"Why are you buying so many pots?"

Wang Wei received several pots from Yang Ning, putting them into his storage bag one by one. They were very plain and undecorated. She wouldn't even be surprised if they were just ordinary pots from the mortal world. Mei watched, a little speechless. Didn't she just talk to him about not working too hard?

"Because they explode." Wang Wei said. "Obviously."

Mei was a bit annoyed by how he spoke but brushed it aside.

"Doesn't the elder provide you with pill furnaces?" she asked. "That don't just blow up every time you mess up?"

From how things in the sect went, she would be surprised if they didn't offer them.

Wang Wei sighed.

"They do lend pill furnaces to us, but it's based on rotation. There are a lot of apprentices so I only get to use the furnaces on some days."

Shouldn't the elders be rich enough to buy them for every apprentice? Mei frowned, reminded of a certain stingy elder. She didn't realise how much she was taking the sect's generosity for granted.

"Wait, what about the herbs? How do you have enough to keep practising?" she realised, suddenly. "Does the elder let you use as much as you want?

Wang Wei looked miffed.

"I use these."

He pulled out a bunch of random plant matter from his bag. For a moment, she thought they were herbs, but she realised they were just random plants from the sect, mostly weeds and grasses. As if to prove his point, he bent down and picked some of the huge fallen leaves on the ground and stuffed it into his bag.

Well... that explains why the pots kept blowing up.

Mei was a bit surprised he was willing to get his bag dirty, considering his upbringing.

"I do have to use some normal herbs in the mix but I can still train my alchemy using these as filler."

"Okay... but didn't I just tell you to take a break? Why are you still buying alchemy stuff?" she asked.

Wang Wei looked rather upset.

"Just because you told me to take a break, doesn't mean I can just go laze around! I still need to restock, for when I get to work again," he said. "And don't think that I'm just going to spend all day lying around now! At most, I'll take 1 day off a week or something."

"But-"

Yang Ning slammed the table, interrupting them.

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"Shut up! You're upsetting the snake."

The snake was hiding behind the shopkeeper's head. It hissed at Wang Wei, somehow looking betrayed.

"Oh... sorry." Wang Wei said. "Here you go!"

He reached into his bag and pulled out a jar full of bugs. It was a repurposed pill jar, evident from the label stuck to it, "Qi Pills".

"Don't pour it onto the counter like last time. I don't need you to ruin it." Yang Ning said. "Just let him eat out of the jar."

"I know, I know."

Mei was shocked. Wang Wei took enough of a liking to the snake to start catching bugs for it? Maybe he did spend some time 'lazing around' after all.

The little snake flicked its tongue happily and slithered onto the counter. It glanced warily at Mei, hissing.

"Sorry? I won't try to eat you again, okay?" Mei said, feeling rather awkward.

It stared at her and flicked its tongue a few more times, then nodded, much to her surprise. But the way it accepted seemed almost... contemptuous? Mei wasn't sure if she was just imagining it, given how little a snake's expression could convey, but she still felt a bit irked.

It bit down on a black cricket and swallowed.

Mei found it a bit gross but Wang Wei had a bit of a silly grin as he watched.

"So you do laze around after all?" Mei teased. "Catching bugs and all that."

"What? No!" Wang Wei said, indignantly. "It's just that I don't want bugs in the plants I pick! I only put them into a jar because it was convenient to. Look!"

He closed his eyes and focused. Mei could see his qi circulating.

In an instant, a dozen random bugs flew from the grass into the air. The snake snapped at one of the squirming insects gleefully.

"It's that fast! I don't waste a lot of time, unlike you, okay?"

Mei: ...

She wondered if he was still angry at her for dragging him here.

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The next day, 7:03 (Morning)

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Wang Wei followed Mei to the dining table, looking slightly worried.

"It's fine. They're nice, people, so they'll understand," she reassured him. "Xiuying even said she'd talk to you more last time."

"Right..."

Except maybe Yingyi, she thought but kept it to herself. He seemed to have a bit of a grudge.

"Oh, you brought him here!" Xiuying sounded surprised. "Good morning, Wang Wei?"

Wang Wei put his tray of food on the table and waved awkwardly, then sat down.

"I talked to him yesterday about the misunderstanding and invited him here!" Mei said.

She didn't realise she looked a bit smug.

Yesterday, after heading to bed, she had a lot of time to mull over what she had done. While she was a bit embarrassed about what she had done and still didn't fully understand why she did that, she felt quite proud of herself.

"Huh. I thought if anyone did that, it would be Xiuying. You don't really strike me as that type of person." Liu Qiang said.

"Haha. Good job, Mei Xiu. You beat me to the chase!" Xiuying gave her a thumbs up.

Yingyi didn't comment, looking annoyed. He started to eat his food a bit faster.

The conversation afterwards went as usual, except with Wang Wei's input from time to time. He wasn't the sort to talk a lot. Still, he seemed to enjoy himself.

Ever since he was young, he had never felt very accepted. Apart from his mother and his personal servant, there wasn't a lot of warmth in the family. Today was one of the few times he had experienced something like this.

It wasn't the first time people were nice to him in the sect through. A certain person in his alchemy class came to mind. He smiled at the thought.

"Speaking of which, do you guys have any plans after visiting your families the next time we get to use the teleportation array?" he said.

"Hmm?" went Xiuying.

"You see... a few days ago, one of my senior brothers invited me to visit a cultivator city outside the sect. He said that it was a good chance to sell my pills at an auction and see the outside world for myself," he said sheepishly. "I don't think he'll mind if you guys tag along."

"Oooh! That sounds fun!" Xiuying smiled.

Liu Qiang nodded enthusiastically as he chewed on a drumstick. Yingyi's face stayed the same, seeming unsurprised.

An auction? Mei's eyes lit up for a moment before dimming again.

Right, she barely had any money. And did the outside world even accept Jade?