Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Jianbing Guozi

It was hard to say what was going on inside Jingliu's little head. Wangshu felt the dinner he'd made was a reasonable success — the rice was fluffy, and though the dishes were simple, the seasoning was well-balanced. Yet Jingliu kept sneaking glances at him, her crimson eyes full of complicated emotions.

"Don't worry!"

After cleaning up the dishes, Jingliu came scurrying back to Wangshu, rising up on her tiptoes with all her might, trying to bring her gaze level with his. Her small face wore an unprecedented solemnity. "I'll take good care of you, I promise!"

After all, little Wangshu seemed to have been tricked by her future self into becoming homeless. What a terrible person future-her must be. She absolutely could not become that kind of villain.

Wangshu looked at her earnest, playing-the-grown-up posture, was silent for a moment, then cooperatively lowered his head. "I'll be good and listen."

After saying it, he covered his face with one hand. He wanted to laugh, but it didn't feel quite appropriate.

After dinner came bedtime — at least, that's how it went in Jingliu's simple view of daily life.

The Xianzhou had refrigerators. Leftovers went straight in, saving the trouble of cooking again in the morning.

The hectic and surreal day finally drew to a close. Wangshu lay on the guest room bed, the covers soft and carrying the scent of sunlight. The night outside the window was artificial, but tranquil all the same.

Wangshu sat up and leaned against the windowsill. In the quiet of the night, his feelings were too tangled to put into words. He'd transmigrated. He had a cheat. He'd also conned his way into a place to live, and gotten younger in the process.

"Alright, starting tomorrow I'll find something proper to do. Can't be mooching off little Jingliu forever."

Wangshu patted his own cheeks. He was planning to set up a street stall, or just pick up some odd jobs — establish a foothold here first.

"Goodnight, Wangshu."

He told himself.

【The Bright Future Chat Group reminds you: Your deep sleep threshold has been met. Would you like to activate Training Mode? This is an auxiliary function of the Group Member Card module.】

Wangshu didn't respond. He was still sleeping.

【Yes / No】

【No selection made for an extended period. Defaulting to Yes.】

......

【System Notification: Group member Jingliu has been detected in a waking state, and her Ability Card currently has active invocation links (2).】

【Would you be willing to enter the Training Ground as an ability provider and instructor, to offer basic guidance to group members invoking your power? This process operates via consciousness projection and will not affect your physical state.】

【Yes / No】

In the vast emptiness of the Abyssal Prison, Jingliu sat cross-legged, her blue-and-white hair loose and cascading over her body.

Ever since this chat group had appeared, she felt the heart that had been slowly dying come alive again. Her life seemed to have found a new reason to hope.

"A Sword Champion's instruction should be enough to partially repay the karmic debt — to make up for their help, at least a little."

She murmured, her voice barely audible in the cavernous cell. She chose Yes with almost no hesitation.

Her vision blurred slightly. Jingliu felt a lightness at her wrists — the hands that had been shackled were now completely free. With a thought, an ice-cold longsword materialized in her palm. The tip touched the ground, its texture real, power flowing unimpeded.

"A consciousness projection, then."

"This probably won't trigger Jing Yuan's guard early."

She pushed open the door. As the instructor, she apparently didn't have to appear in the training ground right away — she could tidy up her appearance first.

The training ground was vast, its perimeter wreathed in starlight. The floor's material was indiscernible. At the center stood a man and a woman, both sighing.

"Getting a full night's sleep sure is hard."

Wangshu hung his head in dejection. Perhaps the deep sleep phase had already ensured his rest quality, but if he had a choice, he really didn't want to be dragged into training in the dead of night.

"Ugh, I have a whole day of scheduling tomorrow. At least Mr. Wangshu is currently unemployed — at least you don't have this much pressure."

Asta rubbed her brow, sighing along with him. If she'd known there'd be a price, she wouldn't have borrowed Jingliu's power. She had money at home anyway — she'd just beef up the space station's armaments later.

