Chapter 195: Summer Break Shock

June 19th.

Zhang Suannai lay on the bed in the guest room, eyes wide open, staring listlessly at the ceiling.

The alcohol had long since worn off.

If it were possible... she would rather not have woken up.

Being drunk for a lifetime was not something she couldn't accept.

Checking the time, it was already ten o'clock.

The two roommates had already eaten breakfast, and the little girl had even come to knock on her door.

At that time, she had already been awake, but she was too embarrassed to go out, so she chose to remain silent and pretend she was still sleeping—if it were in the past, when the little girl came personally to call her for breakfast, she would have kicked off the quilt and gone over happily.

At this moment, sounds were faintly coming from outside.

Zhang Suannai covered herself with the quilt, leaving only her head exposed, her hair scattered on the pillow, blinking her eyes continuously as she listened intently.

It seemed to be a middle-aged woman from next door; having heard that the sisters were not only both specially admitted to Ling'an Academy—the older sister, and the younger sister at such a young age—she wanted to invite the sisters to her home to be tutors and coach her good-for-nothing son.

The starting offer was five hundred yuan an hour.

What a wealthy neighborhood this is.

The goddess Qingqing clearly did not want to deal with this woman, and as soon as she heard the knocking, she told Xiaoxiao to go and negotiate with her.

Xiaoxiao didn't want to either, but under the pressure of her older sister, after sternly scolding her with "Your personality is terrible," she still had to go and open the door.

Now they had been negotiating for several minutes.

The sound of the conversation was still faintly drifting in.

Zhang Suannai was still pretending to sleep.

But continuing to sleep like this was not a solution; she could sleep for a while, but could she sleep for a lifetime?

And this was at someone else's house, too...

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Suannai's mind—

Sneak out through the window;

Pretend to have a terminal illness;

Play dead;

Pretend to be insane;

But they were all rejected by her one by one.

Finally, Zhang Suannai quietly fished out her Mobile Phone, tucked her head back into the quilt, stared at the phone, and opened Feixin.

Zhang Suannai: Sister Banxia

Zhang Suannai: Emergency help needed

Chen Banxia: What's up

Zhang Suannai: I'm done for

Zhang Suannai: It's all because of drinking with you

Chen Banxia: I'm the one who's done for

Chen Banxia: My younger brother carried me home last night, and now he's asking me for ten thousand yuan. I even wrote an agreement, signed it, and pressed my fingerprint on it. He also said he'd only make my favorite spicy crayfish if he sees the money today, but all my remaining money is in a fund...

Chen Banxia: If I can't eat the spicy crayfish, I'm going to die

Zhang Suannai: What is spicy crayfish?

Chen Banxia: Spicy crawfish

Zhang Suannai: What is spicy crawfish?

Chen Banxia: 【Image】

Zhang Suannai: Looks great

Chen Banxia: It's super delicious anyway

Zhang Suannai: Want to eat...

Zhang Suannai: No!! I'm talking about serious business!

Zhang Suannai: It's not as big as my problem

Chen Banxia: What's your problem?

Zhang Suannai: It's a long story...

After hearing her situation and request, Chen Banxia sent a string of ellipses.

Chen Banxia: What kind of problem is this

Chen Banxia: Did you forget that they both have the Heavenly Human Bloodline? They won't care about you at all. You just need to act like nothing happened

Zhang Suannai: Really?

Chen Banxia: Trust me

Zhang Suannai: But this has a serious impact on the lofty image I have in their hearts, eh

Chen Banxia:...

Chen Banxia: Trust me, you don't have any image in their hearts

Chen Banxia: Especially Qingqing; in her heart, there are only two types of people: Chen Shu and others

Zhang Suannai: /Lost in thought

Chen Banxia: I have to go raise money

Zhang Suannai: 【Transfer】

Chen Banxia: /Cupped-fist salute

Chen Banxia: I'll pay you back once the fund is sold

Chen Banxia: I'll treat you to a drink when the time comes.

Zhang Suannai: /Okay.

