Chapter 274: Changes Of The Times

“Click!” The door of the old house swung open, and dust filled the air.

Qiu Wuji quickly performed a spell and cleared the room of dust in an instant, leaving it fresh and clean.

Chu Ge closed the door and hugged her, saying with a smile, “Having a fairy wife is the best.”

Qiu Wuji chuckled, “I once watched a drama with that name. At the time, I thought the title sounded a lot like me.”

Chu Ge blinked his eyes.

When was that? Did you already consider yourself a fairy wife back then?

Qiu Wuji guessed what he was thinking and gave him a stern look.

Chu Ge coughed dryly, “That drama, I watched a rerun in the early 2000s. Now, I only remember the grasshopper’s song from it, full of memories. Yeah, it suits the old setting.”

Qiu Wuji remarked, “The female lead must not have been as pretty as me.”

“Of course not. There’s no female lead in the world who looks better than my Qiuqiu!”

“Well…” Qiu Wuji whispered, “The female lead often helps the male lead with hidden agendas and face-slapping. It seems like I didn’t help much; I was overshadowed by that sudden appearance of that livestream kid.”

Chu Ge burst into laughter and pinched her nose. “You… when you pretended to be my fangirl in front of those people, you probably had the same thoughts, right? You even put on the look of ‘my creator god must not be humiliated.’ In reality, you’re more worldly than me.”

“Hmph. It was clearly your own desires. ‘Returning with wealth and honor to the countryside like a night-wandering hero in embroidered clothes.’ I was just honestly reflecting what was in Creator God’s heart.”

“I’m neither wealthy nor prestigious. I just heard from Little Xu that they’re planning to hold a casting event for Xie Wenyuan’s side. Without him, I couldn’t have pulled off this act.” Chu Ge grimaced and then seemed to realize something, “Why do I feel like this kid intentionally showed up to show off for himself? He’s quite cunning…”

Finally, he understood…

But it didn’t matter. It was just mutual promotion in the business world.

Chu Ge thought that the kid seemed to be a big live-streamer. He didn’t know in which field, but it probably wasn’t related to film and television editing or critiques, since his last name was Xu, not Xie.

Most likely, it was related to anime or games. Perhaps they could mutually admire each other, and he could get him to promote the animation for him.

As he was lost in thought, Qiu Wuji explored the surroundings on her own.

They called it an old and shabby place, but “small” wasn’t entirely accurate. It was quite spacious, over 140 square meters with three bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms. It was much larger than his current rented apartment, and that was one of the reasons he hadn’t been able to put it on rent.

The furniture in the room was neatly arranged, bearing strong imprints of a bygone era. For instance, there was an Eight Immortals table with wooden construction and a large marble top, along with intricately carved wooden chairs that, while looking classical and beautiful, were quite uncomfortable to sit on. Cleaning them during housework was particularly challenging, as meticulously cleaning the decorative carvings could be exhausting.

Despite several decades having passed, these tables and chairs still appeared in good condition. They showed signs of age, but they retained a sense of history.

Instead of a bulky CRT television, there was a large LCD television hanging on the living room wall, hinting at the lifestyle from a few years ago. Unfortunately, compared to today’s sleek and modern TVs, it appeared much bulkier and outdated. However, Qiu Wuji didn’t find it outdated at all; she found it intriguing.

Decades-old furnishings and appliances from a few years ago seemed to outline the bits and pieces of Chu Ge’s life here from childhood to adulthood.

On the wall, there was a family portrait of the three of them: a younger version of Chu Ge’s mother, a mature version of Chu Ge, and a little troublemaker with a forced smile. All three of them were dressed in shirts and pants, and the photo had yellowed with age, giving it a somewhat rustic look, yet it was heartwarming.

Qiu Wuji couldn’t help but focus on the mischievous little kid in the photo. He looked adorable from every angle, and her face unconsciously displayed an affectionate smile.

So cute! My Chu Chu~

Would our child look like this in the future?

Did he wear open-crotch pants back then…

Beside her, Chu Ge’s expression darkened like a stormy sky. “Why are you looking at that? I was in primary school at that time, not wearing open-crotch pants.”

“How do you know what I want to see?”

“I can tell when you stick out your butt…”

“Ugh, pervert!” Qiu Wuji playfully kicked Chu Ge and then turned to enter the study.

“Who’s the pervert here…” Chu Ge followed her inside.

