Chapter 59: A Contest of Wisdom and Understanding

Tuesday.

Stocks involving eco-friendly Spirit Power and eco-friendly Spirit Crystals saw a general rise; long-established Spirit-making and Spirit Crystal listed companies also scrambled to paint a picture of eco-friendly prospects—never mind how well they painted it, they just wanted to ride the trend.

Today, Qingzhou Spirit Power hit the daily limit again.

At the same time, Chen Shu received the money sent in advance by Crown Princess Zhusha, but unfortunately, even with the funds in hand today, he could not enter the market despite trying to buy at the limit.

As one of the most competitive individual stocks in eco-friendly Spirit Power, with core technology involving both Spirit-making and Spirit Crystals, Qingzhou Spirit Power's shares were snatched up frantically as soon as the market opened, and billions in large capital were still queuing to enter by the time the market closed.

This company had been laying out its strategy in the eco-friendly Spirit Power sector for many years, and today it was finally time to reap the results.

Wednesday.

Still locked tight, unable to enter.

Thursday.

Continued to be locked tight.

Today Chen Shu didn't try to buy at the limit again; it wasn't that he was afraid, but mainly because he was lazy. He could never get in, and it was mentally exhausting.

Friday.

Still locked tight in the morning session, hit the daily limit at the close, but the limit broke for half a minute in the middle.

Second week.

Market opened on Monday, the limit broke.

Closed at +5.34%.

Chen Shu's profit exceeded 70%.

He wasn't greedy; once the limit broke, he sold, securing his gains, and the amount in his hands had already reached nearly 140,000.

This was already enough to buy one Auxiliary Potion.

Adding the money from just selling out his fellow villager and his commission from last month, he could afford three Auxiliary Potions, which should be enough for his advancement. Once laziness surged up, he felt that earning more money had lost its meaning.

He deleted the software directly, lest it rise again and disturb his Daoist heart.

Meanwhile, during this process, time had unknowingly reached October; most regions in Yiguo had entered winter, and it was even snowing in the north.

It was already very cold in Yujing as well.

Zhao Haojiang's people didn't come to trouble him again.

The group of people who wanted to find the Heavenly Human Mirror also didn't have any further contact with him. He didn't know if they were the ones who had sent Zhao Haojiang's people to block Chen Shu last time, only to stage a "hero saves the beauty" act themselves. If so, perhaps it was because Chen Shu had been more careful recently, and they hadn't found an opportunity to take further measures, but it could also be that after the last failure, they were too lazy to take further steps, fearing to antagonize Chen Shu, and had already given up.

Peaceful days are always comfortable.

Chen Shu opened the balcony door and walked out to take a look; the breath he exhaled had already condensed into white mist.

Returning to the room, he took out his Mobile Phone.

He entered the family group—

Chen Shu: It's so cold in Yujing.

Wei Lvshi: Wear something thicker.

Chen Jiaoshou: Cultivators aren't afraid of the cold.

Wei Lvshi: Shut up.

Chen Banxia: Come play at big sister's place; big sister has already turned on the heating, it's so comfortable.

Chen Shu: You just want me to cook for you.

Chen Banxia: /Laughing out loud

Wei Lvshi: You're twenty-five years old, and you still count on your younger brother to take care of you every day. Aren't you ashamed?

Chen Banxia: /Not listening, not listening

Chen Shu: Chen Jiaoshou, how much Qingzhou Spirit Power did you buy?

Chen Jiaoshou: About 200,000.

Chen Shu: When did you buy it? Did you sell?

Chen Jiaoshou: I bought it when you told me to. It rose 7% half a month ago, so I sold it.

Chen Shu: Congratulations to Chen Jiaoshou for securing a huge income of 7%. It hit the limit five times in a row last week; surely Chen Jiaoshou doesn't care about this little bit of money.

Chen Jiaoshou: ……

Chen Shu: How much are you planning to give me as a dividend?

Chen Jiaoshou: Going to teach class.

……

The small courtyard of Zhilan Garden.

