novelraw Chapter 167
Chapter 167
Chapter 167: The Brave Hero’s Folder （4.5K）
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“Now that we’ve officially met, are you finally at ease?”
The white car was driving on a small road in the countryside.
The old, poorly maintained cement road was bumpy, causing the car to shake.
“I was never worried about this kid,” Xia Yuanjun replied.
Normally, Old Xia would be the one asking Mrs. Fang this question; after all, it was Mrs. Fang who was the worrier in the family.
But this matter was different.
The father and son rarely communicated at home, and after Xia Li went to university, their communication became even more infrequent.
Today, they finally met, but Xia Yuanjun still remained silent with a stern face. Fang Xia knew this old man’s temperament. Don’t be fooled by his usual sullen and expressionless face; he actually kept everything bottled up inside.
A few years ago, when Xia Li’s grandfather passed away, Xia Yuanjun handled the funeral without a word. Fang Xia thought he was strong, but then she saw his eyes were swollen as if stung by bees.
Fang Xia mourned for seven days and then recovered, actively facing life, but the old man’s eyes remained swollen for a month.
He told his colleagues that he had an eye allergy, but when he returned home at night, he continued to smoke and cry.
Others didn’t understand Old Xia, but Fang Xia did.
He seemed cold-blooded, but he was actually the most sentimental one.
If Fang Xia was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, then Xia Yuanjun was a softie without a mouth.
“Bah, you’ve been stubborn all your life. When Xia Li was young, you were afraid he’d become rebellious, so I thought it was normal for you to intimidate him a little. Now that the boy is twenty-three years old and in a relationship, he might even bring you a grandchild soon.
If you keep acting like this, you’ll risk creating a gap between father and son, or even between grandfather and grandson!”
Fang Xia continued to nag, but the old man remained silent.
After being quiet for a while, Fang Xia couldn’t stand it anymore and rolled down the window for some fresh air.
Xia Yuanjun, holding the steering wheel, finally spoke.
“It’s good…”
“What’s good?”
“Everything is good,” the old man said.
Fang Xia rolled her eyes at him: “There are no outsiders here.”
“…Xia Li has that kind of personality, courageous in everything he does, but lacking in social experience. I used to think he would be easily deceived when he entered society, and if he met a smooth-talking girl, he would be completely smitten.
Now, after seeing the girlfriend he’s dating, I’m actually relieved.”
“What do you mean?” Fang Xia raised her eyebrows.
“Are you saying that your easily fooled son found an even more easily fooled daughter-in-law, so you’re relieved?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Xia Yuanjun didn’t know where to start, but it seemed like that was indeed what he meant.
“Maybe that’s how young people are these days,” he concluded, pausing before adding,
“It’s just… I don’t know what Little Lu’s family situation is like…”
Fang Xia listened to all of Xia Yuanjun’s words.
She had already discreetly inquired about Lucia’s family situation and knew most of it.
Although she hadn’t heard it from Lucia herself, Xia Li had mentioned it a couple of times.
Their downstairs neighbor, Zhao Qin, had already stepped on that landmine once… Repeatedly asking about the family situation of a young girl whose parents had passed away and who had no relatives was simply rubbing salt in her wounds.
When it came to marriage, Fang Xia would ask for more details.
Until then, she would try to avoid these questions.
As for work…
Since Lucia and Xia Li were classmates in the same year, it meant they had just graduated in June this year.
Even her own ambitious son, who had declared in college that he would earn his living expenses through part-time jobs, hadn’t been in a hurry to find a job after graduating. There was no need for Little Lu to rush either.
Young people should follow their own plans.
Fang Xia and Xia Yuanjun had no requirements for Xia Li’s girlfriend.
As long as the girl had a good personality and character, they had no objections.
“Next time, let’s ask her where her family is…” Fang Xia murmured.
It wasn’t easy for a young girl to be alone outside. It would be good to take her back to their hometown for a visit.
“Since we’ve met on our side, we should show some sincerity, shouldn’t we? We should at least go and see them.”
Having made up her mind, Fang Xia took out her phone and started making arrangements.
“I’ll ask Xia Li’s aunt how she prepared when she visited her husband’s family…”
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“Press this.”
“Yes, up, down, left, right, BABA…”
In front of the computer, Xia Li opened a classic arcade game and handed another controller to the dragon’s claws.
Ever since meeting Xiao Xia and Old Xia the other day, Lucia had been wanting to hear embarrassing stories about Xia Li’s childhood.
However, Xia Li would never reveal such things.
No matter how Lucia asked him, he would shake his head and say he couldn’t remember, that he had forgotten.
The stinky dragon was very interested in his childhood.
Xia Li thought, since he didn’t want to tell her, he could at least let her experience the joy of his childhood as compensation.
“After you press this, you’ll have 30 lives.”
Xia Li held the dragon’s hand, guiding her to control the Contra character on the screen, jumping and shooting.
