Chapter 91: The Hospitable People of Yuanzhou

"Oh!"

Zhang Suannai hopped and skipped around to look at everything; she ran to the kitchen doorway but didn't go in, instead leaning against the doorframe and poking her upper body inside to peer around: "Your kitchen is so well-stocked? Do you even cook for yourself?"

"No."

"Do you know how to?"

"No."

"Then these must have been left behind by the previous tenant?"

"There was no previous tenant."

"The original landlord, then." Zhang Suannai nodded, then glanced at the stove, suddenly feeling a bit puzzled, "Why does this stove look a bit familiar?"

"Does it?"

"Yeah, inexplicably familiar..."

"How is it familiar?" Ning Qing glanced at the girl from afar.

"Maybe it's because most kitchens look like this?" Zhang Suannai quickly came up with an answer, clever and witty.

"..."

"Eh? What's with that expression?"

"Nothing."

"So weird..."

Zhang Suannai ran to the refrigerator again, opened it, and took a look, "Oh! There are still a few plates of leftovers in your fridge... Did you order takeout? Was it from yesterday or the day before? Is it still edible? What kind of dish is this?"

"Pickled Pepper Chicken Giblets."

"Sounds delicious!" Zhang Suannai said, "Let's just eat this tonight; it's a waste not to, and the Government is advocating for food conservation now."

"Fine."

"You seem to really like this flavor."

"Mm."

"What kind of local specialties do you have in Yuanzhou? Tell me about them, so maybe when I use Sword Flight to come visit you, you can take me to eat them!"

"Rice noodles."

"Mm, rice noodles."

"..."

"What else? Go on, keep talking!"

"Sweet and sour fish."

"Continue."

"Papaya, mango, dipped in chili."

"What a strange way to eat." Zhang Suannai said, then tilted her chin, signaling her to continue.

"Steam Pot Chicken."

"Why is it called Steam Pot Chicken?"

"There's chicken inside."

"That sounds good, anything else?" Zhang Suannai paused, then said with dissatisfaction, "Why do you talk like that? You only say one word for every question someone asks; can't you be more proactive and finish what you're saying all at once? You're like that one thing..."

"Like what?"

"A toad; you jump when poked, and don't move if you aren't."

"..."

"Fine! Keep going!"

"Old Granny Potato." Ning Qing glanced at her and pursed her lips, "Because it's made of mashed potatoes, even an old granny can chew it."

"That's a great name!" After saying this, Zhang Suannai nodded repeatedly at Ning Qing, "Not bad, not bad, you finally learned to answer quickly."

"..."

"Fine! I said the wrong thing again! You continue!"

"Don't want to."

"Ah, your attitude is so cold..."

"You talk too much."

"I'm doing this to reform you!" Zhang Suannai said righteously, "If I didn't influence you like this, you would definitely become colder and colder throughout your four years of university, and sooner or later you'd be just like those Heavenly Humans—emotionless and destined to grow old alone!"

"I'm going to cook."

One hour later, it was mealtime.

Zhang Suannai sat in the seat Chen Shu usually occupied, with Ning Qing and Taozi opposite her; a few plates of leftovers were placed in the middle, and the two of them each scooped a bowl of rice, while Taozi's exclusive cat bowl also contained a small mound of rice—this little thing had learned what kind of dietary habits and table manners higher life forms should have through long-term observation of the eating habits of humans like Chen Shu, Ning Qing, and Xiaoxiao; as for cat food, nobody else ate that stuff, so it didn't either.

Although they were called leftovers, Chen Shu had actually cooked a lot yesterday, and the two of them hadn't eaten much, so more than half remained.

After being heated up, the aroma of the dishes was brought out; Zhang Suannai was the first to pick up a chopstick of pickled pepper beef, placing it into the snow-white rice, and the hot oil stained the top layer of rice a golden yellow.

She couldn't help but take a bite.

Sour and spicy, the beef was very tender.

"Delicious! It goes so well with rice!"

