In the early hours of the morning, half asleep and half awake, Xu Yi felt some movement by the bedside. She sat up, squinted, and saw that Xiao Xiao, who had been sleeping on the sofa, had somehow moved to the side of Miss Gu's bed and was squatting there watching Miss Gu sleep.
Xu Yi felt a pang of sadness. She beckoned to Xiao Xiao and whispered, "Shh, come here and sleep in the middle. Don't wake Miss Gu, it will frighten her."
Xiao Xiao looked at the space left in the middle of the bed and happily tried to climb up, but before she could even touch it, she found Gu Yueyue with her brows furrowed in her sleep, looking like she wasn't sleeping very soundly.
The little one waved her hands repeatedly and shook her head in response. She then climbed onto the sofa with her short legs and lay down to continue sleeping.
Xu Yi quietly got up, held Xiao Xiao in her arms, and then lay down on the bed with her back to Gu Yueyue, thus separating Xiao Xiao from Gu Yueyue.
"Sleep peacefully. You won't be able to touch me." Xu Yi patted her little head, snuggled up to her, found a comfortable spot, and closed her eyes.
Xu Yi and Xiao Xiao were both asleep when Gu Yueyue opened her eyes in the darkness.
When Xu Yi woke up the next morning, Gu Yueyue was already gone.
Xu Yi's movements as she got up were a bit too loud, waking Xiao Xiao from her sleep. Xiao Xiao opened her sleepy eyes and peeked out to look at the other side of the bed.
"Where is Little Gu's mother?"
"They've already left, right?" Xu Yi yawned. It was rare for her to feel sleepy. "I'm going to train now. I wonder if failing to reach the Foundation Establishment stage will affect my physical fitness."
"There won't be any impact in the short term, but it's uncertain in the long run. After all, this body is just a manifestation of your soul, not even a real mortal body. I told you long ago that using it for cultivation is quite dangerous, but you just wouldn't believe me."
A small accusation against her actions.
Xu Yi smiled indifferently, "It's just a physical body. Besides, cultivation is indispensable, and I can try cultivating other paths even if I change bodies."
If in the end, Wuqingdao and Miss Gu cannot achieve a happy ending, she can change to another path. She cannot be too rigid and constrained in her conduct. To this day, she still cannot understand why she insisted on cultivating Wuqingdao in the first place.
"You need to reunite with Xiao Gu's mother as soon as possible, get married early, and start dual cultivation to make up for the damage to your physical body."
"..." Xu Yi's face turned bright red. "How do you know all this?"
Xiao Xiao looked at her in surprise, "What are you pretending for? I only know what you know. Tens of thousands of years ago, in the Wen Lang Library, you secretly looked at the dual cultivation technique. Have you forgotten?!"
"..." Xu Yi lowered her head and touched her burning ears. She had forgotten about it, but after Xiao Xiao's reminder, she remembered. But at that time, she didn't know that her natal sword was her little cub. Otherwise, she would never have taken her child to secretly read that kind of book. What a sin!
Xu Yi didn't want to face Xiao Xiao, so she quickly brewed some flower tea and left.
As before, Xiao Xiao was left in the room to play, while Xu Yi went to the cafeteria for breakfast and then went to the practice room with Zhang Ya and the others.
After a full day of practice, Xu Yi realized how serious the aftereffects of failing to build a foundation were. The most obvious sign was that she started sweating after jumping two sections in the morning. By the afternoon, she began to feel tired, just like everyone else, and her breathing became heavier.
Fortunately, she was a cultivator. Although her physical strength was somewhat lacking, her willpower was still top-notch, and no one could tell that she was very tired.
In the evening, the trainees in Villa No. 3 finished their training and headed to the cafeteria together.
Zhang Ya had noticed that Xu Yi was not in a good mood today. She was usually relaxed and carefree, but today she felt tired and powerless.
Xu Yi didn't feel particularly tired. She savored this long-lost feeling, and her state of mind seemed to be undergoing a breakthrough.
After several days of arduous training, the group was exhausted. After a quick dinner, they all went back to their rooms to rest.
Xu Yi and Zhang Ya were the last to leave. On their way back from the cafeteria, Xu Yi suddenly stopped.
Zhang Ya was holding a cup of plain tea without milk or sugar. When she saw Xu Yi return to the cafeteria, she quickly jogged after her.
"What are you doing?" Zhang Ya asked her.
Xu Yi quickened her pace and ordered several dishes at the cafeteria. "I'm afraid I'll be hungry tonight, so I'll take some late-night snacks back with me."
These words stunned not only Zhang Ya, but also the viewers watching the live stream.
—Is that Xu Yi? She actually said she's afraid she'll be hungry at night!
