No Holds Barred

After Bai Hui sent the message, Liu Chang'an did not reply to her. This was quite normal, because it was said that even with An Nuan, Liu Chang'an would not reply to her messages immediately. As for other classmates and friends, it was also normal that they could not reach Liu Chang'an by sending him messages.

However, Bai Hui had also heard that when boys and girls are deeply in love, replying to messages instantly is the most basic requirement, especially for boys, because it is a girl's basic right.

If you truly care about someone, you'll reply to their message quickly; almost every girl believes that... In other words, Liu Chang'an might not really care about An Nuan.

Thinking of this, Bai Hui happily tiptoed and hopped around, waiting for the ripples from her heels landing, combined with the natural curve of her hips, to form the graph of y=sinx on her chest. At the same time, Bai Hui's heart fluctuated with unease. She had a bad feeling. Although Liu Chang'an hung up the phone as cleanly and decisively as usual, he seemed somewhat unhappy. Had he blocked her?

Thinking about this, Bai Hui glanced at her phone, considering calling him again to test the waters. However, she worried that if he hadn't blocked her, calling him for no reason and not knowing what to say, or continuing the previous conversation, would only annoy him.

What if he really blocks her?

"Then... then... then I'll block him too," Bai Hui pursed her lips and made up her mind unhappily. This Liu Chang'an actually blocked her. One day when he thinks of calling her, he will find that he has been blocked by her. She wonders what kind of grumpy face he will have.

Haha... Bai Hui was immediately delighted. She opened his personal information, clicked "Block this caller ID," and then "Unblock this caller ID," clicking several times. She felt like she was manipulating Liu Chang'an.

"How fun..." Bai Hui ordered a few times, then returned to her dorm room feeling bored. She had just made the call from the laundry room.

Even if I really block him, he might never find out that he's been blocked.

Wow, Bai Hui, your phone case is so pretty!

Bai Hui's roommate, Yan Xiang, looked at Bai Hui's phone with envy. She remembered that Bai Hui didn't have this phone case during the day.

"I like it too," Bai Hui said somewhat reservedly. Now that she was a wealthy woman in every way, she no longer had the same strong urge to show off her new purchases.

Of course, the most important thing is that they are new classmates, and no one knows each other well.

"Where did you buy it? How much did it cost? I want to buy one too, but I wonder if they have my phone model." Yan Xiang tugged at her huge Kumamon phone case.

"My cousin brought it back from Taiwan. She brought it to me at school today. I didn't ask how much it cost. I guess you can buy it online through agents," Bai Hui said casually.

"That must be very expensive." Another roommate, Li Hongman, also noticed Bai Hui's phone case. Girls have the same taste for shiny, jewel-like things as the mother crow.

Undeterred, Yan Xiang took a picture of Bai Hui's phone case and used a shopping app's recognition search. Surprisingly, she found the same model. Yan Xiang exclaimed, "Over three thousand! More expensive than my phone!"

Feeling the astonished gazes of her roommates, Bai Hui maintained a composed demeanor, though she was secretly delighted. Girls love this feeling; otherwise, why would they say that a girl's vanity is a comprehensive attribute from the inside out? Vanity from the inside out is authenticity.

"Then your phone must be an 7 Plus too!" Zhao Yu exclaimed after just finishing a call with her boyfriend. Although it wasn't anything rare, every girl wanted one.

Market research has also shown that women have a stronger desire to buy this brand and model of mobile phone.

"Yeah, I just bought it before the college entrance exam this year." Bai Hui sensed that her roommates were looking at her differently now. Sigh, her status as a little rich girl was bound to be exposed sooner or later. There was nothing she could do about it. After all, her quality of life would eventually show up and be quite different from her roommates', so there was no need to hide it.

"That's a bit of a loss. The new model should be released this month, so I might as well buy the new one," Li Hongman said regretfully. In fact, she had planned to wait for the new model to be released and the old model to drop in price before buying the old one. She had saved some money herself, asked her family for some more, and sold her old phone, which would be about enough to cover the cost.

