NOVEL NEXT This π¬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.πππ’
Chapter 38
Swooshβ
Seven packages simultaneously hit the ground in front of the bed.
Qi Huan quickly jumped off the bed, kicking the little stool, pushing it to the pile of packages, then plopped down and happily began opening the packages.
Ever since having the package system, she had achieved package freedom.
"Let me see what goodies there are?"
She muttered to herself as she tore open the tape on the first box.
After opening the box, on top was a weight loss recipe.
Removing that, underneath were all sorts of instant chicken breast products - instant chicken breasts, instant chicken strips, instant chicken meatballs, and more.
Qi Huan looked down at her beansprout-like figure, and complained to the system:
"Couldn't you have sent me some products for breast enhancement like papaya instead? What use do I have for these weight loss items?"
"The host is still young and should believe in herself. As for these chicken meat products, does the host wish to return them within seven days for any reason?"
"No need to return them for now, at least they're meat."
After saying that, Qi Huan began opening the second package.
It was a box of hand warmers, quite useful.
The third package was a rotten tomato-colored lipstick. Qi Huan opened it and tried the color on her arm. It made her look very fair and bright.
She delightedly began opening the fourth package, which was a box of instant noodles.
Now that was good stuff.
On countless late nights and long journeys, instant noodles were indispensable.
Of course, the ancients weren't so fortunate - on journeys they mostly ate hard, dry provisions.
Qi Huan could already imagine that her instant noodles could fetch a very good price.
Pulling her thoughts back, she opened the fifth package next, which contained facial masks for ex-boyfriends.
Qi Huan touched her slightly wind-dried skin and hugged the masks, grinning foolishly.
"Skin as delicate as congealed lard, about to crack - it's up to you guys now!"
After washing up, she tore one open impatiently and stuck it to her face.
With the mask on, Qi Huan opened the sixth package with great anticipation.
It was a set of the four scholar's treasures for calligraphy and painting.
It could be given to Li Shuchen, and would earn her a hundred points too - not bad at all.
Finally, her gaze turned to the last package. Upon opening it, there they were - the undergarments she had been longing for. ππ―ππππ’ππ«ππ³π’π.ππ¬π
Unfortunately, there were only underwear - for men, women, and children.
After sorting through all these items, she went to wash the underwear, then hung them up in the room to air dry before wearing them.
She finished all this by midnight, then hurriedly crawled into bed, forgetting to remove the face mask.
The next day, she walked out of her room still wearing the face mask, immediately greeting screams of terror.
"Help, help! That female ghost is so formidable, she's not even afraid of daylight!"
Yan Qinghe had just stepped out of his room when he saw a woman emerge from the opposite room, with a pale white face like a mask stuck to her visage, resembling the appearance of the White Impermanence ghost from the stories.
He wasn't afraid of Heaven or Earth, only two things: his father, and ghosts.
Now that his father had long since departed to the underworld and become a ghost himself, his second fear became his greatest fear - he was terrified of ghosts.
Seeing Yan Qinghe in such a panic for the first time, Qi Huan became playful. She made claw shapes with her hands and chased after him, running and rasping in a strained voice, "What a handsome young man, let me absorb some of your Yang Energy."
Terrified by her act, Yan Qinghe ran without looking where he was going towards Li Shuchen, shouting, "Shuchen! There's a female ghost! She wants to absorb my Yang Energy!"
Li Shuchen followed Yan Qinghe's pointing finger with a dispassionate look, then pushed him aside: "Let her absorb mine, my Yang Energy is vigorous."
"...Brother, you're so good to me."
Behind him, Yan Qinghe looked touched.
Although Li Shuchen was the son of Yan Qinghe's aunt, they were only a day apart in age. From a young age, Yan Qinghe had never called him brother. Now, unexpectedly, Li Shuchen was putting aside their past and shielding him from harm.
As Yan Qinghe indulged in his self-gratification, the "female ghost" suddenly spoke up.
