After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

After Ao Tianxin left, Lin Chu sat in the courtyard for a long time.

Ao Tianxin's words kept replaying in his mind.

Just follow your heart.

Lin Chu looked down at her hands.

Without spiritual power and without innate talent, one can do nothing.

But when Ao Tianxin said those words, her expression didn't seem like she was comforting him.

He stood up, put away the wine pot and jade cup, and pushed open the door to go inside.

The oil lamp was still lit, and the flame flickered twice.

Cang Yao must have added oil before leaving, as there was still more than half oil left in the lamp.

Lin Chu put the dishes into the kitchen and then went to tidy up the clutter on the table.

He noticed a bundle in the corner and picked it up, intending to put it on the cabinet.

The bundle wasn't tied tightly, and a small booklet slipped out and fell to the ground with a thud.

Lin Chu bent down and picked it up.

The cover was made of ordinary mulberry paper, with frayed edges, indicating it had been flipped many times.

He intended to close the book and put it back, but on the page he opened, a few crooked words caught his eye.

The two characters are "Lin Chu".

He paused for a moment, turned the booklet over, and started reading from the beginning.

The handwriting on the first page is the most immature, with crooked strokes and lumps of ink in some places.

But every stroke was written with great effort.

"I learned a new poem today, taught by Lin Chu: 'In life and death, we made a vow; I will hold your hand and grow old with you.' I don't quite understand the latter part, but he said it means holding your hand and growing old together. Hehe."

Lin Chu looked at the line of text, her finger pausing on the page for a moment.

He turned to the next page.

"I went to the market today. Lin Chu wouldn't let me exchange pearls for money, so I had to be careful with my spending. I bought a bunch of chives for one coin, rapeseed for two coins, and eggplant for three coins. The uncle selling vegetables gave me two extra scallions, saying they were a gift because I come here often. I saved four coins this month."

Turn another page.

"It was cold, and Lin Chu's hands were red from the cold as he continued writing. I learned to knit gloves from Aunt Wang, and it took me three rounds to finish. My fingers were all pricked. But it was worth it. He looked very handsome writing with the gloves on."

"Lin Chu asked me if I missed home, and I said no. Actually, I missed Xiao Xiao a little bit, but I wanted to stay here more."

Lin Chu slowed down her page turning.

He leaned against the cabinet and, by the light of the oil lamp, read down line by line.

"Today I learned how to make braised pork from Aunt Qin. He ate two bowls of rice and said it was delicious."

"Today is the Qixi Festival, and Aunt Qin said that girls should make wishes on this day. I made a wish, but I can't tell him, because it won't come true if I tell him anyway."

"It's Chinese New Year, and this is the second year I've spent it with him. I hope to spend every New Year with him from now on."

Lin Chu closed the booklet and held it in her hand.

The mulberry paper cover was worn and frayed, and some of the page corners were curled up, probably because it had been turned over too many times.

He imagined her sitting alone in her bedchamber when she was in the Dragon Court, opening this book and memorizing it word by word.

Her handwriting became much neater later on than at the beginning, but it still carried a clumsy earnestness, with each stroke drawn out long, like a child swinging their arm when learning to walk.

Lin Chu raised her head and looked out the window.

I've been in this world for over six years.

He suddenly realized that he hadn't thought about Earth for a long time.

Those cubicles, overtime work, Manager Wang, cell phones, subways—it all seems like something from a past life.

No, it's further back than a past life.

Occasionally, a fragment or two will flash through my dreams, but they will disappear when I wake up, and I can't hold onto them no matter how hard I try.

He began to feel that life in Qinghe Village was the real thing.

I get up early every day to read, eat, and occasionally take a walk by the stream.

Cangyao was picking vegetables under the locust tree when Aunt Wang called her from next door, and Mr. Chen was dozing off in the corridor.

These things happened day after day, and before he knew it, they had become his everything.

The Book of Myriad Realms explains it very clearly.

The time in the book is not in the same dimension as the real world. In order to protect the host's mind from confusion after returning to reality, the specific memories in the book, except for the rewards, will be sealed after the event ends, and only the general plot will be retained.

He didn't think much of it when he saw the rule.

Now I suddenly understand.

This is only the first world, and it's only been six years.

He's almost treating Earth as something from a past life.

What if he stays for ten years, twenty years, or a lifetime? What if he lives to old age, until his hair turns white, until he spends the rest of his life in Qinghe Village—

Does he still remember where he came from?

Can he still bear to leave?

Lin Chu placed the booklet on the cabinet and sat down on the edge of the bed.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered twice, making his shadow on the wall sway and change size.

Suddenly, a series of light footsteps came from outside.

"Lin Chu!"

Cang Yao's voice drifted in from the courtyard.

Lin Chu looked up as the door was pushed open. Cang Yao stepped across the threshold, carrying a small cloth bag in her hand, her face still showing the excitement of returning from the market.

"The market was so lively today! Aunt Qin took me to a fabric stall, and the fabric was so beautiful, with so many colors—"

She put the cloth bag on the table, turned around to continue speaking, and suddenly stopped.

She looked at Lin Chu's face and tilted her head.

"What's wrong with you?"

Lin Chu shook her head: "Nothing, I was just thinking about something."

Cang Yao walked up to him, bent down, and looked up at him.

Her peach-blossom eyes stared straight into his eyes, as if she were examining something.

You don't look well.

"No, I'm just a little tired."

Cang Yao pursed her lips.

He was perfectly fine just a moment ago, but after going out to the market and coming back, he suddenly became strange.

Her face was still the same face, but her gaze was far away, as if she were looking at her, or as if she were looking at something else she couldn't see.

She had no idea what he was thinking.

But she felt that what he was thinking about now must not be anything easy.

Because his expression was very similar to the one he made by the stream that day when he said, "I'm going to the capital in the spring."

Cang Yao did not ask any further questions.

She never followed up with him asking questions, neither before nor now.

She simply sat down next to him, opened her small cloth bag, took out the things she had bought at the market, and showed them to him one by one.

This piece of light blue cloth can be used to make him summer clothes.

Aunt Qin said this small packet of sesame candy was delicious.

There was also a piece of ink. The old man selling it said it was good ink, and she smelled it and it was indeed more fragrant than the previous one, so she bought it.

Lin Chu watched as she arranged the items on the table one by one, chattering on about what happened at the market—the fishmonger and the vegetable vendor were arguing, Aunt Qin bargained so hard that the vendor's face turned green, and the village dog chased the peddler's load for half a street.

Her voice was light and cheerful.

Lin Chu leaned back in her chair and listened.