Zhang Suannai's eyes lit up, and she said repeatedly: "This is my first time eating beef stir-fried like this, where did you order it from?"

"My boyfriend made it."

"Tch!"

"..."

Ning Qing watched her silently.

Zhang Suannai was still grumbling unhappily: "Forget it if you don't want to talk to me. I'll just focus on eating, I won't say another word. Hey, I'll eat a bite of this dish, then a bite of that dish, I just won't say a word..."

Taozi pulled her head out of the cat food bowl, smacked her lips while looking at her suspiciously, and quickly buried her head back in.

Ning Qing still had no expression.

After the meal.

Zhang Suannai wiped her mouth with a tissue, sat like a boss, and said to Ning Qing: "I'm going back tomorrow. If you're still coming back to the Dormitory these next few days, remember to stay safe. If you find out you're being followed, take a picture of them and send it to me."

"Where are you going back to?"

"??" Zhang Suannai was stunned for a moment, "We've been living together for half a year, and you still don't know where I'm from?"

"Jianzhou?"

"That goes without saying! I'm the closed-door disciple of the Sword Master!"

"What about your family?"

"None!" Zhang Suannai was very carefree, "Nowadays the country doesn't allow major sects to recruit disciples casually; they can only go to orphanages and welfare homes to recruit, helping the country and society solve a few social problems. Young disciples like us are basically all without fathers or mothers..."

"Oh."

"But I don't care, and I don't envy you guys!" Zhang Suannai crossed her legs, tilted her head back, and looked at Ning Qing through her nostrils, "Even though the people in our Sword Sect are a bit stupid, it's actually quite fun to hang out with them."

"Oh."

"Why are you so cold?"

"I'm not worth envying either."

"Why?"

"You have so many questions..."

"Is your family not good to you?"

"Let's go once you're full."

"??"

Zhang Suannai looked at this person in astonishment and pointed a finger at her: "You... are all you people from Yuanzhou this inhospitable?"

Ning Qing finished wiping the table and couldn't be bothered to speak.

One hour later.

Zhang Suannai left after all.

Relying on her own cleverness and wit, she successfully lost the last chance to discover clues about Chen Shu this year.

Two days later.

Meng Chunqiu had returned home a day early, and Chen Shu and Jiang Lai had also packed their things.

Chen Shu asked Jiang Lai: "Where do you live?"

"Just in the XC District."

"That's very close!"

"Yeah, Brother Chen, I'll help you carry your suitcase."

"No need, it's not heavy," Chen Shu said to him, "I've pretty much finished designing the Defense Rune. After that, I'll check, test, and make some fine-tuning. I also found a tutorial for designing graphics online to see if I can make it look better. If not, I'll just use a template. We can chat on Feixin then. I estimate I can give it to you before school starts after the New Year."

"No need to rush..."

"I'm not in a rush either, I'm just bored."

The two of them walked downstairs while talking.

It was already the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and most students had left a few days ago, so the hallway seemed exceptionally empty and quiet.

Chen Shu was still a little unaccustomed to it.

When walking out of the hallway door, there were not many people left in the usually bustling Dormitory area. The hegemon of Huaiyuan, known in the pugilistic world as Huang Batian, was lying in the middle of the main gate. Many students used to pay it protection money, but now that the off-season had arrived, its revenue had become very poor.

The school was also very empty.

So desolate, so desolate.

Chen Shu said to Jiang Lai: "By the way, if I want to buy some Yujing specialties to take back, do you have any recommendations?"

"This..."

Jiang Lai scratched his head again and said: "I don't know what specialties Yujing has either. It seems like it has everything, and it also seems like it has nothing. But there's a street under the Astrology Tower that seems to sell a lot of miscellaneous things. Anyway, there are many tourists, you can go take a look."

"Alright then, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

The two of them also parted ways at the school gate.

Jiang Lai got on the bus, while Chen Shu took a taxi to Zhilan Garden, put away his luggage, and then rode his bike with Qingqing to the house Chen Banxia rented.