"Let's change it again," Bai Hui said calmly.

"Tsk tsk... we really have a rich girl in our dorm." Yan Xiang hugged Bai Hui exaggeratedly, "How about we freeload off you from now on?"

Li Hongman and Zhao Yu smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"Actually, this phone was a gift from someone." Bai Hui quickly realized her heart was beating a little fast, just like when she was a child and lied about her grades when an elder asked about them for the first time.

"Boyfriend?" Zhao Yu asked tentatively, because when Bai Hui was talking to her before, she sensed that Bai Hui probably had someone she liked.

"No," Bai Hui said calmly, "I just helped him out and unexpectedly received some compensation."

The girls smiled. They were all girls; they all understood that there was something hidden in what they were saying.

"You asked me before if that was definitely useful, so I told you to go tell the boy you mentioned." Zhao Yu was the one who promoted this "miracle tool" in the class group, and she also recommended it to her boyfriend.

"That's true. We're friends, I guess. I just reminded him." Bai Hui brushed her bangs aside. She found herself enjoying talking about these kinds of topics with others.

For some reason, she felt a little more joy and anticipation than talking to others about luxury goods, dresses, cosmetics, and skincare products—it satisfied her vanity. Maybe just a tiny bit, but that strange feeling made Bai Hui even more confused. Why was she feeling this way?

"Oh, looks like the boys in our class have no chance. I saw they responded the most enthusiastically when you spoke in the group chat today. Don't you have a classmate from high school in our class? She said a lot of boys have been asking her about you." Li Hongman said regretfully. During her university years, she planned to improve her overall qualities in all aspects and was trying to expand her social circle. She chatted a lot, but there was no useful improvement; she did get a lot of gossip, though.

"Are they here to study, or to date?" Bai Hui thought of Qian Ning and Lu Yuan, and suddenly felt a little irritated.

"Those who didn't date in high school are especially prone to getting hot in college," Yan Xiang said with certainty.

"Let nature take its course," Li Hongman said with a hint of expectation.

Bai Hui remembered that incident again and looked at Zhao Yu with some concern, "By the way, you recommended it to your boyfriend... but I didn't. Won't people think my suggestion is inappropriate or something?"

"It can't be that serious. Who would be so petty? You meant well. Even if he doesn't want to, what lunatic would blame you?" Zhao Yu, being an experienced person, knew very well that Bai Hui was afraid of making things worse and incurring other people's resentment.

Bai Hui finally relaxed and smiled slightly, "Let's go get some late-night snacks, it's on me."

"Great! My first late-night snack in South Hunan!"

"Hold on to the rich woman's coattails!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, let's go!"

Liu Chang'an didn't pay attention to Bai Hui's suggestion or her sudden, unreliable show of concern. As long as Bai Hui didn't continue to talk to him about it, he would soon forget about it. He wasn't actually that averse to women's products, but even an ordinary man would feel awkward doing so.

As people live longer, managing their emotions becomes an instinct, because emotions, like memories, accumulate. However, these intangible and intangible things stored in neurons cannot be naturally eliminated from the body like toxins and waste products absorbed by the body.

Liu Chang'an would not allow himself to become a person without emotions, because emotions and desires are closely related. A person without emotions or desires would be no different from a fossil even if he were to Longevity.

Liu Chang'an's biggest concern right now is his beans.

At midnight, Liu Chang'an removed the gauze wrapped around the edge of the pot lid, which was soaked in water. He then lifted the lid, and steam rose up. The freshly cooked soybeans were fragrant, plump, soft, and had a smooth but not mushy skin – the perfect ingredients for making fermented black beans.

After the beans were cooked and drained, Liu Chang'an packed them into the truck bed. This was to prevent Zhou Dongdong from eating them whenever he had time, since he would leave them at home.

The next step is to wait for the beans to ferment and grow mold.

