Chapter 51: And then there was nothing
Eating a full al and then running just a bit would already make his side hurt, so Xu Qing didn’t run far. After running a short distance and surveying his surroundings, he slowed down to a walk.
“Under no circumstances should you use this move to crash into soone.”
Too brutal. If you charged straight at soone with this, they’d either die or end up severely injured.
…It’s about the sa as being hit by a rampaging bull.
Xu Qing glanced at Jiang He with a strange expression. Jiang He, still looking harmless as a penguin, had her hands tucked into her sleeves and her hat pulled down, nodding innocently.
“What if I et soone stronger than ?”
After a mont of silence, Jiang He couldn’t help but ask.
“You’re unlikely to encounter that… They’re probably professional Muay Thai fighters or sothing.”
Xu Qing recalled videos he’d seen of Muay Thai practitioners kicking wooden posts or trees—it looked tough, but behind the scenes, they were probably wincing in pain, wanting to rub their bruised legs, right?
At least they weren’t as calm as Jiang He, who could start and finish without breaking a sweat, face unflushed and breath steady, as if nothing had happened.
“Alright, let’s go back and play so gas.”
Staying a hobody seed like a better option. Otherwise, argunts in the future would be exhausting for him.
Jiang He didn’t say anything, but after walking a couple of steps behind him, she finally spoke, “Uh… Can you let go now?”
“Huh? Oh.”
Xu Qing casually released her hand and shoved his back into his pocket.
Back ho, Jiang He dove headfirst into her computer, diligently working through her daily tasks—she was juggling five accounts, running errands in teahouses and such, fully committed to repaying her debt to Xu Qing one day. Afterward, she planned to save so money to buy land and farm.
At her current pace, though, inflation would probably outstrip her earnings. Xu Qing, having seen through her plan, wasn’t worried at all.
Money was such a delightful thing—just a few bucks could keep her quietly seated at her computer for hours.
“What does ‘qingyuan’ an?” Jiang He asked after finishing her dailies and starting her own character’s dungeon run.
“Qingyuan? It’s… Wait, what qingyuan?”
“This person ntioned it.” Jiang He pointed to the chat box on the computer screen.
Xu Qing, lounging lazily on the couch in the “Ge You” pose, sprang up and leaned over to check the screen. His nose nearly flared in anger—he hadn’t even made a move, and soone was already eyeing her?
“Tell him to scram.”
“...”
Jiang He thought for a mont, grabbed the handwriting tablet, and started writing.
“Wait.”
Xu Qing quickly stopped her, glanced at the teammates in the dungeon party, cleared his throat, and pressed F12 to activate voice chat.
“Hey, hey, buddy, are you trying to form a qingyuan with ?”
“...”
“...”
[Little Sprout has left the party.]
Jiang He looked at the ssage on the screen, then turned to Xu Qing.
“What’s with that look? You should be training your skills. Go train. I’ll help you grind.”
Xu Qing happily took over her character and started operating her “Seven Show” account. Eliminating a potential threat earned him an achievent point: 1.
n often have a mysterious confidence.
In third grade, Xu Qing believed that picking up a stick on the roadside ant he could storm the heavens.
In middle school, he believed that if he worked hard enough, he’d have to struggle to decide between Qinghua or Beida.
Now, he was equally confident that with effort, Jiang He wouldn’t get far.
A week later, the heating in Jiang City was turned on, and the heating pads he’d ordered online had arrived.
Compared to the central heating, Jiang He preferred the heating pads.
But liking them was one thing…
“Can I not have one?” She stared gloomily at her WeChat wallet, feeling that she’d never pay off her debt at this rate.
“Not have one?” Xu Qing glanced at her in surprise, then realized what she ant and chuckled. “These things don’t really break. When you’re done with it, just give it back to .”
“If your hands are cold, warm them. If your feet are cold, warm them. If your stomach hurts, stick it on your stomach. You probably won’t get pain, but if you use it, make sure to put a layer of clothing between it and your skin, or you might get burned.”
While charging it, Xu Qing patiently showed her how to use it. Even though there was heating at night, having a heating pad in bed could improve sleep quality by two levels.
“Aren’t you going to use one?” Jiang He, always curious about useful items, asked.
“I’m a guy. Using this stuff feels… unnecessary.” Xu Qing always had so excuse.
If he used one, they’d have to share. Alone, he couldn’t be bothered to charge it and preferred to just sleep in bed as he was.
“Alright, as long as you see these two lights. When the green one lights up, it’s fully charged.”
As he spoke, he pulled two cartons of milk from the box next to the fridge and placed them on the heater. “Those oranges and bananas—you can warm them up before eating so they don’t upset your stomach.”
As Jiang He stayed longer, the once ssy bachelor pad slowly changed. There were more fruits and snacks, the kitchen got used, Winter lon’s litter box was changed more frequently, and items were organized. Most importantly, the atmosphere was different from when he lived alone.
“Where does electricity co from?” Jiang He, still examining the heating pad, pondered when she might be able to pay off her debt.
“Power stations.”
“Power stations?”
“It’s a bit complicated. Electricity is probably one of the greatest inventions of this era—one of them, anyway. There’s a power station miles away, and it sends power to us through these wires.”
Using it felt normal, but explaining it to Jiang He made Xu Qing feel amazed himself. “If I hadn’t grown up around this, I’d think it was a miracle too—one wire connecting thousands of hos.”
“That’s impressive.”
Jiang He marveled at the explanation. Running water was already fascinating to her; things like the internet and power lines were even more advanced and harder to grasp.
“You’ll find there are many more impressive things to co. There’s VR now. Who knows, maybe in another 50 or 60 years, there’ll be another technological explosion, and we’ll get to experience gaming helts.”
“What are those?”
“For playing.” Xu Qing’s explanation was simple. “Now that we’re not short on food or clothes, everything is about entertainnt and enjoynt. By the way, it’s ti for you to cook.”
“Oh.” Jiang He checked the ti, put down the heating pad, and went into the kitchen.
She wasn’t too interested in playing. Being well-fed and well-clothed was Xu Qing’s reality; she was still drowning in debt.
Coming to this era from the Kaiyuan period, getting to eat and be warm while in debt was already a blessing—Jiang He comforted herself with this thought as she tied on an apron and started rummaging through the fridge for ingredients.
One day, she’d make enough to buy a big house, buy electricity, buy a fridge, buy a computer, and then…
And then what?
“What’s wrong?” Xu Qing saw her standing there dazed with vegetables in her hands.
“…Nothing.”
Jiang He pursed her lips, feeling a sudden hollowness in her chest.
And then… nothing.
She’d live here alone for decades, and then she’d die.
Probably sothing like that.
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