Chapter 200: Oh, Wow

The end of July.

It began to rain in Yujing.

Chen Shu carried groceries in his left hand and held an umbrella in his right, walked a few steps under the eaves, closed the umbrella and shook off the water, and only then pushed open the door.

Creak.

The courtyard was also a continuous curtain of rain, and in some places, water had already pooled; raindrops hitting the surface created dense, tiny pits.

Just as Chen Shu was about to go in, a small dragonfly was fluttering under the eaves, flying very low because of the humid air.

Is it hiding from the rain here?

For small insects like dragonflies, once their wings get wet, flying becomes very difficult; usually, they sense weather changes in advance and hide under trees, waiting for the rain to stop before shaking the moisture off their wings to continue flying and hunting.

This one is probably a little dummy.

Just as Chen Shu was thinking this, the dragonfly suddenly flapped its wings hard, gained altitude, flew to be level with his eyes, and then hovered there.

It was a male Anax parthenope, slightly larger than common dragonflies, with a green body and a very beautiful patch of azure at the junction with its tail; those two "Karsland" big eyes seemed to be staring right at him.

"Hey..."

Chen Shu was amused and reached out his hand toward it.

To his surprise, the dragonfly actually flew over, landed on his hand, and then stayed there quietly, staring straight at him.

"Interesting..."

Handsome and kind people are indeed liked even by small animals.

Chen Shu leaned in close to stare at it.

He had caught dragonflies to play with when he was a child; this type of dragonfly had a strong and graceful build and a fierce temperament, and would attack other dragonflies, so catching one of these back then was much more satisfying than catching those common red dragonflies.

Chen Shu pressed the button on the umbrella handle.

"Poof!"

The umbrella opened automatically.

A gust of wind blew at that moment, and he clearly felt the dragonfly's tiny feet grip the skin on his thumb tightly.

Truly interesting.

Chen Shu took it to the persimmon tree, and just as he reached the doorway, the little girl came to open the door for him.

"Good morning, brother-in-law."

"Morning."

"Brother-in-law, what were you doing outside just now?"

"Caught a dragonfly trapped under the eaves, I put it under the persimmon tree."

"Oh."

"Where is your sister?"

"Cultivating."

"Cultivating what?"

"Don't know." The little girl saw her brother-in-law put the umbrella at the door and hurriedly stepped aside to let him in, "Sister is sitting there without moving, only saying that no one is allowed to touch her, not even Taozi."

"Not allowed to touch?"

"Mm, that's what she said."

"What's the point of that..." Chen Shu walked into the room, "I was just saying we should hang her up and beat her, now there's no hope."

"Exactly, exactly."

"Sigh, for the sake of her cultivation, let's spare her this once."

"Let's spare her this once."

"Hmm?"

Chen Shu had already seen Qingqing sitting cross-legged on the sofa.

But he still went to put the groceries away first, then leaned over to carefully examine Qingqing, who was in the middle of cultivation.

There was almost no detectable Spirit Power fluctuation, and the natural Spirit Power in the surroundings was not being absorbed either, proving that she was not absorbing spiritual energy to cultivate her Spirit Sea, but was performing one of the strange cultivation methods of the Secret Sect.

The Secret Sect is truly troublesome.

Other sects are also troublesome.

A Traditional Sword Cultivator must cultivate Sword Heart and Sword Intent, comprehend Sword Dao, and improve Spiritual Sense; a Martial Cultivator, besides improving Spiritual Sense, must also temper their physique and practice martial techniques; thinking about it carefully, the Spirit Sect is truly worry-free, a godsend for lazy people.

"Hey? Ning Qing?

"Qingqing?

"Can you hear me?

"You silly thing.

"Are you an idiot? Not speaking means you agree!

"As expected..."

Chen Shu checked his Mobile Phone; it was still very early, so he simply sat down next to Qingqing and started scrolling through short videos.

People on the internet really know how to have fun; every so often they develop a new series of "spicy" content, and just when Chen Shu is about to get bored, new tricks pop up.

These young ladies are also quite competitive.

"Woof~~"

A small figure crawled over.

This little thing's posture was slightly stiff today, crawling arduously on the ground like a little kitten, crawling all the way to Chen Shu's side, looking up at him for a few seconds, then climbing up his upper body which was leaning against the backrest, stopping only when it reached his chest, then pawing at his Mobile Phone, poking its head out to see the content on the screen.

"What are you looking at?"

"Woof!"

"Did you just get neutered?" Chen Shu picked it up and took a careful look. "Doesn't look like it."

"Mehh..."

The little thing struggled desperately in his hands, its four short legs flailing wildly.

Chen Shu adjusted his grip and pinched the back of its neck.

It went quiet instantly.

"Go!"

Chen Shu tossed it to the side and continued playing on his Mobile Phone.

Unexpectedly, the little thing crawled back over, climbed onto his chest, its four little plum-blossom paws tickling him, and then it lay down, staring unblinkingly at his Mobile Phone screen with a pair of azure eyes.

"Hey!"

Chen Shu felt this little thing was a bit strange.

He figured Qingqing must have warned it before she started meditating, telling it not to touch her, so it was bored out of its mind and had chosen him over Xiaoxiao.

Thinking this, he felt much better inside.

"I suppose you still have a conscience, knowing it was me who bought you back with your owner, and I even paid half the money."

"Woof~"

"Come, I'll show you some beauties."

Chen Shu swiped down quickly twice, scrolled to a beauty, and held the screen up to the little fellow.

Taozi stared intently, its large eyes shimmering with a faint light.

Just then, the little girl beside him turned her head, stared seriously at her brother-in-law, and cautioned, "Brother-in-law, you should look at fewer beauties online; Sister will be unhappy later."

