My wife is a witch princess.

There were no accusations, no complaints, just a calm statement of the facts.

She was unhappy; she was very sad.

He suddenly realized that his silence and aloofness over the past two days might be more cruel to Xia Li, who was trying to learn about emotions, than he had imagined.

She is trying to understand joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, and trying to build a connection between herself and the world, while he, out of fear of separation decades later, is destroying the present she is experiencing right now.

"I'm sorry," Song Che said.

Xia Li shook her head: "Don't apologize. You taught me that apologizing means admitting you've made a mistake and correcting it. You haven't told me how you plan to correct it."

Song Che was speechless again.

This kind of logic, reminiscent of Xia Li's, always manages to outmaneuver him in the most unexpected ways.

“I…” He took a deep breath, “I won’t ignore you anymore.”

"Mm." Xia Li nodded, accepting the promise. "Anything else?"

"And... I'll try not to worry so much about the future," Song Che said with difficulty, "to cherish the present."

Xia Li stared at him for several seconds.

“Okay,” she said.

Then she turned back to face the computer screen. "Now, teach me that game where you can 'move bricks'."

The topic changed so quickly that Song Che couldn't keep up for a moment.

He blinked and saw that Xia Li had already opened her browser.

"……Now?"

“Now,” Xia Li said firmly, “you said that learning this could make money. I want to start as soon as possible.”

Looking at her serious face, Song Che suddenly felt that those heavy thoughts about life and death were replaced by something warmer in that instant.

That's Xia Li for you—she doesn't dwell on fears about the future; she directly tackles what she can do. Whether it's researching potions or learning to use a computer, her approach is always direct.

"Okay." Song Che slid his chair closer and gripped the mouse again. "I'll register an account for you first."

The atmosphere in the living room changed over the next few hours.

Song Che's voice returned to its usual teasing tone, and Xia Li still asked some questions that made people both laugh and cry.

"Why can this character jump so high while wearing armor?"

"Didn't anyone pick up those gold coins that fell on the ground?"

"His armor isn't as nice as mine."

She created a character with silver hair and blue eyes—completely based on her own appearance.

Song Che suggested she choose the mage class, but Xia Li shook her head and chose the warrior instead.

"Why?" Song Che asked curiously.

"Because I want to try what it's like to fight without magic," Xia Li replied earnestly.

Song Che smiled and helped her adjust the skill key bindings.

Bruce woke up at some point, jumped off the sofa, rubbed against Xia Li's feet, and made gurgling noises.

Song Che freed one hand and habitually rubbed its head, but his eyes never left the screen.

The night outside the window had grown completely dark, and the lights of thousands of homes flickered in the cold.

Song Che suddenly felt that perhaps Xia Li was right.

The future is too far away, and there are too many variables. Right now, she's frowning as she struggles against the monsters in the game.

This moment feels so real that you want to hold on to it tightly.

“Song Che…” Xia Li suddenly spoke, her eyes still fixed on the screen, “This task asks me to mine. Is this how you mine in real life?”

"Uh... more or less, but it's more dangerous and more tiring."

"Oh." Xia Li nodded and guided her character towards the mine. "Then I'll practice in the game first."

"Even if you practice, there are no mines for you to mine in reality; mines are usually owned by the state."

Song Che couldn't help but laugh when he saw her expression, which looked like she was about to seriously practice mining.

Perhaps teaching a witch how to play video games is also a solution to the problem of "how to get along with immortals".

However, Xia Li suddenly stood up again, seemingly lost in thought.

"I need to use the restroom."

Song Che made room for her, but it turned out she was going to the toilet.

He started playing games. To be honest, Song Che felt that playing games was just so-so, but it felt different and more fun when he was with Xia Li.

Xia Li came out of the bathroom and instead of continuing to play the game, she paced back and forth in front of Song Che.

"You...aren't coming to play anymore?"

"I'm thinking."

"What are you thinking about?"

Xia Li suddenly bent down and hugged Song Che's head. The gentle touch almost made Song Che's nose burn, and he couldn't control himself.

"Xia Li, move aside, something...something...what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Song Che, I'm not very good at comforting people." Xia Li hugged him tighter. "I'm not good at this kind of thing, so I asked Aunt Lan. Aunt Lan said that a hug would make you feel better. Although you seem a little happier, I feel like you'll be unhappy again tomorrow. If I hug you, will you be happy tomorrow too?"

Song Che suspected that Xia Li was flirting with him.

"Song Che, will you be happy tomorrow?" Xia Li asked again.

Chapter 86 Xia Li is now a genius girl (7k)

Song Che was still unhappy, or rather, he was just a little anxious because thinking about it didn't help. However, he wasn't like he was a few days ago, with his brows furrowed and looking like the Grim Reaper collecting debts.

After a while, things should return to normal.

