It didn't take long for things to settle down, Xiuying sitting down to talk to her little siblings, who listened attentively.

Mei excused herself for a bit, walking around the house aimlessly and heading upstairs. Having 2 entire storeys... how luxurious.

She sat down on the stairs and stared outside a window for a few minutes. Something about the night view was rather peaceful... though the height only let her see the houses on the opposite side.

She got up and began opening the doors, peeking her head into each of the rooms.

Bedroom, bedroom, bedroom, bedroom... a room for every single person? Somehow, Mei didn't expect that. Even if they were a rich household, wouldn't children be more comfortable sharing rooms?

It occurred to her she was a bit invasive, but she was curious. This was the first time she had been in a proper house, after all! Xiuying probably wouldn't mind.

She walked over to the last door, expecting yet another bedroom.

It was not a bedroom. Or at least, it no longer was.

The first thing that caught her attention was the unique smell. It was a faintly herbal but smokey smell.

In the centre of the room, a large round mat with the yin yang symbol was placed, several cushions of different colours on it. Closeby, there was a table against the wall, stacked with various cultivation resources. Several different half-empty jars of pills were on it, along with an incense burner of sorts, sculpted to look like several cliffs leading to a pool.

Mei picked up one of the packs of incense sticks and looked at the description on the back.

...this was the first time she heard of those being useful for cultivation.

Was Xiuying's family connected to cultivators or did she get these from the sect and bought them home?

Maybe one day she should visit a proper store to acquaint herself with what cultivation resources there were. But then again, she was always short on funds, so it wasn't as if there would be much she could buy.

On the walls, various certificates were hung. Now that she wasn't distracted by the cultivation resources, to her surprise, she noticed Xiuying's name was on those. Mei didn't expect her to have been a scholar.

She opened the drawers next to the table and found test and exam papers within; she decided to take a look.

...

Mei couldn't make head or tails of the "jargon and gibberish".

Xiuying had to deal with this every day? Hm. Even farming was better than this.

Just as she put the papers back into the drawer, she heard the doors open.

"So that's where you are! I thought you were using the bathroom!"

She turned around and saw Wang Wei.

"What are you doing? Don't just go around and-"

His voice trailed off as he saw the certificates on the wall.

"Certificate of excellence..." he mumbled. "Ahh!"

"Why are you shouting?" Mei frowned.

Wang Wei hurried over and pulled open the drawer she just closed.

"Let me see... let me see..." he mused.

"I thought you said it was rude?"

"Haha! I didn't get to finish my sentence, so I get to take it back!"

Mei wasn't sure that was how it worked.

He flipped through the papers of the top drawer carefully, then opened the bottom one.

"Ah! I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

Wang Wei held out an exam paper. On the corner, "Perfect" was written. Huh, impressive.

He looked through a few pages, before giving Mei an anguished look.

"This paper... I only got 98/100..."

Did that really matter?

He began picking out the papers he recognised, putting them in a pile beside him, muttering all the while.

"Three to two! She beat me three to two!" he turned to Mei with a tearful look. "Three to two!"

"Wait... you seriously remembered all the scores you got?" Mei asked.

"Yes! Of course! Grrrr..."

Mei: ...

This had to be the most childish use of good memory ever.

"It's only three exams papers anyway, so that's not really-"

"No! It's a ratio, there's about 20!"

Huh?

"What's a ratio?"

Wang Wei looked at her with an exasperated look.

"W-why are you looking at me like that? I'm not stupid! I just didn't get to go to your dumb noble schools!" Mei said defensively.

He didn't answer her but grabbed the papers and headed downstairs. Somehow, that upset her more.

Mei knew he was competitive, but... For him to be like that, what type of upbringing did he have anyway?

"Ooooh!"

The kids watched with awe as orbs of oil floated in the air, thinly coated by a layer of fire and bubbling. Xiuying looked proud of herself but had a strained look all the same.

Carefully, she took out breaded prawns and floated into the orbs, the sound of sizzling ringing out.

"Xiuying!"

For a moment, the oil bubbles lost their shape, but somehow, she managed to keep it in control.

"Don't scare me like that! It's dangerous!" said Xiuying. "Wait, why are you holding my old papers?"

Wang Wei was standing there, Mei behind him, following him to watch the show.

"You won't beat me so easily! I declare you as my rival!"

"Huh?!"

Xiuying, in her confusion, was unable to sustain her magic. She quickly took out a pot and willed the oil spheres in, looking relieved.

Meanwhile, Wang Wei ran off in embarrassment.

"What just happened?" she asked Mei.

"Well, you see-"

...

Xiuying was speechless for a moment after hearing the explanation. She sighed.

"I knew he was competitive, but I didn't think it was to this extent. I'm going to have to talk to him about it later."

"Well, at least it makes him work hard," Yingyi said. "Unlike someone here."

Mei glared at him. When was he going to drop it?

"He'll burn out at this rate," Xiuying said.

Yang Ning had a strange look on his face as he listened, but he kept quiet.

For the next few minutes, Xiuying fried various things in the pot, not in the mood to show off anymore, much to the disappointment of her siblings. Mei thought of going out to see what Wang Wei was up to... at least, until she smelled the fragrance of the prawns.

She decided to look for him later.