A Safe City

When Liu Chang'an returned home, it was already dark. Although there were many poems describing the night, reciting them too often became boring, so he sang a little tune called "A Bamboo Pole Is Easily Bendable".

Under the sycamore tree, Zhou Dongdong sat on a small stool, holding a bowl in her hand. There was a puddle in front of her, and she was eating.

Liu Chang'an squatted down, looked at the puddle, and then at the fried loach in Zhou Dongdong's bowl.

"Is this how you protect them?"

"The kindergarten kids came to play, and they killed the loaches. So I wouldn't let them play anymore, and they pushed me away, grabbed all the loaches, and threw them onto the bank. My mom then caught all the loaches and made them into something delicious, and she bought a new bucket of loaches to put in here," Zhou Dongdong said, sounding a little aggrieved. "I'm never playing with them again."

The water was a bit murky, and it was getting dark. Liu Chang'an scooped some out, and the loaches inside were still jumping around.

"It's alright. Zhou Dongdong has encountered the most miraculous being in the world. She will be blessed with great luck, something those vicious kids can't compare to."

"Brother Chang'an, what nonsense are you spouting again?" Zhou Dongdong, of course, couldn't understand.

"I said you're a stupid child."

Do you eat loach?

"Give me one, I don't mind your stinky saliva."

"You're the one who stinks! You're the one who stinks! You're the one who stinks!"

Zhou Shuling sent Liu Chang'an some loach and told him that she had transferred the rent for this quarter to him via WeChat.

Liu Chang'an picked some chives from the wall. Chives used to be considered a meat dish on the menu, and they were good to stir-fry with dried shrimp. They could also be stir-fried with mussels or other seafood. Liu Chang'an used them to stir-fry with loach, and it tasted pretty good too. However, chives shouldn't be cooked too mushy, otherwise they would stick to your teeth and be difficult to rinse off.

Zhou Dongdong thought Liu Chang'an's loach tasted better, so she took a small bowl and ate another small bowl of rice and some loach. Although it is said that being able to eat is a blessing, it is quite rare to see a child like Zhou Dongdong who can eat so much.

After dinner, Liu Chang'an led Zhou Dongdong in doing exercises under a tree.

"This is an exercise that can help you grow taller."

"I thought it was kung fu practice." Zhou Dongdong was greatly disappointed and immediately turned around and sat down on the small stool without moving.

Liu Chang'an ignored her and continued to stretch and loosen his muscles and bones.

Zhou Shuling had some errands to run out in the evening and couldn't take Zhou Dongdong with her, so she asked Liu Chang'an to watch Zhou Dongdong for a while... Actually, Zhou Dongdong didn't need anyone to watch her; she would go to the mahjong parlor to play on that old, outdated computer, or stay home reading comic books and watching TV.

Remembering his promise to Zhu Juntang to go find her, Liu Chang'an took Zhou Dongdong to Baolong Center.

"Brother Chang'an, this house is so tall, was it built up like stacked building blocks?"

"That's right."

"That's what our teacher said too."

"Then why are you asking me?"

"You seem a little smarter than the teacher."

"Thank you for the compliment."

They contacted Zhong Qing first, and Zhong Qing came downstairs to pick up Liu Chang'an and Zhou Dongdong.

"Sister, you're so pretty! Our teacher has the same shoes as you, but they don't have so many colorful pebbles on them," Zhou Dongdong said, looking at Zhong Qing's seven-centimeter high heels.

Zhong Qing couldn't help but smile. Even though she was used to maintaining a cool and aloof demeanor at work, she still found it adorable to see a child mistaking a gemstone for a colorful stone.

Gemstones are just colored stones, but women don't see it that way.

"Didn't I tell you? When you see a woman who's about the same age as your mother, you should call her 'Auntie.' Don't you know any manners?" Liu Chang'an lectured Zhou Dongdong.

Zhong Qing really wanted to teach Liu Chang'an what politeness was.

It was Zhou Dongdong's first time in such a tall building. In the elevator, she pressed her face against the viewing window, looking around. She felt like she was in heaven, and maybe she could see fairies.