Lucia stared at the pixelated figure on the screen, her small legs dangling from the raised gaming chair. Soon, the pixelated figure died under the enemy’s barrage of bullets.
The number in the lower right corner changed to 29. Lucia could still die 29 times and easily pass the first level.
“Isn’t this cheating…?” she said.
“Technically, it is a cheat code officially provided by the game…” Xia Li said, “There are a lot of cheaters in games nowadays. With trainers, they can become invincible with a ‘ding’, but it’s all single-player games, everyone plays their own, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Oh…” Lucia seemed to understand but not really.
She didn’t understand why the Brave Hero always wanted her to play games.
Playing games wasn’t as fun as playing with the Brave Hero.
But thinking about ‘sharing the things you like with the people you care about’, Lucia could understand.
She often felt the same way.
Looking at the sparkle in Xia Li’s eyes, he seemed to be looking forward to Lucia’s comments on his childhood games.
“Is it fun?” Xia Li asked eagerly.
Lucia shook her head and then nodded, “It’s a little bit fun…”
It wasn’t fun at all.
Dragonkind wasn’t interested in electronics at all… except for rice cookers.
However, to make the Brave Hero happy, Lucia decided to lie.
“You play, I’ll cook today.” Xia Li rolled up his sleeves, happy to oblige.
Lucia didn’t want to spoil his fun, so she nodded and continued to control her character on the screen, sending it to its death.
“Take your time.”
Xia Li left the computer to Lucia and went to do other things.
‘Record of Experiences from Azure Continent’ had taken a two-day break a few days ago, but the updates had stabilized since then. Apart from being urged by the editor once, everything was normal.
It had been over a month since the serialization of this record of experiences, but since the electronic signing was only done in the middle and late last month, the royalties wouldn’t be withdrawn until next month.
Xia Li estimated it to be around three thousand yuan.
After all, it was a part-time job, and this income was already quite good. If Chen Tao, that 995 corporate slave, knew about it, he would probably be envious to death.
However, writing this record of experiences was also quite mentally taxing. Xia Li often couldn’t find anything to write, so he could only squeeze some material out of the dragon.
The dragon would ramble on, and he had to polish those ramblings, enrich them a little, and then turn them into a 2000-word chapter.
The recent content had shifted from the dragon’s adolescence to the Brave Hero’s story, and a lot of readers were sighing and groaning, asking the Brave Hero to quickly get killed off.
If possible, Xia Li didn’t really want to write about his past deeds.
Every time he recalled those days when he had a sword hanging around his neck, Xia Li would suffer from PTSD （Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder）.
The more it was like this, the more Xia Li felt that his current life was precious.
“You didn’t go out?”
Just as he sat back on the sofa, Xia Li noticed Wuqi emerging from the litter box.
He took two steps, sat on the floor, sniffed his paws, then stuck out his tongue in disgust, and went back to the litter box to step on it a couple more times.
Only then did he walk out, grumbling.
“Meow meow meow!”
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『Isn’t this teaching your Mianhua how to bury her poop! This little guy was clearly born a stray cat, but he doesn’t know how to bury his poop… If he did that outside, he’d be beaten up by a bigger cat in no time.』
Wuqi sniffed his paws, feeling that there was still a smell, probably because he had stepped on it. He meowed again, probably cursing, then wagged his tail and went to the balcony, turning on the tap to wash his paws.
His movements were smooth and fluid.
“Meow~”
Mianhua silently followed behind him, her voice soft and a little aggrieved.
Although she didn’t understand what he was saying, she probably knew that the adult cat was scolding her.
“Ignore him,” Xia Li picked up Little Cotton, “This is our home, it doesn’t matter if you bury it or not, I’ll clean it up for you regularly.”
“Meow~~”
Mianhua meowed softly again, rubbing her cheek against Xia Li’s chest.
Xia Li really liked cats. When Little Cotton acted cute like this, he couldn’t help but pet her round head.
Suddenly, he felt a murderous gaze directed at him.
Xia Li looked towards the small dark room vigilantly.
At the computer, Lucia was pressing the controller hard, glancing at Xia Li before turning back to the screen.
Xia Li: “…”
“Go to your mom’s room.” Putting Mianhua back on the floor, he pointed to the room without windows.
“Meow~?” Mianhua looked puzzled.
Xia Li urged, “Go quickly, or we’ll both have to sleep in the hallway tonight.”
“Meow…”
Either the little calico cat really understood, or simply understood Xia Li’s gesture, she walked step by step to the small dark room, jumped onto the computer desk, and quietly watched Lucia play games.
The icy expression on Lucia’s face softened a little.
『Let’s talk about something!』
Wuqi shook his paws and licked them twice.
It was getting colder and colder, and the cold water on the balcony hadn’t been heated by the water heater, making his paws stiff.
