401 Fairy Night Chat Meeting—

[Jianjian baby, be honest, is there something going on? As soon as you got home, you threw us aside—seeing the new love but not the old one!]

[Howling and crying.gif]

In the morning, Lin Yijian, struggling to wake up before her mother’s inspection, groped for her phone in a daze, only to see the messages in the dorm group.

The sending time was yesterday afternoon.

She had been busy from the afternoon until night, and during that time she simply had no chance to look at her phone.

At first, the group was filled with teasing, resentful-wife style banter, but later it slowly evolved into worried questions, [Did something happen to Jianjian?]

Lin Yijian: “…”

Speaking of which, you might not believe me, but I am currently remotely participating in the preparations for an ancient war.

Lin Yijian silently swallowed this truth—something that, if spoken, would only make people worry about her mental state—and typed a reply: [Sorry, I’ve been too absorbed in drawing these past two days and forgot to check my phone.]

It was not exactly a lie.

Apart from helping Li Hui look up information, Lin Yijian also took every opportunity to work on setting designs for her own comic.

She had arranged things so tightly that, even though it was the winter vacation, she somehow ended up living as if it were exam week, feeling like she was about to ascend to immortality.

More troublesome than exam week, she still had to guard against her mother’s morning inspections.

Life could not exactly be called dire, but it was overly packed.

After sending the message, there was no reply for the moment, probably because the others had not yet woken up.

Lin Yijian, unconcerned, put down her phone, slipped on her cotton slippers, and went out to fetch water, only to push the door open and see her parents busily moving around in the living room.

Lin Yijian asked in puzzlement, “Are you going out?”

Zhang Qi: “What ‘we’? Today is the 27th of the twelfth lunar month; we have to return to our hometown. Didn’t I tell you yesterday? Why are you still wearing pajamas?”

Lin Yijian froze for a moment.

It seemed her mother had indeed mentioned it… what had she been doing at the time?

…She had been so busy that she completely could not remember.

Beside her, Father Lin had already started urging: “Hurry and change your clothes, your grandma has stewed a chicken waiting for you.”

Lin Yijian dragged out her “oh” and slowly went to wash up.

Even with the eager anticipation revealed by her father about her grandmother, she still looked uninterested.

Lin Yijian really did not like going back to her hometown.

As the well-known “other people’s child” in the surrounding area, the result of becoming the “teaching example” for parents was that she was isolated by her peers—not bullied, just simply not included in their games.

Her memory of going back to her hometown was that while the children went out to play together, she stayed by the adults’ side, being praised as “well-behaved and sensible.”

What child was truly “well-behaved”? She simply had no choice.

Lin Yijian washed her face and pressed down those emotions. Once she was a bit clearer, she finally sped up her changing of clothes under the repeated urging of her parents.

But when it was time to go out, she faintly heard a voice in her mind, [You are going out?]

The tone carried a bit of surprise.

It was no wonder Li Hui was so startled.

Going out was, of course, nothing strange. Li Hui himself went out every day, but this little girl… aside from the first day when he saw her go out after getting home, afterward, not to mention leaving the house, she had rarely even left her own room. Was she not bored to death?

Lin Yijian did not feel bored at all.

With the weather outside being freezing cold, she was not stupid. Why would she go out in such temperatures? Wasn’t the heated room much better?

However, Lin Yijian did not know about Li Hui’s silent complaint.

Although she was somewhat surprised at the time the other party came over this time, she still replied: “It’s almost New Year. I’m going back to my hometown.”

Li Hui froze for a moment, [New Year?]

Only then did Lin Yijian remember that, when they communicated that day, they had only coordinated the time difference but had not discussed the seasonal difference. Because in their usual conversations, the other side had also mentioned it being winter, Lin Yijian had not thought much and simply assumed the dates were the same, but now it seemed not so.

Lin Yijian: “You haven’t had New Year yet over there?”

Li Hui: [Still some days away, we’ve just entered the twelfth lunar month.]

After answering this, he continued: [I came over this time because I have something to tell you.]

Lin Yijian was not surprised.

According to the time difference between the two sides, it was still daytime where Li Hui was. Coming over especially must mean there was something to say.

