Chapter 17: Manor Level 17

Ai Ling held the set of fine porcelain dinnerware with gold edging, imprinted with symbols she couldn’t understand, thinking about what kind of posture she should adopt when falling to make the other person believe she didn’t do it on purpose.

There happened to be a smooth, round bone under her feet. Ai Ling pretended not to see it, stepped on it casually, and then she heard He Xi’s voice from behind:

“If the utensils are even slightly damaged, don’t even think about getting those crystal salts and glowing flowers.”

Her feet slipped, and Ai Ling fell backward.

Bang!

Even at the risk of cracking her head open, she held tightly onto the dinnerware, making sure it wasn’t harmed in any way.

The fall was quite solid. Fortunately, her head only hit the grass, but her tailbone took a hard hit, and she couldn’t get up for a while.

“Ow, ow, ow, it hurts, please help me up!” Ai Ling groaned on the ground.

He Xi stood nearby, watching coldly, and slowly said, “You’d better pray nothing happened to my dinnerware, or your big gorilla friend will become gorilla jerky tomorrow.”

Ai Ling carefully placed the dinnerware on the ground, forcing herself to get up, her face twisted in pain.

“I only threatened you once, do you really need to get back at me this many times?”

Ai Ling almost suspected this person had reincarnated as a rooster—petty and small-minded!

He Xi smiled faintly, looking at her. “Did you threaten me? I didn’t notice! But I haven’t threatened you.”

He said, pulling a few things out of his precious pouch and placing them on the stone table.

Several flowers resembling tulips, but these flowers glowed with a soft white light, like light bulbs.

There were also a few branches, freshly broken from trees, and they emitted light as well.

And there was a crystal salt block the size of a human head. From the looks of it, it was enough for Ai Ling to use for a year.

He Xi mimicked Ai Ling’s fake smile: “How about these? Do you want them?”

Ai Ling almost had hearts in her eyes as she nodded: “Yes, yes, yes!”

He Xi continued to smile: “So, did I threaten you?”

Ai Ling, the fawning one, quickly responded, “No, no, no, Master He Xi has never threatened me. It’s just that I’m the one with petty thoughts, misunderstanding your noble intentions. Please forgive me, Master He Xi.”

He Xi suddenly turned cold, his face darkening ominously: “Clean the utensils thoroughly. Don’t let me see a trace of grease. And pour me a cup of hot water.”

Ai Ling tried to make her smile as pleasing as possible, bowing 90 degrees: “Yes, Master He Xi, I’ll go right away. Please wait a moment.”

【This Number 5 sometimes has no bottom line to achieve her goals. Is she really going this far to flatter?】

【Mind your own business~】

【You can’t say that! Salt and glowing things are very important to Number 5. Isn’t she just biding her time?】

【If you don’t know how to use idioms, don’t use them casually. This is clearly enduring humiliation to survive.】

【As a language teacher, I am truly honored!】

【Wait, am I the only one who noticed that He Xi really found her glowing plants? I remember Number 5 only mentioned it once, and yet he actually remembered.】

【And glowing plants aren’t easy to find, right?】

【Is this really something to admire? He Xi once helped me steal the star treasure of the X-4729 star system because of something I said!】

【Oh, may I ask the person above, what is your esteemed name?】

【You’re not worthy to know my name…】

【Wow, it’s been years since I’ve heard someone talk like that.】

【Could it be the real old witch has come out of retirement? Hahaha!】

【Impossible. If Luo Ling has this little insight, could she really become the supreme commander of the Star Federation?】

【Stop guessing, it’s a rough-and-tumble guy.】

【Hello, rough-and-tumble guy!】

【Hello, rough-and-tumble guy!】

……

【You’ll regret this!】

Ai Ling made a special effort to clean He Xi’s dinnerware with alkaline grass, leaving it spotless and so shiny it could reflect a person’s shadow.

She also disinfected her own glass with herbs and cleaned it until it sparkled before pouring a cup of hot water and handing it to him.

Looking at the porcelain and glassware on the table, He Xi furrowed his brows in dissatisfaction: “You need to wipe the water off the utensils. And whose cup is this? Can you just hand it to me like this?”

Ai Ling’s smile turned somewhat grim as she stared at the salt and glowing plants, reminding herself, Don’t argue with an idiot, don’t argue with an idiot…

“Yes, Master He Xi, I’ll wipe them clean right away, but as for the glass…”

“Forget it,” He Xi suddenly picked up the cup again:

“Since you’re being so respectful, I’ll reluctantly drink a little!”

“Of course… Please drink well, don’t choke.”

Ai Ling then went to wipe the utensils, but… there were no tissues or napkins, just a face towel she had exchanged earlier. Fine, if you want them wiped clean, it’s not my fault.

With no hesitation, Ai Ling grabbed the face towel and wiped the utensils until they were squeaky clean and shiny, making a sound when touched.

He Xi didn’t say anything as he carefully picked them up and put them into his pouch.

Ai Ling became very interested in that small pouch and then, with a smile, asked, “Is this the legendary Cosmos Bag?”

He Xi was taken aback: “How do you know?”

Ah, so it really is!

Ai Ling got excited, leaned in close, and grabbed the pouch to carefully study it for a while: “It doesn’t seem like the material is any different. How is it able to hold so many things?”

