Chapter 195 - 194: Late Night Private Conversation, Departure is Imminent

The news from Jiang Yini was surprising to Li Jing.

She had made the effort to send him a message, and there was no doubt about who she was travelling all the way back to the Hua Country for.

Li Jing was no fool.

He didn’t need to think hard to understand the implication.

But the fact that Jiang Yini said she would come and actually came seemed a bit too involved.

Jiang Yini’s situation was different from Jiang Jingxian’s, she hadn’t completely cut off ties with the Jiang family.

Her father was the Head of the Jiang Family and totally cutting off ties might not be possible.

But, she had left home for more than a decade and if she wanted to return, she would have done so already.

Based on the information available on the Internet, the Jiang family had employed a great number of methods to bring her back over the years, even to the point of spreading false information about her father, Jiang Liao being critically injured.

To successfully deceive Jiang Yini into returning, the Jiang family made this news quite convincing.

So convincing, that they almost fooled the other six major families into paying them a sympathy visit.

Many years have passed and the internet still retains news about a high-ranking Sixth Realm official from the Administration Bureau seriously injured in an accident.

Although no specific names were mentioned, the Director of Management Bureau was Jiang Liao, Head of the Jiang Family and there was only one Sixth Realm officer permanently stationed in the bureau, there was no denying this.

This incident has become an unerasable blot in the history of the Jiang family.

The Internet is a place with a memory.

The efforts made by the Head of the Jiang family were commendable.

The prestigious Director of Management Bureau, in order to lure his youngest daughter back home, wasn’t afraid to announce his impending death.

Whether Jiang Yini ever returned home was not stated on the internet.

The internet only circulated the news of Jiang Liao being critically injured, but didn’t mention the reason for his "pretend death".

Li Jing was aware of this because he knew Jiang Yini and knew that she had run away from home.

To outsiders, it seemed that the Jiang family had circulated a false news for some unknown objective.

Various conjectures were rife, with some even speculating that it was done to counter foreign powers.

But leaving these speculations aside.

At this moment, looking at the message sent by Jiang Yini, Li Jing didn’t know how to feel.

This director, with whom he didn’t want to involve himself too much, had been worrying a great deal about him.

What was this all about?

Li Jing wasn’t worried that Jiang Yini came back to the Hua Country to rope him into the Jiang family’s affairs.

After all, according to his understanding, Jiang Yini wasn’t willing to rely on her family and was particularly resistant to the family’s "obedience" towards her family’s arrangements.

Nevertheless, Jiang Yini’s actions were kind of forceful.

She was thrusting this favor upon him.

And he didn’t even have a chance to refuse.

Shaking his head, Li Jing replied to the message.

"See you tomorrow night."

Applying a simple three-word reply, Li Jing put away his phone.

At that moment, Liu Sisi, came over with Linglong, who had just had her hair dried.

"What’s going on? You look so gloomy?"

"Director Jiang just sent me a message, she’s in the Hua Country now and we will meet her at the birthday banquet of the Head of the Liu Family tomorrow night."

Li Jing replied honestly.

Hearing that Jiang Yini was in the Hua Country, Liu Sisi was taken aback for a moment, her expression turned somewhat weird.

With her intellect, she naturally understood what Jiang Yini’s sudden arrival implied.

On one hand, she didn’t mention to Jiang Yini when she took leave that she would be going back to the Liu family with Li Jing, on the other hand, the moment Jiang Yini arrived in Hua Country, she texted Li Jing leading everyone to a very clear conclusion.

After a moment of silence, Liu Sisi handed Linglong to him.

"How will you handle the situation with Director Jiang?"

"It is unnecessary to fuss too much about it. Whatever her intentions are, I’ll handle it accordingly,"

Li Jing received Linglong and allowed her to return in response, saying.

"We are both now part of the Jianghai Management Bureau, Director Jiang can be considered one of us, there is no need to be so formal."

Having said that, Li Jing smiled warmly.

"Don’t worry too much about these matters, I can handle my personal issues well. Besides, are you not going to cultivate tonight?"

"I can’t calm my mind for now."

Liu Sisi shook her head, saying.

"She suddenly came back to the Hua Country, to be honest, it’s made me a bit confused."

"Then rest for tonight and we will see how it goes once we visit the Liu family tomorrow."

Li Jing said with a smile.

"There’s still a lot of time left, would you like to go out for a walk?"

"No, I’m not in the mood."

Liu Sisi waved her hand, closed her eyes and leaned on him.

