If they sent a letter through the normal channels, it would definitely take several weeks to reach its recipient.
But what was Ning Rongrong's status? And Ning Fengzhi's? And whose territory was Phantom Star Academy on?
From the moment Ning Rongrong stepped into the post office, there was no way this would go through the normal channels.
By the time they left the post office, the letter was already being expedited.
"Senior Sister, shall we go see what there is to buy?"
Once they were outside, Ning Rongrong suggested they go shopping. Zhu Zhuqing found herself in a bit of a quandary, but in the end, she agreed.
At first, Zhu Zhuqing said she wanted to go back and cultivate. But the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had offered to cover all the expenses.
So Zhu Zhuqing very ungraciously agreed.
When they first started shopping, she was still berating herself inside.
"Zhuqing, Zhuqing, how could you sink so low? Think about your goal."
But with this sort of thing, you just couldn't escape the truth that it was awfully nice.
"Mm, nothing to do today. Let's go shopping."
She had the same air as that person who wrote "Nothing to do today. Play mahjong" in his diary.
"Senior Sister, that person over there keeps looking this way."
Ning Rongrong edged a little closer to Zhu Zhuqing and whispered in her ear.
Zhu Zhuqing glanced over without drawing attention to herself, then shook her head.
"Looks like it. Let's go back once we've bought everything."
There was nothing they could do about this sort of situation. Just looking wasn't against the law. He hadn't approached them or said a single word.
And there was no proof that he was harassing them. If looking a couple of times counted, they might as well never go out on the streets.
"Mm, okay."
After something like that, they weren't in much of a mood to keep shopping. Fortunately, they had nearly bought everything they needed.
After paying, Ning Rongrong deliberately looked back, gave a disdainful snort, then affectionately linked arms with Zhu Zhuqing and headed back.
Meanwhile, the man who usually sold sausages had sneaked out to buy supplies because something had gone wrong at his academy. His heart crumbled a little. He thought, If only he hadn't been afraid of approaching two people at once and had just gone over to talk to them. An immense sense of loss welled up inside him.
Compared to him, Ning Rongrong also felt as if a fated connection had been severed. But she didn't look back even once. With time like this, she'd much rather stay close to Zhu Zhuqing.
By the time they returned to the dormitory, it was nearly dark.
"Master?"
They happened to run into Chen An, who had just finished arranging things. Zhu Zhuqing had seen this look on him often enough that, for some inexplicable reason, they seemed to share a silent understanding.
"Master, you're not planning to go make something delicious yourself, are you?"
As soon as she said that, Chen An's expression shifted. He sighed inwardly.
"Why am I so unlucky? I finish dealing with everything, and now I'm getting arrested."
He forced a strained smile, trying to bluff his way through.
"Of course not. Something just happened to come up."
Ning Rongrong believed him, but Zhu Zhuqing didn't. Her face clearly asked, Are you sure?
In an instant, she was back in character.
"Waaah, I knew it. Master doesn't like us. At first, you made us food every day, but ever since we couldn't learn to cook, you stopped making it for us."
Chen An considered this slander. Absolute slander. He made food for them every so often, just not every single day.
And whenever he thought of teaching them to cook, he felt helpless. It wasn't that he hadn't tried to get Zhu Zhuqing and Luo Xiaoshi to cook for themselves.
But the things they made were truly beyond praise. Their cooking rivaled Thor's in the original story—or, put another way, it was worse than some of the dishes from Hell's Kitchen.
They tried steaming buns, but all they got were dense, unleavened lumps. Go ahead and eat one; one bite would leave you speechless.
With cooking skills like that, Chen An gave up. He gave up teaching them culinary arts.
"Huh? Senior Sister?"
Ning Rongrong wanted to ask Chen An if the food he made was really that delicious.
But she'd only managed three words before Zhu Zhuqing tugged at her clothes a few times, signaling her to keep quiet.
Watching Zhu Zhuqing's acting grow ever more polished, even managing to prompt someone else while looking on the verge of tears, Chen An could only admire her.
