A Mortal Heart

August fifteenth, the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Chen Shu arrived at Shi Qian's home.

It was a faculty apartment provided by the university, which offered both two- and three-bedroom units. Shi Qian had never married. He lived alone in a two-bedroom apartment with two living rooms and kept a kind of dog found only in this world—one so intelligent it could solve multiplication and division problems.

As soon as Chen Shu stepped inside, he lifted the bag he had brought to show him:

"Brought you some mooncakes."

"You brought something? What a bother."

"Didn't you notice these mooncakes don't have any packaging?"

"Hm? Who made them?"

"Ha! You couldn't tell, could you?" Chen Shu grinned. "I made them myself yesterday. I brought you four, not too many. These things get cloying if you eat too much. I knew you'd get plenty of mooncake gift boxes for Mid-Autumn, probably enough to make you sick of them. I just wanted you to try my handiwork."

"You know how to make these?"

"I just like tinkering with this stuff."

"Put them there."

"Sure."

Chen Shu set down the mooncakes. He had no intention of lingering and went straight to the point. "Besides the mooncakes, I've prepared a whole pile of questions for you."

"Now that I like. What about?"

"Bodyguard Divine Light."

"You want to improve the old version of Bodyguard Divine Light?"

"No, the new version." Chen Shu was direct. "I got hold of a new version of Bodyguard Divine Light, but it has a few flaws. I want to improve it, and there are parts I can't make heads or tails of."

"The new version? Where did you get it?"

"Chance and circumstance."

"Let me see."

"Sure thing."

Chen Shu took out his phone, opened an app, and pulled up the Spell Principles diagram inside it. Then he asked, "Is it really okay for us to study Regulated Spells this openly? Especially one that seems to be used by a foreign military?"

"Not okay? What's wrong with it?"

Shi Qian's expression turned solemn at once. "And what Regulated Spells? You're a student, and I'm a teacher. We're analyzing and learning the knowledge contained in an unfamiliar spell in the spirit of research and progress. What's wrong with that? We're doing it to advance our country's technology!"

Chen Shu was filled with respect. "You're absolutely right!"

"Where's the problem?"

"The automatic activation component, where it connects to the Thousand Mechanisms Art." Chen Shu swiped the screen and zoomed in. "It feels different from the rest. A little old."

"..." Shi Qian stared at it for a long while. "There are some inconsistencies. It's as if every other part of the spell is new, but this part comes from an old version."

"You're amazing, sir!"

"The style of this spell looks like something used by Lanya's military. Good performance, but high spiritual power consumption."

"I wouldn't know."

"You're in a hurry to change this part..." Shi Qian paused. "How much longer until you finish solidifying your Thousand Mechanisms Art?"

"Not long."

"Not long?"

"A few more days, probably."

"??"

Shi Qian turned to stare at him in shock. He was practically dumbfounded.

"How long has it been?"

"Almost a month."

"This..."

Shi Qian was a teacher. He had planned to give his class half a semester to solidify the simplified Thousand Mechanisms Art. For the complete version, he estimated they would need half a year. Even if they put in the maximum possible hours every day, as regularly as clocking in for work, it would still take at least two or three months.

What the hell was one month?

Shi Qian was speechless for a long time.

Chen Shu left.

As an elder, Shi Qian had intended to treat Chen Shu to a meal, or at least take him out to a restaurant. But Chen Shu said he was going on a date. Well, that saved Shi Qian a good deal of trouble.

Sitting alone in his rocking chair, Shi Qian opened the box of mooncakes, took out a small one, and bit into it. The red date and sweet bean paste filling tasted like an ordinary dessert. After all the bizarre mooncake flavors he had endured over the years, this pastry was especially comforting.

Shi Qian frowned slightly as he ate and thought.

After finishing two mooncakes in a row, he suddenly got up, went to his bedroom, turned on his computer, logged into the university system, and found Chen Shu's results.

His major exam results appeared first:

Full marks in all three specialist subjects.

That was not important.

He opened the entrance test results instead—

Spiritual Power Aptitude: 1000/1000

Spiritual power quality: 3f

Total spiritual power: 3f

"3f..."

He vaguely remembered the young man telling him he was only at the peak of the Second Tier.

"Heh!"

The young man had not hidden anything from him after all.

Shi Qian chewed his mooncake. The filling's faint sweetness slowly seeped across his tongue, and a small smile tugged at his lips. Soon, though, he sank into deeper thought.

"Woof..."

His dog came over, wanting a mooncake too. Shi Qian casually pointed to the mooncake gift boxes on the coffee table and let it wreak havoc on those instead.

Alone in a foreign land, a stranger among strangers; at every festival, longing for home doubled.

Mid-Autumn was a festival for reunion. Fortunately, Chen Shu had a hometown and family in this world too, and they were all good to him. They brought him great comfort when he missed his friends and family from his previous life.

After leaving Shi Qian's home, Chen Shu went to find Ning Qing. Then he took her on her Mini Motorcycle to the largest mall near the university district.

Lemon Shopping Center.

There was a large supermarket downstairs.

As before, Chen Shu walked in front, while Ning Qing quietly followed with the shopping cart.

Chen Shu spoke to her without thinking. "What do you want to eat?

"Chicken gizzards with pickled peppers?

"Beef in golden broth?

"Hot-and-sour cabbage?

"Oh, you don't want any of those. You're an idiot."

Honestly, this man...

He pushed his provocations as far as they could go.

Ning Qing turned her head and silently observed the supermarket's many kinds of people.

