Chapter 216:

Xiaoci cried and took the initiative to say he wanted to study.

Lao Buyu, who was just about to take a nap, heard the movement and immediately came out of the room.

He had been teaching Xiaoci the Three-Character Classic for a few months.

Before, Xiaoci always said he couldn’t remember and couldn’t understand, but this afternoon he managed to memorize it all.

Lao Buyu was afraid that he was just agreeing temporarily and might regress later.

So, after the Three-Character Classic, Lao Buyu didn’t slow down the teaching pace. Instead, he brought out more enlightenment reading materials for him to study.

Of course, considering his young age and the critical period of growth, Lao Buyu arranged fewer class hours for him compared to Mu Er Pang and the others.

He studied for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.

In less than ten days, Xiaoci had finished learning the basic three hundred characters.

Lao Buyu never hesitated to praise his students, especially someone as naughty as Xiaoci. It made him even happier that he could finish three books in one go without giving up halfway.

So he praised Xiaoci for quite a while.

Xiaoci also felt quite pleased with himself, holding his chin up and showing off to Shen Cui, “I didn’t lie to you, did I? I told you before that I used to…”

At this moment, Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang came back from their duty, just in time to sit in front of Shen Cui and chat over tea.

So he mumbled some words to them, “Anyway, I really did work hard before.”

At this point, Shen Cui didn’t feel like suppressing him anymore.

After all, he had indeed been doing well these days, neither causing trouble nor insulting anyone.

She pointed to the two packs of snacks on the table and said, “I was just about to call you. Teacher already told me this morning that you’ve been doing well lately, so I asked them to buy these for you when they were on duty.”

Xiaoci’s dark eyes lit up, but he restrained himself and didn’t go forward.

He just leaned in next to Shen Cui and muttered in a voice only she could hear, “I’m not really a kid, you know, snacks and all…”

Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang were already smiling as they helped him unwrap the packages.

One pack contained almond pastries, and the other contained milk cakes.

This little troublemaker was picky about his food.

At first, he could be delighted with just any candied fruit skewer, laughing like a silly goose.

But later on, he didn’t like those cheap treats as much and preferred more refined snacks.

These two were his favorites, not only because they were pricey but also because they were hard to come by.

One shop was in the east of the city, and the other was in the west.

He had been able to enjoy them earlier because Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang’s colleagues had given them to him.

In the past, when there were fresh treats in the academy, everyone would first give them to Mu Er Pang, the youngest.

This harmonious atmosphere was also a tradition at Cuiwei.

Moreover, as Mu Er Pang was now almost seventeen, he didn’t enjoy those treats as much anymore.

So most of those treats ended up in Xiaoci belly.

After seeing what was on the table, his murmuring abruptly stopped, and his eyes, shining with even more brightness, asked in surprise, “Aren’t these two things quite far apart? Were they given by someone else?”

Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang chuckled, explaining to him, “No, we just went separately to buy them after our duty.”

“This wasn’t my idea.” Shen Cui smiled at them and shook her head helplessly. “You two, couldn’t you just buy snacks closer to the academy? After a whole day’s duty, you went such a long way just for this little troublemaker’s snacks.”

Other officials usually have sedan chairs or horse carriages to transport them.

Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang, however, come from humble backgrounds.

In the past, if they had a carriage to ride in, it was because they were benefiting from the Wei or Cui family’s influence.

Even though now their former classmates, like Shen Aoshuang or Wei Xi, are willing to send them, the time for duty at the Hanlin Academy is not fixed.

Especially since their positions are not exactly the same, they might not be able to do duty at the same time.

They didn’t want to make others wait after a whole day’s work, so they usually walk home.

“It’s okay, not tiring at all. It’s good to walk after sitting all day; it loosens up the stiff muscles,” Mu Er Pang said, pushing the paper-wrapped treats toward Xiaoci.

Shen Cui smiled as she stood up. “Then I need to go tell your grandmother to prepare less dinner for him, no need to waste.”

As she left, Xiaoci stopped pretending and stood on tiptoe by the table, picking up the pastries to eat.

However, as he ate, he felt a bit guilty.

