18: Chapter 18 Su Biqing Comes to the Door

Potter's two-story building wasn't actually that small.

But on the day he rented it, he had only considered living alone; now that four people had suddenly squeezed in, the house felt a bit cramped.

Not to mention the room on the second floor used for brewing potions; a few days ago, Zhang Mu and Potter already barely had room to move.

After thinking for a while, Potter had Avril and Mora go to the inner room on the first floor to rest, while he lectured Zhang Mu first, and then taught Avril magic and Potions.

This way, their schedules were staggered, otherwise the small room on the second floor wouldn't be able to fit the three of them.

Avril didn't feel unhappy about being scheduled later; instead, she felt a bit of joy in her heart.

Living in the Royal Capital for over twenty years, men were constantly trying to get close to her, which led to her now having an instinctive aversion to men.

If she had to squeeze into a small room with a strange man for a lesson, it would be sheer torture.

Once Avril and the head-bowed Mora went into the inner room behind the stairs, Potter beckoned Zhang Mu to come upstairs.

Zhang Mu didn't follow; he said he forgot to bring the Instant Noodles and went home to get them. After stepping out, he found a deserted alley and took a box of Kang Shuai Fu out of his inventory.

To prevent Potter from becoming suspicious, he dawdled for ten minutes before returning.

The two continued brewing potions while Potter explained the details he needed to pay attention to.

The sunlight streaming through the window onto the floor slowly crept toward the workbench; by the time it finally reached Potter's toes, it was already noon.

"Mr. Potter, come try a new flavor."

Zhang Mu picked up the cardboard box in the corner, took out two cups and opened them, leaving the rest by his feet.

Eating Instant Noodles at noon was the happiest time of day for Potter. He cheerfully brought over some boiling water, poured it into the noodle cups, and then leaned against the workbench with Zhang Mu, waiting patiently.

"Mr. Potter, there was actually no need for what happened this morning. If she's rude to me, I'll just be arrogant right back."

Potter placed his staff on the counter: "Although I haven't officially agreed to take you as my formal student yet, you've been learning Potions with me for over ten days now."

"On the Saul Continent, this situation usually defaults to you being my Registered Student."

"A Registered Student is still a student. As a teacher, it's only right to protect my student. Offending you is equivalent to provoking me."

"It's understandable that you wouldn't know, coming from a remote village, but it was wrong for Mora to overlook this. Her recklessness will eventually bring trouble to Avril."

After rubbing his chin and thinking for a moment, Zhang Mu nodded: "That makes sense."

He didn't stubbornly argue with Potter based on his own perceptions. He understood that the Other World and Earth were completely different worlds; it was only natural for there to be differences in perspectives and ways of behaving.

As the two chatted back and forth, a delicious aroma gradually wafted from the noodle cups.

Just as they picked them up to start eating, Mora suddenly walked in, looking dazed.

"It smells so, so good. What is it?"

Her sleepiness vanished instantly, and her eyes lit up as she stared at the Instant Noodles in Zhang Mu's hand: "Mr. Zhang Mu, can I have a portion?"

Zhang Mu looked stunned: "Are you a beggar?"

"How could that be!"

"Then why are you reaching out and asking for things?"

Mora's face quickly flushed red, whether from anger or something else, and she turned and stomped downstairs.

"What's wrong with her?" Avril asked curiously as she walked in.

"Probably shame," Zhang Mu replied dismissively while slurping his noodles.

"Such a rich aroma." Avril leaned in and glanced into their noodle cups. "Is it a specialty from your hometown, Junior?"

"You could say that."

"Are there any more? What's the price?" Avril pulled out a coin pouch from her wide sleeve and pulled it open.

Zhang Mu looked at her for a moment and gestured toward his feet with his chin: "Take it yourself. Since we're Fellow Disciples, it'll be three gold coins."

Potter, whose face was buried in his noodle cup, looked up and protested loudly: "That's not fair! I spent four gold coins back then!"

This old man... Zhang Mu was speechless. Once Avril had taken hers, he kicked the box over to Potter: "It's all yours now."

The old man immediately showed his white teeth in a grin.

The stingy Zhang Mu being suddenly generous wasn't actually because of what Potter said.

