The following evening, a gentle breeze stirred.
Huang Tian finished tidying his apartment when his expression suddenly shifted. He opened the door, headed downstairs, and stood at the building entrance, smiling at a girl carrying a bouquet.
She was tall and slender, wearing a light blue tea dress with white canvas shoes and white ankle socks, a pale green backpack slung over her shoulders. She looked brimming with youthful charm.
"Xiao Zong," Huang Tian called, waving at her.
Zong Wenjun paused, swiftly hid the bouquet behind her back, and trotted over with light, quick steps. "Student Huang!"
Standing right before him, she brought out the flowers with a playful flourish, presenting them like a proud treasure: a bouquet of red tulips and white roses.
The tulips bloomed in lush layers, each petal glowing like a translucent ruby. Nestled among them were white roses, their milky-white petals edged with faint traces of pale green, pairing with the vibrant crimson of the tulips to lend a touch of pure, quiet serenity.
"Thank you. They're beautiful."
Huang Tian took the flowers with a warm smile.
"I'm glad you like them!" Zong Wenjun took his hand. "I have three days off this time, so I can finally revisit Chang City properly."
With the bouquet in his left hand, Huang Tian held her hand with his right and led her upstairs. "Wasn't it supposed to be seven days?"
Zong Wenjun grumbled playfully, "During summer break, my mom and aunt traveled all over the country for over a month and didn't even come home once. By the time they finished, my semester had already started. Now my mom keeps saying how much she misses me and wants me to go visit for National Day. I couldn't say no, so I caved and bought a high-speed train ticket to Jinling for the morning of the fourth."
"Three days is plenty. You can cover Wanshou Palace and Tengwang Pavilion in a single evening anyway; there isn't much else to see," Huang Tian said. "Did you eat on the way?"
Zong Wenjun shook her head. "Not yet. I wanted to eat with you."
As they talked, they arrived at the apartment door. Huang Tian pulled his keys from his pocket.
*Click.*
The door swung open. Huang Tian placed the wrapped flowers by the wardrobe while Zong Wenjun curiously glanced around the apartment.
"Here, have some water and take a breather. We'll head down to eat in a bit." Huang Tian grabbed a glass and poured some water.
"Okay." Setting her backpack down, Zong Wenjun took the glass and sipped lightly from both hands. "Your place is so clean."
"Of course."
Huang Tian smiled. He had always been a bit of a neat freak, cleaning every few days. Since embarking on cultivation, he occasionally used spiritual energy to sweep away dust in corners a broom could never reach, making the apartment far cleaner than most.
After resting for a while, Huang Tian said, "Let's go grab dinner downstairs. We won't wander around tonight—you must be tired from traveling. We'll visit Tengwang Pavilion tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm."
The two headed downstairs. Rather than seeking out a romantic Western dinner or candlelight dining, they crossed the street to a neighborhood eatery for a casual meal. By the time they finished, full and satisfied, dusk had deepened into night.
A full moon hung high in the sky, framed by wisps of lead-gray clouds drifting in silence, lending the night an ethereal, dreamlike air.
A few cars glided down the street. Warm lights shone from storefronts on both sides of the road, and rows of tall streetlamps cast a hazy amber glow. Elderly folk, children, and scattered couples strolled leisurely along the pavement.
Huang Tian and Zong Wenjun bought a cup of milk tea and walked side by side down the sidewalk, the cool evening breeze brushing their cheeks and hair, bringing a crisp sense of ease and comfort.
Suddenly, Zong Wenjun took two quick steps forward, spun around, and looked up at Huang Tian with her hands behind her back. Her eyes sparkled with clear light as she murmured, "If only the world could always stay this quiet. Nothing changing, frozen forever in this moment."
"Good times are always fleeting."
"But they're radiant."
With that, she leaned closer and rose slightly onto her tiptoes. A subtle, delicate fragrance washed over him as her soft lips lightly pressed against his. Before Huang Tian could even react, she giggled and darted away, her light blue dress fluttering in the night breeze.
Chuckling, Huang Tian caught up with her, their shadows stretching longer and longer under the amber streetlights.
After playful banter and chasing, weariness finally caught up with them. They returned to the apartment, showered, and lay down in bed. Zong Wenjun's soft, warm frame curled into Huang Tian's embrace, and she gradually drifted off to sleep. As her faint, even breathing filled the room, Huang Tian felt a deep peace and slowly fell asleep as well.
The next day, Huang Tian accompanied Zong Wenjun to a supermarket to buy a glass vase and flower preservative. Back home, they trimmed the fresh flowers together, snipping away excess leaves, filled the vase with water and preservative, and carefully arranged the stems.
"Done!"
Cradling the vase, Zong Wenjun leaned down to inhale the clean, elegant fragrance. She placed it out of direct sunlight and lightly clapped her hands. "Now you can smell flowers at home too!"
Soon, six in the evening arrived. Skipping dinner at home, they took the subway directly to Wanshou Palace. Upon stepping off the train, they found the streets packed with pedestrians, many of them tourists enjoying the holiday.
"Let's grab a bite first."
"Sounds good!"
Huang Tian and Zong Wenjun strolled through the Wanshou Palace Cultural District, stopping now and then to sample local snacks: savory earthenware crock soup, soft and sweet white sugar cakes, spicy lotus root slices, handmade *maci*...
And the famous Kun Tea.
However, the line for Kun Tea was hopelessly long. Zong Wenjun was patient enough to wait in the queue, while Huang Tian slipped into a bookstore on the street corner.
The shop was not large, but it was quiet. Warm yellow lighting filled the space, laced with the faint scent of printer's ink. A dozen or so patrons were either squatting in corners browsing books or relaxing on soft couches to the west. The clerk, a young man in black-rimmed glasses, sat behind the counter, scrolling through his phone out of sheer boredom.
Huang Tian liked this sort of atmosphere. Keeping his footsteps light, he browsed the rows of shelves for something interesting.
History, literature, art, popular science... and somehow, a copy of *Modern Algebra* that had found its way onto the shelf.
Huang Tian was a mathematics major and had taken modern algebra before. Remembering how painfully abstract the coursework had been, he chuckled, pulled the volume out, and flipped through it. A few pages in, he froze.
Concepts he had once struggled to fully grasp now made total sense at a single glance: quotient groups, permutation groups, Galois theory, ideals...
*Is this... my comprehension?*
Understanding struck Huang Tian in an instant. Ever since acquiring his supernatural powers, his mental comprehension had expanded immensely. Learning a mystical art took him mere moments, and comprehending an academic text turned out to be just as effortless.
His eyes brightened. He quickly leafed through the entire volume of *Modern Algebra*. His photographic memory instantly logged every detail, while his extraordinary comprehension allowed him to effortlessly master all the concepts—and even extrapolate beyond them using his prior knowledge!
*I think I know what I want to do in the future...*
Chapter 39