He didn’t have these feelings before.

Ever since he was born and became aware, he knew his “mission.”

Following that mission diligently, he maintained order in this world, eliminating any potential threats to that order from the start.

People like Mu Er Pang and Mei Ruochu, who specifically bought pastries for him, were considered “threats” by his previous judgment.

For the first eighteen years of Mei Ruochu’s life, he suffered terribly.

Every once in a while, he would pay special attention to Mei Ruochu, making sure he was enduring hardships and not likely to compete with Mu Yunchuan.

Mu Er Pang was even worse off because he lived alongside Mu Yunchuan, so he was supposed to be foolish for life.

But now they’re treating him so nicely.

Thinking this, his speed of eating pastries involuntarily slowed down.

Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang whispered about daytime affairs.

Mei Ruocho saw this and said, “Eat quickly, it’s all for you. If you can’t finish, keep the rest for yourself. It can be breakfast tomorrow.”

Xiaoci murmured softly in response, looking still not in a good mood.

Mu Er Pang and Mei Ruochu exchanged a glance.

Although they had been together for some time, they still couldn’t quite figure out Xiaoci’s thoughts.

Could it be that he came seeking praise earlier because they didn’t commend him, so he’s upset now?

Mu Er Pang cleared his throat lightly and said, “I heard you learned three hundred characters in just half a month? You learn so fast. For my case I needed five days to complete them. But back then, I was already ten years old. You’re so young and already so talented. In the future, you’ll surely…”

Mu Er Pang was the newly crowned talent, comparing himself with Xiaoci, such a naughty child, using his own experience, making anyone feel he was lowering himself.

A normal child would feel encouraged.

But Xiaoci wouldn’t, because he knew all too well how foolish ten-year-old Mu Er Pang could be!

He was the mighty Law of the Dimension, the ruler of this world, yet he couldn’t compare to the earlier foolish Mu Er Pang!

His eyes widened, and he gulped down the remaining pastry by his side, then dashed out to Lao Buyu.

“Master! Sir! Teacher! Hurry! Didn’t you say you finished learning three hundred characters and would teach me to read ‘Juvenile Learning in the Qionglin’? I want to read it now!”

Mu Er Pang and Mei Ruochu were naturally confused, but this mischievous child always acted without rhyme or reason, like a little lunatic.

And since he was willing to read on his own initiative, it was considered a good thing, so they didn’t interfere.

As for Shen Cui, she hadn’t actually gone far—she had informed the Zheng family in the morning about buying pastries for Xiaoci,of course, without forgetting to inform them.

Leaving the main hall was only because Xiaoci was most hostile not only to Xi Jiulu’s outsider consciousness but also to her as its host.

Sure enough, as soon as she left, Xiaoci immediately started eating without pretense.

As for what happened later, Mu Er Pang and Mei Ruochu didn’t understand, but Shen Cui probably knew that Xiaoci had been hit hard by her son’s words, so he wanted to strive to improve himself.

With Mu Yunchuan’s criticism in front and Mu Er Pang’s unintentional words behind, under the dual motivation, this mischievous child would probably behave himself for a while.

Naturally, this was a good thing, but there was something that puzzled Shen Cui.

In the kitchen, Xi Jiulu, who was off duty, was assisting Mrs. Zheng.

Sensing Shen Cui’s emotional fluctuations, he took the initiative to ask what she was thinking.

Shen Cui said, “I just feel… Xiaoci, who is essentially a law, is becoming more and more like a person.”

“I and the law are similar to the coding, programs, and AI of the host’s era. Of course, we are much more advanced and have our own consciousness. Even synthetic AI can mimic humans after collecting enough data. As we become more and more human-like, it’s nothing surprising.”

Shen Cui nodded and smiled, then let out a sigh. “That’s good then.”

She had already completed her main mission and could return to her own world at any time.

But for now, she didn’t want to leave. She planned to wait until this body reached its natural end before going home.

So, she wouldn’t be guarding Mu Er Pang and the others for a lifetime, nor would she keep the Law trapped in Cuiwei forever.

If the Law became more and more like a person, then she wouldn’t have to worry about it behaving like it did before once she left.