Chapter 186: The Summer of Yujing in the 184th Chapter

The school, renovated from an imperial garden, had picturesque scenery with a new view at every step. The two walked side by side, ignoring the scorching sun, their ears filled with the sound of cicadas.

"What do you plan to do after graduation?"

"I plan to..." Chen Banxia just prepared to answer, then suddenly frowned, "Why do you have the tone of a parent?"

"I'm just showing concern for you..."

"I always feel something is off..."

"Isn't it normal for a younger brother to be concerned about his older sister?"

"That's true." Chen Banxia nodded, easily persuaded. "The company I'm helping out at now is pretty good, the benefits are quite nice. I plan to stay at school for further studies after graduation, and at the same time, keep working at this company to earn some money and gain work experience. Maybe I'll stay at school to be a teacher in the future."

"Not bad, not bad." Chen Shu nodded and said, "You are very clear-headed."

"?"

Chen Banxia's just-relaxed brow furrowed again. No, she couldn't be at a disadvantage. After thinking for a moment, she asked back: "What about you? Have you been studying properly lately?"

"Do I need you to worry about me?"

"Then why are you worrying about me!?" Chen Banxia was about to be angered to death by him. "I am the older sister!"

"I'm just concerned about you..."

"I'm concerned about you too!"

"Oh, I haven't been at school these past few days."

"You haven't been at school? Where did you go?"

"I went to Lingzhou."

"What for?"

"I just joined the Spirit Sect."

"You joined the Spirit Sect? Did you go to perform the ceremony?" Chen Banxia blinked, her expression blank. "Why didn't you discuss it with me?"

"..."

"Fine, fine... Did you join as an Inner Sect Disciple or an Outer Sect Disciple? How are the contract benefits?"

"Inner Sect."

"Why did you join the Inner Sect? There are so many terms and conditions."

"They asked me to join." Chen Shu thought for a moment and said, "Maybe they want me to be the successor to the Sect Master in the future."

"That's true. Your talent is so good; even though I wasn't at school, I heard about your deeds. The Spirit Sect definitely wants you to join the Inner Sect. In this day and age, only Inner Sect Disciples are true Spirit Sect disciples." Chen Banxia nodded and said.

"You're quite well-informed."

"Because I am also a Spirit Sect disciple!"

"?"

"Why that expression? With your sister's talent being so good, you didn't think no sect would throw an olive branch to her, did you?"

"Why did you choose the Spirit Sect?"

"I work in modern pharmaceuticals; there are no sects suitable for me. The few sects that specialize in medicine are all trash." Chen Banxia did not hide her disdain. "By comparison, the Spirit Sect has the deepest foundation. The books in the Phoenix Tower and the materials stored on Yinping Mountain are all very useful to me. The Spirit Sect is also very open-minded, the contract has the fewest restrictions, and they are the friendliest to Outer Sect Disciples, so I chose them."

"..." Chen Shu pondered for a few seconds. "Why didn't you discuss it with me?"

"Bang!"

Chen Banxia gave Chen Shu's head a hit: "You had only just been admitted to the Talent Academy back then..."

"Bang!"

Chen Shu hit her back without hesitation.

"!"

Chen Banxia reached out again.

The sister and brother then started hitting each other, one blow after another, in full public view.

Until Chen Banxia stopped playing by the rules and started raining punches on Chen Shu, Chen Shu chose to let her have her way and didn't hit back, telling her: "Just you gloat! When I reach the Fifth Stage, I'll hang you up and beat you!"

"You're going to be struck by lightning!"

"By the way, how is the medicine you're preparing for me coming along?"

"I'm not telling you! You want to hang me up and beat me!"

"..."

Chen Shu was choked up for a moment, then said: "Wasn't I just teasing you? How would I dare to beat my older sister? I don't have enough time to treat you well!"

"Am I stupid?"

"Fine, you don't believe me! Then let's part ways here, and your Spicy Snail and Big Plate Chicken will be gone too."

"Hmph hmph..."

Chen Banxia hummed twice before saying: "The preparation work is already finished. All the elements have been extracted and stored. Tell me when you want them, and I can make them for you in one day."

