Chapter 27 Refining
Ren Ye arrived at their new home with Ren Jia, holding a bag of vegetables and meat. He placed the things he had bought on the table and turned on the TV, putting on a cartoon for Ren Jia to watch while he prepares dinner.
Ren Ye watched a cooking video while he fillets the raw beef, seasoning it with salt and pepper. He chopped the asparagus into half and placed them aside.
He took out a pan and heated it on the stove, pouring olive oil on the hot pan. He dropped the meat on the pan and a cube of butter.
,m After a while, he was done with cooking; the cooked steak appeared slightly burnt but he eventually cut the burnt part off.
He opened a bottle of orange juice and poured it into two glasses, took them to where Ren Jia was sitting, and placed them in front of the TV.
"Papa, it smells very good," The little girl couldn't help but praise her Papa for his cooking, although she had smelled the burn from where she was sitting. ƒ𝓇e𝙚𝔀𝐞𝚋𝓃𝐨𝘷e𝙡.𝒄𝗼m
'It is good enough that Papa is cooking for us, I have complaints,' She thought and grinned happily at her Papa.
"Mm."
Ren Ye didn't take her praise seriously and started cutting the steak into small pieces. He put them in the little girl's mouth and wiped the excess of the corner of her mouth.
They began eating while watching a cartoon, Ren Ye offered her a glass of orange juice and helped her chuck down the juice.
The little girl was fascinated by the characters on the screen as she couldn't help but gawk at the screen, Ren Ye took out his phone and began checking his social media. He opened his camera and took a picture of the little girl's dazed face.
He smiled softly and turned to watch the TV with his daughter. 𝒇𝘳𝐞𝚎𝓌𝑒𝑏𝒏𝑜𝙫ℯl.c𝚘𝒎
-
"Papa, could you tell a different story?" Ren Jia yawned in on the soft bed with a bored expression, looking at her Papa with a bright gleaming light in those shiny eyes of hers.
"Do you not like the story anymore?"
Ren Ye was taken aback and asked her with a soft tone, the little girl gradually nodded her head and frowned at him adorably.
"It is getting boring, I want to hear something new."
"Alright, let me try to find an interesting story."
Ren Ye went through his memory lane and tried to find an interesting story, but he couldn't find any. He cast his eyes onto the little girl's tired face and rubbed his chin awkwardly,
"I don't know any."
"It is okay, Papa. It doesn't have to be fictional," A thoughtful expression appeared on her porcelain face as she made a random noise, "It could be something that Papa has seen."
"I want to hear everything that Papa tells!"
Ren Jia really loved her Papa's voice whenever he was narrating a story for her to listen to in bed because she could hear the vulnerability and gentleness in his tone. His normally deep voice would always soften whenever he narrates and she enjoyed listening to him.
"Hmm?"
Ren Ye immediately came up with a story and coughed lightly, "I have a story of my own."
"Although I don't know if you would like it or not…"
Ren Jia shook her head repeatedly and spoke in her childish voice, "I like whatever Papa tells."
Ren Ye nodded his head and patted her gently on the head, smiling softly, "Alright, I'll tell you a story I have seen and heard."
He decided to tell her about his past but he changed the names of everyone in his past life, filtering out all of the bad things and turning it into a story suitable for a child.
There was a complex light radiating from her eyes as she glanced at her Papa's face with a complicated expression while listening attentively to what he was saying, she pouted her lips and shifted her sleeping posture to get closer to him.
"I really like the story, Papa."
-
Old Yi detached himself from Ren Ye's body and sat crosslegged in front of Ren Ye, in the living room. He stared curiously at him and lifted one of his eyebrows upward, explaining carefully to Ren Ye.
"Charms are not that hard to make, the system could assist you in making one."
"All you need is an empty shard with no spirituality."
Ren Ye opened the system's tab and checked his abilities, releasing teleportation was added to the list. He also looked around for a charm-making tab and eventually found one in a completely different tab.
[Refining]
'The system surely makes me feel like an old man who has gotten his first phone…'
[Charm Refining]
[Instructions:]
[1. An empty shard is required and can be bought at a charms store.]
