You Can't Fall in Love Yet

"What does 'Dong Shi imitates a frown' mean?"

A tall, thin scholar ran over to ask Chen Shu. He had come across the phrase while sorting through a book.

Over the past few days, everyone had taken to asking Chen Shu questions. It saved them quite a bit of research.

Some things Chen Shu knew and could answer. Some he knew but could not answer. Others he did not know either. If even Chen Shu could not give an immediate answer, probably no one else could.

"Dong Shi imitates a frown?"

Chen Shu frowned and thought for a long while. "I haven't seen any similar accounts."

With history, you had to make bold guesses but verify them carefully. You could not just say what you thought something meant; you had to produce supporting evidence.

But Chen Shu had no evidence to offer.

That was frustrating.

If the scholar had brought it to him, he probably could not pin down its meaning even from the context. Without an explanation, that spot would remain a blank—an unknown blank.

Yet Chen Shu knew what it meant. He just could not say it, and had to let the blank remain.

"Sigh..."

"Sigh..."

Chen Shu and the tall scholar sighed together.

Then Chen Shu said, "By the way, everyone, my admission notice came out. I'm taking tomorrow off to rest and celebrate."

"As you should, as you should..."

"Congratulations..."

"You've got a bright future ahead of you..."

Everyone was friendly toward Chen Shu, and he answered each of them with a cheerful smile.

Then he slipped off work early while he was at it.

Outside the gate of the Sixth Talent School.

It was the second-best talent school in Yuanzhou.

Xiaoxiao had already been waiting for him at the gate for a while.

Yi Nation stipulated that, barring exceptional circumstances, children officially started school at five. Starting early was not permitted, and failing to send a child to school at that age without good reason carried a hefty fine.

After that came five years of elementary school, three years of junior school, and three years of senior school. The eleven years of compulsory education were strictly enforced, and nearly everyone completed senior school.

Then came four years at a talent school.

The full name meant "academy for outstanding talent." Originally, it meant that anyone who studied that far could be called talented. Many people ended their education there.

Finally came five years of university.

That was the end of the standard educational path.

Ordinarily, people started talent school at seventeen and finished at twenty. Xiaoxiao was only fifteen this year, having skipped two grades.

She had not attended the Seventh Talent Academy because it limited the number of students it admitted who had skipped grades.

For Xiaoxiao, though, it made little difference.

Her final exams ended today. She had said earlier that she would treat her brother-in-law to a meal, and she had picked today.

Chen Shu hurried over and said to the schoolbag-wearing girl, "Wasn't this exam supposed to last two hours? How did you get out so early and message me? I nearly ran a red light on your sister's beloved little scooter."

"I handed in my paper early," Xiaoxiao answered honestly.

"How early?"

"An hour and a half."

"...The proctor allowed that?"

"I came out to use the bathroom."

"Hmm..." Chen Shu fell into thought. Then he patted the girl's head and said earnestly, "Your brother-in-law has plenty of good qualities. You don't have to copy this sort of nonsense, understand?"

"Brother-in-law, let's go eat."

"Where? I don't know the area around your school."

"That place."

Xiaoxiao pointed to a restaurant called "Old Liu's Clay-Pot Rice Noodles."

They ordered two clay-pot chicken-and-chili rice noodles, extra spicy with more chili, and two fried eggs. The red chili oil was thick and glossy, and the more they chewed the chicken, the tastier it got. They added a few grilled skewers and an order of crinkle-cut potatoes. Surprisingly, the potatoes tasted even better than the noodles.

After eating, they wiped their mouths, leaving the paper smeared with red oil.

Chen Shu watched Xiaoxiao pay. Only when she returned did he ask, "How much?"

"Hm? I have money!"

"You're overthinking it. I just wanted to know the price. I'll bring your sister here next time."

"Oh. Forty-eight."

"What a bargain."

"Yeah."

As they left the restaurant, students were only just beginning to stream out of the school gate.

