"Come in."
Hiratsuka Shizuka pushed the door open and glanced back at Lu Nian before walking inside. Although she still hadn't figured out the boy's exact background despite her persistent questioning, one thing was clear enough—he had nowhere to go for the night.
As a teacher, she simply couldn't bring herself to leave a boy who looked about the same age as her students wandering the streets in the freezing cold. So, without much hesitation, she brought him back to her apartment.
As for whether the teenager harbored any dangerous intentions… Hiratsuka Shizuka was quite confident in her iron fist. If anything happened, she was more than capable of handling it.
"Thank you," Lu Nian said sincerely.
Despite living alone, the so-called "leftover woman's" apartment was unexpectedly tidy. That was, of course, assuming one ignored the scattered beer cans on the table and the ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts.
"Ahem—don't worry about such trivial details."
Noticing where Lu Nian's gaze had lingered, Hiratsuka Shizuka coughed lightly, pretended nothing was amiss, and swiftly cleared the table with practiced movements.
She then led Lu Nian to the guest room next to the living room, telling him he could sleep there for the night. After that, she returned to her room and came back holding a brand-new set of men's pajamas, which she handed to him.
"I don't know what you're dealing with," she said after lighting a cigarette, her voice slower after a brief pause, "but you can stay here for now. If anything happens, you can come to me. Don't be fooled by how I look—I am a teacher."
"…I understand."
Faced with Hiratsuka Shizuka's concern, Lu Nian had no idea how to explain his identity. If he told her that he was a store manager from another world—one who had just traded for someone's lifespan—she would almost certainly diagnose him with an advanced case of chūnibyō.
Unlike Tsukasa, Hiratsuka Shizuka was an ordinary human. She hadn't lived for over a thousand years, nor had she seen the extraordinary side of the world.
"Alright then," she said, waving her hand. "See you tomorrow. And don't try to sneak into the teacher's room at night."
"Who would even think of doing that?!" Lu Nian protested helplessly.
Watching her blink mischievously before turning away, he couldn't help but sigh. He wasn't someone whose smaller head controlled the bigger one—there was no way he'd do something like that.
After Hiratsuka Shizuka returned to her room, Lu Nian took a shower, changed into the pajamas, and lay down on the bed. Strictly speaking, bathing and sleeping were no longer necessary for him.
But after decades of loneliness, his mind was exhausted.
Before merging with the Pure White Space, he had only been an ordinary person. Now, more than anything else, he simply wanted a proper rest.
The night passed in silence.
The next morning, when Hiratsuka Shizuka woke up, she vaguely heard sounds coming from outside her room.
Only then did she remember that she had taken in a homeless boy the night before.
"Teacher Jing, when you wake up, come eat breakfast."
From the kitchen, Lu Nian heard movement from the bedroom. He plated the fried fish steak in the pan and called out calmly.
Ten minutes later, Hiratsuka Shizuka stepped out in her pajamas, hair messy and eyes half-open. When she saw the food laid out on the table, her drowsiness vanished instantly.
"Lu Nian," she said seriously, "explain honestly—where did you get all these ingredients?"
Prawns, fish, and assorted seafood filled the table, their freshness unmistakable. She looked up at the young man standing there with an apron tied around his waist.
As someone from a wealthy background, Hiratsuka Shizuka could tell at a glance that this meal wasn't cheap. More importantly, her refrigerator definitely didn't contain anything except beer.
"I bought them," Lu Nian replied casually, removing the apron and hanging it on the chair.
Of course, the truth was that he had casually fished them out of the sea the day before—and he still had plenty more. But there was no need to explain that.
"And where did you get the money?" she asked as she sat down.
"I sold a few things."
That part wasn't a lie.
Early that morning, Lu Nian had returned to the sea, located several sunken ships, and retrieved a batch of gold and silver jewelry. Most of it had been sealed away, while a small portion was sold at a gold shop.
Since he didn't have a bank card, there was currently a large box of cash sitting quietly in his room.
When he visited the gold shop, the clerk had initially questioned his identity. However, after Lu Nian calmly offered to sell at twenty percent below market price, all doubts vanished instantly. By the time he left, even the store manager personally escorted him out, warmly suggesting he come again if he had similar "goods" in the future.
"Hm."
Seeing that Lu Nian clearly didn't intend to elaborate, Hiratsuka Shizuka didn't press further. Instead, she focused on the meal, even pulling out a few cans of beer from the fridge and cracking them open without hesitation.
She looked less like an elegant woman and more like a middle-aged uncle enjoying life.
In the underground garage, Hiratsuka Shizuka sat quietly in her sports car, looking at the boy standing outside the window.
"Kid, want to go to school with me?"
"No need, Teacher Jing. I still have something to take care of."
"Alright."
With that, she tossed a set of keys to Lu Nian, stepped on the accelerator, and sped out of the garage.
After pocketing the keys, Lu Nian's figure gradually became transparent. Entering a blurred state, he shot toward the city center like a phantom.
He knew that if he intended to stay in this world long-term, he needed a proper identity. The Pure White Space was now anchored here, and until it fully matured, he would have to remain in this world most of the time.
It took only a few minutes to locate the relevant office. Lu Nian exited his blurred state and walked inside.
Using his inhuman mental strength, he calmly guided the staff through the process. Before long, he had an identity card, a bank card, and a brand-new phone—along with a freshly registered phone number.
"Next, deposit the money… then refurbish the store."
By the time everything was done, the day had quietly slipped away.
On the street, Lu Nian held a bag of snacks and watched students who had just finished school pass by, their faces brimming with youthful vitality.
"Youth really is nice," he murmured. "I wonder if they'd be willing to make a deal with me."
"I haven't seen you for a day. What kind of dangerous thoughts are you having now?"
A familiar voice sounded beside him.
Hiratsuka Shizuka appeared at his side, arms crossed, staring at him with a dark expression. Just moments ago, she had seen him watching the passing girls far too intently.
With a face like that, he could easily deceive innocent students if he wanted to.
"Teacher Jing, you're misunderstanding," Lu Nian said helplessly. "The transaction I'm talking about is very pure."
What he wanted was simple—money in exchange for time.
As the saying went, an inch of time is an inch of gold. If that was the case, then using gold to buy time should be perfectly reasonable.
After all, gold was practically the most useless thing to him now. A few trips to the sea were enough to get as much as he wanted.
In this way, Lu Nian obtained lifespan.
And those boys and girls obtained money.
A fair deal—at least, in his eyes.
_____________________
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