Chapter 10
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Once the cube was activated, it projected a button for exchanging.
Pressing the button, a line of food items appeared as 3D holograms in front of him. From left to right, there was a watermelon, a plate of lobster over rice, two pounds of lychee, a box of eggs, and an 8-inch cheesecake.
When he touched the watermelon with his finger, the interface displayed a button for exchanging, and above it, it showed the requirement: 1 Whitewashing Point.
He then experimented with clicking on the other four food items. Whether it was a coincidence or a standard price, they all required 1 point for exchange.
Since Xue Yao had just finished dinner with the Old Madam and had a strong resistance to food, he didn’t hurry to exchange. Instead, he searched for additional hints on the interface.
Could he only exchange these five food types, or would new items appear over time?
Before long, he spotted a refresh button with a question mark symbol in the lower right corner of the exchange screen.
Tapping the question mark opened a dialog box with an explanation:
Welcome to the Level 3 Foodmart, where you can freely exchange the food you choose. By swiping upward, you can refresh the mart. You can refresh the Level 3 Foodmart up to 3 times every day.
Once the Level 2 Foodmart is unlocked, the daily refresh limit would increase to 300 times.
Upon opening the Level 1 Foodmart, the host could independently search for food items to exchange.
Why didn’t it mention how to upgrade the Foodmart?
Could it be the second layer of the Rubik’s Cube?
Xue Yao closed the exchange interface, tapped a cube on the middle layer. The enormous Rubik’s Cube flickered, displaying a message:
Conditions to unlock the Level 2 Foodmart:
① Spend 150 Whitewashing Points.
② Complete Main Quest 1: Unblock Lu Qian’s Ren and Du Meridians.
“……” Xue Yao was shocked!
He could accept spending 150 Whitewashing Points to upgrade the mart, after all, knowing the plot, saving lives wasn’t too difficult.
But what on earth was “Unblock Lu Qian’s Ren and Du Meridians”? Did they want him to beat up the male protagonist? This was practically suicidal!
This novel, “One Hand Covering the Sky,” was a typical Long Aotian novel. The plot not only involved political struggles and harem tropes, but the author, to reach a word count, delved into the protagonist’s martial arts journey. The male protagonist’s final martial prowess exceeded that of any high-level martial artist in Jin Yong’s works.
The beginning of his martial arts journey was all about unblocking the Ren and Du Meridians.
In the novel, the male protagonist had his Ren and Du Meridians unblocked by the Third Prince.
Location: Martial arts training ground.
When the male protagonist was a young trainee, he accidentally took a kick to the abdomen from the Third Prince, sending him flying and knocking him unconscious.
They thought he might have suffered internal injuries, but to their surprise, he woke up without any issues and even unlocked his martial talent.
From the perspective of onlookers, the Third Prince’s kick turned out to be a blessing in disguise. When the male protagonist made his comeback, he didn’t forget that fateful kick. In no time, he used a sword to impale the same foot the Third Prince had kicked him with, nailing it to the ground.
Now, the system had handed over the honorable task of unblocking the male protagonist’s Ren and Du Meridians to Xue Yao.
Xue Yao swallowed hard, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and made a wise decision: he could always choose not to upgrade the mart. Using the lowest-level mart for life would be just fine. After all, it allowed three daily refreshes, which was already satisfying.
Being a satistifed cannon fodder was the way to keep his ear and tailbone intact!
However, he had underestimated the system’s shameless nature.
On the first day of becoming the Seventh Prince’s reader-in-waiting, as soon as he met his new master, Xue Yao heard a system prompt in his mind: “Main plot quest initiated.”
Xue Yao: “……”
What main plot?
What quest?
Explain it clearly!
But there were no further prompts after that.
This system was quite Buddha-like, letting things happen naturally. It only provided new prompts when the plot naturally reached a certain point.
Xue Yao, keeping his composure, decided to take it step by step. He calmly paid his respects to the Seventh Prince and Consort Xi.
The Seventh Prince’s chubby little face remained emotionless as he stared straight at Xue Yao.
“From now on, he will be your new reader-in-waiting.”
Xue Yao promptly replied, “My name is Xue Yao. Your Highness can call me A’Yao.”
The Seventh Prince remained expressionless and didn’t respond.
Consort Xi assumed her child was just shy, so without dwelling on it, she instructed the eunuch to prepare a carriage to take the two children to school.