Last night, Master Xia Li gave him a sudden insight. But he had thought about these things before, so why couldn't he understand them then? "Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see clearly," Song Che comforted himself, but upon closer reflection, he realized that even as an bystander, he was confused. Wasn't the matter still unresolved?

After thinking it over and over, he realized that there was no way to solve the problem, so the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. It was just like when he didn't read the questions carefully during an exam; he rushed to write down his solution without even understanding the question, and ended up writing something completely incomprehensible.

Song Che needs to calm down and see the problem clearly.

There is actually a solution to this problem.

I woke up early as usual on Monday.

After a full day of exams, I got home and checked the answers, and I had a pretty good idea of ​​my score.

The good news is that his grades are steadily improving, but the bad news is that there is a lot of room for improvement. Song Che remembers that Xia Li has a magic book, which is very strange and can never be finished no matter how many times you flip through it. His room for improvement is the same as the number of pages in that magic book.

The ranking and score are still far from the expected goals.

Every Monday, Song Che would buy all the groceries he needed for the day at noon, so he wouldn't have to go out in the evening. He also bought a new kitchen knife—the blade was thin and light, and the edge gleamed coldly.

He cooked two simple dishes for lunch, and washed and chopped the remaining ingredients, putting them on a plate for dinner.

When Song Che returned home in the evening, the motion-sensor lights in the hallway turned on. As soon as he reached the door, he heard soft footsteps inside, followed by the sound of the door lock turning.

The door opened.

Xia Li stood at the doorway wearing an apron, her silver hair loosely tied in a bun at the back of her head. Behind her, Bruce poked his furry head out from beside her legs, his eyes sparkling in the dim hallway.

This scene has become a regular occurrence.

Song Che only casually mentioned "help open the door" once, but now every time there are footsteps in the hallway, Xia Li appears at the door—of course, she will first check the peephole to confirm it is him.

Bruce probably thought it was a new game, and he followed along with it enthusiastically every time.

"Dinner's ready." Xia Li took off her apron and turned to hang it back behind the kitchen door. She was getting more and more precise with the timing; the food on the table was steaming just right.

The laptop was temporarily moved to the chair next to it.

The two sat down to eat. Today's dishes were stir-fried broccoli and scrambled eggs with tomatoes, plus a small bowl of seaweed soup. Xia Li's cooking skills were improving at a visible pace; at least she wouldn't add too much salt or pour out so much oil that it looked like she was frying rice cakes.

"By the way," Song Che picked up a piece of broccoli with his chopsticks, "if you want to 'work your way up,' you can try 'running the knife.' It's a different game, more efficient than the gold-farming game from last night. But you'll have to learn it. I'll teach you the basics first, and you can practice more when you have time."

“‘Run...knife’?” Xia Li repeated the word, each syllable revealing her incomprehension.

"It's a pretty popular game lately. Simply put, you control a little character, scavenge for resources on a map, and then try to escape alive." Song Che tried to explain it in layman's terms. "You can sell the equipment you earn for money."

Xia Li nodded thoughtfully. She could roughly understand the logic—just like "bricklaying," it involved exchanging time for resources, which were then converted into real benefits.

Her gaze fell on the laptop beside her, and she pondered for a moment.

"Is there a place where people can learn martial arts from a master, like a warrior, to make their bodies stronger?"

Song Che almost choked on his rice.

"You mean...practicing martial arts?"

"Ah."

“In this era, there are limits to human physical training.” Song Che put down his chopsticks. “At most, it can improve physical fitness. It’s quite remarkable if you can smash a wooden stake with a powerful punch. But no matter how powerful you are, you can’t beat a firearm.”

Xia Li was silent for a few seconds, then said three words: "Shaolin Temple, Iron Head Kung Fu, and the indestructible virginity."

Song Che was stunned: "How did you know that?"

"I saw it while searching," Xia Li said calmly. "Does that place make people incredibly powerful?"

"...You want to be a monk?" Song Che's expression turned a little strange. "It's full of bald heads, not fun. And Shaolin Temple can't teach you the kind of... well, the kind of kung fu that can tear apart a demonic dragon with your bare hands."

He suddenly realized something was wrong.

When did Xia Li, a former witch, become interested in the "warrior" route? In Hit, there is a subtle hierarchy of contempt between mages and warriors—mages think warriors only rely on brute force, like kobolds who smash tables when they get angry; warriors look down on assassins, thinking that as melee fighters, they dare not confront them head-on; assassins look down on mages, thinking that they are lambs to the slaughter when they get close.

Xia Li clearly heard his inner thoughts.

She looked up, her blue eyes meeting his directly, and added, "I was just asking. I didn't mean to do anything bad."

"...?"

Alarm bells rang in Song Che's mind.

He hadn't thought much of it at first, but Xia Li's explanation made him feel like he was trying to cover something up.