Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"call--"

After more than a month of sailing, the ship finally arrived in Monaco, France.

As the passengers disembarked, Ah Sheng struggled to carry his luggage onto the harbor.

Everywhere you look, there are white people in black suits, and occasionally you can see women in European clothing strolling on the cobblestone streets with parasols. For Ah Sheng, a Chinese man visiting Europe for the first time, it was all very novel.

France was certainly not his final destination; he would need to take a train there to the Kingdom of Souvar, where another few days of travel would begin.

"Young Master is in England... If we want to go see him, we'll have to take a boat."

Ah Sheng picked up his somewhat heavy luggage and walked laboriously forward.

Looking at the streets, so different from those in China, Ah Sheng felt like a country bumpkin visiting the city, observing everything along the way.

"The train station...where's the train station? Let me see..."

Walking down the street, he took out a small piece of paper from his pocket, on which was written the address of the train station, which was where he was going next.

"Wow...it's so far. Maybe we should stay here for the night and go there tomorrow," Ah Sheng said, troubled.

There was still some time before the start of school, so he wasn't in a rush.

His original plan was to first report to St. Margaret's Academy in the Kingdom of Suvar and move directly into the dormitory he had applied for.

Unfortunately, the luggage in his hands was too heavy, and Ah Sheng's physical strength was not enough to walk very far.

Even though he had already told his parents that he only needed to bring money, they were worried about him traveling far away, so they secretly stuffed a bunch of things into his luggage without caring whether he would actually use them.

"Let's find a hotel first, but I don't know if there are any decent ones nearby..."

He took out his wallet and counted the francs he had exchanged; it should be enough for one night's stay.

Just as he was trying to find a hotel on the nearby streets to spend the night, a figure rushed towards him.

Clang!

Ah Sheng was knocked to the ground, and the contents of his suitcase were scattered on the ground.

As he clutched his head, trying to get up to see who had knocked him down, he suddenly realized his wallet was gone.

"Ah!! Thief!!"

He quickly looked ahead and saw a young man clutching his wallet running away, knocking aside pedestrians.

"Hey! Thief!"

Ah Sheng shouted to his surroundings, but no one paid any attention to him.

"...This is troublesome."

He watched the direction the thief disappeared in, tears welling up in his eyes. With his physical strength, there was no way he could catch up with the thief.

This happened on my very first day in Europe. I wonder if I forgot to check the almanac before leaving home.

Looking back now, without a wallet, he could only go to the train station first, at least he had some change in his pocket to buy a ticket, but what would he do after that? He couldn't even afford the tuition for school.

Helplessly packing his scattered belongings, he could only swallow his bitterness.

Behind him, a girl dressed in black looked at him, her eyes catching sight of the scattered objects on the ground.

She picked up a photo album, which contained a group photo of him with his parents before he went abroad, as well as a commemorative photo with Ah Zheng and Isaac.

The girl put the photo album down and looked in the direction where the thief had disappeared.

……

"Ugh... This is so hard, and it's only the first day!"

With a gloomy expression, Ah Sheng walked aimlessly down the street. His beautiful fantasies about Europe were shattered the moment his wallet was stolen.

"Am I going to have to sleep on the streets...?"

"Hey."

"what?"

Hearing someone calling his name, Ah Sheng turned around and found a beautiful young woman he had never met before.

"Miss, you called me?"

"Yes."

The girl threw something in front of Ah Sheng. Ah Sheng hurriedly caught it and looked at it, only to find that it was his stolen wallet, and not a single penny of the money in the wallet was missing.

"Is this yours?"

"Yes, yes, it's mine!" Ah Sheng exclaimed excitedly. "Thank you so much! Did you help me find it?"

After regaining his lost possession, he was greatly encouraged and felt nothing but gratitude towards the girl in front of him.

"Yes, I snatched it from a thief," the girl said. "Are you a student going to Suvar to study?"

How did you know?

