Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 179 - 149: Zero Tolerance for Perverts in Shen Garden

Early morning of November 18, 2017

It was another bright and sunny day. The morning's first light cast a thin, crimson hue over QingCyan Cloud City, giving the Zao Hong Sect gate of Shen Garden in the East City District a translucent quality.

A slender and powerful hand gently knocked on the Zao Hong Sect gate, making a thud, thud sound.

A moment later, the gate opened inward, revealing a person in white clothes, a White Sword, and a face beaming with a smile.

"Mr. Yu, we meet again."

The visitor was Yu Zishen, and the host was undoubtedly Wang Jiu.

This was yet another meeting between the two since the 15th. Since their parting at the Yun Meng Grand Theater, instead of backing down, Yu Zishen became even more persistent, visiting four or five times a day. Anyone else might have turned hostile long ago, but Wang Jiu always welcomed him with a smile, creeping Yu Zishen out.

"Hmph, it's you again." Yu Zishen snorted coldly, feeling more displeased the more he looked at Wang Jiu's smiling face.

The two were not friends or acquaintances, more like rivals, so what was there to smile about?

Wang Jiu explained, "This is the basic ethos of running an idol company — always serve key clients well. So, even if you secretly think the other party is an imbecile or a creep, as long as there's money to be made, you maintain a good service attitude. So, good morning, Mr. Yu."

Yu Zishen instantly felt blood vessels in his temple starting to throb: "Are you saying I'm an imbecile and a creep?"

Wang Jiu thought for a moment and said, "Looking at it optimistically, I'm saying you're a key client of my company."

"Do you think I'm an idiot!?"

"Looking at it optimistically, I'm saying you are…"

"Enough!" Yu Zishen gritted his teeth, his hand that had been knocking on the door had subconsciously formed a fist, wishing he could punch that handsome face, even more handsome than his own, into a basin.

But today's visit was not to cause trouble for Wang Jiu. Yu Zishen suppressed his anger and said, "I'm here to see Shen Qingming."

Wang Jiu said, "She already instructed yesterday, if you come looking for her again, to tell you she isn't here."

"..." Yu Zishen was at a loss for whom this was insulting, so he continued on his own, "I'm here to bring her breakfast."

Wang Jiu asked curiously, "We didn't order takeout, did you deliver it to the wrong place?"

"I'm not delivering takeout!" Yu Zishen shouted angrily, "I specifically invited a top chef from the Drunken Immortal Tower to prepare the finest breakfast for Miss Shen Qingming."

With that, Yu Zishen lifted a beautifully crafted lunch box in his hand.

Wang Jiu received the lunch box, thought for a moment, and said, "Thank you, please wait a moment."

Saying this, Wang Jiu used the Shape Manipulation Array to open the wooden door of Shen Garden's storeroom, then turned back to ask Yu Zishen.

"How much was this breakfast worth?"

Yu Zishen raised his head a bit proudly and said, "Fifty Spirit Stones, all using the finest ingredients from the Drunken Immortal Tower, including a bowl of savory tofu pudding made with Nether Sea Salt I personally brought."

"Fifty Spirit Stones, understood." As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Jiu picked out a suitable gift from the storeroom, wrapped it up, and used Invisible Power to deliver it to the door, handing it to Yu Zishen.

Yu Zishen was taken aback: "What's this for?"

Wang Jiu said, "A gift in return from a fan. Generally, when an idol receives a gift from a fan, they should give a corresponding gift back based on the value of the gift. Your breakfast is worth fifty Spirit Stones, and according to the current exchange rules, this gift valued at twenty Spirit Stones, personally participated in by Spirit Cat Qingming, is the return gift. Fifty for twenty, isn't that a great deal?"

Originally intending to coldly dismiss the offer, Yu Zishen reconsidered upon hearing that Shen Qingming was involved, and somewhat inexplicably opened the package, revealing a leftover glow candle from a concert, a Spirit Cat Album, a Spirit Cat necklace, and miscellaneous items, all exuding a cheap feel.

"Are these things worth twenty Spirit Stones?!"

Wang Jiu said, "Oh, these are early products produced by the company before we found a good enough OEM factory. The quality has flaws so they weren't put on sale. However, from another perspective, that's exactly why they have commemorative value, like misprinted incorrect bills. Such commemorative items are quite cheap at twenty Spirit Stones."

Yu Zishen's mouth twitched, remembering the Spirit Cat Golden Sword worth a hundred Spirit Stones from a few days ago. He couldn't help but admire the idol company's ruthless moneymaking...

"Alright, since you've received the return gift, see you next time." With that, Wang Jiu was about to close the door.

Yu Zishen hastily interrupted: "Wait, I have a few words for Miss Qingming."

"Qingming isn't here." Wang Jiu replied without changing his expression.

"...Then pass on a message. Tell her there's no need to demean herself to pander to some wicked creeps, her fans will always support her, acting as the strongest shield!"

Wang Jiu was taken aback for a moment, then sincerely said, "Although I understand your point, there's really no need to label yourself as a wicked creep, especially since you're a key client..."

"I…" Yu Zishen truly felt like he was going to explode, especially seeing Wang Jiu's face that seemed to be genuinely considering his welfare, making him really want to engage in a life-and-death battle with him right now!

