While eating, Chu Ge was looking down at his phone, sending information to Zhong Yi.
The information was simple: "Qiu Wuji, female, age..."
"How old did you want to be?" Chu Ge asked Qiu Wuji hesitantly.
Qiu Wuji poked at her rice with her chopsticks. This guy, now that they'd held hands, was playing on his phone while eating...
Hearing his question, she paused for a moment, oh right, how old was he again?
Originally it was ten thousand… no, actually it's less than ten thousand, just over nine thousand… no, eighteen years old and nine thousand…
Anyway, we have to make up another one here. Qiu Wuji suddenly became happy: "Let's say eighteen."
Chu Ge: "?"
"What's with that expression?"
"No, Master, if you keep pretending to be young, with the aura of a sect leader for so many years, no one will believe you're a young girl… you have to be at least a white-collar worker over twenty-five."
"How old are you again? Twenty-eight?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll be twenty-five."
Chu Ge smiled: "Okay, three years younger is quite suitable."
Qiu Wuji glared, and Chu Ge quickly lowered his head to send a message: "I've sent you the information, Qiu Wuji, female, twenty-five years old, birthday May 20th."
520 is the birthday set in the book, but it was also set to be around 1:14 PM. Qiu Wuji hadn't thought anything special before, but now, looking at him, she felt this guy must have some ulterior motive, so she asked, "Why did you set this birthday for me?"
Chu Ge still smiled, "You're so good at searching, find it yourself."
Qiu Wuji ate in a huff.
She'd come all this way just to be tricked into holding hands and taking pictures, and he was infuriating in every way.
Zhong Yi sent a string of question marks from across the table: "Qiu Wuji, isn't she the female lead in your book?"
"Huh, you read my book too?"
"I haven't read it. I heard Ah Jun and the others talking about it, saying you have to read Qiu Wuji, you have to be stepped on by Qiu Wuji. They're really out of their minds."
"...Well, I'm not a legal person. My previous names were things like Cuihua and Zhaodi. I had to come up with something decent, so I used the name of the female lead in my book to cover it up." She'd asked Qiu Wuji if she wanted to change her name because she knew people would ask this. Anyway, if she didn't want to change it, she wouldn't. She already had a plan for how to explain it; she could make it look plausible.
Zhong Yi obviously didn't really think the female lead had jumped out of the book, and just laughed, "You seem to have quite a soft spot for the female lead in this book, even using her name for people."
"Yeah, of course. I'll send you the photo." There was silence on the other end, then a long pause before a reply came: "Where did you buy this Vietnamese wife? Introduce me, I want one too."
"If you can't drink, sit at the kids' table."
"...Never mind, wait for news. What about your own things? Get a mask or something, make up an identity."
"I'll contact you tomorrow."
"It's usually better to come in the evening, most of our members are free then. It's hard to say during the day, everyone has their own things to do. Are you busy tonight?"
"I'm a little busy... I'll see later." Chu Ge turned to look at Qiu Wuji, who was almost finished eating, her face expressionless...
"Busy with what? Writing?"
"A major life event!" Chu Ge closed WeChat and turned to see Qiu Wuji staring at him with an unfriendly expression.
"Who is Cuihua Zhaodi?"
"...Isn't this just something I made up to appease others? If you keep rambling, I'll add a setting: Qiu Wuji's real name before cultivating immortality was Zhaodi. Ouch~" Qiu Wuji withdrew his foot from Chu Ge's instep: "Father God is amazing!"
Chu Ge smiled obsequiously: "No, no, please give me your guidance, Master."
Speaking of Father God, Qiu Wuji remembered his business and, too lazy to joke with him, asked, "When you descend with your divine sense, can you control it yourself?"
At that moment, he truly felt terrified. If Chu Ge hadn't gone easy on him, he would have felt his thoughts being "corrected," an irresistible suppression.
At that moment, he felt like an ant, stubbornly staring at Tianchen.
Thank goodness it was him.
