My wife is a witch princess.

What does this count as? Is it considered turning oneself in?

"You little thief, stealing things and still talking so self-righteously? We call that a bad seed, shameless, understand?"

Tao Xiang shrank back and asked weakly, "Could you...could you say another word to me? I didn't hear you..."

"Huh?" Song Che was taken aback.

Seeing that Song Che's expression was off, Tao Xiang immediately lowered her head skillfully and whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm stupid, I'm a bad seed, I'm shameless..."

Song Che was completely speechless, afraid that if she said another word, she would be pleased with herself and would end up eating at a table with Xia Li and Zhang Hanyu from now on. No, she would eat alone.

This little girl's few words contained multiple contradictions; without a doubt, she's a bad person, though we don't know just how bad.

Song Che decided to learn about it slowly, and he asked the question he was most concerned about, "Are there many monsters here?"

Tao Xiang shook her head, "There are no monsters here. After I left the orphanage, I wandered through most of the Xia Kingdom without finding any other monsters. Finally, I found my way to Nan Hui, and the prophecy in my mind came true..."

"A prophecy? You think I'm stupid..." Song Che remained skeptical. First, if the prophecy predicted him and a silver-haired girl, the girl's first reaction should have been friendly contact, not arresting him or setting fires. Second, the girl looked familiar; it felt like they'd met before. Finally, his family would have another mouth to feed!

"I'm not lying to you!" Tao Xiang said hurriedly. "You can go back to the movie theater and see for yourself! If it had really caught fire, the flames could have set all the seats on fire in no time. Actually, it was mostly smoke that day, not much open flame. Besides, my sister is terrified of fire!"

"What about when your sister blocked us at the stairwell and tried to attack us? What about that?"

"No!" Tao Xiang's eyes widened. "My sister just smiled, she was so friendly... and you still set the dog on her, almost killing her. My sister is afraid of dogs too..."

“…Oh, your excuse is quite interesting.” Song Che took out a gold coin. “Bless it for me. You’ll sleep on the sofa tonight. By the way, Bruce is a cat. If you call it a dog, it will be unhappy.”

"it is good."

Tao Xiang took the gold coin, looked at it, then brought it to her mouth and gently bit it with her teeth.

When Song Che took it back and looked at it, he almost choked – the gold coin had split in two!

He was so angry that he wanted to kick her right then and there, but Tao Xiang had already squatted down with her head in her hands, muttering repeatedly, "It was my shamelessness, I know I was wrong, it was my shamelessness..."

Song Che abruptly stopped, afraid that hitting her would lower his own IQ. He held up the cracked gold coin, his voice trembling, "This... this is what blessing is? It cracked right after the blessing? So... nothing happened, and I even lost money..."

Do you really think I'm like Xia Li, a stupid idiot who only knows how to eat?

Snapped!

A light tap landed on the back of Song Che's head.

Xia Li appeared beside him unnoticed, her blue eyes scrutinizing him. "I'm not stupid."

You still dare to argue? Do you really think you can hear what I'm thinking, you dog-headed Xia Li!

Snapped--!

Song Che was hit again. Tao Xiang, who was standing next to him, clutched her rumbling stomach, looked up with teary eyes, and mumbled softly, "Brother... can you give me a steamed bun first? Tao Xiang is... is starving to death..."

Chapter 45 Gold Coins, I should have sold them after all.

Song Che understood, but he was also confused.

So after the consecration ceremony, Xia Li really gained the ability to read minds?

He couldn't help but take another look at the silver-haired girl in front of him; sure enough, a line of small print had appeared on the tag above her head:

Mind Reading Countdown: 30 Days (Only Valid for You)

...So you're just targeting me, aren't you? You're not giving me any privacy at all!

Song Che muttered to himself, still somewhat skeptical, and then mischievously shouted in his mind: Xia Li, you big believer!

“What is a giant telepathic sphere?” Xia Li blinked, looking confused. Then, as if she understood, she whispered, “I think I really can do mind-reading magic.”

Remove the word "[seems like]".

Song Che inwardly complained, while simultaneously calming his mind and reducing unnecessary internal thoughts. He cleared his throat and said, "It seems you can only read my mind... But that's fine too, so in the future, if there are things I need to remind you of, I can just think about them in my mind."

