was Lin Xinxin calling.
Gu Qin remembered that Lin Xinxin was the original owner's only friend. The original owner had been introverted, while Lin Xinxin was more outgoing, and they had been desk mates. She was very considerate of the original owner. Gu Qin answered the phone, and Lin Xinxin's voice came through, "Qinqin, haven't you gotten over it yet? I'm really sorry. I won't speak ill of him again. Can we be friends again?"