"I was right next to you when your wallet was stolen. There was an acceptance letter for St. Margaret's Academy in your suitcase at the time," the girl said calmly. "What a coincidence, we'll be classmates from now on."

"Are you also a student at that school?" Ah Sheng asked in surprise.

"Yes, I enrolled last year."

"That's wonderful. I will definitely thank you sincerely when I get to school," Ah Sheng said, bowing. "May I ask your name, Miss?"

"Anjie".

The girl laughed.

"Angie Lucarello".

Chapter 1058: That Familiar Spy

"Thank you so much for yesterday, Miss Lucale. I really don't know what to do next if you hadn't helped me find my wallet."

"You're too kind."

The next morning, Asheng and Anjie boarded the same train, both heading to St. Margaret's Academy in the Kingdom of Suvar.

I didn't tell you my name in the rush yesterday.

After thanking Anjie again, Asheng took the initiative to start a conversation.

“My name is Liu Yunsheng, I’m from Foshan, China. I’m here to study in the Kingdom of Suvar. Miss Lucarle, you can just call me Asheng, that’s what my friends call me.”

“You can also call me Ange. My hometown is Strasbourg, France,” Ange said with a smile. “St. Margaret’s Academy does admit some international students, but the questions there must be very difficult.”

"whee."

Ah Sheng touched the back of his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"Actually, it's alright. I don't have any talent for sports, so I spend most of my time reading and studying, and I managed to get a decent grade in the school exams."

"Being admitted to St. Margaret's Academy proves that you have excellent learning abilities."

"No, no..."

With just a few words, Anjie and Asheng seemed to have become familiar with each other.

Ah Sheng simply took it as a conversation between his benefactor and himself, while An Jie seemed to have ulterior motives.

"By the way, Miss Ange, how did you help me find that wallet yesterday?"

“I found the thief who stole your wallet and threatened him to hand over the stolen goods or I would call the police,” Ange said.

The reality is not like that.

Yesterday, after confirming the direction the thief fled, Anjie calculated the planned route, waited at the intersection, and knocked the thief to the ground as he fell.

Ah Sheng and even that thief probably never dreamed that An Jie had already figured out exactly where all the criminal organizations in that city sold their stolen goods.

"Miss Ange is so brave. I wish I could be a little braver."

Seeing that Anjie, a young girl, was brave enough to fight against thieves for the sake of others, Asheng felt a surge of admiration and couldn't help but sigh.

"I also hope to become brave. Not to mention like the young master, it would be good to be like Ah Zheng."

"Ah Sheng, do you have any brothers?"

“No, I’m an only child.” Ah Sheng shook his head.

"Who were those two people you mentioned before?"

"Oh, you mean the young master and Ah Zheng?"

Upon hearing Anjie ask about those two people, Ah Sheng hurriedly took out a black and white photo from his suitcase.

In the group photo, he was standing in the very center, with A-Zheng standing to his right and Isaac standing to his left with his arm around his shoulder.

“We’ve been playing together since we were little. The one on the right is A-Zheng. He’s usually very easygoing and always likes to take us out to play. The one on the right is Young Master Yao Feifan, the son of the president of the largest chamber of commerce in our area.”

"Yao Feifan...?"

Anjie murmured the name, feeling like she'd heard it somewhere before.

Does he have any other names?

"Who?"

“That’s him,” Ange asked, pointing to Isaac in the photo.

“You mean the young master? He does have another name,” Ah Sheng said. “He studied in England and gave himself a foreign name, I think it was…Isaac.”

"I see, Isaac."

Anjie nodded silently.

What is your usual relationship with this Isaac like?

"Young Master usually takes good care of me. He always stood up for me when I was bullied as a child. Moreover, he is skilled in both literature and martial arts, far superior to me," Ah Sheng said shyly. "Is Miss Anjie interested in Young Master?"

"Huh? Well... I am somewhat interested."

Anjie smiled shyly and said seemingly casually:

"Um... I'd really like to meet him if I had the chance."

"If you want to see the young master, you will have the opportunity; he is currently in England."

"In the UK?"