"She's meditating right now, she can't hear."

"If Sister finds out..."

"Don't worry about her, what does she count for?" Chen Shu curled his lip in disdain. "When I'm rich in the future, I'll invite these female streamers to my house to dance, and they'll only dance for me."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a little claw swiped over—

"Bang~"

"??"

Chen Shu looked at the little thing in astonishment, clutching his chin: "I'm kindly showing you pretty ladies, and you return kindness with enmity, right?"

"Woof~"

"Then you dance for me!"

Chen Shu grabbed it just as it wanted to run, made it stand up, held its two little paws with his two hands, and controlled it to dance.

The little girl on the side held a Rubik's cube, watching weakly, wanting to speak up to stop him, but didn't say it out loud.

Eleven o'clock in the morning.

Chen Shu finally went to start cooking.

Watching his departing back, Taozi, standing on the sofa, went limp and suddenly collapsed. A few seconds later it crawled up, looked left and right, but with a face full of confusion, then jumped off the sofa and ran to the door to watch the rain.

Ning Qing also opened her eyes.

The sound of rain in her ears became clear.

Ning Qing glanced at the little girl beside her, got up, put on her slippers, and walked outside under the eaves, quietly gazing at the rain in the courtyard.

The rain fell like a curtain, hitting the flower branches.

Standing like this for a while, she turned and walked toward the kitchen.

Chen Shu was cleaning a crucian carp.

Although the crucian carp was for a cold dish, it obviously needed to be steamed through first; when steaming, one only needed to remember to use scallions and ginger to remove the fishy smell, pour out the water from steaming when taking it out of the pot, sprinkle on some chopped scallions and cilantro, and drizzle the prepared lemon and millet chili sauce over it.

It is worth mentioning that the crucian carp in this world is an improved breed, retaining the meat quality of the crucian carp but without the small bones.

A crucian carp without bones is truly a godsend.

Chen Shu finished this dish first so it could soak in the sauce for a while longer, which would make it more flavorful.

Only then did he notice Ning Qing's arrival:

"Yo? You're done?"

"Mm."

"Help me boil a pot of water."

"Okay."

Ning Qing pursed her lips, her voice very soft, even appearing a bit gentle, and did as he instructed.

Chen Shu began slicing potato shreds; he planned to make another cold dish of hot and sour potato shreds as a side dish to please Xiaoxiao's appetite.

This was also simple to make; the potato shreds could be blanched in boiling water for twenty seconds and then used directly for the cold dish, and the texture would be very crisp. Since he had just made the cold crucian carp, the minced garlic, chopped scallions, and cilantro were all prepared in abundance, making it even simpler.

Home-cooked meals are better when they are simple.

Finally, boil a pot of Dumplings as the main course.

People in Yiguo are quite serious about eating Dumplings; although they eat both dry and soup versions, they rarely eat them plain. Ordinary people at home rarely eat plain Dumplings either; at the very least, they will prepare a seasoning just like eating noodles. If eating out, it is even more particular; besides different fillings, there are all kinds of flavors.

For example, rattan pepper flavor, which can be made dry-mixed or with a rattan pepper soup base, such as bamboo fungus chicken soup, spicy red oil, and so on.

The fish-flavored one Ning Qing wants is the same; it doesn't mean the filling of the Dumplings is fish-flavored.

"Did you smell the fragrance?"

"I smelled it."

"You cultivate so fast?"

"It takes a long time, intermittently, without regard for time or continuity." Ning Qing answered softly, still standing behind him to the side, staring at his movements.

"Can't touch you during the process?"

"..."

"Fine, you're trying to trick me." Chen Shu understood.

"It's a matter of degree."

"What do you mean?"

"Degree."

"Meaning I can't hit you, I can't move you, but I can still touch you, right?"

"I can feel it," Ning Qing emphasized, "I can end this state at any time."

"Alright, alright..."

A smile had already appeared on Chen Shu's face.

Seeing this, Ning Qing knew that her emphasis had been completely useless.

This person was her nemesis.

At this moment, Chen Shu felt Ning Qing take a small step forward, getting closer to him, but he didn't pay it any mind and continued to ask: "What are you cultivating this time?"

"Taixin Dao."

"What is Taixin Dao? Like the 'Heart-to-Heart Connection'?"

"The 'it' as in animals and plants."

"What does that mean?"

"It means selectively attaching one's self-consciousness to living things in the world other than humans, viewing this world from their perspective, while simultaneously trying as much as possible to experience their thoughts, emotions, behavioral habits, and reaction mechanisms, and so on, to further enrich one's understanding of the living beings of the universe." Ning Qing looked calmly at the person in front of her and could clearly feel that as she spoke, his body gradually became somewhat tense, but she still did not stop, "Merely being able to guess the thoughts of other humans is not enough for a Secret Sect Practitioner."

"I, I didn't understand."

"You can understand it as us using a mysterious method to attach our Spirit Soul to other animals and plants; we try to control them, become them, and use this method to understand them."

"So..." Cold sweat was about to break out on Chen Shu.

"Yes."

"I haven't even asked yet..."

"Yes."

"Was that dragonfly you?"

"Yes." Ning Qing looked at him calmly, "You didn't actually think your affinity was high, did you?"

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu bit the bullet: "Then Taozi..."

"Was also me."

Ning Qing reached one hand forward, and at this distance, she easily grabbed the flesh at Chen Shu's waist, her fingers tightening: "How much does it cost to invite a female streamer to dance at home? Do you need a sponsorship?"

"No, no need..."

"Do you want me to dance another dance for you to watch?"

"No, no need..."