Chapter 98: Good Times (Thanks to the Alliance Leader 'Legendary Orange Meow')

Opening his eyes, he saw the familiar ceiling.

Lifting his head, he heard the sound of the range hood coming from the kitchen and the seemingly endless clamor in the living room, which had not stopped since early morning—noisy, yet reassuring.

Behind the door that had been pushed open, a pair of dark, beady eyes peeked in. Noticing Ji Jue lift his head, the youngest sibling sneakily squeezed in with a workbook, pointed at the completely blank answers, and asked in a lowered voice, "Second Brother, how do I write this?"

Outside the narrow bedroom, Lu Ling's irritable accusation rang out: "Big Brother, why are your boxers hanging on the door frame again!"

"Oh, what's the harm in hanging them there for a bit!" The person on the sofa, who was picking at his feet while scrolling through videos, rolled over, completely unbothered.

"Mom, look at him!"

"Alright, alright, where's the youngest? Keep an eye on things." Lu Ma shouted back from the kitchen: "See if Little Ji is up yet? If he's awake, get him up to eat; I've been simmering this old hen soup all night!"

"Up, I'm up."

After swiftly helping the youngest finish the homework that needed to be checked today, Ji Jue yawned and emerged from the bedroom as if he had just opened his eyes. Before he could even sit down, the table was already fully laden.

"Whoa! What's the occasion today? So sumptuous~"

After Lu Feng rubbed his hands together like a fly, he reached out directly to grab a chicken leg. The siblings followed suit; there was no room for modesty or courtesy here. If you grabbed it and threw it in your mouth, it was yours. Any child who waited for their older siblings to offer them the pears would have died of hunger long ago.

Take the youngest, for example. Being a step slow, the plate was already empty, and he wailed, "Mom, Sister is stealing my meat!"

The third sister, biting into the largest chicken breast, pointed her gaze like lightning at the broccoli the youngest was hiding behind his bowl: "Mom, the youngest is picking out his vegetables again!"

Lu Ling, in front of the refrigerator, shrieked: "Ahhh, my milk, it's all gone again... Lu Feng, I'm going to kill you!!!"

"Your name wasn't written on your milk!"

Lu Feng pulled his head in like a turtle, dodging the milk carton Lu Ling threw, which then hit the third sister on the head, causing her to wail loudly.

Until a muffled *thud* sounded.

The several-hundred-pound solid wood table, along with the dishes on it, jumped over a foot high from a single hammer blow.

"Have you had enough of this racket!"

Lu Ma, with a fist that could suppress demons, swept her narrow eyes across them: "Dog One, Dog Two, Dog Three, Dog Four, all of you sit down and eat properly!"

"Pfft!"

In the dead silence, Ji Jue, holding his rice bowl, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Instantly, Lu Ma looked over, her frost-covered face melting into a spring breeze as she scooped a full bowl of soup for him.

"Hey, Little Ji hasn't been home to stay in a long time; look how thin you've gotten. Come, eat more, I'll make more if it's not enough. Later, I'll go kill a chicken and make you white-cut chicken tonight."

"Yay!"

Ji Jue raised his hands in cheer.

And then, the spring breeze vanished, and a winter-cold slap landed on the back of Lu Feng's head: "What are you laughing at? Did you wash your socks? How many times have I told you to put your boxers on the balcony..."

"Mom!!!" Lu Feng clutched his head in grief and indignation: "You're my own mother, I'm the one with the surname Lu..."

"Don't even talk to me about that; a Lu never hangs his boxers on the door frame!"

*Smack! *

The slaps fell like a rainstorm.

Ji Jue ducked his head to watch the commotion, unable to hold back his laughter again.

Good times aren't short-lived; you can even see them every day!

After the meal came washing the dishes, packing school bags, and doing chores. Then, everyone lined up in front of the door. Lu Ma went to the shop to get ready to open, Lu Feng drove the third and youngest to school before going to help out, or perhaps he would slack off and continue being a street loafer. Meanwhile, on the beeping little Niu Ma, Ji Jue gave Lu Ling a ride to the Tianmen Sect on his way.

However, in the bulging cargo bed filled with a pile of things, Lu Ling carefully found a place to stand among the items that looked like antiques and various things she couldn't understand. Several times, amidst the *put-put* sound, she wanted to speak but stopped, then wanted to speak again.

"Second Brother... is there something wrong with our motorcycle?"

"What could be wrong?"

