Chapter 130: I'm Laying My Cards on the Table

Girls' Dormitory.

In the cup in front of the little girl was a full cup of milk, and beside it was a Rubik's cube; her mobile phone displayed a photograph. In the photo, her sister, whose face still looked somewhat callow, stood by a door frame with no expression.

The little girl lowered her head to study the photo intently.

This photo was taken in '16, when her sister was sixteen years old; comparing her to the door frame, it was hard to determine her sister's height...

The main difficulty lay in accepting this result.

A faint glimmer shone in the little girl's eyes, and she didn't say a word.

Could it be that her sister was already this tall at sixteen?

How could that be possible?

She was only one meter sixty at sixteen!

Although she ate potatoes every day, she had heard that her sister often didn't eat when she was little—when their mom and dad didn't have time to look after her, sometimes Uncle Chen and Aunt Wei would call her over to their house to eat, sometimes her brother-in-law would supervise her eating, or prepare some of the Bath Kimchi or Sour and Spicy Cowpea she loved, letting her cook a pot of porridge at home by herself. But if their mom and dad didn't have time to look after her, and she didn't go to her brother-in-law's house to eat, and her brother-in-law didn't repeatedly urge her or supervise her, in those situations her sister would be too lazy to eat, and she didn't care about it either.

But even like that, she still grew this tall...

It must be that she calculated it wrong!

Maybe the family replaced the door frame later!

The little girl thought this, and only then did she set her mind at ease, picked up the milk on the table, tilted her head back, and drank it all in one go with a gulp, then let out a light burp; the overly rich milk had stained her lips with a layer of white.

She had drunk three cups of milk today.

She had just drunk two cups a moment ago.

Plus the potato-stewed chicken she had at noon, which had a full four pieces of chicken in it; how much protein must that be...

If she kept this up, wouldn't she grow to be two meters tall?

The little girl's mood improved.

"Click."

Zhang Suannai returned from outside, opened the refrigerator, struggled to find a can of soda, walked to the sofa and sat down with a thud, making the sofa sink, then she pulled the tab very casually, took a fierce gulp, and even let out an "ah" of satisfaction before turning her head to ask:

"Why is the fridge full of milk these past few days?"

"My sister bought it."

"Why did your sister buy so much milk?"

"I told her to buy it."

"Why did you buy so much milk?"

"My sister bought it."

"..." Zhang Suannai fell silent for a moment; she hadn't expected that compared to the cold Qingqing, it was the more talkative Xiaoxiao who countered her more, but this couldn't stump her, "Why did you tell your sister to buy so much milk and pile it in the fridge? And it's Dongzhou Exotic Beast brand, this milk is very expensive, eh..."

"I want to grow taller."

Zhang Suannai couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The little girl looked at her with a serious face from the side, not knowing what she was laughing at; wasn't it her and her brother-in-law who said she was too short...

"It's nothing!"

Zhang Suannai took the initiative to wave her hand at the little girl, then turned her head to look around and asked again:

"Where is your sister?"

"She went out."

"Where did she go?"

"To watch the Martial Body meet."

"Is she that interested in this?"

"Very interested."

"Why didn't you follow her?"

"She didn't want me to go."

"Eh, that's not right, I just came back from the Martial Cultivation Hall, I even went to the No. 2 Hall to be a referee, why didn't she tell me?" Zhang Suannai said strangely, "And her personality doesn't seem like the type to join in on this kind of excitement."

"She's very much like that."

"Alright, alright..."

Zhang Suannai felt it was a bit difficult to talk to this girl; she finished the soda in a few gulps, threw the can into the trash bin, and seeing that the bin was full, she diligently picked up the trash bag, placed it by the door, intending to throw it out when she went out to eat in the evening, then walked back and put a new trash bag in.

Zhang Suannai put the trash bag in very casually, placed the bag into the bin, spread her five fingers, and pressed down—that counted as putting it in.

The little girl, however, frowned as she watched.