She reached out, trying to peek inside, but He Xi snatched it back and securely tied it to his waist before saying, “Did your parents never teach you not to rummage through other people’s things?”

Ai Ling pouted: “No, they didn’t… Do you have parents?”

This… He Xi didn’t know how the topic switched to this, and he froze for a moment before replying, “Don’t you? Did you pop out of a crack in a rock?”

Ai Ling glared at him: “Forget it, I’m too lazy to argue with you.”

She glanced sneakily at the glowing flowers and crystal salt placed in front of He Xi, thinking that now was not the time to forcefully take them. She then looked up and saw the moon in the sky, and an idea popped into her head:

“Did you notice the sudden appearance of a moon in the sky? You didn’t move it, did you?”

He Xi frowned and thought for a moment: “I guess so!”

Ai Ling was really shocked: “Really… really? You can move even small planets at will? Oh my god, you can’t… can’t be some kind of god… right?”

He Xi couldn’t be bothered to answer her: “If that’s how you want to think, go ahead!”

Ai Ling, caught off guard, tripped and fell to the ground in horror, pointing at him: “You, you, you… you, you, you…”

He Xi was really about to roll his eyes, trying to hold back his impatience as he explained: “The gods are dead, there’s no such thing as gods anymore. The moon you’re talking about isn’t something I moved, it came on its own. Can you think for a moment?”

Ai Ling breathed a long sigh of relief. Thank goodness. If the gods were as idiotic as this, she would probably gouge out her own eyes and jump into a lake to protest.

“So, why did the moon come on its own?” Ai Ling stood up, holding onto the chair.

“Obviously because of me,” He Xi said with rare seriousness, sighing.

Pfft~ Hold it in, now’s not the time to offend him.

“Because you’re so charming, that even the moon can’t help but follow you?”

Although she tried to hold back, it still sounded a bit strange. Ai Ling immediately wanted to correct herself, but to her surprise, He Xi nodded seriously:

“You’re absolutely right!”

Cough, cough~ What do I do? I really want those flowers and salt, but I have to hold myself back!

Ai Ling’s face turned red from holding it in, and she didn’t speak for a while.

He Xi continued, “There’s a woman up there who brought the moon, just for me.”

“^[1]Chang’e (嫦娥) is a figure from Chinese mythology. She’s the goddess of the moon — a very famous legend says that she took an elixir of immortality and flew to live on the moon.Chang’e?”

Her quick tongue got the better of her, and Ai Ling hurriedly covered her mouth!

“No, forget it. You wouldn’t recognize it even if I told you. Aren’t you going to plant the flowers?” He Xi suddenly spoke coldly again.

Ai Ling’s heart stirred, and she carefully asked, “So… can I have these things now?”

He Xi turned his head slightly: “Useless junk. If you want it, take it!”

Ai Ling, delighted, jumped up and quickly grabbed everything, protecting it as if afraid that the madman would regret it.

“The rooted flowers can be planted, but the branches won’t grow. However, you can use them for lighting in your home. After a year, the light will fade, and I’ll replace it for you then,” He Xi said lightly.

“Okay, okay!”

Ai Ling held the glowing branches in her hand, feeling that they were as hard and cool as ice. They looked like they were made of jade, smooth to the touch, and both glossy and moisturized.

The light emitted by the branches was much brighter than the flowers, enough to illuminate a room of about ten square meters.

She couldn’t help but sigh: “Although I’ve encountered many strange animals and plants here, this is by far the most astonishing. It’s both beautiful and practical. If only it existed on Earth…”

She shook her head and, looking at He Xi seriously, said, “Where did you find these branches? Do you have more? Could you bring more back? When my estate grows bigger, I’ll definitely need them in many places.”

He Xi yawned and stretched lazily: “We’ll talk about that later. I’m tired. I need to sleep.”

After saying this, he stood up and walked towards his hut. Ai Ling was completely focused on the glowing branches, staring at them. They looked even more beautiful the longer she looked at them. She couldn’t put them down.

“Ai Ling!”

A sudden shout almost made Ai Ling drop the glowing branches. She quickly looked up and saw He Xi returning from his hut, his face dark with anger. That’s when she remembered… Oh no!

“Sorry, sorry! I thought you weren’t staying, so I left some things in your hut. I… I’ll clean it up right away. Please don’t be angry, it’ll be done quickly!”

With that, Ai Ling hurriedly ran to clean up his space.

Hoes, axes, toolboxes, bathtubs…

“Okay, okay, everything is out now. Go ahead and sleep!”

After cleaning up, Ai Ling returned to call He Xi, but he was nowhere to be seen. On the table, there were only the flowers, branches, and crystal salt, along with a note that smelled nice and was covered in golden powder…

“He Xi? He Xi?” She called a few more times, but no one responded.

Sigh, when this person gets angry, he’s just like a child.

Ai Ling walked to the stone table and picked up the stiff card.

Under the moonlight, the golden powder on the hard paper shimmered. She gently stroked it, and it seemed like strange patterns were engraved on the paper.

Tsk tsk tsk, this person must be out of his mind. Even writing a note is so extravagant. He actually has the nerve to call the glowing branches useless junk? Now that’s truly ridiculous, isn’t it?