Chapter 1269 — There's Something Wrong with the Water!

"Then I won't stand on ceremony — I'll just call you Xiaoyi!" Mother Chen said with a smile. "Thank you. If not for your medicine, I could never have recovered so quickly! Xiaoxi, go pour tea for our guests — what are you still standing there for?"

"Yes, Mom!" Chen Xi had grown much more at ease with Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao over the course of the afternoon, and in the bustle of coming home she had quite forgotten the tea; only her mother's reminder brought it back to her.

"Don't trouble yourself — we don't drink tea." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "I only came to see how Auntie Chen's recovery is progressing. Now that my mind is at ease, Xiaoxiao and I should be going."

"So soon? Why not stay and have dinner here tonight?" Seeing that Wei Zhao meant to leave, Mother Chen hurried to press him to stay.

"Very well, then. We'll eat together." Wei Zhao nodded. He had nothing on that evening anyway; all he needed was to keep Feng Xiaoxiao company.

He doubted the young lady would have much to say about his not coming home, so long as he was out looking after Xiaoxiao. So long as Xiaoxiao was happy, that was enough.

And Feng Xiaoxiao was indeed happy. In Chen Xi she saw a spirit of optimism, of refusing to bow, of ever climbing upward, and it lifted her own spirits as well.

"Wonderful! Xiaoxi and I will go to the kitchen and cook. Xiaoyi, you and Xiaoxiao can watch TV in the living room, all right?" Now that Wei Zhao had agreed, Auntie Chen looked especially delighted.

"No need — let us help too, it will go faster that way." Wei Zhao smiled. "Don't underestimate me. I'm quite a hand in the kitchen!"

"Haha, my husband Wei Zhao is a wonderful cook!" Feng Xiaoxiao chimed in.

Mother Chen had meant to refuse, but with both Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao saying so, she could only let Wei Zhao come into the kitchen with them.

Chen Xi washed and sorted the vegetables, Mother Chen cut the meat, Feng Xiaoxiao lent a hand, and Wei Zhao found himself with nothing to do.

"The water they're washing with..." Wei Zhao's gaze suddenly sharpened, fixing on the basin in front of Chen Xi.

"What's wrong with the water, Brother Wei Zhao?" Chen Xi was baffled.

"Let me see." Wei Zhao squeezed his way in, nudging Chen Xi aside. His body brushed against hers, and her face warmed. Yet when she stole a glance at him, he seemed not to have noticed at all, and she quietly let out a breath of relief.

How could Wei Zhao possibly know what the child was thinking? It was one thing for Ying Ziyu to harbor such thoughts — she was a hoodlum girl by upbringing — but Chen Xi, a good girl through and through? Yet though Chen Xi was a good girl, she had reached puberty all the same, and she too spun her hazy little fantasies about the opposite sex.

And Wei Zhao had done her family such a great service; it was impossible that Chen Xi felt nothing for him. Still, it was only a vague, hazy feeling, one she kept hidden deep inside, never daring to reveal it — terrified that Sister Xiaoxiao might notice and think she meant to seduce her boyfriend. That would leave Chen Xi wishing the ground would swallow her whole.

"Where does this water come from?" Wei Zhao dabbed a finger in the vegetable-washing water and put it to his tongue, then asked.

"Ah! It's just tap water. Is something the matter?" Chen Xi, pulled back from her thoughts by his question, blinked and answered hastily.

"Tap water?" Wei Zhao frowned, turned on the tap, caught a few more drops on his tongue and tasted them.

"Xiaoyi, what is it? Is there a problem with the tap water?" Seeing Wei Zhao studying the tap, Mother Chen hurried over. "Is the water quality poor? It's like that all over the old city — we've already had a purifier installed..."

"A purifier?" Wei Zhao bent down and, sure enough, found a water purifier beneath the cabinet. Without a word he shut off the valve, then took the purifier apart.

His actions left Chen Xi and Mother Chen dumbstruck. Had it been anyone else, Mother Chen would certainly have cried out to stop him — how could one simply tear apart someone else's water heater?

But this was Wei Zhao, and he must have his reasons, so Mother Chen asked nothing.

"Where did you buy this purifier?" Having removed it, Wei Zhao examined it carefully, then asked.

"We didn't buy it. Grandpa Zhu picked it up when he was collecting junk. He changed the filter for us and installed it himself. Why, Brother Wei Zhao, is something wrong?" Chen Xi asked, puzzled.

"Nothing. Don't use this purifier anymore — it isn't clean." Wei Zhao frowned. Grandpa Zhu again? Why always him? Could Mother Chen's cancer have been his doing?

Inside this purifier was a substance that, taken over the long term, could cause cancer. What Wei Zhao could not understand was why Chen Xi had not fallen ill. Was it her youth and strong constitution? Or had she taken an antidote before?

In any case, Mother Chen's cancer was no accident — it had been caused by human hands! After removing the purifier, Wei Zhao reconnected the tap water and tested it again. This time there was no problem at all.

Wei Zhao's frown deepened, and the doubt in his heart grew heavier.

Earlier, when he had seen Grandpa Zhu at Chen Xi's side, Wei Zhao had found it strange; but Grandpa Zhu seemed to bear Chen Xi no ill will, and Wei Zhao had merely wondered why a master of the inner school at the peak of the late Profound stage would attach himself to Chen Xi.

Now, though, Wei Zhao was certain: this Grandpa Zhu had no good intentions. He had poisoned the water purifier for the sole purpose of giving Mother Chen cancer! The only thing Wei Zhao could not work out was why a master of the inner school at the peak of the late Profound stage would go to such trouble to harm Chen Xi and her mother. Why not simply kill them outright?

Was there some other purpose behind it?

Of course, Wei Zhao could only turn these thoughts over in his own mind; he would not say them aloud. As for Chen Xi and her mother, he was only reasonably acquainted with them, not close — he could hardly go accusing Grandpa Zhu to their faces.

As things stood, Chen Xi and Grandpa Zhu seemed to be on very good terms. If he laid everything out plainly, there was no telling whether Chen Xi would believe him.

"The purifier isn't clean? Then we certainly can't use it! I suppose things picked up from the trash are never reliable!" Mother Chen had not thought that deeply about it. "After all, we're no experts. Since Xiaoyi has found a problem, we'll just stop using it!"

"The tap water is decent enough," Wei Zhao said. "You don't need a purifier at all — just use it straight from now on. Throw this one away."

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