Chapter 389: The Last Internship of the Fourth Year

"Another year of the Great Exam has ended..."

Chen Shu was gnawing on a peach while watching the news, speaking as if to himself: "What's wrong with these examinees being interviewed? I remember when the segment for interviewing examinees after the Great Exam used to be very serious. Everyone would either say they didn't perform well or were full of confidence. How come now they're all acting so weird?"

Ning Qing walked up from behind him, ruffled his hair—which was only a short stubble—and after he dodged, she sat down beside him:

"What do you think? Student Ning."

"Who are you calling Student Ning?"

"Childish."

"Tch..."

Chen Shu took a bite of the peach and shook his head: "Still, they are much weaker than I was back then... Tsk, they don't know how to leverage celebrity effects, nor do they know how to utilize public opinion. By doing these ordinary jokes that are like punchlines, they will never be as popular as I was back then."

"Show-off!"

"The peach is delicious!" Chen Shu stole a glance at her and placed a hand on her thigh, the touch warm and soft. "Want to taste one?"

"Woof?"

Not far away, the white cat stretched its neck to look over.

Ning Qing said nothing, her expression indifferent. Since he said it was delicious, she casually took one.

These peaches were sent by Dharma Master Tongdeng, grown on the peach trees on the mountain at Xinzheng Temple. Only after receiving them did Chen Shu realize it was already the season for eating peaches. However, the amount Dharma Master Tongdeng sent them was enough for them to eat for the year.

"Crunch!"

Ning Qing took a bite; it was rich in juice.

It is said that the peach trees covering the mountains of Xinzheng Temple have a history of a thousand years, so this could be considered a thousand-year-old variety, right? Perhaps because of this, they were not large, only about the size of a chicken egg, and their appearance was average, yet the taste was excellent—nourished by the Spirit Power of Xinzheng Temple and with sufficient sunlight on the mountain, these peaches with their rich fragrance and sweet flesh were created. Dharma Master Tongdeng also picked them at the perfect time; the fruit had just begun to soften but had not yet reached the point of being mushy. With one bite, one could taste the distinct peach flesh mixed with plenty of juice.

In this summer, it was nothing short of pleasant.

"Is it good?"

"It's okay."

"Is it delightful?"

"Mm."

"Your Tongue Desire cultivation is finished!" Chen Shu instantly drew a conclusion.

"..."

Ning Qing rolled her eyes at him and continued biting the peach, not refuting him.

This was something anyone could see.

Immediately, this person perked up, his expression coming to life. He looked left and right, and seeing that Xiaoxiao was not there, he asked in a low voice: "Then when does your next stage of cultivation begin?"

"In a while."

"In a while?"

"Mm..."

"How long is 'in a while'?"

"Just after a period of time."

"How long is that?"

"Not sure."

"Approximately?"

"I need to organize and digest the insights gained during the Tongue Desire period before I can begin the next stage of cultivation."

"How long will that take?"

"Not sure." Ning Qing pinched the peach, her fingers slender and extremely beautiful. She glanced at him sideways, "If the time is long, it will be a bit longer; if the time is short, it will be a bit faster."

"..."

Chen Shu was silent for a moment and concluded: "You really are getting more and more mischievous!"

Ning Qing did not respond, only quietly watching him. After eating the last bit of peach flesh, she even mimicked Chen Shu's earlier action, putting the peach pit into her mouth, rolling it around a few times to clean it, and then spitting it out.

There was still no expression on her face.

"We are going out for an internship in a few days," Chen Shu said to her. "Going to some base or other to learn the formal process of Spell development."

"So?"

"How are you not panicked at all?!"

"Isn't your internship in Yujing?" Ning Qing remained calm and picked up a second peach.

"Eh! You knew!"

"I am a Secret Sect Practitioner," Ning Qing said, though she used his usual tone of voice.

"How did you guess that again?"

"Guessed it randomly, half-guessing and half-bluffing." Ning Qing admitted honestly and glanced at him, "You are too easy to guess, and also very easy to bluff."

"Emmm..."

"So when do you start your internship?"

"Guess."

"The first half of mid-May."

"Specifically?"

"Can't guess."

"I thought you were so impressive... I could guess this too, because the internship takes a while, and the exam is in June."

"So when?" Ning Qing continued to ask.

"Not telling you."

"Forget it if you won't say."

"The seventh of the fifth lunar month, after the Dragon Boat Festival." Because he was helpless, Chen Shu patted her leg while speaking to vent his dissatisfaction, "The location is some base outside the city to the east; it's quite far, but it's not a no-fly zone there, so I can fly around Yujing and come back, which is still quite convenient."

"I'm about the same."

"Hehe..."

Chen Shu couldn't help but reveal a smile.

Ning Qing rolled her eyes, not wanting to speak.

The television was still playing news about the Great Exam.

"Look, were we the same as them back then? Oh, it was me back then; you didn't go to take the exam, what a pity." Chen Shu paused as he spoke, "But I was a bit more confident than them, and my looks were a bit higher."

"And your skin was a bit thicker."

"Shut up."

"Then don't talk to me."

"..." Chen Shu was choked up, then felt a wave of nostalgia, "In the blink of an eye, that actually happened four years ago."

"Isn't that so?" Ning Qing glanced at him faintly, "Student Ning was also drowned in the tide of the internet."

