Volume 15
Chapter 25: Lu Li’s Great Mission
Spring comes and autumn goes, the tide rises and falls. Counting on his fingers, there were only a few days left until the start of his sophomore year. Lu Li still remembered that when he was reborn, it was the start of his second year of high school. In the blink of an eye, it had already been four years.
Four years. Not long, but not short either. He had once sat in his high school classroom, thinking he had to cherish the time, to remember this moment. In a daze, that was already four years ago. It was a pity that he still didn’t know the name of his female deskmate from back then. So-called youth is perhaps just many strands of unfinished business, like the cold rain in autumn, falling lightly on the skin.
Lu Li and his group were quite conspicuous in front of the main entrance of Mulan University. Baili, Hupo, and Chen Jianing had become a beautiful scenic line, not to mention that a few steps away from them, Zhu Xi was still instructing the “new student” Zhu Qiao about something. Lu Li saw that Zhu Xi’s gaze was not as fierce as before. Her eyelids were half-closed as she gently straightened Zhu Qiao’s collar. Was she perhaps instructing Little Qiao to study hard, telling her to get along well with her classmates? Lu Li listened closely, but only heard, “Little Qiao, you have to remember, whoever bullies you, you hit them back hard. If you encounter a greenhorn, you come and find Lu Li or me, understand?” Lu Li couldn’t help but laugh. Hoping that Zhu Xi could teach others well was like hoping for Baili to become an academic doctor.
An Baili sneezed. She rolled her eyes and looked at Chen Jianing. “Little shorty, were you cursing me in your heart?” Chen Jianing puffed out her chest, but unfortunately, there was nothing for her to jiggle. “Tch, who would be bothered to curse you.” “If you weren’t cursing me in your heart, why would I sneeze?” “It was Lu Li who was cursing you.” “Li wouldn’t curse you, and Hupo wouldn’t either. It must have been you!”
…
Five girls were enough to attract a lot of attention. Many new students, dragging their luggage, deliberately walked very slowly, only daring to size them up with the corner of their eyes. It wasn’t that Lu Li had deliberately brought the girls out to show off; they were here to welcome an important “exchange student”—Chu Jingyi.
It was a pity Yameng hadn’t come. Yesterday, when Lu Li was bullying Little Qiao, he was caught by Yameng. She sympathized with Little Qiao and offered herself to the tiger, and as a result, she was so drained by the greatly strengthened Lu Li that she couldn’t get up this morning. Speaking of strength, Lu Li couldn’t help but feel a little proud. The old father-in-law Chen’s recipe was indeed very effective. His body, due to the Price, had an astonishing recovery rate, and his absorption of the medicinal effects was also extremely efficient. After only eating it for half a year, he was already able to battle Yameng and Zhu Xi. Of course, if all six of them came at him at once, it would still be a little strenuous.
Hupo, standing bored, started a conversation with Lu Li. “Outstanding Representative, have you ever counted how many children you’re going to have in the future?”
Lu Li stroked his chin. He really hadn’t counted. His desire for children was not strong. It was a little selfish to say, but compared to children, he cared more about his women. Offspring represent the reproduction and long-cherished wish of humanity. If he had no regrets in this life and lived a happy and carefree life, then his demands on his offspring would naturally be lower, even to the point where he wouldn’t need offspring at all. However, he and the girls might not care, but the families behind them would not allow it. This was perhaps another “Price” of Lu Li’s.
“Zhu Youcheng—ah no, His Majesty—just called a few days ago and talked about this. Let me see. My and Zhu Xi’s or Zhu Qiao’s child, the boy will be sent to the royal family, and in the future, he might be able to be a prince who has no worries about food and clothing.” Lu Li had subconsciously started to call him by his full name, mainly because his Zhu family father-in-law really didn’t have any airs and had been too humble in front of the two of them. Perhaps this boy would inherit the fierce streak in Zhu Xi’s bones and Lu Li’s shamelessness, and might even be able to fight for the throne and become an enhanced version of Zhu Xi. But that was many years later. Although Lu Li felt this possibility was not small, he couldn’t manage things that far away. His children and grandchildren would have their own fortunes. Let the later generations worry about the future. And… he remembered Grandma Zhu saying before that the great calamity had only been postponed for a hundred years, not eliminated. The constitutional monarchy of Shenzhou would have problems sooner or later.
