Chapter 15: Come On, Let’s See Who Outlasts Who!
“Tap the little speaker icon, then press and hold the long bar without letting go. Speak toward the stone slab, then release it when you’re done.”
After dinner, Chen Bai began teaching Qi Zheng how to send voice messages.
Qi Zheng: “…”
He kept repeatedly tapping the voice message Chen Bai had sent him, playing it over and over again.
With an utterly serious face.
What strange thing was this now?
The world of demons was truly interesting. Storybooks had never mentioned anything like this. Then again, people who had seen demons only existed in marketplace rumors anyway.
After seriously playing with it for a while, Qi Zheng finally began operating it according to Chen Bai’s instructions.
Chen Bai had no idea how long Qi Zheng fumbled around before finally succeeding. In any case, by the time he received Qi Zheng’s first voice message, he had already finished a ranked game with his friends.
Chen Bai looked at the voice message Qi Zheng sent over, his mood indescribably strange. He had actually taught an ancient netizen how to send voice messages.
At that moment, his friend Tang Shen sent him a message. “Brother Bai, still playing ranked? We’re just waiting for you.”
Chen Bai replied, “You guys go ahead. I’m teaching a kid how to send voice messages. This kid is kind of stubborn. If I ignore him, he keeps harassing me.”
Tang Shen: “…”
He knew Chen Bai was an orphan and did not have many friends, but since when did he know some kid? A child who did not even know how to send voice messages must be really young.
Chen Bai exited the game and opened Qi Zheng’s voice message.
“Demon, why can I only hear your voice but not see you?”
Chen Bai’s mind was full of the image of Qi Zheng looking confused.
Honestly, Qi Zheng was indeed tapping on the voice message he had sent himself right now, utterly shocked. This was clearly his own voice, so how could the stone slab play his voice?
If Chen Bai could see Qi Zheng’s current expression, he would probably laugh so hard he rolled on the floor. That supposedly icy face had stiffly turned into a dumbfounded face.
Chen Bai replied, “In the future, if you want to find me, just send me a voice message. Stop constantly sending garbled text. In our demon world, that counts as harassment. One report and you’d be finished.”
After saying that, he waited a while. Qi Zheng did not respond, probably still figuring it out.
Chen Bai thought, he might as well go play ranked.
He opened the game and was just about to ask Tang Shen to team up when faint footsteps sounded outside the door.
Chen Bai put away his phone and looked through the gap by the window. At the doorway, Chen Xiaobu was holding a little pillow and reaching out to knock.
Chen Bai opened the door. Chen Xiaobu’s eyes were a little red. What was wrong? This afternoon, he had still been so happy he looked as though his head had been caught in a door.
“Brother, tomorrow is my birthday, but Father said we won’t be entertaining guests this time.”
Children liked lively occasions. Besides, every year on his birthday, he could receive many gifts.
It was just that with the Court Commandant’s residence in its current state, what kind of child’s birthday banquet could they hold? Even if invitations were sent out, there might not be many people willing to come. Even if they did come, it would be awkward.
For Chen Xiaobu, this was terrible news, which was why his eyes were red as he came to find Chen Bai while hugging his little pillow.
Chen Bai thought for a moment, then rubbed Chen Xiaobu’s soft hair. “It’s fine. Your brother already prepared your gift long ago.”
“Really?” Chen Xiaobu lifted his little head. This child was extremely sharp.
Chen Bai turned and went back into the room. When he came out, he had a skateboard with four wheels in his hands, as well as a set of knee pads and a helmet.
Children did not necessarily like expensive things. They were often more interested in rare and fun things.
“What is this?” Chen Xiaobu held the skateboard with a blank expression.
Chen Bai did not answer. He directly put the protective gear on Chen Xiaobu, then took the skateboard himself and began playing with it in the courtyard.
Several lanterns hung by the entrance of his courtyard, so it was fairly bright.
Watching Chen Bai suddenly glide like he was riding the wind and waves, Chen Xiaobu’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground. He rushed over. “Brother, what rare thing is this?”
His little short legs ran after him as fast as they could. There was no trace left of the red-eyed child from earlier.
To children of this era, there were far too few toys. In a child’s eyes, this skateboard was absolutely a divine artifact among divine artifacts.
Chen Bai smiled. “Watch your brother do an S-curve.”
He looked extremely carefree, full of youthful spirit.
Chen Xiaobu seemed to see the older brother from before again, the one who rode proudly on a tall horse. His brother used to love taking him around on horseback.
His brother was like he was flying, circling around him like a gust of wind.
