Chapter 153: Setting Sail

This night was unprecedentedly long.

Chen Jianchen lay in bed, with his hands supporting his head, eyes wide open, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Young master, are you still not asleep?"

"Mhm."

"Is your heart restless again?"

"A little."

A suppressed chuckle came from behind the wooden partition. One could easily imagine the little female fox covering her mouth with her sleeve, gloating and laughing secretly.

This little girl...

Chen Jianchen felt both amused and exasperated, yet an unusual warmth welled up in his heart, like a pebble dropped into a calm lake, stirring ripples that lingered for a long time...

The days that followed passed quickly. Time flew like an arrow, and soon it was mid-March, the time to set off for Zhe Province to participate in the grand literary and artistic competition of the realm.

With parting imminent, Chen Jianchen returned home from the academy and spent two days chatting with his mother, Mo Sanniang, about everyday household matters. He suddenly realized that ever since he came to Jiangzhou, the time he spent with his mother and A-Bao had grown less and less.

It turned out that the greatest distance between people in this world was not space and time, but busyness. The single word "busy" could turn the space right in front into the ends of the earth, and make the closest of kin feel like strangers.

Yet Mo Sanniang felt nothing of the sort. In her eyes, her son was growing more capable and resourceful by the day. As for running east and west, traveling north and south, that was entirely normal. A man's ambitions should lie in the four directions; how could he curl up like a snail in a single room?

On the contrary, A-Bao's gaze was filled with quiet melancholy. During her leisure time, she would always steal glances at Chen Jianchen, as if she wished to look at him just a little more, and that no amount of looking would ever be enough.

Besides his mother and A-Bao, Chen Jianchen also went up to the Golden Needle Studio to bid farewell to Lu Xiyue, telling her that he was going to Zhe Province and estimated he would return in about a month.

Lu Xiyue did not say much, merely murmuring softly, "Brother Liuxian, thank you for coming to say goodbye to me."

Chen Jianchen naturally understood the meaning behind her words. Only when a farewell has a voice, does one truly realize the presence of that special someone in one's heart...

Leaving the Golden Needle Studio, Yingning, who was following behind him, smiled and said, "Young master, Sister Lu likes you very much."

Chen Jianchen asked, "And how would you know?"

Yingning looked rather pleased with herself. "There are many things Yingning knows."

"Then what is your opinion?"

Yingning tilted her head. "I think it's quite nice."

Chen Jianchen chuckled and instructed Xiaoyi, "Xiaoyi, I am now going to give you a glorious and arduous mission."

Xiaoyi poked its head out with a WHOOSH, puffed out its chest, and adopted a look of tragic heroism. "Young master, do you finally have a task for me? Xiaoyi thought you had already forgotten about me."

Chen Jianchen curled his lips. "How could that be? Even a short strip of bamboo can be used for cleaning up, let alone you, a venerable ancestor of tunneling?"

—In the Tianxong Dynasty, because paper was precious, ordinary commoners generally used bamboo strips or even leaves for personal hygiene after using the latrine.

Xiaoyi muttered to itself: Is the young master praising me, or is he insulting me?

Chen Jianchen turned solemn. "Xiaoyi, after Yingning and I leave Jiangzhou, the affairs of the household will rest entirely upon you."

Xiaoyi was stunned. "Young master, you aren't taking me to Zhe Province?"

Chen Jianchen replied, "Someone has to stay behind to guard the house."

Although the rat demon possessed a frail original form, after following Yingning, it had learned quite a few spells and mastered the art of invisibility. It could no longer be regarded as a mere minor spirit that relied on painted skins to frighten people; it now possessed various dependable skills, making guarding the house and courtyard an effortless task.

Xiaoyi had originally thought the young master would take it along to Zhe Province, and had not expected this different arrangement. Still, the arrangement sounded quite good, offering at least much more freedom. Besides, it had long since secretly vowed in its heart to bully every single mother cat in Jiangzhou City a hundred times over, and then a hundred times again...

"Understood, young master. I will surely keep the house secure and steady, without a single slip-up."

Pausing for a moment, it asked again, "Young master, does that Golden Needle Studio also fall under the scope of my mission?"

"What do you think?"

"Understood, young master."

Xiaoyi reacted swiftly, its mind exceptionally sharp.

With Xiaoyi's duties assigned, there was not much else to pack. Yingning helped tidy up his luggage, stuffing everything in one go into the blood-sandalwood book box—

Yingning had long since discovered the extraordinary nature of the blood-sandalwood book box. When she curiously asked about it, Chen Jianchen concealed nothing, telling her of the existence of Murong's father and daughter, as well as what had happened in Suzhou. Upon hearing the story, Yingning cheered with delight, saying she had finally found kindred spirits and was exceedingly happy.

With the blood-sandalwood book box in her hands, its various functions were unlocked and utilized one by one, putting it to full use and truly unleashing the power of a magical artifact. Protection against wind, rain, and dust was secondary; the crucial point was that the space within it was expanded to the utmost limit, easily capable of accommodating an entire room's worth of items with room to spare.

It truly contained a world of its own.

However, this function required spiritual power to drive it, which Chen Jianchen was unable to do. But that was no longer a problem now; with Yingning acting as his little page boy, there were no worries at all.

When setting out on a journey, the book box naturally fell upon Yingning's delicate shoulders. This was not because Chen Jianchen lacked chivalry or consideration for the fair sex, but because Yingning had insisted on it herself.

The journey was long and required an early start. The departure date had been set long ago, and traveling with them were Academician Gu and two scholars—the number of leaders exceeded that of the student representatives. This was ample proof that the purpose of Minghua Academy's trip was not for the students to make a name for themselves, but for the leadership to socialize and network.

On the eve of their departure, Wang Fu hosted a banquet at the Top Scholar Tower to entertain Chen Jianchen and Xiao Hanfeng, thereby seeing them off. Originally, he had also invited other students from the academy, but almost none of them were willing to attend this drinking party. As they put it with tones full of sneers and sarcasm: they were not qualified to dine at the same table as the representatives...

To this day, the body of students remained deeply resentful of the selection of Chen Jianchen and Xiao Hanfeng. For no other reason than that the justification given by Academician Gu was simply unconvincing. In the eyes of many, youth represented not only prospects, but also a lack of experience, ability, and qualification...

Yet the matter was already set in stone, and they could not change the outcome, leaving them to express silent protest through various behaviors. Therefore, on the day of departure, the vast majority of the students found various excuses and asked for leave, slipping away early without a trace. In the end, those who saw Chen Jianchen and his group off to the boat were only a handful of people.

Academician Gu's expression was somewhat gloomy, while the two scholars began to curse outright. As for the two principals, Chen Jianchen and Xiao Hanfeng, they chatted and laughed without a care in the world, as if completely unaffected.

In Chen Jianchen's view, the actions of the students were utterly pathetic. How could a scattering of loose sand ruin such full spirits? One might as well use an ancient poem to express their feelings:

"The apes on both banks cry without stop, yet the light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains!"