Lu Li looked up at Zhu Xi. For some reason, he always felt that this future calamity would fall on his and Zhu Xi’s descendants.
“If a girl is born, she’ll just inherit that big Yan family.” Lu Li counted on his fingers. That was already two children. “After that, there’s still the child with Jingyi. Chu Xiaodong and Old Master Chu have always been looking forward to it. It would be best to have a boy. The old fox would definitely be so happy he’d wake up laughing from his dreams. He might even see his grandson as more important than me and Yibao.” He bent his middle finger.
“The fourth and fifth children should be the ones I promised you, Hupo… a pair of twins.”
Hupo’s face turned slightly red. “How did you know it would be twins?”
Lu Li pointed to his temple and said seriously, “Intuition. My intuition tells me that our little angels will come back… Although fate has changed, it will eventually converge to a single point.”
Hupo nodded slightly. “I hope so…”
One hand wasn’t enough to count. Lu Li took out his other hand. “The sixth is Baili. She always regretted not being able to have a child for me in her last life. Although I don’t really care that much, this is probably a heartache for her.”
Hupo thought of the now-reborn An Baili and couldn’t help but reveal a serene smile. “She will be a good mother.”
Is that so? Lu Li was unconvinced. He felt Baili was the type of mother who would just leave her child and go off to play herself.
“The seventh… hmm, the old Chen family is a single-child generation, so they definitely need an explanation. It’s just that I think the Little Tiger will probably be afraid of having a child, so we’ll just leave it up to her. And Yameng, this isn’t necessary either. It’s all up to her.”
Hupo said, “By that count, you have to have at least six children. Then your task is truly arduous.” It was that familiar teasing tone again.
Speaking of having children, naturally, one had to think further ahead. Lu Li sighed. “After the children are born, they can all be handed over to their in-laws to raise, so it won’t take up too much of our couple time. It’s just that, if it really comes to the time of having children, it will probably be many years later. After the children are born, I’ll have to wait for them to grow up. In the blink of an eye, it will be twenty years… After they grow up, they’ll start their own families one after another. In a few years, I might even be a grandfather… all of a sudden, I’ll be old.” There was a hint of melancholy in Lu Li’s tone. He hoped that this kind of life could last for a few more years, to live carefree with them, like heaven on earth.
“People will always get old. One day, our hair will all be white, and we won’t be able to go up the stairs so easily. One morning, we’ll wake up and find that we can’t put on our socks nimbly anymore. When we get up, we’ll suddenly forget what we’re going to do today.” Lu Li was a little sentimental. “If it really comes to that time, I hope I can live a little longer.”
Hupo’s eyes sparkled. “Why?”
“Although I’m very afraid of getting old, I don’t want to go before you all. Otherwise, you’ll be in great pain. I’ll just be the last one to go. After you all have gone, I’ll pack up and then set off on my journey with a calm mind.”
“…Then won’t you have experienced seven partings of life and death?”
“…It’s better than letting you all experience it.” Lu Li smiled with quiet acceptance.
Hupo smiled too – but unlike Lu Li’s smile that carried wisdom touched with melancholy, hers was radiant enough to dispel all shadows. “As if it’s only seven times. There are still decades of life left. The sun has only just risen. Who knows how many more girls you’ll trick in the future? Instead of thinking about things that are who knows how many years away, you should manage yourself and stop tricking little girls!”
Lu Li gave an awkward smile, the little bit of melancholy in his heart washed away by Hupo’s teasing. Yes, how far had he come now? He hadn’t even graduated from university yet. The future of his life was so long that it would make any professional marvel at how good it was to be young. At such a young age, what was the point of thinking so far ahead?
He looked up. Just as Hupo had said, the rising sun was slowly ascending, just like his life. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and facing the sunlight, he saw a graceful figure trotting toward him.
“Lu Li~” Chu Jingyi ran toward him, treading on the golden light, a radiant glow behind her.
A thought suddenly flashed through Lu Li’s mind:
Ah. It’s so good to be alive.
