Peach Spring Village's Little Sister and Returning to School

Zhou Huan was speechless, because Zhang Lexuan had spoken the truth. The word "simple" had never had the slightest thing to do with him.

How could anyone expect an old shut-in who had lived in the internet age for nearly thirty years to possess a pure and simple heart?

Wasn't this making things difficult for Fat Tiger?

And what's more, it was a blatant insult to the "internet."

Thus, Zhou Huan silently accepted Zhang Lexuan's assessment and began tidying up the home he had not returned to in a long time. When they had arrived in the middle of the night yesterday, he had not been in the mood to clean and had gone straight to rest.

But today, the house still had to be cleaned properly.

What surprised Zhou Huan was that Zhang Lexuan actually took the initiative to help with the cleaning.

Having Shrek Academy's Senior Disciple Sister help with "housework," Zhou Huan felt that this trip home had been worthwhile.

About half an hour later, the house was finally spotless.

It had not taken long, after all. The house was small, merely a modest three-bedroom apartment with a living room, and both of them were Soul Masters. Using a little Soul Power to clean was not difficult.

The two chatted in the living room for quite a while longer when an adorable girl in coarse blue clothes, with two long braids, entered carrying a basket.

The adorable girl smiled as soon as she entered the living room. "Brother Huan, you're back."

"Long time no see, Little Sister." Zhou Huan smiled happily as well. Wasn't this Aunt Zhao's daughter, Li Xiaomei? Unfortunately, he had ultimately lost that "Brother Huan"...

Well, perhaps it was not unfortunate after all.

Zhou Huan was merely amusing himself with the thought. How could he possibly have any ideas about a little girl like her?

"Brother Huan, aren't you going to introduce this beautiful sister?" Perhaps influenced by Aunt Zhao, the grown-up Li Xiaomei was not the shy, timid sort of young lady. She had quite a straightforward personality.

The moment she entered, she had noticed this fairy-like older sister. Her skin was so lovely and her face so pretty. Were girls from big cities all this beautiful?

It was not as though she had never been to a city before, but she had only visited the nearest small towns.

The girls in those small towns did dress better than village girls like them, but the difference had not been too outrageous.

Yet the blue-clad sister before Li Xiaomei now was clearly on an entirely different level from every other girl she had seen.

Thus, at this moment, Li Xiaomei was obviously much more interested in Zhang Lexuan than Zhou Huan.

Besides, Li Xiaomei already had Brother Daqiang. Zhou Huan did not look as sturdy as Brother Daqiang, and as for his appearance, they were about evenly matched.

Unlike her ignorant childhood self, Zhou Huan was now merely an older brother from next door. (Zhou Huan declared that he had cried himself unconscious in the bathroom.)

Naturally, Zhou Huan did not know what this neighbor girl was really thinking.

Of course, he could satisfy Li Xiaomei's curiosity. "This sister is Zhang Lexuan. Just call her Sister Le Xuan. Sister Le Xuan, her name is Li Xiaomei. Don't be fooled by how cute and delicate she looks. When she was little, she could pull up willow trees by their roots. Hahaha."

"Brother Huan, you're always talking nonsense. How could a girl like me possibly be that strong?" Li Xiaomei's face reddened as she hurriedly explained.

Back then, she had merely refused to lose to those boys and casually pulled up a little willow tree that had not even fully grown yet. Did he really need to bring it up for so many years?

"Little Sister, ignore him. He never watches his mouth." Zhang Lexuan spoke gently, looking earnestly at Li Xiaomei. "I believe you."

"Mhm, thank you, Sister." Li Xiaomei nodded obediently.

Zhou Huan was speechless. Zhang Lexuan seemed to come with a natural affinity of her own. People her age or younger generally felt psychologically convinced by her the moment they met her.

"Cough, cough." Zhou Huan interrupted Li Xiaomei, who had become somewhat absentminded. "Little Sister, did you forget something?"

"Huh? What?" Li Xiaomei came back to herself. "Oh, right! This is the lunch Mom asked me to bring for you and Sister Le Xuan."

"Thanks." Zhou Huan took the basket from Li Xiaomei.

"All right, mission accomplished. I'm heading home to eat too. Enjoy your meal." Li Xiaomei turned to leave. After all, the main reason she had come was not to deliver food, but to see the incredibly beautiful older sister her mother had mentioned.

"Wait." Zhou Huan took sixty-six Silver Soul Coins from his pocket and placed them in Li Xiaomei's hand. "Aunt Zhao said you'll be getting married in a couple of years. I may not be home by then, so this is Brother Huan's wedding gift for you."

