It was hard to say what was going on in Jingliu's little head. Wangshu felt that he had made dinner quite successfully; the rice was fluffy, and although the dishes were simple, the seasoning was just right. Yet, Jingliu kept stealing glances at him, her crimson eyes filled with complex emotions.
"Rest assured!"
Having cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, Jingliu once again trotted over to Wangshu. She tried her best to stand on her tiptoes, attempting to bring her line of sight level with his. Her small face bore an unprecedented solemnity: "I will definitely take good care of you!"
After all, Little Wangshu seemed to have been pitted by her future self to the point of being homeless. Sigh, her future self was truly bad; she absolutely must not become that kind of villain.
Wangshu looked at her earnest, little-adult-like posture. He remained silent for a moment before cooperating by lowering his head: "I will be obedient."
After speaking, he reached out to cover his face. He wanted to laugh, but felt it wasn't quite appropriate.
After dinner came bedtime—at least, in Jingliu's simple concept of life, this was the case.
The Xianzhou had refrigerators. Leftover food could be placed directly inside, saving the trouble of cooking the next morning.
A busy and inconceivable day finally came to a close. Wangshu lay on the bed in the guest room. The bedding was soft and carried the scent of sunshine. Although the night scenery outside the window was artificial, it was still quite serene.
Wangshu got up and leaned against the window. In the dead of night, his emotions were momentarily too complex to put into words. He had transmigrated, had a cheat, currently scammed a place to live, and had even become younger.
"Phew, I'll start looking for some serious work tomorrow. I can't rely on Little Jingliu to support me forever."
Wangshu patted his cheeks. He planned to go out and set up a street stall, or simply work odd jobs, just to settle down here first.
"Goodnight, Wangshu."
He told himself.
[Promising Future Chat Group reminds you: Your deep sleep duration has met the standard. Do you wish to enable Training Mode? This is an attached function of the Group Member Card Module.]
Wangshu didn't react; he was still sleeping.
[Yes/No]
[No selection made for a long time. Default selection 'Yes' has been chosen.]
...
[System Notification: Detected that group member Jingliu is in a waking state, and her Ability Card currently has valid invocation links (2).]
[Are you willing to enter the Training Ground as an ability provider and instructor to provide basic guidance to the group members invoking your power? This process is a consciousness projection and does not affect your physical state.]
[Yes/No]
In the empty Shackling Prison, Jingliu sat cross-legged, her long moon-white hair draped loosely over her body.
Ever since this chat group appeared, she felt that her gradually dying heart had come back to life. Her life seemed to have a new hope.
"The teachings of a Sword Champion should be able to repay the karma slightly and make up for some of the other party's help."
She whispered, her voice barely audible in the empty cell. She chose 'Yes' with almost no hesitation.
Her vision blurred slightly. Jingliu felt her wrists lighten; the hands that were originally bound were completely free. With a slight thought, an icy longsword condensed in her palm. The tip of the sword tapped the ground lightly; the tactile sensation was real, and the flow of power was unimpeded.
"A consciousness body?"
"This way, it probably won't cause Jing Yuan to be on guard prematurely."
She pushed open the door. As an instructor, it seemed she wouldn't appear in the training grounds immediately; she was able to tidy up her appearance first.
The training ground was vast, surrounded by diffuse starlight. The material of the floor was indiscernible. At this moment, a man and a woman were in the field, both sighing and groaning.
"Getting some sleep is really hard."
Wangshu hung his head dejectedly. Perhaps deep sleep guaranteed his sleep quality, but if he could choose, he really didn't want to come for training in the middle of the night.
"Sigh, I still have a full day's schedule tomorrow. Mr. Wangshu is currently unemployed and drifting, at least he doesn't have this much pressure, right?"
Asta rubbed the center of her brows, also sighing. If she had known there was a price, she wouldn't have borrowed Senior Jingliu's power. Anyway, her family had money; she could just arm the Space Station more heavily when the time came.
