Uneasy daily life

The battle ended with two losses and three casualties.

Looking at the pile of furious works in her hands, Xi's usually aloof face twisted in anger. What kind of rubbish is this? How could I have drawn such things? Drawing something like this is an insult to myself!

Both Nian and Bai Ying suffered identical psychological traumas, with overly vivid memories replaying in their minds—strawberry chunks floating on the bubbling, dark red hot pot broth; triangular slices of watermelon clinging to the side of the pot, making it appear like a blooming flower bud; a hand holding a similarly dark red brown sugar cake, tossing it into the boiling broth, as if trying to add sweetness and thickness to the hot pot; two hands holding cola and coffee, pouring the dark brown liquid into the pot…

"Burn it, just pretend I never drew this."

Xi sighed.

For once, he didn't tease his sister. He silently reached out and pinched a few sheets of drawing paper. The firelight flashed and disappeared, leaving only a pile of ashes on the ground.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Angelina couldn't help but complain. "Sweet and spicy sauce is a perfectly normal flavor, isn't it?"

"9527, do you like ice cream?"

The white figure asked in a low voice.

"Well..." Angelina said cautiously, "I generally like it, but if it's ice cream with chili sauce on top, although it would feel a bit strange, I might try it?"

Bai Ying first nodded in affirmation of Angelina's fearlessness, then said calmly, "If you were to mix ice cream with solidified lard, how would you handle it?"

ice cream?

lard?

Angelina subconsciously imagined it—solidified lard looks quite like ice cream. If the two were mixed, would it be a refreshing coolness, a cool and greasy feeling, or a refreshing yet greasy feeling...?

Goo!

"That's such a strange thing to do!"

Angelina bristled, clutching her head and twisting and turning, trying to stifle her overly vivid imagination.

“I find this very interesting,” Bai Ying added. “Only by adding lard to ice cream can customers know the consequences of being a big ice cream lover.”

"Shut up! How could you have such a terrible thought!"

Having recovered from his trauma, Nian looked at the dark, grimy lump on the table and said, "Oh dear, looks like I'll have to use a more primitive method to forge it. It's definitely not convenient being away from home..."

Forging using primitive methods?

Bai Ying and Angelina looked over and immediately ruled out the possibility of him swinging a sledgehammer, because that was very unlike someone with superpowers.

Nian picked up the things on the table and stuffed them into his mouth like he was gnawing on a roasted sweet potato, crunching and chewing them with gusto. Not only did this produce a tooth-grinding sound of metal scraping against metal, but occasionally you could also see two or three sparks popping out from between his teeth.

Oh, that sounds like something a superhero would do...

Angelina felt nothing was wrong, but then she realized that what seemed like nothing was wrong was actually very wrong.

"Mmm..." Nian swallowed the food, licked the gray residue from her lips, and flicked her folding fan. "Young man, give me some blood, hair, or something."

Angelina looked surprised and intrigued: "Huh? Could it be one of those unique artifacts often seen in novels, where the sword is sacrificed with blood or something?"

“That’s right.” Nian tapped his palm with his folding fan and said cheerfully, “You really understand the importance of ritual!”

"Haha... Huh? A sense of ritual?"

Angelina watched as Bai Ying pulled out a piece of paper, wrote something like "[Agreement Content: Omitted] [I have read and agree to the Service Agreement] [Signature: Bai Ying]", and then handed over what appeared to be a contract: "These days, the sense of ritual is all about this—do you need a copy of your ID?"

"Let's forget about it then, it sounds like too much trouble."

Nian crumpled the contract into a small ball, popped it into his mouth, and chewed it a couple of times: "Hmm, the sense of ritual has to keep up with the times, it doesn't feel bad."

Angelina: "..."

Even after years of performing the acrobatic feat of pulling a sword from her mouth, Angelina could not fill the void left by her fantasy.

"Brother, I rarely make things for people myself, so I'm paying you extra wages."

Nian rested his chin on his fan and thought for a moment: "This hidden sword... let's call it Self-Discipline."

From its design to its name, it's not auspicious in any sense.

"Without the small, colorful, flowing wings that rotate continuously, and with its luxurious yet understated dark gold color, I find it hard to believe that this is some kind of divine weapon."

The white-clad figure toyed with the unremarkable sword in his hand and offered a sharp critique.

Chapter 41 My brother is mutating!

Huai Jian is the name of a traditional weapon.