[2. User needs to inscribe the abilities received on the chard.]
[Only permanent abilities received from the system could be used for inscription.]
[Below is a button for inscription.]
Ren Ye lowered his eyes and scanned the text.
[Inscribe]
[User could pick whatever ability user wishes to inscribe.]
[WARNING: User must inform the system first before inscribing as inscription could consume 50 percent of the system's vitality.]
"Interesting," Ren Ye rubbed his chin with interest and glanced at Old Yi curiously, "Will it damage your vitality if I attempt it once?"
"Yes," Old Yi nodded his head and frowned with suspicion, "Doing it once could send me straight into a nap and the system will completely shut down for a day before being able to activate again."
"I warn you to only do it when you have to, don't make random charms because you feel like it. It won't damage your body but it will damage my system."
Ren Ye acknowledged his words with a nod of his head, "I will have to make one for Ren Jia because it is a necessity."
A satisfied smile gradually appeared on his face as he spoke with fascination, "I know a place where they sell empty shards and charms."
'I don't plan to buy the ready-made charms because that would drain the life out of my already empty wallet, I'll buy them whenever I have enough money and might require an awake system by my side.'
'I really need to make money…'
Ren Ye shook his head and made plans for tomorrow.
-
This time, Ren Ye woke up earlier than Ren Jia and took a cold shower in the morning. Ren Jia woke up later and went downstairs to find her Papa before she heard a knock on the door.
"Papa! Someone is outside the door!"
The little girl called for her Papa as he got out of the bathroom with his upper body exposed, showing off his tight muscles. Ren Ye immediately got dressed in casual clothes and went to open the door with Ren Jia behind him.
"Brother Ye! Good morning!"
In front of the door were Wu Qi and Wu Ling who were dressed in pairing outfits, Wu Qi smiled widely at him and extended his arms in a friendly gesture.
"Have you had breakfast yet?"
"Not yet, we are preparing to eat now."
Ren Ye diverted his tranquil eyes to the petite little girl behind Wu Qi's thighs, she was holding a bag of something as she grinned sweetly at Ren Jia who suddenly hid behind his thighs with a shy face.
"Ling'er has been asking me to bring her to play with Little Jia," Wu Qi patted Wu Ling's head gently, ushering her to come forward.
Ren Ye shot a glance at Ren Jia and comforted her by rubbing her little ears, he opened the door widely and allowed them to come in.
Wu Ling approached the shy little girl and grinned happily at her, "Little Jia, I brought toys for us to play with."
Ren Jia tilted her head slightly and refused to leave her Papa's thigh, observing her with curious eyes.
Ren Ye's features twitched slightly and patted her on the shoulder, crouched down, and spoke to her with a soft voice, "Are you scared of them?"
Ren Jia shook her head repeatedly and replied back with a shy tone, "I don't like strangers…"
Ren Ye let out a chuckle, "It's alright, Little Ling is a generous and friendly girl."
"Don't you want to play with the toys she brought with her?"
Ren Jia shifted her head slightly and glanced at the toys with a fascinated expression, nodded her head. Wu Ling came over and whispered something in her eyes that got Ren Jia's eyes beaming with light.
The both of them went off to the living room with Wu Ling holding her hand, Wu Qi came over and smiled at Ren Ye.
"You seemed to have warmed off that cold attitude of yours, hehe."
"Mm," Ren Ye ignored him and went back to the living table, began eating the congee, and fed some of it to Ren Jia who was playing with the toys with an excited expression.
"Brother Ye, I heard you have gotten a job."
"Where did you hear that from?"
"I saw the car outside…"
Ren Ye's features twitched slightly before being replaced with an expressionless face, "Are you looking down on me for working as a taxi driver?"
Wu Qi chuckled awkwardly and shook his head, "I dare not."
"But the one thing I am really confused about is why don't you get a job with that history degree of yours as a teacher, you excelled in school before and had always wanted to become a professor."
Ren Ye's eyes narrowed and didn't speak for a long time.
"I am not suitable for that job for now…"