The Seventh Prince, with an expressionless face, stuck out his little tongue at Xue Yao the moment he caught Consort Xi’s eyes shifting away.
Xue Yao: “?”
After Consort Xi finished giving instructions, the Seventh Prince, alert and watchful, retracted his little tongue and resumed his emotionless facade.
Xue Yao: “……” Am I just seeing things?
However, when Consort Xi looked away once more, the Seventh Prince, as if equipped with an intelligent sensor, stuck out his little tongue at Xue Yao again and even raised his chubby hand to pull down his left eyelid.
Xue Yao figured it out.
This little guy was making faces at him.
Whenever Consort Xi wasn’t paying attention.
He was truly cunning!
Was it because of the incident with the horse riding?
The male protagonist was undoubtedly a grudge-bearing fanatic!
Even fixing the wooden horse might not save his ear and tailbone!
Xue Yao advised himself to stay calm and win people over with kindness, so he offered a tolerant smile to the Seventh Prince.
The Seventh Prince raised his other chubby hand, used his fingertip to nudge his own nose, and made an even more exaggerated “pig-nose funny face” at him.
Xue Yao: “……”
In the novel, the male protagonist was definitely a cold, expressionless, highly intelligent, and somewhat otherworldly handsome man.
This chubby cub must have been switched with someone by mistake.
Prince Ning, the Male God, would never do something so foolish!
No, the most pressing issue was to find a way to improve their relationship. Judging by the way the Seventh Prince was taking every opportunity to display defiant behavior, losing his ear and tailbone was just a matter of time.
On the way to the study hall, Xue Yao pondered all the way. With the Seventh Prince living in such favorable conditions, he couldn’t possibly offer an extraordinary toy to make the Seventh Prince happy.
He had to find something novel that the palace didn’t have and appease this little grudge-bearing spirit.
The only option was the food in the mental space.
So, while practicing calligraphy at school, Xue Yao secretly lowered his head and closed his eyes, entering the mental space.
The exchange interface still featured the same five food items from last night. Among them, the cheesecake was not available in the palace, but offering food had to be timed right, as cakes tended to go stale if left too long.
After a brief thought, Xue Yao clicked to use one of the refresh chances.
The five food items in front of him immediately transformed into a durian, a plate of Korean-style grilled pork belly, two pounds of fragrant oranges, three dragon fruits, and a carton of Want Want milk.
The first four types of food were all present in the palace.
Geographically, the novel’s capital city was located roughly where Beijing would be. Logically, tropical fruits like durian and dragon fruit wouldn’t be found in ancient northern China. But how could a trendy novel let the male protagonist miss out on any fruit?
So, the Great Qi Dynasty had a level of waterway transportation that rivaled the 21st century. There were no fruits that couldn’t be found in the palace.
Among this batch of food items, only the Want Want milk was absent from the palace. The palace masters mainly drank human milk, with dedicated wetnurses for that purpose. Of course, tea was the primary beverage.
The milk in the palace underwent no processing, not even needing to be heated. It certainly couldn’t compare to the well-seasoned Want Want drinks.
With this in mind, Xue Yao exchanged the carton of Want Want milk, planning to “bribe” the Seventh Prince during their break.
However, when break time arrived and the lecturer left the room, all three little princes in the school suddenly became spirited, running and playing all around.
The Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince were studying together with the Seventh Prince. One was nine years old, and the other was five.
Each of them had their own private tutors in the palace. The unified curriculum at the school included calligraphy and reciting ancient poetry.
The youngest, Seventh Prince, was only three years old, having just started school last month. He barely knew a few characters, but with his remarkable ability to remember things, he quickly caught up with his big brothers’ progress.
The Chief Scribe sent by the Imperial Academy praised the Seventh Prince endlessly, and the title of “child prodigy” reached the Emperor’s ears, naturally delighting him greatly.
This was also one of the reasons why the Third Prince harbored jealousy and bullied Old Seventh.
At this moment, the three little princes stood in the open space at the center of the school.
Leading the group was the eldest, the Fifth Prince. He issued commands, instructing the Sixth Prince and the Seventh Prince to perform moves, as if they were in military training.
“Joint Lock Technique!”
“Mighty Diamond Palm!”
“Golden Rooster Stands Alone!”
