Su Ping was once again touched by his mother’s kindness. He smiled. “You shouldn’t make long walks, mom, leave it to me. I have a pet anyway. We run a pet shop, remember? I can switch to a new one each day if I want.”
Li Qingru chuckled. “You’re kidding. What kind of pet warrior uses different pets everyday? What is your current pet? The shop doesn’t have any good ones in stock.”
Su Lingyue also pricked up her ears to listen. Since Su Ping had become a battle pet warrior, he was slowly catching up to her. She preferred to stay cautious, to prevent her miserable childhood from repeating.
“It’s an Undead-type. Decent aptitude, I’d say. Just a little below average.”
“Undead?” Li Qingru looked surprised, because not many people liked their horrible looks, even though they usually fought pretty well. “What exactly is it?”
Su Lingyue thought that his brother had developed a fondness for this kind of creature due to her constant “horror pranks.” This guy had even blown a kiss to a ghost the other day, giving her the creeps instead.
Sh*t. Maybe I should use different ways to spook him each day, she thought. I can’t let him catch some odd fetish.
“It’s a small skeleton.” Su Ping had no choice but to say something under Li Qingru’s demand.
“A skeleton??” Li Qingru almost cried again. “Oh dear… You really should have told your mom earlier, about your awakening. I’d get you a better pet even if I need to get a loan. You can’t be a pet warrior using a skeleton!”
Su Lingyue felt her earlier anxiety gone all of a sudden. “Hey, mom, he can’t use a better pet at his current state anyway. You don’t find many advanced battle pet warriors out of late awakeners. If you ask me, I’d just let him find a random job at the guild. He’ll earn more money than common salarymen that way. He can’t get us any income at the shop anyway.”
Li Qingru didn’t look happy to hear that. “You can’t say that to your brother until he tries! Yes, it’s rare for such cases to be good. But awakening later in life is already a miracle! You know what? If you only consider late awakeners, they break through faster than normal awakeners!”
Su Lingyue couldn’t keep arguing; sulking was her only choice.
Li Qingru continued, “Your brother has earned such a great opportunity. We shouldn’t discourage him from it. Come, you should help him too.”
Su Lingyue didn’t answer.
Su Ping knew his mother cared about him, but not to such an extent. Their family wasn’t really rich. It would be for the best if they pooled all their resources on Su Lingyue, so they could aim at making her an advanced battle pet warrior.
It was clear that Li Qingru chose to be a better mother rather than a strategist.
“Sis is right, mom,” Su Ping spoke in a gentle voice, “Don’t waste money on me. We need it to treat your leg! Besides, I like my pet. I don’t want another anyway.”
Su Lingyue raised an eyebrow at that. She thought Su Ping would use this chance to blatantly request a good pet like her Phantom Flame Beast, since that was always how he acted since childhood. She didn’t expect him to be so considerate all of a sudden.
Either way, she found it necessary to judge his brother differently at this point.
She removed her unpleasant look and spoke to their mother, “If we must, find him a middle-rank one, mom. We’d be lucky if he becomes a middle-rank battle pet warrior. And if he can do better than that, I’ll support him with all I have. I’ll give him my Phantom Flame Beast if that’s what it takes.”
The Phantom Flame Beast had been her partner since she was young; of course she didn’t want to hand it to anyone else. She said so because she didn’t believe Su Ping could surpass her.
During her studies, she never fell out of the top three on the score list. Not once. She was confident.
Li Qingru looked between them and sighed. “I hope you two stay friendly like this. You need to help each other once I’m gone.”
Su Lingyue frowned. “Don’t be like that, mom. I talked to my professor. I’ll go to the barrens as soon as I graduate, so I can earn merit points and buy medicines for you.”
Su Ping smiled. “Take care of yourself for now, mom, and don’t worry about us. I’ll take care of my pet. My Little Skeleton is pretty good.”
Li Qingru shook her head. Good? How good can a skeleton be?
She was both glad and sad to see Su Ping being so humble, for she thought that she was responsible for his situation. She could have easily gotten Su Ping another Phantom Flame Beast if she had kept their shop in good condition.
“*Sigh* I’ll prepare dinner.” She headed to the kitchen and left the children behind.
Su Lingyue glanced at his brother. “I never thought you could be a good boy like this. And no, I’m not being sarcastic. I appreciate it, really. Just don’t do anything stupid, alright? Becoming a battle pet warrior means nothing. No matter how you work from now on, you won’t be able to actually help me with anything. It should be the opposite. If you stay careful and don’t act up, I’ll find some time and teach you some pet warrior skills.”
Su Ping felt it was extremely weird that his sister was playing the adult role. “I’m the bigger one here, remember?”
“Humph. Every man will stay childish. No exceptions.”
“What the heck? You talk as if you’ve been through better.”
Su Lingyue’s expression turned colder. “Watch what you’re saying.”
Su Ping stood up, and under his sister’s threatening stare, he put a hand on her head and rubbed.
“Be a good sister, will you? A soft and cute girl draws more love from people.”
Su Lingyue was frozen for a moment.
Ever since she went to the academy at the age of 12, Su Ping, or any other male, had never managed to lay a hand on her, let alone touching her head.
She felt humiliated!
She tried slapping Su Ping’s hand away by using a small portion of her astral power, so she could teach him a lesson. Such a hit would definitely leave Su Ping’s hand swollen for a few days.
She failed. Su Ping pulled away in time.
“What the—” Su Lingyue clenched her teeth in rage. “You’re playing with fire, I’ll show you!”
“You don’t say? Who’s the ‘fire’?”