Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

As the two were talking, they saw a woman walking over from not far away. She was dressed in casual clothes, with light makeup, and long black hair cascading down her back. She was as beautiful as a painting and exuded charm.

It was Nocturne, the head of the Royal Academy's Department of Literature, who said, "Perhaps some people don't like money, but no one will dislike her."

She strolled over, glanced around, and sighed softly, "It seems the woman has arrived too late."

Zhong Hongyu, true to her saintly nature of helping others, took the initiative to ask, "Who is Teacher Ye Qu looking for?"

"I was looking for your teacher, Ms. Ying... I didn't expect Ms. Ying to have such a good habit of not going overtime."

Low emotional intelligence: mlgbzd, you ran so fast, making me run for nothing.

High emotional intelligence: good habits.

Luo Shui said with satisfaction, "I really appreciate this about Xiao Ying."

"That's very rude, Luoshui." Zhong Hongyu frowned slightly.

"It's alright, I don't think Teacher Ying cares either." Nocturne smiled and said, "I would like to introduce you to a friend, I feel you two would have a lot in common."

Low emotional intelligence: They all like to talk big.

High emotional intelligence: a shared language.

She paused slightly, then took out rose-gold invitations from her bosom and handed them to Luo Shui and Zhong Hongyu. Luo Shui received two invitations.

"The woman's birthday is in three days. I originally wanted to come and see Teacher Ying. But since he's not here, I'd appreciate it if you two could pass this on to her. As for the other two invitations, you are welcome to attend if you are free on the day. The specific locations are included in the invitations."

Zhong Hongyu accepted the gift respectfully, while Luo Shui smiled and said she would definitely do it next time. Ye Qu didn't take it seriously. After saying goodbye to the two, Ye Qu went to Mu Nandong's alchemy workshop, where there were still many students. If Ying Qin Guan was the kind of teacher who would stay in the classroom after class and let the students do their own thing, then even if Mu Nandong announced the end of get out of class, as long as he was still in the classroom, no one dared to breathe loudly.

Mu Nandong was observing something under a microscope; the alchemy workshop was very orderly. Even though Nocturne, a member of the Imperial Household, had arrived, no one made any unnecessary movements or noises.

Nocturne waited patiently on the side, guiding Mu Nandong to look away from the microscope before he finally saw her.

"What is it?" Mu Nandong spoke concisely and forcefully, just like before, without any unnecessary words. He would never ask others if they had eaten, what they had eaten, or how they had been doing lately.

"It's a woman's birthday." Nocturne smiled and handed over an invitation. "Are you free in three days?"

"If it's for attending a banquet, then no." Mu Nandong might have simply said no to anyone else. But Ye Qu had helped him a great deal, so he felt compelled to say that he was available if it was for important business, but not if it wasn't.

"The woman knew this would be the answer..." Nocturne, clearly undeterred, smiled and asked, "And the reason?"

At this moment, there was no more noise in the alchemy workshop. Many students held their breath, afraid that they might make a noise.

"Does refusal need a reason?" Mu Nandong asked.

"Of course, only acceptance doesn't need a reason, just like a confession. Acceptance doesn't need a reason. But if you want to reject someone, you have to say it's because you see them as a brother or sister, or that they're a good person but not suitable. Throughout history, it's always rejection that needs a reason."

"This has never been a constant rule, and of course there are reasons for refusing, but saying it and not saying it are different."

"Isn't Teacher Mu going to tell you?"

"I've already said that."

Nocturne fell silent, but Mu Nandong clearly didn't intend to give her any more time to think.

"Is there anything else?"

"It certainly exists."

If we say there's nothing here, then we've truly lost everything. Nocturne didn't give up; instead, she launched an offensive from one angle.

"What if the woman says that her birthday is also a significant event?"

"Perhaps the birthdays of some people, or even things, can be considered important. For example, the birthdays of nations, but clearly, you don't go that far, Nocturne."

"That depends on each person's definition of 'serious business.' Didn't Teacher Mu celebrate his birthday with his mother before?"