Unlike the tachi used in open areas and the wakizashi used in narrow spaces such as alleys and houses, the main purpose of the katana was seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment), often embodying the spirit of Bushido and aristocratic rituals...

Isn't it a bit too strange to have a ritual for suicide?

Angelina, dressed in pajamas, lay on her side on the bed, one hand holding the blanket to her chest, the other holding her phone and browsing search results. She seemed to be feeling a little itchy on the instep of her foot, so she rubbed her rounded left heel against the instep of her right foot.

"An'an, eat some fruit before you go to sleep."

Anxinyuan's mother knocked on the door, then came in carrying a fruit plate. She looked around and placed the fruit plate on the bedside table.

"Oh—" Angelina responded, then rolled over, reached into the fruit plate, picked up a toothpick, poked a piece of apple into her mouth, and asked, "Mom, why do people in Japan commit seppuku (ritual suicide) and use something like a sword?"

What strange things are you thinking about?

Anxinyuan's mother sat by the bed, her tone quite worried.

"Ah, it wasn't me... Oh, we were just chatting."

Angelina gave a vague chuckle.

"Just casually talking about suicide?" Anxinyuan's mother said speechlessly, "You mentioned so many suicide hotspots, are they called suicide hotspots because they're convenient for suicide, or because so many people commit suicide there?"

"That's right."

Angelina suddenly realized: "So this is what they mean by 'when many people walk on it, it becomes a road'? Because when many people commit suicide with a sword in their hand, it becomes a tradition..."

Anxin, the mother, became even more worried: "An'an, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing!" Angelina realized and quickly shook her head. "Why do you look like I'm going to commit suicide? I just suddenly thought of it and was curious about why, so I asked. It's Mom who's thinking about weird things."

"So, about the earthquake..."

"It's probably resolved. After all, only problems buried underground cause earthquakes."

As for how to deal with troubles that arise... it is common knowledge that as long as people don't think about troublesome things, they won't have troubles.

This question is too difficult, let's put it aside for a while.

Angelina's voice had a hint of slacking off.

The conversation paused for a moment. Angelina, holding a toothpick, reached into the fruit plate again. I poked it—crunch crunch, the apples are so delicious…

"Hiccup~"

A subtle hiccup suddenly escaped her lips. Angelina subconsciously looked at her mother, who was scrutinizing her with an eye. She looked away and said, "Uh... Mom's cooking was so good today. She made so many dishes. I ate a bit too much tonight."

Exceptionally tender roasted ribs, so tender you can suck the meat off the bone in one bite; steaming hot and fragrant cheese sausages with a touch of char for added flavor; rich and spicy black pepper steak, juicy with every bite; and refreshing sugar cherry tomatoes with a perfectly balanced sweet and sour taste…

Angelina, reflecting on dinner, couldn't help but complain, "It felt like a banquet—my own banquet, no less."

"As a result, you didn't eat much of the vegetables, but you ate three big bowls of rice. My dear, you ate more than half of the vegetables." Anxinyuan's mother relaxed a little and reached out to pinch her daughter's cheek. "If you're so greedy all the time, you might really be able to crawl out of your coffin and eat your own feast in the future."

"hey-hey……"

Anjalina chuckled twice, then said matter-of-factly, "When it comes to meals, staple foods are definitely the most consumed. Isn't the purpose of dishes to make staple foods taste better?"

"Are desserts considered main courses?"

"Fine! Desserts don't go well with rice—nobody would eat desserts with rice, right?!"

As Angelina muttered to herself, she suddenly found another bizarre food combination that made her furious.

"Alright." Anxinyuan's mother reached out and slapped her daughter's bottom. "The blanket isn't for you to hug. Be careful not to develop the bad habit of sleeping with the blanket at night and catching a cold. Hurry up and cover yourself with the blanket!"

"Oh."

Why has Mom suddenly become so strict?

Angelina pulled the blanket up and was about to reach out to poke the apple again when she found that her mother had already picked up the fruit plate again.

"Don't eat in bed or in the bedroom. If you want an apple, come to the living room."

"?"

Huh? Isn't this what you brought over?

Angelina watched her mother leave the room, close the door, and suddenly had a strong premonition—tomorrow's meals would probably be good, the day after tomorrow they should return to normal, and the day after that the day after that, her mother would be comparing whose number was higher on the scale...

No wonder when I came back, my superior told me to enjoy the privileges during the animal protection period.

