Chapter 73: Night Raid
The movie concluded without any major waves.
Apart from that one scene with the thief, when Xu Qing took the opportunity to instill some modern social core values into her, he didn't say much more. He only explained when Jiang He asked questions.
Take it slow, no rush.
Xu Qing reassured himself, handed the computer over to her, started DNF with a gentle pat, and went off to the side to write a movie review on his phone.
It was an old movie. Writing about it didn’t really matter since no one would read it, and he didn’t plan to post it. But since he’d decided to do it, he went ahead and did it seriously — a good exercise, at the very least.
This was a good habit: whether intentional or not, you have to plant the seeds to see them sprout. If you never buy a lottery ticket, you'll never win two yuan.
In the brightly lit living room, the only sound was the occasional tragic scream of a goblin. Xu Qing sat on the couch typing on his phone, occasionally glancing at Jiang He, who was focused on operating her Ghost Swordsman, starting another round of her gaming journey.
A Tang Dynasty girl playing games here — it was surprisingly harmonious.
Outside, the night was deep. Sparse starlight scattered across the sky, giving the scene a peaceful and tranquil feeling."Play a little longer, then it's time for bed," Xu Qing reminded her as he stretched after writing a 2,000-word review. He got up to find his pajamas and prepare for a shower.
It had been a tiring day. Just waiting for Jiang He to work things out in the afternoon had his mind running simulations and preparing for all sorts of outcomes.
The long speech he gave her had drained his brain cells, too.
But at least she was steady now.
Jiang He listened as he entered his room, then heard him walk into the bathroom and close the door. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief, her straight posture relaxing slightly.
She appeared calm, but inside, she was panicking.
She kept worrying that Xu Qing would say something about liking her again...
She had no idea how to respond to that. The conversation from the afternoon still had her head in a mess.
"By the way,"
Xu Qing suddenly poked his head out of the bathroom. Jiang He immediately straightened up and stared at the computer intently.
"You should practice more with simplified characters. You can understand the sentences, but it's still not very convenient. I bought a set of pinyin learning books. They should arrive in a few days, and you should study them. Once you learn, you can type with the keyboard."
"I understand."
"You should say, 'Alright, I understand. Thank you, young hero.'" Xu Qing joked to himself, unfazed by her lack of enthusiasm.
Well, maybe it wasn’t exactly a lack of enthusiasm. She just wasn't good at socializing.
Water cascaded over his head as he lathered up with shampoo and body wash, humming a tune and looking forward to the future.
So what if she wasn’t good at socializing? Not everyone in the modern world was a chatterbox — though having someone talkative could be cute. Still, the current situation was nice, too.
Two successful hugs, achievement +1.
It felt like he was making progress.
After his shower, he admired himself in the mirror for a moment, put on his pajamas, and closed the bathroom door to keep the heat in.
"I won’t wash my hair tonight," Jiang He announced.
"Huh? Oh... alright, sleep early."
Xu Qing put away the hairdryer, looked around, saw that everything was fine, and gave her a quick reminder before heading back to his room.
Even though he wanted to chat with Jiang He a bit more, he knew saying too much wouldn't be good. Asking again if she liked him would be too much — she needed her own space to think things through.
"Goodnight, lady knight."
"Goodnight, Xu Qing."
Jiang He glanced at the clock — it was only nine. After hesitating, she decided not to practice martial arts and kept playing the game, fighting goblins until ten-thirty. Then, she shut down the game and glanced at Xu Qing's door before opening Baidu to ask some questions.
...
Night.
The moonlight was cold and clear.
Xu Qing was fast asleep, tightly wrapped in his blanket, with one leg sticking out, unfazed by the cold.
The doorknob turned gently, and the door silently opened. Jiang He slipped inside, holding her breath as she listened for a moment, confirming his steady breathing before moving towards the bed.
Like? Not like?
She crouched down, studying Xu Qing's face intently. In the darkness, she could only make out his general outline.
After a long while, Jiang He stood up, scanned the room, and hesitated. Then she leaned closer, as if sensing something, before sneaking out and carefully closing the door.
The room returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.
...
"Morning."
Early the next day, Xu Qing and Jiang He opened their doors at the same time. They greeted each other and began their stance training.
Training made a difference. Each morning, Xu Qing felt incredibly refreshed — though it might also have something to do with Jiang He practicing her sword across from him.
But he preferred to credit the stance training, believing it to be a top-tier technique for health and longevity.
"Can you exhale white mist? I heard that if you train deeply enough, you can exhale some kind of white... stuff..."
Xu Qing always suspected Jiang He’s martial arts weren’t as simple as they seemed. This petite figure could snap a tree...
She must be hiding her true strength.
"White mist?" Jiang He glanced out the window. "I can, outside."
"Outside... I can too."
It was winter — who couldn’t?
"I meant internal energy, like Tang Zichen’s. Solid, concentrated breath."
"Who’s Tang Zichen?"
"Wang Chao’s master. You wouldn’t know."
Xu Qing waved his hand, finished his practice, and let out a breath. "A character in a novel. I'll show you someday. For now, there’s too much to learn about the modern world."
"..."
"Are you thinking: ‘If I don’t know, why bring it up?’" Xu Qing teased.
Jiang He raised an eyebrow, surprised. What was with this guy? He knew what she was thinking, but still said it out loud — and then asked her if she was thinking it...
"If you want to say something, just say it. That’s called 'tucao'. Learning to tucao makes you seem less serious."
"Tucao?" Jiang He learned a new term.
"Yeah, it’s a way of life. Like when I post videos as an UP creator, I often tucao about how unrealistic period dramas are. Just tucao when it’s needed, and be serious when it’s needed. It makes things better."
Xu Qing wasn’t a psychology expert, but he had his own way of handling things. People who could tucao were more relaxed than those who were always serious.
Expressing thoughts was a way of communicating and building relationships.
"Live a relaxed life... Did you not sleep well? You look a little tired." He noticed the fatigue on Jiang He’s face.
"I went to bed a little late," Jiang He replied nonchalantly.
In reality, she hadn’t slept at all.
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