It made Chen Xiaobu laugh until his face almost split open. A child’s happiness was much easier to satisfy than an adult’s.
After playing for a while, Chen Bai began teaching Chen Xiaobu.
A little boy, wearing knee pads and a helmet, his small robe lifted in front, stood on the skateboard. He looked terribly obedient.
Chen Bai supported him at the side. “Fun, right?”
Chen Xiaobu had no time to answer. His little legs were busily pushing against the ground.
While Chen Bai was teaching Chen Xiaobu how to skateboard, the main courtyard of the Court Commandant’s residence was brightly lit.
Court Commandant Chen Shouye’s expression was not very good. Recently, a faction in court had been constantly impeaching him. If it were in the past, he would not have feared it. But after Chen Bai’s incident, he more or less felt as though he had handed people a weakness.
And this happened to coincide with the important period when the Nine Ministers might be reshuffled.
One could say Chen Bai’s incident had truly come at the wrong time.
Madam Ronghua was also somewhat resentful. “I told you to visit your colleagues and the Three Dukes more often, but you refused to listen. You kept saying that as long as you did your own duties well, the Emperor and the Three Dukes would naturally see it.”
“Now look. The moment something happens, you can’t even find someone to send a favor through.”
Chen Shouye said irritably, “Isn’t this all because of the good son you raised?”
After saying that, he also sighed. “This time, I’m afraid I’ll be transferred.”
That would only benefit Crown Prince Jiao’s granduncle, Wei Ran.
Wei Ran loved money and was greedy for it, but unfortunately, he had an eloquent tongue. It was said that he had been making arrangements related to this matter recently.
If nothing unexpected happened, Wei Ran would replace him.
Madam Ronghua was unwilling to accept it. “In a few days, it will be the birthday of Duke Shang’s legitimate grandsons. Those twins have always been Duke Shang’s favorites. Why don’t we prepare a generous gift and try?”
Chen Shouye sighed. “We have never had much contact with Duke Shang before. Besides, Duke Shang has always been fair and strict. Why would he suddenly do us a favor over such an ordinary matter?”
It was merely burning incense at the last minute. Useless.
Madam Ronghua said, “We have to try. Are we supposed to just hand the position over?”
The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.
Chen Bai still did not know about the Court Commandant’s residence’s current situation. Even he probably had not expected that his matter would cause such a large chain reaction.
By the time Chen Bai barely managed to teach Chen Xiaobu how to push the skateboard with one foot, the moon was already high in the sky.
He still had to attend Shangjing Academy tomorrow. Chen Bai beckoned toward the courtyard gate. Several servants who usually took care of Chen Xiaobu were waiting there, and they hurried in.
Chen Bai handed the still-unsatisfied Chen Xiaobu over to them, then returned to his room.
He had originally planned to rest, but Qi Zheng had sent several more voice messages to his phone.
Fine. He had to chat for a while.
So he replied one by one.
But did he think it ended there?
In the middle of the night, just as Chen Bai was lying on the bed and almost asleep, Qi Zheng sent another voice message.
Chen Bai’s obsessive-compulsive habit forced him to turn over, get up, and tap the message open.
All of the messages were meaningless.
“Demon, are you there?”
“Demon, are you asleep?”
“Do demons need to sleep too?”
Chen Bai: “…”
He somewhat regretted teaching Qi Zheng how to send voice messages.
Qi Zheng had probably just learned a new function for the first time, and Chen Bai was the only person he could chat with. No need to guess, Qi Zheng was using him for experimentation and to satisfy his curiosity.
After Chen Bai got up and replied several times, he finally could not take it anymore.
He went to bring over a basin of water, washed his face with cold water to wake himself up, then picked up his phone.
Come on, then. Let’s chat. Let’s hurt each other. Let’s see who dies from staying up first.
In the end, Qi Zheng had quite a few tricks. Holding a lantern, he solemnly showed Chen Bai the potatoes being test-planted in the patch of land opened up in his residence.
A prince, running to the fields in the middle of the night to look at potatoes—this wild move left Chen Bai stunned for a long time. It was truly a one-of-a-kind treatment.
Could it be that people who looked cold and indifferent in real life were actually especially restless inside?
In the end, Chen Bai could not outlast the overly energetic Qi Zheng. When the sky was nearly bright, he collapsed.
When Chen Xiaobu came to find him so they could go to Shangjing Academy together, Chen Bai looked like an eggplant beaten by frost, completely sleep-deprived.