"—Hilarious! Every time I watch her eat, it's like she has anorexia. Not only did she eat a lot for dinner today, she even packed up some for a late-night snack."
—'High sugar, high carb, is Xu Yi about to let loose?'
Zhang Ya looked at Xu Yi with a strange expression as he carried large bags and small packages. This amount of food was equivalent to everything Xu Yi had eaten since joining the show.
"Did your training not go well today, so you're turning your grief into food?" Zhang Ya was getting hungry just looking at her, so she followed her and bought a bag of fried chicken, saying, "Good sister, let's lose weight together and eat meat together."
Xu Yi didn't have time to chat with her. She had forgotten that Xiao Xiao had already transformed into human form. Although she wouldn't starve to death if she didn't eat, she would feel uncomfortable from hunger.
No wonder when I was looking for Miss Gu's pajamas last night, all the snacks Zhang Ya had prepared for her were gone; it turns out the little guy had secretly eaten them all.
Xu Yi returned with snacks, and Xiao Xiao rolled around on the bed again, playing with several wool felt toys.
"Come and eat." Xu Yi locked the door from the inside and then laid out the food she had brought back.
Xiao Xiao slowly ran over from the bed, holding a fried chicken leg in each hand, and happily ate it.
"Did you see Xiao Gu's mother today?" Xiao Xiao was very curious. She hadn't heard Xu Yi's inner monologue all day, and she felt quite uncomfortable.
Xu Yi was also curious. "I haven't seen her." Since Miss Gu left this morning, a whole day has passed, and she hasn't seen Miss Gu once. She also doesn't know if the matter with Fan Weiwei has been resolved.
"Aren't you worried about her?" the little girl asked, her mind already racing despite her small size.
Xu Yi thought about it seriously, "I only have one concern. Miss Gu is not as weak as we think; she is more capable than most ordinary people in this era. You have to believe in her."
Xiao Xiao pouted, a little angry, "You don't care about Xiao Gu's mother at all."
"How could I not care? I even interrupted my Foundation Building to save her. Look at the state I am now, I don't even have a heartbeat. Luckily, I had already submitted the medical report beforehand, otherwise I don't know what I would have done."
Xiao Xiao felt a little guilty, because she had been too noisy earlier, which forced Xu Mutou to stop and rush over immediately.
"Well, I'm sorry." Xiao Xiao apologized to her, feeling wronged and almost crying.
"I don't mean to blame you. It's just that you can't say I don't care about Miss Gu." This was the only thing Xu Yi cared about. Missing the Foundation Establishment stage because she went to save someone was a small matter to her.
For cultivators, as long as they don't die, everything is a minor matter. For a ruthless sword cultivator, as long as they haven't reached the point of physical and spiritual annihilation, death is also a minor matter.
“But I feel something is strange.” Xiao Xiao took a sip of hot soup and picked up a corncob to eat. “Little Gu’s mother is never the kind of person who leaves without saying goodbye. She left without saying goodbye to us this morning, and you haven’t seen her all day. It’s very strange.”
“What’s strange about it? She has her own things to do. Such a terrible thing happened last night, and her assistant wasn’t here. She has a lot of things to take care of herself, so it’s normal for her to leave early. So what if I didn’t see her all day? It’s normal for her to be too busy to take care of the students’ practice.”
The little girl's brows furrowed tightly. Xu Yi saw a miniature version of Miss Gu in her and chuckled as she rubbed her head. "Alright, you don't need to worry about adult matters. Hurry up and eat. From now on, tell me if you're hungry, cold, or hot. Don't do what you're doing now, secretly hinting at it only when there's no food left at home. Luckily, I'm smart and noticed something was wrong with you."
"I won't starve to death," Xiao Xiao muttered softly.
Xu Yi's face darkened upon hearing this, and she pinched her chubby little cheeks. "But the feeling of hunger is very uncomfortable. You should eat obediently. Don't be afraid of causing me trouble."
Xiao Xiao broke free from Xu Yi's clutches, her brows furrowing again. "Then don't touch me, let me eat in peace... Can you bring an extra serving of this sweet and spicy stuff next time?"
"Hmm." Xu Yi glanced at it and made a note of it, then laughed. The little brat had the same taste as Miss Gu. Miss Gu also preferred sweet and spicy food. Although a cultivator should have stopped eating grains long ago, Miss Gu was the only fairy in the cultivation world who opened a small kitchen in her cave and ate three meals a day as usual.
Miss Gu, who had been chatting with the two all night, was now in Ma Youcai's study.
Ma Youcai learned early this morning that Gu Yueyue had encountered an accident. Being a very loyal friend, he immediately gave the crew two days off. Of course, this was also partly due to the fact that the female lead was unable to come to the shoot at the last minute.