The middle-aged man behind the pork counter kept trying to sell people Sword Pig meat. He probably earned a commission. Most customers would not buy it. Some thought it was too expensive; some did not know what was so good about Sword Pig meat but were too embarrassed to ask; some simply feared being cheated. Others had no particular reason. It was as if the harder he tried to sell it, the less they wanted it.

A young couple were choosing fruit. They wanted to buy durian. The woman naturally complained that it was expensive, and the man looked embarrassed. It was interesting.

She and Chen Shu would never be like that.

A young man was picking out vegetables, his expression a little odd. He did not seem to cook often and was not very good at choosing them. But because someone was standing nearby, he did not want them to notice, so he tried his hardest to look experienced. Why would he think like that?

The shopping cart stopped because it had bumped into someone.

That face is awfully close to mine...

Oh, it's Chen Shu's face.

Chen Shu stared at her without blinking. "What are you looking at?"

Ning Qing silently met his gaze.

His face was full of curiosity, but he pretended to be a little angry as he said to her, "You came shopping with me, and you're looking at everyone else!"

Ning Qing continued to observe him.

He turned away and walked on.

She followed.

Looking down, she saw that several things had appeared in the cart: pickled cabbage, pickled red peppers, pickled ginger, frozen chicken gizzards and sliced beef, along with some chili powder and a few spices.

"Huh?"

He seemed to have spotted something interesting again. Ning Qing walked over and found him standing in front of a glass tank. "These abalones are only eight yuan ninety each, and they're a decent size. How about we pick up a dozen or so? We can get some shiitake mushrooms and dice them up too. It'll go great with rice. What do you think?"

Naturally, Ning Qing said nothing.

"You pick them!"

This man had no trouble ordering her around.

Ning Qing stepped forward, picked up the tongs, and peered into the glass tank for a long time. She picked out the largest abalone, brought it close to her eyes, examined it carefully, and only then put it in the bag.

By the time she had picked out the fifth, Chen Shu had returned from buying meat. He looked at her, speechless.

"You're observing these too?"

"..."

"You're so slow!"

"..."

"Keep going, then. I'll pick out a fish and make fish with pickled cabbage tonight," Chen Shu said. "The razor clams over there look good too. Once you're done with the abalone, get a pound or two. I bet you've never had razor clams with pickled peppers in a hot-and-sour sauce when eating out. They're delicious."

"..."

About an hour later.

Chen Shu stood beside the Mini Motorcycle putting on his helmet, while Ning Qing carefully placed their groceries in its side cases, afraid of dirtying them.

This tiny motorcycle even had a pair of side cases fitted to it. They made the whole bike look a little more imposing, though also rather chubby.

Ning Qing put on her helmet too and climbed aboard.

The motorcycle was too small to carry a passenger comfortably. She had to sit right up against Chen Shu.

"Here we go."

Chen Shu twisted the throttle.

As the Mini Motorcycle shot forward, Ning Qing immediately wrapped her arms around his waist. Then, to get from the parking area onto the road, he ignored the little ramp beside them and insisted on riding straight off the curb, which was more than ten centimeters high.

Clack!

Their helmets knocked together.

Ning Qing was terrified the groceries in the side cases would burst and the liquid from the meat and fish would leak inside. It would take ages to clean up.

If she were not cultivating the Stillheart Way, she would definitely hit him.

She hurried to calm her mind and steady her breathing.

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

Ning Qing had helped Chen Shu wash and cut the ingredients. There was nothing left for her to do. An hour ago, Chen Banxia had said, "Do whatever you like. Wake me when it's time to eat," then fallen asleep on the sofa again. She was still asleep now.

Ning Qing walked over and watched her for a while.

A dull woman. Not very interesting.

So she returned to the kitchen doorway and stood there, watching Chen Shu's back intently.

He never looked busy when he cooked. It was as though everything had been planned and remained entirely under his control, proceeding in perfect order. Now and then she would see him standing still, spatula in one hand and the other on his hip, staring blankly at the food in the wok. At those moments, perhaps he was thinking of nothing at all.

Ning Qing had seen him like this many times.

"Sss..."

The pickled ginger and peppers went into the wok. Hot oil drew out their sharply pungent aroma, and white smoke surged up. The range hood sucked most of it away, but a little drifted out.

Standing before the wok, Chen Shu rolled his neck.

The scent of cooking in the mortal world stirred mortal hearts most of all.

Ning Qing came to the kitchen doorway and leaned against the frame. Looking at him from the side, she said softly, "There's something I've always wanted to ask you."

"Huh?" Chen Shu turned back in surprise. "What?"

"Where did you learn to cook?"

"Why are you talking again?"

"I failed."

"Failed again? You're hopeless."

"I asked you a question."

Ning Qing pushed off the doorframe and stepped into the kitchen. She stood beside Chen Shu, rested a hand on his waist, and looked over his shoulder into the wok before turning to look at him.

It was as if she were urging Chen Shu to answer her quickly.

"You're cuter when you don't talk."

"Forget it if you won't answer."

"I'm a genius. I was born knowing how."

"Maybe you were..."

"Have you noticed how close we are right now?"

"So?"

"You can't put your arm around me for free. I charge for that." Chen Shu poured the split-open razor clams into the wok as he spoke. "Let's call it even for the time I held your hand."

"All right."

At the same time, Chen Banxia caught the aroma from the sofa and sniffed. She grabbed the back of the sofa with one hand, her upper body suddenly springing upright. Only then did she open her eyes. The sight made her rub them, but after a couple of rubs, she lay down and went back to sleep.