"It's three vials, right?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Speaking of which, you're still a long way off, right?"

"What? Scared?" Chen Shu started gloating again. "It's no use being scared, I'm definitely going to hang you up and beat you!"

"Bang!"

Chen Banxia's fist greeted Chen Shu's body again.

If they really fought, it wasn't certain that Chen Shu couldn't beat Chen Banxia—although Chen Banxia's cultivation might be higher than Senior Brother Ji's, Senior Brother Ji was an Inner Sect Disciple who grew up in the Spirit Sect, had a master to teach him, and was a proper, authentic ancient cultivator. Chen Banxia did nothing but make medicine or sleep all day, so logically, her combat power was lower than Senior Brother Ji's.

But who told her to be the older sister.

Chen Shu endured for now, preparing to go slap her face the next time she was asleep.

……

7:00 PM.

The three of them had set the food out in the courtyard and were almost finished eating.

There were only four dishes.

They were the Spicy Snail and Big Plate Chicken that Chen Banxia wanted to eat, the Cheese Mashed Potatoes the little girl had wanted for a while, and a dish of Lemon Ghost Chicken. Chen Shu tore off a portion of the chicken and sent it to Qingqing, so she would know he had returned.

Summer days grow dark late; there was still a remnant of firelight at the edge of the sky, the evening breeze of Yujing made the small courtyard exceptionally cool, and sparrows were chirping overhead.

Chen Shu liked this kind of environment.

After finishing the meal, Chen Shu sat in his original spot without moving, just set down his chopsticks and said to Chen Banxia, "Clean up the bowls, chopsticks, and table yourself."

"Cleaning up is cleaning up..."

Chen Banxia smacked her lips and began to clean up happily; at this moment, she wasn't going to bicker with her younger brother.

The little girl also diligently helped her.

Chen Shu then took out his Mobile Phone.

Chen Shu: Junior sister.

Yan Keling: Senior brother! What is it?

Chen Shu: I suddenly thought of a question.

Yan Keling: What is it?

Chen Shu: Your cultivation is about the same as mine, right? Around the mid-to-late Fourth Stage?

Yan Keling: What about it, senior brother?

Chen Shu: Where do you get your Promotion Potion?

Yan Keling: I buy it.

Chen Shu: Where do you buy it?

Yan Keling: I buy it online.

Chen Shu: Buying previous potions online was fine, but for the Fourth Stage to Fifth Stage, ordinary potions have very little effect. On the other hand, the major sects and some powerful families can get better potions, which gives them more of an advantage.

Yan Keling: There's nothing to be done about that.

Yan Keling: /sigh

Yan Keling: I'll just use the ordinary ones; it feels like the difference isn't that big anyway.

Yan Keling: What are you planning to do, senior brother?

Chen Shu: I have good potions, about the same as what the core disciples of the Spirit Sect use. They are the old formula of the Secret Sect, later cracked by a pharmaceutical company and made using modern materials; the difference in efficacy is not large. I originally planned to use them myself, but since I just joined the Spirit Sect, they will provide me with potions.

Yan Keling: So?

Chen Shu: I'll sell them to you.

Yan Keling: How much money?

Chen Shu: 2 million per bottle, only three bottles in total.

Yan Keling: So cheap?

Chen Shu: My elder sister is named Chen Banxia, you've heard of her, right?

Yan Keling: Wow!

Yan Keling: I've heard of her!

Chen Shu: She participated in the cracking of the potion, and I had her formulate it for me. The cost price is about 1.5 million per bottle; the remaining 500,000 is her labor fee and the risk I took to pick the Full Moon See.

Yan Keling: So you used Full Moon See to make this, senior brother.

Chen Shu: What about you?

Yan Keling: I need it for my cultivation in the Imperial Sect.

Chen Shu: Good, then I'll save them for you; just come find me when the time comes.

Yan Keling: Thank you, senior brother.

Yan Keling: May I ask one more timid question: are there any new songs?

Chen Shu: Go ask Crown Princess Zhusha.

Chen Shu: Good night.