After having two days off, he went straight to the Star Idol Base to find Gu Yueyue.
Gu Yueyue received his call in the morning, and then went to the police station with him to find out about Fan Weiwei's trespassing into her room.
On the way, Ma Youcai spoke to Gu Yueyue several times, but Gu Yueyue seemed restless, which made Ma Youcai both curious and worried.
Gu Yueyue considered many possibilities, but she rejected them one by one. Finally, there was only one possibility left. She really wanted to talk to Ma Youcai, but Ma Youcai was still driving and she was afraid of distracting him. So Gu Yueyue decided to go to Ma Youcai's house later and talk to him about this.
So Gu Yueyue went home with Ma Youcai. Ma Youcai's wife was also home. She was happy to see Gu Yueyue and complained that Old Ma hadn't told her in advance and that there was no food prepared at home.
She's a straightforward and generous woman in her forties from the North. She and Ma Youcai got together when he was penniless. They've supported each other through so much, and their relationship is very deep.
“You know, our sister’s coming over, and you… look at what you’ve done. I only made two dishes for you to have with your drinks.” As she spoke, Sister Ma patted Ma Youcai’s shoulder, took off her apron and started packing. “I’m going to the supermarket. It’s not easy for our sister to come all this way, and we haven’t even bought any fruit to welcome her. I’ll go buy some groceries and bring some fruit back. It’ll be quick.”
Gu Yueyue could never resist Sister Ma's enthusiasm every time she came. She waved her hand repeatedly, declining her sister-in-law's kindness, saying, "I'll just chat with Director Ma for a bit and then leave. Sister-in-law, you don't need to trouble yourself."
"Let's talk about work. You guys are busy, take your time talking, no rush, I'm going to buy groceries."
Ma's wife didn't give anyone a chance to refuse; she closed the door and left.
Ma Youcai ran to the dining room to see the two plates of snacks his wife had prepared for him to go with his drinks: one plate of braised pork belly bought from outside, and the other plate of peanuts. They were indeed just two simple snacks to go with his drinks.
Ma Youcai picked up two peanuts with his fingers and put them in his mouth. While eating, he asked Gu Yueyue to come with him to the study.
"What's wrong? You've seemed distracted all night. Come to the study with me and we'll talk." Ma Youcai was also puzzled; he rarely saw Gu Yueyue so flustered.
A note from the author:
This chapter is an extra one! Isn't that a surprise?
I don't really like adding extra chapters, because when I do, you're all used to reading two chapters at the same time, but you only leave comments for one chapter.
I would feel like I've lost out! I've lost a lot!
Hahaha
Please read this chapter for now. I will update as usual at 9 PM tonight.
This is compensation for the chapter I posted incorrectly before it was added to the paid section. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2021-12-28 16:06:02 and 2021-12-29 12:33:52!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Qiyu (5 bottles); Biyuzhougenfangyuan (2 bottles); Shenyin (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter Thirty-One
Upon arriving at Ma Youcai's study, Gu Yueyue didn't speak immediately. She thought for a while before carefully choosing her words. She said to Ma Youcai, "Someone is behaving very strangely. They talk to thin air while they're asleep at night, and..."
Gu Yueyue couldn't describe how she felt yesterday at Xu Yi's place—it felt like someone was watching her.
She often deals with paparazzi hiding in the shadows, and her keen intuition sometimes picks up on those sudden glances. These clandestine observations often make her uncomfortable.
But last night she didn't feel that discomfort; instead, she felt a strange sense of peace.
But Xu Yi's behavior was just too bizarre.
"I remember you filmed a movie before where a character could sleepwalk and then get up in the middle of the night to do some illogical things. Did you have any detailed research on this aspect?"
Gu Yueyue ruled out all the terrible thoughts that immediately popped into her mind, and finally chose a more reasonable one: Xu Yi had sleepwalked last night.
"Is someone sleepwalking next to you?" Ma Youcai made a cup of tea, and subconsciously took a sip when he heard her speak, burning his tongue. "Cough cough, who is it? Xiao Ye?"
Gu Yueyue has very few close friends. Apart from Xiao Ye, Ma Youcai can't think of anyone else for the time being.
“It wasn’t Xiao Ye.” Gu Yueyue found a place to sit down and briefly recounted the events of the previous night to Ma Youcai, omitting Xu Yi’s details.
Ma Youcai asked her, "How old is that girl?"
"Huh? Seventeen, I guess." Gu Yueyue knew that Xu Yi was only eighteen years old, but she was being vague to avoid Ma Youcai guessing it was her.
Upon hearing this, Ma Youcai frowned and put on a stern face.
"At her age, dreaming about having a child? Isn't that absurd? Your sleepwalking theory is also unreliable. In our circle, I think another possibility is more likely."