Ji Jue, twisting the throttle in front and drinking in the wind, shouted: "Isn't it perfectly fine?!"

Fine, my foot!

Lu Ling felt her fists clench. I could understand it suddenly getting a bit bigger before, just assuming I remembered wrong. But it's gone from two wheels to three—do you think I'm blind?!

"What's the deal with this cargo bed?"

"Nobody wanted it, so I picked it up!"

"And the extra wheel?"

"Picked that up too!"

"And this pile of stuff on top?" Lu Ling pointed at the boxes and the messy array of items, "Don't tell me you picked those up together too?"

"Yes!"

Ji Jue answered without hesitation: "Next time, Second Brother will take you along to pick things up; remember to bring a few more sacks. The locals are so hospitable!"

"... I'll believe that when pigs fly."

Lu Ling rolled her eyes, too lazy to ask anymore.

She didn't understand the joy of returning fully loaded.

Ji Jue's mood was pleasantly high for the first time in a long while. Humming a tune, the sky was clear and cloudless, flowers bloomed, birds sang, and even the security guard blocking the way became amiable and kind.

Forcibly vetoing Lu Ling's suggestion to "just drop me off at the street corner," Ji Jue took out the ID card Professor Ye had given him and swiped it to enter. The three-wheeler *put-put-putted* through without obstruction, brazenly driving all the way to the small plaza in front of the teaching building. There, amidst the shocked and surprised gazes of others, he enjoyed the sight of Little Er running away with his head in his hands, a rare sight indeed.

He was terrified that Ji Jue would honk the horn twice more and shout, "Buying old TVs and old air conditioners," otherwise he'd be socially dead.

See how good Second Brother is to you!

Ji Jue chuckled as he turned around. After making his presence known in the school for the first time in a while, he rode off as freely and proudly as a wild dog, driving all the way to the workshop by the sea.

After parking the three-wheeler in the warehouse, Ji Jue walked with an arrogant, "I-don't-recognize-my-own-kin" swagger and pushed open the living room door: "Teacher, I'm back!"

Amidst the sound of a TV series, Professor Ye, sitting in her exclusive spot, calmly held her teacup. She had clearly long anticipated the mental state of a child returning from a long journey carrying big and small bags, and she remained unperturbed.

On the contrary, Ye Chun, who was lying on the sofa like a reclining Buddha, was startled by the commotion.

"Oh my, isn't this Brother Ji Jue?" She crunched on a nut and glanced over: "Long time no see, how did you get so ragged? Your pants are even torn; you could at least change into a new pair, right?"

"Bullshit, I just changed these pants!"

Ji Jue sneered, completely unmoved by her sour sarcasm. Right in front of her, he took off his gloves and rolled up his sleeves, revealing the intricate matrices covering his hands and forearms.

"Open your dog eyes and take a good look, what is this!"

Ji Jue couldn't wait to shove his hands right into Ye Chun's face, displaying them back and forth: "This is the same model as the Sages that I risked my life to scavenge! Have you seen it? Have you? Have you?!"

He had been waiting for this moment for who knows how many days.

As the saying goes, "Wealth without returning home is like wearing silk in the dark." Showing off in front of others is an indispensable part of life's pursuits.

It's just a pity that there was no one to show off to in the Rift Realm.

He had seen the Prophet so many times that he had no emotional reaction; the little Niu Ma was confused and didn't know what was happening; Little An was calm and didn't care at all. Only by relying on the little bit of emotional value provided by Young Master Lou was he able to keep his mentality from collapsing.

Now that he was back in the workshop, he naturally had to show it off to the extreme and launch a counterattack against the Senior Sister who had always been persecuting him—eh?

Eh? How did you know that I managed to get the Heavenly Human inheritance of Non-Aggression just by going on a trip?

In a moment of astonishment, Ye Chun subconsciously widened her eyes, looking at Ji Jue's hands—blank, confused, suspicious, and even shocked; it was as colorful as a spinning wheel.

She grabbed Ji Jue's hands and examined them repeatedly.

Studying the solemn emblem that looked like a tattoo, her expression gradually turned sympathetic:

"—Then doesn't that mean you can't take the civil service exam anymore!"

"..."

Silence fell suddenly. Ji Jue's face flushed red, and he felt like he was about to vomit blood.

After going through thousands of hardships and finally obtaining the Sage's inheritance matrix, you don't ask me if I'm awesome, but only care if I can still take the civil service exam in the future?

