In the days waiting for the salary to be paid, the glasses Chen Xuan ordered finally arrived at the store.

Compared to a wallet, the delivery took almost half a month, which is outrageous for Jiang City’s standard express delivery, usually arriving the next day.

The glasses themselves were nothing special... Black thin frames, non-prescription lenses, purely for decorative wear. Chen Xuan looked in the mirror and found his already handsome face now carrying an additional scholarly air.

He looked at Lin Qing, his finger resting on the arm of the glasses, and immediately the other’s abilities popped up in view, just like the effect of a scanner.

Using a manual control for the scanner, the options on the lenses would move accordingly, equivalent to transferring the screen from the scanner to the glasses.

"Is this what you ordered?" Lin Qing, busy tidying up the store, noticed the glasses on his face, "Looks quite ordinary."

"Being ordinary highlights its technological sophistication," Chen Xuan replied.

Ever since the scanner broke, he no longer views these gadgets as Magic items. Neither the scanner nor the computer is truly high-tech products, each containing a full set of components to maintain their operation. The glasses are no different, I assume their frames are crammed with microelectronic components to achieve such a lightweight product.

There’s even a battery display in the upper-right corner.

According to the instruction manual, the glasses use solar power and the wearer’s body heat for charging, so under normal circumstances, they never shut down.

The transformation of the fruit store has also been very successful.

Although some regulars were extremely surprised by the store’s renovation speed, seeing that Chen Xuan still provided cigarettes, beer, instant noodles, and other regular items, they accepted his transformation gladly. The new fresh fruit on display attracted a lot of new customers, resulting in more visitors frequenting the store lately.

Jiang Siqi’s phone remains silent, seemingly the Dimensional Limit Mechanism has focused all its attention on the eroded areas. The Five Rings Machinery Factory has erected high walls, apparently intending to turn the open-air park into a closed fortress.

Liu Shuyue still visits the store every few days.

Apart from helping greet customers, she also shares her recent learning experiences with Chen Xuan.

Even though Chen Xuan can’t understand a word.

Those mysterious philosophies are even scarier than advanced math.

Relatively peaceful days continued until the end of January, when it snowed for the first time in Jiang City, and Chen Xuan faced a choice — whether to return home for the New Year. It had been actually more than two years since he returned, previously due to being busy with projects at the big company, now that excuse clearly wouldn’t work.

But this decision wasn’t difficult to make.

Especially after his mom called.

"You’ve quit, why aren’t you coming home to visit? Jiang City is such a dangerous place, normally you don’t leave, but now that everyone’s gone, you’re still there. What if those bad guys with superpowers target you?"

"Mom, who told you everyone in Jiang City has left?"

"Isn’t it so? It’s all over the social circle... People say Jiang City is going to become a ghost town!"

Chen Xuan silently rolled his eyes, "Next time, I suggest you block these ’friends’."

"I don’t care, just tell me if you’re coming back!"

"Alright, alright, I’m coming back!"

Chen Xuan’s hometown is right next to Jiang City, an hour and a half by high-speed train, tickets aren’t hard to get.

The biggest issue is, he has to bring a store clerk.

Otherwise, the store will consider him derelict, and teleport him directly back to the store at night.

When Chen Xuan told this to Lin Qing, she immediately patted her chest, "Want me to go? No problem! Wherever you go, I’ll go!"

"No... not necessarily you..."

"Little Shuyue surely doesn’t have time to stay there for ten days or half a month, she has the Hot Pepper Village and the Liu Family to look after." Lin Qing interrupted directly.

"But..."

"If no one’s managing the store, just shut down, anyway most stores close during New Year. Staying open during this time would be odd. Don’t underestimate the big data system of the mechanism, a neighborhood fruit store clearly having no business and still open could definitely attract attention."

"I..."

"Do you really want me to spend the New Year here alone?" Lin Qing sniffed, pretending to be sad, "I get it... I’ll be sitting by the window watching the heavy snow fall, while cooking instant noodles for myself..."

"Alright!" Chen Xuan quickly stopped her moaning, "It’s not that I’m refusing! I mean... what’s your ID number? I’ll buy you a ticket."

Lin Qing’s eyes lit up immediately, "That’s simple, I’ll forge one for you right now."

Chen Xuan nodded, then hesitantly said, "I’ve already told my family... I’d be bringing a friend for the New Year. At this time, some small misunderstandings might arise, if you overhear them, just take them as air—"

"I understand, I don’t mind pretending to be your girlfriend." She said bluntly.

"Uh..." Chen Xuan was caught off guard, "Is it like this in the future too?"

"The future needs to celebrate New Year too. Of course... only prominent families need recognition, regular people just find any excuse to reunite with their family." Lin Qing paused, her eyes slightly lowered, "I don’t have family, so I’ve spent the previous years at the base."

Saying this, not bringing her along would seem quite invalid.

"Pretending is unnecessary, as long as you don’t mind." He looked Lin Qing over, then said, "Can you change your hair to a solid color?"

Such a colorful and dazzling hair color may be okay in a big city, but going back home to such a small place would definitely become the focus of attention. If the family sees it, they’ll most likely worry I’m mingling with unserious people.

"Hold on a moment." Lin Qing seemed to adjust some color parameters, her hair quickly turned jet black and lustrous, "How’s this?"

She even intentionally smoothed her hair tips, making a scissors gesture with one hand against her cheek.

Chen Xuan could not help but feel his heart flutter.

Losing its colors didn’t reduce Lin Qing’s attraction, rather it made her come from the future to the present instantly. She seemed like a different person at this moment, lively and vibrant without being overly cute, somewhat like an underground idol.

...

Two days later, Chen Xuan and Lin Qing boarded the train home.

He specifically told Liu Shuyue that if the store were empty, not to worry, for any urgent matter she could directly call.

"Your hometown isn’t that rural." Lin Qing said, staring at the scenery outside the window. For some reason... Chen Xuan felt her emotions carried a touch of excitement.

Perhaps never having left Jiang City, this time going somewhere new felt incredibly fresh?

"Not exactly a mountain village." He said with a pout, "Everything is relative."

Yue City can’t compare in scale to Jiang City at all.

It has around three hundred thousand permanent residents, its economy ranks even beyond the top hundred, already a fifth-tier city. But no matter how backward, it’s still a city, with towering high-rises, grand shopping plazas, extensive metro system... all these infrastructures are fully equipped.

But this gloss is only surface level.

A lagging economy naturally brings a lag in various aspects.

For example, littering, a rare sight in Jiang City, isn’t unusual back home.

Even two years of absence haven’t brought any substantial change.

Stepping out of the high-speed rail station, Chen Xuan immediately saw two familiar figures.

His dad and mom.

Their sight obviously fell on him too, as they rushed over waving and shouting, "Here, here!"

At the moment of reunion, his mom hugged him tightly and sincerely exclaimed, "Son, why have you gotten thinner, haven’t you been eating well?"

"No such thing, hey, don’t do this." Chen Xuan suddenly felt his face become hot, he didn’t expect his mom to pull this move.

"After all, it’s been two years, let her hug you." Dad Chen turned, looking at Lin Qing, "This must be the friend you mentioned..."

"Hello uncle and aunt!" Lin Qing bowed politely, "I’m Lin Qing, not only Chen Xuan’s colleague but also his best friend!"