As she followed her parents into the elevator, she asked in her mind: “Is there a problem with the reaction tank for the experiment? Which number? I brought my laptop. If it’s not urgent, I can help you check after I get to my hometown. If it’s urgent, I can use my phone in the car…”

Just as Lin Yijian’s words reached the part about her phone, her mother beside her cast a sharp look, “No looking at your phone while walking. Do you still want your eyes?!”

Lin Yijian: “…Got it.”

Her mother paused, then emphasized: “Not in the car either.”

Lin Yijian: “…”

She obediently put her phone back in her pocket, lowered her head with a well-behaved look, and once again replied, “Okay.”

After sincerely putting on enough of an outward display, Lin Yijian quietly said in her mind: “Don’t worry, I’ll sneak it later.”

Anyway, she was sitting in the back row together with a pile of New Year’s goods. If she pretended to sleep and leaned over, nothing could be seen from the rearview mirror.

Li Hui was amused by her tone that sounded like she was doing something bad, but after a short chuckle, he said seriously: [There’s going to be a battle.]

Lin Yijian was stunned.

The elevator doors of the underground level opened, and Zhang Qi, dragging suitcases and carrying bags, turned back to see Lin Yijian standing there in a daze. She couldn’t help showing a face full of helplessness: “Child, what are you thinking about again? Hurry up and help carry things.”

Only then did Lin Yijian come back to her senses, hurriedly letting out an “oh” and quickly helping to carry the New Year’s goods to the car.

Under her mother’s constant stream of instructions—“Hey! Why are you touching that?”, “You can’t lift that, let your dad do it!”, “Come over here and take this.”—Lin Yijian busily shuttled back and forth between the elevator entrance and the car, but her mind was still muddled: How did it suddenly come to war? They were just going to start fighting like that…

As if giving her time to take it in, Li Hui paused slightly before continuing: [I thought I should come over and tell you. Once the fighting starts, I may not have much time to come over again.]

This kind of leaving one’s spirit during sleep only existed when intentionally relaxing.

Once war began, a person had to stay tense and alert at all times, and even in dreams, at the slightest movement, one had to wake up instantly. Obviously, there would be no time to leisurely chat with a little girl like this.

After moving all the New Year goods back and forth, Lin Yijian finally sat in the car and had the chance to calm down.

Her first reaction was: “But it’s not ready yet…”

Li Hui could not help laughing again: [What battle is ever ready? Other people aren’t fools. Why would they wait for you to be ready before fighting?]

Lin Yijian felt that what he said was a bit like her teachers back then saying, “What exam is ever ready?”

Perhaps, to him, this was just an “exam”? An exam of life and death.

Lin Yijian suddenly felt a bit regretful—if only she had told him about it…

As if sensing her emotions, that voice instead comforted her without much concern: [Don’t think too much. This was never your business to begin with, and you’ve already done enough.]

The current situation was already much better than expected.

An Gongyi’s withholding of armor was clearly not just to disgust him; he must have been trying to find a way to spread the news of the current state inside Yuding City.

That was fine; it saved him the trouble. Let the other side believe that Yuding City was short of armor and soldiers, unable to withstand a single blow.

Li Hui’s comforting words did not actually make Lin Yijian much more at ease.

Although she had been aware that she was helping to prepare for a battle, when Li Hui truly mentioned that war was coming, she realized that her mental preparation was far from enough.

But the things that came afterward seemed to be nothing she needed to prepare for anyway. That part had nothing to do with her, and was not something she could interfere in…

Lin Yijian really did not know what to say. She stayed silent for quite a while before dryly squeezing out a sentence: “Be careful.”

Li Hui was slightly startled.

Not “victory,” not “triumphant return,” but “safety”?

It was as if some emotion slowly grew in his chest, making his whole being warm. He paused slightly, then replied with the tone of a promise: [I will.]

This feeling of being cared about, it was actually quite nice.

*

Habit was truly a terrifying thing.

Finally escaping from greeting the elders with a smile so stiff her face was about to freeze, Lin Yijian managed to catch her breath. But after hiding in a small side room, she instinctively opened a search engine.

She paused for three seconds at the search bar, then quietly closed it.

Right now, there was nothing for her to look up…

Since she finally had some free time, she might as well think about her new comic.

Lin Yijian had not brought her drawing tablet. With how her parents treated drawing, she naturally would not risk bringing it back to her hometown openly. But some simple line work could be done perfectly well with a mouse, and while her parents were still outside chatting with various unfamiliar uncles, aunts, and relatives, with no time to bother with her, she could completely work on it in secret.

