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Chapter 550: Chapter 357: Can you carve one for me?
It was getting dark, and the western sky was a vast expanse of clear red.
The sun’s rays were no longer dazzling; from afar, soft and gentle, they poured down over the endless golden wheat fields of the vast plain.
The entire Yuzhou was enveloped in the sunset.
Xue Yuantong had finished eating and was lying on the lounge chair at the doorway resting, while Jiang Ning sat beside her, watching the sunset.
Gradually, the sun dipped, merging with the earth and sky, and as the last ripple of light faded, it disappeared perfectly into the night.
It was dark.
Next door, the elderly couple’s doorway lit up with a yellow light, piercing the darkness anew.
Three kids ran around on the open space in front of the bungalow, their laughter afloat as if they never tired.
Aunt Gu didn’t stay indoors; summer had come, and it was stuffy inside, so she stepped out to catch some fresh air and chat with the neighbors. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Aunt Gu now had a good job and an easy life; she looked much healthier than before.
"Jiang Ning, Jiang Ning, there are mosquitoes. Should we go inside?" Xue Yuantong swatted a few times unsuccessfully and suggested.
Aunt Gu glanced at her daughter. "You just had your fill and are lying down, why wouldn’t the mosquitoes bite you?"
"Not getting up and moving around," she lectured.
Xue Yuantong retorted stubbornly, "It’s not just me they’re biting; ask Jiang Ning, he’s definitely been bitten too!"
Jiang Ning replied, "No."
Xue Yuantong, ’Damn, siding against me!’
Eventually, Xue Yuantong, using playing games as an excuse, went back to her room, or more precisely, Jiang Ning’s room.
She continued to lie on the couch.
Jiang Ning’s room was pleasantly cool, indescribably comfy; the couch soft, the air still fresh, which Xue Yuantong credited to her good care of the flowers and plants on the windowsill.
If not for the absence of her precious bed here, she wouldn’t even want to go back at night.
Xue Yuantong lay on the couch, eyeing Jiang Ning, who was in front of a computer screen that lit up with a majestic wallpaper of a mountainous snowscape, a place that existed only in the imagination.
The mouse on the screen remained still, merely a backdrop as Jiang Ning read his book quietly.
Xue Yuantong had previously advised him, if not using the computer, not to keep the screen on, as it wasted electricity.
Later, Jiang asked her, "Why do you cover yourself with a blanket and still turn on the fan?"
Xue Yuantong argued a bit and then dropped the subject.
Later, she discovered that reading with the computer screen on felt reassuring, as if something was there with her.
After a while, Xue Yuantong wanted to change her position, but found it too bothersome.
"Jiang Ning, Jiang Ning, I’m melting." Xue Yuantong stretched out her small hand, weakly waving it, but alas, she couldn’t touch him.
Jiang Ning ignored her.
After a minute, Xue Yuantong, pushing her squeaky voice: "I’m a piece of white bread that got fried till burnt~"
Jiang Ning got up, came over, and flipped Xue Yuantong’s petite body to the other side.
From lying down, she was now face-down.
After a while, Xue Yuantong called out again: "Okay, both sides are well done, you can eat now."
Jiang Ning came over again and helped her to sit up.
Xue Yuantong’s arms were very soft, and Jiang Ning’s handling almost left marks.
Xue Yuantong didn’t yelp; she puffed up her face and sat on the couch, kicking her tender little feet.
Jiang Ning picked up a pen and scribbled on draft paper, drawing some bizarre symbols.
He was studying arrays, preparing to make some personal items.
Like the Jade Pendant on Xue Yuantong’s chest, which he had crafted using the principles of arrays, and as his skills in arrays deepened and with Shao Shuangshuang’s progress in gathering materials, he had enhanced the Jade Pendant twice.
With the Jade Pendant’s instant activation defense, in daily life, there were hardly any external factors that could threaten the wearer’s life.
Now, Jiang Ning was planning to craft a protective array for his own use, although he might not need it at the moment, but preparing beforehand was never wrong.
He worked for a while, fetched a piece of white jade from the drawer, and began carving with tools, occasionally sending dust down to the draft paper below.
Ideally, he shouldn’t perform such tasks in the bedroom as the dust could easily spread throughout the room.
However, Jiang Ning controlled it with Spiritual Power, ensuring no dust escaped.
Seeing that Jiang Ning was not accompanying her, Xue Yuantong simply pulled out her phone and contacted her best friend Chuchu.
She told Chuchu that she and Jiang Ning were going to play outdoors tomorrow, and sincerely invited Chuchu to join.
However, today, Chuchu declined.
It turned out that tomorrow, Yu Zhou Second Middle School was organizing a research trip aimed at "Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles," heading to a city in the southern part of Hui Province to experience the local culture.
This activity was only open to the Qingbei Class students of the first year, and Xue Chuchu was one of them, so she needed to join her classmates for the research trip.
After hearing this, Xue Yuantong’s first thought was "That’s bad!"
After this trip, Chuchu’s horizons would surely broaden, and she would transform from then on.
She would become the most unsophisticated member of their trio.
Thinking about the possibility, Xue Yuantong was unwilling!
Feeling the changes in a good friend firsthand, she felt uneasy, thinking she was wasting her own time.
She carefully considered, was going out during the summer not so unacceptable anymore?
...
Night.
Urban area, Jiang Family dinner.
Jiang Ning’s uncle Jiang Qitian, aunt, cousins, and cousin-in-law, as well as Jiang Junlong and Shen Qing’e, gathered at one table for the meal.
The large solid wood table was set with seven or eight dishes: braised crab, pork rib and corn soup, fried string beans, steamed bass, stir-fried pork with green garlic, spicy clams, and slices of watermelon, presenting a hearty feast.
Jiang Junlong gripped his chopsticks, devouring his food, while his aunt placed a piece of rib in his bowl: "Eat slowly, don’t choke."
Beside him, Shen Qing’e picked up two string beans.