The study had a pretty worn-out desk with marks on the tabletop, as if it had been scratched with a small knife. It looked like someone had drawn a smiling face, and Qiu Wuji could almost imagine how mischievous Chu Ge must have been back then, getting into trouble and crying profusely after being scolded.

On the wall, there were several certificates of excellence for being a “Model Student,” covering an entire section of the wall. “Chu Ge, a first-grader at XX Elementary School…” Qiu Wuji couldn’t help but chuckle.

Chu Ge stood with his hands on his hips, watching her look around, his face even darker than before.

This is social death. Why do parents insist on displaying these…

Let’s go and look at your house in the book, It can’t be as embarrassing, right? … Oh, he just realized that there wasn’t much to dig up in her house.

That place is the abode of an immortal, devoid of the vibrancy of everyday life.

Qiu Wuji’s gaze landed on a bamboo flute in the corner, finally showing some surprise. “Hey, is this yours?”

“Uh-huh, I learned to play it when I was young, but I returned it to the teacher quite quickly, along with the piano…”

“You had an easy life, didn’t you?”

“When did I ever say I had it tough? A double-income family with no major illnesses or disasters… it’s pretty normal, I’d say.”

Qiu Wuji picked up the bamboo flute, used a cleansing spell to make sure it was clean, and then handed it to Chu Ge with great anticipation. “Can you play it for me?”

“I told you, I can’t play it anymore…”

“Have some confidence. With your current spiritual abilities, you can recover long-forgotten memories from your past.”

“This thing relies mainly on muscle memory…”

Qiu Wuji raised her eyebrows in frustration. “I think you just don’t want to play it!”

Chu Ge admitted honestly, “Because this is a xiao…”

Qiu Wuji understood and said with exasperation, “Then what about the dizi?”

((TL: Dizi and xiao are both traditional Chinese flutes, but they have several key differences like appearance, sound production, playing technique and more.))

“I’ve never learned to play it.” Chu Ge confessed, “When I was a kid, I used to read novels about people traveling the world with a xiao and a sword, which seemed cool and elegant. But the dizi felt a bit plain to me, so I chose to learn the xiao instead. As I grew up, I got things all mixed up. They switched places in my mind, and now, the xiao feels awkward, while the dizi seems really cool. We honest folks can’t keep up with the changes of the times…”

Qiu Wuji sighed, “You call yourself an honest person? It’s people like you who made the flute lose its charm!”

Chu Ge remained silent, looking like an innocent bystander, who knows what he was thinking about…

Qiu Wuji stared at him with a stern face for a while and then said, “When we get back to the book, I have various flutes in my room.”

“Oh?”

“Instruments from the same family are often similar in technique. If you can play the xiao, you can play the dizi as well.” Qiu Wuji turned her head and continued, “I used to think you didn’t understand this, but now I’m considering it. Since you can play, when we walk around in that realm, we can have a duet with our instruments.”

Chu Ge suddenly became enthusiastic. This was fantastic!

As a die-hard literature enthusiast, he couldn’t help but think that this scene would be amazing, especially on a mountaintop with drifting snow, both of them in a stone pavilion, playing the instruments beautifully while white cranes circled above…

It was too great! He had to practice!

Qiu Wuji also thought this scene was wonderful, and she smiled with her eyes shining. She left the study with her hands behind her back and said, “Chu Ge, I like this place. Whether we’ll live here or not is another matter, but today, I’m really happy here.”

Chu Ge muttered, “Just because you’re amused by my embarrassment…”

“No, not at all.” Qiu Wuji gently embraced his neck and offered a light kiss. “It’s because the Chu Ge in my heart has become more real and dimensional, just like when we met in the book world.”

Is it so or not?

Is it Zhuangzi seeing the butterfly, or the butterfly seeing Zhuangzi?

In the end, they were entering each other’s worlds.

Both of them felt a mysterious sensation rising within them, like the imminent breakthrough in their cultivation. Was it the Golden Core about to form?

How long had they been cultivating, anyway? No, their accumulated spiritual power wasn’t enough, especially since Chu Ge was only at the late foundation-building stage.

It wasn’t a sign of a breakthrough, but it felt like they had gained some enlightenment as if it were a breakthrough. What was it…

Was it influenced by an external object?

Both of them simultaneously turned their heads and their gazes fell on the master bedroom.

At this moment, they suddenly remembered that this house had been inhabited by SSS-ranked ability users.