Martial Arts and Fine Food

Following her memory, she arrived at the door of Si Ming's room, took a deep breath. Although only one night had passed, it felt like four or five days. She hadn't slept a wink all night, constantly thinking about her date the next day. Fortunately, she was skilled in cultivation and wasn't afraid of staying up late, otherwise she would have had to worry about dark circles under her eyes when she woke up in the morning.

After reviewing all the preparations she had made and glancing at the notes written on her cheat sheet, Si Huaruo felt confident that everything was in order, so she reached out and knocked on the door with a light but firm touch.

"Come in."

A reply came from inside the room, but Si Huaruo's face immediately turned ugly, because it was a woman's voice, and a very familiar one at that—so familiar that it would appear nine times out of ten in her nightmares.

"Si Jingyu, you're ruining my plans again—"

She immediately pushed open the door and, as expected, saw Si Jingyu's face. The other person was sitting at a small round dining table, holding half a fried egg with chopsticks, with her other hand tucked under her arm, about to feed it to Si Ming, who looked like he couldn't refuse.

Upon seeing Si Huaruo, Si Jingyu smiled and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning... yeah right! Seeing you always puts me in a bad mood. Why are you here?!"

"Look at what you're saying, a sister appearing in her brother's room, isn't that a perfectly normal and logical thing? What's the big deal?"

"You think I'm a child?! You must have Si Shuiyun to spy on me. You knew I was going shopping with Sikong Ming today, so you came to stop me and try to ruin my plans. You've always done this, time and time again..."

Si Huaruo gritted her teeth in hatred, clenched her fists, and said, "A duel! Let's duel! The loser is never allowed to interfere with the other's actions, and must always keep their distance whenever they meet."

Si Ming was about to say something, but Si Jingyu stopped him. She calmly took out a fan from her sleeve, opened it with a whoosh, and saw the four characters "Vinegar Sea in Turmoil" written on the fan. She smiled and said, "Knowing that I have advanced to the Spirit Transformation, you still dare to make such a request?"

"So what if I've reached the Spirit Transformation stage? I can beat you once, and I can beat you a second time."

"With a win rate of less than one percent, I really don't know where you get the courage."

Si Jingyu sighed, put away her fan, ignored Si Huaruo's fierce gaze, reached out to straighten Si Ming's clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles, then pushed Si Ming out the door and instructed, "It's almost time, you should leave. Don't keep the girls waiting. I'll have Si Shuiyun clean the house, remember not to come back too early."

Si Huaruo was confused. "What exactly are you up to?"

Si Jingyu countered, "As an older sister, isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to tell my younger brother what to be careful about when dating women, hoping he can have a good time?"

The more she said that, the more suspicious Si Huaruo became. This was experience she had accumulated from being taken advantage of since childhood. She immediately looked at her like a suspect. "What exactly do you want? You don't mean you want to go shopping with us, do you?"

Si Jingyu maintained her unhurried and composed tone. "How could I possibly do something so impolite?"

She opened the fan and turned it to the other side, where the words "dignified and elegant" were written.

"So you want to send Shuiyun to bother us?"

Si Huaruo just wouldn't believe it. Even the worst people in the world could reform themselves, but Si Jingyu was the only one who wouldn't change her ways.

"Shuiyun will be with me today, so please don't worry. I sincerely wish you both a good time... Oh, right," Si Jingyu suddenly remembered something and put on a serious expression, "Preserving your primordial yin body will be helpful for breaking through to the Spirit Transformation stage, so even if you can't help yourself, please restrain yourself. I'm not lying to you on purpose."

Si Huaruo's pretty face flushed bright red instantly, and she hurriedly said, "W-what nonsense are you talking about! Who would do such a thing on a first date!"

"Oh, so if the atmosphere gets right and my brother makes such a request, are you planning to firmly refuse?"

"This... of course..." Si Huaruo glanced at Si Ming, looking troubled.

At this point, Si Ming could no longer remain uninvolved and said, "Thank you for your concern, but I won't make such an unreasonable request, so this question is meaningless. It's getting late, and we should be setting off."

After saying that, he pulled Si Huaruo away quickly, preventing the two from arguing any longer.

Si Jingyu smiled and waved, saying, "Have a safe journey."

As Si Ming walked with Si Huaruo towards the shopping street, he noticed that Si Huaruo was distracted the whole way. She would occasionally look back and then observe the surrounding scenery, muttering to herself, "She really didn't follow," "Maybe she's playing hard to get," "Maybe she's waiting for me to let my guard down before catching me off guard."

Although he knew what the other person was worried about, Si Ming still pretended not to know and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Of course I'm being cautious..." Si Huaruo snapped out of her daze, patted her forehead, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, it's our first date, and I was so distracted. I'm really terrible."

Si Ming comforted him, "Don't worry about whether anyone is following us. You should think of it this way: if they are following us, that's actually better. As long as we have fun together, we can show off to the stalker."

Si Huaruo suddenly realized and said excitedly, "That's right! Since she personally admitted that she wouldn't bother us, she won't show herself. At most, she'll hide in the shadows and spy on us. The closer we act, the more jealous she'll become."

After thinking for a moment, she mustered her courage and hugged Si Ming's arm like a couple. Seeing that Si Ming did not resist, she chuckled and hugged him even tighter.

Although he was reborn and had relationships with three women, Si Ming didn't have any impressive achievements in accompanying girls shopping. Hongdou stayed at home all day, and Murong Qing wasn't the type of girl who liked shopping. She preferred to practice martial arts with Si Ming. As for Yao Bilian, she had no intention of making their relationship public and her attitude was the same as before, so she naturally wouldn't take Si Ming out with her.

In the end, Si Ming could only resort to the old trick of dragging Si Huaruo to stroll in the park, browse clothing and gift shops without buying anything, and kill time aimlessly. The important thing at that moment wasn't what they did, but who they were with, and they could chat as they walked. Neither of them were taciturn, so they didn't fall silent when they started talking.

It wasn't until nearly noon that lunchtime arrived.

"What would you like to eat for lunch?" Si Ming asked.

"Casual."

Noodles or rice?

"It will be all right."

"Stronger flavor or milder flavor?"

"I'm not picky, you decide."

"..."

Chapter 761 Martial Arts and Delicious Food

Finally, Si Ming simply took Si Huaruo to a famous food street, skipping a proper meal and opting for all kinds of snacks and delicacies instead. They could choose whatever flavor they wanted without worrying about what to choose from the "anything" option.

Of course, food and snacks don't necessarily mean low quality. At least for shops that can stand firm in a food street, they can't do without a special skill. For example, a snack like jianbing guozi, which an ordinary person can master by practicing at home for two or three days, would have to close down and leave after two months here.

It's not that Jianbing Guozi (Chinese crepes) can't be sold, but if they're too expensive, people won't buy them, and if they're too cheap, people can't afford the rent. Besides, Jianbing Guozi isn't something you can't eat; it's sold at all sorts of mobile stalls, so there's no need to come all the way to the food street. Ultimately, you need to have a unique and outstanding skill to offer.