"I plan to inspect the market tomorrow and prepare to set up a snack stall." Wangshu sighed. "I'm quite good at making Jianbing Guozi and Shouzhua Bing. This counts as job preparation."
The good news was, although they entered while sleeping, both were wearing training uniforms, so there was no need to worry about any wardrobe malfunctions.
"What are Jianbing Guozi and Shouzhua Bing?"
"Two types of street food from my hometown."
Wangshu explained, his eyes brightening slightly. "I'll find all the ingredients tomorrow and try making them. If they turn out well, I'll send you a few portions. Not to toot my own horn, but my skills are really okay."
Based on his observations during the day, Cangcheng, and even the other Xianzhou ships he knew of, didn't seem to have these kinds of snacks.
This might be a small business opportunity!
"Wait, I remember you didn't have much money on you when you just transmigrated, right?"
Asta suddenly recalled something. Wangshu seemed to be a transmigrator; he was in Star Calendar Year 6299 and had even met the young version of Jingliu.
Wangshu scratched his head. "Although it's embarrassing to say, Little Jingliu's savings are quite substantial."
"That is the pension left by her parents and the accident insurance payout."
A cold voice suddenly intervened. Jingliu's figure had appeared at the edge of the field at some unknown point.
Her standard of living in the past was not bad; after all, the pension plus the accident insurance meant she didn't have to worry about food and drink.
Although all of this was burnt to ashes when Cangcheng was destroyed, her subsequent enlistment in the Luofu Cloud Knights counted as a secure government job.
Wangshu and Asta hurriedly stood up. Asta took the opportunity to lean close to Wangshu, lowering her voice to speak quickly: "I can privately sponsor you with some startup capital tomorrow. Living off a child really isn't too good."
Although in Wangshu's timeline, Senior Jingliu was 18 years old—which in some sense couldn't be considered a child—for a long-life species, 18 years old could indeed be treated as a child.
Wangshu whispered a guarantee: "I will pay it back."
"That won't be necessary. After all, having joined this chat group, no one knows what will happen in the future. Moreover, you are in Star Calendar Year 6299; there might be many places where we need your help to provide first-hand historical data later. Just consider this a prepaid consultation fee."
While the two were secretly chatting, a cold current rushed toward them. Jingliu sized them up, her brows furrowing slightly.
"...Have you two never trained before?"
Also, aren't you two a bit too familiar? Do you know each other well enough to chat like that?
"No, but I have participated in mandatory campus runs."
Wangshu was somewhat confident in his physical fitness, but not much. Anyway, it was better than the sub-healthy state of most university students.
Campus runs? What is that thing?
Jingliu muttered in her heart.
"In order not to inherit the family business, I have been working hard these past few years and have indeed neglected exercise somewhat."
Beside him, Asta thought of the messy situation in her family and sighed again. Forget it, exercise isn't a bad thing after all. Maybe she could rely on her own ability to break free from the family's constraints.
What does 'working hard in order not to inherit the family business' mean?
How are these words even combined together?
Jingliu rotated her wrist gently. For a moment, she suspected her Mara-struck condition was acting up again. Why couldn't she understand a single word of what the two of them were saying?
After a moment, she shook her head and didn't dwell on these reasons.
"Then let's start practicing from the basics. Although I don't know the principles of this place, since you have the Group Member Cards, what you should improve even more is your own control. Otherwise, you will hurt others and yourselves."
Her teaching itch was slightly rising, but currently, a more important matter was disturbing her heartstrings.
"By the way, Little Brother, did she... ask about me?" Jingliu's tone sounded casual.
Wangshu pondered for a moment: "After seeing your image, she said you look so cold."
Jingliu lowered her eyes. The black silk blindfold on her face had vanished upon entering this space, so her crimson eyes rarely exposed her dejection. She didn't press further, only remaining silent for a while.
Then, she raised her head, her gaze returning to calmness, even clearer and colder than before.
"Let's practice swordsmanship."
She vibrated her wrist lightly, and the longsword hummed: "Lesson one: holding the sword, and... how to make power obedient."
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