Stone was completely dumbfounded. Having received education in her previous life, she simply couldn't imagine what kind of scene it was. People, those related to them by blood, were being kept like livestock in captivity.
"Huo Yi's biological mother was like that, and Huo Yi will become like that in the future. I'm telling you this today not just so you can hear it as a story and forget about it, but to tell you that you may very well be a descendant of those special slaves."
Chapter 128: Sisters Holding Hands
"Why are you telling me all this?" Stone pursed his lips, his voice tinged with unease.
Grandpa Huo's dark eyes were completely lost in the night, but Stone could feel that his gaze had never left him: "Because, I'm not sure either."
"uncertain?"
"The practice of the six great families of the East keeping special slaves has a history of at least three hundred years, but what about before that? I can't be sure if you are one of them..."
If you're not sure, why scare her like that?!
Stone was about to swear, damn it, this princess isn't easily intimidated!
"Grandpa Huo, since that's the case, don't you think it's a good decision to raise me as your successor?" Stone gritted his teeth, thinking, "If I could beat you right now, I would definitely give you a good beating!"
Grandpa Huo pondered for a moment: "The Huo family needs an heir, but Xiaoxiao is not a good choice."
"Grandpa Huo, believe me, compared to Xiaoxiao, I'm not a good choice at all." Shi Tou felt that she had never spoken so sincerely in her entire life, including her previous one: "I will completely destroy the Huo family's century-old foundation." God is my witness, she has a lot of practical experience in destruction.
"Don't worry, I never expected you to inherit the Huo family." Clearly, Grandpa Huo was taken aback by Shi Tou's words, and after a long pause, he finally spoke: "You're just a tool I use to provoke Xiao Xiao. To be precise, I only used you to scare Xiao Xiao and make her change her mind. However, you're not entirely useless; after all, you're a pure-blooded Easterner. If Xiao Xiao has children in the future, you'll be a very good marriage prospect."
A marriage partner?!
Huo Xiaoxiao's child...and her?!
Damn it. Stone suddenly felt extremely disoriented; she must be hallucinating, she must be!
"Now, all you need to do is play your role as the second young lady of the Huo family. With your pure Eastern bloodline and the status of the second young lady of the Huo family, I can at least guarantee that you will marry well in the future." Grandpa Huo spoke again: "Apart from the Shui family, you can choose any of the other families."
Shi Tou swallowed hard for a long time before finally finding his voice: "Then what do I need to do for the Huo family?"
"What do you want to do?" Grandpa Huo's voice was filled with surprise. "You don't need to do anything. Just grow up well and then marry into one of the major families besides the Huo and Shui families. At most, when you have children in the future, your children can be given priority in marriage alliances with Xiaoxiao's children."
"Phew. So Grandpa Huo, the marriage you mentioned before meant my and Xiaoxiao's next generation! Thank goodness, that scared me to death." Upon hearing this, Shi Tou finally breathed a long sigh of relief, as long as it wasn't about her marrying off some child.
Grandpa Huo didn't understand what Shi Tou meant at first, but when he did, he was speechless again. After catching his breath, his voice was still slightly unsteady as he spoke again: "You... your parents aren't from the Han family, are they?"
"The Han family? I don't know them." Although Shi Tou was a little surprised, he quickly replied, "I'm an orphan. I don't know who my parents are."
Grandpa Huo suddenly hesitated: "Your temper... never mind. Just play your role as the second young lady of the Huo family well for now. By the way, you didn't successfully awaken your magical talent, did you?"
“Yes.” Stone remained calm, having learned about her body’s unique structure. She had no intention of becoming a magician: “I don’t intend to become a magician.”
"You..." Grandpa Huo thought for a moment, then swallowed back the words he was about to say: "Whatever you want. Actually, I think being a Qi Master is not bad either."
"I never intended to become a Qi Master." Shi Tou looked a little ashamed. She hoped that saying this wouldn't anger Grandpa Huo to death.
Grandpa Huo was conflicted again. He suddenly felt that perhaps agreeing to his beloved granddaughter's request was not a wise choice at all. However, he was still very well-mannered, and even so, he did not get angry: "It's alright, the Huo family can afford to support idlers."
Stone wouldn't object to being a freeloader, but she always kept in mind her mission to find the dwarf princess, so she couldn't be idle right now: "Grandpa Huo, it's like this, I heard Xiaoxiao say that the Huo family once had a very great blacksmith?"
Being able to replicate artifacts like divine weapons must be considered quite remarkable, right?
“Nika is indeed great, but she’s not a member of the Huo family; she married into the Huo family.” Grandpa Huo suddenly had a bad feeling: “What are you planning to do?”
"I want to become a blacksmith who can forge divine artifacts!" Stone excitedly declared her dream, only to be met with Grandpa Huo's silence: "What's wrong? Isn't being a blacksmith good enough?"
If Stone could see Grandpa Huo's expression at this moment, she would find that this energetic, silver-haired old man was twitching with disbelief.
