Dual Cultivation

As the night deepened and all was quiet, the group chat gradually fell silent.

Seeing that there was nothing new to say, Yang Yang, "I'm going home to sleep. See you two tomorrow."

As she spoke, she opened the door and left, wearing fluffy pajamas and looking like a little dinosaur.

In the living room, Nan Gengchen, nestled in the leather sofa, watched the other person leave, and asked with some surprise, "Sister Yang Yang, where are you going?"

Qing Chen looked at him expressionlessly. "Go back to her own home, or is she going to stay here with me? My dad sold the house to gamble, Yang Yang is now the new landlord over there. The house she's living in now is rented from Hu Xiaoniu."

This made Nan Gengchen even more confused. "What exactly is your relationship?"

Yang Yang, who had stopped at the door, turned around and pondered for a long time, "Dual cultivation?"

Nan Gengchen: "???"

Qing Chen: "???"

Yang Yang explained, "I used my abilities to help Qing Chen cultivate. In the process of helping him, my control over my abilities also increased, and I could become more precise."

Qing Chen said irritably, "Dual cultivation can't be used here!"

For example, saying "I really want to open your little head and see what's inside" means the same thing.

But if you change that sentence to. "I really want to open your skull and see what's inside," it takes on a completely different meaning!

Yang Yang waved casually, "It's not important, I'm going home."

With that, he closed the door.

At this moment, Nan Gengchen said, "Brother Chen, can I stay at your place tonight?"

"I'm a little surprised. You usually can't go out at night, so why are you staying out all night tonight?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"My dad lost money and is in a bad mood. He's drinking alone at home now. He'll definitely get a beating when he gets back," Nan Gengchen said.

Qing Chen sighed. He had seen the leather strap marks on Nan Gengchen's body before; the bluish-purple marks looked extremely terrifying.

Although the other party's parents were not divorced, their situation was not much better than mine.

He asked Nan Gengchen, "Where is your mother?"

"My dad sent my mom back to her parents' house," Nan Gengchen said in a low voice. "I reckon they'll get divorced soon. Brother Chen, I've been trying to save money lately. Every time I come back, I ask Li Yinuo to prepare two gold bars for me. Once I've saved enough, I'll buy a house and live alone from now on."

As he spoke, Nan Gengchen pulled out three gold bars from his pocket. "These are the ones I haven't had time to sell yet. I'll leave them with you, Brother Chen, for now. I'm afraid my dad will find out if I keep them at home."

"Hmm," Qing Chen helped him put it between the bed boards, "Li Yinuo is really good to you, and her earning speed is not much worse than mine."

"Brother Chen, why don't I come and join you?" Nan Gengchen said enthusiastically. "Now that you've established yourself and have such a powerful master, I can also make a name for myself by following you."

"What's wrong? You don't want to be with Li Yinuo anymore?" Qing Chen, somewhat puzzled. "Have you had a conflict with her?"

Nan Gengchen thought for a moment, "Actually, we get along pretty well now. I quite like her personality, and I feel very safe around her. But it was a bit scary at the beginning. I always thought she wanted to drain my yang energy..."

Qing Chen: "... You've worked hard, so why did you still want to come and seek refuge with me?"

Nan Gengchen shook his head. "I always feel a bit pathetic being protected by her all the time, and I'm not good enough for her."

Qing Chen glanced at the other person. He knew that this guy had always been a bit insecure because of his family background, so he felt uneasy about living off Li Yinuo, such a good girlfriend.

Nan Gengchen continued, "People always say that a man should establish his career before starting a family, and I don't want her to look down on me."

Qing Chen patiently explained, "What you heard wasn't complete. It should be: 'Meet a good man and start a family first; meet a benefactor and establish a career first; meet a wealthy woman and start a family and career first...'"

Nan Gengchen: "..."

"Let's not talk about the future," Qing Chen thought for a moment, "What do you plan to do now? Stay at my house?"

"I'm afraid to go back," Nan Gengchen said pitifully. "I'll get beaten up if I go back. Why don't you report my dad for me, Brother Chen? You know about this kind of thing."

Qing Chen thought for a long time, "What does your dad usually gamble on?"

Mahjong.

"Do you know where he gambles?"

