A Dreamlike Girl

Of course, the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect isn't fun, just like Zhou Dongdong thinks going to elementary school isn't fun either. For any organization with social responsibility, "fun" is not its primary attribute.

The social responsibility of the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect is currently unclear, but according to Qin Yanan's plan, it is undoubtedly not a direction that aligns with Zhu Juntang's preferences.

"Since you're so free, come and chop some chili peppers for me." Even with Liu Chang'an's skillful knife work, chopping a whole sack of chili peppers wasn't a quick task.

He wasn't impatient and could take his time, but he had to go to military training in the afternoon, and the water-soaked chilies needed to be processed as soon as possible, otherwise they would easily rot. In the mildest case, the broken parts of the chilies would taste a little off after being soaked in water.

"Okay." Zhu Juntang picked up her phone naturally. For her, helping others was the same as asking others to help them.

"Come here." Liu Chang'an had a deep impression that if Zhu Juntang wanted to stay and find Liu Chang'an, nothing good would come of it.

"Me?" Zhu Juntang looked at Liu Chang'an incredulously, then chuckled and waved her hand, thinking Liu Chang'an was joking with her again.

"You try." Liu Chang'an took another cutting board and a kitchen knife.

Zhu Juntang refused, putting her hands behind her back, "You might as well just chop me up on the chopping board."

"In any sect, disciples and members need to undergo special training to advance. In our Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect, the training is that trainee disciples need to chop ten catties of chili peppers to advance to the level of elite members." Liu Chang'an created a sect rule on the spot. As the Sect Master, he naturally had the final say.

Zhu Juntang placed her hands on her legs, tugged at her skirt, and after a moment of difficult thought, finally made up her mind, "No, if I cut my hand, I won't be perfect."

The most perfectly evolved creature Liu Chang'an had ever seen was himself.

Secondly, there is a spherical tentacle creature. Its main body structure is a hard spherical shell that encases its brain and organs. Its entire body is covered with tentacles, which can detach on their own or be used to climb, run, or even merge into wings when it encounters danger. Currently, this creature has entered the Mariana Trench, and humans have not yet discovered its existence.

"If you chop ten pounds of chili peppers, you'll be qualified to participate in the first operation of our Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect," Liu Chang'an continued.

"Okay!" Zhu Juntang agreed with a heavy heart.

Liu Chang'an demonstrated how to chop chili peppers once, and Zhu Juntang watched as even Zhou Dongdong could learn such a simple task in no time. This should be the bottom line of human learning ability.

"It's so sharp! What if I accidentally chop off my hand?" Zhu Juntang picked up the kitchen knife and looked at the sharp blade. "I cut a watermelon for my great-grandmother during the Chinese New Year, and she praised me."

As she spoke, Zhu Juntang glanced at Liu Chang'an. She had already picked up a kitchen knife, yet Liu Chang'an hadn't praised her. Shouldn't he have said something encouraging to her at this moment?

"Chop!" Liu Chang'an himself had already started chopping rapidly.

Zhu Juntang glanced at Liu Chang'an, picked up a chili pepper and placed it on the cutting board, then gripped the knife handle with both hands and chopped down forcefully.

"Haha... wait, I can't pull the knife out..." Zhu Juntang watched as he chopped the chili pepper in two, one half flying onto Liu Chang'an's sleeve and the other half falling to the ground. He felt quite successful and had just laughed twice when he realized that the cleaver had stuck into the cutting board.

"You're quite strong," Liu Chang'an commented calmly.

"It's alright." Zhu Juntang said reservedly, after all, it didn't seem very elegant for a fairy to have great strength.

Go play somewhere else.

Liu Chang'an had no intention of saving her or waiting to see how things went; he had overestimated her.

"I've only just begun!" Zhu Juntang retorted, unconvinced. She had already chopped a chili pepper without cutting her hand or making any other mistakes, except that the knife got stuck in the cutting board. She wanted to prove herself, showing that she was indeed capable of handling many things with ease once she started doing them.

"Where should we sit?" Liu Chang'an pointed to a stool.

"I..."

Liu Chang'an held a chili pepper to her forehead and pushed her away.

Zhu Juntang scoffed. What a foolish man! He's the one who makes her do chores, and he's the one who doesn't let her do chores. I really don't know what's going on in men's heads.

Liu Chang'an put the two cutting boards together, held a cleaver in one hand, and with each slash, water couldn't get in. Bright red chili peppers flew and fell in tiny pieces, but not many fell off the cutting board. In a short while, Liu Chang'an scooped the cutting board full of broken red chili peppers into a basin, piling them up into a small mountain, emitting a fresh and tempting spicy aroma.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Zhu Juntang exclaimed in a sweet, coquettish voice without realizing it. She had been in Junsha for a long time, but her accent was still hard to shake.

At this moment, Zhou Shuling returned. She took Zhou Dongdong to school and then went to Baolong Center to discuss some matters.