Mu Nandong didn't stop moving; he had already picked up a pen and started recording relevant data. Such behavior would be considered quite unreasonable by ordinary people. But different things, done by different people, are different. It's like Shen Xin saying to Ying Qin Guan, "I'm going to kill you," versus the Black Dragon Emperor saying to Ying Qin Guan, "I'm going to kill you."

Mu Nandong did this simply to make the most of his limited time. He calmly replied, "Yes, but I was a child then, and my mother was my family. But I don't celebrate my birthday now, for many reasons. Do I have to tell you all of them?"

"It seems the woman is destined to return empty-handed."

Nocturne actually had much more to say, but she didn't voice it—she wanted to put in the effort for something. But she also wanted to gracefully stop there, not to pester or cling. Until it became unbearable, she bid farewell to Mu Nandong and left, without even sending out an invitation.

As Nocturne stepped out of the alchemy workshop, she looked back.

A glimmer of light shone in her eyes; a thousand words were left unsaid.

"The woman understands the point about celebrating birthdays with family. But you still don't understand that it's precisely because you no longer have family that you need to work even harder to love yourself."

"If you don't even love yourself, how can you expect others to love you?"

Chapter Eleven: The Divine Heart Has Fallen

"Damn it, I can't take it anymore!"

Inside the Wanshi House, Shenxin and Yuxietian were lying in a corpse-like state.

They naturally received Nocturne's invitation as well. The two from Yorozuya did a quick discussion and decided to teach Nocturne a lesson. They figured they could starve through the next two or three days and should try to get through it with the same spirit they had when they took down a buffet!

Therefore, in order to maintain a minimum energy consumption, the two people from the Yorozuya have basically been in a state of lying down for the past few days.

But human endurance has its limits. Not everyone can be like the protagonist of a survival show, casually relying on their rich experience of starvation to go three days without eating nine meals, and then, hey, challenge successful!

Shenxin was clearly unable to hold on any longer and picked up the small blackboard.

"I can't handle this anymore, let's go to the Imperial Palace and mooch a meal off Ying Qin Guan!"

Yu Xietian's ability to endure hunger was clearly much better than that of Shen Xin, who was just a little guy. Moreover, he was also a somewhat honest person. Upon hearing that he was going to Ying Qin Pass to freeload every day, he felt embarrassed and immediately said firmly, "I won't go. A real man doesn't eat food offered with contempt! I'm a man of principle!"

Shen Xin, being who she was, immediately guessed what Yu Xietian was thinking. Although she wanted to scold him, she was too hungry and had no choice but to endure it for now. She then picked up the small blackboard.

"Let's go steal some fruit."

"Ah, stolen? This is fine, let's go."

What exactly is a principle?!

Just as Yu Xietian was about to take action, he noticed that Shen Xin, who was lying on the sofa, was not moving at all, so he urged, "Stand up, what are you doing lying down?"

"Are you kidding me? You want me to come with you to steal some fruit? Yu Xietian, you're not a child anymore. You need to learn to live independently. You can handle this little thing yourself. I'll wait for you here."

Yu Xietian keenly sensed that something was wrong.

"...It's not like I'm starving, why should I go? You're the one who can't stand it! If you don't go, I won't go either. Let's see who can't take it first!"

Obviously, if someone were caught stealing fruit, Yu Xietian would be in a very awkward position. But bringing a divine heart makes a difference. One is like a beggar on the street saying, "I'm hungry, please give me food," while the other is like bringing a cat that everyone wants to pet, and writing on a sign that it's hungry and needs food.

Faced with Yu Xietian's threat, Shenxin was furious, feeling that his position had been challenged. Yu Xietian actually dared to negotiate with him and threaten him.

But my current condition is really bad, and I'm afraid I can't suppress this rebellious son... Damn it, should I give in and admit defeat? Impossible! A true hero will never bow down to evil forces!

—So here's the question: which of these two is the evil force?

Just as Shenxin was about to reason with Yu Xietian, there was a knock on the door, and a rather energetic voice rang out from outside.