It was not that Zhou Huan was stingy. In a small place like Peach Spring Village, daily expenses were calculated in Copper Soul Coins. Silver Soul Coins were only needed during years of especially bountiful harvests. This showed just how low the cost of living was here, and how poor the village was.

Sixty-six Silver Soul Coins could be considered the income of an ordinary family here for one or two years.

Therefore, even in the simple Peach Spring Village, Zhou Huan did not dare give Li Xiaomei too much money. There was more than one little mountain village around here.

Where there were many people, there would naturally always be one or two hooligans.

Suddenly possessing too much money was not necessarily a good thing for an ordinary family.

Sixty-six Silver Soul Coins was just right.

Li Xiaomei felt the heavy money pouch in her hand and froze for a moment before immediately refusing three times in a row. "No, no, no! Who accepts wedding gifts two or three years in advance? And this is so much. If my mother finds out, she'll break my legs."

At her words, Zhou Huan instantly put on a stern expression. "What do you mean, no? Brother Huan has always treated you like a little sister. If it's not a wedding gift, then treat it as the dowry Brother Huan is giving you. Keep it properly. You're not allowed to refuse."

In the end, Li Xiaomei could not outargue Zhou Huan and returned home with the "huge sum" in her hands, filled with unease. She felt that she might be in for a beating from both her parents this time. Hopefully, her real older brother could save her. Unfortunately, Brother Daqiang was still in the neighboring village and could not take the beating for her.

Only after Li Xiaomei left did Zhou Huan take the dishes out of the basket and place them on the dining table.

There were four dishes in total: boiled greens, stir-fried green peppers, a plate of scallion eggs, and half a white-cut chicken.

They looked ordinary, but for a little mountain village like Peach Spring Village, this was already a lavish meal.

Normally, they would never eat like this.

Zhou Huan could feel Aunt Zhao's considerate care.

"It's delicious, even better than the food at the academy. It feels like home." Zhang Lexuan sampled the stir-fried green peppers, then picked up a piece of scallion egg. She ate slowly, but clearly enjoyed every bite.

"Mhm, it really does feel like home," Zhou Huan replied.

Over the next few days, Zhou Huan and Zhang Lexuan remained in Peach Spring Village. They visited Li Xiaomei's home once or twice, and the neighbors all got along harmoniously.

They both liked Peach Spring Village's peace and tranquility.

Of course, liking it was one thing. It was impossible for Zhou Huan and Zhang Lexuan to live a life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset forever.

It was like enjoying a trip to a place full of blooming camellias across the mountains, yet not necessarily wanting to work and settle down there.

This was only natural. The two of them understood it without needing to say so.

After enjoying a few days of rural life, the two finally set off to return to Shrek Academy.

Actually, along the way, Zhou Huan had considered making a trip to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest, since it was on the way.

But the moment the thought arose, he dismissed it.

Because of a certain God King's poisonous herb scheme, Sunset Forest had long since become a forest of miasma.

Although Zhou Huan's Extreme Ice could effectively restrain the poison of the Seven Must-Kill Jade Phosphor Flower and even the Nine Must-Kill Jade Phosphor Flower, there were still quite a few Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well with cultivation bases reaching one hundred thousand years.

Even if they were not skilled in battle and had not truly lived for one hundred thousand years, their one hundred thousand years of cultivation were real.

If they truly fought, he and Zhang Lexuan would still be unable to handle them.

There was actually another method: bring Mu En over and directly plunder the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

But doing so would definitely alert that certain God King, making it too risky.

If Zhou Huan merely took three, five, or seven Immortal Herbs himself, that certain God King likely would not care. It would not affect his plans, and he would not break the rules of the Divine Realm or expose his purpose in advance over such a trivial matter.

Perhaps taking only a few Immortal Herbs would not even trigger the mechanism that certain God King had arranged within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, ensuring that he would not notice.

At this point, that certain God King could not possibly observe everything happening on Douluo Continent at every moment.

This was also Zhou Huan's opportunity.

However, if Mu En became involved, things would be different.

Whether they plundered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well clean or directly took control of it, it would become Shrek's private property.

With such great karma involved, that certain God King could not possibly fail to notice, nor could he possibly disregard it.

Therefore, after thinking it over repeatedly, Zhou Huan decided that there was no need to rush the matter of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well for now.

Thus, without going anywhere else, Zhou Huan and Zhang Lexuan headed straight back to Shrek Academy.

Please bookmark, recommend, and vote with monthly tickets.

Thank you, readers, for your generous support.