"Just kidding around, not really absorbing anything."
"Words devoid of sincerity," Li Shuchen said with a furrowed brow, turning to leave for the washroom.
Behind him, Yan Qinghe slammed his fist on the bed after realizing what happened, furiously yelling, "Shuchen, you could tell all along the 'female ghost' was Qi Huan, couldn't you? And you still tricked me into calling you brother, I'm pissed off!"
Seeing how agitated he was, Qi Huan quickly scurried away.
In the kitchen, she filled a bowl with hot water and stood next to Li Shuchen, using salt to clean her teeth just as he was doing.
After washing up, Qi Huan poked Li Shuchen's back and whispered, "Li Shuchen, let me show you something good."
She took out the scholar's treasures from her space and presented them, "These are for you!...I noticed your writing brushes were all frayed before, so I've been wanting to gift you a new set as a token when taking you as my teacher. We're not going to the noodle shop today, will you teach me calligraphy?"
Li Shuchen set down his bowl, the corners of his lips revealing a faint smile.
"So you've finally thought to learn writing? Alright then."
"But we haven't had breakfast yet! Let's eat first before starting."
With that, Qi Huan quickly boiled some hot water and made two bowls of instant noodles. As for Yan Qinghe, he could eat the Lu manor's breakfast.
"Qi Huan, you're so unfair, only making noodles for Shuchen and none for me!" Yan Qinghe accused.
Facing his complaint, Qi Huan smiled and reminded him, "Xiu Wen An Wu already left a while ago, you're the only one still sleeping in. If you keep dawdling, you'll be late and even miss the Lu manor's breakfast!"
"!"
Yan Qinghe immediately closed his mouth, cupped some water to rinse his face, then quickly wiped it with a towel before dashing out the door.
His speed was so impressive, it made one's mouth water.
Qi Huan stared blankly in the direction he left, muttering in a daze, "Did he...not brush his teeth?"
Li Shuchen affirmed with an "Mm," adding, "I clean my teeth every day."
"Oh, good for you then."
After breakfast.
Li Shuchen handed her a copy of the Thousand Character Classic and taught her to recognize and write the characters.
Some of the characters were not too different from modern simplified forms, so Qi Huan found them relatively easy to learn.
But some were quite complex and difficult to recognize - she would learn one then forget another.
"Li Shuchen, I forgot how to read this character again..."
"No need to rush, I'll teach you again."
Qi Huan immediately scooted closer, staring intently at the character in the book and trying hard to memorize its shape.
Noticing her move closer and closer, a smile tinged Li Shuchen's brow.
He taught with even more patience, and Qi Huan studied with increasing enthusiasm.
By noon, Qi Huan had learned to recognize quite a few characters.
After a quick lunch, they prepared to practice writing in the afternoon.
But writing required tools, so Qi Huan checked her points balance.
Including the points from breakfast, lunch, and the gifted scholar's treasures, she now had three hundred points.
The system then suddenly notified her, "Act of kindness +1, points +1."
"Was someone using the noodle shop's free voucher?"
Hearing her question, the system replied, "Yes, that's right host."
After a while, another notification: "Act of kindness +1, points +1."
Throughout the noon period, she gained 13 more points, meaning the noodle shop had given out 13 free bowls of noodles and sold over 390 bowls total.
That was significantly more than usual.
Qi Huan smiled faintly, it seemed the free vouchers were really a win-win good deed.
Sales were up, earning more money, while also helping those in need - plus extra points for her.
The more she thought about it, the more satisfied she felt, grinning happily when suddenly, her head was rapped.
"Li Shuchen, why did you hit me?"
"What are you spacing out for? Didn't you say you have writing brushes? Quickly take them out and start practicing."
"Oh, right."
Qi Huan snapped out of it and hurriedly asked the system to reorder writing brushes, then began learning the proper brush grip.
While helping adjust her grip, Li Shuchen's hands inevitably touched hers, and she felt her face growing warmer.