15: Chapter 15 Cold Avril

Song Lan took the No. 8 bus away from the residential area and got off at the final stop.

Exiting the station, she turned right.

She seemed to be in a bad mood, her footsteps heavy and dull.

The pink shoulder bag slung behind her back seemed to sense its owner's thoughts; using the swaying motion of her waist, it swung itself, lightly patting the small, perky buttocks wrapped in denim as if to offer comfort.

The bumping of the shoulder bag against her bottom felt a bit uncomfortable, so Song Lan pulled it to her abdomen and gripped it firmly with both hands to stop it from swinging.

Soon, she entered the villa area of an upscale neighborhood. After strolling along a straight flagstone path for a while, she entered a three-story European-style villa.

“Giving away money again?”

In the first-floor hall.

Su Biqing was wearing a small black silk camisole, the hem reaching the tops of her thighs.

She lay on her side on the sofa, her long hair spread out. One dazzlingly white leg was raised and rested on the backrest, her valley, covered in white lace, cheerfully welcoming the traces of coolness brought by the breeze.

“You're exposing yourself!”

Song Lan didn't take the bait. She tossed her bag onto the table, moved Su Biqing's leg down, and sat directly on her.

“Are you trying to crush me?” Su Biqing scolded with a smile, pulling her leg out and curling up slightly to make room for Song Lan. “Don't change the subject. Did you go to give that scumbag money again?”

“Zhang Mu is not a scumbag.”

Su Biqing rolled her eyes at her: “He's not?”

“It’s been over ten days since you sent those 150,000, right?

Forget about coming to the door to thank you, he hasn't even made a single phone call. You’re just simple-minded.”

“He doesn't have my number. Maybe he’s even forgotten about me.”

Song Lan rested her face in her hands and muttered softly.

“Oh, should I praise you for being a great philanthropist then?” Su Biqing propped herself up from the sofa and sat cross-legged. “I’m not joking with you.”

“It’s fine to give money away; your sister here doesn't lack that little bit. Just don't get yourself involved. That guy doesn't seem like a good person.”

“He has a name, it's Zhang Mu.”

“Fine, fine, Zhang Mu.”

Seeing that her persuasion was useless, Su Biqing lay back down: “Do as you please. It doesn't matter if the money is gone like meat buns thrown at a dog. I only ask that you consider things calmly before making decisions.”

Song Lan's face twisted like a bitter melon. She didn't know how to explain it so that Su Biqing would believe she really didn't have a romantic relationship with Zhang Mu—at most, she had some secret, unilateral intentions.

Mainly, she wanted to help kindness—a kindness that shouldn't be tortured by suffering, a kindness that had pulled her out of the darkness.

The two were silent for a while before Su Biqing stretched out a foot and poked her arm:

“How is that little business of yours going?”

“It’ll be closing in a few days.”

Su Biqing suppressed a laugh: “I’m just puzzled. Your dad is a Western doctor, your mom is a Western doctor, and you studied Western pharmacology yourself. How did you think of running a crystal jewelry shop that has absolutely nothing to do with any of that?”

“If you’re going to sell it, then sell it, but you don't even have a stable source of goods. I offered to help you find a batch of high-quality crystal ores, but you just kept shaking your head.”

“What, does having me help make you look incompetent?”

“Not at all.” Song Lan said with a bitter face, “Since I was little, my parents arranged everything for me. They even forced me to fill out my college entrance exam preferences.”

“Now that I can finally support myself, I just wanted to fulfill my dream of opening a crystal jewelry store.”

Her shop had been open for about two months. Business was dismal, barely covering rent and utilities, and occasionally requiring her to pay out of pocket.

Originally, she had some savings and could have held on for a while.

But then she gave it all to Zhang Mu, and the rent here was almost due. She definitely couldn't keep going.

Su Biqing had watched her grow up and knew she had been troubled by her parents' controlling nature. Seeing her dispirited look, she felt sorry for her:

“Tomorrow I'll go help you pay a year's worth of utilities and rent. Just consider it a loan from me, okay?”

