Chapter 87: Making Light of Things

They dug for three days and three nights. When hunger struck, they ate a little dry rations; when sleep overcame them, they lay down for a while in whatever shelter they could find from the wind.

By the end of the three days, they had dug out more than a thousand spirit stones and stripped the surrounding area clean.

Tang Ziran sat down heavily on the ground, so exhausted that her head spun. In a fit of pique, she said, "I’m not digging anymore. You can beat me till my backside is black and blue, I still won’t dig."

Shen Xin walked over, sat down beside her, leaned close to her ear, and teased, "Then I suppose I’ll have to spank you."

Tang Ziran rolled over onto her stomach, lifted her rear, and said indignantly, "Go ahead, then. Beat me to death if you want, you heartless bastard. All you know is how to squeeze me dry!"

Shen Xin took out a pill that restored his energy and slipped it into Tang Ziran’s mouth. Then he blew lightly by her ear and smiled. "How could I bear to hit you? If I broke you, where would I find free labor? Rest up for a bit. We’ll go somewhere else later."

Tang Ziran only felt her ear grow itchy. Bashfully, she pushed Shen Xin away and regulated her breathing for a long while before finally calming down. After a long silence, she said, "Anyway, I’m not being your free labor anymore. If you want me to work, you’ll have to pay me. One million a day!"

Shen Xin was suddenly seized by mischief and grinned wickedly. "What’s yours is mine, anyway. Why be so picky? Work hard, and maybe this year your big brother will even find you a sister-in-law!"

"Bah! Even that bloodsucker Huang Shiren isn’t as shameless as you! I’m not going anywhere today. I’m just going to lie here and see what you can do about it."

"Come on, stop joking. Even if it isn’t for ourselves, we still have to think about our future child, don’t we? Formula money, school fees, living expenses, betrothal gifts... If you just lie flat like this, are we supposed to let our child grow up eating bran and bitter greens, wrapped in rags?"

Tang Ziran sprang up from the ground, grinding her teeth. "Absolutely not! Let’s go. I still have plenty of strength."

With that, she let out a sharp whistle and called over the giant goose.

"Brother, just say where we’re going. I’ve got energy to spare now. I could dig for another three days and nights."

Shen Xin smiled. "To Sky Fortune City! I hear that place is dripping with wealth. We’ll go into the city, recuperate for a few days, and then look for a spirit stone mine."

"Brother, I don’t need rest. I want to dig spirit stones and earn money to raise our child!"

Shen Xin barely held back his laughter. "Sharpening the axe won’t slow the cutting of wood. We still need to balance work and rest. You wouldn’t want the child to be born without a mother, would you?"

Tang Ziran’s eyes widened, and she said with rapid breaths, "Of course not! There’s only one good mother in the world; a child without a mother is like a blade of grass."

"Then listen to me. We’ll go to Sky Fortune City and rest for a few days first. These past days, we should have earned enough for the baby’s formula."

Tang Ziran looked down at her own meager chest, ashamed, and lowered her head. She jumped onto the giant goose and, after a long while, said, "It’s my fault. I didn’t come with my own milk bottle."

Shen Xin was rendered speechless, thinking Tang Ziran was far too easy to fool. Still, he truly had never meant to deceive her; he had only been joking. By his own reckoning, he treated the people around him very well and had never been stingy with them.

Before long, the two of them had flown to Sky Fortune City.

Sky Fortune City could not be said to be dripping with wealth, but compared with Mystic Sky City, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Apart from having a little less greenery, the scale of Sky Fortune City was comparable to Dragon City.

Shen Xin sold a few gemstones in the city at a low price and came away with more than three million in cash.

Then he took Tang Ziran to a five-star hotel, where they had a feast that night and, after a wonderfully refreshing hot bath, the two of them lay contentedly on a waterbed three meters wide.

"This is what life is!"

Shen Xin sprawled out with complete abandon, feeling the fatigue of the past several days vanish without a trace.

Tang Ziran lay on her stomach and lifted her head to ask, "Brother, since we’re sleeping together now, will I be pregnant with a little baby tomorrow?"

"Of course. In ten months, you’ll give birth to a lovely little baby."

"Oh, really? Then we should give him a name. Have you thought of one?"

"If it’s a boy, we’ll call him Shen Tang—Tang like the Tang Dynasty. If it’s a girl, we’ll call her Shen Tang, with the honey-sweet kind of tang. Ziran, what do you think?"

"That’s great. Brother, do you like boys or girls?"

"I like both. Get some good rest. Later on, we’ll have more children, and then we’ll have both boys and girls."

"Okay, then I’m going to sleep first. Don’t disturb me. I need to nourish the baby."

Tang Ziran pulled the blanket up and covered herself tightly. Not long after, she fell into a peaceful sleep.

Shen Xin tiptoed out of bed, took out two spirit stones, held them in his palms, and began to cultivate with concentration.

The night passed in silence. Around five in the morning, Shen Xin slowly opened his eyes and found that the stagnant mass of spiritual energy in his dantian had finally grown a little thicker.

His current level was still the third stage of spirit condensation, and he had made no progress at all for several months.

Without the aid of spirit stones, he estimated it would take him three to five years to break through to the fourth stage.

He then put the two somewhat dim spirit stones into the bronze gourd. Only then did he notice that since the gourd had begun storing spirit stones, its color had changed slightly; at the very least, it no longer looked as rusty and worn as before.

Just after he finished washing up, Tang Ziran stretched lazily and opened her eyes. She carefully touched her belly and smiled. "Brother, I feel like the baby has grown a little. You’re about to become a father."

Shen Xin nearly burst out laughing. He forced the smile down, nodded, and said, "Yes, we need to work even harder digging for spirit stones. Otherwise, once the child is born, we won’t have time to make money. We can’t just leave the baby at home and go out to earn a living, can we?"

As soon as Tang Ziran heard this, she grew anxious and hurriedly said, "Of course not. Brother, let’s hurry and find a spirit vein mine. Once we find a rich one, we’ll have money to raise the child."

Shen Xin nodded in deep agreement and smiled. "Ziran, you should stay in the hotel and take good care of yourself. I can go look for it alone today."

Tang Ziran shook her head and stubbornly said, "How can that be? I’m still fine for now. Once my belly gets bigger and moving becomes inconvenient, we can go back to Ox City and rest during the pregnancy."

"Then let’s eat first. We’ll need strength if we’re going to work. I’ll order breakfast."

The two of them ate heartily. Tang Ziran was afraid the baby in her belly might suffer from malnutrition, so she forced herself to eat a great deal. She touched her slightly rounded abdomen and smiled happily. "The baby’s growing so fast. I’m afraid it won’t even take ten months before it’s born."

Shen Xin nearly lost control, and only after forcefully rubbing his face did he manage to hold back his laughter. He nodded solemnly and said, "As expected of our baby. It really does grow quickly. But don’t worry, Ziran. These first few days are the fastest. After that, it won’t grow so quickly. Let’s hurry and try to find a spirit stone mine within half a month, then return to Ox City. By then, you won’t need to do anything at all. I’ll take care of you."

"Mhm! Brother, let’s set out quickly. Where are we going today?"

Tang Ziran nodded happily.

"To Green Peak Mountain in Sky Fortune City. It should be a rich mine."