"I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble these past two days."

"Why are you saying this? You are my girlfriend, how could I ever let you suffer?"

Li Jing smiled, looking at Liu Sisi, who nestled into his arms like a kitten, he didn’t know whether he should reach out and touch her or not.

The dilemma was, she was only wrapped in a towel.

While Liu Sisi trusted him completely, he had to remain respectful, right?

Just as Li Jing was silently playing the role of a human pillow, a blush crept onto Liu Sisi’s face and she looked up, saying.

"Jing, I have something to discuss with you."

Li Jing was slightly startled.

This was the first time she addressed him as "Jing".

Before he could ponder over it, Liu Sisi quietly said.

"After seeing my mom tomorrow, what about going to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get our marriage license?"

???

Li Jing was baffled.

"You don’t want to?"

Liu Sisi nervously bit her lip.

"Uh."

Li Jing coughed and panicked, saying.

"I’m not saying I don’t want to, I just feel it’s too sudden and too soon..."

As he spoke, he looked at Liu Sisi who was gazing directly at him, hesitated for a moment and said.

"You don’t need to force yourself, I came to Hua Country not for this. We can take it slow."

Hearing this, Liu Sisi fell silent and said.

"I’m not forcing myself, the reason I suddenly brought it up was not because you came with me to Hua Country, but... I think we should get our marriage license first."

And then, she cleared her throat a little.

"You only registered an ID in Jianghai, without household registration. My household registration is in Hua Country, in order to get it, we need to ask my mom. Household registration has a geographical restriction, so we can only register in Hua Country. After the registration, we can submit an application to separate my household registration and move it to Jianghai, then we can form our own family. This way, our ties with the Liu family will be minimal on paper. If we have a child in the future who needs to go to school, we need to have a household registration in Jianghai. Might as well take care of these things while we are in Hua Country, so we don’t have to run back and forth in the future."

Liu Sisi’s explanation left Li Jing stumped.

Household registration was a blindspot in his knowledge.

After all, he was only twenty-two in mortal years.

If it wasn’t for the transmigration, he would still be a university student, how could he understand things related to household registration?

Children needing local household registrations for schooling were something he had some understanding about.

Before his transmigration, he had heard of many cases in which students were unable to enroll due to household registration issues, and there were cases where men, in the absence of local household registrations, chose to marry into their wives’ families to get household registration.

Seeing Liu Sisi gaze at him, waiting for a response, Li Jing opened his mouth, adjusted his posture and said.

"I have no objections about getting the license, you are my first girlfriend and also the woman I have interacted with the most till now. But you must think it through. Once we get the license, we are legally husband and wife. If you have regrets after..."

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Sisi turned her head to avoid his gaze.

"What’s there to regret about marrying a twenty-two-year-old Fifth Boundary cultivator? Even though you can be oblivious at times and not perfect, at least you are genuine. There are very few people in my life who have truly been good to me, and those who got close to me did so because I am Liu Shi’s daughter. I have nothing to pick on you and I don’t really have a reason to."

With that, she gave him a sidelong glance.

"And don’t think I can’t see it. You’re not some innocent young man, you just keep your wicked thoughts to yourself. Every day you’re pretending to be naive, as if you don’t understand."

"..."

Li Jing was speechless.

He wasn’t some innocent young man, but would it be right to say he had a belly full of "wicked thoughts"?

And as for playing dumb, that was even more out of the question.

He never said he didn’t understand; he was just adhering to the principle of giving Liu Sisi the respect she deserved.

A man without principles isn’t a real man.

A man who disrespects women and acts rashly in harming them is a scumbag.

Noticing his awkward expression, Liu Sisi coughed softly.

"I’ve said what I needed to. If you have no objections, after meeting my mother and getting her house register, we can get our marriage certificate the day after. There’s no need for a wedding ceremony. You’re all alone here, no relatives to invite, and my relatives don’t need to be invited either. When we have time, we can take wedding photos and go on a trip for a memento."

"Ah, this..."

Li Jing blinked, a puzzled expression in his eyes.

"Are we being too casual about this?"

"If you don’t mind, neither do I. So let it be!"

Liu Sisi said nonchalantly, looking back at him.

"But once we get the certificate, you can’t just leave me."

Li Jing chuckled at her words, retorted,

"That’s what I should be saying."

Chuckling at his response, Liu Sisi nestled against him.

"I’ve always wanted to ask you something. You have such powerful cultivation and are so extraordinarily talented, why did you choose me? Just because I took you in when you first arrived in Jianghai?"