"I don't know," Nan Gengchen sighed. "I just don't know where he plays cards, otherwise I would have reported him myself."

"It's alright," Qing Chen said calmly. "Stay at my place for now, and I'll take care of this for you."

After returning home, Yang Yang did not go straight to sleep. She reflected on her time with Qing Chen over the past few days and suddenly realized that this young man was far more complex than she had imagined.

The other person didn't seem like a high school student at all. The composure, calmness, and resourcefulness they displayed when faced with a situation were not qualities that a high school student from a small city should possess.

So Yang Yang suddenly became very curious about what kind of past Qing Chen had.

The next day at school, she called out to Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen during the break between classes.

Yang Yang asked, "Is the house Qing Chen is living in now rented to him by you?"

"Yes," Hu Xiaoniu nodded, "We rented it to him for 1,400 yuan per month, the market price is 1,200, plus 200."

"The house is decorated very nicely. Adding 200 is a token of our appreciation and it's reasonable," Yang Yang nodded.

"By the way, the house you're living in now is his house," Hu Xiaoniu said. "When his father sold the house, Qing Chen didn't even have time to pack his things before he was kicked out."

Yang Yang was stunned for a moment. Was that the room she lived in, which had also belonged to Qing Chen?

When she moved in, she only changed one bed, one TV, and one computer; everything else remained the same.

Perhaps I could search the house to see if I could find any clues about Qing Chen.

Yang Yang said, "I'm very curious about why his father sold his house, what his family relationships are like, and what kind of person Qing Chen really is?"

"I also inquired about Qing Chen with my classmates," Zhang Tianzhen said. "What's surprising is that this student is extremely famous throughout the school. It's said that he has never been out of the top three in exams."

"Even if he's in the top three, the whole school won't know him," Yang Yang thought for a moment and said, "Do you know the names of the top three students in our Haizhong High School? Most people wouldn't remember them."

"Well," Hu Xiaoniu explained, "My classmates told me that the key is not that he is good at studying, but that he has been working part-time since the beginning of high school. In the first year of high school, some classmates saw him working as a waiter at a KTV, and others saw him working as a waiter at a roadside barbecue stall. He also worked at KFC, McDonald's, and convenience stores. Qing Chen has been working odd jobs to earn his tuition and living expenses."

"When classmates bump into him, he doesn't feel embarrassed at all," Zhang Tianzhen said. "I feel that many classmates might feel inferior if they were in such a predicament, but the classmates say that Qing Chen doesn't. He greets everyone generously, without being overly enthusiastic, and he's never timid. Some classmates have asked Qing Chen if he feels embarrassed, but Qing Chen's answer is that he earns his living with his own hands, and there's nothing to be ashamed of."

At this moment, Yang Yang suddenly remembered what Qing Chen had once told her.

It's not that the other person wants to work so hard, but the world has given them a rare chance to restart their life, and they have to grit their teeth and bleed to forge a path.

Qing Chen had no choice.

Yang Yang had never seen anything like this before. Her life, like that of Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen, had always been brilliant, so she couldn't imagine how difficult a dark life could be.

Qing Chen was quite different from any of her classmates.

Zhang Tianzhen added, "By the way, the teacher also knows about his family situation, so the teacher doesn't care if he skips class. It is said that he promised the teacher in the first year of high school that his grades would always be in the top three of the grade, and if he fell out of the top three, he would study hard."

"I see," Yang Yang said. "Don't his parents care about him?"

"His parents divorced a long time ago. His father is a gambler. He sold the house recently because of gambling," Hu Xiaoniu said. "I was listening outside the door when his father sold the house. I thought he would show his vulnerable side when he encountered such a thing, but when I went into the house, I found that he was still very calm, as if what had just happened had nothing to do with him."

"Where is his father now?" Yang Yang asked.

"Oh, he reported me for gambling and got me arrested," Hu Xiaoniu said, his teeth aching. "After you warned me not to mess with him, I asked someone to check his family background. It turned out his father was in detention, and the judicial authorities have now filed a case against him. Our lawyer said the minimum sentence is at least one year."

Yang Yang was stunned; she hadn't expected Qing Chen to be so ruthless...

