Qin Siyang and the other two took a taxi back to the kindergarten.
To Qin Siyang's surprise, there were funeral wreaths at the entrance, "What? Did another kid suddenly die in the kindergarten?"
Li Tianming said lazily, "Not only is your brain not working well, but your eyes aren't either? Didn't you see what's written on the mourning banner? 'Eternal Rest, Qin Siyang.'"
"My funeral wreath? Why is it at the kindergarten?"
Zhang Kuang explained, "Because you took the Vine Core and the Crimson Crystal."
"Huh? What does that have to do with anything? I took those two things, and now I get the approval of the kindergarten parents?"
"No. It's because everyone knows you're a nobody with no background. The fact that you got these two treasures is purely luck."
"So, many parents hope their kids will have the same luck in the future. After hearing that you live in the kindergarten, they all sent wreaths, hoping to pray to your spirit so that you would bless their children with good fortune and smooth sailing in life."
Qin Siyang's mouth twitched. Looking at the row of wreaths and the miniature wreaths sent in the children's names underneath the large ones, he felt a mix of emotions, "The kids that go to this kindergarten all come from rich and powerful families. How are they still so superstitious?"
"Little Qin, in all my years living in the safety zone, the richer someone is, the more superstitious they tend to be."
"Really?"
Zhang Kuang scratched his messy, fluffy hair again, "What do you think? Otherwise, how do you think churches manage to grow and thrive in the safety zone?"
Zhang Kuang took out his phone and made a call, "It's me. Bring a few cleaning staff and take away all the wreaths outside the school."
"Yeah, I know some were sent by department heads and directors. Take them all away…"
"Don't worry, no one will come asking. Because the person they were mourning just walked back alive."
"Mm, that's it."
Zhang Kuang hung up and led Qin Siyang and Li Tianming into the kindergarten.
The door of the room where Qin Siyang and Li Tianming lived had white mourning cloths hanging on it.
Even weirder, a bunch of prayer charms for divine blessings were attached to the white cloths.
Qin Siyang picked up the charms one by one and read them.
[Pray for Wang Zixuan to grow up safely and happily every day!]
[Pray for Xu Xiran to awaken a powerful sequence!]
[Pray for Qin Siyang to share some of his luck with Zhou Yijie so he can excel in elementary school next year.]
"Wow. Health, abilities, academics. They're asking for everything. Do they really think I'm some kind of fortune god?"
Qin Siyang grabbed the pile of charms and threw them into the trash can beside him.
Then he and Li Tianming walked inside, "Sigh, after lying in that pit these past few days, I haven't had a proper rest. I really need to sleep… Wait—where's my bed?"
Qin Siyang looked at the now-empty room. Only the five small beds Li Tianming slept on were still there.
The beds he used were all gone.
Zhang Kuang said, "The parents believe that the beds you slept on bring good fortune, so they paid fifty silv—"
"They formed groups of fifty people and snatched all the beds!"
Li Tianming cut in immediately, looking heartbroken and full of regret.
"Little Qin, you didn't see it. The scene was so chaotic that we couldn't stop them at all. Sigh, thinking about it now, I really regret it. I didn't even manage to save you a relic."
"I cried and screamed, but they wouldn't listen. I was so mad I nearly passed out. It was Zhang here who helped me up. Zhang, am I right?"
Zhang Kuang glanced at Li Tianming, yawned, and pretended he knew nothing.
Qin Siyang watched Li Tianming's sudden emotional outburst and scratched his neck. Something felt off.
Fine, for the sake of Old Li giving him a grand burial, he wouldn't dwell on the details.
"Director Zhang, are there any other beds?"
"There were only ten extra beds. Right now, there are five left, all in this room."
Qin Siyang looked at the empty dormitory and asked, "There are only five beds, just enough for one person to sleep. How are the two of us going to manage?"
"How have you been sleeping these past few days?"
"I've been sleeping on the floor, obviously."
"Then just keep sleeping on the floor."
"Old Li, listen to yourself. I've been suffering outside, barely surviving. Now that I'm back, you still want me to sleep on the floor?"
"Little Qin, I'm over forty years old now. If your parents were still alive, they wouldn't be much older than me. You understand the principle of respecting the old and caring for the young, right? Do you really have the heart to let an old man like me sleep on the floor?"
"I think it's perfect. Old Li, you've got too much fire in your body. Sleeping on the floor will help cool you down."
After arguing back and forth, they finally decided: on odd-numbered days, Qin Siyang would sleep on the bed, and on even-numbered days, Li Tianming would sleep on the bed.
Zhang Kuang also had some extra mattresses brought in so whoever slept on the floor could at least have a bit of cushioning.
Zhang Kuang looked at the two of them with disdain.
He felt that after two years, Li Tianming had become much duller.
'Must've been infected by Qin Siyang.'
'Wait, could stupidity be airborne?'
Today was an odd-numbered day, so it was Qin Siyang's turn to sleep on the bed.
He was absolutely exhausted.
He tossed aside the mattress Li Tianming had used, put down a fresh one, and lay down to sleep without even taking a bath.
Seeing this, Li Tianming and Zhang Kuang didn't disturb him and left the room together.
"Old Li, when's the Crimson Crystal meeting?"
"We have to wait."
"Wait for what? Didn't we already agree with Zhao Longfei's side?"
"Waiting for Wu Yu and the others."
"Old Wu and his team are coming?"
"Yeah."
Zhang Kuang thought for a moment, "Because you established the contract today and gained mobility authority, so you notified them?"
"Exactly. We'll see how much Crimson Crystal they want, total up what we need, and then negotiate."
Zhang Kuang scratched his stubble, "I thought you were keeping the Crimson Crystal all to yourself."
"The guys have been backing me up all this time, and we'll be working together on research in the future. I can't just let them suffer."
"You're planning to share the Vine Core with them too?"
"Of course."
"But you didn't mention it at the announcement meeting. If you had, the old friends from Central Glory and East Glory would've supported you."
Li Tianming smiled, "My small temple can't accommodate too many monks."
"I have to pick the ones who can eat the same food and chant the same prayers as me."
Zhang Kuang nodded, "Looks like what happened with Ye Hongqing changed you a lot."
"Yes. Zhang, these years, I've dragged you into a lot."
"No need to say that. Without you, I would've been killed by the church ages ago. Who would even remember the name Zhang Kuang?"
The two laughed and didn't continue the topic.
"Old Wu and his team are trustworthy. Sharing the Crimson Crystal with them makes sense."
"But can you afford it? Forget the others—Lu Zhixing alone is a god-hunting weapon researcher. In the past two years, his lab has been booming, and his standards have risen. He'll definitely say 'the more Crimson Crystal, the better.' If you gave him the whole thing, he'd probably eat it all."
"You actually guessed right. When Old Lu got my call, he straight-up asked me to save him half of the Crimson Crystal."
"What did you say?"
"I told him to go back to sleep. No point staying awake just to talk nonsense."
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