Me and My Two Bosses' Systems

Li Xingyu had no idea what the people in her live stream were thinking. After glancing at the screen and not seeing any answers, she took out a small stool from her storage space and sat down next to the basket where they had placed the lotus pods.

Anyway, there's not much difference between lotus leaves and umbrellas, and lotus leaves are even prettier. Apart from the fact that they can't be folded up, they're a perfect rain shelter. Why bother with an umbrella?

Moreover, Li Xingyu looked at the sky and then at the weather forecast on her personal computer screen, nodded, and said that the rain would only last for about ten minutes, so she wasn't in a hurry. She could just stay there, which was quite atmospheric.

When Li Xingyu lived with her grandfather and grandmother, her grandmother taught her how to judge the weather based on the cloud cover, and that method still applies here.

"Come here, let's try the raw lotus seeds now. They should be ready to eat by now." Li Xingyu beckoned to her floating ball, asking it to come over and sit under her lotus leaf.

Li Xingyu picked up a lotus seedpod that was about the size of her head and started picking the lotus seeds. Surprisingly, it was quite relaxing.

The lotus seeds were round and plump, and looked lovely green in Li Xingyu's fair and tender hands.

Li Xingyu peeled one first to try it out and found it was okay; the skin wasn't very thick or hard, and she could peel it.

"Mmm~ crunch crunch...delicious." Li Xingyu broke open the lotus seed and took out the lotus seed heart. This stuff is very bitter, so she doesn't eat it.

Fresh lotus seeds are juicy, crisp, and refreshing, with a slightly sweet taste.

Aside from the fact that Li Xingyu wanted to try peeling the lotus seeds by hand, making it difficult to remove the lotus seed hearts, everything else was fine.

"Little Feather? What are you doing sitting here? You look so cute~" Li Xile walked out from the depths of the lotus field, holding a lotus leaf umbrella in one hand and carrying a bundle of lotus flowers in the other, followed by Xinghe, Tianshu and Liyue.

The four of them had just finished picking enough when they ran into each other at the place where they were putting things back, so they came out together.

They were all using lotus leaves as shelter, something readily available. After using them to block the rain, they could be used for other things, so nothing was wasted. It was quite fun!

The three people behind Li Xile saw Li Xingyu's current look and their eyes lit up.

The four walked to Li Xingyu's side, sorted out the things they were holding, and sat down like her, except that they each held a lotus stem in one hand. The five of them looked at the lotus pond in front of them, which was being bathed in raindrops.

"Here you go." Li Xingyu pulled out four large lotus pods from the basket beside her and handed them to Xinghe, who was sitting next to her.

Xinghe glanced at the lotus pods with several seeds already peeled in Li Xingyu's hand, silently accepted the lotus pods Li Xingyu handed over, kept one for herself, and then passed them on to the others.

Because Li Xingyu had been sitting next to the baskets of lotus pods, she ended up sitting on the edge of a row of people, with the baskets on one side and Xinghe on the other. The others sat on the other side of Xinghe.

For a moment, only the sound of raindrops hitting the lotus leaves and grass, and the sound of Li Xingyu and the others chewing lotus seeds could be heard by the lotus pond.

"Little Feather, here you go." Li Xingyu was still struggling with the tender white lotus seed in her hand. She was just about to check if there were any useful tools in her storage space, or if she could conjure up a small knife herself, when she heard Xinghe's pleasant voice.

Li Xingyu turned his head and saw that Xinghe had overlapped a small part of his lotus leaf with Li Xingyu's lotus leaf. Since they were both supporting the lotus leaves, they caught the water dripping from Li Xingyu's upside-down lotus leaf. With a slight adjustment of the force, the water inside the lotus leaf was poured directly onto the ground.

Between Li Xingyu and Xinghe, there was a place where it didn't rain. Xinghe's arm was below the point where they were connected, and in her palm, she held several plump, white lotus seeds with their hearts peeled off.

"Hehe, Xinghe is so kind. I'm sorry to trouble you with this too." Li Xingyu took the lotus seeds that Xinghe had already processed from his hand with one hand, and placed his own lotus pod in Xinghe's hand that he hadn't yet put away.

They've gone out of their way to peel it for you, so they must be happy to do it for you, and it's not easy to refuse, right?

Li Xingyu chewed on the peeled lotus seeds, resting one elbow on her knee and supporting her chin, looking at the lotus pond not far away, feeling happy.

