Jiang Han and Chu Yujun chatted a little longer about literature, then thought it was time to leave. But Du Ningzhuang invited her colleagues to have breakfast, and the offer was too generous to refuse (they were starving), so they accepted.
Might as well see how Miss Du Ningzhuang's cooking was! Jiang Han thought, perfectly at ease.
Although the world had changed a great deal, the pursuit of good food remained etched into the country's history and national character. Even a nutritious meal came with shredded pork and pickled mustard greens, plus a salted egg cut in half.
Du Ningzhuang's accent didn't sound local. She sounded like she was from around Gusu, and the breakfast she made was different from South City's usual fare.
A bowl of savory tofu pudding, a portion of white-sugar rice balls made with the limited ingredients on hand, and a bowl of noodles with toppings.
The noodles also had some of the shop's German smoked sausage and dried seaweed.
Jiang Han wasn't the only one who enjoyed the meal; the other witches praised it too. The only downside was this:
The breakfast, much like Miss Du Ningzhuang herself, was exquisite—and only just filling enough.
"I have to say, Miss Du Ningzhuang, you're a genius cook. This is the most perfect breakfast I've had since I came to South City. If I can't find a girlfriend in the future, it'll definitely be because they can't cook as well as you." Tang Wen offered her heartfelt praise, her expression equally sincere.
She really was laying it on thick... Jiang Han wiped her mouth with a napkin and chimed in, "Are you looking for a girlfriend?"
Perhaps Jiang Han and Tang Wen's begging-to-be-fed poses and manners were too disgraceful. Miss Chu Yujun gave them a proper demonstration. She pressed her palms together and bowed reverently to Du Ningzhuang.
"Another bowl of noodles, please, dear big sister."
Miss Chu, stop sucking up. It's embarrassing... Jiang Han didn't ask for another bowl. She was already feeling somewhat full, and didn't think she could manage another.
"I'm glad you like it." Du Ningzhuang went back to the kitchen and made another bowl of noodles for Chu Yujun.
After breakfast, Jiang Han stood up and leaned casually against the wall, hands resting on her stomach as she watched TV.
It's best not to sit for too long after a meal. Maybe I should take a walk later and help digest... But it's so easy to get sleepy after eating. I'm starting to feel drowsy. Jiang Han felt her eyelids growing heavy, but gave a contented little hum. Wanting to sleep after a full meal was human nature, and human nature couldn't be changed.
Tang Wen offered a few more words of praise, while the young Chen Ligu had something more interesting to say:
"Miss Du Ningzhuang, have you ever thought about opening a breakfast shop?"
"A breakfast shop?" Du Ningzhuang gave a slight shake of her head as she answered.
Chen Ligu continued:
"They said on TV that South City is going to establish a special economic zone. The number of witches coming to South City has increased ninefold recently. My neighbor, a witch, has been complaining every day that she can't buy breakfast. I imagine other people are having the same problem. I think a breakfast shop might be very popular."
The duck is the first to know when spring comes to the river... Chen Ligu's idea brought the line of poetry to Jiang Han's mind.
Business opportunities always emerged in everyday life, and some people were quick to spot them. Chen Ligu's idea was definitely viable. With South City getting so much busier lately, opening a breakfast shop had real potential.
For witches, a breakfast shop was basically a "late-night snack shop," and those could make a lot of money too.
Du Ningzhuang shook her head again. "It's just a hobby. I don't like turning my hobbies into work... Besides, it takes a lot of time, and I already don't have enough time for my research."
Jiang Han nodded to herself. Witches really didn't have much free time. Between working, attending classes, and doing research, they were incredibly busy. Fortunately, witches didn't have to worry about going bald...
She changed the subject and asked:
"What have you been researching lately? Variations on spells?"
Magic was incredibly complex and mysterious. Even the simplest Mage Hand provided a livelihood for a large number of witches every year, who wrote research papers about it and kept coming up with new ideas. Jiang Han had heard that an Archwitch was developing a legendary version of Mage Hand...
"It's not about spells," Du Ningzhuang said. "It's more of a technical matter."
The other witches also looked interested.
Witch research, in the usual sense, generally fell into three categories.
Spell development: studying and researching spells.
Item development: the work of alchemists and potion-makers, including research into plant cultivation and the like. Jiang Han's substitute teacher, Cen Jing, was a witch dedicated to item development.
Technical research: the work of inventors, a hobby for both geniuses and fools. The frightening thing was that geniuses didn't always succeed, and fools didn't always fail...
Du Ningzhuang's research needed a bit of luck to produce results.
"Could you tell us about it?" Jiang Han asked.
Du Ningzhuang nodded to her, sat down, and explained:
"My research is about a convenient way to travel."
More convenient than a broom? Maybe some kind of high-tech aerial train... Jiang Han listened and speculated.
It seemed complicated. Du Ningzhuang thought for a long time before she finally began to explain, encouraged by the witches' expectant gazes:
"My teacher and I have been studying fast travel for a while, and comparing the fastest ways to move."
"Imagine if we could cut out a piece of folded space and link it to two different points. Then we might be able to cross tens of thousands of miles in a second—or even travel from Earth to the moon. And we wouldn't need several Archwitches to act as batteries."
An Anywhere Door? Jiang Han thought the idea sounded a little like an Anywhere Door, though the Anywhere Door spell wasn't nearly so convenient.
"But space isn't that easy to control." Du Ningzhuang explained the second approach she and her teacher had come up with. "So we shifted our focus to the River of Time. We think that if we can just blast a hole in the River of Time, then, according to the principle that time and space are inseparable, we can expand an extra space for our use!"
What the hell, blast the River of Time?
Isn't that a little too crude? Because we can't dig a passage, we figure we'll use a nuclear bomb to blast one open?
After her initial shock, Jiang Han thought it over and realized the idea actually made some sense...
First of all, creating a long-distance portal couldn't be separated from time and space.
So, to make a stable passage inside folded space, the simplest and most direct approach was to blast open the River of Time and use its power to "dig" out the invisible passage.
The power of time was immense. The famous legendary spell Time Stop was proof enough of that.
Time Stop was a form of "relative time stoppage," which also showed that time could be put to use.
The fact that folded space could form, and that "time differences" could arise within it, further showed that folded space was an "island" carved out by time. So why shouldn't they borrow the river of time to dig out an island?
After putting it all together, Jiang Han was astonished to realize:
What the hell, it really could work!
The question was how to make the River of Time tangible, and how to blast it open without things getting out of hand...
And then there was the biggest problem facing all research projects.
"In theory, it should work. We know the River of Time exists, and every folded space has a river source connected to it. But my finances don't allow for any further research," Du Ningzhuang said regretfully. The project was short on funds. That was the biggest problem of all.
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