The most pleasant thing I could imagine was having a cup of tea after every meal, then hanging myself out on the balcony for half a day of photosynthesis, watching this bustling, noisy world shift and churn before my eyes from a lazy thirty-degree angle. And sometimes, the most pleasant thing I could imagine changed slightly: it would be even better to have a girl beside me while photosynthesizing. She would have to be patient, not grab me and ask a hundred thousand whys, and be able to watch this bustling, noisy world shift and churn alongside me. Sandora was a good candidate: as long as she had enough food, she could stay in one spot and keep eating for an entire day. Pandora was the second choice, but her quietness was simply too advanced. Keeping her beside me had the same effect as putting a desk lamp next to me...
Of course, more often than not, it was Lilina who sunbathed beside me. She seemed to be on the verge of evolving the ability to photosynthesize.
I liked this sort of leisurely time, just like now.
But as a young, vigorous, healthy New Era man who looked neither sick nor disabled in any respect, my lazy attitude toward life was often mocked by the people around me—for example, Miss Lin, Viska, or the two of them joining forces. In Miss Lin's words, as the ruler of a country... well, at the very least, as the father of a bunch of children, I, Chen, didn't have to go out and conquer the world every day, but I should at least avoid growing on the balcony like some perennial herbaceous plant. She sharply labeled me a typical case of premature aging, then used her grandfather as an example to educate me: