After washing up, Liu Sheng had the most fashionable brunch in Chang'an with Wang Dongdong in the main hall.
At first, Liu Sheng thought that, apart from eating fried dough sticks, steamed buns, and soy milk in the middle of the day, it didn't seem much different from a normal breakfast.
However, Yunxian Residence truly lived up to its reputation as a top-tier inn; a continuous stream of small dishes, balanced in meat and vegetables, and exquisite in style, were subsequently served to fill the table. Many dishes tasted good, but unfortunately, they were gone in one bite.
Nevertheless, it was all for the novelty of it. Since they were already there, they might as well try it.
While eating, Liu Sheng secretly observed Wang Dongdong's expression, which seemed… quite normal?
Wang Dongdong noticed Liu Sheng's shifty eyes and said irritably, “I'm fine! I was just eliminated on the twenty-third day, but what if I can make it onto the list?”
Liu Sheng nodded and briefly analyzed; according to this elimination time, it was indeed possible for her to make it onto the list.
However, Wang Dongdong's optimism and self-recovery ability were truly admirable and worth learning from.
Liu Sheng thought that she should also include this “Wang Dongdong spirit” in the ideological and moral enlightenment textbook she was preparing to write for Ling Xiaoshu.
She couldn't let something like “the big sister who stopped the car is so cool” happen again.
Hongxing Elementary School's education was still insufficient; she had to roll up her sleeves and do it herself.
Liu Sheng was pondering the issue of child education when she suddenly heard Wang Dongdong ask, “Oh right, Sheng Sheng, we're planning to visit Jiang Caibin this afternoon. Do you want to come along?”
Originally, she hadn't intended to ask Liu Sheng this question.
Because from what she had seen last time, Liu Sheng didn't get along well with her friends and clearly looked down on them.
Especially Jiang Caibin, he was really annoying.
But annoying as he was, hearing about his current miserable state still made her feel a little sympathetic.
However, this time Jiang Cai Zhi invited everyone to visit Jiang Caibin and specifically mentioned Liu Sheng, saying he wanted to invite her to his Jiang to apologize to her.
So Wang Dongdong also explained the reason to Liu Sheng.
“Jiang Caibin? Wasn't he just stabbed and injured?” Liu Sheng didn't understand. Wouldn't such an injury heal in a day?
“Now it seems it's not as simple as just being stabbed. It seems he was also poisoned with a slow-acting poison. Now Jiang Caibin is completely paralyzed and can't do anything. It's truly pitiful…” Wang Dongdong shook her head and sighed. “That's why we thought of visiting him together after the Examination. We haven't seen him since he was injured, and that's not right.”
“Indeed,” Liu Sheng nodded.
“Alas, it's all Yang Qing's fault. So, one must be careful in discerning the people around them and stay away from those with ulterior motives.”
Liu Sheng frowned. This whole matter was full of peculiarities from beginning to end, and she was inexplicably dragged into it, along with that extremely abrupt culprit, Yang Qing. She always felt someone was manipulating all of this behind the scenes.
With that thought, Liu Sheng asked, “When are you planning to go?”
Wang Dongdong was startled and said, “Jiang Caibin takes a nap every day after eating, so we agreed to meet at Jiang at Shenshi (3-5 PM).”
“Alright, I'll go too.”
Wang Dongdong was a little surprised. She felt that given Liu Sheng's personality, she shouldn't have agreed.
“After all, we know each other. I should go and see him,” Liu Sheng explained.
“Tell me, with your cold-hearted, unfeeling, and indifferent nature, how could you be so sympathetic towards Jiang Caibin? What are you really thinking?” Wang Dongdong crossed her arms and asked with a suspicious look.
Liu Sheng chuckled, “Indeed, Dongdong knows me best.”
Then she said seriously, “I just think that matter is a bit strange. Yang Qing doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing.”
“You understand Yang Qing that quickly?” Wang Dongdong was a little disbelieving.