"Uh, okay, then let's do it this way!" Grandpa Huo coughed twice: "Ahem, you should go back to Red Maple Garden first. I'll have the servants call you Second Miss tomorrow."
Shi Tou thanked him. Although she had only met Grandpa Huo a few hours ago, her intuition told her that the Huo family wouldn't harm her, though they couldn't rule out the possibility of using her. However, Shi Tou deeply felt that if the Huo family really wanted to use her for a marriage alliance, the consequences would be...
In her past life, she once listened to a television lecture in which an old man solemnly told the general public: "If you have an enemy and your enemy has a son, you should corrupt your daughter and then marry her off to your enemy's son. In this way, your enemy's entire family will be ruined, and you will be able to avenge your great enemy."
The best example is that once-famous badger...
Shi Tou felt that she was bad enough even without being taught, and she was confident that in the future she could use her actions to dispel Grandpa Huo's strange idea of arranging a marriage between them.
As he strode out of the main house, Grandpa Huo's muttered voice sounded behind Shi Tou, so soft it was almost inaudible: "That child really isn't a descendant of the Han family?"
Shi Tou felt a lot of pressure, but at the same time, a sense of curiosity welled up inside her. She thought it would be very interesting to get to know some of the Han family's children if she had the chance.
Back at Red Maple Garden, Huo's father had already left. Huo Xiaoxiao sat alone in the main room waiting for her: "Serena, what did my grandfather say to you? Did he make things difficult for you?"
Shi Tou cautiously glanced at Huo Xiaoxiao's expression: "You're not angry?"
"Why would I be angry?" Huo Xiaoxiao looked bewildered. "You helped me get rid of Huo Yi, I'm overjoyed, why would I be angry?"
Shi Tou wondered if the child was just too thick-skinned, or if she really hated Huo Yi that much: "What were Grandpa Huo's words?"
"Hehe, you're not really taking this seriously, are you?" Huo Xiaoxiao smiled slyly. "What kind of person is my grandfather? How could he possibly let someone without Huo family blood inherit the Huo family?"
"Phew!" The heart that had been hanging in suspense finally settled down: "That's great! I was just hesitating about how to explain it to you! Grandpa Huo just told me that he would announce to the outside world that I am the second young lady of the Huo family, and then use me for a marriage alliance when I grow up."
Huo Xiaoxiao nodded and echoed, "Yes, arranged marriages are what Grandpa loves to do most. Although my grandfather only has one son, my father, he has many brothers and sisters, as well as many nephews, nieces, grandnieces, and great-nieces. Not to mention those people, I think I will be arranged into an arranged marriage as well. The biggest difference between you and me is that one of us is getting married out, while the other is having a son-in-law marry into our family."
"You're really open-minded." Shi Tou looked at Huo Xiaoxiao, who was only 9 years old this year, and felt that she had really gone through a lot.
“This kind of thing is normal. Besides, I just need to find a man with Eastern blood in the future. Although Grandpa will interfere with my marriage, he will only set a limit for me and will not force me to get married.” Huo Xiaoxiao calmly grabbed Shi Tou’s hand and rushed inside: “Don’t talk about this. I’m so tired after traveling for so many days.”
After Huo Xiaoxiao said that, Shi Tou also felt sleepy. Fortunately, she never had the habit of being in unfamiliar beds. She fell asleep and when she woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
"Greetings, Miss Eldest. Greetings, Miss Second."
Shi Tou woke up around noon, and with the help of a servant, he changed into new clothes and then went to the outer room with Huo Xiaoxiao to have breakfast and lunch.
"Xiaoxiao, who are they... calling?" Shi Tou had barely sat down when he was so startled by the unanimous greeting that he almost fell off his chair.
Huo Xiaoxiao looked at her amusedly, thinking to herself that everyone was indeed more pleasing to the eye than Huo Yi: "Just call me and you! By the way, I have something very serious to tell you."
Still reeling from the shock, Shi Tou was startled again: "Wha...what's wrong?" Miss Huo, please don't be so serious all of a sudden, okay? It's terrifying.
"I am Huo Xiaoxiao, the eldest daughter of the Huo family. You have no objection to that, right?" Huo Xiaoxiao said with a serious face and an unprecedentedly solemn tone.
Stone shook his head frantically and fiercely: "No objection, no objection!"
"Also, you are Huo Yi, the second young lady of the Huo family. You don't have any objections to that, do you?" Huo Xiaoxiao still had a serious expression.
"Absolutely not!" Shi Tou continued shaking her head frantically. In just a moment, she felt as if two Huo Xiaoxiaos had appeared before her: "Well, you can offer your opinions!"
"Ahem." Coughing, Huo Xiaoxiao revealed a sinister smile: "I have no objections for now. So this means that from now on you are Huo Yi, the second young lady of the Huo family, my sister!"
