Chapter 44: I'm a Girl!

Early morning.

The sparrows outside the window are very noisy.

Chen Shu was woken up by them, turned over and opened his eyes, but didn't want to get up.

Qingqing's bed is very soft, the quilt is soft too, and it feels very warm when covered; last night it smelled fragrant, full of her scent, but now it can no longer be smelled.

Better get up.

Chen Shu took a deep breath, climbed out, shook the quilt a couple of times, couldn't be bothered to tidy it up for her, and walked into the bathroom.

There is a new set of rinsing cup and toothbrush.

"Gurgle gurgle..."

Chen Shu squeezed toothpaste onto the toothbrush, spat out the water in his mouth, and started brushing his teeth.

The toothpaste is grapefruit-flavored, and it smells quite nice.

He still used her towel.

Qingqing downstairs was already awake; the blanket had been folded neatly by her and placed on the sofa. She had pulled up a chair, sat before the window, and was quietly staring outside in a daze.

"Morning."

Ning Qing turned her head and looked at him quietly.

Chen Shu grinned at her: "How did you sleep last night?"

"Not well."

"Eh? You haven't started over yet?"

"No rush."

"When will you start?"

"After I finish roasting you."

"Why roast me?" Chen Shu felt she was inexplicable, "It's early in the morning, I didn't provoke you, instead you provoked me yesterday, alright."

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Very well, your bed is so soft and smells fragrant, I'll sleep in your bed again next time I come."

"Did you fold the quilt?"

"Fold what fold, if you want it folded, fold it yourself."

"I want to eat sour and spicy noodles for breakfast."

"That requires a slow-boiled broth, it can't be made in an instant."

"Dinner then."

"I'm going back to school this afternoon."

"Sour soup noodles."

"I'm still mad at you, I don't want to cook for you!"

"You are so annoying."

"You're the one who's annoying!" Chen Shu said, his anger flaring up, "You even looked at my naked body! Shameless! We haven't even progressed to that step, I feel so awkward inside! I get shy too, alright?"

"Ugly."

"What?"

"My review." Ning Qing said flatly, and for fear he didn't understand or couldn't be hurt by it, she added, "That is my review."

"??"

"I am going to start practicing Jingxin Dao."

"..."

August 20th.

The temperature in Yujing has dropped for a few days; these past few days the daytime temperature has already exceeded the coldest days of winter in Bai City, though Bai City generally isn't very cold in winter.

Shi Qian sat before the computer typing, frowning from time to time.

"Knock knock."

The sound of knocking on the door rang out again.

"Enter."

Chen Shu pushed the door open and walked in.

Shi Qian raised his head and glanced at him, not stopping what he was doing, and asked while multitasking: "Why haven't you come these past few days? Is the Protective Divine Light finished?"

"Finished," Chen Shu replied, "I've been learning some miscellaneous little Spells these days, did you miss me?"

"What little Spells?"

"All kinds of miscellaneous ones."

"Not bad, it can enrich your functionality; even the smallest Spell has its use." Shi Qian nodded in evaluation, his hands still clacking away at the keyboard, "What kind of problem is it today?"

"I'm learning a Thunder Method."

"Thunder Method?"

Shi Qian frowned and stared at the screen: "Current defensive Spells have very high resistance to Thunder Methods, high temperatures, and low temperatures; learning these isn't very cost-effective."

"But they have their uses, don't they?"

"That goes without saying."

"Then what kind of Spells are good?"

"Simpler ones, more direct ones, more brutal ones." Shi Qian paused, "Just like the Protective Divine Light you made; you can clearly see it is very good at resisting attacks like Thunder Methods, burning, or corrosion, but its resistance to massive forces like explosions or impact collisions is much lower, and its defensive ability against sharp or piercing types is also relatively lower."

"You sound like a military Spell manual the moment you open your mouth." Chen Shu grinned, "I'll go back and try to look into it, see if I can get them on the Deep Net, and learn other things first."

"I can provide you with a few older versions as, um, a reference for your studies."

"Then I must love studying far too much."

"Then are you still researching this Thunder Method?"

"I am. I've seen the problems, and it'll be very uncomfortable if I don't figure them out," Chen Shu said. "Besides, what if I encounter similar problems next time?"

"Figuring it out is good; you can draw inferences about other cases in the future."

"I really love studying."

"State the problem."

