Sitting in the company car on the way home, it was no surprise that they encountered traffic jam.
Xu Kai looked out of the car window at the busy traffic, secretly delighted, and started chattering away.
"...This neighborhood is not going to move now, but eventually it will have to move. You have to think about what if some crazy fans or reporters come knocking on your door, that would be pretty annoying." Xu Kai advised.
Song Jixing nodded, taking this advice to heart.
Nothing could be more frightening than fellow sect members suddenly popping up out of nowhere.
It seemed she had to rent a standalone house, and even set up a maze at the front door, so others won't easily find their way in.
Sitting next to Song Jixing, Xu Kai saw his artist deep in thoughts, a smile crept up the corners of his mouth as he offered more advice unsolicited.
Half an hour later, the car finally arrived at the supermarket Xu Kai was talking about.
It was a huge imported supermarket at the entrance.
Most people going in and out of the supermarket were young men and women, dressed in fashionable and dazzling clothes, hardly any old folks to be seen.
Of course, there was also a sale sign hanging at the entrance, stating selected items at 15% off in English.
Xu Kai got out of the car, glanced at Song Jixing standing still in her spot, thinking she was waiting for him. With a beaming smile he went up to her and said, "Let's go, go inside and take a look! They have imported goods from overseas, guaranteed pesticide-free. Very good stuff, President Chen always buys fruits and vegetables from here!"
Song Jixing pursed her lips. She had gone through fiery mountains and seas of blades, what's there to fear from an imported supermarket?
It's just because she was poor!
But there's no harm taking a look inside.
After touring around the supermarket, Song Jixing came out carrying a box of fruits with Xu Kai and checked out.
At last, under Xu Kai's enthusiastic send-off, she bid goodbye at the entrance of Hong Chaoyang neighborhood.
"Eating fruit is good, you should eat more, it's good for your skin..." Xu Kai was still chattering away with advice.
"Oh right, I'll come earlier to pick you up tomorrow, we have a TV show to film!"
Song Jixing nodded, and went straight into the neighborhood without looking back, taking the elevator quickly and put the fruit box in the foyer.
At home there was only Huo Ling'er, sitting cross-legged on the sofa watching cartoons in earnest. She stood up and bowed a greeting when seeing Song Jixing, then promptly sat back down again.
"Big sister Song, the other people went out!"
Song Jixing picked up the note hanging on the door. Her senior brother's message said they went out job hunting.
Her senior sister was getting off work at 10pm tonight.
It was still quite early!
"Ling'er, shall I take you out for a walk?" Song Jixing said. The child had been watching cartoons at home all day, she must be bored stiff.
Upon hearing this, Huo Ling'er nodded, but glanced hesitantly at the unfinished cartoon on TV, "Can we go after I finish watching this episode?"
"Sure!"
A few minutes later, Song Jixing took Huo Ling'er, who just finished watching cartoons, across the street from their neighborhood.
Ling'er's clothes were made from Song Jixing's old clothes altered to fit her small size by Feng Juechen. Feng Juechen was very skilled with her hands, able to make a set of children's clothes out of an adult's old garment.
While it wouldn't be considered extremely well-made, but beggars can't be choosers, this was a good way to save money during this difficult period.
Huo Ling'er liked her own long hair, unlike the others who kept their hair short. It wasn't that peculiar for a child to have long hair, so Song Jixing let her be.
"Big sister Song, is that tasty?" Huo Ling'er pointed to a nearby food stand and asked.
There was a circle of children around the food stand, similar height to Huo Ling'er's.
Song Jixing looked up, then led Huo Ling'er by the hand to the front, "We'll know after trying it."
It was evening rush hour, and there were many schools in the vicinity. After being stuck in the same spot for a good while, Xu Kai's car moved forward by two to three hundred meters.
But it had been quite a fruitful day at work today, no matter if he went home later.
When the traffic light finally turned green, nanny car slowly moved forward again. Xu Kai turned his head to glance out the window.
He saw Song Jixing slowly making her way on the sidewalk outside, about to exit a green area by the road.
Xu Kai rolled down the window, intending to greet Song Jixing, when suddenly he caught sight of the child following behind her.
The child held a bright red candied haws apple, sticking close to Song Jixing like glue.
At first Xu Kai didn't think much of it, until he saw the child's side profile and long hair!
How could the resemblance be so uncanny!!
Oh my god!
Xu Kai clutched his chest and fell backwards into the passenger seat.
Perhaps from seeing too much, he didn't lose consciousness this time, but was still in considerable distress.
Little Zhao, the young driver, noticed Xu Kai's movement in the rear view mirror and asked with concern, "Brother Xu, are you not feeling well? Should I take you to the hospital?"
Xu Kai clutched his chest, breathing heavily!
"...Take me to Jinling Temple!"
Seeking temple instead of hospital when physically unwell, isn't that rather unscientific?
Little Zhao hesitated for a few seconds, thinking that people in their line of work do put stock in such beliefs, so he didn't dwell on it further. Worst comes to worst, they could just go from temple to hospital emergency later.
Less than an hour before dinner time, Feng Juechen and Shen Feixian hurried back carrying quite a number of things in their hands.
When they returned home, Song Jixing and Huo Ling'er were busy cooking in the kitchen. Hearing the sound from the doorway,
Song Jixing poked her head out from the kitchen holding a ladle, "You're back?"
"Junior martial sister, we did some odd jobs today and earned a bit of money." Shen Feixian said, taking the cash from his pocket and placing it in the box by the foyer.
That box was where Song Jixing kept money, mainly for the sect members to use.
With her sharp senses, Song Jixing naturally saw quite a few ¥100 notes in the stack of neatly arranged bills, easily seven to eight hundred yuan in that thickness.
In addition, there were also many things in the bags they were holding.
What kind of job could earn cash and items like this?
Song Jixing was curious, but didn't ask further.
"You must be tired, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner!" Song Jixing said.
After a brief dinner with four side dishes, one soup, plus a bowl of fruits, four rice bowls were placed at the four corners of the dining table.
The rice bowls were the ubiquitous blue and white floral motif melamine bowls commonly seen in the late 1990s for families dining together. Its presence at the table was a given whenever there are many people eating together.
It took considerable bargaining effort for Song Jixing to buy them from the market.
After all, such small bowls meant they had to be refilled many times for rice. One large bowl per person could solve a lot of problems.
The melamine bowls of the four diners were similar in size, and the rice portions were about enough to fill each person up.
As a result, Song Jixing specially purchased an extra-large rice cooker.
Following a quick dinner, Song Jixing mentioned that she would bring them out house hunting over the weekend: "We'll look for a house nearby then. I want to find a more secluded location. It's not so much about having space for all of us to live, but mainly so that having so many people around attracts less attention for meals and such. So it has to be someplace quiet."
Feng Juechen's voice drifted out from the kitchen amidst the sounds of washing up, "Martial sister, I'll go house hunting with you!"
Shen Feixian who was mopping the floor also piped up, "I'll go too!"
Not to be outdone, after tidying up the house, Huo Ling'er said, "Sis, I want to go too!"
