Chapter 73: Illya in the Modern World
“So… what exactly happened last night?” Illya asked with some confusion.
Chu Feng scratched his head. How the hell was he supposed to answer that?
From what he could recall, he’d kind of… slept with Illya in a foggy, half-conscious daze. Unfortunately, the whole thing was so vague, the details were basically lost to him.
To have his first time be so… anticlimactic—it left him feeling strangely conflicted.
Illya had a vague sense that something happened, but wasn’t clear on what.
Chu Feng looked at him and thought, Does he seriously have no idea what happened last night?
Well, with no proper guidance, no “educational materials,” and no mentor to explain this stuff—it was understandable.
Chu Feng suddenly remembered a news story about a couple of researchers who had been married for years and still had no kids. Turns out, they literally didn’t know what sex was. They thought “going to bed” meant just lying down side by side.
Illya’s parents had died early, and people in the village wouldn’t just bring up intimate matters out of the blue. So if he truly didn’t know… it wasn’t that surprising.
“We were drunk…”
“…What’s that?”
Illya was quickly distracted by the things inside the villa and didn’t press further about what had happened before the crossing.
Seeing Illya’s attention shift, Chu Feng let out a breath of relief—but also felt a vague sense of loss. That was our first time, after all, and he’s not even curious?
“That’s a hanging chair—for sitting in and enjoying the sun.”
Illya sat in it and swung his feet. “It’s really comfortable!”
Chu Feng chuckled. “If you like it, you can take one back with you.”
Illya shook his head. “No need. There’s no space to put it over there anyway.”
Chu Feng nodded—Fair enough.
Then Illya sat down on the sofa. “This is comfortable too!”
Chu Feng smiled. That leather sofa had cost him over a hundred thousand yuan. Seeing Illya enjoy it, he suddenly felt like it was worth every cent.
“And this wall—so pretty!”
“That’s wallpaper. It’s pasted over the wall.”
“Wallpaper? Can you buy that?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Of course.”
Illya touched it, marveling aloud, “This paper is beautiful—better than gold lacquer.”
Chu Feng raised his eyebrows. The other world already had various paints, but gold lacquer was the most expensive—only nobles could afford it.
He’d originally been worried about how to explain everything to Illya. But the latter seemed completely captivated by the room and hadn’t even noticed what had happened before. Chu Feng was relieved, though oddly disappointed too.
“Are you hungry? I’ll take you out to eat,” Chu Feng said.
Illya’s eyes lit up. “You’re going to let me try your world’s food?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yup.”
“That’s great!”
Chu Feng had occasionally mentioned his world in passing, and though Illya always pretended not to care, he had clearly remembered everything. He’d been longing to come here for a while.
Chu Feng looked at him and hesitated. “You can’t go out like this—you need to disguise yourself as a human.”
Illya blinked. “Do people here also hunt elves?”
Chu Feng: “…”
Hunt elves? Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t!
“There are no elves here.”
Illya blinked again. “Oh right—you told me that before.”
A faint gray mist surrounded Illya’s body. When it cleared, his appearance subtly shifted. He looked human—just unusually attractive.
“Is this okay?”
Illya had disguised himself as a human many times before and was very practiced at it.
Chu Feng nodded. “It’ll do.”
Although his appearance still differed slightly from a typical Chinese person, there were plenty of foreigners with blond hair and blue eyes around, not to mention lots of mixed-race folks. Illya just looked like a very good-looking foreigner.
Chu Feng took him downstairs and over to the garage.
Seeing all the villas lined up in a row, Illya said, “These houses are beautiful! Are they all yours?”
Chu Feng: “…”
“No, just this one.”
Illya looked at it and said, “Even one is huge.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah, it’s plenty big.”
He opened the garage door and gestured for Illya to get in the car.
The automatic garage door and sleek car stirred countless questions in Illya’s mind, but he didn’t know where to begin.
Chu Feng opened the passenger door for him and helped him inside.
Leaning over, he helped Illya buckle his seatbelt.
Puzzled, Illya asked, “Why are we strapping ourselves in with belts?”
Chu Feng smiled. “It’s for safety.”
Illya blinked. “Being tied up… makes you safer?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yes.”
Still confused, Illya asked again, “But how does being tied up make you safe?”
Chu Feng: “…It just does. Experience says so.”
He started the engine and pulled out of the driveway. Illya looked around with wide eyes, taking everything in with wonder.
He pressed his face to the window, staring at the passing street.
“There are so many people!” he exclaimed.
Chu Feng nodded inwardly. “Yup.”
“So many cars too! Just like yours.”
“Yeah.”
“These cars are more expensive than motorcycles, right?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Correct.”
“Is that why you had the village build roads—so you could drive this kind of vehicle?”
Chu Feng nodded again. “Exactly.”