Fortunately, Wuqi had also suffered hardships, and the cold had never been a problem for him.
“Go ahead.”
Xia Li went to the kitchen and tied on an apron.
Lucia’s small strawberry apron looked rather comical on him.
It was too short, hanging on his upper thighs, and the strings at the back almost couldn’t be tied.
『…』
Wuqi followed him all the way, wanting to laugh, but unable to.
At least he could cook for the one he loved…
In contrast, his cat paws, with their claws clipped, couldn’t even catch a wild mouse.
『The Brave Hero, praised by the humans of another world, is actually wearing a pink apron and cooking at home…』 Wuqi couldn’t help but marvel at this.
The contrast was too great.
It was like a university professor coming home from work and watching Teletubbies.
“What’s wrong with cooking at home? There aren’t such rich ingredients and seasonings in another world… And I’ve been retired for a long time.”
Xia Li threw the prepared carp into the pot to fry, adding some chopped green onion, ginger, and garlic while flipping it.
When it was almost done, he poured in a whole pot of boiling water.
The boiling water instantly turned milky white, and the color in the pot looked rich and delicious.
Wuqi sniffed and swallowed silently.
Last time, Brother Xia said he wouldn’t let him eat the food his girlfriend cooked.
So now that this meal was cooked by Xia Li himself, could he have a bowl?
Xia Li turned the kitchen knife and cut a piece of tofu into squares, throwing it into the pot to cook.
When the water in the pot boiled again, Xia Li turned it to low heat and turned to ask Wuqi about his earlier question.
“What did you want to say just now?”
Wuqi came back to his senses and looked up at him.
『The Golden Bell, when will you return it to me?』
“Isn’t that your deposit? What if you run away without the bell? What will I do?”
Xia Li casually turned on the range hood, leaned against the counter, and stared at the cow cat on the floor.
『What deposit, you’re too black-hearted, that thing is a divine artifact!!』
Wuqi meowed with his mouth open.
Just as Xia Li had feelings for his Demon Repelling Sword, Wuqi had deep feelings for the Golden Bell. Without it, he didn’t know how many times he would have died. And divine artifacts were really precious.
“Do you need to use it recently?” Xia Li asked instead.
『Not really…』
『I used to rely on it a lot, now that it’s gone, I’m a little uncomfortable.』
“You shouldn’t encounter any danger when you go out.” Xia Li thought for a moment and said.
Firstly, Wuqi understood human rules, he knew traffic lights, so at least he wouldn’t run around recklessly.
Plus, he was a cat with human intelligence, so shouldn’t living freely in the city be as easy as cheating for him?
『Fighting… I can’t win a fight, meow!』 Wuqi wailed.
“With who? Other male cats outside?”
Xia Li could only think of this possibility.
Wuqi nodded.
“You…”
Xia Li wanted to say, you’re a neutered male cat, what are you fighting for?
But he thought that would be too mean, so he didn’t hurt Wuqi’s pride.
“The Golden Bell’s precognitive ability is randomly triggered for you, even if you take it to fight, you might not be able to use it, right?” Xia Li countered.
Wuqi nodded again.
“The magic power in the Golden Bell is very useful to me, you save it for me, and I’ll help you figure out a way to fight.”
『…Alright.』
After thinking about it, Wuqi felt that he was eating and drinking at Brother Xia’s place, so he couldn’t let him support him for free. So leaving it with him was considered rent.
Moreover, Wuqi had heard that the Golden Bell could be converted into magic power in Xia Li’s hands, which was the most important thing.
Taking everything into consideration, Wuqi still chose to nod in agreement.
“I won’t cut your nails anymore. As for other aspects…
I heard that the more colors a cat has, the higher its status. I have ink at home, how about I dye you, make you look like a badass?” Xia Li suggested.
『That’s a good idea.』 Wuqi looked up and said.
Why hadn’t he thought of that?
In the cat world, white cats had the lowest social status, and Ragdolls, which were held in the palms of humans and called princess cats, were also at the bottom of the cat hierarchy.
Then came his kind, the cow cats.
Dyeing, that was a good idea…
It was more than enough to fool cats with lower intelligence.
The two hit it off and immediately got to work.
The man and the cat spent a long time in the bathroom.
Lucia had played Contra for half an hour and really couldn’t get interested in computer games.
However, a folder on Xia Li’s desktop called ‘Reference Materials’ caught her attention.
There were pictures of ‘cat girls’, ‘vampire princesses’, and even… even ‘dragon girls’!
What was going on in the Brave Hero’s mind all day long?!
Lucia held Mianhua and went to question Xia Li.
The pot in the kitchen was bubbling, but Lucia couldn’t see Xia Li inside.
Hearing noises from the bathroom, she turned and went there.
She pushed the door open.
Lucia saw a man with his upper body bare and a wet cat.
The cat was dyed in various colors… and the man wasn’t much better.