The Foolish and the Lively

Liu Chang'an put down the small stool he was holding, took a picture of Zhou Dongdong, and then pulled her out.

Zhou Dongdong opened her mouth wide, her eyes slowly moving from left to right.

She looked down at her wet dress and sandals, then at the puddle.

"Brother Chang'an, a puddle suddenly appeared on the ground and swallowed me!" Zhou Dongdong said to Liu Chang'an in great surprise, pointing at the puddle.

"Your nose has grown longer." Liu Chang'an went back to get a towel and wiped her face.

Zhou Dongdong quickly pressed her nose.

"I get beaten every day." Zhou Dongdong thought that this was just how life was, and paused for a moment.

Liu Chang'an thought for a moment and decided to let it go. The child was already stupid and had to be beaten every day. If he was beaten any more stupid, there would be no hope for his life.

Liu Chang'an took Zhou Dongdong home, took off her clothes, rinsed her briefly under the tap, dried her off, wrapped her in a towel, and put her on the bed so she could watch TV.

Summer clothes are light and thin, especially children's clothes. They are washed and considered clean after a quick rub, and then hung to dry in an inconspicuous place.

Liu Chang'an finished hanging up the clothes, feeling a bit annoyed. He'd been so happy when he saw Zhou Dongdong fall into the puddle, only to end up being the one causing trouble.

Liu Chang'an told Zhou Dongdong to watch TV at his house, and then continued with his work. When Zhou Shuling came down, Zhou Shuling didn't care where Zhou Dongdong went. Zhou Dongdong usually wouldn't run out of the neighborhood to play on her own, as there was no danger in the neighborhood, so she was too lazy to care about her. She went to sell rice noodles with Liu Chang'an.

Liu Chang'an returned at noon, bringing back a bowl of rice noodles with only some chicken and a fried egg for Zhou Dongdong.

Zhou Dongdong had already thrown away her bath towel and was lying on the bed watching TV with her bare bottom exposed. Liu Chang'an went to get some clothes and brought them in. In this hot summer, the clothes were already completely dry by the end of the morning.

"Thank you, Brother Chang'an." Zhou Dongdong put on her clothes and became innocent and lively again. It seemed she wouldn't get a beating today.

"Eat rice noodles."

Liu Chang'an handed the powder to Zhou Dongdong and continued to repair the broken little stool. To live a good life, one should always have basic daily tools. Liu Chang'an did not use nails, but instead used the traditional mortise and tenon structure. As long as one has enough strength and masters the skills, even simple knives can cut iron like mud, easily making various mortise and tenon structures.

Zhou Dongdong held her bowl and watched Liu Chang'an repair the small stool. Zhou Dongdong was very happy that she hadn't been beaten today, and she leaned against Liu Chang'an while eating her noodles.

In the afternoon Liu Chang'an fixed the small stool and went with An Nuan to fill out their college application forms. Starting this year, the school will no longer collect application confirmation forms from students; instead, students will fill out the forms online using their password cards and personal information.

Liu Chang'an and An Nuan both applied to Xiangtan University, but their choices were different. Liu Chang'an chose biotechnology, while An Nuan chose accounting.

Although Xiangtan University 'Xiangtan University development goal is to become a comprehensive university, its traditional strengths still clearly lean towards science and engineering. Communication Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering are all national-level featured disciplines and first-level national key disciplines. Second-level national key disciplines include Mechanical Manufacturing and Automation, Mechanical Design and Theory, Mechatronics Engineering, Heating and Gas Supply, Municipal Engineering, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Engineering, Bridge and Tunnel Engineering, etc.

It can be said that the Institute of Technology and many other universities in China have supported the country's further development and the improvement of people's lives. Without the slogan "Master mathematics, physics and chemistry and you can go anywhere in the world without fear" that was shouted decades ago, there would be no development today.

Of course, it's a tradition to settle scores and reflect on past glories, but nobody shouts such slogans anymore. The fact that a country that is universally recognized as the greatest economic miracle of the new century has not produced a single Nobel laureate economist speaks volumes about many ridiculous phenomena in this world. India and Argentina, on the other hand, have many famous economists, and their roles and abilities during economic development and crises are undeniable.

Liu Chang'an certainly didn't object to An Nuan studying accounting; accounting is indeed a very useful major. He just remembered what Ren Changhong and Xu Zhancheng often told their students when filling out college applications, "From the perspective of human development, the humanities should kneel before the sciences."

Such remarks are bound to cause controversy, but fortunately, schools tend to be more tolerant of experts and professors with outstanding expertise and professional abilities.

Having filled out my college application, I'm now just waiting to officially become a college student. The feeling that college life is truly about to begin is quite bittersweet.

Liu Chang'an and An Nuan filled out the form on the computer in her study. Xiangtan University was about to have its summer vacation, and with exams approaching, Liu Yuewang was quite busy. Moreover, Liu Yuewang had elective courses to teach during the summer vacation. Her classes were always very popular, and the proportion of male students enrolled in her classes was the highest among all female teachers and professors in the entire university.

After shutting down the computer, An Nuan felt a sense of emptiness, as if high school had only just truly ended at this moment, and she thought back to her three years at the Affiliated High School.

"Did you know that Bai Hui invited Miao Yingying, Bi Wanwan, and a bunch of girls from other schools to perform a dance compilation themed 'Graduation Ceremony'? It went viral on Thirteen Net. Do you want to take a look?" An Nuan asked.

"Okay." Liu Chang'an nodded.

An Nuan immediately stood up, furious. "So you're interested in Bai Hui now? Do all boys like watching girls dance?"

"My classmate uploaded a dance video that went viral online. Isn't it natural for a classmate to be interested? Contributing a click, leaving a comment, or something like that counts as support," Liu Chang'an said dismissively.

