160: Chapter 158: A Heartfelt Confession 160: Chapter 158: A Heartfelt Confession New Beauty Hotel, Room 1808.
Early in the morning, Chen Hai had already risen.
He drew back the curtains and, facing the east, began his seated meditation and cultivation.
The first rays of dawn that appear between the transition of day and night are of great benefit to cultivation.
Cultivating at this time is twice as effective; the results are significantly better than during any other part of the day.
With the Devouring Characteristic that Chen Hai’s Divine Soul possessed, he could devour Demon Souls to strengthen himself.
However, this method of cultivation, not to mention the hidden dangers, is not a sustainable long-term strategy.
In this era, when all manner of demons and evil spirits have been defeated, finding such creatures would require Chen Hai to visit the most remote backwaters or burrow into the deep mountains and forests every day.
After all, in cities brimming with human energy and effulgent Yang, it is like waves crashing in.
Most Demon Souls, if not strong enough, feel extremely uncomfortable staying in such places, as if they were in a crucible.
In a large metropolis like this, the chances of Chen Hai finding a Demon Soul were slim at best—all he could rely on was luck!
The regular practice of seated meditation, breathing exercises, and visualization is incredibly slow in progress, but at least, he could still feel, after some time, that his strength had progressed ever so slightly.
As long as he continued to improve and did not stagnate, it was a good sign for Chen Hai.
Heavenly Dao rewards the diligent.
The path of cultivation is all about perseverance.
Chen Hai never neglected his daily seated cultivation whenever he had free time.
Making a little progress every day can add up to significant growth in strength over time.
Those stories where someone breaks through multiple realms every few days typically only exist in wish-fulfillment novels.
Reaching the Day Tour Realm as Chen Hai had, continuing his cultivation, and breaking through another Realm in three to five years, was considered quite good.
“Ding-a-ling…
Ding-a-ling…” The telephone in the room suddenly rang.
“Chen Hai, are you up?” He paused his cultivation, picked up the phone, and Ye Qingqing’s voice came through.
“I’ve been awake for a while, what’s up, Qingqing?”
“No big deal, just wake up and open the door, I’m on my way over!”
“Mm, alright…” Raising his wrist, Chen Hai checked the time.
It was already about 7:40 in the morning.
Outside the window, the sun had already fully risen.
In broad daylight, he thought, it was unlikely that Ye Qingqing would attempt anything forceful on him, so he hung up the phone, walked to the door, and opened it.
“Chen Hai, this hotel doesn’t serve breakfast, so I went out and brought you back something to eat!”
After a few minutes, Ye Qingqing, carrying several bags of food, emerged from the room next door.
It looked like she had bought breakfast before returning to her own room and calling Chen Hai.
Seeing Chen Hai, her eyes clearly carried some silent reproach.
After handing over the food bags to Chen Hai, she walked confidently into his room.
“Qingqing, what about you?
Have you eaten?” Casually closing the door behind him, Chen Hai sat down on another chair next to the coffee table.
As he took the dim sum out of the bags one by one, he casually asked.
“Not yet.
I thought I’d wait and have breakfast with you!”
Her cheeks tinted a slight red, Ye Qingqing continued, “I didn’t know what you liked, so I bought a bit of everything—shrimp dumplings, char siu buns, pork dumplings, chicken feet…
not sure if they’re to your taste…”
Seeing Ye Qingqing like this, Chen Hai feigned ignorance and fell silent.
He preferred soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks, and back home, he’d typically just have a bowl of rice noodles in the morning.
Ye Qingqing’s Cantonese-style breakfast was indeed exquisite and appealing, but he felt it was just okay and didn’t quite suit his taste.
Besides their divergent world views, it seemed that he and Ye Qingqing also had quite different daily habits!
Nevertheless, as Chen Hai was used to enduring hardships, in matters of food, whether it tasted slightly better or worse, he was reasonably accepting.
Ye Qingqing, who knew well of Chen Hai’s hearty appetite, had bought a generous amount of breakfast.
She ate very little herself; most of the food ended up in Chen Hai’s stomach.
“Chen Hai, are you full?
If not, I can go down and buy you some more!”
As Chen Hai had just set down his chopsticks, Ye Qingqing on the side promptly reached for a tissue, her face full of tenderness, ready to wipe the grease from the corner of his mouth.
Chen Hai really wasn’t accustomed to this kind of action; he tilted his head to dodge.
“Qingqing, there’s no need to be so kind to me…” He sighed with a look of helplessness.
Her words froze Ye Qingqing on the spot.
