Chapter 32: Jingxin Dao

Chen Shu: Come hang out on Sunday.

Qingqing: Saturday.

Chen Shu: Hm? Do you have class on Sunday?

Qingqing: My roommate wants to invite me to go to the Royal Plaza, and I promised her.

Chen Shu: You actually promised.

Qingqing: Yes.

Chen Shu: Remember to treat her to a cup of milk tea.

Qingqing: Yes.

Chen Shu: No one-word replies allowed.

Qingqing: Okay.

……

Saturday morning.

Chen Shu bought a small piece of cake for Qingqing, avocado-flavored, with lemon juice added, the taste slightly sour. Watching her eat as she walked, he said, "After this week, I'll have to start going out to find money next week."

"That works out," Ning Qing said while eating the cake, "I'm also about to start practicing Jingxin Dao."

"What is Jingxin Dao?"

"It's similar to the Closed-Mouth Zen of the Buddhists."

"You can't speak?"

"I cannot."

"Then can you write?"

"I cannot."

Ning Qing put the spoon into her mouth, pursed her lips, and when she pulled the spoon out, the light green cream left patterns on it: "I cannot speak, I cannot write, and I cannot use gestures or eye contact or anything of the sort to communicate obviously with the outside world. It is best to stand further away and keep a distance from the world."

"That's so strange, what is the purpose?"

"To become a bystander, to detach from the environment, to use only a pair of calm eyes to observe this world, and to use a sharp heart to think and to perceive all things in the world, including oneself."

"Is it that magical?" Chen Shu pondered for a moment, "Not speaking for a month, not communicating with people, won't you be lonely?"

"Loneliness is also a form of cultivation."

"How uncomfortable."

"Then you can sing a song for me."

"What a hassle." After Chen Shu finished saying this, he sighed, "Our Spirit Cultivator path is simpler after all."

"It is simple, too."

"When exactly will you start?"

"I will pick a time, but it will be after I find a place to live."

"Then when will you find a place to live?"

"I guess next week." Ning Qing savored the sweetness on her lips, "When the time comes, I will send you the address. By the time you receive the text message, I will have already started."

"Will you not live in the dormitory during this process?"

"I will."

"Then how are you going to practice this thing?"

"The practice itself requires observation. If there is no one around, then what difference is there from closed-door meditation?"

"Oh, I see. So you intend to treat your roommate like a monkey to watch? I thought you had already built some friendship with your roommate and couldn't bear to leave her." Chen Shu nodded, "Then if you practice this Jingxin Dao and can't speak, does that mean we can't meet?"

"We will." Ning Qing paused, "You still have to sing for me."

"I didn't promise you."

"You did."

"Emmm..." Chen Shu always felt that her shameless manner was somewhat familiar, but it was quite cute, "Where am I supposed to find you?"

"You can guess where I am."

"How could I possibly guess correctly? I'm not your..."

"If you can't guess correctly, by the time I finish practicing Jingxin Dao..." Ning Qing scooped another spoonful of cake into her mouth, her tone calm, "... you'll be finished too."

"What the hell..."

"Hm?"

"I didn't say anything."

Ning Qing withdrew her gaze indifferently.

Chen Shu quickly said again: "Then don't you still have to tell your roommate, and especially your teachers, in advance? Otherwise, what will you do if a teacher asks you to answer a question?"

"I will."

"Right?"

"I will."

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu imagined that scene—

He suddenly felt it was quite interesting.

"What are you thinking about?"

Ning Qing turned around, her beautiful face facing him, and warned him expressionlessly: "You are not allowed to tease me, you are not allowed to flirt with me, and don't go looking for a beating. Jingxin Dao is only temporary. I am not in a state of amnesia while practicing Jingxin Dao; there will always be a time when it ends."

"How could I..."

Chen Shu scratched his head honestly, then asked: "Let me ask one thing, just one thing. Suppose, suppose when the time comes I tease you or ambush you, can you stop me or fight back?"

