Chapter 645 - 402: Touching a Knowledge Blind Spot

Chapter 645: Chapter 402: Touching a Knowledge Blind Spot

The unstoppable smile on Zhu Xinru’s face was a clear sign that she was in an excellent mood.

She reached for an exquisitely crafted purple clay teapot and personally poured Lin Li a cup of tea, brewed from leaves grown in her family’s own tea garden.

Then, she picked up the plate of pastries in front of her, made by her family’s Pastry Chef, and placed it before Lin Li.

"Mr. Lin, it will be a little while before we reach my home. Please have some tea and a few pastries," Zhu Xinru said to Lin Li, her smile as bright as a blooming flower.

At that moment, however, Lin Li’s attention wasn’t on Zhu Xinru.

He was inwardly curious about the object beneath the carriage. It was emitting Spiritual Energy Waves, and he wondered what on earth it was.

After some thought, he guessed that this object emitting Spiritual Energy Waves might function like a car’s shock absorbers, which would explain why the carriage felt completely steady, without the slightest vibration, even while moving at high speed.

"Mr. Lin?" Zhu Xinru called out when she noticed him spacing out.

"Ah?" Lin Li snapped back to reality.

"Please, have some tea and a few pastries," Zhu Xinru repeated.

Hearing her offer again, Lin Li nodded, then picked up a pastry from the plate before him and took a bite.

’This red bean pastry... it’s sweet but not too rich. It’s delicious!’ After taking a bite, Lin Li’s eyes lit up. A pastry this good was a rare find.

"So the pastries are to your liking?" Zhu Xinru asked with a smile, having noticed the change in Lin Li’s expression after he tasted it.

"These are delicious. Where did you buy them? I’d like to get some for myself later," Lin Li asked after finishing the small pastry in his hand and taking a sip of tea.

"They’re made by our family’s Pastry Chef. You can’t buy them anywhere else," the maid, Chunxiang, spoke up from the side, explaining on behalf of her mistress.

’They have a dedicated Pastry Chef at home? This Zhu Xinru really is the young lady of a very wealthy family.’

But thinking about it, it made sense. From the very beginning, when he saw her surrounded by guards, to the later incident where that suitor brought his family servants to cause trouble, it was clear her family background was anything but ordinary.

Lin Li mulled this over for a moment, then picked up another pastry and began to eat.

"Since you enjoy the pastries so much, Mr. Lin, I’ll have our family’s Pastry Chef prepare some more for you later..." Zhu Xinru said with a beaming smile.

"Oh, I couldn’t possibly impose," Lin Li said politely after swallowing the pastry in his mouth.

"Please, Mr. Lin, there’s no need for such formalities," Zhu Xinru said. Then, seeing that his cup was empty, she reached for the purple clay teapot on the table and refilled it.

Lin Li wasn’t much of a conversationalist to begin with, and with such sweet and delicious pastries in front of him, he was even less inclined to initiate a chat.

Seeing Lin Li eat one pastry after another, Zhu Xinru assumed he must have skipped breakfast and was very hungry. So, she didn’t interrupt him, silently refilling his cup with tea again and again.

The maid, Chunxiang, sat on a low stool to the side, her gaze shifting from Lin Li, who was completely absorbed in eating pastries, to her own mistress, who had transformed into a "Tea-pouring Maiden." As a maid, she now found herself with nothing to do.

"Chunxiang," Zhu Xinru called out, turning to her idle maid who was resting her cheeks in her hands. She had noticed the plate of pastries was almost empty.

Understanding immediately, Chunxiang nodded, retrieved a food container from another part of the carriage, opened it, and brought out another plate of pastries.

Seeing this, Lin Li quickly waved his hand and said, "No more pastries, please. I’ve had enough."

After Chunxiang placed the pastries on the table, Zhu Xinru smiled at Lin Li. "Mr. Lin, you don’t have to be so polite with me."

Although the side effects of eating the Magical Little Fruit had lessened considerably by now, Lin Li’s appetite was still much larger than an ordinary person’s.

It had been a while since breakfast, and though he wasn’t starving, he was still in a state where he could easily eat several more plates of pastries.

Hearing Zhu Xinru tell him not to be polite, Lin Li just smiled and didn’t immediately start on the new plate. He decided to take a short break.

Seeing Lin Li pause his eating, Zhu Xinru took the opportunity to ask a question.

"Mr. Lin, have you finished with the matters you’ve been busy with? Are you planning to leave Dongwu City soon?"

Lin Li had previously told Zhu Xinru that he was a traveler journeying from place to place. He had planned to stay in East City for a while before moving on to the next city, which was why she asked.

Lin Li, who currently had no plans to leave Dongwu City, smiled and shook his head. "I don’t intend to leave Dongwu City just yet."

"Oh."

"There’s something I need to take care of, and it will require some time. Once I’ve handled it, I’ll probably leave Dongwu City and head to the next one."

"Mr. Lin, would you mind telling me what it is? If you need my help, please don’t hesitate to ask," Zhu Xinru inquired.

’The thing I’m talking about is taking down the Red Blood Gang. That’s not exactly something I can ask for your help with. Besides, I’m more than capable of handling this by myself; there’s no need to drag anyone else into it...’ Lin Li grumbled inwardly before smiling at Zhu Xinru.

"Thank you for your kind offer, but this is something I have to handle on my own."

"I see," Zhu Xinru said with a nod. Seeing that Lin Li wasn’t elaborating, she was tactful enough not to press the issue.

Lin Li thought for a moment and decided to change the subject. He then asked Zhu Xinru a question that no one had ever asked her before.

"Miss Zhu, this carriage of yours is remarkably steady while in motion.

Since arriving in Dongwu City, I’ve ridden in quite a few carriages, but yours is the only one that doesn’t feel bumpy at all.

I used my Perception just now and detected an object under the carriage emitting Spiritual Energy Waves. Is that object the reason for this carriage’s unusual stability?"

"Huh?!!!"

The moment Lin Li’s question left his lips, it wasn’t just Zhu Xinru who was stunned; even Chunxiang, at her side, wore the exact same expression.

Neither of them had ever expected Lin Li to ask about the carriage.

The feeling was like an engineering student majoring in computer programming asking his girlfriend, a classical literature major, a technical question about an impressive piece of software.

’Why would this Mr. Lin ask the mistress about something like that? How are we supposed to know why the carriage is so steady?’ the maid, Chunxiang, thought, dazed and complaining to herself.

As Zhu Xinru’s personal maid, she had seen plenty of young masters—powerful, influential, wealthy, and talented. Which one of them, upon meeting Zhu Xinru, didn’t try to woo her with poetry and romance?

But here was Lin Li, chatting about a carriage with a rich young lady as beautiful as a jade flower. In Chunxiang’s eyes, this Mr. Lin was a real oddball.

Zhu Xinru looked at Lin Li’s curious face and realized he was genuinely asking about the carriage. This was, however, a blind spot in her knowledge, so she answered a bit sheepishly.

"The carriage was custom-made for me by a friend of my father’s. I only know that some special materials were used in its construction, and that it can withstand a full-power blow from a Second Order High Rank Cultivator without being destroyed.

As for your question about it being so steady and not bumpy at all, and whether that’s because of an object under the carriage emitting Spiritual Energy Waves... I really don’t know.

It seems all of our family’s other carriages have a similar smooth ride, so I’ve never paid any attention to that aspect..."

After listening to Zhu Xinru’s explanation, Lin Li belatedly realized that asking a wealthy young lady this kind of question was indeed asking the wrong person.

...