"This one at twenty-eight hundred is an electric bicycle. Under the new rules the top speed's capped at 25, you can't add a basket, and no carrying a passenger on the back."
"No passenger? Pass." Chu Ge pointed to the other side, at something that looked a lot like a motorcycle. "Then what about that kind?"
"That's a light e-motorcycle. You need a license, a helmet, and a motorcycle plate."
"I do have a motorcycle license. But isn't Nanjiang banning motorcycles these days?"
"Some stretches of downtown are off-limits. Light e-motorcycles are fine in most areas; the ones that do a hundred-plus aren't."
"Electric scooters do a hundred-plus now?" Chu Ge felt keenly the depths of his own ignorance. "How much does that one go for?"
"Not much. A little over ten thousand."
"...And this light one?"
"This model's five thousand eight hundred. The battery's lead-acid, though, so you're better off with this lithium one, only a few hundred more, six thousand three hundred... and since you're already at this one, why not go with this one, better range, plus a smart sensor lock, only six thousand eight hundred..."
Walk into the graphics-card forum with a five-thousand budget, and you add on until it's ninety-eight thousand.
Chu Ge had only planned to drop two or three thousand on a little electric scooter. Somehow he'd spent six thousand eight hundred.
My heart's bleeding. The new royalty payment is decent, but it hasn't landed yet—looks like I'm eating dirt for a few days.
Guess picking up girls really does cost money...
In the half year he'd shared digs with Zhang Qiren, the two of them together had probably spent less than he had in the past month or two.
Broke was broke, but as the scooter cruised along the riverside road, the evening breeze on his face and Qiu Wuji's faint fragrance drifting from the back seat, Chu Ge's mood lifted, and he felt even sixty-eight thousand would have been worth it. Zhang Qiren? Who's that? Never heard of him.
The only regret was that Qiu Wuji was too strong. She had no need at all to wrap her arms around his waist like other girls; she sat sideways by herself, with better balance than anyone.
Should I think up some way to cajole her a bit, so she's not so above it all? Safety first... hmm...
Qiu Wuji was bent over the two masks Chu Ge had grabbed at a roadside stall, turning them this way and that. She thought they were rather cute; too bad they weren't a his-and-hers set. "This chubby doll's adorable. Does it have a name?"
Chu Ge said gravely, "Actually, I once fantasized that you'd recognize them."
Qiu Wuji said, puzzled, "Why on earth would I recognize them?"
"When those idiots in the group chat were sending you 'cars,' I had this dream that you'd downloaded an hour of Huluwa, watched it, and then solemnly scolded me that a man my age shouldn't be watching something so childish... I'd have taken the scolding with shock and delight."
Qiu Wuji: "..."
"As it turns out, they're far too honest. They actually sent you the real thing—any chance you could tell me which one?"
Qiu Wuji ground her teeth. "Chu Ge, do you have a death wish?"
Chu Ge promptly returned to the point. "So these are Huluwa. The one with the yellow gourd on his head is Third Brother, I'll wear that one. The blue gourd is Sixth Brother, you wear that one."
Qiu Wuji's tone was teasing. "Because you're the yellow one?"
Chu Ge: "...Could you please quit that group chat? Look what they've infected you with."
Qiu Wuji said, "Then tell me, what's the idea behind them?"
"Third Brother's the invulnerable one—blades and spears can't touch him. I'll tell them that's my power. Sixth Brother's the invisible one, that's yours. Making things up—since when does that stump a writer like me?"
"Is there a 'bonk people over the head' brother? With invisibility all you can do is stand there watching. Boring."
"Unless it's necessary, maybe you should hold back a little..."
"Oh."
In truth, neither of them knew why she had to hold back, but both of them instinctively felt it. Maybe deep down they were still a little uneasy—she wasn't from this world, after all, and being too conspicuous was never a good thing.
So Qiu Wuji asked, a little hesitant, "You really want me to come along?"
"Lin Wuyang already knows there's a woman around me, and Zhong Yi's the one handling your ID. Hiding it doesn't buy much. Better to just openly admit you're an esper—fewer suspicions that way."
"Writers all have filthy minds."
"Hey, the female sect master from a conquest novel is saying that to me? Don't go blaming my writing—that was your own idea at the time."
"Hmph. I just think you're not quite as dumb as you look." Qiu Wuji lowered her head, her palm brushing lightly over the two masks.