[What I hate most about scumbags: It seems like my period of protecting them is coming to an end.]

[Bai Buliang Bai Ying: Think of it from a positive perspective.]

[What I hate most about scumbags: And then you get scammed, right?]

[Bai Buliang Baiying: This means your mother is relieved and won't worry too much or be constantly troubled and depressed.]

So, is Mom relieved? It felt like they just had a normal, casual chat, without going into details about how to handle the earthquake...

Because they were able to have a normal, casual conversation, the mother felt that the problem was probably solved.

Angelina pondered for a moment, then looked at the message that popped up on the screen again.

[White Shadow: Beep—Your animal protection period is about to end. We recommend subscribing to the following packages to extend your stay and enjoy exclusive animal protection privileges.]

[Bai Buliang Baiying: Sickness Packages: Two days' pay for a cold, two months' pay for a fracture, lifetime service for cancer, we recommend removing the life support for vegetative patients; Travel Packages: One day's pay for two days of travel, three days' pay for two months of travel, and accounts that have been banned for three years of travel will be considered unregistered.]

I still like to talk about random, nonsensical things.

Angelina muttered to herself, staring at the nickname on the other end of the line, feeling inexplicably dissatisfied. It was like when they were playing a game of passing the ball, and the other person suddenly had a brain fart and turned a perfectly good pass into someone juggling the ball.

[Stupid guys who love to show off: Why don't they just be normal and stop messing around with their own "protected animal" meals?]

[Foolish girls like to daydream: After ten months of pregnancy, you are the one and only king.]

What do you mean? You want to cheat on me? First, go through the whole process of shopping, going to the movies, going to dessert shops, and going to cafes—you're the fool who likes to overthink things!

Angelina poked at her phone screen with a dark expression.

[Stupid guy loves to show off: ???]

[Stupid Boy Who Loves to Show Off: Ugh, ugh, ugh~ I've finished reading the new chapter, I really want to read the next chapter of the light novel! I heard you have a lot of drafts saved up? Let me see them, I'll review them for you with the eye of a professional reader.]

Let's change the subject. Continuing down the same line feels like flirting, which is very inappropriate.

Speaking of light novels... sigh, even knowing the ending is sad, at least I enjoyed reading the story so far. But precisely because I knew beforehand that the ending would be tragic, the more enjoyable it was while reading, the sadder it was afterward...

Angelina felt like she'd fallen into a trap; this damn spoiler from the author!

【白卡列卡列哒: New Text Document.txt】

Forget it, what's that saying again? "Drink today, for tomorrow we may die!"

Angelina opened the document with some excitement.

A title line: "Writing."

The space below is blank.

Needless to say.

Bai Ying sat peacefully in front of her laptop, contemplating life and death, the universe and life.

In short, don't panic. You still have several chapters in reserve, enough to cover several more serialization periods. In other words, the deadline is still far away, at most only vaguely visible. The remaining time is enough for you to maneuver around, like an American protagonist in a movie, easily dodging the oncoming network of deadlines and passing through safely with ease.

Based on the current outline, the second volume will continue to depict the lighthearted and joyful daily lives of the protagonist and the new female lead using some not-too-difficult challenges...

As Bai Ying pondered, his expression gradually darkened, turning grief-stricken and filled with murderous intent.

[Over the mountains and across the sea, there lives a group of goblins...]

[That's an interesting ringtone, did you sing it yourself?] Sakuta Azusagawa's voice came through. [I don't mind if you answer slowly.]

"Want to hear what happens next? Then call me and test my reaction speed and the distance of my phone," Bai Ying remarked. "Studying the cultural evolution of goblins in creative works sometimes gives me a wonderful feeling of studying biological evolution."

Are you referring to goblins or humans in this biological evolution?

"Either is possible."

Bai Ying stared at her laptop screen, lost in thought about light novels, and casually replied, "What's with this sudden call? Did you get caught by the parents while trying to woo a primary school student? Is your adorable little sister finally going through puberty? How do you resolve all the awkwardness of a family reconciling?"

"Thanks for reminding me, but I'm starting to get annoyed." Sakuta Azusagawa said calmly. "Why is Shiro suddenly listing these possibilities? Has something bothering you? Are the two ladies going to have a duel over your reward? Are you short on cash due to the expenses of running around doing various things and trying to figure out how to make money?"

"I was writing a light novel and struggling with how to depict happiness when I suddenly realized that the protagonist only needs to be happy... That's so unfair!"