"I'm planning to scout the market tomorrow. Thinking of setting up a food stall." Wangshu sighed. "I make a pretty decent jianbing guozi and shouzhuabing — that counts as career preparation."

The good news was that although they'd entered through sleep, both of them were wearing training clothes, so there was no need to worry about any wardrobe awkwardness.

"What are jianbing guozi and shouzhuabing?"

"Two kinds of street food from my homeland."

Wangshu explained, his eyes brightening slightly. "Tomorrow I'll try to track down all the ingredients. If they turn out well, I'll send you some. Not to brag, but my cooking's honestly pretty good."

Based on his observations during the day, Cangcheng — and every other Xianzhou he knew of — didn't seem to have this type of street food.

This might be a little business opportunity!

"Wait, I remember you barely had any money when you transmigrated."

Asta suddenly remembered something. Wangshu had transmigrated, after all. He was in Star Calendar Year 6299, and had even run into young Jingliu.

Wangshu scratched his head. "This is a bit embarrassing to say, but little Jingliu actually has pretty decent savings."

"That's her parents' survivor benefits and accident insurance payout."

A cool voice suddenly cut in. Jingliu's figure had appeared at the edge of the training ground at some unknown point.

Her standard of living back then hadn't been bad. Between the survivor benefits and the insurance payout, she'd been comfortable enough.

Of course, it had all gone up in flames when Cangcheng was destroyed. But afterward, she joined the Luofu's Cloud Knights, which at least gave her a proper salaried position.

Wangshu and Asta scrambled to their feet. Asta seized the moment to lean in close to Wangshu, whispering rapidly: "I can personally fund you some startup capital tomorrow. Living off a kid's savings really isn't a good look."

While Jingliu was technically eighteen on Wangshu's timeline, which in some sense didn't qualify as a kid, eighteen for a long-life species could definitely still be considered one.

Wangshu whispered back: "I'll pay you back."

"No need. Nobody knows what the future holds after joining this group, and besides — you're sitting in Star Calendar Year 6299. There could be plenty of times we'll need your help providing firsthand historical data. Consider this a prepaid consulting fee."

While the two were whispering, a wave of cold washed over them. Jingliu studied them both, her brows furrowing slightly.

"...Have you two never trained before?"

And also, aren't you two getting awfully chummy? Do you even know each other well enough to be chatting like that?!

"No, but I used to do campus runs."

Wangshu had a degree of confidence in his physical fitness — not much, but enough to be in better shape than most college students' sub-healthy states.

Campus runs? What was that?

Jingliu was silently puzzled.

"I've been working hard these past few years to avoid inheriting the family business, so I've admittedly neglected exercise."

Asta thought of her family's messy affairs and sighed again. Well, training wasn't a bad thing. Maybe if she built up her own abilities, she'd be able to break free from the family's constraints.

What do you mean, working hard to avoid inheriting the family business?

How did those words even fit together in a sentence?

Jingliu turned her wrist slightly, momentarily wondering if her mara episodes were acting up again. She couldn't understand a single thing these two were saying.

After a beat, she shook her head and let it go.

"Then let's start with the basics. I don't know how this place works either, but now that you have the Group Member Cards, what you need most is to improve your control over the power. Otherwise you'll end up hurting others — and yourselves."

Her teaching instincts stirred slightly, but there was something more pressing tugging at her heartstrings.

"By the way, little boy — did she... ask about me at all?" Jingliu's tone sounded deliberately casual.

Wangshu considered for a moment. "After seeing your image, she said you look too cold."

Jingliu lowered her gaze. The black silk blindfold had vanished upon entering this space, leaving her scarlet eyes exposed — and for once, they betrayed a rare flicker of dejection. She didn't press further. She was simply quiet for a while.

Then she raised her head, her gaze restored to calm — even clearer and sharper than before.

"Let's practice swordsmanship."

She flicked her wrist, and the longsword hummed. "Lesson one: how to grip a sword, and how to make the power obey."