However, this was Shen Garden and not Shen City; Yu Zishen took a deep breath several times, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.

——

On the other side, Wang Jiu took the lunch box and presented it to Shen Qingming, who had just gotten up and finished washing up.

"Breakfast."

Shen Qingming looked disgusted: "Gross, I don't want it."

Wang Jiu glanced at the tofu pudding in the lunch box and was quite surprised: "Since when did you become a fan of sweet flavors?"

"It has nothing to do with sweet or savory, I don't want anything sent by that guy!"

"Didn't you happily accept the Spirit Cat Golden Sword that was tipped a few days ago, and the Holy Seal that Zhang Zhixi brought?"

Shen Qingming's face immediately flushed: "Who, who would go against money!"

"Zhang Zhixi?"

"Can you stop being so obstinate every time!?" Shen Qingming shouted angrily, "Anyway, I won't touch a single bite of that breakfast from that pervert!"

"Alright, then I'll eat it."

"..." Shen Qingming watched Wang Jiu sit down unabashedly, using White Sword's true form to absorb the essence of the delicious food with an extremely satisfied expression. After a moment, she snorted and sat down next to Wang Jiu, reaching out with her chopsticks to grab a soup dumpling.

"...Even though I don't want to admit it, it's really delicious."

Wang Jiu glanced at the mount next to him who broke their own word so easily, thinking to himself that Zhao Yuming was right back then, there's no idol with integrity...

After breakfast, Shen Qingming took the opportunity to digest the meal while doing the dishes, and then began her regular training.

As the Qingyun Grand Competition approached, her time became increasingly tight. By day she was a cultivator, and by night she lived a life of an idol. She had no time to waste at all.

Shortly after arriving at the training grounds, there was another knock at the door. Shen Qingming's expression changed immediately: "Ah Jiu, call the police."

Wang Jiu was puzzled: "Is that necessary?"

Shen Qingming looked at Wang Jiu seriously: "I'm telling you, no matter what your idol company's business concept is, I have zero tolerance for perverts! If you don't call the police, I will!"

"Alright, since you insist..."

——

After a while, Li Wanqing shouted angrily outside the door: "You guys are going too far! I haven't even done anything, and you've called the officials to arrest me!? This is unreasonable!"

Wang Jiu frowned: "I feel like there's something odd about what she said."

Shen Qingming was stunned: "I-I thought it was that pervert Yu... Wang Jiu, why didn't you remind me!?"

Wang Jiu was puzzled: "You said zero tolerance for perverts, you didn't specify it was the pervert named Yu."

"..." Shen Qingming thought about it, then sighed, "Okay, it's my fault."

As she spoke, Shen Qingming went out to smile apologetically to the officials who came, giving them a few Spirit Stones to finally send them away.

The one who wouldn't leave was a hurt-looking Li Wanqing.

"Qingming, I'm really hurt." Li Wanqing said as she went to hug Shen Qingming.

Unable to push her away, Shen Qingming let her hold her gently, then said, "Stop messing around, I need to start my training."

"I know." Li Wanqing was just joking around and quickly released her sister, handing her a stack of Talisman Paper in the process.

"What's this?"

"Soul-Stabilizing Talismans from Stone Heart Pavilion in Shen City. They say sticking one on during training will yield twice the results. I looked at them; indeed, they're quite special, a bit better than the ones we make in our own courtyard."

Shen Qingming was momentarily stunned, then quickly raised her eyebrows: "Did that pervert ask you to deliver these?!"

"Yeah, I happened to meet him, so I helped deliver his package." Li Wanqing said as she took the top three pieces of Talisman Paper, "This is the agreed-upon delivery fee."

But Shen Qingming threw the Talisman Paper to the ground: "That damned pervert never stops! He keeps pestering every day..."

Wang Jiu advised, "This is an unavoidable part of an idol's life. With the benefits, you must also bear the burdens."

"Then, how did Zhao Yuming, the senior, handle such issues back then?"

Wang Jiu thought for a moment: "Mostly, she found ways to swindle the perverts into bankruptcy, then made them commit suicide."

"..."

The simple answer left Shen Qingming and Li Wanqing a bit dumbfounded.

"Then what if the perverts don't comply?" Li Wanqing asked.

Wang Jiu answered: "Then she staged it to look like suicide."

"My god! That senior Zhao Yuming is incredible!" Li Wanqing exclaimed, "I'd love to meet her."

Wang Jiu chuckled but said nothing.

Li Wanqing, always astute, quickly changed the topic: "Speaking of which, the preliminary competition is coming up on the 20th, want to go see it?"

Shen Qingming shrugged: "What's so great about the preliminaries? Thousands sign up, it's such a mix, you can't see anything worth noting."

"Still, there's some potential filtering through. In every grand competition, be it in QingCyan Cloud yun City, Lingshan, or Shen City, there's always a dark horse emerging in the preliminaries. Like last year's bald champion who came from the preliminaries. Besides, you've been training and performing lately, it's time you take a day or two off."

Shen Qingming seemed tempted and looked at Wang Jiu.

Wang Jiu did a quick calculation: "We could."

And with that, amidst the cheers of the two girls, Wang Jiu's unfinished sentence went unheard.

Less sweat in times of peace, more blood in times of war.