"Miss is here too!" Zhou Shuling immediately smiled. It wasn't a deliberate attempt to flatter or fawn, but rather because in Zhou Shuling's eyes, Zhu Juntang was the fairy that every woman dreamed of becoming.

"Sister Zhou, where's Xiao Dongdong?" Zhu Juntang placed her hands on her knees, her skirt pressed flat against the low stool, her legs leaning together at an angle, looking very well-behaved and cute.

"Going to school."

"Oh, right, school has started. I'm going to school too." Zhu Juntang continued speaking in a well-behaved and cute manner.

"So what are you doing now?" Liu Chang'an asked casually.

"Watching you chop chili peppers!" Isn't that a rhetorical question? Honestly, what a foolish man.

"Sister Zhou, I'm the third in line. People here at Baolong call me Miss, but you can just call me Third Sister." Zhu Juntang was very polite to those who acknowledged her fairy status, and then said to Zhou Shuling.

How could Zhou Shuling call her Third Sister? She understood now. Zhu Juntang meant that the people working at Baolong would call her Eldest Miss, which was more respectful, while those who came with her from Taiwan would know her birth order in the Zhu Family and call her Third Miss.

"I'll be relying on you for food from now on." Zhou Shuling remained very polite. Often, wealthy people like to put on an air of being down-to-earth, but if you actually believe they are, and joke around with them without thinking, you might offend them and they'll hold a grudge.

"We have a partnership; we only provide shops and management," Zhu Juntang said politely.

Liu Chang'an listened to their polite exchanges while chopping his own chili peppers.

Zhou Shuling chatted with Zhu Juntang for a while, washed her hands, and squatted down to help Liu Chang'an wash the green beans and ginger, and peel the garlic, all of which needed to be chopped.

"I'm so angry! I took her there twice yesterday, and today when I took her to school, I asked her if she knew the way, and she had absolutely no recollection of it. She didn't remember where to turn or where to go straight at all." Zhou Shuling chatted with Liu Chang'an again.

Whose fault is this?

"Is it my fault?"

"If it's not your fault, whose is it? You gave birth to it yourself. A rat's son knows how to dig a hole, but your child can't find his way around. Isn't that your fault?"

Zhou Shuling was unconvinced, always feeling that she was still quite clever.

"Your method is wrong. Pick her up after school today, take her to a stinky tofu shop, buy her some stinky tofu, and tell her that to get home, you have to go here first. Then take her to the next place, like the juice stand, buy her a juice, and tell her to go here again. Then take her back to the next food stand. That way, she'll remember the way, understand? The procedure for taking her to school tomorrow is the same, starting from here." The key issue still needs Liu Chang'an's help.

Zhou Shuling suddenly realized that this was the way to deal with Zhou Dongdong.

Zhu Juntang listened from the side, and together with Zhou Shuling, they admired Liu Chang'an's ability to teach according to students' aptitudes.

"You're quite good at teaching kids." Zhou Shuling breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that even after a month of driving Zhou Dongdong around, she might not remember the way.

"I've mentored more children than you've ever seen," Liu Chang'an said, not exaggerating.

Zhou Shuling had heard many similar things, such as those gossipy aunts and uncles who painstakingly tried to find her a partner, saying things like, "This old woman has eaten more salt than you have eaten rice." When most people say this, they actually have no reason to convince the other person. Such words are really shameless.

But the way Liu Chang'an spoke gave people a different feeling. Zhou Shuling peeled garlic while looking at Liu Chang'an and smiling.

Zhu Juntang observed for a while and felt there shouldn't be any problem. The most important thing was that she felt that if she gossiped about Liu Chang'an and Zhou Shuling, Liu Chang'an would kick her away.

Why is Liu Chang'an so ruthless at his age? Zhu Juntang couldn't understand it at all. Shouldn't people like young girls more as they get older? Logically speaking, Liu Chang'an should be obedient to her and look at her with a gentle and kind face, just like a lovely fairy.

At this moment, Zhu Juntang felt Liu Chang'an's gaze and glared at her.

Sure enough, that was all an illusion; Liu Chang'an's eyes were more like the Immortal-Slaying Sword.

With Zhou Shuling's help, the chili peppers, green beans, ginger, and garlic were all chopped, and an appropriate amount of salt was added. They were then mixed well in an open vat and set aside. Liu Chang'an also cooked a pot of wheat.

The traditional method involves first making wheat into a paste, then sun-drying it to ferment, and finally adding ingredients such as chili peppers and stirring. However, Liu Chang'an felt that this method lacked umami flavor and had too much of a musty taste, so he improved it by sun-drying the wheat paste and chili peppers at the same time and stirring them at the right time. This allows the paste to be dried earlier and results in a spicier and fresher flavor.

In the afternoon, Liu Chang'an changed into his military training uniform and went to the school. The afternoon military training had not yet started, so Liu Chang'an planned to go to his dormitory to rest for a while.

The dormitory was empty, but a bit messy. Liu Chang'an opened the window, swept the floor, arranged the chairs, and tidied up a bit. At this moment, the other three people came back.

