CHAPTER 198: CHAPTER 198 PAPER AIRPLANE

198 Folding Paper Airplanes

They first ran into their grandmother’s room, the little ones huddling together. Zhao Zhitong took out a soft-leather notebook from her small bag—or more accurately, from her space. It was a notebook belonging to her father that she had inadvertently collected while gathering supplies in her previous life and had only rediscovered in her space a few days prior. After taking out the notebook, she opened it and looked at its pages, reluctant to use them.

Her young cousins also looked pained when they saw such a fine notebook. Sun Daqing couldn’t help but ask, "Little cousin, are you really going to do this?"

Although they hadn’t had much experience with the "four treasures of the study," they knew how valuable paper was. And the paper Zhao Zhitong had taken out looked to be of such high quality that they concluded it must be extremely expensive!

In reality, this notebook was just an ordinary one, possibly worth only a couple of yuan. But here, the quality of this paper could be considered very good, which was why Zhao Zhitong was so reluctant.

In the end, she gritted her teeth. "It’s okay. We’ll just make three. Once we complete the task, we can unfold them and use them for writing."

Sun Daqing and the others were immediately thrilled, exclaiming, "Yes, yes! I can even recite poems now!"

Zhao Zhitong coughed lightly, lifted a sheet of paper with her small hand, and said seriously, "I-I’m going to tear it, okay?"

After saying so, she closed her eyes and, with a decisive tug—RIIIIP!—tore off three sheets of paper.

Then, she had Sun Daji and Sun Daqing join her at the table to fold paper airplanes. Zhao Zhitong intended to demonstrate how to fold them first. So, as her little mouth narrated the steps, her small hands began to fold the paper.

A short while later, Zhao Zhitong finally finished folding. Sun Daqing and Sun Daji, however, just stared at their own sheets of paper, completely stumped.

Sun Daqing looked at the disastrous-looking plane in Zhao Zhitong’s hand and asked uncertainly, "Little cousin, are you sure this thing can attract Chen Xiaofeng?"

Zhao Zhitong glanced down at the wretched, unbearable paper airplane in her own hand and instantly felt dejected. She knew the steps, but she just couldn’t fold it neatly or get the edges to align properly.

"Um..." Zhao Zhitong reluctantly tore off another sheet of paper and handed it to Zhao Ya. "Sister Yaya, you try. I’ll tell you how to do it."

Zhao Ya carefully accepted the paper, saying cheerfully, "Little sister, I watched you. I already remember how to fold it."

With that, she leaned over the table and started folding. Sun Daqing and the others quickly gathered around to watch. Meanwhile, Zhao Zhitong placed the paper she had mangled on the table and slowly unfolded it, trying to smooth it flat.

Just then, Grandpa Bai, who was in her space and saw her reluctance, stroked his beard and chuckled, "Young girl, have I ever mentioned the Space Mall to you?"

Zhao Zhitong blinked, thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don’t remember."

Grandpa Bai felt helpless. Ever since their medicinal vegetables had sold for a good price, Zhao Zhitong had become rather complacent. No matter how much he urged her, the little girl wasn’t in a hurry to accumulate Merit Points. Her daily Merit Point earnings were crawling along at a snail’s pace.

So, to encourage the young girl to go out and accumulate more Merit Points, he had told her about the Space Mall. At the time, however, she had been preoccupied with playing with Qiao Muchen and the others, showing no interest and paying it no mind.

Now, Grandpa Bai tried to entice her again, "There are many, many notebooks like this in the Space Mall, you know. All the books on my bookshelf were copied onto paper from the Space Mall."

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Zhao Zhitong’s interest was piqued, and she immediately clamored to see the Space Mall.

Grandpa Bai pressed his advantage. "Not right now. You don’t have enough Merit Points, so the market can’t be activated yet."

Zhao Zhitong felt a flicker of disappointment, but only for a moment. She quickly perked up again and asked, "Grandpa Bai, how many Merit Points do I need to activate the market?"

Grandpa Bai stroked his beard, his eyes crinkling in a pleased smile. "One thousand Merit Points will open it."

Zhao Zhitong thought for a moment, then asked, "Oh, so how many Merit Points do I have now?"

Grandpa Bai checked the Merit Points interface and said with a chuckle, "Young girl, all your previous Merit Points were used to open and upgrade the Spiritual Spring and the Spiritual Field. So, you only have fifty usable Merit Points left."

Zhao Zhitong blinked and counted on her fingers. "Okay, so I’m short by twenty fifties." Then, she excitedly declared, "I’ll have enough very soon!"

Grandpa Bai was speechless. This girl... her Merit Points aren’t increasing by even one point a day right now. Where does she get this confidence?

Nevertheless, he continued to encourage and guide her, "That’s why, young girl, you need to work hard and accumulate more Merit Points. No slacking off, okay? There are lots and lots of things in the market."

However, Zhao Zhitong’s attention was now completely captivated by the paper airplane Zhao Ya was folding. Hearing Grandpa Bai’s words, she waved her hand dismissively and replied perfunctorily, "Yeah, I will, I will."

Her eyes were now fixed on the well-folded paper airplane Zhao Ya had made. Zhao Ya was a quick study with embroidery, and her little hands were truly deft. She had memorized the steps after watching Zhao Zhitong fold one just once and could now make one beautifully herself.

Zhao Zhitong examined it for a long time, then hurriedly found a small bamboo stick and handed it to Zhao Ya, happily instructing, "Sister Yaya, you need to curl its wings up a bit so it can fly."

Under Zhao Zhitong’s guidance, Zhao Ya curled the wings of the paper airplane.

Sun Daqing and the others were very excited now, looking at the completed paper airplane with intense curiosity. "Can it really fly?"

Zhao Zhitong nodded vigorously, affirming, "It can, it can."

Just then, Zhao Ya finished and handed the airplane to Zhao Zhitong, cheerfully saying, "Little sister, it’s ready."

Zhao Zhitong took the paper airplane and threw it forward. It glided gently through the air, even making a loop, before slowly landing on the bed.

A cheer immediately erupted in the room.

Sun Daqing and the others were thrilled. Even Zhao Cheng, who usually maintained a mature demeanor, was visibly excited. What child doesn’t love toys, after all? This new thing was so novel that they were all bubbling with excitement.

Sun Daqing curiously asked Zhao Zhitong, "Sister, is this a paper kite?"

Sun Daji interjected first, "Second brother, you’re so silly! Of course it’s not. A paper kite has a string, and this doesn’t. It must be a flying bird."

The little ones began to discuss fiercely what this paper airplane was. Finally, they all looked towards Zhao Zhitong.

She thought for a moment. They definitely wouldn’t know what a "paper airplane" was. So, she said, "This is called a paper swallow."

"Paper swallow, paper swallow!"

"See! I told you it was a flying bird."

The little ones started whooping with excitement in the room. Sun Daji and Sun Daqing quickly gave their other two sheets of paper to Zhao Ya. Mainly because the paper was so precious, Sun Daji and Sun Daqing were afraid of ruining it themselves, so they entrusted their sheets to Zhao Ya to fold.

Zhao Ya readily accepted this task, and in no time, three paper airplanes were neatly folded.