On September 14th at noon, an employee from the express company called.
Jiang Ning's ordered herbs had arrived, and the employee asked if Jiang Ning would pick them up himself or have them delivered. Since the batch of herbs weighed over one hundred kilograms and the distance was five kiloters, the delivery service fee would be fifty yuan.
Naturally, Jiang Ning wouldn't personally go to pick them up just to save fifty yuan. He left his phone number and requested delivery.
Jiang Ning stood outside the classroom making the call. It had been just a few minutes since school let out, and Xue Yuantong was waiting nearby.
"Alright, let's go," Jiang Ning said, offering Xue Yuantong a ride ho.
Xue Yuantong had gotten used to taking rides on Jiang Ning's bicycle, though she always found an excuse to avoid feeling indebted.
Today's lunch was still lavish. Jiang Ning had bought large river prawns and cooked a dish of beef; there were also green pepper and egg stir fry, lettuce and mushroom salad, and sliced waterlon chilling on ice to fill the small foldable table.
Xue Yuantong ate happily but couldn't help feeling a bit guilty.
Lately, all the grocery expenses had been covered by Jiang Ning. Her family had only contributed a bit of oil and salt, her mother's stead bread, or so pumpkin for their pumpkin porridge—trivial items that weren't worth much.
She always felt like she was taking advantage of Jiang Ning. They were neither family nor close friends, so why was he so generous to her for no apparent reason?
It was one thing to offer her a ride ho, let alone allowing her to use his wifi, but to also share als with her every day.
Why was he acting like this?
Could it be... he liked her?
Xue Yuantong pinched her cheek, deeming it unlikely. In her eyes, she was just soone who studied well, cooked tasty als, was good at housework, smart, and kind-hearted.
Aside from those traits, she saw no other rits in herself.
Jiang Ning couldn't possibly fancy her. Xue Yuantong firmly negated the thought and imdiately dismissed the possibility.
But as things stood, she was increasingly indebted to Jiang Ning.
She decided it was ti to confront him and ask why he was being so nice to her.
Xue Yuantong had planned to have this talk today, but the dish she cooked tasted particularly good. What if their conversation went south, and he stord off with the food?
Maybe tomorrow would be better.
She settled on a date.
During the al, Jiang Ning noticed that Xue Yuantong seed unusually sullen today, her brows alternating between furrowing and relaxing, clearly preoccupied with heavy thoughts.
He didn't ask and wasn't particularly concerned.
Eating with Xue Yuantong every day had brought him a taste of normalcy; how long had it been since he last experienced this sensation?
Probably hundreds of years.
Jiang Ning was enjoying this feeling. As for the cost, it was less than one hundred yuan per day for groceries.
To him, big money might be out of reach for now, but he was never short on small change.
He had considered whether his actions might trouble Xue Yuantong but seeing her eat so joyfully, he wasn't worried.
After all, soone who used to be satisfied with just half a bowl of rice, yet now could polish off an entire bowl and even sneak an extra spoonful, must be in good spirits.
...
After the al, Xue Yuantong took the initiative to wash the dishes, even though Jiang Ning could easily clean them with a single spell.
But seeing her industriousness, he let her do the washing.
He sat leisurely by the door in the cool shade, a few minutes away from his scheduled eting with the express delivery person.
When Xue Yuantong finished washing the dishes and ca out, a silver-white van was approaching the river dam and gradually made its way down the slope.
Express delivery hubs differed from courier services. In those days, express deliveries, often large or bulky items, typically didn't include direct-to-door service in the cities they reached; custors were expected to pick up their orders.
Many express delivery hub operators took the initiative to start an additional service. If clients were reluctant to pick up their goods, they would offer a charged ho delivery service and even help with carrying the items.
For a five-kiloter journey, they charged fifty yuan, and the delivery arrived on ti.
The van stopped right at Jiang Ning's doorway, and the delivery driver efficiently moved several cardboard boxes off the truck.
Jiang Ning opened the boxes to inspect and make sure the herbs were fine.
The driver took out his smartphone for the confirmation process, and Jiang Ning noticed it was a Xiaomi 2S—an iconic model, comparable to the legendary "staple phone," the Xiaomi 6.
"That's a nice phone you've got there," Jiang Ning comnted.
"Heh, it's from the main office," the driver said cheerily.