But after a few strokes, Lin Yijian eventually stopped.

She stared at her laptop screen for a long time in hesitation, then reopened the browser.

Might as well look things up again.

What if it became useful in the future?

…

Time passed in a flash, and in the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Eve.

During the New Year, one could never stay idle, and the closer it got to the holiday, the more so. Early in the morning, Lin Yijian was called up to follow her parents around busily, and it was not until nearly dinner time that she finally had a bit of free time, sitting by the pot and staring at the dumplings as they boiled.

Boiling water bubbled gurglingly, dumplings rolling up and down within it.

The white dough skin gradually became translucent, yet Lin Yijian was slightly absent-minded: I wonder how things are over there, at war…

“You child…” Mother Lin’s voice came from the side, “Keep an eye on it too, they’ve all sunk to the bottom.”

Only then did Lin Yijian come back to her senses. Lowering her head to look, sure enough, there were dumpling skins stuck to the bottom of the pot.

She hurriedly took a spatula to poke at them, but was driven aside by Mother Lin, “Alright, alright, I’ll do it.”

The spatula was taken from her. Lin Yijian stood at the side at a loss, until from the other side, Grandma Lin lifted her hand and beckoned, “Jianjian, come over and eat candy.”

*

The Li Hui whom Lin Yijian was thinking about was at this moment counting the spoils of war.

Who knows whether An Gongyi leaked the news, but the people on the other side, taking it for granted, thought that within Yuding City now “the soldiers had no armor, the defenses were empty,” which saved Li Hui the trouble of specially thinking of a way to “feign weakness to the enemy.”

Li Hui naturally would not let go of such a good opportunity; after lying in ambush for two days, he completely annihilated the enemy’s vanguard squad.

Since they were the vanguard, of course, they did not carry much military supplies, but Li Hui still gained something: the armor on the other side could be stripped off and used for himself.

This was also why Li Hui had previously told Lin Yijian there was no need to worry.

With some protective gear, that was about enough; the rest could be taken from others.

Thinking of the phrase “helping each other,” which seemed to be taken for granted, Li Hui shook his head and gave a small laugh.

Does this count as them giving him armor? And him sending them to meet the King of Hell?

…Peace and prosperity, without war.

Only then could there be such a little girl who could not even draw armor?

A bit naive, but not annoying.

The morning light at daybreak drove away the darkness, as if the bloody slaughter that had just ended was entirely hidden beneath the night. Bathed in this faint sunlight, the blood surging in his limbs seemed also to cool down bit by bit.

The confiscated armor was still being counted. Li Hui watched for a while, then simply handed the matter over to his vice general.

The vice general accepted the order in response.

But after Li Hui left, someone beside him came over and asked, “What’s wrong with the General? He doesn’t seem very happy.”

The vice general was puzzled: “Not at all, he looks pretty good.”

It was exactly this “pretty good.”

That person could not help but say, “This is a great victory! Shouldn’t the General be a bit happier?”

Once he said this, the vice general also frowned and sank into thought.

Thinking of it like that, Li Hui’s reaction did indeed seem a bit too indifferent.

Just as he was about to think further, he noticed the person beside him staring at him without moving.

The vice general finally came to his senses, slapped the other, and scolded, “Stop playing crooked tricks, hurry up and get to work!”

That person’s gaze faltered, but he still raised his voice to defend himself: “No, I’m serious! Don’t you think the General’s reaction isn’t right?”

“The General’s thoughts—are they something you can guess?! Just a mere small victory, with Yuding City’s current situation, do you think the General can be happy?!”

That person: “…”

What was Yuding City’s current situation?

The newly practiced formation had just won a great victory, completely annihilating the enemy with almost no losses.

If it were him, his mouth would be crooked from laughing.

*

Li Hui’s mood at this moment was rather calm.

With the heat of battle cooling down, the fatigue of a sleepless night surged up; he yawned, squinted his eyes, and raised his hand to block the somewhat dazzling morning light. The light and shadow through his fingers fell into his eyes; Li Hui was slightly absent-minded for a moment, and suddenly remembered: over there, it should be New Year’s Eve, right?

He hesitated for a moment, then stepped toward the room where he was temporarily resting, and instructed the guards at the door, “Stand guard, I’ll sleep for a while.”