Chapter 19
Jiang Yunu was really poor, and his financial situation was so tight that he almost had no money at all.
Although she had no idea whether she had superpowers or what type of elemental superpowers they were, the rule "Register for school first, and you can take advantage of the school by taking the superpower level test" had already entered her mind and was deeply engraved in her heart.
Knowing that Jiang Yunuo was also very interested in learning about supernatural powers, Qiao Yisen went on to talk about his preparations for enrollment. As he spoke, he glanced down at Jiang Yunuo and belatedly asked, "How old are you?"
Joyson conceded that Jiang Yunu was younger than him, but he had never asked the other person's specific age since they met.
Jiang Yunu was immediately hit on the point by Qiao Yisen's question. She hesitated for a moment, then said, "I don't know."
"Ah?" Joyson opened his mouth wide. "You don't know?"
It was also the first time that Joeysen saw someone who didn't even know his own age. He was about to continue to be surprised, but suddenly, he remembered that Jiang Yunu had no one to take care of him and had no family background. He suddenly shut up and quickly retracted his chin which was about to drop to his chest.
Jiang Yunu knew that her answer would certainly surprise others, but she really didn't know how old she was now, and it was not easy to make up this thing, because if she needed to take a physical examination in the future and wanted to enter the school for supernatural powers, she guessed that the hospital's equipment would be able to measure her age. If she made up her age too outrageous now, it would be difficult to match it up later.
Jiang Yunu only said: "I really don't know."
Then she curiously asked Joyson: "How old do you think I look?"
Joyson looked Jiang Yunu up and down again, estimating the height difference between the white-haired girl and himself. He had no idea about the height difference between children, so he said hesitantly, "...8 years old?"
"..." Jiang Yunu was really shocked by this reply. She also looked down at herself, "Not that small, right?"
Having said that, she herself was not too sure. Before hearing Joyceen ask about her age, Jiang Yunu had not seriously considered this matter.
Joyce reluctantly gave her a year older: "Then 9 years old?"
Jiang Yunu said: "...Thank you, but I think it's still a little small."
Only children who are 11 years old or above are eligible to take the ability classification test and talent level test, which means that "11 years old" is also the minimum age to apply for the junior ability school.
If Jiang Yunu's current physical age is too young, she will not only face difficulties in enrolling in school and starting to explore and learn her supernatural powers immediately, but her survival will also be more difficult - she will be further away from the age when she can legally work, and she will have to endure for a while longer before she can start to legally earn star coins, which is bound to be a problem.
Jiang Yunu sighed: "I still hope I can be older."
In fact, Qiao Yisen wanted to say that Jiang Yunuo looked no more than ten years old, and not much taller than him, but when he heard Jiang Yunuo sighing so sincerely, Qiao Yisen knew that he grew up in a poor street and was good at observing people's words and expressions. He had just "accidentally stepped on a landmine" and almost led the topic to aspects related to parents and family. This made him extra cautious at the moment and decided to agree with Jiang Yunuo in everything he said.
Qiao Yisen suppressed his true thoughts and began to comfort Jiang Yunu: "What if? Actually, I can't tell other people's ages accurately. You might really be older than you look. Maybe... maybe we can get together and register in the same batch, and become classmates in the future?"
The part after "maybe" is pure nonsense consolation.
Qiao Yisen didn't think that he would be enrolled in the same school as Jiang Yunu. No matter how he looked at it, the other party would be a grade younger than him!
But no matter what he was thinking, he kept coaxing his "little sister" with his words, and Jiang Yunu's mood seemed to have improved a little after being comforted by him.
Soon, Joyson changed the subject. A familiar platform came into view. He quickly raised his arm and pointed at the sign floating in the air: "Look! To get to my house, you have to take that bus!"
When Jiang Yunu saw the platform and the sign, he remembered that he had no ID and paused slightly.
The indicator light on the floating bus stop suddenly turned yellow. When Joyson saw it, he became excited and pulled Jiang Yunu's arm.
"Run a few steps! The yellow light means a car is coming!"
Jiang Yunu's physical strength and reflexes were beyond compare. She hesitated before being grabbed by Qiao Yisen, but chose not to dodge and let him drag her away. Once she reached the platform, she politely said, "Is it impossible for someone like me, who doesn't even have a personal terminal, to ride the bus?"
Joyson said, "No, haven't you ever taken the shuttle bus to the old city? It only runs on a few limited tracks and has stations in very few neighborhoods. It's one of the 'ancient routes' that hasn't been eliminated in Chat City. However, because it's old, the vehicles are also outdated. It doesn't go to the major commercial areas, so its management is not as strict."
The Citizen Library of Chat City is built in a place relatively close to the suburbs. The surrounding environment is quiet and not in a bustling downtown area.
So there happens to be a platform here where you can take the old model bus.
Although Jiang Yunu has been running around in Chat City recently and has already walked through many places in the city, and believes that her exploration of Chat City is progressing very quickly, she is obviously still not as good as Joyson, a real native, in some life tips and tricks.
The old bus quickly pulled into the platform. Joyson swiped his personal terminal to get on board, then said to the ticket checking robot, "This is my sister behind me. She's free for children, so she doesn't need to be verified."
Jiang Yunu saw the robot, which had the same old-fashioned shape as the car model, just tilting its head. She heard the "clicking" sound of the mechanical joints. Then, the ticket inspector nodded at her, raised his hand, took off his hat, and gave her a somewhat awkward hat-docking salute, inviting her to get on the bus.