Xinghe used her mental tentacles to fix her lotus leaf umbrella. Her slender, fair, and well-defined hands peeled the lotus seeds one by one from the lotus pod, then peeled off the outer shell, tore off the inner skin, and took out the dark green lotus heart. Finally, she placed the peeled lotus seeds into a small white porcelain plate on her knee.

As an interstellar male, although Xinghe was awakened from a mechanical system, he is also capable and is a god-level ability user in the mental system.

Mental abilities are both offensive and defensive, making them one of the most powerful ability systems. Moreover, Xinghe is naturally skilled at using... what could be called mental power, to control some systems that have not yet developed self-awareness. His abilities complement his own.

The skills of both mental ability users and mental power users are quite similar.

The fundamental difference between the two is that, at the same level, the physical strength of a mental ability user is more than five times that of a mental power user, and they do not have mental power fluctuations, only fluctuations in their own abilities.

The mental strength of a mental power user is stronger than that of a mental ability user. This strength refers to all aspects, whether it is defense or offense.

However, this situation only occurs with god-level mental power users. Below god level, from the emergence of abilities and mental power to the present, ability users have always been stronger than mental power users.

Li Xingyu inadvertently caught a glimpse of Xinghe's actions and was surprised that it could be played in this way. She also released her mental tentacles and tried some simple operations, crunching lotus seeds in her mouth and having a great time.

"Little Feather, I've peeled it all, this is yours." Li Xingyu was manipulating her mental tentacles, which were dancing wildly, when Xinghe's voice came from beside her.

Li Xingyu glanced at Xinghe beside her and saw that he had left her a plate of lotus seeds. She nodded to herself and prepared to accept the lotus seeds he offered.

Just as he raised his hand, as if he had thought of something, his eyes lit up, and he tried to manipulate his mental tentacles to take the small plate from Xinghe's hand.

Generally speaking, mastering the use of mental tentacles requires a very long period of practice. Although it is part of one's own mental power, it contains a portion of the mental power user's subconscious, so controlling it requires some effort.

Li Xingyu's mental energy tentacles were a light gold color. Rather than tentacles, they were more like threads, or rather, light gold ropes about one centimeter thick.

However, this thin "rope" should not be underestimated. If it were to be used seriously, its destructive power would be considerable. It could easily and effortlessly level several mountains in the Li family's area. And this is only the combat power that Li Xingyu has only recently awakened.

That's why god-level mental power users are required to go to the front lines of battle. Their mental power, after being trained and developed, plays a crucial role in the ongoing battles against alien beasts.

Li Xingyu used her mental tentacles to approach Xinghe, took the small plate containing lotus seeds from his hand, and began to hand it to herself.

"..." Xinghe opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but when he saw the other two mental tentacles put their hands together to make a heart shape with his fingers, a blush appeared on his face, and he ultimately did not make a sound.

As Li Xingyu moved around, she seemed to discover some tricks and became much more proficient in controlling her mental tentacles. She happily manipulated her mental tentacles to draw patterns.

The four people present watched as Li Xingyu's mental tentacles went from a chaotic dance of demons at the beginning to various patterns in the middle, and finally fell silent as they watched the scene unfold before them.

That's right. After Li Xingyu twisted his mental energy into various patterns, such as hearts, hands, snakes, cats, dogs, and other small animals, or flowers, trees, etc., he suddenly had the idea to twist his mental energy tentacles into two stick figures.

Then, as if he had discovered something fun, Li Xingyu began to use his mental tentacles to build scenes and stage a series of skits in front of the five people.

To be honest, watching Li Xingyu's strange and adorable mental tentacles make the lotus seeds in my mouth seem a little tastier.

By the time Li Xingyu finished eating the lotus seeds, the rain had almost stopped.

Summer rain comes quickly and goes quickly. Before the rain has completely stopped, the sun can't help but peek out from behind the clouds, and a colorful rainbow appears on the horizon.

"Wow~ beautiful." Li Xingyu looked up at the rainbow above the lotus pond and took a few photos with her personal computer.

"Come on, everyone, look here~" Li Xingyu called Xinghe and the others to look at her, and pressed the photo button when they looked over.

Upon hearing Li Xingyu's voice, they instinctively adjusted their posture, ensuring that no one's view was blocked and everyone's head was visible.

