After parting ways with Wen Zhixia, Chen Shi'an walked a short distance and returned to his apartment complex.
He took his phone from his pocket and checked it. It was 10:03 p.m.; the two walking buddies had spent more than ten minutes dawdling along.
His battery was still at 42%. Mainly, the phone was just too old-even sitting on standby drained most of its charge. In fact, he could count on one hand the number of times he had checked it all day.
But he did not depend on his phone, so he had no battery anxiety.
Chen Shi'an had once tried charging a phone with magical power. It was his master's Motorola, which could not even connect to the internet. Not only had he failed to charge it, he had blown his master's phone up...
Having learned that lesson, Chen Shi'an certainly did not dare experiment casually now that he was using his own phone.
Though he cultivated the Dao, Chen Shi'an had never lacked an inquisitive spirit. He had touched an exposed 220-volt wire with his bare hand, lost control during his first attempt at fire magic and burned down the temple's old study, and secretly stuffed an Explosive Sound Talisman into the bell because he thought it was not loud enough. When his master rang it that day, the enormous blast of sound shattered every window in the temple...
Sometimes Chen Shi'an reflected on it himself. Had his own exploits been so earth-shattering that the mischief of other children his age had seemed boring?
Everyone had a childhood, and Chen Shi'an, who had cultivated on the mountain since he was little, was no exception;
Everyone grew up, too, but even Chen Shi'an could not say exactly which moment had made him feel he was no longer a child.
Sometimes, he thought it was quite an achievement that he had survived to eighteen. Besides being genuinely hard to kill, he owed much of that to his master's tolerance.
"Give life without possessing, act without claiming credit, nurture without ruling." Those words came from Laozi's Dao De Jing. In the eighteen years his master had raised him, he had truly lived up to them.
Chen Shi'an knew that this was the real legacy, not the flimsy Transmission Certificate proving their master-disciple relationship.
When he had blown up his master's phone by charging it with magical power as a child, his master had not scolded him, and Chen Shi'an had not thought he had done anything wrong. Looking back now, he certainly had. His mistake had been arrogance and ignorance-recklessly charging a phone with magical power without understanding electricity or how rechargeable batteries worked. What else could the phone do but explode...?
He really needed to study physics properly. The day he successfully charged his phone with magical power would mark a satisfying end to his foolish childhood.
There was a red notification badge on the WeChat icon, showing the number 3.
Chen Shi'an knew that meant he had three unread messages.
After living on the mountain for so long, his habits were inevitably somewhat out of step with the times.
Things like calls and messages were roughly equivalent to the Thousand-Mile Voice Transmission of Daoist magic. With their level of cultivation, he and his master could only transmit their voices over a kilometer or so, yet modern technology could easily carry information across the ocean, or even into outer space.
Chen Shi'an did not understand how it worked, but he found it profoundly wondrous. He would have to study it properly someday; perhaps it could offer some inspiration for his Thousand-Mile Voice Transmission.
Of course, transmitting information through radio waves had its limitations, too. For instance, ninety percent of the mountain had no signal. Sometimes, when his master and the cat had wandered off somewhere, Chen Shi'an would use his voice transmission ability to call them home for dinner once the food was ready...
Chen Shi'an opened WeChat.
His only WeChat contacts were Li Wanyin and Wen Zhixia.
Of the three messages, two were from Li Wanyin and one was from Wen Zhixia.
20:36-Little Echo: [Photo]
20:36-Little Echo: [What time does evening study finish? I made mung bean sweet soup. It's cooling in the pot in the kitchen. We'll have some together when you get back from class. [Side-eye dog face]]
Chen Shi'an smiled. Messaging each other like this was rather fun, so he replied to her first:
22:04-Chen Shi'an: [Almost home]
22:04-Chen Shi'an: [Panda face with a wicked smile]
He had stolen that sticker from her yesterday. The little face was so amusing, and it worked in practically any situation.
Then he checked Wen Zhixia's message.
22:01-Zhizhi: [Home!]
22:01-Zhizhi: [Shower, then bed~! Don't oversleep tomorrow! [Little green dinosaur sleeping flat on its back]]
22:04-Chen Shi'an: [I'm home too]
22:04-Chen Shi'an: [Little green dinosaur sleeping flat on its back]
Wen Zhixia did not reply, probably because she had gone to shower. Li Wanyin, however, did.
Little Echo: [You brought your key, right?]
Chen Shi'an: [I did]
By the time he sent that reply, he had already climbed to the ninth floor and reached his door.
The hallway light came on at the sound of his footsteps. By its light, he slipped the key into the lock and opened the door.
The lights were on inside, and he could hear the television.
But when Chen Shi'an glanced around, he saw no sign of Li Wanyin. Only Fat Ink was there, sprawled lazily on the sofa watching television.
"Meow?"
Hearing the door open, Black Cat turned around. At the sight of Chen Shi'an's unfriendly gaze, Fat Ink felt a little guilty.
What? There aren't any mice in here, and it's stuffy and boring. What's wrong with a cat watching some TV?
"Fat Ink, did you sneak out this afternoon?"
"..."
Black Cat turned back toward the television, pretending not to hear.
It's not like I don't know the way home. What's wrong with going for a stroll? And if I happen to run into someone kind enough to give a cat some food, isn't that perfectly normal? Scrounging free food and drinks? Nothing of the sort!
Chen Shi'an had thought the cat had gone out scrounging because its food had run out. But when he checked its bowl, it was still more than half full.
"You haven't eaten any of this. Weren't you eating it just fine this morning...?"
"Meow."
While Chen Shi'an was holding the bowl and examining the food, Li Wanyin heard him and came out of her room.