Liu Chang'an went in and came out again without speaking to Shangguan Dandan. He used to really want her to come out and live with him, to experience the new life of reuniting with the ancients after the passage of time. But now he felt it was better for her to stay in the coffin and read books. After all, he topped up her phone credit and charged her phone, and she didn't need to eat, so she could just stay in the coffin... You know, that's a dream life for so many people.

There was a feeling that if Shangguan Dandan really came out, it would bring him a lot of trouble and problems. Liu Chang'an wasn't afraid of trouble, but he didn't want to have any.

Let it drift away into dreams, Liu Chang'an went back upstairs and took a nap on the deck chair on the balcony.

Feeling the faint morning light, Liu Chang'an opened his eyes. The sycamore leaves above his head were still green, but the green already had a hint of yellow in the veins, like a person whose illness has been planted. They look lively and energetic, but who knows when they might suddenly show signs of decay.

Autumn has arrived, and the serene blue sky seems to grow ever higher. The southern sky doesn't feel as vast as the northern frontier, but its pale blue hue exudes a sense of peace and tranquility. The mornings are a bit cooler than usual, and Liu Chang'an touches his arm, feeling a slight dampness in his skin, unlike the smooth, warm feeling he had when he first came out of bed. Liu Chang'an narrows his eyes. Summer has passed, and it's as if that fiery woman has finally softened, her allure no longer so direct and intense, but rather a deeper, more captivating charm.

This early autumn is still quite hot, so Liu Chang'an should use this lingering warmth to make a sweet and flavorful chili sauce.

To make chili sauce, chili peppers are essential, and they must be local chili peppers from central South Hunan. These chili peppers are only available in farmers' markets. If you buy them in supermarkets, a small bag can cost several yuan or even more than ten yuan, which is not cost-effective.

Liu Chang'an is usually more generous to the farmers who grow their own vegetables, but he is naturally more picky about products from companies that produce below-scale industrialization.

There were plenty of chili peppers in the market, with red chili peppers piled up all over the ground. After asking about their origin, Liu Chang'an picked up a few chili peppers, smelled them, scratched his fingernail, squeezed out some juice, tasted it on his tongue, and found it quite good. He nodded and spent an hour picking through them until he had filled a burlap sack and carried it on his back.

I also bought some green beans, which are great to add to chili sauce.

Passing by a fish stall, Liu Chang'an remembered that he had originally intended to eat fish roe and offal yesterday, but ended up eating at a buffet, which naturally didn't satisfy his taste. He looked around and saw a mandarin fish. Even though it wasn't the season for mandarin fish to be at their fattest, it still looked delicious. Seeing that it was lively and seemingly unconcerned about whether it was alive or dead, Liu Chang'an decided to eat it.

Back home, Liu Chang'an called Qin Yanan, "Advisor, I need to ask for leave this morning."

Qin Yanan was somewhat surprised, but she asked dutifully, "What are you going to do? You're asking for leave on the first day of military training."

"I bought some chili peppers; I want to make some chili sauce." Liu Chang'an certainly had a valid reason for asking for leave.

"Can't you do it at another time?" Qin Yanan knew about Liu Chang'an's high school and knew that this was his usual practice, so asking for leave was a very proper attitude.

"These chilies look fresh, I just bought them this morning. I need to chop them up quickly, otherwise they'll spoil easily when I get home this afternoon in this weather." Liu Chang'an didn't want to waste the chilies he had carefully selected.

"Alright, then you'll have to come over this afternoon," Qin Yanan said helplessly.

"Thank you, cousin." Liu Chang'an hung up the phone.

"Cousin? "Qin Yanan didn't dare accept the title, but she also felt a strange thrill.

In the morning, Zhou Dongdong and Zhou Shuling walked past Liu Chang'an. Zhou Dongdong couldn't sit on the small stool as usual to watch her brother Chang'an busy with something she didn't know what he was doing. She was dragged to school by Zhou Shuling with some melancholy.

Liu Chang'an didn't chop the chili peppers right away. Instead, he first gutted the mandarin fish, cleaned it, cut it open, flattened it with a knife, and then made diagonal cuts on both sides. He then took out some fermented bean curd, crushed each piece, and spread it on the mandarin fish. He then drizzled some more potent fermented bean curd oil on top. This was his own homemade fermented bean curd, and its pungent smell was truly unique.