After Zhang Suannai finished and returned to the sofa, she walked over silently, took the trash bag out again, put it back into the trash bin, and even used her hands to smooth out the bottom and the four walls of the bag against the bin until it was perfectly neat, then put the top ring on to secure the bag; only then was she satisfied.

Zhang Suannai watched from the side and let out a "hey."

The little girl came back and sat down.

After walking two steps, feeling that her stomach was full of milk, she leaned her back against the sofa and couldn't help but pat her stomach back and forth with both hands; one could hear the sound of water sloshing inside, gurgling non-stop.

Zhang Suannai watched from the side, feeling a bit curious, and asked with wide, blank eyes: "Xiaoxiao, what are you doing?"

The little girl lowered her head and answered honestly:

"Patting my stomach."

"Don't you have the Celestial Bloodline? How could you do such a silly action?"

"..."

The little girl stopped the movement of her hands and slowly turned her head to look at her:

"You're the one who's silly."

"Wow, you can actually talk back to me!"

"..."

"Your sister only gives me a cold stare, then gets up and goes back to her room, and ignores me for the next two days," Zhang Suannai said with Surprise. "Was your sister like this when she was your age? Does she just get colder the older she gets?"

"..."

"Oh? Are you ignoring me too?"

"Sister Suannai."

"Huh?"

"How tall were you at sixteen?" the young girl turned her head and asked her seriously.

"About the same as now; I stopped growing once I reached sixteen," Zhang Suannai answered honestly.

"..."

The young girl fell silent for a moment, gathered her courage to pull out her Mobile Phone, found that photo of her sister again, handed it to Zhang Suannai, and asked very sincerely: "Take a look at the sister in this photo—is she the same height as I am now?"

"Eh! How old was your sister when this was taken?"

"Sixteen."

"Was your sister this pretty at sixteen? Isn't it true that most pretty girls don't become truly beautiful until they've fully blossomed? Before they blossom, they just look delicate; those who are very pretty as children often see their looks decline as they grow up. I'm like that; I was just average-looking before, and then I became super-duper beautiful after I grew up." Zhang Suannai stared at the photo, asking a barrage of questions, "Who took this photo for your sister? Why does she look like she's being forced to work? Hahaha, it's killing me..."

The young girl had only two words:

"How tall?"

"Feels... about the same as now, I guess." Zhang Suannai grinned, carefully examining the green version of her roommate, finding it extremely interesting.

"Thank you, Sister Suannai."

"Hey, hey, I haven't seen enough yet! Are there any others? Let me see!"

The young girl snatched the Mobile Phone from her hand, expressionless, went to pour another cup of milk, and then silently returned to her room.

Zhang Suannai remained in the living room, scratching her head.

Strange.

Both of these sisters are not normal at all.

However, Zhang Suannai didn't care; her attention quickly shifted elsewhere—she picked up the binding cube on the table, eyes wide, looking it over with great curiosity, and happily started playing with it again.

The Martial Body competition Ordinary Group ended.

The Martial Arts Academy Group will be next month.

Chen Shu and Chen Banxia made plans for a meal, choosing a clay pot skewer shop.

This is a national chain store; the soup base for this kind of shop is produced uniformly, so even when opened in Yujing, it is not easily affected by regional debuffs. Furthermore, the flavor depends largely on the preparation of the dipping sauce.

Chen Banxia is a lost cause; even when mixing a dipping sauce, she needs her younger brother to help her, having absolutely no self-care ability.

By the time Chen Shu finished mixing and returned, the pot was already boiling.

Chen Banxia was putting the small liver skewers, cilantro beef, and pork skin he had brought into the pot. She had learned her brother's essential technique—after inserting a large handful of skewers vertically into the pot, she gathered the wooden sticks together and covered them with a small cup. This kept all the skewers standing upright in the pot, which not only allowed more to be cooked at once but also ensured they cooked more evenly than if placed at an angle; basically, as long as there was enough soup in the pot, every skewer would cook through.

