Chapter 1976 — Uncle Qing's Request

It was an extra, a face in the crowd from first to last, sitting at a desk and never stirring once; and the girl beside him was an extra of the same sort. Bai Weituo could not fathom it — why on earth had Wei Zhao picked a role like that?

There were plenty of such walk-on parts, after all, and Wei Zhao had chosen just one of them. But beyond these, there were also any number of supporting roles trailing after Xu Shilan...

"Huh? Brother Lin, are you sure? You'll just play an extra?" Bai Weituo asked, somewhat taken aback.

"I'm no good at acting. An extra is quite good enough for me," Wei Zhao said.

Wei Zhao had little interest in standing out at the freshman gala. He wasn't there to chase girls, nor to curry favor with anyone; he'd take an extra's part because this was a group activity, and one Bai Weituo had organized — it wouldn't have been right to bow out.

"All right then..." Seeing Wei Zhao hold firm, Bai Weituo said no more. "And what about Sister Xinyan?"

"She's the same as me — she'll play an extra like this." Wei Zhao knew Wang Xinyan's temperament well enough: she too disliked crowds and the spotlight, so he had answered for her.

For the rest of the rehearsal there was essentially nothing for Wei Zhao to do. He said a word to Bai Weituo and left the dorm.

On his way downstairs, a figure came charging up at breakneck speed, and if Wei Zhao hadn't dodged in time, it would nearly have run straight into him. He had no wish to say anything to such a reckless fool — but to his surprise, the reckless fool turned out to be someone he knew!

"Brother Wei Zhao!" Han Jingyi looked at him with delighted surprise.

"Han Jingyi? What are you doing in the boys' dorm?" Wei Zhao stared at her in puzzlement. Weren't girls barred from wandering into the boys' dormitories at will? Or did the boys' dorm have no such rule?

"Weren't we supposed to rehearse the performance? So I came. Bai Weituo called me, didn't he?" Han Jingyi looked at Wei Zhao with even greater puzzlement. "Why aren't you rehearsing?"

"I mean, how did you get into the boys' dorm? Didn't the old man at the gate stop you?" Wei Zhao asked.

"No. Why would he stop me? He even smiled at me!" Han Jingyi said, her face a picture of bewilderment.

"Then go on up. Room 444. I'm playing an extra, so there's no rehearsal for me," Wei Zhao said.

"Why does an extra need no rehearsal?" Han Jingyi asked.

"No reason." Wei Zhao simply refused to answer her; otherwise there would be no end to it.

"Then I'll play an extra too, and skip rehearsal as well." Han Jingyi nodded. "Brother Wei Zhao, where are you off to?"

"I'm going home," Wei Zhao said.

"Then I'm going home too. Give me a ride back," Han Jingyi said.

"...Let's go." Wei Zhao couldn't be bothered to refuse. It would only waste his breath, and in all likelihood the words would be wasted anyway.

Uncle Qing was leaving that very afternoon. Gu Pengzhan knew he had found the wife he had lost touch with for so many years, but there was still a great deal of business with the group, and Uncle Qing had to report the findings of his survey back as soon as possible. If it proved feasible, a branch company would be set up here, and then Uncle Qing could see Grandma Sun often. So an hour or two more or less made no difference.

"Brother Wei Zhao, you and Wang Xinyan are a couple, so why are you also living with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu?" Once in the car, Han Jingyi's mouth was no more idle than before.

"First, Wang Xinyan and I are not a couple. Second, that's sharing a house, not living together," Wei Zhao explained.

"Oh, then Brother Wei Zhao, you're single?" Han Jingyi said happily. "That's wonderful."

"No, I have a girlfriend," Wei Zhao said.

"Then why haven't I seen her? Where is she?" Han Jingyi asked.

"None of your business," Wei Zhao said.

"But you sit beside Wang Xinyan every day, and you share a house with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu — doesn't your girlfriend get jealous?" Han Jingyi asked again.

"No, she doesn't. Why do you have so many questions?" Wei Zhao frowned.

"So many? Didn't the teacher say that when you meet something you don't understand, you shouldn't be ashamed to ask?" Han Jingyi said with an air of utter innocence.

"Then go ask someone else," Wei Zhao said.

"Ask someone else? Sure. Tomorrow I'll ask Teacher Bai why your girlfriend doesn't get jealous," Han Jingyi said.

"..." Wei Zhao rolled his eyes. Was this Han Jingyi simple-minded or what? He had no idea how she'd ever gotten into university; from the look of it, she must have bought her way in.

He parked the car at the villa gate and went back to his own villa without a word to Han Jingyi; she could do whatever she pleased.

Han Jingyi, for her part, did not pester Wei Zhao further, and went back to her own villa.

"Xiao Yi, you're back." Uncle Qing was in the living room packing his things, preparing to return to Songshan.

"Yes, Uncle Qing. I came back to see if there was anything I could help with," Wei Zhao said.

"There's nothing much left. Luoyue has already begun cultivating her mental cultivation method. Perhaps because she practiced it before, her meridians are already open, so this time she produced true qi with ease. It's just that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth here is far too scarce, and her progress is very slow... Xiao Yi, could you help?" Here Uncle Qing grew a little embarrassed. "I know it's a rather abrupt request, but you're the only one who can raise Luoyue's level quickly..."

At Uncle Qing's words, Wei Zhao gave a bitter smile. "Uncle Qing, it's not that I don't want to help. It's that the Sun family's mental cultivation method is rather special — it can only draw on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for cultivation. My true qi can't be given to her; if I did, Grandma Sun's true qi might end up like mine..."

Wei Zhao thought back to what had happened with Sun Jingyan before, and explained.

"Oh? How so?" Uncle Qing was slightly taken aback.

"It's like this..." Wei Zhao then told Uncle Qing about the conversation he had had with Sun Jingyan in her apartment.

"Hmm... but it seems to be different. Luoyue's true qi can now be converted directly into my true qi, and into mine alone. In that case, couldn't you simply channel your true qi into her?" Uncle Qing said after a moment's thought.

"That does make some sense." Wei Zhao's eyes lit up. Grandma Sun's situation was clearly not quite the same as Sun Jingyan's: Grandma Sun's true qi could no longer be assimilated by Wei Zhao, because it had already been restricted so that it could only be converted into Uncle Qing's true qi. Sun Jingyan was different — her true qi had never been used by anyone, which was why there was a risk of it being assimilated by Wei Zhao's. At this thought, Wei Zhao nodded. "In that case, it's worth a try!"

"Can we do it now?" Hearing Wei Zhao agree, Uncle Qing at once rubbed his hands together in excitement.

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