Chu Ge said, "It doesn't feel like divine intervention, but more like... well, the author's corrective consciousness? I can't quite describe it... It's a bit like I wrote a sentence, then felt it wasn't right, so I revised it..."
Qiu Wuji said, "In the real world, that's like the intervention of the Heavenly Dao."
"Probably similar, but I don't know how to achieve it proactively. I can't suppress you every time you create a variable, can I?"
"So far, you can only interact with me? Have you sensed any changes in others that you want to correct?"
"Others don't have variables, so naturally it won't trigger." Chu Ge thought for a moment, "But occasionally I do have a sense of overlooking, feeling like all living beings are like ants, their myriad threads all in my palm."
Qiu Wuji said uncertainly, "So, maybe... if you cultivate more, you can take the initiative?"
Chu Ge said, "I feel like I should be able to, there's a hint of it, but I don't know how long it will take."
The shock in Qiu Wuji's heart was indescribable.
He truly... the Heavenly Dao, controlling the fate of all living beings! He had already moved from abstract "writing" to conscious intervention. He himself seemed unaware of how terrifying this was. For a cultivator, this feeling was truly awe-inspiring; he didn't even know how long he would need to cultivate to reach a similar level.
If he could descend on his own initiative, could he still step on his foot? He'd probably be beaten up instead.
Wait… Qiu Wuji suddenly said, "If you try to actively observe the mortal realm, focus your attention on others, don't keep looking at me. Being biased will definitely not do any good." Chu Ge thought this made sense and nodded, "Next time I'll try focusing more on Chu Tiange or Yan Qianlie." Qiu Wuji secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Spying on me on purpose? What if I'm taking a bath!
Chu Ge, unaware of her thoughts, chuckled, "Hey, how about we buy a car? We can go for drives at night more often, and avoid taking the bus when we need to."
Qiu Wuji was intrigued: "Great! I think Zhang Qiren's is pretty good, quite big, can carry a lot of things."
Chu Ge: "I meant a bicycle..."
"Is Zhang Qiren's kind very expensive?"
"If we're talking about magical artifacts, his G-Wagon is roughly equivalent to Elder Zhou's Bright Light Sword, but unfortunately, it can't compare to your Autumn Water Jade. And I'm currently just a beginner Qi Refining disciple, doing sect missions to exchange for a standard longsword."
Qiu Wuji asked curiously, "Can that broken-down car even ascend to heaven? Dare to compare with our sect's renowned and coveted Bright Light Sword?"
"In terms of brand value, they're probably not that different, at least..." "Everyone's pretty much the same in that respect..."
"What about other metal vehicles?"
"There are cheaper ones, I even took my driving test when I graduated from university... Once I get my next paycheck and that Golden Coin arrives, I can buy a cheaper one, but I can't afford a parking space." Qiu Wuji: "...I think you should just come back to Yunji Sect with me, at least parking your travel magic item won't cost spirit stones..." Chu Ge: "Can we consider two-wheeled vehicles? If we can't afford an Audi, we can try a Yadea first." Two-wheeled vehicles...
Qiu Wuji's gaze fell outside the restaurant. She rarely saw bicycles like the ones she saw that day; electric scooters, which didn't require pedaling, crisscrossed the streets, and most of the vehicles parked in the neighborhood were of this type, forming the typical life of most ordinary people in this world.
She suddenly felt this was quite nice.
Just like that day on the back of his seat, feeling the gentle, cool breeze from the riverbank.
That was her first experience of early autumn in this world.
"Then let's use the electric scooter," she said. "It'll save you some effort."
Chu Ge said, "Isn't it easier for you to go grocery shopping?"
Qiu Wuji said, "I don't want to learn this… I want you to take me." As soon as the words left her mouth, seemingly realizing her words sounded a bit coquettish, she quickly added, "Isn't it only natural for a disciple to drive for their master?"
Chu Ge didn't answer, just stared at her blankly.
Only when Qiu Wuji was about to explode did he smile brightly: "Okay."