It's so cold riding a bike in winter, it's a good thing I have Qingqing to hug.

Waking Chen Banxia up again, Chen Shu leaned in close to question this woman:

"Did you book the plane tickets?"

"Oh, don't be in such a rush..."

The big sister said groggily, feeling that this younger brother didn't give her any face at all, then explained: "Don't I still have an experiment? We'll go back once I'm done. Buying tickets on the same day is also fine; if we can't get them, we'll take the high-speed rail."

"Buying them on the same day is so expensive."

"I'm not afraid of it being expensive."

"Fine, you're paying anyway," Chen Shu said, looking at Chen Banxia rubbing her eyes, "You're still doing experiments? Don't you sleep every day?"

"It's not like I'm sleeping all the time..."

"Emmm..." Chen Shu thought for a moment, "Are you just pretending to sleep in front of me usually? As soon as I'm not around, you start working hard at studying and working? You know that I, your younger brother, am better looking than you, have better talent than you, and have the support of little fan girls. You can't beat me, so you want to use this method to work me to death?"

"You even have little fan girls?" Chen Banxia was startled and quickly regained her clarity, "Who?"

"Over here!"

Chen Shu pulled Ning Qing over, presented her before Chen Banxia like an exhibit, and added, "There's an even more die-hard, brainless little fangirl in Bai City."

Chen Banxia grinned foolishly.

Chen Shu rolled his eyes, too lazy to keep bickering with her, and asked with concern:

"What kind of experiment are you doing?"

"A company obtained an ancient Pill formula, said to be from the Secret Sect, which is a great help for the breakthrough of Intermediate Cultivators. But many of the raw materials are now extinct, or some have become so scarce that the price is too high for mass production. So they came to our academy and paid a large sum of money, hoping we could help find low-cost substitute materials," Chen Banxia said with a sigh. "It's very troublesome, a real headache."

"What kind of formula? Is the effect really that good?"

"It's quite a bit better than the potions mass-produced by major pharmaceutical companies today, but I don't know how it compares to those non-mass-produced ones," Chen Banxia paused. "How could it not be good? So many rare treasures on the verge of extinction were worth a fortune in ancient times, let alone now. Just finding them is a problem."

"What tier is it for?"

"It's for the Fourth Stage to Fifth Stage."

"Can it be bought once it's developed?"

"Not necessarily; you have to consider the cost. If the cost is too high, they might not build a production line and will instead prepare it by hand, producing small quantities specifically for wealthy people. Then they'll slowly research ways to lower the cost, and only when the cost comes down will they mass-produce it," Chen Banxia said. "Even if the cost isn't high, mass production takes time."

"What's your estimate?"

"I estimate mass production is impossible."

"Good luck! If you manage to make it, brew me two jin of the loose stuff while you're at it!"

"In your dreams! They manage it very strictly; neither experimental materials nor finished products can be taken out of the lab! But if I can get results, I'll remember the formula. If you can get the raw materials, I could make a batch for you by hand. Our line of work often uses this method to earn extra money anyway. If I really can make it, I'll probably use it myself too," Chen Banxia yawned again and waved her hand repeatedly to urge him on. "Go cook for your sister. After I finish eating, I have to go back to the lab for overtime this afternoon. I'll strive to finish this phase by tomorrow, and we'll go home the day after."

"That works too."

Chen Shu happened to be planning to go out with Qingqing tomorrow to see if he could buy something to bring back for the family.

And buy two Breakthrough Auxiliary Potions while he was at it.

Chen Shu had already reached the peak of the Third Tier and could barely make any more progress. He was continuously grinding away at his Spirit Sea Lock and could attempt a breakthrough using a potion at any time. He planned to buy two potions first, grind for another half month, and then make his first attempt. It would be best to succeed within two attempts; if he failed both times, he would buy more online.

It's the end of the year, there should be discounts again, right?