Illya nodded thoughtfully. “I see…”
Back when Chu Feng insisted on widening the village roads, many people thought it was unnecessary. Now Illya finally understood the reason.
“Your roads here are so wide. How much effort does it take to build something like this?”
Chu Feng smiled. “There are professional construction teams. It’s actually pretty fast.”
In China, countless new roads were built every year.
As they drove, Illya saw electric scooters, tricycles, motorcycles, and various cars. “That one’s so big—much bigger than ours.”
Chu Feng looked in the direction Illya was pointing—it was a bus.
“That one’s really big.”
“It must be super expensive too.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yes.”
Buses might be public transportation, but they were still expensive.
“Can you afford one of those?” Illya asked.
Chu Feng: “…”
Even if I could, I wouldn’t know how to drive it!
Watching the bustling crowds, Illya said with a hint of envy, “People here must be really rich.”
“Why do you say that?”
Illya tilted his head. “Because back home, lots of people want to buy motorcycles—but they feel like they’ll never afford one in their whole life.”
Chu Feng: “…A lifetime is long. As long as people’s motivation is stirred, real development can come quickly. You know, when China started its reforms and opening up, it grew from nothing in just a few decades.”
“There are so many people with cars here—does everyone have one?” Illya asked.
Chu Feng: “…”
Not every household owns a car, but as long as you’re not extremely poor, you can at least afford an electric scooter.
The car stopped in front of Biyue Restaurant, the biggest restaurant in the city. It’s the top choice for weddings and banquets among the wealthy.
“Let’s go.”
Illya followed Chu Feng into the lobby, and the moment they stepped in, his attention was caught by the ornate feature wall—a dazzling gold design of a dragon and phoenix intertwined.
“Is that real gold?” Illya tugged on Chu Feng’s sleeve, asking curiously.
Chu Feng shook his head. “No.”
Though Biyue Restaurant was luxuriously decorated, they weren’t at the level of using actual gold.
Illya frowned slightly. “It’s not?”
“It’s paint—don’t you guys have gold lacquer over there too?”
Illya shook his head. “It’s not the same.”
Chu Feng took Illya’s hand. “Come on.”
Chu Feng booked a private room. Although it was daytime, the lighting inside was dim. A crystal chandelier lit up the space, and Illya looked up at it in amazement.
Chu Feng ordered more than half the items on the menu.
The waitress glanced at the long order slip, visibly stunned. “Sir, are you sure you want this much? Are more people joining later?”
Chu Feng glanced at her and nodded. “Yes, more are coming.”
The waitress gave an understanding nod. “Should we serve now or wait until everyone’s here?”
“Go ahead and serve now—they’ll be here soon.”
“Alright then.”
Illya looked at Chu Feng. “Isn’t this too much?”
Chu Feng glanced at him. “You’re rarely here. With so many good things to eat, of course you should try them all.”
The rabbit they had brought last time had indeed died. Chu Feng still wasn’t sure how Illya made it through. Now that he had followed Chu Feng to this world, there was no telling if he could return or visit again. Better to enjoy it while he could.
The food didn’t arrive too quickly, but each dish amazed Illya with its flavor. He wished he had several more stomachs.
“You really did order too much,” Illya said again.
Chu Feng smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not short on money.”
Illya puffed out his cheeks. “Still, we shouldn’t waste food!”
Chu Feng laughed. “It’s fine. This whole table of food costs about the same as one wooden sculpture.”
Illya was surprised. “Wood carvings are worth that much?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Of course.”
“Eat what you like. If you don’t like something, just leave it.”
Illya puffed up his cheeks again. “Alright…”
“Sir, all your dishes have been served,” the waitress said.
Chu Feng nodded. “Got it.”
“Your friends haven’t arrived yet?”
“They had something come up and won’t be coming,” Chu Feng said blandly.
The waitress frowned slightly. “Then all this food…?”
Chu Feng waved her off. “It’s fine.”
The waitress left the room and whispered to the others, “Those two are weird. Ordered a whole table of food—probably won’t finish even half.”
“They probably had someone else coming who canceled last minute.”
“Honestly, I feel like that guy knew no one else was coming from the start.”
“Maybe it’s reimbursed—he’s spending public funds and doesn’t care.”
“But that long-haired guy—he’s really good-looking.”
“Must be a foreigner. Doesn’t look local.”
“Not exactly—maybe mixed-race? Definitely a hybrid.”
Inside, Illya kept tasting dishes and couldn’t help saying, “Your food here is so beautifully made!”
Chu Feng nodded. “If the food looks good, it stimulates your appetite.”
They ate on and off for over an hour, only stopping when they were completely full.
Chu Feng went to pay at the front desk. The meal cost over 5,000 yuan. In the past, he might’ve felt distressed over that, but now, with money in his pocket, he didn’t even blink.
Illya didn’t really understand the value of money, so when Chu Feng told him not to worry, he simply believed it.