"We haven't even made a dormitory duty roster yet," Qin Zhiqiang said with a smile. "We're the ones who messed it up, so why are you the one cleaning it up?"

"I'm free. What's going on here?" Liu Chang'an asked casually. When he came in, he found that his sheets, duvet cover and pillows had been changed, and there was also a set of toiletries, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo and shower gel, all packed in a toiletry bag. There were also some books of various kinds on the bookshelf, about a hundred or so.

"We went to military training this morning. When we came back at noon, our counselor was in our dorm. She said she wanted us to ask you if you needed anything." Sun Shutong looked Liu Chang'an up and down. Having such a cousin was something to be envious of.

"Oh, thank you." Liu Chang'an sat down, picked up a book, and started reading on the bed.

"Why didn't she just ask you directly?" Qin Zhiqiang asked, somewhat puzzled.

Wei Xuanyi glanced at Qin Zhiqiang but didn't say anything.

Liu Chang'an smiled and said, "Maybe she thinks I'm taciturn, so she wants you to take the initiative to find a topic to chat with me, so that I don't seem like a silent person and you ignore me."

Qin Zhiqiang said with a smile, "I don't think so. Just by looking at your cousin and the books she chose for you, I can tell you must be a very well-read person, knowledgeable and versatile. You'll definitely have plenty of topics to talk about."

Wei Xuanyi and Sun Shutong returned to their seats, while Qin Zhiqiang stood under Liu Chang'an's bed, looking up at Liu Chang'an and chatting about some things that happened in the morning class.

"Liu Chang'an, are you on good terms with that Zhu Juntang?" Wei Xuanyi asked, feeling a bit annoyed by Qin Zhiqiang and Liu Chang'an's casual conversation.

No one can help but feel resentful about what happened yesterday.

Wei Xuanyi and Sun Shutong's expectations for female college students almost plummeted to negative levels. They felt that the girls they met upon entering university were very different, unlike the innocent girls they encountered in high school.

In the past, the girls I met would simply say no if they rejected me, or that they didn't like me if they didn't like me. They would directly address any issues. Where would I find someone like Zhu Juntang, who puts on airs and then teases and humiliates me like this?

"We're fairly familiar, but not particularly close." Liu Chang'an thought for a moment, defining it this way. Whenever he saw Zhu Juntang, he always felt a urge to take her back and leave her quietly on the rooftop of the Baolong Center so she wouldn't come looking for him again. That definitely didn't count as a very close relationship, right?

Hearing Liu Chang'an say this, Wei Xuanyi and Sun Shutong felt a sense of shared indignation. Sure enough, Zhu Juntang must have a terrible reputation, and even those who were familiar with her couldn't get along with her.

Thinking about it this way, Wei Xuanyi and Sun Shutong felt much better. Zhu Juntang wasn't really targeting them, was she? She was just that kind of person.

"Is her family among the Forbes list of billionaires?" Sun Shutong asked.

"Why don't you ask her yourselves?" Liu Chang'an wasn't interested in gossiping about Zhu Juntang behind her back.

Just out of curiosity, Zhu Juntang's behavior makes me feel that ordinary billionaires are nothing compared to him. He's basically the kind of cringeworthy young rich guy you see in idol dramas, like a high-end version of "Tiny Times" who's all pretentiousness.

"Zhu Juntang looks especially beautiful in white stockings, but I think someone like her is just like our counselor. For the average person to pursue her is as unrealistic as a girl from a game coming to live with someone in real life." Qin Zhiqiang shook his head. Who says shut-ins are immersed in a fantasy world? They just know that reality can't satisfy them, but they don't want to give up their idealized image of a girl.

"If you had said that earlier yesterday..." Wei Xuanyi felt that Qin Zhiqiang's words made a lot of sense, but he still cleverly swallowed the rest of his words. So, this was the reason why Qin Zhiqiang suddenly backed out yesterday?

But he actually considered whether he could win Zhu Juntang? Sun Shutong glanced at Qin Zhiqiang with some disdain. He admitted that Qin Zhiqiang was right; these days, if a boy approaches a girl not to pursue her, is it just to be friends?

Nowadays, it's becoming increasingly rare for girls to share common interests and topics with boys, to get along well as friends, and to have many shared interests. Even when they play a game, they can die like the Grim Reaper is constantly on their deathbed, and you can't say anything to them. Instead, you have to keep criticizing the opposing team and their teammates, and you still have to help them.

However, there are still some girls who are insightful and profound, know how to respect each other, and don't have many demands on boys in life and work, but they are always a relatively small minority.

Liu Chang'an didn't care whether they pursued Zhu Juntang or not, nor did he care what kind of setbacks or emotional growth they would suffer if they got close to Zhu Juntang.

For those looking for something to read, you could check out Sea Walker's new work, "My Girlfriend is a Villainess," a slice-of-life cohabitation story; it should be quite interesting.