Next, wrap the mandarin fish that has been smeared with fermented bean curd, put it in a bucket, and press it down tightly with an old cutting board. In this weather, the raw materials for the fermented mandarin fish will be ready in three or four days.

Unlike most stinky tofu that doesn't smell at all, stinky mandarin fish is the real deal – it smells incredibly bad, but tastes delicious.

After cleaning the mandarin fish, Liu Chang'an started washing the chili peppers, Zhu Juntang slowly walked over.

"Good morning, Liu Chang'an!" Zhu Juntang clearly appreciated the address and called out again, "Liu Chang'an!"

"Morning."

"You didn't go to military training?"

"You didn't go either, did you?"

"Of course I'm not going." Zhu Juntang is a fairy, how could a fairy participate in military training? Naturally, she had already asked for leave. Zhu Juntang just didn't expect that when she called Qin Yanan, she would find out that Liu Chang'an was also not going to military training today. She then experienced the joy of escaping military training together and quickly came to share the happy time of escaping military training with Liu Chang'an.

I'll go this afternoon.

"Why don't you all skip it and come to my house to read this afternoon?"

Liu Chang'an was somewhat Heartbeat, but he insisted on sticking to his principles; he had said he would only take a morning off, and that meant he would only take a morning off.

"Sigh, my mom went to Europe again. Yaya is so busy every day, it's so boring." Zhu Juntang sat down listlessly.

She sat in front of Liu Chang'an. Today, Zhu Juntang was unusually not wearing the white stockings that she thought best suited a dreamy girl. The color of her legs was crystal clear and delicate, as tender as steamed mandarin fish. However, the stinky mandarin fish that Liu Chang'an made would smell very bad, while Zhu Juntang sitting there looked like a delicate flower, swaying gracefully and exuding a charming fragrance.

Liu Chang'an looked at Zhu Juntang, but his thoughts were on the elusive Third Mistress. It was normal for someone so busy with her career to come and go. However, since arriving in Junsha, the Third Mistress had repeatedly shown a desire to learn something from Liu Chang'an, but it seemed that she hadn't done anything concrete. This was quite strange.

"You're saying your mother is ruthless and unscrupulous in her actions?" Liu Chang'an asked.

Zhu Juntang nodded heavily. Fortunately, her mother hadn't resorted to any means to match her with Liu Chang'an, otherwise it would have been too shameful, and she would have felt a little sorry for Qin Yanan.

Liu Chang'an nodded in agreement. A ruthless person would never allow their child to become a blind spot that they could exploit.

"By the way, did you see my helicopter yesterday?" Zhu Juntang held up a finger and twirled it, imitating a helicopter propeller.

"I saw it; I was already on the bridge by then." This is not unusual; the Juzhou Administration Bureau also has a helicopter that frequently flies around Juzhou.

"Yesterday I had those two men hang from the rope and take them across the river, but they refused." Zhu Juntang was a little angry. Didn't these stupid men have any self-awareness? Mortals who want to get close to fairies should of course be tested, but they didn't even have the courage to accept the test.

"How about I try it sometime?" Liu Chang'an thought for a moment. "If I jump off the rope, will the driver notice?"

Zhu Juntang was taken aback for a moment, "Yes, of course the suspension rope has a load-bearing sensor."

"Okay, I understand."

"What are you going to do?" Zhu Juntang, incredibly curious and itching to know what to do.

"Aren't you a fat sheep? A fat sheep should know its place. How dare you pry into the Sect Master's secrets?" Liu Chang'an wasn't at ease with this ordinary gang member... no, she had already been demoted to a trainee gang member by Qin Yanan.

Zhu Juntang pouted. This Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect is no fun at all!

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Hello everyone, here's a long chapter of 4980 words. Please vote for me with your monthly tickets, and also check out the next chapter for my message about requesting votes and a big update.