For example, would you like to go out tonight?

"Go." Xia Li said almost without hesitation.

Song Che turned his head and looked at Tao Xiang, who was nestled to the side.

This time, they didn't lie.

His tone softened: "A good child is one who doesn't lie. Don't steal in the future, be a good person, you... are actually quite cute."

“C-cute…” Momoka’s eyes widened slightly, then she lowered her head in a fluster. “Could you… not praise me…? My personality is dark and withdrawn, I’m not cute at all.”

"Fine," Song Che said with a hint of sarcasm, "then you're a gloomy, cowardly bastard."

“…Thank you,” Momoka whispered, sounding a little embarrassed. She shook her head, her expression becoming unfocused. “I think… I can sense the location of another gold coin, but it’s very blurry… There are six… eight, thirty… no, no, why does it keep changing?”

Song Che didn't quite understand what she was muttering, but the word "gold coin" caught his attention. A gold coin isn't light, and even if its purity isn't high, it's probably worth seven or eight thousand.

Thirty pieces? That's over two hundred thousand.

For him, this is definitely not a small amount.

...Well, he doesn't have any grand ambitions. He just likes having more money and a more stable life.

After finishing her rambling, Tao Xiang looked up at Song Che with pleading eyes: "Brother... can you give me a steamed bun first? My stomach is really empty..."

"We're out of steamed buns. There's some left over from breakfast, do you want some?"

“Eat! I’ll eat anything, I’m very easy to feed!” Tao Xiang nodded vigorously, gesturing with her bound hands, “I can survive for half a month on just water!”

“You said it yourself.” Song Che raised an eyebrow.

Tao Xiang was stunned, her eyes drooped, and she looked aggrieved: "...I, I can only go hungry for half a month at most...I can't go any longer, or I'll really die."

"Just kidding, I don't need your food." Song Che waved his hand.

His real intention, of course, was to obtain the remaining gold coins. However, the source of the gold coins was unclear, and having too many at once could easily be considered money laundering. He needed to find a way to convert them into cash gradually. He picked up the remaining half of a steamed bun from the table and handed it over: "This is all I have. Once you find the gold coins, I'll improve your meals."

"Brother... my hands are still tied..." Tao Xiang pitifully shook her wrists.

Song Che stepped forward to untie her ropes, while warning her, "Listen, you can only stay at my house temporarily. If you dare to cause any damage, I will kick you out immediately, or let Bruce bite you."

"I won't cause any trouble!" Tao Xiang quickly promised, rubbing her reddened wrist. "Once you're better, I'll turn back into a cat. Just give me a corner to curl up in."

“Okay.” Song Che didn’t really think she could cause any trouble; Bruce was more than capable of dealing with her.

He tidied up the scattered books on the table, leaned against the wall, and began checking his phone messages, browsing for easy part-time jobs. Song Che was no longer a child under someone's protection. His experiences in the other world had taught him that money was always a good thing. If he couldn't keep up with his high school studies, he had to find another way out for himself. Unless he could get into a good university, the road ahead would be just as difficult.

Two weeks from now it will be next month. Aunt Lan sent a message saying she's found a place to stay and will meet up with him when she gets back. This saves him the trouble of explaining Xia Li's background, or... it might also allow Aunt Lan to get to know Xia Li a little earlier.

However, the most frustrating thing is that my grades have remained stagnant.

Thinking of this, Song Che couldn't help but sigh.

“I can go to the Adventurers’ Guild to make money,” Xia Li suddenly said.

“There’s no adventurers’ guild here. And you can’t do anything without an ID.” Song Che shook his head; this was also what he was worried about.

Even if Xia Li were to impersonate Tao Yao, various problems would still arise. Xia Li simply couldn't withstand scrutiny—there was no trace of her in this world, no one knew her, and even the timing of her appearance didn't match up. If any surveillance camera captured a silver-haired girl appearing out of nowhere, everything would be over.

“…You’re worried about me.” Xia Li paused, then said softly, “Then I can stay at home and not run around.”