She had already showered and was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. As she emerged in her slippers, the first thing to appear was the pair of legs extending from her shorts.
Li Wanyin had naturally fair skin. She usually wore long trousers outside, keeping her legs especially pale and tender. Fresh from her shower, her skin looked moist and luminous, with a faint pink flush beneath the fairness, as though wrapped in soft light.
"You're back, Shi'an?"
"Yeah. What time did you get off work, Wanyin?"
"I got back a little after six, then bought some mung beans and slab sugar to make sweet soup. It's cooled down now, just right for a late-night snack."
Compared with when they had first met yesterday, Li Wanyin was clearly much more comfortable with her new roommate
, and since she was an older woman who had graduated and entered the workforce, while he was just a younger boy still in high school, there was little of the reserve or awkwardness that might exist between a man and woman of the same age.
Yesterday, Chen Shi'an had treated her to dinner and watermelon. Li Wanyin was the sort of girl who remembered other people's kindness.
With her going to work and Chen Shi'an attending classes, they could only see each other at home in the evenings, so she had thought she would make some sweet soup for them to share.
"I saw the photo of the sweet soup you sent. Thanks, Wanyin."
"Hehe, you're welcome. When I have time this weekend, I'll cook a meal to celebrate us becoming roommates."
As she spoke, Li Wanyin had already walked into the kitchen. She picked up a ladle and a bowl, scooped out a little soup to check its sweetness, then fetched another bowl and brought out two servings of mung bean sweet soup.
"Wanyin, I can help myself."
"It's fine, it's fine. Try it and see if it's too sweet."
Chen Shi'an took the bowl from her and drank a mouthful while still standing.
He had just eaten grilled sausages with Wen Zhixia, leaving his mouth dry. That mouthful of mung bean sweet soup was wonderfully soothing, filling him with contentment.
The soup had only been made that evening. To save time, Li Wanyin had used a pressure cooker to soften the mung beans until they broke down into a fine, grainy texture, then carefully skimmed off the excess floating skins with a slotted spoon.
She had used slab sugar rather than white granulated sugar-reddish blocks of cane sugar, really. Its sweetness was richer and more fragrant than white sugar, and it also helped nourish the blood and replenish qi.
Making mung bean sweet soup might seem simple, but without some experience, it was hard to achieve this refreshing, finely grainy texture without making it sticky or cloying.
Chen Shi'an drank a couple of mouthfuls standing up, then sat down at the dining table while still drinking. He nodded repeatedly, full of praise:
"It's delicious. You really are a good cook, Wanyin."
"Oh, hardly. It's just sweet soup."
Though Li Wanyin said that, Chen Shi'an's praise still made her happy.
Words alone meant little, but she could see him drinking it in great gulps. That was the greatest compliment a cook could receive.
"Careful, it's hot... It would've been nice to chill it, but it was too hot to put in the fridge."
"It's fine. This is perfect. Mung beans are cooling by nature. Chilling them would make them too cold, and people with weak stomachs can get acid reflux if they have too much. When I made mung bean soup on the mountain, I always drank it warm like this."
"You even know about that!"
Li Wanyin was a little surprised. She ate much more delicately than Chen Shi'an, sitting at the table and slowly sipping spoonfuls.
"When my mom made mung bean sweet soup when I was little, she'd pick a kind of wild vegetable to put in it. What was it called again...?"
"Dicliptera?"
"Oh! Yes, yes! It tasted a bit different from soup made with just mung beans, and it was really good! You actually know it too!"
Li Wanyin was even more surprised. Never mind boys Chen Shi'an's age-plenty of adults had never even heard of dicliptera.
"I often added it when I made mung bean soup. Lots of it grew beside the steps at our temple. It clears liver heat, cools the blood, and relieves summer heat. It tastes good, too, with that fresh fragrance unique to plants."
"Yes, exactly! I haven't seen dicliptera in ages. There's none in the city, and even if I saw some, I might not recognize it anymore."
"Then next time I come across some, I'll pick it and bring it back so you can make mung bean soup, Wanyin."
"Then I'll really get to savor a taste of my childhood."
Li Wanyin had been talking about her childhood in the countryside, yet Chen Shi'an had picked up every thread of the conversation with ease. It had been so long since she had enjoyed such a smooth, easy chat.
While the two of them ate, Black Cat came over carrying its bowl in its mouth. The meaning was obvious: it wanted some too.
Remembering something, Li Wanyin said to Chen Shi'an, "When I got home from work, Shi Mo's bowl was empty, so I poured in some cat food."
Chen Shi'an paused. "I was wondering why there was still food in the bowl. So you put it there, Wanyin."
"That's right. It looked absolutely starving, like it was about to faint on the sofa. Other cats eat their kibble piece by piece, but this one wolfed it down by the mouthful."
"..."
Little Chatterbox, his little deskmate, and Fat Ink were all dishonest. Sure enough, Wanyin and he were the most honest ones.
"Shi'an, can cats have mung bean sweet soup?"
"Meow."
"I don't know whether cats can, but pigs definitely can."
"Meow?"
As he spoke, Chen Shi'an poured the remaining third of his mung bean soup into Fat Ink's bowl, mixing it with the cat food.
"Wanyin, is there any sweet soup left in the pot?"
"Yes, I made plenty."
"Then I'll go get another bowl."
"Mm-hmm!"
(Thanks to Lord Mitian for the Alliance Leader support! So generous! May you make a fortune! May your new book soar to success!)
(A big five-thousand-character chapter tonight! Thank you all for the tips and monthly votes~!)
Before you continue