Ning Qing sat on the sofa, holding "A Book" in her hands. She looked down at it, turning her head from time to time to glance at Chen Shu beside her.

This person was scrolling through short videos, constantly making noise; she knew what he was watching just by the sound.

His taste was truly eclectic; he watched everything.

First a short situational drama, then one teaching people how to cook, followed by one about village life.

There was even one about trimming cow hooves.

It was specifically for treating injuries to cow hooves, using a knife to cut open the hoof, washing away the blood, pus, and dirt from the lesion, disinfecting it, and then applying medicine and bandaging it. Such a video often took a minute or two, without fast-forwarding.

Ning Qing often saw him watching it; she didn't know how much he had learned, but she felt she was almost ready to learn how to trim cow hooves herself.

She didn't know what was so interesting about it.

It was disgusting.

The next one was a young lady dancing.

Ning Qing lowered her head and stared silently at the text in the book. The dynamic music played over and over in her ears, and she could clearly feel this person move his gaze away from the Mobile Phone and look at her for no reason.

This gaze went from top to bottom, first from her hair to her face, staring at her eyes and examining her features in detail. A moment later, it followed downward, passing her neck, from her collarbone to her chest, lingering for a few seconds, then continued along the curves of her waist to her legs.

During this time, he kept pausing, scanning back and forth.

In short, he looked her over thoroughly.

He was not the least bit reserved.

Then he looked at the young lady on his Mobile Phone, then back at her, as if comparing her figure to the young lady on the screen, or perhaps imagining her dancing like the young lady on the screen.

Ning Qing turned her head and silently met his gaze.

She had thought this would make him restrain himself a little, but she never expected it to invite his earnest admonition:

"Read your book, focus on reading your book."

"……"

Ning Qing withdrew her gaze and looked at the book page.

This time, she had been practicing the Heart Dao for the longest, already over half a month; she absolutely could not fail again.

Chen Shu's voice came to her ears again: "I'm telling you, with such a good figure and such long legs, it's a real pity you don't know how to dance... Why don't you learn to dance? Any dance will do, though of course, once you learn, you can only dance for me to see, how about that?

"Silence means consent.

"Good, you've agreed."

He doesn't look very handsome, but his imagination is quite beautiful.

Ning Qing acted as if she couldn't hear him at all.

This person swiped down to another post, another young lady, and he looked up and said to her with Joy: "The recommendation algorithm for this platform had some issues before, so I gave them a suggestion over the summer break, and hey, once the semester started, it really got much better..."

Ning Qing turned a page of her book with her finger.

"I made a big profit on stocks yesterday, it was like picking up money; this kind of money is so comfortable to take, I'll treat you to hot pot tomorrow.

"Do you know? Xiaoxiao is coming to Yujing in a few days to participate in the National Spell Competition; she also signed up for the National Spell Competition, it seems she really isn't doing well staying in Bai City.

"Oh my, as her brother-in-law, my heart aches for her.

"She said if she gets a good ranking in the national competition, she'll agree to come to Yujing for training next semester. If she doesn't want to stay in the Dormitory then, or if the Dormitory conditions are poor, and it's not too far away, she can just stay here with you.

"It's really hard on Xiaoxiao.

"She's so capable, she could definitely get a ranking without coming to Yujing for training; it seems she really doesn't want to stay in Bai City for even one more day.

"……"

Ning Qing looked down at her book, her eyes shining.

The warmth hadn't lasted even two minutes when she glanced sideways and saw that this person had already sat down beside her, pretending to be very curious as he stared at her pants, and even reached out to touch them.

These were very loose, thin casual pants, so thin that his hand felt as if it were touching her leg directly.

"Are you wearing long johns?

"Oh, you're not.

"It's getting cold, even if you don't wear long johns, you should at least wear black silk stockings underneath, right?

"How about I buy you a pair?"

"……"

Can this person not be serious for more than five minutes?

"Thump."

Ning Qing closed her book, stood up, and sat a little further away.

"The persimmons seem ready."

Hearing this person's voice, she looked outside again.

