Chapter 399: Damn it! I was beaten to the punch by Xiaoxiao!

That afternoon, they played a total of five rounds, winning three and losing two—a major victory for the Alliance of the Oppressed in their resistance against the Demon King Sister.

It was just a pity that Xiaoxiao died miserably in every round.

Heart pierced; neck snapped; blown to pieces; burned to ashes; pounded into meat paste.

Fortunately, this was just a game.

The three of them opened the cabin doors, still wanting more. Soft white light immediately lit up inside the cabins, illuminating the dim Quiet Room a bit more. They saw that the door to the Quiet Room was already open, and a long-haired white cat was sitting on the empty floor, facing them with a proper posture, its little head lowered deeply, already asleep.

Hearing the sound, it suddenly woke up again, lifted its head at once, and rubbed its eyes with its paws.

Then it stared at them.

"Woo-un~"

"Mm!"

Chen Shu was a bit surprised: "Weren't you out wandering? When did you get back? How did you know we were here?"

"Woof~"

"What did it say?"

"It's meaningless." Ning Qing walked over and picked up the white cat from the floor.

"What do you mean it's meaningless?"

"It didn't want to answer you, so it just barked randomly," Ning Qing explained, turning to walk outside, "to brush you off."

"..."

Chen Shu followed speechlessly, while simultaneously turning his head to exchange a quiet glance with the young girl, consolidating their alliance.

That evening.

Because the weather was too hot, Chen Shu changed the dining location to the dining room.

Chen Banxia held the remote control, adjusted the dining room's air conditioning, and asked casually: "Is this dining room of yours only used in the summer, except for when the weather is bad?"

The young girl walked over carrying a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and answered in a low voice: "When it's cool in the summer, we also eat in the courtyard."

"Comfortable."

Chen Banxia also went to fetch dishes.

Soon, the few of them sat down at the dining table one after another.

As soon as Chen Banxia picked up her rice, she stood up quite unceremoniously, brought the scrambled eggs with tomatoes over, used a spoon to scoop a good amount into her bowl, and mixed it with the rice. While mixing, she turned to ask Chen Shu and the others: "Where did you go this afternoon? I came to look for you, but there wasn't a single person in the house."

"At home," the young girl answered with a serious face. "We were playing games upstairs. My brother-in-law and I beat the sister to a pulp."

"What game were you playing? I called for you, but didn't hear anything."

"Because we were inside the Quiet Room."

"Oh, I see, no wonder." Chen Banxia paused, shoveled a mouthful of rice, and asked again, "What game?"

"Ultimate Ancient Cultivation."

"What type is it?"

"Fighting. The sister was beaten miserably by me and my brother-in-law."

"Mobile phone?"

"Game Capsule."

"You bought a Game Capsule?" Chen Banxia showed a surprised expression.

"I bought it," the young girl answered honestly. "I earned a sum of money recently and didn't know how to spend it, so I bought three Game Capsules to play with."

"What model?"

"jz-300."

"The one Chen Shu wanted?"

"Yes."

"..."

Chen Banxia was stunned for a moment, looked at the young girl, then looked at Chen Shu, blinked her eyes, and couldn't help asking: "Didn't you say your self-control wasn't good and you were afraid it would affect your studies?"

Chen Shu glanced at the young girl, whose expression had suddenly become solemn, and said casually: "It's the holidays now, isn't it? No classes!"

The young girl secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Banxia, however, frowned.

She had wanted to buy this Game Capsule for her younger brother before—there was no helping it, her brother was becoming wealthier by the day, and trying to gain fragments of dignity from him through simple transfers was no longer feasible; the only path left was to cater to his interests. She just hadn't bought it because she was afraid of affecting his studies.

Yet she hadn't expected that, through a moment of carelessness, something that should have been done by the great sister had actually been snatched away by Xiaoxiao.

Her brother must have been very touched at the time, right?

Chen Banxia glanced at the young girl, her mood complicated.

"I wanted to buy one for Chen Shu before, too, but he said he was afraid it would affect his studies, so I didn't," Chen Banxia said hurriedly to make up for it, then asked, "When did you buy it? How much did it cost?"

"Hmm..."

The young girl thought about it, but couldn't remember if it was three or four days ago, so she said: "I bought it when I placed the order."

"..."

Chen Banxia silently withdrew her gaze, ate a few more mouthfuls of rice, and said to the young friend beside her: "Shall we buy one too? We can team up and play together then."

"Mm..."

The young friend who had worked all day only had food on her mind at this moment.

"Don't be in a rush to buy," Chen Shu said to Chen Banxia. "We're going back to Yuanzhou for a few days in two days; it'll be July when we get back. By the Mid-Autumn Festival, there will definitely be a discount."

"What day are you going back to Yuanzhou?"

"The day after tomorrow? How about that?"

"That works."

Chen Banxia agreed, then said to the side, "Suannai, are you going to Yuanzhou to play?"

"Hmm..."

Zhang Suannai finally swallowed the food in her mouth and showed a troubled expression: "But I just found a job as a residential complex security guard..."

"You changed jobs?" Chen Shu looked at her, "Why aren't you delivering food anymore?"

Zhang Suannai rolled her eyes:

"Because I quit."

Hearing this, the little girl instantly raised her head and stared at her.

Chen Shu continued to ask:

"Why?"

"I felt it wasn't fun anymore." Zhang Suannai stopped her rhythm of eating, treating it as a break, "At first I thought it was fun, running around, and I could stop halfway to watch people argue over car accidents or look at excavators on the side of the road. There was also a delivery rider group where I could listen to them gossip and bicker every day, or look for girls; it was very interesting. Later on, it slowly became not fun, because I was running alone every day and had no one to talk to, so it was a bit boring."

