The story afterward
About half a month later, Yu Miaomiao received the good news that the cultivation technique had been initially deciphered.
When her online friend called her, her voice sounded weak and listless, as if she hadn't slept for half a month, but her tone was very excited.
"Originally, everyone thought that deciphering the cultivation method was a very difficult task, perhaps taking several years. But later, we discovered that the box you sent contained a lot of insights and analyses of the cultivation method, as well as some accompanying supernatural abilities! This greatly reduced the difficulty of deciphering it."
He remarked with emotion, "The person who left behind these classic texts must have hoped that future generations could understand them and that more people would carry on his lineage."
After the initial interpretation of the cultivation method, a group of ordinary humans were needed to be recruited for internal testing. The selection criteria were extremely strict, and once the news was released, everyone flocked to it.
However, as the donor, Yu Miaomiao easily secured three spots.
Aside from the one Jiang Chengyi received, she gave the remaining two to Li Zhi and Cheng Nuo respectively.
Although Cheng Nuo supposedly inherited his father's business after graduation, he actually handed over all the company's affairs to professional managers and stayed in City A to live a life of leisure and collect dividends. In the past few years, he regularly played basketball with Jiang Chengyi every week, and in recent years he has been going to the gym with him. He is a happy second-generation rich kid.
Li Zhi treats being a content creator (UP) as a career. Besides releasing her own favorite cosplay content, she also releases content based on popular IPs, flying all over the country to participate in exhibitions. After turning thirty, her aching lumbar and cervical spine could no longer withstand this high-intensity schedule, so she transitioned to becoming an anime and manga talk UP. Unexpectedly, her popularity didn't decline but increased, and she receives two commercial orders every month, occasionally visiting Yu Miaomiao's house for meals. She's living a very comfortable life.
After receiving Yu Miaomiao's call, she had some very bizarre thoughts.
"Holy crap, I didn't expect the spiritual energy revival that netizens were talking about to be true! Could I be the legendary chosen one? If I practice this, will I be able to fly, teleport, summon wind and rain, and turn stones into gold? No, no, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Miao Miao, you're not going to trick me into doing human experiments, are you?!"
Yu Miaomiao pulled her phone away, waiting for Li Zhi to finish her outburst before bringing it closer, and said coldly, "You can choose to refuse."
"No, no, no, I definitely want to go!"
Li Zhi quickly changed her mind and added, "Can I film a vlog?"
After Yu Miaomiao asked, she replied, "Okay."
Li Zhi cheered, "Yay! I'm going to put the Vlog on my homepage, it'll definitely gain me a lot of followers!"
-
The first step in the closed beta test was to weed out those who were not able to cultivate.
On the day of the test, Yu Miaomiao stood in the waiting room, watching the three people enter the testing center, clenched her fists, and took a deep breath.
Previously, she had been so focused on finding the cultivation method that she didn't have the extra energy to worry about it. But now, perhaps because it was the final hurdle, she felt a tension she had never felt before.
Half an hour later, the door to the testing center opened, and Jiang Cheng walked out.
Yu Miaomiao stepped forward immediately, eagerly asking, "How did it go?"
Jiang Cheng didn't speak, but looked down at her with a calm expression, showing no sign of joy, as if he was suppressing something.
A sense of panic gripped her; the worst possible outcome flashed before her eyes, but she still refused to give up and pressed, "What's wrong?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Cheng suddenly bent down and hugged Yu Miaomiao tightly, his heart pounding.
Yu Miaomiao hugged him back, unsure whether she was comforting him or herself: "It's okay...maybe there's another way...it's okay..."
"Miaomiao".
Jiang Cheng spoke, his voice hoarse, "Thank you."
Yu Miaomiao was taken aback, then realized something, her voice trembling, "You passed the test."
Her response was a relieved "Mmm".
She closed her eyes, and after a long while, she opened them, her eyes slightly red. She had so much to say to Jiang Cheng, but she couldn't utter a single word. In the end, she only managed a soft, gentle sentence:
"very nice."
-
This closed beta test recruited 20,000 people nationwide, but only a little over 200 were ultimately selected to be able to cultivate.