The five-year-old Sixth Prince was completely focused. His tiny body executed the moves precisely and confidently.
Meanwhile, the Seventh Prince’s “Golden Rooster Stands Alone” consisted of merely raising one hand, without lifting his chubby little leg – a gesture that clearly conveyed the attitude of “I’ve already moved, that’s enough.”
The Fifth Prince’s little face crinkled in a slight frown, but he suppressed his disdain. He patted the Seventh Prince’s shoulder and encouraged him, “Old Seventh, you still need to work hard…”
The Seventh Prince lazily raised one arm, looked up at his brother, and insincerely pleaded, “I’m very tired.”
Onlooker Xue Yao: “……”
The Fifth Prince couldn’t bear to look directly at him. “Hold on a little longer, Old Seventh. You want to become a strong man like your Big Brother, right?”
The Seventh Prince’s eyes lit up, and he nodded with determination.
But he still didn’t lift his foot, just raised his hand a bit higher!
Xue Yao: “……”
How on earth was this cub going to grow up to become the martial arts prodigy Long Aotian?
Could Consort Xi really have secretly swapped children?
Not long after the two little princes attempted the “Golden Rooster Stands Alone,” the Fifth Prince called a halt. The next stage began, a round of strength training: arm-wrestling!
The eunuchs brought tables and chairs to the center of the hall as usual.
First, the Fifth Prince displayed his strength. With his nine-year-old advantage, he easily defeated the six-year-old Sixth Prince and the three-year-old Seventh Prince.
Xue Yao had been quietly observing, but to his surprise, the Fifth Prince noticed this new face.
Seeing that Xue Yao’s physique seemed younger than his age, the Fifth Prince immediately had the words “easy win” flash in his eyes and waved for Xue Yao to sit across from him.
Xue Yao had thought of politely responding with “I dare not,” but considering the young age of the princes, he was afraid that overly observing formalities might not be well-received in this setting. So, he obediently took his seat across from the Fifth Prince.
“How old are you this year?” the Fifth Prince began his inquiry into his opponent.
“I’m eight years old.”
The nine-year-old Fifth Prince immediately felt assured of victory. He placed his arm on the table, arrogantly instructing his personal reader-in-waiting, “He’s one year younger than me. Count to seven. If I can’t win, I’ll consider it my loss.”
Xue Yao gazed kindly at the “elementary schooler” across from him and thought that if he let the Fifth Prince win immediately, he might not feel so accomplished. So, he decided to let the count reach five before allowing the Fifth Prince to win.
With this in mind, he started with a bit of force, but… Xue Yao had overestimated himself!
The princes had specially trained martial instructors, making their strength and skills far superior to those of regular children. Furthermore, Xue Yao’s current body wasn’t in its twenties but belonged to an actual eight-year-old boy.
Consequently, his support led to the Fifth Prince abruptly increasing his strength.
With a “thud,” Xue Yao’s hand landed on the table.
A man with a mental age in his twenties being defeated by an elementary schooler in seconds didn’t bring Xue Yao to tears from humiliation.
However, the sharp, tingling pain in his hand, drilling right into the bones, filled Xue Yao’s almond-shaped eyes with tears in an instant. He stared at the Fifth Prince in shock.
Was this really an elementary schooler?
The Fifth Prince had been eager to impress this new reader-in-waiting and ended up being too rough.
He knew this action might cause some pain to the little attendant, but he hadn’t expected to make him cry!
No servant had yet cried in front of the young lord. Was this to complain that the master was too harsh?
“I didn’t mean to, don’t cry!” For the first time, the Fifth Prince, who had “bullied the weak,” blushed and awkwardly pleaded with Xue Yao, “Don’t cry! Please?”
Xue Yao really wanted to hold it back… but the tears just burst out!
Those eight-year-old tender hands couldn’t bear the pain!
The Sixth Prince and Seventh Prince, who were watching from the side, were utterly astonished!
How could there be a crying tough guy?
It was just… so pitiful!
The protective instincts of these two little tough guys were suddenly ignited by Xue Yao’s “tearful” state. They looked at the “culprit,” the Fifth Prince, with a common sense of resentment!
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Ehhh that ending is really cute OMGGG 🤣🤣🤣 MC please where would you put your face if a 3 years old and 5 years old stood up for you dooohhh 🤣