“Brother, what happened to you?” Chen Xiaobu looked at the listless Chen Bai and asked, “Did you go out stealing last night?”
Chen Bai thought, it was even more exciting than stealing. Qi Zheng, who always had “don’t come near me” written all over his face, had forced him to chat for an entire night. If he told anyone, they would probably think he had lost his mind.
When Chen Bai looked at Chen Xiaobu, he froze too. Chen Xiaobu was wearing the helmet and knee pads while hugging the skateboard.
He was going to class like that?
More importantly, he had been wearing a huge grin the whole time, so wide his mouth could not close.
“What happened to your face?” Chen Bai asked.
“I don’t know. After I went back yesterday, it became like this. My mouth just keeps smiling and won’t close. I can’t control it.” Chen Xiaobu showed a row of little white teeth.
Chen Bai thought, just how much did he like the skateboard he had given him?
He took Chen Xiaobu out, but Chen Xiaobu placed the skateboard on the ground. “Brother, I’m not taking the carriage. I’ll use this to go to school.”
Chen Bai: “…”
He had someone follow beside Chen Xiaobu while he himself got into the carriage. He needed to nap for a while.
Shangjing’s streets were paved with blue stones. They were smoother than expected. There were indeed many aspects of ancient craftsmanship that could amaze people.
A child lifting his little robe while skateboarding down the street probably drew even more attention than a prince’s procession. The servants running behind him had it hard.
When they arrived outside Shangjing Academy, Chen Bai waited for Qi Zheng.
Since Qi Zheng had worn him out until he was half-dead, he had to see what Qi Zheng looked like before he could be satisfied.
In the end, Qi Zheng arrived with the compound bow on his back, full of energy.
Was this man’s body made of iron?
So the only one who suffered was him?
Qi Zheng did not even glance at Chen Bai and walked straight into the academy.
Chen Bai: “…”
Sure enough, online friends were heartless once they were done.
When he entered the schoolroom, Chen Bai noticed that the way his classmates looked at him had changed.
After thinking about it slightly, he understood. Yesterday’s news must have spread. The Chen Zixiu case… lacked evidence.
Whether they believed it or not, they probably could no longer insult him as righteously and recklessly as before.
If they had truly wronged him, it would not look good for them in the future either.
Of course, these people did not suddenly give him friendly expressions. Right now, they were all crowding around Qi Zheng to look at that compound bow. The bow had now been exaggerated into something almost divine.
Qi Zheng, however, ignored everyone.
Chen Bai smiled. Destined to be alone forever.
Compared with Chen Bai’s listlessness, Chen Xiaobu was completely different.
Standing on his little skateboard, face forward, bottom backward, he looked indescribably proud and high-spirited.
A group of children followed behind him. They were all classmates from the same schoolroom.
Especially the two twins at the front. Their eyes were so bright they almost glowed. “Chen Xiaobu, Chen Xiaobu, what is that thing you’re playing with? And that hat on your head, and those things tied to your knees, what are they?”
They looked so good—especially neat and stylish.
“Let us play too!”
Chen Xiaobu snorted. “Shang Jujiu, Shang Zhizhou, didn’t you call me the pervert’s little brother? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t play with me? Since you won’t play with me, I won’t play with you either. I, Chen Xiaobu, also need to save face.”
He said that, yet he kept circling around these little classmates on the skateboard.
The whole group of children’s eyes seemed to have trackers installed, completely unable to leave Chen Xiaobu as he rode the wind and waves.
Chen Xiaobu was incredibly smug. “This is the birthday gift my brother gave me. You’ve never seen anything this fun, have you?”
As a result, during class in Chen Xiaobu’s schoolroom, a group of children vigorously flipped through the almanac under their desks. How long until their birthdays again? They absolutely had to make their fathers send Young Master Bai an invitation.
Some went even further…
Two children came over to Chen Bai’s side, pretending to casually pass by. “Our birthdays are coming soon. Anyone invited will give us gifts.”
They passed by him several times, saying the exact same thing each time.
Chen Bai: “…”
Weren’t these Duke Shang’s twin grandsons? They seemed to be called Shang Jujiu and Shang Zhizhou.
What were they doing?
He did not understand.
Compared with Chen Bai and Chen Xiaobu’s fairly peaceful academy life, Chen Shouye and Madam Ronghua were rather busy. They tried every possible connection, hoping someone would be able to put in a word for them when the time came.
In truth, the only ones who could really speak on the matter were the Emperor and the Three Dukes.
Unfortunately, incense burned at the last minute was not so easy to make effective.