A probability of one percent is a huge improvement compared to the historical one in ten thousand, although no one can understand why yet.
Fortunately, Li Zhi and Cheng Nuo also passed the test.
Jiang Chengyi began a life of cultivation, taking medicine, and regular physical examinations.
Yu Miaomiao moved her office to her home and reminded him to take his medicine three times a day without fail, even more so than when she herself took her medicine years ago.
At noon, the clattering of keyboards in the study abruptly stopped. Yu Miaomiao rushed out and found Jiang Chengyi cooking in the kitchen. "It's time to take your medicine!"
Jiang Chengyi was busy cooking and seemed too preoccupied to pay attention. "Miaomiao, can you feed me?"
Yu Miaomiao then took the medicine and water, tiptoed to feed it to him, and poured two mouthfuls of warm water into his mouth. She watched him swallow it before returning to her study to continue working, leaving behind the words, "Call me when it's time to eat!"
It seems like work is indeed very busy.
As soon as Yu Miaomiao left, Jiang Chengyi turned off the stove, plated the dishes, and smiled slightly.
No wonder Miao Miao always missed her medicine and I had to remind her.
It feels so good to be cared about.
The doorbell rang during dinner.
Yu Miaomiao went to open the door. "It should be Xiao Zhou."
During the days of working from home, my assistant, Xiao Zhou, would regularly deliver the documents that required her signature.
She opened the door and frowned slightly. "Why is it you?"
Liang Qiu stood outside the door. Compared to two months ago, he was much less carefree and looked much more composed. His blue eyes were filled with trepidation. "Sister Miaomiao, your assistant is on leave today. I'll deliver the documents for her."
Yu Miaomiao didn't say anything, took the documents, and said, "Come in."
She sat down and looked through the documents one by one, signing or approving them.
Jiang Cheng said, "Miaomiao, let's watch it after we finish eating."
Yu Miaomiao didn't even look up. "There are a few documents that are quite important. They need them urgently this afternoon, so I'll finish reading them as soon as possible."
He sighed. Knowing the other person's personality, once they focused, there was no stopping them. They wouldn't do anything else until they finished processing the documents.
So he sat down next to Yu Miaomiao, picked up his half-eaten rice, and spooned it onto her.
Liang Qiu couldn't help but look at them.
While accepting the food, Yu Miaomiao browsed through the documents. The two worked together smoothly and seemed very close, clearly indicating that this had happened many times before.
After feeding Liang Qiu a bowl of rice, Jiang Cheng washed his hands and walked out of the kitchen. His gaze swept over Liang Qiu, who was standing on the doormat, looking lost and bewildered. He seemed to be saying, "Why are you still here?"
But he quickly regained his politeness, poured Liang Qiu a glass of water, pointed to the sofa, and said politely, "Please sit down."
Liang Qiu sat on the sofa, looking around the room.
This is a house full of traces of life: clothes hung out to dry by two people on the balcony, medical and programming books interspersed in the bookshelf, pairs of cushions and blankets on the sofa, various sticky notes on the refrigerator, and two game controllers side by side on the coffee table...
No one needs to tell or prove it; every little detail reveals that a couple deeply in love lives here.
His gaze finally settled on the television. There was a photo wall there, mostly pictures of Yu Miaomiao and Jiang Chengyi together. Judging from the dates written on the frames, these photos spanned fifteen years.
Liang Qiu ignored Jiang Chengyi and stared intently at Yu Miaomiao in each photo. Just as he had thought, Miaomiao's appearance hadn't changed much in over a decade, but her expression was unfamiliar to him.
Whether it was surprise, anger, a smile, curiosity, or anticipation... every expression he had never seen before was because of the other protagonist in the photo.
He shifted his gaze to the other half of the photo, his heart aching—
It's all because of Jiang Chengyi.
...
An hour later, Yu Miaomiao finished processing all the documents.
Liang Qiu put the documents back into the bag, but stood there, hesitant to leave.
Yu Miaomiao glanced at him. "Is there anything else?"
Liang Qiu took a deep breath and uttered the words he had rehearsed countless times in his heart: "Sister Miaomiao, you haven't been to the company for a long time. Is it because of me? I'm so sorry. I was too impulsive. I shouldn't have said those things to him. Could you..."