This may be a program designed for children to watch. When this old-fashioned robot finds a child who is exempt from the ticket, it will make a humorous tribute.
However, since this robot is really old, the paint on its body is mottled and the joint wheels are not very flexible. When it raised its hand to take off its hat, the mechanical arm did not rise to the preset position, and its fingers got stuck in the gap of the top of its head. The "hat-taking-off" position suddenly became a little lower - so its entire head cover had to be taken off at once.
Qiao Yisen pulled Jiang Yunu to the back of the bus and expertly found a seat. "It was like this when I was a kid. The first time I took this bus, my mom made me walk in front so I could see it taking off its veil. I was so scared that I burst into tears right there."
Jiang Yunu: "..."
Jiang Yunu suspected that Joyson's mother might have some sort of habit of teasing her son. She turned back to see the ticket inspector at the "hood-removing" machine. He was slowly putting the hood and hat back on. The sunset outside the train window created a sense of absurd yet peaceful harmony.
This was Jiang Yunu's first time taking a public bus in Chat City.
She didn't ask Joyson which stop they were going to get off. Anyway, when they reached their destination, she knew Joyson would definitely ask her to get off again.
Joyson found two seats next to the window and kindly let Jiang Yunu sit inside.
The windows of the old bus were very large. When it drove onto the circular track, the setting sun just fell below the outer track of that circular line. The bus went around the circular track all the way, and every time it made a big turn, it seemed as if the bus was going to drive directly into the sunset.
Jiang Yunu leaned against the window. This was her second time to enjoy the sunset from the car window. The last time was when she took the car that brought her back from the garbage disposal site.
Joyson's voice seemed even quieter under the setting sun. He said, "We are also known as 'Sunset City' because we have the most beautiful sunset in the galaxy."
Jiang Yunu nodded in agreement, thinking that the sunset in Chat City was indeed beautiful.
However, in the seat across the row in front, there was a passenger who looked like he had fallen asleep when the two of them got on the bus. He was half leaning back in his seat and dozing with his eyes closed. Unexpectedly, after Jiang Yunu and Qiao Yisen finished talking, the person in front suddenly spoke and seamlessly joined the conversation between the two children.
"'Sunset City' used to have beautiful sunsets, but that's no longer the case." The passenger turned around, his face tired after a long day of work. He glanced at the two children in the back seat and shook his head. "Everything in this city is like this sunset, treading on its twilight hours. Those who can afford it are trying to get out, or have already left."
Joyson looked bewildered when he heard this. He truly loved the city where he was born and raised, and he felt a little unconvinced when he suddenly heard people say that it was not good.
Jiang Yunu felt that the passenger just wanted to complain, or perhaps it was because the day's work was too hard, and some adults couldn't help but complain in front of children.
Jiang Yunu's hand silently pulled Joyson's sleeve under the cover of the chair back.
"Uncle," she said to the stranger, "you are older than us and have lived in Chat City longer than us, so you must have more feelings than us."
The stranger shook his head again, as if he was just venting his frustrations in front of a still energetic child. He smiled awkwardly on his tired and swollen face and replied to Jiang Yunu's politeness, "Little friend, you and your brother should work hard to leave Chat City and go to a better place to study."
When the man turned his head back, Jiang Yunu vaguely heard him say, "It's just one acre and three mu of land, and yet..."
"What?" Jiang Yunu didn't hear the rest of the sentence.
That didn't seem to be what she should be concerned about at the moment, so she didn't explore it.
When the old bus turned another pier and was about to arrive at the next platform, Joyson patted Jiang Yunu's arm, indicating that they should get off.
Jiang Yunu looked closely at the street view outside the car window and felt that the place looked familiar.
This sense of familiarity became even stronger when Joyson led her out of the car and the car turned several corners, gradually approaching a street.
Just as a prediction emerged in Jiang Yunu's mind, she looked at the street ahead that was becoming more and more familiar, then looked at Qiao Yisen's profile, and began to try to recall. Could it be that the entrance of the Public Library was not the first time she met him? As if sensing her gaze, Qiao Yisen slowly stopped.
Joyson also looked at the street ahead and then at Jiang Yunu.
"...By the way." Joyson suddenly became uneasy again. "Didn't I tell you that I live on 'that street'?"
As if some words were difficult to express, Joyceen used a very vague pronoun.
Jiang Yunu was much more generous than him. He turned his head and pointed to the intersection ahead where the flickering streetlights were visible. "Is that the street you're talking about?"
Only after Joyceon had brought the person home did he remember to worry about the reputation of the dilapidated street.
He was very worried that even if Jiang Yunu was an orphan, he might not be willing to eat in a house on a run-down street.
"I live on a run-down street," Joyson said in a low voice, mustering up the courage. "I forgot to tell you, if you mind, the regular bus still runs twice tonight. I can take you back to the platform and take you home."
Jiang Yunu not only did not feel disgusted, but instead laughed.
"It turns out there's a shuttle bus that goes directly to the library," Jiang Yunu said. "If I had known it was so convenient, I wouldn't have had to rely on my own two feet when I went there today."
Joyson felt that Jiang Yunu's reaction was different from what he expected, and there was also a hint of something else behind it.
Jiang Yunu took another step forward, looking more familiar than Joyson had seen.
"I live here too." said Jiang Yunu.
Joyson: “Huh?”
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