Chapter 55: Zhang Suannai Accumulates Virtue and Does Good Deeds

The weather in Yujing is getting colder by the day.

With nothing to do today and Zhao Haojiang also hiding away, Zhang Suannai had no choice but to invite her roommate out to have some fun and go to the mall.

Ning Qing agreed.

It was a good opportunity to practice in a different place.

And so, Zhang Suannai walked in front while Ning Qing followed behind; her gaze swept over the bodies and faces of the pedestrians on either side, sometimes stopping to observe the fallen leaves of the street trees, the stray cats that had been drifting for who knows how long and whether they were lonely, and the dwindling number of insects in the green belts.

"You're so slow!"

Zhang Suannai was becoming a bit impatient.

Ning Qing looked at her silently, her heart very calm.

The temperature today was about 4°C.

Zhang Suannai was still dressed thinly.

Some pedestrians on the road were also dressed lightly, likely because their cultivation was higher. Those dressed warmly did not necessarily have low cultivation; they might just like the warmth or were simply following the crowd. Generally, formal Cultivators are rarely frozen sick by temperatures above zero, but they still feel cold unless they continuously use Spirit Power to generate heat.

It is said that it snows in Yujing during the winter.

It does not snow in Bai City.

In Bai City, there is less than a month in the year when one needs to wear a padded jacket; the rest of the time, even in winter, it is very warm.

However, it does snow on the mountains behind Bai City.

Ning Qing had followed Chen Shu up there to see it.

Before she had taken two steps, she stopped again; the ground by the roadside was covered in fallen ginkgo fruits, silvery-white, which Chen Shu would use to make soup—it was bitter and didn't taste good at all.

Why did she think of him again?

She couldn't keep thinking of him for everything.

Thinking like this was too one-dimensional and unfavorable for cultivation.

But one must also let things take their natural course.

It was a contradiction; there was no helping it.

Ning Qing retracted her gaze with an expressionless face, followed behind Zhang Suannai, stepped onto the stairs, and walked toward the entrance of Lemon Mall.

Outside, there were people promoting products and people protesting.

There were children crying and making a fuss, wanting candy.

When Chen Shu brought her out, it was mostly to the supermarket, but Zhang Suannai took her to browse the first and second floors: the first floor sold clothes, shoes, bags, and jewelry, while the second floor mainly sold sports products and electronic products.

"Look at this scarf!"

Zhang Suannai showed her a red scarf and grinned: "Don't you think it looks good when you wear a scarf? It has a kind of gentle and quiet feeling, right? Do you think it would look good if I wore one?"

Ning Qing watched her expression silently.

She could tell that she hoped for an affirmative answer, but she would not give one; she wouldn't even think about the question.

"Sigh..."

Zhang Suannai put the scarf back, feeling very annoyed.

She only had one roommate in total, and she was a mute; she had gone to the trouble of dragging her out to play, but in the end, she wouldn't even keep her company with a single word—it was truly unbearable for her.

She looked her roommate up and down—

Her figure was very tall, her legs long and straight, and her hair was braided into a plait at the back of her head, tied with a beautiful colorful ribbon. Although her attire was simple, in Zhang Suannai's eyes, it was very pleasing; the more she looked, the better it looked.

This roommate was very strange.

At first, Zhang Suannai thought she was a very indifferent person, like some people in the sects—gifted with extraordinary talent, but often only caring about one or a few things; beyond that, most things in their eyes were completely uninteresting and unnecessary, and they certainly wouldn't spend their thoughts or time on dressing up.

To them, that was a serious waste.

Ning Qing fit this type in many ways.

For example, her genius and her coldness.

But later, Zhang Suannai found many contradictory points in her.

For instance, she would dress herself up, take care of her skin, style her hair, buy nice clothes, sometimes even wear a little light makeup, and she even got a manicure.

Just like that junior schoolmate in the group chat!

The people in Zhang Suannai's impression would absolutely never do these things; they felt it was meaningless and unnecessary, they didn't care at all about how others saw them, and some of the more extreme ones didn't even view other people as their own kind.

And Ning Qing even drew a pile of poop on one of her fingers—even an ordinary girl wouldn't do that, right?

Zhang Suannai desperately wanted to ask her, wanted to know the answer, but Ning Qing wouldn't answer her at times like this—oh right, she probably wouldn't answer her at normal times either; this was just too maddening!

"You're so weird, Ning Qing!"

Ning Qing continued to look at her, pondering her thoughts.

"Ah!!"