He then turned off his Mobile Phone, let out a long breath, and looked into the distance.

The firelight at the edge of the sky had just dimmed, and a few purple-red cloud wisps floated overhead. The light of this world had not yet completely dissipated, and amidst the blooming flower clusters, the little girl was hugging Taozi and sitting on a swing. The swing swayed extremely slightly, and she was resting in the cool air very leisurely.

Chen Shu suddenly thought of Qingqing.

Qingqing also liked to sit on a swing and daydream in her spare time.

It's just that Qingqing would sit quietly, as if looking at nothing and thinking of nothing, quietly feeling the passage of time. The little girl, however, would stretch out her legs and try to touch the ground with her toes from time to time, as if it were an unconscious action, keeping the hanging chair swaying; one couldn't tell what she was thinking about.

In any case, they were both beautiful scenes.

"Ah~~"

Chen Shu stretched, thinking to himself that he would just stay here tonight; he hadn't slept in Qingqing's bed for many days and missed it a bit.

Chen Banxia walked over again, her hands stained with water, but she wanted to smear the water on Chen Shu's face.

Chen Shu retracted his neck to avoid it.

"Haha."

Chen Banxia laughed and sat down opposite him, pulled out a wet wipe, wiped the surface of the stone table that the little girl had already wiped once, and then said to him, "The final exams are in ten days or so, right?"

"What about it?"

Chen Shu simply rested his chin on the stone table, his gaze aimed at the west wing room, quietly resting in the cool air: "Want to pretend to care about my grades again?"

"What do you mean pretend??"

"Fine, fine, fine..."

"I can't be bothered to argue with you!" Chen Banxia acted very magnanimously, then sighed, "Sigh, when you take your final exams, I'll be graduating too. My university life will just end like that; it feels so empty inside."

"That is indeed how it is," Chen Shu nodded in agreement. "When you're studying, you don't feel it. You slack off every day, wishing you didn't have to go to class, but when graduation is imminent, you're reluctant to leave and want to do it all over again, to sit in the classroom for a while longer."

"You say that as if you've ever been to university..." Chen Banxia felt it was strange, then said, "I rarely attended classes at school anyway."

"Is that so?"

"It's a good thing I'll still be staying at school."

"That works. Being a teacher later on isn't bad either; your personality is quite suited for it. Being a teacher is easy, there's plenty of time for you to sleep, and the status of teachers at Yujing Academy is high. If you become a pharmacy teacher, you'll probably make good money too. It's good in every way."

"That's what I think too... Wait, no! Why are you planning my life again?" Chen Banxia scratched her head. "No way, I'm going to help you plan your life!"

"..."

"Let me calculate... You'll be twenty-five when you graduate. You can get married right after graduation, then have a kid for me to play with. It's best to have two, you can get a tax break, and by then you can even give me one to take care of me in my old age..."

Chen Shu twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile, but he didn't interrupt her, instead listening quietly to her rambling as his gaze drifted toward the swing.

The little girl was still sitting on the swing, using her toes to push off the ground to make it sway. Her eyes were staring blankly at the ground in front of her with no expression, and it was unknown what she was thinking about. Taozi was staying obediently in her arms, one tail wagging back and forth.

The swing made a creaking sound.

"Hey!"

Chen Banxia slapped Chen Shu's hand in dissatisfaction: "Are you even listening?"

"Look—"

Chen Shu reached out and pointed toward the sky.

"What is it?"

"There are bats."

"Where?"

Chen Banxia looked in the direction he was pointing.

The courtyard suddenly became quiet. One could hear the *flap-flap* sound of bats beating their wings as they darted through the night sky, and there were swallows playing and chasing each other, just like a summer from childhood.

The little girl and Taozi also tilted their heads up.

At this moment, Chen Shu had already forgotten about the Spirit Sect and the gods; in his heart, there was only the present.

It's the end of the month again. If everyone has extra monthly tickets on hand with nowhere to cast them, you can cast them for Jasmine. It's a waste if you don't cast them.

You can cast them by clicking on the two words "monthly ticket" in the paragraph above.

(Bows and reveals chest)