After taking the photo, Li Xingyu retracted her mental energy tentacles, felt the feedback from them, and suddenly looked up at Xinghe with a shocked expression.

Xinghe's ears were so red they were almost bleeding. She made a "shh" gesture to Li Xingyu and then pointed to her personal computer.

Watching Xinghe's actions, Li Xingyu activated his personal terminal and brought up his chat interface with Xinghe:

Xinghe: [Let's talk tonight.]

Looking at the message Xinghe sent, Li Xingyu nodded to him to indicate her agreement and understanding, and then suppressed her somewhat strange emotions.

At Li Qingshi's suggestion, the five of them turned their backs to the rainbow and released two floating balls to take pictures.

The five of them took many photos in different styles against the backdrop of the lotus pond and rainbow, and played around for quite a while.

After taking photos, the group looked at the lotus flowers, leaves, and pods they had picked. Then, the other four people's eyes focused on Li Xingyu, asking for her opinion.

"This is enough. Let's finish this first, and then Uncle Xile and Brother Qingshi will come home with us. I'll cook something delicious for you~" Li Xingyu nodded in satisfaction as she looked at their spoils and extended an invitation to Li Xile and Li Qingshi.

"Okay, so what should we do with these things?" Li Xile asked the question they most wanted to know.

"Remove the stems from the lotus leaves, leaving only the leaves; for the lotus flowers, only keep the petals; and for the lotus pods, only keep the seeds," Li Xingyu explained, looking at the baskets in front of them.

"Oh, right, don't throw away that stem. Let me see if I can extract the lotus root fibers from it." Li Xingyu looked at the lotus flowers, leaves, and seedpods in the basket, and then added as if she had thought of something.

"Little Star, what do you need lotus root slices for?" Tian Shu looked at Li Xingyu with a puzzled expression.

"Hehe, I think I read in a book before that there was a kind of ink paste that was made with lotus root fibers. It was said that the process was very complicated. Let me think, what's it called? Right, it's Longquan ink paste." Li Xingyu suddenly became interested and explained to the four people who were looking at him with doubt.

At the same time, the specific steps for making Longquan ink paste appeared in Li Xingyu's mind. She quickly checked and found that it was in the skill of inheriting national treasures.

'Tsk tsk tsk, no wonder people say that luxury goods in China are not nonexistent, but unaffordable. So many processes and so long, no wonder they say it's more expensive than gold,' Li Xingyu thought to himself.

She had learned a lot about intangible cultural heritage from the internet before. Their craftsmanship and finished products were exquisite and breathtaking, but the prices were also quite high, such as Nanjing brocade, kesi (silk tapestry), bamboo weaving, and embroidery...

Therefore, a saying often circulates online: "Foreign luxury goods can be bought if you grit your teeth, but Chinese luxury goods are unaffordable even if you grit your teeth until they break."

"With such a large lotus pond here, we should be able to extract a lot of lotus root fibers. We can definitely make the legendary Longquan ink paste." Li Xingyu was full of confidence. With the specific production steps and her hands-on skills, she was sure she could make it.

"Why is Xingyu so interested in Longquan ink paste?" Li Yue let out his tail again. He had only left his ears on his head since it had just rained, and had tucked his tail away to avoid getting it wet.

In interstellar society, there are also things like seals and inkpads, but these are limited to official institutions and large families with truly orderly lineages.

Others may know that these things exist and have seen them, but they won't buy them themselves because they think they're not very useful, and most importantly—because they're expensive.

"That's because, as the book says, Longquan ink paste doesn't solidify in winter, doesn't seep oil in summer, leaves a mark when burned, doesn't disappear when soaked in water, has a fragrant aroma, and doesn't fade over time." Li Xingyu held a lotus stem in her hand and picked up lotus root strips according to the steps and movements in her mind.

"Little Feather, let me help you. Can I participate in the later stages of production too?" Xinghe enjoys things that cultivate one's mind and body, things that are slow and leisurely, such as calligraphy, painting, gardening, and reading...

Xinghe has his own seal and a deeper understanding of ink paste than others, so he became very interested in the Longquan ink paste that Li Xingyu mentioned.

There are five people in total. One person handles the lotus leaves, one person handles the lotus flowers, and one person handles the lotus pods. Xinghe can help her extract the lotus root fibers. Thinking of this, Li Xingyu nodded to Xinghe and asked him to come over and watch her work.