"I have an idea: when casting the Thunder Method, imbue it with another portion of Spirit Power to create a self-contained shockwave, or amplify the shockwave generated by the air expansion during the electric strike, to assist in piercing the opponent's conventional Spirit Power Defense. If that's hard to implement, the shockwave could also be replaced with other forms of Spirit Power attacks. In short, I want it to take effect alongside the Thunder Method. I think this would have miraculous effects against specific enemies; the Thunder Method itself is quite destructive to living organisms and mechanical electronic equipment."

"The idea is not bad."

Shi Qian kept staring at the computer screen and revealed a smile: "You just said the Thunder Method is easily defended against, and you're already thinking about how to take down the defense first. This line of thinking is quite good."

"Just thinking blindly."

"The military is also researching this. There's a similar project at the Military Academy next door, but the results aren't great."

"Why?"

"Don't know... maybe they're stupid?"

"Emmm..."

"Do you already have an implementation plan? We could actually research this direction."

"I have a preliminary idea."

"Give me half an hour."

"Alright... what are you doing?"

Chen Shu walked behind Shi Qian, focused his gaze, and discovered that he was actually editing a new version of the *Advanced Principles of Spells* textbook.

Impressive, my uncle.

While editing, Shi Qian asked, "When will you promote to the Third Tier?"

"Four days ago."

"Already promoted? Does your Mobile Phone support a Crystal Chip?"

"It does, it's not some old-timer phone." Chen Shu was a bit puzzled. "Why are you suddenly asking this? Is the topic jumping around so much?"

"As long as it supports it."

"What's wrong?"

"There's something..."

Shi Qian suddenly lowered his head, pulled open a drawer, took out a small plastic box smaller than a matchbox, which contained a fingernail-sized Crystal Card, and handed it to Chen Shu: "Take it back and insert it. There's a piece of software on it; it's a communication platform for the most outstanding small group of ancient cultivation students in University City. Be humble after you get in, and don't easily leak your identity."

"What is this?"

"A communication group."

"There's such a thing?"

Chen Shu took the box containing the Crystal Card, then sat down nearby, patiently waiting for Shi Qian to finish his business.

Checking the time, it should be noon after the discussion, so he could still mooch a meal.

Very nice.

That afternoon.

Back at the Dormitory, Chen Shu opened the transparent but poor-quality plastic box and took out the Crystal Chip inside; it was a standard size.

The Crystal Chip is a type of plug-in technology in this world. It adds or provides various functions to devices through external plug-ins, including but not limited to increasing external storage, memory, improving computing performance, resolving design flaws, and embedding certain special functions. The one used for computers is called a Crystal Disk. Because of its size, Mobile Phones did not support this function at first, but later, with the development of technology, there were Crystal Chips that could be inserted into Mobile Phones.

Like the Crystal Disk he often uses, its purpose is to log into the Deep Net Wide and Narrow Alley and provide security from the hardware level.

Chen Shu pried open the card slot on the side of his Mobile Phone.

There were two reserved Crystal Chip slots.

One of them was already used by him to provide the phone with a specific secure storage unit, complete with Spirit Power identification and a self-destruct function.

There was exactly one left.

He inserted the Crystal Chip and pushed the card slot back in.

"Buzz!"

The Mobile Phone vibrated once, prompting a restart.

He clicked to allow the restart.

This process took about twenty seconds. After twenty seconds, he re-entered his password and entered the Mobile Phone.

A nameless white icon software appeared on the home screen.

"So crude."

Chen Shu covered the camera and casually opened the software.

The screen turned snow-white. This was actually the software's splash screen; there wasn't even a logo. The creator really didn't do any art design at all.

A dialog box popped up—

This software is absolutely safe, but just in case, please do not disclose personal information!

Please read the disclaimer carefully and click confirm.

Introduction...

Confirm/Exit (grayed out)

He quickly read through the disclaimer. There were no problems, and there were no things like software licenses, service agreements, or privacy protection guidelines. But for this software, which was clearly used for illegal functions, these didn't have much meaning anyway.

The Confirm/Exit button turned black.

Chen Shu clicked confirm.

Entering password setup guide.

Fingerprint characteristics;

Facial characteristics;

Spirit Power characteristics;

Eh, this Crystal Chip also has Spirit Power identification?

Chen Shu finished doing them one by one.

Please enter a nickname (can be modified):

Chen Shu thought for a long time before typing: Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey

Gender:

Of course it's female!

Avatar:

Chen Shu found a cat photo online.