Zhang Suannai scratched her head vigorously and then took Ning Qing around the second floor, buying a pair of very expensive shoes suitable for Martial Cultivators and Martial Artists, as well as a set of loose clothing.

Walking out of Lemon Mall, she bought a large handful of grilled meat.

Zhang Suannai casually handed half to Ning Qing.

Ning Qing didn't mind; she took it when it was handed to her and started eating.

"Hey!"

Zhang Suannai laughed again.

Right, this roommate also loved to eat; last time, she bought some Dumplings from somewhere and wouldn't even share them with her—she was stingy.

Then she walked forward holding the skewers.

The people who had been protesting at the entrance were now sitting on the plaza in front of the mall, all sitting quietly and holding signs.

Zhang Suannai walked over with her fragrant, piping hot, seasoning-covered meat skewers to take a look, only to realize that this was a group of vegetarians holding all sorts of signs with different anti-meat slogans written on them, and they were written in three languages.

Besides Chinese characters, there was also Lanya and some other language.

The handwriting is a bit ugly.

Afraid she wouldn't see clearly, Zhang Suannai stood in front of them, leaned in close to stare, and couldn't help but read aloud: "Not eating meat won't kill you..."

After reading, she grabbed the large meat skewer and took a big bite, leaving streaks of red oil on both sides of her mouth from the bamboo stick.

She continued to look at the next line: "Animals don't want to be eaten..."

Mmm, this meat skewer is really delicious!

"Chomp, chomp."

"Not eating meat won't kill you..."

Zhang Suannai glanced down and discovered that the person holding the sign in front of her was watching her, so she curiously and politely bent over, asking what she didn't understand: "Ma'am, besides Chinese and Lanya, what is the other language you have here?"

After asking, she took another big bite of the skewer.

It really is so fragrant.

The middle-aged woman looked at her coldly, but still maintained politeness, explaining: "It is the script of the Yaoguo in the east."

"Wow, you all know so much!"

"..."

"Why don't you eat meat?"

"Eating animal meat accumulates bad karma, indirectly causes the sin of killing, and is also bad for the body. Eating a vegetarian diet long-term not only protects animals but can also make the body and mind feel lighter." This skinny middle-aged woman stared at the meat skewer in Zhang Suannai's hand, which was emitting a strong aroma, "We promote boycotting meat, which is equivalent to doing good deeds and can accumulate merit."

"Oh..."

Zhang Suannai dragged out the long tail of the sound, not forgetting to take a bite of meat, chewing and swallowing before saying again: "I have a better way to accumulate merit."

"What way?"

"You go and wash all the cars parked on the road over there; I guarantee everyone will thank you. It will definitely accumulate merit, great merit."

"..."

"What do you think?"

Zhang Suannai looked at her with innocent eyes while eating the meat skewer.

"..."

"Why aren't you talking?"

"..."

"Hmm?"

Zhang Suannai felt a bit strange and muttered in a low voice: "Have you also started practicing Closed-Mouth Zen?"

"Forget it if you won't talk!"

"What's so great about it..."

Zhang Suannai walked to the next person, still eating the meat skewer in big bites, and read the slogan in front of them.

That auntie had a slightly more explosive temper and glared at her, saying:

"Please leave here!"

"Why? This is a plaza, eh..."

"We are meditating here."

"But you just spoke, eh!"

"..." The auntie was choked up, then emphasized again, "We are meditating here!!"

"Meditate then, I didn't tell you to leave..." Zhang Suannai said strangely, her eyes rolling, "Then recite a tongue twister; if you can recite it, I'll leave."

"..."

"Recite it! Red carp, and, green carp, and donkey; recite it fast, you aren't allowed to recite it slowly like I do."

"Red carp le..."

"Kuku-ku!"

"..."

"Eh, why did you stop? Keep reciting!" Zhang Suannai leaned in close to look into her eyes and encouraged her very kindly, "Try one more time, maybe you'll succeed this time!"

"..."

"Just try once! You must have the perseverance to keep going!"

"..."

"You can even endure not eating meat, has this little setback defeated you?"

"..."

"Oh my! Closed-Mouth Zen is quite popular this year..."

"I really want to teach you a lesson!"

"Ah?" Zhang Suannai held up the meat skewer and revealed an expression of Surprise, "Why? How terrifying!"

"You go now..."

"Hmph..."

I won't lower myself to your level.

Zhang Suannai continued walking forward while eating meat, and just like that, she finished reading all the slogans on every sign. During this time, she finished the meat skewer and even went back to buy another one—she often liked to prepare snacks when she was watching variety shows in the Dormitory, so this wasn't intentional.

