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Chapter 10: Putting The Cart Before The Horse
After that, the atmosphere became very boring. Cui Ming sat on the sofa – no water on hand, no books on the table, in such a big and empty room, there was only another person: North Luna, who was quietly reading book.
Cui Ming stood next to the window, looking outside for a while, then sat back and using the momentum stood up and was ready to open the door to go out, when North Luna said: “Do not leave my sight.”
“But I’m bored.”
North Luna opened a new page: “Why did you not get bored in the prison chamber?”
Cui Ming helplessly sat back, pulled out a playing card and thus gazed at North Luna. Afterwards he threw the playing card towards her. North Luna, herself, seems to know what Cui Ming would do. Without looking up, she moved her left hand and grasped, seizing the playing card, and putting it on the table.
“Why did you choose playing cards?”
“Why did you choose these blades?” Cui Ming did not know the name of that weapon.
“This is what my father created for me.”
“Oh, you are 50% and not a Two Per Millionaire?”
“Perhaps.”
North Luna quietly read a book, for a while and then asked: “You are turning away from the topic; why choose playing cards?”
“Cheap.” This was the truth, but certainly North Luna did not believe .
“Why not talk about you, are you not a topic, that is nonsense?”
North Luna looked up towards Cui Ming : “Choosing cards are not wise. I know you want to ask why. You will know the answer at night. Do not bother me anymore with this.”
Cui Ming laid on the sofa, sleeping.
Ding Ze called back, not gaining anything by investigation. He was going to squat for a day. Lunch was brought by the staff from downstairs and North Luna paid. In Cui Ming’s eyes North Luna did not have any communication with the staff. Cui Ming bet she could not even call the name of no more than five employees and if.
North Luna herself, had a completely uncaring att.i.tude towards her office.
North Luna admired Cui Ming a bit.
Yesterday in the train, he slept from 9PM to 7AM.
Today, he slept from 9 AM to 12PM and after lunch he continued from 12:30 to 6PM.
North Luna looked at the time, picking up her jacket and walked towards Cui Ming’s side
“We can go.”, she said and Cui Ming opened his eyes, sat upright and looked out of the window where there has been some darkness
“Are we going to eat dinner?
“No, we can not eat dinner.” North Luna left after finishing that line and Cui Ming put on his shoes and followed behind her.
…
For better or worse, North Luna was still a boss, so she must have a car.
She had a yellow Camaro. Electric cars within the urban areas were quite the good transporting utilities.
As for the two, North Luna and Cui Ming, they got inside the car, put on their seat belts and drove towards the south.
Compared to the office, within the car they did not speak, which Cui Ming felt more embarra.s.sing. He said: “Could you put some music? Well, you know how the saying goes. ‘Music purifies the soul’…”
“Broken.”, she said.
“Broadcast? Radio is also good, I like the 20th channel.”
Cui Ming imitated a radio jockey
“We have a call from the audience; A friend of mine was released from prison today and I would like to appoint a song to bless him; Of course, the host would answer and continue, what song do you want?’ and the caller would respond the peach flower blossoms one’…”
“Also broken.” North Luna answered, not amused.
Cui Ming was silent for quite the long time,
while singing within his mind, with his mind’s voice, ‘I am here waiting for you to come back, waiting for you to come back, to see the peach flower blossoms…”
A song completed and North Luna, with a puzzled look, looked at Cui Ming
“You just said that the radio is a joke?”
“No.” Cui Ming rested his head against the window, looking out of the window
“Do not talk to me, I want to be quiet.”
Silence. Within one hour, these two living people really, did not speak at all.
And then, North Luna, parked in the apartment’s parking lot and while stalling said, “We arrived.
“Yeah.” Cui Ming said and opened the door, looking up at the apartment building -a seven-story and very ordinary looking apartment building.
Cui Ming, silently followed North Luna upstairs.
He now thought that rather than let only him be embarra.s.sment, it is better to let two people be embarra.s.sed.
So quietly, they went to the seventh floor.
The middle of the seventh floor is a hallway, where here happened to live more than a dozen families.
North Luna went towards a household and beckoned a knock on the door.
The door, itself, was an iron gate with an observation window atop and it was opened.
A pair of eyes glanced outward, closing the observation window and opening the iron gate.
It was a 60-70 years old man,
His head was like clouds, all white and his not combing the hair resulted in his head looking like a full-grown Chinese cabbage. Quite the sight.
“Come on in; close the door.”
The old man said and proceeded to go back inside.
As for Cui Ming, he did as told. He went in and then closed the door.
The room was large, but also quite the messy place. On the coffee table was today’s- no, wait- at least yesterday’s foods and the rest of the fast food boxes- after being eaten- were on the sofa with the pillows, blankets, clothes, umbrellas, and toenails.
Far too many books on the ground, the radio, the TV, the phone.
Overall, it was quite chaotic, fortunately he was not a neat-picked person.
The old man threw the trash into the trashcan, and then casually swept the sofa and then moved 2 chairs opposite the sofa, so that the two could sit.
As for him, he went to the basin of the bathroom to get a pot of water, which he placed on the table.
The old man, then proceeded to sit down and said to Cui Ming, “Put your hand in.”
Cui Ming rolled up his sleeves, inserted his hands in the wash-basin and washed his hands
‘This… Is this for eating dinner?‘, his inner thoughts were such, as the old man said “Your hands. Keep them motionless.”
Cui Ming did as told while gazing at the old man who held still and flat his left hand.
Then he asked: “What is this?”
Cui Ming very honestly and without much thought, responded “That, is a palm.” After a slight pause, he continued, “North Luna, are you sure we are not knocking on the wrong door?”
As for the old man, finding the answer noncommittal, he quietly watched the water.
About five minutes later, the old man nodded and said, “Yes.”
North Luna asked, “Professor, you mean?”
‘Professor?!’, Cui Ming gazed at the old man, trying to find what was professor-like in this old man.
As for the subject of Cui Ming’s inner thought inquiries, the old man said, “This… Savage situation is relatively rare. He is not a savage.” he said and took a breath, before continuing, “But he doesn’t know to use Aura to protect himself, nor what Aura is, not even how to cultivate.” He said and paused and looked from North Luna to Cui Ming.
“This case was like a woodcutter who only learned the skills of the material. He can see the wood grain, observe the humidity and ring of wood. But he did not even know how to use an axe.”
North Luna nodded and with some disappointment responded, “That is all these years since his first cultivation, he wonders how to use Aura, but does not know what Aura is, nor how to enhance Aura.”
The old man nodded.
“Yes; although he did not go crazy, but with him being a teenager, even helping him practice, there will not be much success, unless he is the Martial Type.”
“He is the Enhance Type.”, she said.
After a slight pause and kind of a look of shock in his eyes, the old man said, “That is a total waste.”
He then continued, “There is no value in helping him.”
Cui Ming did not understand at all. Thus he asked, “What is Enhance Type? What is wasted?”
North Luna looked at Cui Ming and said, “Simply put, the reason you have not suffered the erosion side effects of Aura is that you do not know the method of cultivating Aura. You use as little amount of Aura as at the same level the ordinary people do. For you, it is to enhance your playing cards. Because your skill to use Aura is already mature, and you being the Enhance Type, even if you started practicing now, you would not have much success. Especially in the case you chose the playing cards. Unless…”, she made a slight pause and continued, “Unless you can find a strong Aura material to make out the playing cards, or…”
The old man proceeded to speak, cutting her midway, “Powerful Aura materials can not make playing cards,”
Cui Ming did not care, as he asked, “Then I can go? My contract can not be counted, right?”
“Yes,” North Luna nodded.