"No, that won't be necessary. It's just that without legal status, many things will become very troublesome. For example, you won't be able to go to a major hospital if you get sick. But with me here, I can always take care of your daily needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter."

"Don't I need to earn money?" Xia Li put her hands on her knees, looking calm, but her fingers kept curling up restlessly. "I'll go out and find some illegal work. It should be like in Hit Kingdom, where I can get some jobs at low prices without having to check my identity."

"Let's talk about it after you've spent that gold coin." Song Che was worried about Xia Li running around. "We won't do low-paying jobs. I'll figure something out. Even if we don't make money, we won't starve to death."

Leaving the peach blossoms aside for the moment, Song Che walked to Xia Li's side: "Take out your phone and search for a beginner's stargazing tutorial. If the weather's good tomorrow, you can give it a try. It looks... like it shouldn't be too difficult."

Xia Li opened her phone's browser as instructed, and a series of search history popped up. Song Che glanced at them briefly; most were searches related to magic, and the remaining few were about how to make money.

Just as he guessed, Xia Li cared a lot about whether she could generate value, just like when she was a princess and always stood at the forefront of the forbidden battlefield.

...that's the easiest way to suffer a loss.

Song Che cautioned, "Although you can find a lot of information here, it's not necessarily all true. Especially regarding making money, many of them not only won't make you money, but will actually scam you out of your money."

Of course, Xia Li is currently penniless and doesn't even have an ID card, so the scammers who encountered her have probably run into a brick wall.

"I understand. That's why I've been looking for a legitimate adventure guild... Recently I discovered that some games have something similar to guilds. Can you make money playing those?"

"There are those games where you can earn some money by playing brick-moving games, but you need a computer. We can't play them on our phones."

"Oh." After several suggestions were rejected, Xia Li remained silent for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Then...am I useless?"

"Don't worry, I'll find you something to do tomorrow... Now, take a look at the stargazing tutorial, and we'll go out to play tonight."

Song Che didn't say anything more, just stayed quietly to the side.

He does have more experience than his peers, but that experience may not be applicable in this world. Here, he is first and foremost a high school student. Secondly, he is an ordinary person, struggling to take responsibility for himself, let alone someone else.

...Perhaps, I'm just a hypocrite at heart.

He shook his head, no longer wanting to think about it. Life shouldn't be filled with trivial worries. As human beings, we should enjoy life and experience more; that's the right thing to do. He should visit the orphanage Tao Xiang mentioned when he has time and finally resolve his identity issue... Everything will gradually get better.

On the other side, Tao Xiang ate the two steamed buns she had just received in small bites, occasionally looking up at Song Che with a grateful yet complicated expression.

“Brother, I can do anything,” she repeated softly.

"You don't need to do anything," Song Che waved his hand. "I just want to know a little bit about the situation."

"Ask away, I'll tell you everything I know."

"Where exactly is the orphanage where you and Tao Yao stayed? Is it close to Nanhui City?"

"It's in Taixi City. After we ran away, we wandered around for a while before finally arriving in Nanhui."

"Why did you run away back then? Don't tell me it was because of some prophecy."

“It’s not a prophecy…” Momoka slowed her chewing and subconsciously covered her forehead. “It’s because of a… terrifying woman who threatened us.”

She took a bite of her steamed bun to calm herself down: "That woman was terrifying... She was wearing a tattered veil, a tattered scarf, a cloak, and was barefoot... and you couldn't even see her face. She exuded an ominous smell. It was the kind of smell that made you feel nauseous just looking at her, made you want to gag if you touched her, and made you feel like you might die if you stayed with her for too long."

"monster?"

“I don’t know… I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Momoka shrank her neck. “I know what I’m saying sounds suspicious, but I’m definitely not lying to you. She’s like a madwoman… Sometimes she suddenly disappears and then suddenly reappears, but she hasn’t appeared since last week. Maybe she’s dead… It’s good that she’s dead, she’s scared us for so long.”

“…Alright then.” Song Che temporarily accepted this bizarre explanation. He took out the cracked gold coin and clenched it in his palm. “After the consecration, are there no other steps? Like incantations, rituals, or anything like that?”

"That's all, that's fine." Taoxiang nodded affirmatively.

"Row."

Song Che is going to sell it.