Potter had protected him this morning. He hadn't said any words of thanks, but he remembered it in his heart. After all, strictly speaking, Avril and Mora were practically raised by Potter.

One cup of noodles isn't much; the three of them finished everything in a few minutes.

Avril's expression was as icy as usual, but she still felt unsatisfied, thinking about buying a few cups from her teacher tonight to satisfy her cravings.

As she thought, she held up the noodle cup to examine it: "Such exquisite illustrations, a style I've never seen before."

She looked toward Zhang Mu to ask, but because Potter went to the corner to rummage through herbs, she finally noticed the Stove.

Setting the noodle cup on the table, she took a few steps closer, staring at the fiery red flame licking the bottom of the iron pot; it was so steady.

"Teacher, what is this?" Avril swore that in her twenty-one years of life, there had never been a moment when her emotions were more turbulent than now.

"A tool." Potter carried the herbs to the Stove, quite proud of her shock. "An item from Zhang Mu's hometown."

"Avril, it's not a magic item bestowed by the gods, nor is it a crude imitation of one. It's a tool created by humans to make their own lives easier."

"A tool..." she muttered blankly. It took a long time for her vision to refocus as she looked at Zhang Mu. "Junior's hometown..."

Before she could finish, Zhang Mu interrupted: "Yes, exactly. We don't believe in gods over there. Everything we eat, drink, and use comes from our own two hands. If a god dared to steal our things, we'd even take on the god for you to see."

Knowing what she wanted to ask, Zhang Mu didn't waste words and dumped it all out at once.

Avril fell silent, thinking about something. After a while, she left with eyes full of contemplation.

The two continued the lesson, busy until evening, when Zhang Mu dusted himself off and left.

Back home on Earth, he stretched and prepared to take a shower: "I'll head out in a bit to drop the bank cards off at the Government Officials."

Just as he entered the bathroom, a knock suddenly sounded at the entrance.

Before he could even take off his clothes, he went straight to open the door.

"Who are you?"

Standing outside the door was a strange woman with a curvy figure and long, wavy permed hair.

"Su Biqing." Her eyes swept over Zhang Mu wantonly. "Your looks are decent, no wonder you've got Song Lan so infatuated."

Song Lan?

Zhang Mu was slightly puzzled; he seemed to have heard this name somewhere before.

Before he could remember, Su Biqing warned him in a nasty tone: "You've scammed enough money. Consider it your travel expenses. Leave Su City soon, and don't contact Song Lan anymore."

"Otherwise, I guarantee you'll meet a very ugly end."

With that, Su Biqing turned and walked toward the elevator, muttering to herself: "What kind of taste does that little girl have? Looking at a man's face and nothing else. What's the use if he's got no talent?"

She had reason to be angry.

Song Lan had told her that twice when she came to deliver money, no one was home, yet the door opened as soon as she knocked.

What did that mean? This scumbag was clearly avoiding Song Lan on purpose, creating a tragic persona of facing a terminal illness alone just to trigger Song Lan's sympathy.

As for those 150,000, Su Biqing felt they were probably already spent.

If this scumbag were truly as upright as Song Lan claimed...

If bank cards with passwords written on them mysteriously appeared at his doorstep and he didn't know who dropped them, wouldn't he hand them over to the Government Officials?

Busy with work? With lung cancer, he still has the heart for 996?

Even if he valued money over his life, no matter how busy he was, could he really not find ten minutes in over ten days to go to the Government Officials?

Heaven knows, Zhang Mu was truly wronged.

At first, he was in a hurry to resolve his lung cancer and didn't dare delay for a second, thinking that since he hadn't touched the money, it could wait.

He only found time early this morning to go to the hospital for a check-up, confirming that Potter's potion had successfully controlled the cancer.

When he returned, he found a second bank card. Just as he was wondering how to handle it, he was interrupted by his landlord and hurried off to the Other World to find items he could easily resell to make money.

By the time he finished and returned, it was already night. He planned to hand the bank cards to the Government Officials after his shower, but Su Biqing showed up at his door before he could even undress.

Su Biqing stepped into the elevator area in her high heels.

Zhang Mu didn't stop her.

For one, he roughly understood what was going on from those few sentences. Also, he remembered who Song Lan was.