But she didn't think Qing Chen had done anything wrong. Yang Yang just thought that he must have felt very happy when he reported him.

At this moment, Hu Xiaoniu looked at Yang Yang: "By the way, he's also Time Walker, right? Why did you tell us not to mess with him? What's his identity in the Inner World?"

"I don't think his identity matters much anymore," Yang Yang shook her head. "A person like him will succeed sooner or later no matter where you put him. I think instead of focusing on Liu Dezhu, you should invest in him."

Zhang Tianzhen said, "Yang Yang, you should at least give us a hint."

"No," Yang Yang shook her head, "I won't betray someone who has gritted his teeth and struggled to survive. I suggest you don't do this in the future either."

"Why?"

"If this kind of person is pushed to the limit and goes crazy, many people will die."

When Yang Yang returned home after skipping class that evening, she immediately began searching the house, trying to see what Qing Chen had left behind.

She first searched through the bookshelf, even looking through every single book, but found nothing.

She searched through all the drawers, but they were almost empty.

This disappointed Yang Yang. She lay on her back on the bed, lost in thought, but she didn't know what she was thinking about.

However, at that moment, as she turned around, she suddenly saw a line of small characters carved on the white wall beside the bed.

Herds of cattle and sheep roam, but only the fierce tiger roams alone.

Yang Yang ran her fingers along the engraved marks, and could even imagine the stubborn expression on the other person's face during the loneliest moments of the night.

She was thinking, "It would be quite interesting to team up with someone like this, right?"

Wait, the girl felt like something was still missing from the room...

After thinking it over and over, she suddenly looked up in astonishment: Where are the meal tickets?

As usual, she'd get an extra devil's meal ticket by her pillow every day, but why isn't there one today?!

How can I then justify my job hunting with a clear conscience?

Yang Yang ran upstairs and knocked on the door. Looking at Hu Xiaoniu who opened it, she asked, "Has the holder of the Demon Stamp written you a letter?"

After the Laojun Mountain incident, Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen were also two open cards. Given the personality of the person who held them, they should have sent them letters as well.

"I received it," Hu Xiaoniu said gravely. "What's wrong? Did you receive it too?"

Yang Yang didn't answer the question, but continued, "Then do you know how to reply to him?"

"Yes, they mentioned it in the second letter, but I haven't replied yet," Hu Xiaoniu said.

"That's good," Yang Yang said with a sigh of relief. "Could you please reply to that holder and tell him something?"

Hu Xiaoniu was taken aback. "What's wrong?"

Yang Yang said, "Reply to him and tell him to write a letter to Qing Chen right away! Quick, I'm waiting online, it's urgent!"

Hu Xiaoniu: "???"

What kind of operation is this?

A dozen minutes later, a thin figure stood by a French window, looking at the reply in his hand. He suddenly clenched the letter tightly and muttered, "I feel like I'm being used as some kind of tool. Damn it..."

As a result, Yang Yang waited at home for more than an hour, but still didn't receive a letter from the holder to Qing Chen.

She suddenly realized that this guy might never write to Qing Chen again...

"I was too hasty," Yang Yang sighed at home. "Why did it provoke such a rebellious attitude?"

Just then, there was a knock on the door, Qing Chen's voice came from outside. "Dinner's ready."

Yang Yang jumped up from the bed with a big smile on her face.

Days passed, and Los Angeles returned to a brief period of tranquility.

It was so quiet, as if nothing had happened.

He Xiaoxiao's chat group has also temporarily quieted down, and all the Time Walker are preparing for their next time travel.

Countdown.

Qing Chen stood up, drenched in sweat, and the invisible gravity disappeared with him.

In the past few days, his cooperation with Yang Yang has become more and more tacit. No matter how much he improves, the other party can always increase the gravity accordingly.

He quickly took a shower, then lay calmly on the bed and waited silently.

Qing Chen knew that at this moment, there must be many other Time Walker like him waiting for the countdown to begin.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Time travel.

There are still people waiting for him in the Inner World.

I wonder how many people subscribed to this chapter just because of the title, tsk tsk tsk.

Thank you, Baiyunzhizhi, for becoming a new ally of this book. You're so generous, boss! May you prosper!

I need your monthly votes!

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