Liu Sheng shook her head, “I don't understand him, but I know Yang Qing hadn't yet obtained what he wanted from the Jiang Family brothers. Why would he make a move?”
“What did he want?” Wang Dongdong was puzzled, then suddenly realized, “You mean, connections?”
“Yes, to restore his family's prestige through the imperial Examinations,” Liu Sheng said. “Otherwise, he wouldn't have humbled himself to curry favor with Jiang Caibin.”
Liu Sheng saw Wang Dongdong thinking and continued with a smile, “Think about it, his father is a minor official, and he's in Chang'an, and he's close to the imperial Examinations. What good would it do him to stab himself into prison?”
“When you put it that way, it is indeed suspicious.” Wang Dongdong frowned, then slammed her fist into her palm. “So you want to investigate?”
“Yes, to be able to set up such a scheme, it must be someone who knows both Jiang Caibin and Yang Qing,” Liu Sheng nodded. “Moreover, they must have immense power to have settled this matter so easily.”
Wang Dongdong felt a chill down her spine upon closer thought. These people were all good friends since childhood, how could this be?
But what Liu Sheng said also seemed plausible; it was just that she had trusted them too much and was unwilling to think about it.
“Will most of the people from that dinner party be there?” Liu Sheng asked again.
“Yes, Ling Yuke originally said she wasn't coming, but then she just said she would. It's so inexplicable.” Wang Dongdong was growing increasingly annoyed with this delicate Young Miss Ling.
“But why do you ask about the time? Aren't we going together?” Wang Dongdong suddenly remembered Liu Sheng's earlier question.
Liu Sheng shook her head and said, “I still have some things to do.”
…
It was now Sishi (9-11 AM), with more than two hours remaining until Shenshi.
Liu Sheng confirmed the time, hailed a cloud sedan, and instructed it to go to the West Market.
Oh, she forgot to mention, she was also accompanied by the young girl Qing Cong, who was wearing a gaudy small hat and a green long dress.
“Big Sister, where are you going?” Ling Xiaoshu leaned against the window, looking at the colorful Chang'an, and asked casually.
Liu Sheng glanced at the spirit message, a trace of worry appearing on her face: “To Xiao Xiang House.”
According to her and World's previous conjectures, and Cui Cui's confirmation, Wen Weilan disappeared after going to Xiao Xiang House.
Based on the deduction, Wen Weilan should be trapped in Mobei, but without definite news, she was always a bit worried.
Moreover, the relationship between Mobei and Tang Country was sensitive; for people of Tang Country, it was not a benevolent place.
She still needed to go to Xiao Xiang House to inquire about news. Such a powerful weird objects appeared in the building that day; it seemed that something had happened at Xiao Xiang House, so there should be some news, right?
Additionally, Liu Sheng also planned to purify the small bear weird objects she had collected from Taibai Restaurant last time.
Ling Xiaoshu used to think about it every day, but Liu Sheng had been busy preparing for the Examination and didn't have time to purify it.
She didn't expect that after the exam, the child had also grown up. She wondered if she still wanted the small bear?
Thinking about this, she even missed the purification ability in the illusion.
If it were possible in reality to purify, decompose, and transform various energies at the data level, that would be great.
“If you could really do that, you should also worry that you are a data life form.” A familiar, cold voice sounded.
“World!”
“World! You finally appeared!”
“Wuwuwu, I missed you so much! World!”
Liu Sheng's mind suddenly became noisy, a complete mess.
But Liu Sheng didn't find it annoying, because all of her was cheering for World's reappearance.
“Is everything going smoothly?” Liu Sheng asked.
“Everything is going smoothly. Finally, we have not failed our trust, and everything we envisioned can be realized.”
Hearing this, Liu Sheng's lips curled into an uncontrollable smile.
“And not just that.”
“???”
“I found something very interesting in the core code, and then combined it with some content from the work log, and rewrote it slightly,” World said calmly.
“Then what?”
“Then a new world was created. Oh, I don't mean 'World' as in me.”
World, with an unperturbed voice, made a cold, humorous remark.