C22 [chen Family's Tyranny]

Qin Qing watched her brother Qin Ming, lost in thought, and found herself musing as well.

"Come on, let's check out our family's Pill Shop," Qin Ming suggested, snapping out of his reverie. As the Qin Family's eldest son, he felt it was his duty to address any issues facing their business.

"Here's one of our family's Pill Shops," Qin Qing indicated an empty storefront to Qin Ming, "I can't fathom what's gotten into you. You don't even remember our own Pill Shop."

Qin Ming sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. It had been over ten thousand years; remembering the family's Pill Shop was asking a bit much. In fact, he had only just learned that his family was in the pill business.

"Go on, take a look around. The pill business is so dull, just staring at ledgers all day," his sister complained with a look of distaste. Her free-spirited nature made her detest such tedium, which was also why she had only advanced to the eighth level of Body Tempering.

"Why don't you head over there and enjoy yourself for a bit? I'll come find you later," Qin Ming suggested, pointing to a nearby acrobatics performance.

Qin Qing's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Great, make it quick. I'll be at the acrobatics show," she said, dashing off toward the performance.

Shaking his head, Qin Ming strode purposefully toward the Qin Family Pill Shop.

"Eldest Young Master, you've arrived?" The shop assistant, though a stranger to Qin Ming, recognized him immediately.

As Qin Ming entered, all the assistants greeted him warmly. "I've heard business hasn't been great lately, so I wanted to see for myself," he said after exchanging pleasantries.

The mention of their troubles brought grimaces to the assistants' faces. The shop manager explained, "Exactly, we're completely out of stock. We have to turn customers away, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Qin Ming nodded, understanding the issue stemmed from a lack of inventory, which wasn't the fault of the staff. "Don't worry, the family is already working on a solution. The problem will be resolved soon," he reassured them.

He didn't actually plan to rely on the family for this. Instead, he intended to ask his master, the Pill King, to assist the Qin Family, confident this would swiftly resolve their pill shortage.

"That's a relief to hear," the assistants said, visibly comforted by Qin Ming's assurance.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the direction of the acrobatics show, causing Qin Ming to frown and turn his attention that way. A woman in pink was berating someone, while a girl in a sky-blue gown stood with her head bowed, seemingly on the verge of tears.

"Qin Qing!" Qin Ming rushed over, recognizing the target of the tirade as his sister.

Indeed, Qin Qing was there, her face covered, crying as her newly purchased clothes lay strewn about her.

"You wretched girl, what makes you think you deserve to wear such beautiful clothes? They're not meant for someone like you. Take them off this instant," the woman in pink demanded, hand on her hip, pointing at Qin Qing and shouting.

She couldn't stand anyone looking better than her, particularly this girl who dared to outshine her.

"Didn't you hear our miss? She told you to strip. Take off those clothes," she barked at Qin Qing.

"Did you know? Our miss is the cherished jewel of the Chen Family. If you refuse to strip, we'll make sure you do."

With those words, the two brutes extended their hands to yank at Qin Qing's clothing.

"Halt!" Just then, Qin Ming made it to the scene.