Shi Tou said she suddenly couldn't understand what Huo Xiaoxiao meant: "And then..."
"And then you'll have to call me 'older sister'!"
In an instant, Stone felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
☆, Chapter 129 There was a girl named Chrysanthemum
Calling a 9-year-old kid "sister"?!
Stone felt a deep ache in her testicles. But since she didn't have any testicles, she decided to treat her uterus pain instead…
However, she seemed to have forgotten that she herself was just an 8-year-old child. It's perfectly normal for an 8-year-old to call a 9-year-old "older sister": "Xiaoxiao, I'll call you Xiaoxiao from now on, and you can call me 'little sister,' okay?"
"No way!" Huo Xiaoxiao protested. "Grandpa said that the most important thing for the six great families of the East is the order of seniority. I'm older than you, so you have to call me 'older sister.' But you're younger than me, so I can call you 'younger sister,' or I can call you by your name."
Stone suddenly had a mischievous idea: "But if you're going to call me by my name, how should I call you?"
"Call me Serena! Ah, no!" Although Huo Xiaoxiao already knew perfectly well that Shi Tou was replacing Huo Yi, she still didn't react for a moment: "Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue, I should call you Huo Yi?"
"Calling me Huo Yi feels too distant." Shi Tou was deliberately trying to make things difficult for Huo Xiaoxiao. She frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "How about you just call me Yi Yi?"
"Yiyi?" A very strange expression suddenly appeared on Huo Xiaoxiao's face: "How disgusting."
Shi Tou looked at Huo Xiaoxiao with a wicked grin: "If you want me to call you 'sister,' you have to call me by my name. Otherwise, we can switch. I'll call you by your name, and you can call me 'little sister.'"
Huo Xiaoxiao stared at Shi Tou with a black line on her forehead. Even within the six great families of the East, sisters of similar age rarely addressed each other so formally. In fact, outside of the six great families, many families didn't just casually use the names of their older brothers and sisters, but even the names of their parents and grandparents.
"How about this? I'll call you Xiaoyi, and you can call me Xiaoxiao." Huo Xiaoxiao wasn't really going to make things difficult for Shi Tou. After thinking for a moment, she quickly compromised: "However, I have another request."
“Speak!” Stone took a big gulp of milk and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand with a heroic air: “Let me make it clear beforehand that I only have two bottom lines in life, and you can’t cross them.”
Huo Xiaoxiao asked with a curious look, "What is it?"
Stone held up two fingers and said seriously, "First, you're not allowed to touch my money. Second, you're not allowed to touch my man. Apart from these two points, you can do whatever you want."
puff!
Upon hearing Shi Tou's second bottom line, Huo Xiaoxiao burst out laughing without hesitation. Luckily, Shi Tou was sitting next to Huo Xiaoxiao, not opposite her. Otherwise, she would have been getting a free milk face mask first thing in the morning.
"Cough cough cough..." Huo Xiaoxiao grabbed the napkin next to her and coughed fiercely: "You, you're going too far, aren't you?"
"What's wrong?" Stone didn't seem to care at all. "Let me warn you first, if you touch my money or my man, you won't even be my sister anymore, let alone a stranger. Got it?"
Huo Xiaoxiao nodded with a twisted face: "I just wanted to tell you something. Now that you're my sister, from now on, when you see Nana Ke, you can only help me, not her. I really don't have any intention of taking your money or... your man."
When the word "man" was mentioned, Huo Xiaoxiao looked like she was about to cry. Well, she was only 9 years old this year, and Shi Tou seemed to be even younger than her, right? Wasn't it a bit too early to talk about stealing men?
“Hmm, I can promise you that.” Shi Tou said calmly, “Xiao Xiao, don’t worry! I can listen to you in front of others, but I can’t guarantee that I will actually do what you say. After all, you are the eldest daughter of the Huo family, and I will still give you face.”
Hearing Shi Tou's words, Huo Xiaoxiao felt completely relieved. Tsk tsk, how come there's such a big difference between people? They're both 7 or 8 years old, but Shi Tou is so likable, while the original Huo Yi is annoying from head to toe.
"Oh right, last night, Grandpa promised me that I could learn forging." After finishing breakfast, Shi Tou remembered what happened last night and decided it would be better to let Huo Xiaoxiao know.
"Forging?!" Huo Xiaoxiao didn't spit out anything this time, but her gaze was strange: "Grandpa told you to learn forging?"
“Yes, didn’t the Huo family produce a great blacksmith before? Xiaoxiao, don’t worry, I will definitely be even greater than her in the future!” Shi Tou confidently assured her.
But Huo Xiaoxiao's eyes were still filled with confusion: "You're going to learn forging... Okay, I get it now, you really aren't their biological child."
~~o(>_<)o ~~
Of course she's not their biological daughter!
"Xiaoxiao!" Stone was furious. You can look down on her as a person, but you absolutely cannot look down on her god-level forging skills inherited from Steel Hammer Daddy!