Chen Shu bought two lollipops, one for each of them.

A crowd of seventeen- and eighteen-year-old boys and girls had gathered by the gate. Some were arranging candles on the ground, while others held up a banner with words written on it.

"Someone's confessing their feelings."

Chen Shu craned his neck to look over there.

Xiaoxiao ate her lollipop and stood beside him, watching the commotion from afar without a word.

"Ning Ji, I like you."

Chen Shu read the banner aloud, word by word, then broke into a bright smile. "Looks like she has the same surname as you! Kids these days are getting bolder and bolder. That's great, really great. I thought our country was still pretty conservative about this sort of thing..."

"Brother-in-law, Ning Ji is my name."

"Huh?"

"Mm!"

The girl nodded with the lollipop in her mouth, her face expressionless, and explained, "My full name is Ning Ji."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh..."

It had never come up before.

Chen Shu patted his head and glanced at the banner again. A boy had already stepped beneath it holding flowers. "Is that boy in your class?"

"I don't know him well."

"Oh..."

They exchanged a look and started walking at the same time.

Chen Shu changed his tune completely. As they walked, he lectured the girl with heartfelt gravity. "What does a kid that young know? This is the perfect time to study. What's he doing thinking about romance?"

"Mm."

"Doesn't he know you're only fifteen? Shameless!"

"Mm."

"He must have seen that you're pretty and well-behaved, and young too, and figured you'd be easy to fool. Don't let him trick you."

"Mm."

"Look at your sister and me. We've known each other since childhood, and we're not in any hurry, are we?"

"Mm."

"If he bothers you again, beat him up."

"Okay."

"If you want to date, wait until university. No, wait until you're at least twenty and have a clear understanding of the world and love before you try. By then, whether it succeeds or fails, whether it's bitter or sweet, you'll gain something from it."

"Brother-in-law, I won't date anyone," the girl said as she ate her lollipop. "Not in this lifetime."

"Why?"

"I don't think romance is necessary. You don't have to spend your life with someone else." The girl spoke frankly. "With my personality, I don't think anyone could become part of my life. If I had to squeeze someone into it, he would only be a burden. Or we'd end up like Mom and Dad, with everything a mess."

"I see..."

Chen Shu nodded. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Good thing your sister doesn't think that way."

"My sister and I are very alike."

"Go on."

The fifteen-year-old girl took the lollipop out of her mouth, her small face solemn. "If it weren't for you, Brother-in-law, my sister would think that way her whole life too. But she's been used to having you beside her since childhood. She values you more than herself. To her, life with you is better—something to look forward to."

She put the lollipop back in her mouth. "And I don't have anyone like you."

"You're very mature today, Xiaoxiao."

Chen Shu did not say anything like "You're too young to understand." That sort of remark came from a place of superiority and was irritating even when it came from parents.

But many people really did think that way now—

I'm doing fine on my own. More than fine, even. I'm not afraid of growing old, either. If finding someone wouldn't improve my quality of life and would actually make it worse, why would I do it?

It was a rather serious question.

For people with personalities like Ning Qing's and Xiaoxiao's, born into a family like theirs, it was perfectly natural to feel that way.

After a moment's thought, Chen Shu told the girl, "If you really don't marry, you can live with your sister and me. Assuming we haven't split up, of course."

He hesitated. "If we have, you'll just have to find yourself another sister."

The girl nodded as she put on her helmet.

The little scooter started.

Chen Shu drove away with her on the back.

The next day.

Outside Anning Martial Arts Hall.

The hall was run by Ning Qing's mother.

Her mother's surname was An. She had Nightfolk genes, an extremely violent temperament, and was obsessed with martial arts all day long. She did not even want to go home.

Chen Shu suspected the occasional violent streak Ning Qing showed came from Hall Master An's influence during her childhood—or perhaps from heredity.

Fortunately, Xiaoxiao was sweet and quiet.