"Here, you lazy dog."

"Thank you, my dear brother." Chen Banxia took the bowl and asked him, "Is the school holding the Martial Body competition these days?"

"Mm, it just finished yesterday."

"Did you go watch?"

"I did."

"Did you go watch the Arena matches?"

"I did."

"Was it good?"

"The beginning was a bit boring, but the last few final matches were interesting. I saw a successor of a lost system, and she even won the championship."

"What system?"

"Imperial Sect."

"Never heard of it..."

"Are you stupid?"

"You're the stupid one!" Chen Banxia immediately retorted, "If it's lost, it must be no good, eliminated by history. Isn't it normal that I don't know it?"

"Why didn't you compete? Aren't you a Fifth-tier Practitioner genius?" Chen Shu said this "Fifth-tier Practitioner genius" with deliberate sarcasm, then added, "I thought I might see you getting beaten in the Arena. I went for two days in a row and even brought Qingqing; I was so disappointed."

"Me getting beaten?"

While waiting for the skewers to cook, Chen Banxia continued to bicker with her brother: "Can you use your brain and think? What tier was the first-place winner this year? I'm a Fifth-tier Practitioner about to graduate; would I go there to get beaten? Can you look up who the first-place winner of the Ordinary Group was two years ago?"

"Who is it? Don't tell me it's Huang Batian from our Huaiyuan?"

"It is exactly your dear sister!"

"You actually have that skill..."

"Pfft! How dare you underestimate me!"

"How is your potion research coming along?" Chen Shu picked up the first skewer. "Let me taste if it's cooked yet... You asked me out for a meal, is it already finished?"

"Hehe..."

"Tell me."

Chen Shu finished the first skewer, smacked his lips, and picked up a second one: "I don't feel like I can taste it yet, let me try another one."

Chen Banxia watched him eat, eyes full of anticipation, and explained: "Basically, it can serve as a substitute, but as expected, it cannot be mass-produced. It can only be a specially made, handcrafted potion to sell to those high-ranking officials and nobles..."

"Is it cooked?"

"Feels like it's cooked, but also like it's not. Let me eat another one." Chen Shu picked up the third skewer and asked at the same time, "About how much does one portion cost?"

"One hundred and fifty."

"If I wanted you to help me hand-mix a few portions, is that realistic?"

"That depends on the materials; there's no problem with the technique," Chen Banxia said, thinking and organizing her words. "Most materials can either be bought or I can take them directly from the laboratory. There is only one thing, which we call Poison Spirit Element. Because it can be used to create a deadly poison that destroys a Cultivator's Spirit Sea, it is a contraband item, and one of the most strictly regulated types of contraband at that."

"Is there any way to get it?"

"Is it not cooked yet?"

"The skewer I tasted before seemed cooked, but this one seems like it still needs a bit more."

"Do you take me for a fool?"

"..."

"I don't care anymore! I'm eating it even if it's not cooked!"

Chen Banxia picked up a skewer of small gizzard that was already thoroughly cooked, pressed it against the bottom of the bowl, held the wooden skewer with her chopsticks and stripped it off, then dipped it fully in the sauce and put it into her mouth—it had to be said that the dipping sauce her younger brother made by hand was truly a masterpiece, a flavor that was familiar to her very Spirit Soul.

"Poison Spirit Element can be extracted and synthesized from two types of plants: one is Full Moon See, and the other is horseshoe melon. I can get horseshoe melon, but because Full Moon See is the main synthetic material for Poison Spirit Element and is itself highly toxic, it cannot be bought on the market either," Chen Banxia said. "By the way, you still haven't told me, what do you need an Auxiliary Potion for advancing to the Fifth Stage for? If it's just to sell for money, I won't make it for you. You can't get your hands on it; it's too dangerous."

"I'm at the Fourth Stage."

"???"

The cilantro beef in Chen Banxia's hand fell straight into the pot with a plop, and the splashing hot oil dripped onto her face.

Yet she only blinked once.