"I could also break your hand."

"Wouldn't that lead to failure?" Chen Shu asked with concern, then spread his hands, "That wouldn't be worth it, let's not do that."

"It won't."

"Why won't it? Isn't you stopping me or fighting back also a form of communication? Telling me I can't do that."

"Necessary, unobtrusive, trace amounts of communication."

"Oh..."

"You had best not do that."

"Oh..."

The one getting beaten is Chen Shu after finishing his Daoist meditation practice; what does that have to do with Chen Shu in the middle of his Daoist meditation practice?

Today's wine is today's wine.

Tomorrow's sorrow is tomorrow's sorrow.

"How long does the practice take?"

"If there is no failure, it's short for a month, long for half a year."

"Such a wide range?"

"Depends on the results."

"How could it lead to failure?"

"A quiet heart; if the heart is not quiet, it will fail."

"What happens if it fails?"

"Nothing happens, just start over."

"Then why do you want me to find you? If you didn't see me, wouldn't that prevent failure?"

"One cannot escape, one cannot take shortcuts; you just need to interact with me normally. If it fails, it is because my heart is not yet quiet enough, and I ought to start over; it is actually a good thing."

"What factors affect the results?"

"A quiet heart, observation, reflection, harvest..."

"Then how long do you think you need?"

"One month."

"You're very confident."

"I have great talent."

"Oh..."

Chen Shu nodded repeatedly.

Look at that, look at that—

Using a beating from a month later to threaten someone from a month ago; Secretary Ning certainly has a grand official's air.

"Smack!"

"Why did you hit me?"

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."

"You can even guess that??"

"Because I understand you."

"So that's how it is." Chen Shu nodded, then said to her, "But you hit me first."

"..."

Chen Shu took Ning Qing to look around his school, then walked around outside the school, ate lunch at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, and then they each went back.

Jiang Lai and Meng Chunqiu were both sitting in the living room.

Chen Shu opened the door and went in, seeing them, he was a bit strange: "Didn't you two go to check out the clubs?"

"Finished checking them out."

"So fast."

"There wasn't much to see."

"How was the harvest?"

"I joined the Poetry Club." After Meng Chunqiu finished speaking, he pointed at Jiang Lai, "Brother Jiang joined the Martial Arts Club. You really should have gone with us; there's also the Spell Principles Club, the Ancient Cultivation Club, and the Divine Path Club. Our school's students are usually hidden dragons and crouching tigers; there must be things in there you'd be interested in."

"I'm not very interested in those dragons and tigers." Chen Shu yawned, "I'm a bit introverted; I'm afraid if they're too impressive, I'll feel inferior."

"Ahem... has Brother Chen's studies gone smoothly this week?"

"Very smoothly, how about you two?"

"I'm doing alright too; I chat about poetry with the teachers and classmates, and the classmates all like me very much."

"Maybe." Chen Shu looked at his exquisite face; the female students like him, and the male students probably like him too, "What about Jiang Lai?"

"I'm just training as usual."

"Oh..."

"Let's three go out for a stroll tomorrow. Autumn has arrived; not far outside University City is the countryside. The fields have all turned yellow, and the osmanthus flowers have bloomed. Let's go enjoy the autumn; if the mood strikes, we can even improvise a poem. Who knows, it might even become an eternal masterpiece." Meng Chunqiu looked at them, his eyes full of anticipation, "How about it?"

"I have things to do," Jiang Lai said.

"I have things to do too," Chen Shu said.

"Hm?" Meng Chunqiu was a bit puzzled, "What could be more important than enjoying the autumn and composing poetry?"

"Earning living expenses," Jiang Lai said.

"Me too," Chen Shu said, "And in this day and age, unless you are already a famous person, no matter how good the poetry is, it won't stir up any waves in the current world."

"Sigh..."

These two roommates were not only tacky, but at such a young age, they were also reeking of copper, which made Meng Chunqiu feel very pained.