The masks gave off a soft glow, then it faded away.
Chu Ge seemed to sense something. "You cast a spell again. That won't shorten your stay, will it?"
Qiu Wuji said irritably, "It's a tiny spell. Do you really think that's enough to matter?"
"What spell this time?"
"So they can't see through the masks... What if one of them has X-ray eyes?"
"Then I think the first thing you ought to cast it on is your clothes."
"Just ride your bike!" Qiu Wuji said bitterly. "My spell can change vocal timbre too, so no one can tell it's your real voice—the restaurant owner has heard our voices. Did that ever occur to you, you idiot?"
Chu Ge muttered, "You'd think they were cultivators. People come and go in that restaurant all day—who the hell remembers your voice..."
At eight thirty that evening, the little restaurant, never exactly crowded, was emptier than ever. The owner and his wife were bored behind the counter, playing on their phones, when the door opened and someone walked in.
They looked up. A pair of Huluwa.
"Zhong Buli sent me," said the Huluwa.
The silence lasted a full three seconds. The owner's face was blank. "Zhong Buli said we'd put it to a vote. I'll state my position in advance: I agree."
The owner's wife said, "A weirdo who'd wear masks like those and this bunch—a match made in heaven."
Chu Ge said, surprised, "You didn't even ask my name."
"What do you need a name for?" said the owner's wife. "Shouldn't you just be Third Brother?"
Chu Ge: "..."
Damn, that's actually a good point.
He patted Qiu Wuji's shoulder with a sorrowful air. "Let's go in, Sixth Brother."
Qiu Wuji badly wanted to say that over there, all her rude outbursts really hadn't been on purpose, and that if she kept spending time with these people, then over there she'd have to think hard before she opened her mouth, just to remember how Qiu Wuji was supposed to talk...
A couple of lines into the conversation, the owner's game character fed a kill, so he simply went AFK. "I'll take you in."
He pushed open the back door, stepped into the small courtyard where they prepped the food, led Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji around the back of it, and arrived at another rundown two-story building.
"We all pooled money to buy the place. Over the years we took a few jobs and made a bit, and basically it all went into this." The owner said, "My surname's Jin. People here hardly ever use names—they call me the Head Chef, even though my cooking's so-so."
"Ahem." Chu Ge said, "It's actually not bad."
"When something's up, we usually gather here. If the Black House counts as a place, then this little building is the Black House." Head Chef Jin opened the front door of the shabby two-story building, and the inside was brightly lit—not dark in the least.
Unlike the apartment block Chu Ge had pictured, this wasn't a residential living room. The moment he stepped inside he got a gym vibe; there were things that looked a lot like workout equipment everywhere, computers in the corner, and Chu Ge spotted at a glance a fat guy playing a game in front of one of them.
The young man with writing all over his face was standing in front of a mirror, practicing writing on his own face.
And Zhong Yi was playing chess with a masked man.
The things that looked like gym equipment stood empty, not a soul on any of them.
So this is your idea of training?
Zhong Yi wasn't surprised to see Head Chef Jin bring the two of them in; Chu Ge had texted him before coming, and he'd told Chu Ge to talk to the boss directly. He kept his head down and his chess game going, and said with a laugh, "You brought them in yourself—does that mean you agree?"
Head Chef Jin said, "You vouched for them. If there's a problem, we come to you."
The masked man at the chessboard said, "I'm a masked man myself. Of course I have to agree."
Zhong Yi called out, "What about you, Ah Jun?"
The young man with the writing turned his head and called back, "Fatty, what do you say?"
The fatty said, "Ask him whether he reads novels. If he's an NTR guy, he can go die for all I care."
Chu Ge said earnestly, "I'm a loyal reader of Chu Tian Wu Ji. Qiu Wuji's my favorite. Qiu Wuji is my wife. Tss—"
Qiu Wuji twisted the soft flesh at his waist—clockwise, then counterclockwise. Under the mask, her pretty face was furious. So you were lying in wait for this, weren't you?
Writers really do have filthy minds!
Over there, the young man and the fatty were overjoyed, and said in unison, "We approve."
Zhong Yi was saying to the masked man, "Tell me these people aren't strange. Out there, people beat each other half to death over a waifu, and these idiots hear one guy claim one and it's like they've found a soulmate."