Zhang Suannai turned off her Mobile Phone, took a few deep breaths, then threw off the quilt and sat up.

With two long, fair, and toned legs, and wearing only a pair of small briefs on her lower body, she hurriedly pulled on shorts, zipped them up, buttoned them, grabbed her clothes, and walked into the bathroom in her slippers; she didn't move until she had to, but when she did, it was like thunder.

A few minutes later.

Zhang Suannai had already pushed open the bedroom door.

The bright sunlight hit her face, making her squint instinctively, and she held a hand over her brow to glance up at the sky.

It was a clear, sunny day.

The courtyard was clean and tidy, with only two plants—a vine climbing along the window and a large shrub growing in the corner—both of which were lush and flourishing. In the climate of Bai City, they bloomed beautifully even in June, attracting many butterflies and bees to circle and dance around them.

Ning Qing sat in the courtyard reading quietly, Taozi was running around chasing butterflies, and Xiaoxiao stood prettily at the entrance, dealing with a middle-aged auntie.

Zhang Suannai walked over cautiously.

Ning Qing didn't even glance at her.

Very good!

Zhang Suannai said tentatively:

"Good morning."

Ning Qing remained holding her book with her head down, her gaze entirely on the pages, and only gave a faint "mm."

Great!

Zhang Suannai felt joyful inside, though she didn't show it on her face. She greeted Taozi, and not minding being ignored, she turned and walked toward Xiaoxiao.

"I'll add more money, I'll give you six hundred an hour, just consider it helping this auntie out, okay?"

"Big sister won't agree."

"Where is your big sister?"

"At home."

"Why doesn't she come out?"

"Big sister won't agree."

"Then what about you? You could do it too."

"I have to ask big sister."

"Then go ask your big sister."

"Big sister won't agree."

"..."

"Xiaoxiao! Good morning!" Zhang Suannai walked over, greeted her tentatively, and secretly watched the young girl's expression, "What are you doing?"

"..." The young girl looked at her and didn't say anything.

"Who is this..." the auntie asked.

"I'm their classmate!" Zhang Suannai was in a great mood, and her smile became radiant as a result.

"A Talent Academy classmate?"

"University classmate!"

"Are you from Ling'an Academy too?"

"Mm!"

"Young lady!" The auntie became interested at once, "Are you interested in being a tutor to earn some pocket money? I'll pay you five hundred an hour to help my son get into a key school. If he gets into a school at the level of Ling'an Academy, I'll give you a big red envelope, how about it?"

"The offer is that high?"

"I have no choice, it's too hard to get into a school like Ling'an Academy..."

"It's not hard!" Zhang Suannai looked at the auntie strangely, "I don't think it's hard at all!"

"How is it not hard? This is a world-famous university!"

"It's just not hard!"

"It's not hard?"

"Yeah! The classmates around me all got into Ling'an Academy!"

"Is that so?" The auntie was filled with Surprise, and at the same time, great Joy, "Which school are you from?"

"Ling'an Academy!"

"..."

The auntie looked at Zhang Suannai, then at the young girl standing to the side without speaking, and silently turned and walked away.

Zhang Suannai grinned silently.

What a beautiful day.

Just then, she noticed a few messages in the Ancient Cultivation Group, and the smile on her face instantly stiffened; she felt nervous inside all of a sudden.

She clicked on the group chat.

The message was initiated by Haoran, complaining about how boring the summer vacation was.

Zhang Suannai felt slightly relieved.

Immediately after, that silly vegetable hurriedly came out to agree, saying they should go traveling. Haoran said he didn't know where to go, and that silly vegetable recommended Yuanzhou to him, while also casually mentioning that he had come to Yuanzhou to visit his roommate—who was also his girlfriend he hadn't started dating yet.

Zhang Suannai's heart rose again.

Fortunately, the silly vegetable didn't say anything else.

At this moment, that silly Daoist popped up, asking how they were enjoying themselves.

Ask your mother! So nosy!