"... You're going to remember that for a lifetime, aren't you?"

"Be content; there aren't many people left who can still remember this incident."

"..."

That was true.

Chen Shu couldn't help but touch his head again.

The short stubble felt quite interesting to touch.

Four years had passed, and he was no longer a fresh young man either.

Especially while sporting this labor-camp haircut.

Qingqing by his side had always looked the same and had always been by his side, but in fact, there had been some changes too.

"Thump!"

A peach pit hit the trash can.

Ning Qing pulled over a tissue, wiped the juice off her hands, glanced at Chen Shu beside her, moved her gaze upward, and also reached out to touch his short hair, rubbing it a few times.

Chen Shu pretended to be displeased and brushed her hand away, then picked up another peach, called over Taozi, who was playing with a paper ball, and teased it, saying: "Come, I'll give you a peach to eat, let you eat yourself."

Taozi lowered its head to look at the peach, then looked up at him; truthfully, it had always been very confused as to why there was a type of food with the same name as a person.

The fifth of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival.

The neighbor with the surname Zhang returned to school to attend the Graduation Ceremony.

When she returned, she was wearing the traditional academic dress unique to this world, looking like both a long gown and an official robe, with a jade pendant hanging from her waist and carrying her graduation certificate. At this moment, she was officially graduated from Ling'an Academy.

Chen Shu and the others were waiting for her to eat—

Now they seemed to have formed a tacit understanding; usually, when Chen Shu was cooking, Chen Shu was responsible for the meals. When Chen Shu was away or not cooking, this neighbor with the surname Zhang was responsible for the meals by ordering takeout or other channels. If they went out to eat at a restaurant, the neighbor with the surname Zhang was always eager to pay the bill.

It was just that if Chen Banxia was there, the two of them might have a dispute over who would pay.

Today, Chen Shu cooked, and Chen Banxia was also there.

For the Dragon Boat Festival, one must eat zongzi, salted duck eggs, Cured Meat, watercress, and some also eat the five yellows and five reds; there were many varieties. Chen Shu felt that it was because the ancients had poor living conditions and were reluctant to spend money even when they had it on ordinary days, so they specifically found a festival and made up a bunch of reasons to convince themselves to take the money they were reluctant to spend on ordinary days to get some good things to eat and satisfy their cravings.

By the time it reached later generations, there was only the duty to comply.

"Let me see your jade pendant."

Chen Banxia held her chopsticks in her mouth and reached out toward Zhang Suannai. After getting the jade pendant, she looked at it left and right: "It doesn't seem as good as the one our school issued... The one our school issued back then could sell for at least a thousand or eight hundred yuan online."

"Mine can also sell for a thousand or so!"

"Really?"

"That's because the quality everyone received was different." Zhang Suannai tried her best to defend her school, "Mine is just a bit worse."

"Is that so..."

"This isn't mass-produced on an assembly line, of course every piece is different!"

"Fine, fine." Chen Banxia didn't argue with her, then asked, "What do you plan to do after graduation? You can't just eat, drink, and play for a lifetime, right?"

"I plan to find a job."

"What kind of job?"

"Haven't thought about it yet."

"That's fine, that's fine." Chen Banxia expressed approval of her attitude, "You really should find a job. You can find one that's a bit freer; if you only cultivate and have nothing else to do, it's very easy for problems to arise."

"How about I go deliver takeout?"

"That works, it's quite suitable for you," Chen Banxia said, "Or go to the Sword Hall to be a coach; besides that, you don't seem capable of doing anything else."

"I can also do Didi substitute fighting."

"Brain-dead..."

"Why are you insulting people?"

"..."

Chen Banxia couldn't be bothered to talk to her and turned to look at the other younger siblings, but before she could speak, she was blocked by her younger brother with half a salted duck egg.

"Mmph!"

"Eat your food properly!"

Chen Shu rolled his eyes at her.

Recently, Chen Banxia had transferred to become Teacher Chen. On top of her "sisterly dignity," she had added a layer of "teacher's dignity." She was full of an inexhaustible drive to teach and educate, and she wanted to lecture anyone she saw.

Chen Shu would not indulge her.

……

After the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

Chen Shu followed his entire class to the Talent Training Center established by the National Spell Design and Research Base in the eastern suburbs of Yujing City; every provincial capital city has one of these, mainly used for talent training. Employees from the design and research base serve as teachers, leading everyone to develop small Spells according to the standard Spell development process, familiarizing them with the workflow of collaborative Spell development and testing, which is more aligned with society and the market compared to school courses.

That evening, the teacher let them form groups freely.

Many classmates extended an olive branch to Chen Shu, hoping he would join their groups.

Yet he was in a very difficult position.

Just as he was struggling with the decision, he heard the class monitor's voice from afar: "Big shot, come to our group; you can just slack off as much as you want."

"!"

Look at that! No wonder she is the class monitor!

Chen Shu's expression changed immediately; he walked toward the class monitor with a moved face and shook hands with her: "The one who understands me is none other than the class monitor..."

"Small matter!"

"The class monitor is generous! It's just that I've been a bit busy lately..."

"Big shot, it's fine even if you have things to do and don't show up!"

"From now on, you are my own brother, class monitor!"

"No need for that, no need for that..."