Song Lan shook her head halfway through, so Su Biqing quickly added the second half of the sentence.

“Forget it.” Song Lan forced a smile. “I’m already satisfied being able to open for two months. Don't waste the money.

I’ll pay you back the 50,000 I borrowed last night slowly once I find a job.”

Su Biqing smiled and agreed, but anger rose in her heart. She had to warn that kid—did he really think my Song Lan was a free wallet?

...

Other World.

As usual, Potter woke up with the rising sun.

Donning his black mage robes and picking up his staff, he hobbled toward the town entrance.

The town wasn't large; it took only ten minutes to reach the gate.

This town was considered remote even within the entire Lake Kingdom. The economy wasn't great, so the gate was naturally as simple as possible.

So simple it didn't even have a door.

There was a wooden fence that barely reached Potter's waist, with a gap about four meters wide used as an entrance.

The main theme was minimalist style.

Potter stood by the 'gate' for a while until a carriage with a luxurious cabin came clattering from a distance.

The driver was a maid with short, ear-length hair, wearing a cinched black-and-white maid uniform.

Her horsemanship was good, and the carriage stopped steadily beside Potter.

“Mr. Potter.” The maid greeted respectfully, then jumped down from the driver's seat to the side of the cabin and pulled open the door. “Princess, we have arrived.”

As the cabin door was pulled completely open, the surrounding air, which felt like a steamer, suddenly dropped in temperature, as if instantly plunging from the scorching summer into the depths of winter.

The maid involuntarily shivered all over, and her nose even exhaled two pillars of white mist tinged with coldness.

Potter, however, remained as steady as a mountain.

“Teacher Potter.” A young female voice, elegant yet carrying a chill that pierced straight into the marrow, said, “Long time no see.”

A dazzling figure in ice blue stepped down from the carriage onto the wooden steps.

This was a beautiful woman who seemed to have walked out of the pure white snow.

She was tall, her entire body shrouded in large mage robes with a primary theme of ice blue and snow white. Despite this, one could still glimpse the heart-stirring curves of her figure from the rises and falls of the robes.

Above was an exquisite face that looked as if the Creator had personally intervened and exhausted all effort to design it.

Her thin ice-blue eyebrows and the waterfall of ice-blue hair cascading down her back to her waist made her look like a goddess of Ice and Snow.

The Eldest Princess of the Lake Kingdom—the Icy Avril.

Potter glanced at the shivering maid and looked slightly dissatisfied: “Have you forgotten the instructions I gave you?”

“After all these years, your power still leaks out uncontrollably.”

Showing an apologetic smile, Avril manipulated her magic power to retract into her body: “I just woke up, so my mind is a bit dazed.”

After a moment, the surrounding air returned to a normal temperature, and the maid's body steadied.

“Hehe.” Potter chuckled. “It looks like you've been practicing constantly.”

“Of course.” Avril's ice-blue pupils scanned the surroundings. “Where is the genius who mastered the Fireball Spell in one day that you mentioned, Teacher?”

Though it seemed like a serious inquiry, her tone actually carried a playful hint, like a granddaughter giggling as she asked her grandfather to guess how many candies were in her palm.

All living beings on the Saul Continent knew that the time required to learn magic was measured in months, even for an apprentice-level Fireball Spell.

Mid-to-high-level magic took years to learn.

One day?

Avril's ice-blue eyelashes flickered slightly. There probably wouldn't even be enough time to roughly go over the magical script of the Fireball Spell once, right?

Potter smiled but said nothing.

After a long while, he turned to walk into the town: “He’s a cheerful young fellow. I believe you will get along very well. Leave the carriage here.”

“Young fellow? A man?” Avril instinctively furrowed her brows and muttered to herself.

The maid was following closely and heard clearly.

“Princess, Mora will help you block all harassment from any dissolute men.”

The possibility of the other party not liking Avril never crossed Mora's mind, given her princess's beauty.