"Hey, you two from Yorozuya, are you there? It's me! I'm Ahe!"

The Yorozuya (Odd Jobs Shop) has handled all sorts of jobs and miscellaneous tasks. And throughout this rich work experience, they often encounter the same person.

That's right, this person is the king of employees, the ultimate tool, the boss's confidant and favorite, Ahe!

If Nocturne appears randomly anywhere, then Ahe appears wherever she is needed. No matter where there's a shortage of manpower or technical support, she can instantly fill in. Ying Qin Guan had a strange dream for a while, in which Mu Nan Dong and a group of alchemists were summoned by the Seven Luminaries to develop a powerful, apocalyptic weapon, only to suffer a crushing defeat. Then Nocturne suddenly appeared and said, "I've outsourced this to Ahe; she's already finished."

Then Ahe controlled a gigantic robot, tens of meters tall, to descend from the sky.

What a strange dream, it's strange from every angle.

Yorozuya had dealt with Ahe quite a bit, but now that she had suddenly come to visit, they were a little confused about her purpose. Yu Xietian was still unaware that Ahe was the terrifying person who had given him the mooncake in the confessional. He opened the door and asked, "What brings you here?"

Holding a delicate food box, Ahe smiled and said, "Actually, it's like this. I recently made a new snack, and I think it's pretty good. But it's not very meaningful to eat this kind of thing by myself, so I wanted to hear other people's opinions. It just so happens that my workplace is just across the street from yours, so I brought it over. Would you two like to try some?"

There's something else! This is a really good thing!

Yu Xietian was overjoyed; he was unaware of the truth about his and his boss's hospitalization. But pride prevailed, and he had to feign reluctance, so he said awkwardly, "How could I possibly accept this..."

—What's there to be embarrassed about! Someone walked all the way to deliver it to you; it would be a beast not to accept it!

Shen Xin slapped Yu Xietian across the blackboard. In her haste, she didn't even have time to write anything on the blackboard or say anything to Yu Xietian.

She snatched the food box from Ah He's hand, and then, pretending to be well-behaved, picked up the small blackboard.

"Oh, thank you! I'll try it right away and give you my feedback so you can help me refine this snack."

Then, she opened the food box, and without even seeing what was inside, grabbed one and stuffed it into her mouth.

Then, chew it once.

".."

".."

As Yu Xietian sighed and got up from the ground, he noticed a strange scene: Shenxin stood there, her body stiff and motionless, like a statue.

After a long, long time, God's heart was moved.

With her last bit of strength, she lifted up her small blackboard.

"What's in this stuff?"

Ah He laughed heartily, "That's a little too much. I did it hundreds of millions of times, it seems like—"

Shenxin didn't get to hear what Ahe was saying; her body swayed a few times, and finally...

The invincible Divine Heart has fallen!

-

Three days later, Ying Qin Guan changed into some decent clothes, a slightly more formal casual outfit, and went to attend the banquet hosted by Ye Qu.

Arriving at the hotel by taxi, Ying Qin Guan happened to see Yu Xie Tian getting out of the car as well, but without Shen Xin following behind. This surprised Ying Qin Guan. Shen Xin was lazy and liked to be close to Ye Qu. It was unlikely that she wouldn't come to Ye Qu's banquet. Was she not invited? That was even more impossible. Yu Xie Tian had come, so how could Shen Xin not come?

So he took two steps forward, patted Yu Xietian on the shoulder, and asked, "Where's Shenxin? Didn't she come with you?"

Yu Xietian's expression suddenly became extremely complex, as if he had a thousand words to say. But in the end, he simply patted Ying Qin Guan's shoulder solemnly and earnestly advised him:

"By the goddess above, do not eat the dishes created by Ah He herself. Otherwise, even you, Ying Qin Guan..."

Chapter Twelve: The Banquet

As Yu Xietian spoke, Ying Qin Guan recalled that day, the fear he and Nephalem felt in the toilet, dominated by a toilet paper tube with no paper.

The culprit behind all of this is none other than Ah He!