"So you plan to find a job where you can interact with people?"

"Yeah! You understand me!" Zhang Suannai gave Chen Shu a thumbs up, "It also has to be relatively easy, preferably one where I can play on my Mobile Phone while working. I thought about it over and over, and being a residential complex security guard is simply tailor-made for me."

"Which complex is it at?"

"Our complex, of course. It's close to home. I was working today, and while I was at it, I even went home to get an ice cream to eat," Zhang Suannai said, "Oh right, I bought a type of ice cream that is so delicious. After we finish eating, I'll bring a box over for you guys."

"I went out and came back today, why didn't I see you?"

"Which gate did you use?"

"That one over there."

"Oh, I'm at the one on the inner side."

"When did you start working?"

"..."

Zhang Suannai rolled her eyes again: "I started on the first day."

The little girl raised her head again, staring straight at Zhang Suannai, chewing and chewing until she swallowed the potato in her mouth, then said earnestly: "Sister Suannai, there are many good things about me that you can learn from; you don't necessarily have to learn these messy things."

"Oh, oh..."

"Then how long do you plan to do this security guard job?" Chen Banxia asked.

"Until I don't want to do it anymore," Zhang Suannai chuckled, "Then I'll change to another one. Next time I plan to go be a skydiving instructor, taking others skydiving, jumping from five thousand meters to ten thousand meters. Haha, just thinking about it is fun..."

"That's good."

Chen Banxia nodded. Although this little sister's personality was a bit Sword Sect, this attitude toward life was still worth her affirmation.

Chen Shu couldn't help but think of many years later—

By then, Zhang Suannai would have become a Sword Master, or even a Sword God, the first Sword Master or Sword God born in the internet era, and the internet would be full of the deeds from her youth...

Perhaps an old woman would stand up to be interviewed, saying she ordered a delivery when she was young and it was delivered by the contemporary Sword Master; there would be an old man bragging to his old friends while playing chess that the contemporary Sword God had worked as a security guard in his complex, and when he entered or left the gate, he had even handed her a bear-shaped cookie.

Chen Shu couldn't help but pull up the corners of his mouth.

After dinner, taking advantage of the dropping temperature, Ning Qing carried a water hose to thoroughly water her flowers and plants.

Afterward, she began to set up an automatic irrigation system.

Since they had to return to Yuanzhou, and according to Chen Shu they would stay for about ten days to half a month, which wasn't considered very long, the ground-planted flowers and plants would generally be fine for half a month as long as they were thoroughly watered once. The potted ones, however, had to be watered every day, and would die if left unwatered for at most two days.

Two days later, it was exactly the beginning of July.

The four people and one cat returned to Bai City.

When they returned, it was raining in Bai City, and the temperature was around twenty degrees, forming a sharp contrast with the thirty-six or thirty-seven degrees in Yujing.

The flying car landed at the residential complex where Ning Qing lived.

Chen Shu used the Resistance Technique to ward off the raindrops, held Qingqing's hand, and the four people and one cat walked into her courtyard.

"Hey!"

Chen Shu felt happy, discovering that the two rose bushes Ning Qing had left in the courtyard were still growing quite well. Whether they were shrubs or climbers, they were blooming with quite a few flowers. While this was certainly due to the heaven-defying climate of Bai City, it was clear that Manager Ning and Curator An had at least watered them.

Ning Qing also glanced at them without comment, then stepped straight into the house.

Manager Ning was actually at home.

Several pairs of eyes met.

The first to speak was actually Chen Banxia, who greeted them cheerfully: "Uncle Ning, are you not working today? We just got back and came over to take a look."

Chen Shu also followed with a smile: "Manager Ning, haven't seen you in half a year, did you miss me?"

"No."

Manager Ning's expression was faint, and it was unclear which question he was answering. He then glanced at Ning Qing and Xiaoxiao, and only said:

"You're back?"

"Yeah."

Ning Qing was expressionless.

Xiaoxiao glanced elsewhere.

Judging solely by the conversation, the relationship between Chen Shu and Chen Banxia and Manager Ning seemed even closer.

Manager Ning didn't care, his gaze shifting slightly downward to catch the hand Chen Shu and Ning Qing were holding. He keenly sensed the change in their relationship upon this return, then raised his eyes to give Chen Shu a deep look. He didn't say anything, quickly withdrew his gaze, and continued watching his news.

Two hours later, the rain stopped.

The sky of Bai City after the rain was washed clean, revealing a clear blue, and the air was moist and cool. This climate was much more comfortable than Yujing.

Chen Shu and Chen Banxia were walking on the way home, and Chen Banxia couldn't help but show a pained expression: "Is the relationship between Qingqing, Xiaoxiao, and their parents still that bad?"

"It's always been like that. How can things in the bloodline be changed in a short time?"

"This atmosphere is too painful."

"I wouldn't say it's uncomfortable. Given their personalities, they might actually adapt quite well to this way of interacting; they don't have a good relationship anyway. If they were as enthusiastic as your mom, they'd probably feel even more awkward." Chen Shu glanced at her, "Can you imagine President Ning managing them the way your mom manages you? If that happened, I reckon they'd stay in Yujing and never come back."

"That makes sense too."

"Right?"

"But I still feel uncomfortable; if it were me, I'd definitely feel extremely awkward," Chen Banxia said, "It's a good thing Qingqing and Xiaoxiao aren't like them."

"That's also because I taught them well."

"Pfft!"

Chen Banxia pursed her lips and made a face.

Walking all the way back to her residential complex, the moment she pushed open the door and saw Wei Lvshi flipping through case files and Chen Jiaoshou watching the market board to brainwash himself, hearing the old couple's greetings—one enthusiastic and one perfunctory—Chen Banxia immediately felt at ease.