"Well..."

Li Jing hesitated.

In the past, he could have sidestepped this question with a vague reply.

Now that they were about to get their marriage certificate, he felt obligated to provide a straightforward answer.

After gathering his thoughts, Li Jing replied,

"If you want to think of it that way, it’s not entirely wrong. But it’s mostly because of perspective. My background is a little peculiar, so I won’t go into details. What I can tell you is that I don’t place much importance on cultivation or talent as the Hua Country commonly agrees on ’families of similar social status’. And to talk about talent, I don’t see myself as exaggerated as you think. I got to where I am today, step by step."

Speaking, Li Jing looked down at Liu Sisi’s delicate face, and continued,

"You’re beautiful and have a good personality. Both were unthinkable for me before I came to Jianghai. When I found myself stranded in Jianghai, you took me in and took care of me. I really appreciate you. In this world, you are the most special person for me."

"And then?"

Liu Sisi tilted her head.

"There’s no ’and then’."

Li Jing shrugged, saying plainly.

"I originally didn’t have any feelings for you, treating you as a sister. But, when you suddenly didn’t want to be a sister anymore, naturally, my feelings changed. I’m not an idiot; you practically threw yourself at me. I had no reason or justification to refuse."

"..."

Liu Sisi.

She could tell Li Jing was answering her question seriously.

She was expecting to hear some nice, touching words.

Who knew in the end, he would say she threw herself at him?"

Did that mean.....

She was the one who offered herself?

Well, in reality, that’s just how it was.

She didn’t regret it.

But this didn’t feel right, did it?

Without a word, Liu Sisi shot Li Jing a look and pouted.

"I was going to let you sleep on the bed tonight, but now I’m not in the mood."

"No problem, I’ll sleep on the couch."

Chuckling quietly, Li Jing wrapped an arm around her waist,

"I agree to get the certificate, but from here on out, don’t push yourself too hard. There’s no need for you to worry so much about me. I told you when I came to the Liu family that I could handle it. And to be frank, even if we just get the certificate and move you from the Liu family’s registration, that can’t entirely sever the ties with them."

Caught out for her real concerns, Liu Sisi averted her gaze and spoke softly,

"You’ve done so much for me, at the very least I should do something for you. Although I know it might not be useful, at least I tried."

...

The night was long.

All this night, Liu Sisi did not cultivate.

Li Jing stayed with her, and the two of them chatted about a lot of past events.

The topics were light-hearted, and did not touch on any of the troubling issues related to the Liu family in the capital.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was evening the next day and time for the two of them to go to the Liu family’s dinner party.

In their hotel room.

Li Jing, dressed in a suit that Liu Sisi had bought in advance, inspected himself in the mirror.

As the saying goes, clothes make the man.

In a suit, Li Jing felt an uncanny sense of charm.

After unlocking the Second Origin, not only had his physique improved, but due to the continuous refining of his body by his inner spiritual power, his originally average looks gradually started to become more and more attractive.

Without realizing it, he had become quite handsome.

Nevertheless, he still has a long way to go compared to true high-level cultivators.

In this world, not only do women become more stunning with higher cultivation, men do too.

Take Chen Jing for example.

A man in his eighties, who had a daughter of marrying age, yet still quite a figure.

Of course.

There’s no use for a man to be all that handsome.

For women, physical beauty and physique are only the basics, clothes and makeup are the essential part.

Men don’t pay attention to these things.

At least Li Jing himself had no interest in grooming or meticulously selecting outfits.

While admiring himself in the mirror, Liu Sisi walked out of the bathroom.

"Jing, what do you think of my outfit?"

Li Jing turned at her words, and then stared in surprise.

At this moment, Liu Sisi was in a black backless evening gown.

The gown, due to its body-sculpting design, outlined her enchanting figure exquisitely.

As she stood there with a hand on her waist and twisted slightly, her body formed a perfect S curve.

The pure black evening dress was a bit monotonous.

But the backless design, together with her snow-white skin, created a striking contrast against the black dress. It was simply stunning.

With a thumbs-up, Li Jing said,

"Beautiful."

Having received a simple compliment, Liu Sisi smiled, walking over to link her arm with Li Jing’s.

"We should leave now. How will we get to the Liu family’s house?"

"By using the Sword Controlling technique."

Li Jing smiled, walking towards the door with her, saying,

"This ride is for you to impress them, shutting up the elders of Liu family. We need to be a bit showy."

...