He couldn't withstand this kind of pleading, so he sighed helplessly and said,
"Let's go."
Hearing Chen An say that, Zhu Zhuqing instantly changed back. Then she cheered,
"Yay! ヾ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ"
They went to the back hill. Today, Chen An made a whole roast lamb. It wasn't a huge portion, but the meat was fresh and tender, not at all tough. He also prepared several exquisitely made vegetable dishes, mostly southern-style.
It was their way of treating Ning Rongrong to a welcoming banquet as a new disciple. The banquet itself was a little odd, though, with the master doing the cooking himself.
"Mmm, delicious."
It was enough to say that no one could resist Chinese food.
Ning Rongrong finally understood why Zhu Zhuqing was so attached to this.
She felt that even the treatment she'd received before was nothing by comparison.
"Clean up after you're done eating. Zhuqing, you know the drill. I'm going into seclusion for a few days. If anything comes up, ask one of the other teachers. If there's something you really can't handle, um, Zhuqing has a way to contact me."
He was talking about the Communication Talisman.
When he'd made it earlier, he hadn't held back at all, and had linked it directly to himself. As a result, it could send him messages no matter what state he was in.
"Okay, Master."
Hearing that her master was going into seclusion, Zhu Zhuqing felt a little downcast, since it meant she'd have to eat in the cafeteria.
What torture.
But she was also a little hopeful. In the entire year, she'd never seen Chen An go into seclusion.
So she wondered whether there was a chance her master would come out as a Titled Douluo.
The thought crossed her mind, but she didn't really believe it.
"I'm off. By the way, Rongrong, I'll teach you your cultivation methods and the rest after I come out of seclusion."
After saying goodbye, Chen An headed deeper in. This time, he really was going into seclusion to break through to Level 90. He could feel that he'd completed the task the Library had given him earlier.
This time, he was aiming for Level 90.
There wasn't much risk. He'd only need to spend time slowly refining that Soul Ring.
"Senior Sister, do we really have to clean up?"
After Chen An left, Ning Rongrong asked what the cultivation methods were. Zhu Zhuqing explained as she ate. Once they'd nearly finished, Ning Rongrong said with a faintly pained expression,
She'd never done this sort of work in her life. There was an old saying for it: her fingers had never touched the spring waters.
Zhu Zhuqing, meanwhile, had already started cleaning up.
"Obviously. Or do you still want to eat Master's delicious food?"
At that, Ning Rongrong joined her in cleaning up.
She had no choice. She didn't want her master to find out and stop making delicious food for her.
Chen An had gone into seclusion, but life went on as usual.
The three-person team at the academy was more than enough to handle things, and Chen An had given Lin Ran the resources they'd need before entering seclusion, so everything went smoothly.
Luo Xiaoshi also woke up the next day. He met Ning Rongrong, then prepared to start teaching alongside Zhu Zhuqing.
Ning Rongrong's letter was also rushed to Sect Master Ning the very next day.
"宗主,need me to step outside?"
Sword Douluo was discussing matters with Ning Fengzhi when an express letter was delivered to him.
"No need. This is a letter Rongrong sent back. How about calling Uncle Bone over to read it with us?"
"Sounds good!"
Once Gu Rong arrived, Ning Fengzhi opened the envelope. From the very first line, something felt off.
The phrase "Greetings, I hope this letter finds you well" wasn't something Ning Rongrong would write, as far as he knew. And the recipient was her own father, no less.
As he read on, Ning Fengzhi's expression changed again and again.
"Well? Well?"
When Ning Fengzhi finished reading, Bone Douluo Gu Rong was the first to ask.
He and Sword Douluo Chen Xin cared for and doted on little princess Ning Rongrong even more than Ning Fengzhi did.
"Here, you two read it. Give me a moment to collect myself."
The shock was simply too much for Ning Fengzhi. It was like an old father seeing his daughter bring home a young punk with bleached hair, who opened his mouth and said, "Oi, old man, where'd you park my motorcycle?"
The situation was the opposite, but the feeling was just about the same.
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