Information confirmed—

【Avatar】

Nickname: Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey

Gender: Female

Grade: 20th Level (hidden)

Chen Shu clicked confirm.

Another prompt box—

Welcome to using this software; this software allows you to change the software name and icon in the settings at any time.

Only then did he enter the software.

The chat interface of this software is very similar to instant messaging, likely using a similar template. It is very clean inside, with no advertisements and no messy push notifications; there are only two chat targets on the main interface, and the names of these two are both very simple and direct—

System;

Ancient Cultivation Group;

Chen Shu first clicked into the Ancient Cultivation Group.

There is a system message at the top: Welcome "Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey" to join the group chat.

Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey: Hello, seniors.

Haoran Zhengqi: Welcome, newcomer.

Grandma Always Says: Welcome, newcomer.

Grandma Always Says: Newcomers should post a photo.

Nameless Person: Welcome Red Carp! Are you male or female? What level are you? Hope you post a photo!

Nameless Person: Red Carp, your name is such a tongue twister; I read it several times before I could say it smoothly.

Just Call Me Luo Huaian: Welcome.

Chen Shu familiarized himself with this software, though there wasn't much to familiarize himself with. He quickly found the group members; there were only a dozen or so people in total, and it looked like the screening was quite strict.

Currently, only these four are speaking.

Chen Shu returned to the main interface.

Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey: I'm a girl, oh.

Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey: 20th Level.

Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey: Hello, seniors /bow

Grandma Always Says: Junior sister, what kind of damn name is that? I just tried it a dozen times and almost bit my tongue off.

Nameless Person: Is Junior Sister Red Carp pretty?

Nameless Person: Hope you post a photo!

Grandma Always Says: Junior sister, don't pay attention to him. This Nameless Person is very annoying. Listen to me, change your name first, then privately send me a photo—the kind that shows your legs and face.

Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey: Are you a senior brother or a senior sister?

Grandma Always Says: Male.

Red Carp and Green Carp and Donkey: Okay, I'll listen to Senior Brother.

Chen Shu arrived at the name-change interface.

So annoying!

That name just now was something he thought about for a long time before coming up with it, and now he has to think of a new name; it's annoying as hell.

Frivolous Scholar?

Doesn't sound like something a girl would use.

Qingcai Keke?

Good! Let's go with that!

This is the heroine of that book, Qingcai Baiyu Tang.

I am a pure and cute girl...

Chen Shu nodded deeply.

Modification successful.

Qingcai Keke: Changed it. I'll use this name from now on. Please take care of me, seniors /bow

Grandma Always Says: Junior sister, how did you join the group?

Qingcai Keke: Can I say?

Grandma Always Says: You can! Of course you can!

Qingcai Keke: But my teacher told me I can't say.

Grandma Always Says: Your teacher is lying to you.

Qingcai Keke: /eye-roll

Grandma Always Says: Why did you pick such a name?

Qingcai Keke: I've been losing weight lately, always eating green vegetables, and I usually like eating vegetables anyway, I don't like meat, so I picked this name.

Grandma Always Says: Fine, fine, which school are you from?

Qingcai Keke: Can I say?

Grandma Always Says: Why wouldn't you be able to say that? Anyway, it's most likely one of those four schools.

Qingcai Keke: Oh, I'm from Ling'an, what about you, Senior Brother?

Grandma Always Says: I'm from Yuda.

Grandma Always Says: But you can still call me Senior.

Qingcai Keke: We're right next to each other.

Grandma Always Says: These few schools aren't far apart to begin with... why haven't you sent me a photo yet?

Qingcai Keke: I'm not stupid...

Grandma Always Says: Not listening to Senior at all /slams table

Nameless Person: Junior Sister Qingcai Keke, what are you doing right now?

Qingcai Keke: I was just setting up this software, I don't understand anything, it took me forever.

Nameless Person: Oh!

Oh?

Chen Shu's mouth twitched, do you even know how to flirt?

Nameless Person: What about before that?

As expected, he doesn't know how to flirt.

Chen Shu's fingers tapped away at the keyboard.

Qingcai Keke: Before that, a boy confessed to me, it took me a long time to reject him.

Nameless Person: Then you must be very pretty, Junior Sister!

Grandma Always Says: /stunned

Qingcai Keke: I think I'm just okay, but I don't know why, since I was little, so many boys have liked me, and when I was a kid I was always getting my hair pulled by them /sad

Grandma Always Says: /thumbs-up

Chen Shu was laughing in front of the screen, happier than words could describe.