"That's true." An Nuan sat down again. Liu Chang'an was definitely not the kind of good boyfriend who was resistant to the opposite sex, as some people say online. He was the type who "didn't break up and just waited for the New Year."

An Nuan also couldn't understand why so many people liked to share their boyfriends' actions online when they felt something was wrong. Didn't they know whether they should break up with their boyfriends or not?

Of course, An Nuan also really likes to talk about Liu Chang'an behind people's backs, hehe.

"Besides, look at all those people trying to add you on QQ and WeChat every day, sending you all sorts of love and confession messages. Do you think I'd be jealous?" Liu Chang'an reached for the mouse. "Where is it? Which website?"

"I'm ignoring them." An Nuan snatched the mouse and opened the dance video. She had saved it because An Nuan had secretly learned from it. She had to admit that Bai Hui, that little vixen, was quite good at making videos. When she danced, her eyes seemed to be sparkling as soon as she looked at the camera.

"Only a few hundred thousand views, is that considered popular?" Liu Chang'an said after glancing at it.

"She's gained a lot of fans too. Some people even went to Xiangtan University 'Xiangtan University forum to ask if Bai Hui was a freshman there, and they wanted to apply to Xiangtan University too," An Nuan said, pursing her lips.

"Jealousy." Liu Chang'an laughed heartily.

An Nuan's cheeks flushed slightly. "I didn't... I just don't like being judged. Otherwise, I could dance too. Look at all these comments, it's all about legs, legs, legs, as if they can't speak without talking about legs."

"That's true." Liu Chang'an nodded, then turned to look at An Nuan's legs. "They're really beautiful."

An Nuan playfully slapped Liu Chang'an, her heart pounding. Had this guy finally come to his senses? Besides telling her she was pretty, had he finally shifted his attention from her chest to her biggest advantage in front of Bai Hui?

"Do you know why your legs are so long?" Liu Chang'an asked.

"Hmm... I inherited it from my mom." An Nuan said, then realized she was being misled; wasn't this just a reminder that her mother also had long legs? She quickly added, "It's mainly because I exercise a lot, running and jumping around every day, so my legs naturally grew longer."

"Actually, there was an era in Earth's history when the world was filled with spiritual energy, roughly the same era that preceded this generation of humans."

"Ah?"

"Back then, the world was filled with spiritual energy, and everyone could cultivate immortality. I was an ordinary cultivator from a tribe, but I was handsome and dashing, ethereal like an immortal, and loved by everyone. Most female cultivators wanted to use me as their cultivation partner."

An Nuan grabbed his shoulders and shook him wildly, laughing and scolding, "Pah, shameless! Apart from me, a female cultivator... whenever I see you, I want to grab you and lock you in the alchemy furnace to refine you."

Thankfully, she stopped herself in time; she almost blurted out, "I, a female cultivator, want to cultivate with you."

"No, you're not a nun, you're a chicken."

You are the rooster!

"Let me finish... Back then, the tribe's queen took a liking to me and wanted to cultivate with me, but she was too ugly. I didn't want to, and I resisted to the death. I said I'd rather cultivate with my chicken than with you. The queen was furious and made me cultivate with my chicken."

"If this queen were prettier, would you be willing to marry her?" An Nuan angrily discovered the key point.

"Yes."

"You philandering cultivator! You already have a chicken at home, and you still want to flirt with other women!" An Nuan angrily hugged Liu Chang'an and shook him wildly, trying to push him down onto the chair and pin him down.

Before Liu Chang'an could even begin his story, he burst into laughter and couldn't continue.

"Pah! I didn't say I was the chicken, I said you're the cultivator. You have a chicken at home, so you should cultivate with that chicken!" Because Liu Chang'an originally said that An Nuan was a chicken, An Nuan naturally had a bias towards him, but that doesn't mean she admits that she plays the role of a chicken in the story!

"Yes, later I started cultivating with that chicken, but not dual cultivation, you know, it had to transform into human form to do that. I was cultivating with it, but it would go out every day and flirt with other roosters, which made me so angry that I chased after it all day. It would just run and run, hopping around all day, and its legs naturally grew longer. When it transformed into human form, it became a long-legged beauty..."

An Nuan playfully punched him, "Ugh! You just want to say I'm a little hen in disguise! And now I remember, it's just an online joke, it's clearly a story about a female protagonist and a little rooster!"

"But I'm serious, if it were really possible to cultivate immortality, would you be willing to Longevity with me?" Liu Chang'an held An Nuan's hand and looked at An Nuan earnestly.

Perhaps because of the groundwork laid by the story just now, An Nuan, despite knowing it was an absurd question, still smiled earnestly and said, "Of course I'm willing, otherwise, if you Longevity, you'd be like the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Swordsman, seeking out many women."

"Then I'll try harder, be more serious, and work harder without giving up on a series of experiments." Liu Chang'an had originally given up, but now it seems that one or two successful examples are proving that his efforts were not in vain.

"What did you say?" An Nuan cupped Liu Chang'an's cheeks. "Haven't you gotten over your teenage angst yet?"

No, I came to see Bai Hui dance.

"With so many people dancing together, you actually said you were watching Bai Hui dance? Is she the only person you care about?"

"If that's really what you mean, wouldn't you be clinging to me in tears right now, crying and making a scene?"

"No, I'll dance an even better dance to attract your attention."

"Then jump!"

"No, you promised you'd learn to dance with me."

"Oh right, come on, have you heard of Por una cabeza from 'Scent of a Woman'?"

"Know..."

An Nuan knew, of course. How could a girl not know such a beautiful scene? An Nuan understood Liu Chang'an's meaning, and the anticipation in her heart blossomed. Suddenly, she felt that Bai Hui's dance was not enviable at all.

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