CHAPTER 455: CHAPTER 443 MR. TANG CALLS

Among the fine brews Han Qiwu had tasted, this Moonlight Brew easily ranked in the top three.

Its mysterious way of appearing added to its intrigue, and drinking it felt just a tad more refined.

Non-scientific things always tend to be more fun to play around with.

After eating and drinking his fill, Han Qiwu felt content. He went around tidying up the various tools and gadgets at home, took a nice bath, and finally sat down at his desk.

Time to read!

He had deliberately made sure to eat a big meal to prepare for this book-reading session.

After all, if he was full, there was no need to worry about Uncle Ma serving up "food for thought."

Opening the book, Han Qiwu was about to take out some paper and a pen to carefully copy down all the "Ma" characters within.

But as soon as he glanced at it, he froze.

The super-thin book was completely blank.

All that was inside was a line resembling a timeline, with several points marked along it.

"Zack, did you just hand me some sort of talking pen device?" Han Qiwu hesitantly touched one of the random points with his hand.

[Please read the previous point first]

Looks like there was no skipping ahead.

Touching the first point, beams of light began to emerge from the book.

It looked just like an AR movie.

The story kicked off with a competition. Uncle Ma, a renowned and well-loved stable master with a massive fan base, was the central character. But suddenly, one day, his horseback performances started to flop horribly.

One cringe-worthy mishap after another began to unfold during Uncle Ma’s horse-riding competitions.

Sautéed Horse Leek Chicken.

Takeoff from Stationary Position.

And the like.

"Hahahahahaha—hic!"

As he watched, Han Qiwu didn’t even realize when he’d pulled out some pine nuts and raspberries to munch on.

And he had eaten so much that he felt stuffed again.

"How can this be so good?!" Han Qiwu quickly stashed away the snacks and resumed watching the glowing screen.

A few points later, the story shifted to show Uncle Ma sneaking into the stables for extra practice sessions.

The display meticulously demonstrated every basic action and detail, combined with Uncle Ma’s self-muttered commentary in the projection. In no time, Han Qiwu had absorbed a lot of equestrian knowledge.

After finishing the segment, Han Qiwu immediately took advantage of his fresh memory to carefully jot down all the key points.

Since it was already late, he decided not to disturb Little Horse tonight.

He’d just practice tomorrow.

He had to admit, Zack’s mysterious book was actually quite useful.

Looks like he had misjudged him.

Next time, he’d gift Zack a couple of antiques to make up for it.

Closing the book, Han Qiwu stretched out a foot to adjust the angle of the ancient glacier stone and lay down on the bed, falling into a deep sleep.

March 25 Daily Log

Farming Experience: +1021

Foraging Experience: +2651

Fishing Experience: +2111

Combat Experience: +0

Mining Experience: +0

Character Relationship Changes:

None

Current Gold: 23,225

Total Gold Earned: 497,169

With his newly crafted teleportation device, Han Qiwu had finally avoided waking up to the sound of Flame Iron Ore scattering everywhere this morning. He slept quite peacefully.

"Neighhhh~"

It wasn’t until Little Horse’s neighing reached his ears that Han Qiwu slowly opened his eyes and glanced over at the notes he took the night before.

The morning whinnies of young colts were pretty normal.

No big deal.

Just as Han Qiwu decided he could afford a bit more shuteye, his phone rang.

"Hello? Who’s this?" Han Qiwu groggily grabbed the phone without opening his eyes and asked.

"It’s me—you’re not up yet? Do you know what time it is?" Tang Qingying’s cheerful voice came from the other side of the call.

Han Qiwu immediately perked up and chuckled, "I was busy until after eleven last night before going to bed. Isn’t it only seven-thirty now?"

Tang Qingying thought for a moment and let it slide, instead exclaiming, "I have a day off this weekend. How about I come over and hang out?"

"Welcome, absolutely welcome! What do you want to do? Fishing, hiking, bird-chasing, horseback riding—name it, I’ve got it!" Han Qiwu laughed heartily.

Surprised, Tang Qingying exclaimed, "Bird-chasing? Horseback riding? Wow, it sounds like you’re living the dream over there! I’m jealous!"

"Haha, well, the bird’s pretty obedient, and the little horse just arrived a few days ago. It still needs some training, but it’s very gentle, so you don’t need to worry," Han Qiwu explained.

Tang Qingying let out a hum of acknowledgment and, noticing a package nearby, quickly added, "Oh, by the way, the package I sent last time got returned because I wrote the address wrong. I’ll bring it over to you this time when I visit."

"Sure, is it big? Do I need to come pick you up?" Han Qiwu teased with a grin.

Tang Qingying huffed. "It’s not much, just a bag of seeds and a small gift. But if you ride a horse to pick me up, I might consider saying yes."

"You’d better drive here yourself; Little Horse is too young to carry the two of us," Han Qiwu replied honestly.

"Who said I was riding with you? Haven’t you seen cartoons? The princess rides the horse, and the knight walks it," Tang Qingying retorted smugly.

Feigning ignorance, Han Qiwu muttered, "Knight is annoying? Why is the knight annoying?"

Tang Qingying snapped, "Because the knight pretends to be dumb! Hmph, I’m done. I’m off to have breakfast and then get to work." She then paused briefly, lowering her voice to say, "Take care of yourself, and remember to reach out to your teacher if you run into any trouble."

"Got it. You take care too," Han Qiwu replied, refraining from teasing her further.

After hanging up, he seriously considered whether riding Little Horse to pick up Mr. Tang would actually work as a surprise.

After a bit more thought, he decided against it.

Better wait until Little Horse grew up more.

The round trip was nearly 100 kilometers—walking the horse back would take a whole day.

Besides, if Mr. Tang drove back, she could help carry some things home too.

Getting out of bed, Han Qiwu quickly freshened up, then headed into the kitchen. Noticing that there were still a few leftover river prawns from the previous night, he decided to make a pancake with them.

As he worked, he called out for Xiao Dian to come over.

The little bird flew over, clearly excited.

After all, it had watched Little Shui gobble up those river prawns last night.

They looked ridiculously tasty!

"I knew it! My master loves me!"

"He’s even sneaking me extra treats this morning!"

Perching in the kitchen, Xiao Dian fluffed its feathers and hopped over to the countertop near the prawns.

Han Qiwu glanced at Xiao Dian’s expression and instantly knew what it was thinking.

Perfect.

He reheated the leftover river prawns, frying them up a bit more while casually asking Xiao Dian, "Do you want some?"

Xiao Dian nodded, gesturing with its wings to say that it didn’t mind cold ones if it meant less trouble.

"Cold ones will upset your stomach. I couldn’t bear to let that happen," Han Qiwu suddenly said in an overly saccharine tone.

Hearing those words, Xiao Dian sparked with little zaps of electricity all over its body, crackling noisily.

Now *that* was truly sickeningly sweet.

After composing itself, Xiao Dian shook its head and gestured at Han Qiwu’s mouth, as if to say, "Master, just spit it out already."

Then it hugged itself and shivered, making its meaning clear: "Master, you’re scaring me with this act."

"Ahem," Han Qiwu cleared his throat, also finding his delivery a bit much, and said, "When my teacher comes over this weekend, you better play the part of an entertaining bird. I’ll find you a video later to watch and learn from."

"Chirp chirp!"

Xiao Dian: "I knew it! Nothing good ever comes of this!"