Chapter 271: Chapter 269 Travel Arrangements

Principal Shu immediately contacted Mr. Yu and asked if he could help inquire about obtaining a piece of calligraphy from Earth Bar, willing to pay for it.

Mr. Yu agreed, saying he would help ask around.

Principal Shu didn’t feel it was proper to rush him, so he could only wait at home for the result.

He hadn’t expected that the wait would end up being a whole week later.

In the small wooden house, on the second day of the Poetry Defense Competition in the early morning.

For breakfast, Mr. Fan’s steamed buns were piled two-person-tall before they were just barely enough for everyone.

The steamed buns paired with golden millet porridge, and the addition of Mr. Fan’s own pickled long beans and preserved vegetables made one’s stomach laugh with delight.

At the table, Ha Ha ate enthusiastically, and a steamer of buns quickly disappeared.

“Delicious, Ha Ha likes it.”

“Much tastier than what Xiao He makes.”

Next to them, Rubble unconsciously agreed with Ha Ha seriously, “Ha Ha is right, comparing Xiao He’s cooking to Mr. Fan’s is disrespectful to Mr. Fan.”

Fu Yunhe, who was eating at the time, ignored the two and just looked at Nian Shutong.

Nian Shutong somewhat understood and calmly took a sip of the millet porridge, consuming half a bowl, and put down the bowl before saying to Fu Yunhe, “Don’t rush.”

Fu Yunhe thought that he wasn’t in a hurry, but he was afraid that Nian Shutong wouldn’t say anything and would just run off.

“Uncle Xiao He, are you tattling to auntie?” Dou Dou, looking like a little adult, said, “Tattling isn’t something good children do.”

“Right! Not a good child.” Elder Hua immediately took Dou Dou’s side in support.

And Ha Ha and Rubble also turned their heads to look at Fu Yunhe.

Ha Ha, displeased, said, “Why tattle? Ha Ha hasn’t bullied Xiao He, and my Commander said we must not bully the weak.”

“Rubble is telling the truth, that’s not tattling?”

Each comment made Fu Yunhe put down his bowl and look directly at Nian Shutong.

Are you sure you want to leave this bunch to me to look after?

Nian Shutong couldn’t continue eating either. She finished the bun in her mouth, looked around with her gaze, and everyone instantly became quiet and stopped talking.

Their eyes were full of fear.

“I have to leave for a few days; I’m entrusting all home matters to Xiao He. All of you must listen to Xiao He, understood?”

“Mr. Nian, I understand.” Ji Sisi was the first to respond, raising her hand as she spoke before continuing to eat.

But the other four people didn’t express their stance.

She was afraid, afraid of these four individuals.

Nian Shutong’s gaze settled first on Dou Dou–it’s always the softest persimmons you pick, isn’t it?

“Dou Dou, any objections?”

Dou Dou pursed her lips and shook her head, looking at Nian Shutong with a grievance in her eyes, “Auntie, what if Dou Dou misses you?”

“Dou Dou, auntie has important business to attend to outside, and I will come back, you know?”

Dou Dou hesitantly nodded and lowered her little head.

“Dou Dou, auntie will leave you with a task, and I’ll check on it when I come back. If you do it well, auntie will take you out to play, just the two of us.”

Just the two of us?

With those words, Dou Dou immediately looked up, even a bit anxiously asking, “Auntie, what task?”

“You have to memorize the entire Three Character Classic, and also understand the meaning of each phrase, okay?”

“Fine!” Dou Dou slid off his own chair, stood at attention to one side, and promised with an especially serious demeanor.

Ms. Nian Shutong waved at Dou Dou and pointed to the chair, saying, “Sit down and eat.”

She then turned to Elder Hua beside her and said, “You concentrate on your lessons, and don’t you run around after class. I’ve left you these strawberries for the next few days–If you don’t behave, Uncle Xiao He will tattle on you when I get back, and you’ll get no more strawberries.”

Brevity is the soul of wit – she made her threats with whatever worked.

Indeed, Elder Hua reluctantly glanced at Fu Yunhe and grudgingly agreed.

Ms. Nian Shutong then turned her gaze to the last two big challenges; these two were completely immune to reason.

“Rubble, focus on your research and don’t worry about anything else.”

As he ate, Rubble looked up and said the most heartless two words to Ms. Nian Shutong: “No money.”

Ms. Nian Shutong’s mind surely waged a fierce battle before she transferred 10 million Star Coins and told Rubble, “Stay quietly at home and focus on your research, hear me?”

Rubble turned his head, his gaze skeptical as he looked at Ms. Nian Shutong and said, “Of course Rubble heard. Rubble’s ears use the highest technology, so even if Ms. Nian Shutong loses her hearing, Rubble’s ears won’t have any issues.”

Ms. Nian Shutong felt she must have been conditioned by abuse, because such words from Rubble no longer sparked any ripple in her heart.

Finally, the most stubborn and naive one, who also had the highest Combat Power, was Ha Ha–this was the link that even Fu Yunhe had no control over.

Ms. Nian Shutong softened her tone and spoke to Ha Ha, “Ha Ha, I’m going out, and I need you to help Xiao He keep watch over the house. Xiao He will handle everything else, but if any bad guys come, we’ll be relying on you.”

“Xiao He can’t fight.”

Ha Ha nodded assertively and said, “Good person is right, Xiao He can’t.”

On the other side, Fu Yunhe, listening to Ha Ha’s daily well-wishes towards him, was indifferent; after all, he had never been “capable” in Ha Ha’s view.

“So you’ll clear fields in the meantime, deal with bad guys if they come, and listen to Xiao He when there aren’t any, okay?”

“Okay.”

Ms. Nian Shutong satisfyingly patted Ha Ha’s head, raised her eyebrows at Fu Yunhe–how about that, hadn’t she settled everything?

Fu Yunhe just smiled faintly. He didn’t harbor such optimistic thoughts; everything would have to wait until after Ms. Nian Shutong left.

After breakfast was over, Ms. Nian Shutong prepared to leave.

Her figure quickly vanished into the distant forest, leaving everyone clueless about her destination.

However, all of them stood in place for quite some time before slowly starting to go about their own activities.

Meanwhile, the departing Ms. Nian Shutong received a message from Mr. Yu. She simply replied that she could write, but not currently as she was going away on business.

Mr. Yu replied that he could wait, and Ms. Nian Shutong indicated that was fine; the two didn’t say more.

Ms. Nian Shutong’s departure truly took her far away. She thought that if she really could advance, there would be a Heavenly Tribulation, so it was best to keep a distance.

Finally, she chose a spot in the sun–a valley facing the sunlight.

Finding a suitable place, she sat down cross-legged, a pig sculpture appearing in her embrace, each palm holding a Crystal Stone.

Cultivation began.

Sunrise, sunset; the moon rose and fell.

After three days and nights, Ms. Nian Shutong had not moved an inch.

Nearly eighty Crystal Stones were consumed–the rewards from the last system were about to be completely depleted, and the pig sculpture in her embrace had undergone a great transformation.

What was once pitch black was now displaying a hint of pink.

At this moment, the Yin Yang Spiritual Energy within Ms. Nian Shutong’s Dantian was nearly at capacity, but it always lacked that final touch.

This very last step was within sight, yet stubbornly refused to allow her to advance.

“Xiao Ba, I need to draw on Crystal Stones in advance!”