The persimmons in the courtyard had grown large, the fruit showing a color of green tinged with yellow and yellow flecked with green. This variety matures quite late, usually not until the eleventh lunar month, and it is said that when fully ripe, they hang on the withered tree like little lanterns.

That scene must be very beautiful.

Chen Shu looked at his Mobile Phone: "Hey, the weather will be great for the next few days, just perfect, just perfect."

She didn't know what was perfect.

But seeing him stand up and walk outside, Ning Qing followed him to the doorway and leaned against it to watch him.

Is it time to start making dried persimmons?

Are they made using raw ones?

She saw this person stand under the tree and use the Summoning Technique to pick the persimmons. Every time a persimmon was pulled down, it made a crisp "crack" sound, which was inexplicably stress-relieving.

Chen Shu picked exactly half and turned back to say to her: "I'll leave the other half for you as a decorative tree, it's very pretty, and you can eat the ripe ones later."

He really did know what I was thinking.

Ning Qing felt no ripples in her heart.

This person came back carrying a basin of persimmons and called for her to go with him to do the Peeling Technique; she continued to follow silently behind him.

"Me and my mute tag-along."

"……"

The two sat opposite each other at the dining table, each holding a small knife, and began the Peeling Technique on the persimmons.

Ning Qing didn't know how to cook, but she was always being called by Chen Shu to do odd jobs for him; she was actually quite good at washing and the Cutting Technique.

"Look!"

Chen Shu stood up, holding a long strip of persimmon peel in his hand, and said to her boastfully:

"So long! It didn't break at all!"

Ning Qing only glanced at it and withdrew her gaze.

Peeling an equally complete and unbroken strip, she tossed it aside casually; she was not as childish as him.

The persimmons were soon finished, lined up on the table; their color looked deeper than before they were peeled, like little faded lanterns, which was actually quite pretty.

Chen Shu took another photo.

Recording a mundane life.

"Do you know?"

Chen Shu pinched a small piece of persimmon peel that looked relatively clean, handed it to her, and said, "This peel is delicious, crunchy and sweet, with a hint of tartness; you'll definitely like it."

As he spoke, he held this small piece of persimmon peel to her lips.

Ning Qing looked at him with an expressionless face.

Although she had never seen a persimmon before and did not know if this peel was tasty or not, it was not hard to see that this person was lying—his eyes were hiding a great deal of anticipation, and it looked like the taste of this thing might be much worse than apple or pear peels.

What would it taste like?

She actually wanted to try it.

Ning Qing opened her mouth and took a small bite, and was immediately overcome by an astringent and numbing sensation filling her mouth.

"Hahaha!"

Chen Shu's laughter was somewhat grating.

Ning Qing calmly spat it out.

"You are so silly!

"Who eats the peel!

"At least you have to eat the flesh."

Then Chen Shu picked up another persimmon, handed it to her with a smile, and said to her, "Try this one; this one is truly sweet and slightly tart, but the part near the peel is still astringent, so eat the inside."

Ning Qing silently took it and took another bite.

It was still astringent and numbing, very difficult to swallow.

"Click."

This person held up his Mobile Phone, aimed it at her, and took a photo, his smile triumphant and bright.

Ning Qing put down the persimmon, still calmly eyeing his expression, her eyes flickering with a faint light as she quietly pondered—

This person had deliberately revealed a flaw the first time, letting her see that he was teasing her, but he knew that she would likely still choose to eat it because he understood her. The second time was a genuine trap; he had put on an almost perfectly normal expression. If not for the first time, she might have been able to spot the clues, but the first time had lowered her guard, making her think the second time might be real.

Interesting.

Immediately after, this person beckoned her to join him in stringing the persimmons together with a rope.

She did not know why, nor could she ask, so she simply did whatever Chen Shu told her to do. In fact, even under normal circumstances, she often would not really want to ask; she always trusted Chen Shu unconditionally, and it just so happened that she had enough patience to wait for the result, because the result would always appear before her.

Even though Chen Shu often deceived her, in most situations she still chose to believe him.

At least, she pretended to believe him.