The fairy sat in the central reception room, one side of which faced the dimly lit street scene, Jiangzhou and the distant Mount Lu. The clouds and mist in the room were so thick that they were almost indistinguishable from reality with the naked eye. The holographic projections on the walls and in the air changed endlessly, like a fairyland.

"Wow, there's a fairy!" Zhou Dongdong exclaimed excitedly, running up to the fairy and taking a closer look.

Zhu Juntang was elegant and dignified at this moment, and her smile was particularly reserved.

"Fairy, may I touch you?" Zhou Dongdong asked curiously.

Zhu Juntang lowered her head, and Zhou Dongdong poked her cheek, exclaiming in surprise, "Brother Chang'an, the fairy is real! Her face is as smooth as jelly!"

"You can play here, I'll come find you later," Liu Chang'an said.

Zhou Dongdong nodded vigorously, and Zhong Qing was left behind to watch over Zhou Dongdong.

"See? Children don't lie. I am a fairy." Zhu Juntang was still somewhat smug.

Her delusions had progressed to a late stage, where she used daily self-affirmation to achieve a hypnotic effect, denying her instinctive self-awareness from the bottom of her heart and forgetting that she was a human being.

Liu Chang'an analyzed it this way, but Liu Chang'an didn't really care whether she was a fairy or a young girl.

"Is something the matter?"

"Last time I took the cup you used to drink tea from, the lab tested it and said there were no normal human upper oral cavity cells, and they couldn't detect any other useful data. Why is that?"

"If there truly are Longevity beings, how could they possibly undergo cell division and death, metabolism, like ordinary people..." Liu Chang'an shook his head. "What you're doing is useless. Your abilities are insufficient to pose a threat to me, and when you need to mobilize the entire Zhu Family to deal with me, someone will naturally stop you."

"I won't go after you." Zhu Juntang grasped the key point. "You mean, someone in the Zhu Family will help you?"

"If you keep bothering me, Old Madam Su will drag you back to Taiwan," Liu Chang'an said calmly, "No matter how much she usually dotes on you."

"You two really are old flames." After saying that, Zhu Juntang took two steps back with some concern. "I'm not going back to Taiwan. There are people Taiwan who want to kill me. I like being in Junsha; it's safe here."

"Someone in Taiwan wants to kill you?" Liu Chang'an wasn't surprised. Such things were common in large families. Even if she was Su Xiaocui's most beloved great-granddaughter, if she were killed by other members of the family, could Su Xiaocui really wipe out the entire Zhu Family to avenge Zhu Juntang?

"Yes, for example, my uncle's son Zhu Lillin, pushed me into a pond when I was little, and I almost drowned. He was banned from returning to Taiwan for ten years, but that didn't really affect him at all... except for depriving him of some of his inheritance." Zhu Juntang sneered. "That's why I need a superpowered person to protect me."

"Then you can stay safely in Junsha," Liu Chang'an agreed.

"Junsha is a good place. There are no earthquakes, volcanoes, or mudslides. If war breaks out, it's basically impossible to bomb this city. Even if there are missiles that can penetrate the defenses, the enemy will definitely prioritize attacking Lake Martial City, which is a little further north, right? In terms of strategic significance, economic scale, and political status, Lake Martial City is a more important priority target than Junsha." Zhu Juntang was quite proud of her foresight. Without a doubt, if she lived in ancient times, this kind of geographical and strategic vision would have made her a formidable female general.

"What exactly do you want from me today?" Liu Chang'an didn't appreciate her taste at all, and felt that chatting with her was no different from chatting with Zhou Dongdong.

"I want to study at your school," Zhu Juntang persisted, "I want to move you."

"Alright, go ask Qin Yanan for help. How about starting from the first year of high school? See what procedures you need to go through. Nowadays, Taiwan students can basically enjoy the same treatment as local students." Liu Chang'an patted Zhu Juntang on the shoulder. "Study hard at the Affiliated High School for a year. You can't always be idle. You still need to study hard when it's time to study."

Zhu Juntang sensed a gentler, more elder-like tone in Liu Chang'an's voice, and felt a little smug that he seemed to have finally changed his attitude. She tugged at Liu Chang'an's arm and called out in a slightly coquettish tone, "Grandpa!"

"What an adorable little fairy." Liu Chang'an nodded.