Clearly, I've raised her well.

Chen Shu entered Anning Martial Arts Hall.

He used to come here often.

When they were young, their families were neighbors. Chen Shu and Ning Qing were the same age and attended elementary school together.

At first, their teacher required parents to take their children to and from school. But Mr. Ning did not care, and Hall Master An thought it was a bother, so Chen Shu's parents took Ning Qing along with him.

Later, even after Ning Qing no longer needed someone to take her to school, Chen Shu kept looking after her and Xiaoxiao. He often invited them over for meals on weekends because there was usually no one at their home.

Later still, when Xiaoxiao started school, Chen Shu took on the job of bringing her to and from school and looking after her too.

Trash parents.

But Hall Master An had at least some sense. When she learned Chen Shu was interested in martial arts, she gave him a standing membership at Anning Martial Arts Hall.

"Whoosh!

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

Chen Shu threw punch after punch, supplying the sound effects himself.

Then came a combination.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

When he grew a little tired, he stopped to rest, then went to work on the equipment and build his strength.

His martial artist rank was now one level higher than his cultivation realm, around rank three. Yet he had a hard time fighting other rank-three martial artists—the hall's members at the same rank all liked sparring with him.

Chen Shu genuinely could not beat them.

Martial arts were their main focus and only a secondary pursuit for him. The effort they put into it was nowhere near equal.

Nor was anything else they invested in it.

As for martial artists—

Compared with cultivators, martial artists followed a very basic path focused mainly on drawing out the body's strength.

It was not even counted among the major cultivation systems.

In ancient times, martial arts were usually practiced by those who, for one reason or another, could not enter an orthodox cultivation system. If their talent and circumstances allowed it, martial artists could later make a fairly natural transition to sword cultivation or combat cultivation, becoming true cultivators who transcended the mundane.

Only those unable to open a Spirit Sea, or with exceptionally poor spiritual-energy talent, practiced martial arts exclusively.

The main problem was that martial artists hit a ceiling. No matter what they tried, they could not match high-level cultivators; even reaching the middle ranks was difficult. In ancient times, the divide between martial artists and cultivators truly was the divide between mortals and immortals.

But things were different now.

With technological advances, martial artists were far more formidable than before.

For one thing, all kinds of training methods had been developed. Advances in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals also made it easier for martial artists to reach the middle ranks, while surpassing ancient martial artists of the same rank in every aspect of overall ability.

Then there was the boost from external sources.

The members Chen Shu fought had at least seven or eight rune arrays inscribed across their bodies. All that power borrowed from their cultivator benefactors had gone straight to their heads.

And on a battlefield, the martial artist soldiers you saw might be covered head to toe in equipment created by modern cultivators, perhaps even wearing powered armor. Who the hell wouldn't be scared of that?

They were practically war machines!

Third, cultivators had been weakened.

It was sad just thinking about it.

Chen Shu had never intended to go far as a martial artist. He had no runes inscribed on his body and had not received any kind of exotic-beast bloodline graft.

He had never even considered taking the path of Sword Cultivation or Martial Cultivation. His greatest advantage after crossing into this world was a Spirit Sea twice the size of an ordinary person's, along with the abilities that came with it. Then there was his skill with Runes, developed out of childhood interest, and his stronger-than-average soul. He was destined to follow the most orthodox path of the Spirit Sect.

He practiced martial arts purely for exercise.

In the modern age, this path was easy enough to follow anyway.

All it took was money.

In ancient times, this stuff was all medicine jars, a rich person's game. In the modern age, it had gotten even more extreme.

No matter how poor your talent was, if you were willing to spend, a round of pills, ointments, and injections produced results you could see with the naked eye. And no matter how gifted you were, you couldn't keep up with everyone else if you didn't pay to win.

"Chen Shu!"

"Yeah!"

"Get over here and spar with me!"

"Coming..."

Chen Shu went over and took another beating.