His voice trailed off, "Could you please stop hating me..."
He waited anxiously for the other party's reply.
He had already decided that, regardless of whether Miaomiao answered yes or no, he would do his best to make up for the bad impression he had left on her.
But what he received in return was Yu Miaomiao's unexpected reply: "Don't flatter yourself."
Liang Qiu suddenly raised his head.
Yu Miaomiao's tone was calm and even, "I'm working from home to take care of my partner, it has nothing to do with you."
"You're not worth my time."
With a loud crash, the gate slammed shut in front of Liang Qiu.
He lowered his head and gave a bitter smile.
Yes, perhaps he still harbored illusions before knocking on the door, but upon seeing those photos, he should have anticipated this outcome.
Isn't that exactly what that man wanted?
They were lovers who had been together for fifteen years and were the most important people in each other's hearts, while he was just an ordinary investor.
He stood at the door for a long time before slowly leaving.
The words that had been brewing for so long were ultimately left unsaid, but there was no need to say them anymore.
-
After closing the door, Yu Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally, I got rid of them."
"This person is really strange."
Jiang Chengyi had already tidied up the kitchen, and the two of them went to take a nap.
Yu Miaomiao nestled against Jiang Chengyi's chest, suddenly recalling the banquet that evening, and asked with some confusion, "Why did he say those things to you?"
"You've barely met him face-to-face a few times, why would he target you like this?"
Jiang Chengyi couldn't help but chuckle, "Hasn't Miaomiao figured it out yet?"
Yu Miaomiao still looked confused. "What?"
He had no choice but to say it directly: "Liang Qiu likes you."
Yu Miaomiao's eyes widened, and she was stunned for a few seconds. "So that's how it is..."
She was just inexperienced in social interactions, not stupid. After Jiang Cheng pointed it out, she quickly realized that Liang Qiu's previous behavior was strange.
Then, she frowned. "Why would he like me?"
"Because Miaomiao is someone who is very likable."
Jiang Cheng brushed a stray strand of hair from the other man's cheek behind his ear. "It's normal for him to fall for Miao Miao."
"Don't worry." Although Yu Miaomiao had no idea that Liang Qiu liked her before, she still propped herself up, looked at Jiang Chengyi, and assured him:
"My relationship with him is only that of an investor and an investee. We have no contact outside of work, and I don't like him at all."
Hearing Yu Miaomiao's solemn words, Jiang Cheng felt a warmth in his heart, "How could I doubt Miaomiao?"
"That person is just a child, there's nothing to worry about."
Jiang Chengyi said this casually, as if he really didn't care.
"I don't care."
She assured Jiang Cheng, "If he dares to come looking for me again, I'll block him."
Jiang Cheng said, "But he's an investor in the company, wouldn't that be inappropriate?"
"If it doesn't work out, we can just get a different one."
Yu Miaomiao decisively ended the conversation about irrelevant people, but instead of lying down, she grabbed Jiang Chengyi's wrist and squeezed it, her expression serious.
Jiang Cheng asked, "What is Miaomiao doing?"
"I am sensing the spiritual energy within you."
He chuckled, "It's only been a week, it won't be that fast."
Yu Miaomiao, however, was very serious: "We cannot ignore any changes."
After a while, she finally let go and said happily, "I think I can feel some of the meridians now."
She lay back down and began to imagine, "How many years will you live after you gain spiritual power?"
Jiang Cheng gently stroked Yu Miaomiao's back. "The longest recorded lifespan of a cultivator in history is five hundred years. I shouldn't be that powerful. I'll probably live to be three or four hundred at most."
Yu Miaomiao closed her eyes and smiled, "That's great, almost the same as me."
After saying that, she yawned, "How come I'm still so sleepy even after half a month?"
Jiang Chengyi said, "Because Miaomiao had been enduring for far too long before."
Yu Miaomiao turned over, her voice muffled, "Then I need to catch up on some sleep today."
"Okay, I'll wake you up for dinner. By the way, what do you want to eat?"
"I want to eat fish."
I'll make it for you tonight.
"Hmm...and braised beef brisket."
"no problem."
...
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