"Burp~~"

Zhang Suannai grabbed the bamboo sticks and tossed them casually into the sky.

The bamboo sticks flew up one after another, but then stopped in mid-air.

"Go!"

All the bamboo sticks flew forward, piercing straight into the hollow openings of the trash can.

Zhang Suannai looked not far away; her roommate had also finished her meat skewers and was standing there quietly, her expression indifferent, staring at her—as if knowing she was done, the roommate turned around silently, took a step, and walked toward the school.

"Hehe..."

Zhang Suannai trotted over.

Behind her, a group of people stared at her intently.

At night.

Chen Shu was researching a modern Spell he had obtained from Shi Qian, while simultaneously on a video call with Ning Qing.

Ning Qing in the video was exceptionally quiet; she was holding "A Book" and reading it seriously, her head slightly lowered, her eyelids also slightly lowered, her eyes very beautiful, her groomed eyebrows slightly slender, and from her nose bridge, which was exquisite to just the right degree, downward, her lips were somewhat thin, gently pursed, and their shape was also very nice.

She was just reading the book with such focus, not caring at all about Chen Shu on the other side of the video.

It was as if the video call wasn't even on.

"Clatter!"

The pen in Chen Shu's hand fell, and he bent down to pick it up.

Having just disappeared from the frame, Ning Qing immediately noticed, her gaze shifting away from the book to stare at the now-empty frame and the still-swaying back of the chair.

When Chen Shu raised his head again, he saw her staring at him without blinking.

"What are you doing?"

"So strange..."

Chen Shu lowered his head to check his pen; although this fountain pen wasn't expensive, it was a gift from Xiaoxiao, and he had used it for many years—the little girl had saved her money for a long time back then.

When he raised his head again, Ning Qing was no longer looking at the screen.

"Oh, right!"

Chen Shu's words made her raise her eyelids again, and then Chen Shu said to her: "I'm going to help Professor Shi organize the artifacts unearthed from the Saint Ancestor Cube this weekend; it's that Professor Shi I told you about during summer vacation. I've already cleared it with him, and he'll add some credits for me... Our school is strange; besides the credits for required courses, we have to get three credits from other areas each semester to be eligible for scholarships, and Professor Shi said he could max it out for me directly."

Ning Qing lowered her head to read her book again.

It wasn't until it was time to cultivate that Chen Shu hung up the video call with her.

But at this moment, Xiaoxiao sent another video call.

Chen Shu clicked to accept it.

The little girl had dark circles under her eyes and said to him: "Brother-in-law, there are a few problems I can't do, and Sister is acting silly again, so you explain them to me."

"What problems?"

"Principle of Magic Competition problems."

"Competition problems?" Chen Shu looked at her carefully on the screen, "Why do you have dark circles?"

"I signed up for the National Spell Competition before." The little girl's expression was very determined, "I want to be like Sister and get a good ranking in the National Spell Competition, to be specially recruited by a university in Yujing."

"So impressive, Xiaoxiao!"

"I've already passed the provincial preliminary round, I got first place! Next month is the national competition, I'm going to Yujing. If I can get a good ranking there too, I won't have to go to school next semester and can go to Yujing for training. If I can get a good ranking in the global competition next summer, I can go to university in Yujing."

"Next month?"

"Yeah!"

"Then we'll wait for you in Yujing."

"Yeah!" The little girl nodded heavily, then her voice softened, "Brother-in-law, I miss you guys so much..."

"Sister and I miss Xiaoxiao too." Chen Shu showed a warm smile; the little girl was much more direct than her sister, which was good, "But you still have to take care of your health, you know?"

"Does Sister miss me too?"

"She does."

"She wants to beat me, right?" The little girl was a bit scared and said to her brother-in-law, "I've scolded Sister many times recently; when Sister comes back from her break, she'll definitely beat me to death."

"Many times?"

"Yeah! The more I scold, the more scared I get!"

"Then why do you still scold..."

"It's very fun..."

"It's fine, it's fine." Chen Shu still comforted her, "If Sister really beats you, just tell your brother-in-law and vent a little."

"Okay!"

"Are you still eating potatoes every day?"

"Not anymore."

"Are you eating meat?"

"Yes."

"What kind of meat? Tell me about it."

"There's meat in the steamed buns, and there's meat in the rice noodles too."

"How much meat can that be!"

"If there's a lot of meat, there's a bit more; if there's a little meat, there's a bit less."

"..."

"..."

Chen Shu looked at her silently; the little girl shrank her neck slightly, showing a look of fear—no need to doubt, it was faked.

"What problems? Tell me about them."

"Oh..."