Such strong aggression!

Always backstabbing in unexpected places; you truly are yourself, Ye Chun!

"Since that's the case, then I won't pretend to be a gentleman anymore..."

Ji Jue's expression collapsed instantly. He mercilessly shook off her hand, and then, backhanded, took a thick stack of papers he had just printed on the road out of his backpack.

He handed them to Professor Ye with a serious face: "Teacher, this is my thesis, written on the way. Please take a look and see if there's anything that needs modifying."

"Oh, right, has Senior Sister handed in her part? I didn't delay too long, did I?"

As he spoke, he turned back and gave a mocking smile.

I was originally going to reward you with a second-author credit based on your performance, but unfortunately, it's gone!

*Smack! *

The nut jar almost fell to the ground.

Ye Chun turned back stiffly, dumbfounded, as if she had finally seen through Ji Jue's true colors.

Dog!

Auntie, there's a dog here!!!

Even when you were out, you were still thinking every day about how to out-roll me. I gave you so many snacks to let you rest more; do you have no conscience!

"Just leave it there, I'll look at it later."

Professor Ye sipped her strong tea, enjoying the scene of her student and niece habitually biting each other like dogs, and finally added a light, casual blow: "Ah Chun's part should be ready soon too, right?"

Ye Chun collapsed backward, lying on the sofa, wiping away tears and unable to say another word.

I'm the only redundant one in this family, right?

After Ji Jue sat down, the work report finally began.

"Alright, tell me about it."

Professor Ye waved her hand, "Rare to go out for a trip, what was the harvest?"

"Non-Aggression, secured."

Ji Jue raised his hands, wanting to start showing off again, but Professor Ye just glanced at them, as if she had already confirmed they were the genuine article, and didn't say anything more, leaving him with no chance to show off.

"Hmm, and then?" she asked.

"... I brought back a little something, a blessing of embers; it seems quite powerful." Ji Jue gave a short, awkward laugh and smiled shyly: "I accidentally leveled up."

"Hmm?"

This time, Professor Ye paused slightly; even the movement of her lifting her teacup stopped. After carefully observing that Ji Jue showed no symptoms of sin-tainted loss of control, she nodded: "Although it was a bit fast, it isn't entirely bizarre. I'll help you brush up on the basics later.

Anything else?"

"It's all just miscellaneous things, including some furnishings and materials from the Mercury Workshop, and some alchemical creations."

Ji Jue answered obediently: "There are also some blessings inside, but unfortunately, due to the long-term lack of spiritual quality maintenance, they have all regressed to their original states.

I'll move them up in a while; I'll need you to take a look at them for me.

It's just the quantity..."

He hesitated for a moment, peeking at Professor Ye's expression: "It might be a bit much."

"Much?"

Professor Ye keenly sensed the kind of fluff often found in academic papers in Ji Jue's words, and she didn't like such vague generalizations: "How much is 'a bit much'?"

"Uh, it's roughly those boxes engraved with the emblem of the Gate of Eternity, with expanded interiors; the space is about seven or eight cubic meters each."

It seemed like a good haul.

Professor Ye nodded slightly, just about to take a sip of tea to offer some praise, when she heard Ji Jue's second half: "That kind of box, I filled about a whole cart."

"..."

The act of drinking tea was interrupted once again.

Ye Xian scrutinized the student before her who was keeping his head bowed and looking submissive; she suddenly really wanted to ask him if he was messing with her.

But when she looked back at the projection of the warehouse, she saw that tricycle with a small mountain piled up in its cargo bed...

He went out for a trip, so how did the cart even end up with an extra wheel?

Even for an old hand like Professor Ye, she couldn't help but gasp to show her respect, filled with curiosity: "How did you manage that?"

"Uh, well, just standard exploration. The locals in the Rift Realm were quite enthusiastic; they let me take whatever I saw, and the rest I just picked up off the ground."

Ji Jue hesitated for a moment, organized his thoughts, and chose to make a clean breast of it: "Also, I ran into Young Master Lou inside. We didn't see eye to eye, so we had a fight. I figured, since I'd already offended him anyway... I might as well kidnap him and make a big score."

This time, it was Professor Ye's turn to be silent.

In the brief silence, she carefully scrutinized Ji Jue's weak, helpless, and pitiful appearance, her eyebrows slowly arching as she suddenly asked: "Did you leave a whole corpse?"