Brother Jiang was a bit better; after all, one could tell from Brother Jiang's attire that his family background might not be very good, as his clothes, pants, and shoes were all very plain and even quite old. But although there was no intention of pursuing brands in Chen Shu's attire, and the styles were just good-looking with many being off-brands, it was clearly visible that his family background should be quite good.

Not lacking money yet having such a great pursuit of money...

Meng Chunqiu felt frustrated that they wouldn't live up to his expectations, and also felt a bit sad.

One must know that life is not easy, so one must enjoy it to the fullest; poetry, songs, and philosophy of the starry sky are where the meaning of life lies. Alas, am I, Meng Chunqiu, destined to be a green lotus poking out of the silt?

Chen Shu, who had returned to his room, turned on his computer.

Teacher Shi Qian had sent him the complete version of the Thousand Machine Art that very evening; it was unlikely to be the latest version, but it should be a relatively new one. In the future, Chen Shu could also fine-tune, improve, or even add other functions to it according to his actual needs and personal conditions.

However, this Spell itself was very complex and was a thorough, large-scale Spell; it would take quite some time to carve its complete Runes into his Spirit Sea.

He had been working hard for this these past few days.

Fortunately, his Spirit Soul was exceptionally strong, making this task much easier for him than for an ordinary person.

In addition, Teacher Shi Qian also helped him inquire about the name of the agency—

May Agency.

The second-largest agency in Yujing.

This company had a relatively good reputation, with no phenomenon of exploiting students, and was praised by senior brothers and sisters alike.

It was also very close to the west of University City.

Perhaps this was the reason why there were no rumors of them exploiting students—the west of University City was full of prestigious schools, the Government paid close attention, and the students were tough, making them not easy to exploit.

Chen Shu went there early Sunday morning.

Agencies were very popular in this country; agencies accepted commissions from the outside, and commission tasks were legal in the vast majority of cases, with very few exceptions depending on the situation.

Actually, it was very similar to the private detective agencies of his past life, or the mercenary associations he had seen in some older novels, though more like an agency.

Such companies all had their own websites and a wide range of business operations, capable of taking on all kinds of tasks. The tasks accepted were usually not open for employees to choose freely, but were assigned by a supervisor based on ability and needs; sometimes one would be assigned to you, and sometimes you would be given several to choose from.

If one were a formal employee, in principle, one was not allowed to refuse unless one lacked the ability.

Part-time staff would be managed more loosely; if you received a task you didn't want, you could say your schedule didn't permit it, as long as you didn't refuse every time.

Agencies basically all accepted part-time workers; they were very willing, as they didn't need to pay for social insurance and could still get help with work to earn money.

"Hello sir, are you..."

"I'd like to work part-time."

"Were you introduced by someone?"

"Introduced by senior brothers and sisters from school."

"Which school are you from?"

"Yujing Academy."

"What year are you in?"

"First year."

"Are you a Formal Practitioner?"

"Yes."

"Let me ask the manager, please wait a moment."

The sound of the young lady's high heels faded away, and she soon returned, bringing a man with her.

The man's name was Wang Yang, who claimed to be a supervisor; he conducted a simple interview with Chen Shu, and upon hearing that he was Second Tier, he didn't dawdle and soon signed the part-time agreement.

Then Chen Shu had to fill out a form.

Cultivation: Second Tier

Areas of expertise: Spell Principles, knowledge-oriented

Spells mastered: Too many to write down

Task preference: Preferably those that do not require personal attendance and can be solved via the internet; do not accept tutoring-type commissions (unless the pay is very high)

Chen Shu thought for a moment and added another sentence:

High-paying ones.

He filled out the rest of the fields and handed it to Supervisor Wang.

Supervisor Wang took a look, had no reaction, and said politely to him: "Alright, your contact information is on there; I will add you later, please accept it. If there are tasks I think are suitable for you, I will contact you proactively. I hope we have a pleasant cooperation."

"Thank you, Supervisor."

"You're welcome."