150. Odd changes, even remains the same.

Lin Fuman and Jin Qizhi looked at each other in bewilderment.

Jin Qizhi felt there was nothing left to talk about and was considering leaving.

...But turning around and leaving immediately is very impolite.

Just as he was thinking of an excuse, Lin Fu suddenly showed a perfectly timed expression of admiration, typical of a little girl: "On my way here, I heard a line of poetry that I found very interesting. I felt like I had seen it in some ancient book, but I couldn't remember where. Brother Jin is a well-read man, you must know the source, right?"

When it came to poetry, Jin Qizhi became quite interested: "Oh? What kind of poem is it? How unusual is it?"

Lin Fuman took a deep breath, stared intently into Jin Qizhi's eyes, and said clearly, word by word, in standard modern Mandarin: "Odd changes, even remains the same."

This is a classic code word used by time travelers to test each other!

If Jin Qizhi were one of his kind, he would definitely know!

However, Jin Qizhi's expression slowly shifted from gentle curiosity to an extremely strange bewilderment, her brows furrowing slightly as if trying to decipher the syllables she had just uttered: "Chicken turns... lotus root doesn't? Second Sister Lin, what you just said was... a dialectal expression? Or some kind of dialogue from a play? This... doesn't seem to be a poem."

Lin Fu stared at him; his reaction was genuine.

It was a kind of confusion where you couldn't understand anything at all, and even wondered if the other person was playing a prank or had suddenly lost their mind.

Lin Fuman's heart sank, but she was still unwilling to give up. She tried a different approach, blinking innocently, "It's just a feeling that's like poetry... So, Brother Jin, do you know how much a sledgehammer should cost?"

Jin Qizhi understood this time: "The price of the sledgehammer? That probably depends on the market. I'm sorry, I don't know much about this. Maybe I can ask the purchasing department for you."

Lin Fuman: "...No need, thank you."

Jin Qizhi, on the contrary, became curious: "So why is Sister Lin Er curious about the price of the sledgehammer? I'm a little curious too. How much should a sledgehammer cost?"

"...Eighty. Eighty for the big hammer, forty for the small hammer."

"Eighty copper coins for a big hammer, forty copper coins for a small hammer? Is this price acceptable...?" Jin Qizhi began to ponder the issue of people's livelihood.

Lin Fuman was completely speechless.

Jin Qizhi speaks fluent Chinese, so fluently that it doesn't sound like a foreigner.

She decided to test her one last time: "Do you have a faith?"

"What?" Jin Qizhi was stunned; the topic had jumped so drastically that he was caught off guard.

Lin Fu continued her questioning in one breath: "Who do you think is the most powerful among Buddha, Jehovah, and Allah? What kind of god do you think Zeus is? Do you think Anubis should be called the God of Death in the Desert or the Dog-Headed One? How many continents and oceans are there in total?..."

In the end, she herself didn't know what she was asking.

But she still stared intently at Jin Qizhi.

With so many questions, she didn't believe he wouldn't reveal a flaw.

And Jin Qizhi...

He watched as the second young lady of the Duke of Anguo spoke incomprehensible strange language, and the confusion in his eyes gradually turned into worry.

He bent down, his tone gentle, even with a hint of reassurance: "Second Sister Lin, have you been too busy with your studies lately and are feeling a bit tired? Or have you been reading some... rather unusual books? If you're not feeling well, you should get some rest."

His attitude was good, but his meaning was clear—

This clearly indicates that she's not quite right in the head!

Lin Fuman is now certain that he is not a time traveler either.

And she had just said a bunch of weird things to him...

Lin Fu was so embarrassed that she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.

She quickly waved her hands: "No, no! I was just kidding! Don't take it seriously!"

Fortunately, she just saw the little dumpling running back with the stone in her arms. Lin Fu was overjoyed and quickly went to greet her: "Little Moon, what fun thing did you find?"

Jin Qizhi watched Lin Fuman almost flee towards her younger sister's back and felt that this Miss Lin was acting very strangely today.

On the other side, as Lin Fuman watched the little dumpling excitedly showing her the pretty stones, the fog in her heart grew thicker and thicker.

All her attempts to probe failed, and all her guesses came to nothing.

Looking into the little dumpling's clear, innocent eyes, she finally abandoned all roundabout strategies.

She grabbed the little girl's hand, pulled out the letters from her sleeve, and with a sense of desperation, pointed to the scribbles on the letters and asked directly, "Little Moon, can you tell me what... what do these circles and dots mean? What are you trying to tell me?"

The little dumpling tilted its head to look at the letter, then looked up at Sister Fufu's unusually serious expression and felt a little strange.

Huh, Sister Fufu doesn't understand?

Pointing to the letter with her little finger, she answered clearly in a matter-of-fact, childish voice, "Yue'er is sending a secret letter to Sister Fufu! Yue'er can write letters like an adult now! I'll fill them with weird, incomprehensible words, just like Sister Fufu's letters to Yue'er! Nobody can understand them, but that's amazing!"

Lin Fuman was completely stunned: "Nobody can understand it? You mean, you don't even understand what you wrote yourself?"

"Yes, even Yue'er can't understand what Sister Fufu wrote, but it's really amazing!"

The little dumpling looked up and saw Lin Fu's petrified expression.

Lin Fuman: ...

Lin Fuman: ...

Lin Fuman: ………

It felt like thunderclaps were exploding in my mind!

Lin Fuman froze on the spot, her pupils dilating in shock.

His facial expression shifted from confusion to shock, then to disbelief, and finally to a blank, lifeless expression.

So... the so-called coded message, the so-called reply in a foreign language... it was all just a three-year-old child playing a game of imitation, trying to find friends to play with?!

She poured countless hours of effort into solving the mystery, endured countless nights of anxiety, imagined numerous shocking conspiracies, and even questioned everything about life...

The truth is surprisingly simple, pure, and even a little... ridiculous?!

Lin Fuman stood there, the autumn wind ruffling her bangs and also her wildly imaginative thoughts.

She wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

I'd rather plunge into the lotus pond to calm down.

Lin Fuman looked at the bewildered little dumpling, her expression a mixture of emotions: "I...you...ah!"

What's going on?!

She stayed up all night deciphering the mystery, tried all sorts of magical potions, almost burned or soaked the letter, and even risked her life to send messages back and forth... and this is it?!

It felt like she had gathered all her inner strength to split a mountain, only to find that the other side was just a pile of cotton, and she even tumbled over herself.

She looked into the little dumpling's bright, sparkling eyes, which seemed to say, "Praise me for being smart."

All the tragic tales about otherworldly souls, secret missions, and lonely vigil shattered with a snap, even more brittle than the scorched letter she had burned.

What kind of mess is this?!

The little dumpling was a bit confused, her face scrunched up in bewilderment: "Sister Fufu?"

"...No, it's nothing!" Lin Fu waved her hand wearily. "Your letter...it's really...too unexpected!"

It almost burned out her CPU.

The overwhelming sense of absurdity overshadowed the slight disappointment.

So what if she doesn't have any fellow villagers? At least her incredibly adorable pen pal and playmate is still there, unlike what she had imagined—she's gone to another world all alone.

There were no miserable fellow countrymen from foreign lands either.

In this light... a misunderstanding is actually the best outcome.

Lin Fu took a deep breath, shaking off those chaotic thoughts like trash, and took the little dumpling's hand again: "It's so good that you're still here. Come on! Let's go play!"

"Yay!" The little dumpling's attention was immediately diverted, and she cheered excitedly.