Chapter 12: Missing Her When She’s Gone

This wasn’t the first time Wei Zhaoxian had done this. Even though Madam Wei was reluctant, she couldn’t bear to see her husband struggle.

The army’s well-being was tied to Wei Zhaoxian’s success.

If the soldiers lacked food and clothing or suffered a defeat, Wei Zhaoxian would be the first to face punishment.

Thus, Madam Wei had no choice but to agree.

However, she usually managed a portion of Wei Zhaoxian’s shops, setting aside some silver for such emergencies.

Coincidentally, Wei Ruyan had mentioned deducting Shen Shilang’s monthly allowance. Madam Wei thought this was indeed a good opportunity.

By reducing the mansion’s monthly expenses, everyone would be affected, and if Shen Shilang’s allowance was cut, he couldn’t complain about being singled out.

Moreover, this was only a temporary measure to overcome a difficult period, not a permanent reduction.

She told the mansion’s staff that once they weathered this brief hardship, their original allowances would be restored.

But, when would that be?

When Shen Shilang left for the capital to take the imperial examinations—that would be the perfect opportunity.

“But you’ve been cut the most,” Su Jinshi said. “Others only lost twenty percent of their allowance, while you lost one and a half taels.”

Shen Shilang’s monthly allowance was already lower than many servants in the mansion, and now his reduction was even greater.

“If you say Madam Wei didn’t do this on purpose, I can’t believe it,” Su Jinshi fumed. “How can a lady of her status act so shamelessly?”

“I suspect this time it’s not really for Wei Zhaoxian’s sake. She’s probably just using this opportunity to reduce your allowance.”

As Shen Shilang listened to Su Jinshi’s angry tone, he couldn’t help but imagine a young girl pouting in frustration.

For the first time, Shen Shilang became curious about Su Jinshi’s appearance.

“It doesn’t matter. I never deserved these things anyway,” Shen Shilang said. “If the Wei family hadn’t given me shelter, I might not even be alive today. I have no connection to the Wei family, and Madam Wei has already been kind enough to keep me here for so many years.”

It was precisely because he had always thought this way that Shen Shilang had never harbored any resentment towards Madam Wei.

Even if Madam Wei believed he was Wei Zhaoxian’s illegitimate son and didn’t like him, she had still taken him in and kept him in the mansion for so many years.

“Besides, one and a half taels per month is not a small amount,” Shen Shilang smiled. “Poor scholars don’t even have this much, yet they still study and take exams, don’t they?”

“You never seem to complain about others. It makes me look petty,” Su Jinshi grumbled.

Shen Shilang chuckled softly, “I know you’re looking out for me.”

[System: Shen Shilang’s favorability +1]

Su Jinshi hadn’t expected that Shen Shilang’s favorability would increase more frequently than her experience points (XP).

Her experience hadn’t increased since she gave Shen Shilang the fever-reducing medicine.

Thinking about this, Su Jinshi exited the game to search for a strategy guide.

She wanted to see if there were any methods to gain experience.

However, after searching extensively, Su Jinshi couldn’t find any strategy guides for this game. Apart from herself, she couldn’t even find a single beta tester.

“How strange,” Su Jinshi muttered as she returned to the game and found the personal center.

There was indeed an option to contact customer service.

Su Jinshi inquired about the task experience issue.

Smart AI: “Dear Jinshi, hello. This game doesn’t have conventional main quests. Experience gain requires your own exploration.”

Su Jinshi: “……”

Fine then.

Just as Su Jinshi was about to exit the inquiry, she heard Shen Shilang’s voice, “Jinshi? Jinshi? Are you still there?”

“Yes, yes, I’m here,” Su Jinshi quickly responded. “Have you been calling me for long?”

“Not at all,” Shen Shilang wouldn’t admit that he had indeed been calling her for quite a while.

Earlier, when Su Jinshi didn’t respond, he felt an unexplainable sense of loss.

Hearing Su Jinshi’s reply, Shen Shilang’s heart suddenly leaped with joy.

Then, Shen Shilang paused, realizing that at some point, he had grown accustomed to Su Jinshi’s presence. When she was briefly absent, he found himself missing her.

Seeing Shen Shilang lost in thought, Su Jinshi poked his cheek.

Although she was poking the hard surface of her phone screen, she could see Shen Shilang’s cheek indent slightly from her touch.

Shen Shilang blushed and dodged to the side, covering his cheek. “When will you stop taking every opportunity to touch me?”

Su Jinshi’s gaze moved downward, and a bold idea suddenly popped into her mind.

Just as she was about to extend her mischievous little hand towards Shen Shilang, he suddenly stood up and asked, “Have you ever been outside the mansion?”

Shen Shilang had never asked Su Jinshi why she was always by his side.

But he guessed that perhaps there were some restrictions that kept Su Jinshi close to him.

From his time spent with Su Jinshi, Shen Shilang knew that during the day, she was by his side most of the time.

As for the night, after he fell asleep, Su Jinshi wasn’t there.

She also hadn’t taken advantage of him while he was asleep.

He was a light sleeper, and ever since the night his family was massacred, he often had nightmares.

Even though he knew the Wei mansion was safe, he would still wake up startled, wary of potential assassins.

So if Su Jinshi had touched him at night, he would have known.

Su Jinshi was taken aback and replied, “No, I haven’t.”

She had been so focused on following Shen Shilang that she hadn’t thought about looking outside.

There was a world map in the game, which she had opened before, but only the Wei mansion area was lit up. Everything outside the mansion was gray.

She had tried clicking on the areas outside the Wei mansion, but there was no response.

Su Jinshi guessed that she needed to reach a certain level before she could access the areas outside the mansion.

For now, she was still in the newbie village.

However, this game was unique. In other games, without main quests or tasks, she would have gotten bored and quit long ago.

But here, she found watching Shen Shilang’s daily life interesting and had never felt bored for a moment.

“Do you want to go out for a walk with me?” Shen Shilang asked. “I need to buy some paper and ink.”

He also needed to buy a new brush, as his current one was almost worn out.

“Sure!”

As Shen Shilang walked out, the scene on the phone screen automatically followed him.

Leaving the Wei mansion, Su Jinshi saw the outside streets for the first time.

The streets were bustling with people, accompanied by the calls of merchants from the shops on both sides, creating a lively atmosphere.

Su Jinshi opened the map and, sure enough, the areas Shen Shilang walked through were now illuminated.

Shen Shilang entered a bookstore called Xibao Study and selected a brush, some cheap rice paper, and a mid-to-high-priced ink stick^[1]an ink stick (墨条 mò tiáo) is used together with an ink stone (砚台 yàn tái). The ink stick is solid and is ground against the ink stone with water to produce liquid ink., which was the most expensive item he bought this time.

“Why did you buy such cheap paper? The ink will bleed badly,” Su Jinshi asked him. “But you bought such expensive ink.”

Shen Shilang explained in a low voice, “During exams, the paper is provided by the court, so we don’t need to bring our own. This paper is enough for my daily writing. But we need to bring our own ink, and I’m saving this ink stick for the exam. For important tests, it’s best to use better quality ink.”