Zhang Suannai prayed incessantly in her heart, hoping that the silly Qingcai would absolutely not say it, absolutely not say it.

Qingcai Keke: It's fun.

Qingcai Keke: Especially happy.

Qingcai Keke: Especially last night.

Gate of All Wonders: Envious.

Haoran Righteous Qi: Envious.

Zhang Suannai watched in terror, feeling as thrilled as if she were on a roller coaster, and hurriedly typed—

Grandma Always Says: How is the weather in Yujing?

Haoran Righteous Qi: Hot.

Gate of All Wonders: The sun is vicious.

Grandma Always Says: Yuanzhou is really nice.

Gate of All Wonders: I heard it's warm in spring and cool in summer?

Grandma Always Says: That's right, that's right.

"Whew..."

Zhang Suannai let out a long sigh of relief; she had finally managed to change the subject.

She then sat down opposite Qingqing, clutching her Mobile Phone, watching the group of silly people discuss the relationship between temperature, latitude, longitude, and altitude—a mess of junk content she couldn't understand—but she found it fascinating at this moment, feeling that the atmosphere in the group today was indescribably good.

Everyone was talking about serious content.

Just like this, it was quite good.

Zhang Suannai nodded repeatedly.

Her roommate opposite took out her Mobile Phone, placed it on her book, glanced at it a few times, put it away, and then cast a glance at her.

Zhang Suannai didn't think much of it and took the opportunity to ask, "That was your father yesterday, right?"

"Mm."

"He's so cold and aloof. I greeted him, but he actually just hummed and ignored me completely." Zhang Suannai began to probe for information, "Is Uncle having some trouble with his business lately, and feeling worried?"

"?"

Ning Qing raised her head and looked at her calmly.

That gaze seemed to possess an irresistible penetrating power, capable of seeing through all the thoughts in her heart, making her subconsciously choose to avoid her line of sight.

Zhang Suannai left on June 20th.

Chen Shu and Chen Banxia went to find them that day and played Fight the Landlord with them for a while; Zhang Suannai and Xiaoxiao were on one side, Chen Banxia was on her own, and Chen Shu pulled a certain human-shaped pendant to join a side, won a few dozen yuan from them, and happily sent Suannai off.

The summer vacation returned to its dull state.

Chen Shu brought Taozi back home; he had heard that a cat's purring helps with cultivation, and he needed to start focusing on his cultivation and breaking through the Spirit Lock.

At the beginning of July, Deacon He delivered the two vials of medicine he had requested, along with two Restoration Pills, and Chen Shu treated him to a meal to express his gratitude.

July 10th.

Chen Shu arrived at Ning Qing's home.

Ning Qing's expression was calm, as if she had long anticipated the process and the result, and she silently lowered her head to read.

Chen Shu sat cross-legged on the floor with his back against the sofa, picked up the vial—which was incredibly expensive in both production cost and retail price—and examined it closely, feeling that it was like highly concentrated traditional medicine; the liquid was pitch black and very viscous.

It lived up to being a traditional formula.

It looked very bitter just by looking at it.

Chen Shu unscrewed the cap, broke the seal, and immediately felt the astonishing Spirit Power contained within.

This Spirit Power was not only vast in quantity and high in quality, but also very unique, differing from the medicines he had consumed in the past—the Spirit Power in this vial seemed to come more from those precious heavenly treasures; these treasures on Earth, which take thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions, or even hundreds of millions of years to gestate, have become extremely scarce in this highly prosperous cultivation civilization of today.

According to Chen Banxia, the efficacy of this original version of the medicine might be a tiny bit higher than the modern medicine she had deciphered, just a very small bit.

Chen Shu gulped it down in one go.

It was surprisingly not bitter.

But it couldn't be called good either; the taste was very complex.

Immediately, the Spirit Power within his body surged and boiled again, becoming violent, and huge waves rose uncontrollably in his Spirit Sea, slapping against the walls of the Spirit Sea wave after wave, as if trying to blast them open.

Chen Shu immediately closed his eyes.