"Thanks, Master, I'll take care of it from here, you can go back."
The little truck started up and drove onto the river dam.
"Jiang Ning, are you sick? Why did you buy so much dicine?" Xue Yuantong asked in surprise.
After the boxes were set down, she slled a faint scent of herbs and wondered what Jiang Ning had bought.
Not until Jiang Ning opened the boxes did she see they were full of herbs.
"I'm not sick, I need these herbs for health reasons," Jiang Ning didn't hide it from Xue Yuantong.
He didn't beco overly cautious just because Ding Shuyan had noticed sothing once, concealing his actions as if he were a startled bird from then on.
After all, the herb sellers and the couriers knew about his purchase; it was not sothing easy to hide from others.
Xue Yuantong was usually quiet, almost like an invisible person in class, very tight-lipped, not one to gossip.
Besides, even if people knew he bought herbs, what of it?
Could one get into trouble for buying so herbs for personal use?
Don't be ridiculous; as long as it posed no danger to society, officials really didn't have the ti to mind such trivial matters.
As a cultivator with various magical techniques, coming to a world filled with ordinary humans, getting worried over buying so herbs, acting sneakily—it'd be better not to engage with the world at all and just hide in the mountains for cultivation!
It's safe there, no one would ddle.
Hearing Jiang Ning's explanation, Xue Yuantong didn't ask further. She looked at the several large boxes and rolled up her sleeves,
"Let help you move them."
Looking down from his height, Jiang Ning glanced at Xue Yuantong's crown of her head, "I better do it myself."
"What's wrong, you don't think I can handle it? As friends, helping each other out is just what we do, right? I know you don't want to bother , but my dignity, Xue Yuantong, won't allow to standby idly."
She spoke a lot, her small hand supporting the cardboard box, trying to lift it, but she strained until her face turned red and couldn't move it at all.
Jiang Ning, on the other hand, effortlessly lifted the box as if it was nothing.
Jiang Ning held the box, staring at Xue Yuantong, and Xue Yuantong stared back at him, the air standing still for a few seconds.
Xue Yuantong secretly exerted force in a quiet effort, but the box remained unmoved; it was just too heavy for her.
She casually moved her hand away and dusted it off, looking natural:
"Seeing how easily you're handling it, better leave it to you, then. I ate too much for lunch, and you can use the exercise. It's a great chance to get so training, and I definitely can't compete with you for that. I'll leave it to you!"
"I understand," Jiang Ning said, carrying the box inside.
While no one was watching, Xue Yuantong's expression instantly turned gloomy.
Jiang Ning was so strong, if only she had strength like that, she could earn several hundred a day carrying cent bags on a construction site.
Jiang Ning went back and forth several tis, carrying all the boxes back into the kitchen. At that ti, Xue Yuantong had gone back next door to take a nap.
Jiang Ning then went to the kitchen, looking at the boxes of herbs piled up.
Nearly three hundred pounds of herbs had cost him just ten thousand yuan, averaging out to thirty yuan per pound—a real bargain. The herbs were not all for making 'Qi Gathering Pills' and 'Yunling Pills'; other useless materials were mixed in to act as a disguise.
Although it was impossible to create these two Elixir Pills with the current technology in a world with no Spiritual Power, Jiang Ning had been cautious.
He still had less than twenty thousand yuan left on him, actually enough to buy even more herbs.
But before buying, Jiang Ning estimated that with his current state of Qi Cultivation, the magic array he could set up could only barely maintain the effectiveness of these three hundred pounds of herbs; any more would be too much to guarantee.
Jiang Ning activated his Spiritual Power, continuously forming Magic Formations with his hands, colorful Spiritual Power striking the area around the boxes. Finally, with a light touch, he linked up the Spiritual Power from all around, and suddenly, a bright green protective shield rose within the small kitchen, its surface shimring with spiritual light.
The fragrance of the herbs in the kitchen instantly retracted.
The Array was complete.
Jiang Ning continued to make a few more touches, setting up a simple concealnt Array outside the original one, hiding the conspicuous green shield.
Jiang Ning transferred eighty percent of his Spiritual Power to the array, maintaining its normal operation.
His Spiritual Power was only enough to keep the Array running for a few hours, and he would have to transfer Power every day, a significant burden indeed.
"I'll quickly turn these herbs into pills in the next few days."
"I've got my work cut out for ."
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