“Chen Hai, you probably have no idea how utterly desperate I felt while I was unconscious, lost in a nightmare!”
“At that time, I had one foot already stepped into Hell, and it was you who forcefully pulled me back.”
“When I woke up from the hospital bed, I told myself that I would never let you leave me again in this lifetime!”
“All I want is to be good to you, I simply like you, please don’t reject me, okay?”
…
Her words, heart-wrenching and sincere, were truly from the depths of Ye Qingqing’s heart.
As she spoke, the corners of her eyes even began to glisten with tears.
Faced with such a heartfelt confession, Chen Hai was momentarily at a loss for words.
After a long silence, he finally spoke again, “Qingqing, you’re a good girl, but the truth is, we’re just not suitable for each other.”
“I come from a poor rural background, used to not having enough food or warm clothes, accustomed to enduring hardship!”
“But you?
You’re from a wealthy family, always clothed in silk and jade, never having to worry about money.”
“Our worlds are completely different, whether it’s our outlook on life or our values, we’re worlds apart.”
“If we were really to be together, interacting daily, tell me, do you think we could truly be happy…”
After handing Ye Qingqing a gentle rejection, Chen Hai slowly started to open up.
He didn’t hide his feelings but frankly shared his various concerns with Ye Qingqing.
“Chen Hai, if there’s anything I’m not doing well, I can change!”
“Our lifestyles might differ for now, but you have to give me time to gradually adapt, right?”
“You’ve never really given me a chance to be with you; how can you be so sure we’re not suitable?”
“My heart already belongs to you, and it’s tough for me to give it to someone else, can’t you give me even the tiniest chance to try dating me?”
…
Tears uncontrollably spilled down her cheeks as she spoke, her eyes reddening with genuine emotion.
“Qingqing, I…” Chen Hai didn’t know what to say for a moment.
He stood up and took a few tissues from the box on the coffee table, walking over to Ye Qingqing to gently wipe away her tears.
“Chen Hai, don’t reject me, just give me a chance, will you?” Embracing Chen Hai tightly, she buried her head in his embrace, sobbing softly.
Torn inside, Chen Hai was still hesitant.
“You should know I’m a Tao Cultivator, and even though we don’t eschew desires, our cultivation also emphasizes purity and restraint.”
“The path of cultivation leads to understanding reincarnation, becoming detached from life and death, with a misty and thorny road ahead.”
“I haven’t thought about being Undying, but I do want to see what the end of cultivation looks like.”
“Even if we were together, I couldn’t be by your side every day; I have my own matters to attend to…”
After pondering for a while, Chen Hai spoke up slowly.
“I understand, I get it, Chen Hai, having your love in this lifetime is more than enough for me.”
“I’ve never expected you to be with me every day…” Feeling Chen Hai’s tone soften, Ye Qingqing quickly responded.
One can’t deny the power of love.
In front of others, Ye Qingqing was so astute, but in front of Chen Hai, she became a complete fawning admirer.
Fortunately, Chen Hai never believed that fawning admirers must face a tragic end.
On the contrary, every move and word from Ye Qingqing really stirred something inside his heart.
“Alright, Qingqing, then let’s just try dating,” he finally agreed.
“But let’s get one thing straight, dating doesn’t mean you can use that as an excuse to crawl into my bed unless we’re certain that we’re going to get married!”
After thinking it through for a while, Chen Hai finally nodded his head and made the agreement.
“Come on, I haven’t made any excuses to crawl into your bed!” Chen Hai’s promise immediately brought a smile through Ye Qingqing’s tears.
She took a tissue with one hand to wipe away the tear stains, and with the other hand, she hugged Chen Hai even tighter, burying her head into his embrace, feeling the warmth he brought her.
“And you’re saying you had no excuse, what about last night when you wanted me to fix your water heater in your room?
I didn’t realize you had such intentions!”
“There was actually a problem with the hot water in my room last night, and you bring that up?
I called you for help, and you wouldn’t come, but then I notify the service?”
“In the middle of the night, a male staff member knocking on my door to fix the water heater, how embarrassing that was!”
“I don’t know how to repair it, if not the room service, then whom should I call?”
“Chen Hai, you’re so naughty…”
Bantering and teasing, as they were talking, the pager in Chen Hai’s pocket inconveniently ‘beep beep beeped’ energetically.
He took out the pager and saw a local number from Haizhu City flashing on the screen.
After excusing himself to Ye Qingqing, he got up, went to the bedside table, and picked up the phone to dial straight through.