In the novel "Joy of Life," the protagonist wakes up at Li Chengze's residence.

"Wow, it can pronounce my name!?" You Ran stared wide-eyed in shock.

After a while, it was able to distinguish which was the "walnut" and which was the "no blame".

It flapped its wings once in the cage, faced Tao Jingyang, and gently pecked at the cage.

“The cage is too small, it doesn’t like it,” Tao Jingyang murmured softly.

"Sister Jingyang, please don't open the cage. This bird... this little Tao bird is very clever, it will definitely fly away."

Leisurely peeled a walnut, but instead of feeding it to the bird, he ate it himself.

He also handed one to Fan Wujiu.

[Fan Wujiu]: Snatching food from a bird's mouth. / (chewing)

Tao Jingyang shook his head and said to You Ran:

"It's precisely because it's so human-like that it can't be confined like this."

Such an intelligent bird, to be confined like this, is truly a form of abuse.

She still opened the cage and let it fly out.

The gray bird circled twice in the sky and then disappeared from sight.

The group waited for a long time, but he did not return.

I doubt they'll come back.

Li Chengze looked at Tao Jingyang's hands, which were still holding the cage, and pondered:

"Actually, it's not too late to release it from the cage after you've kept it locked up for two or three days and it's become completely familiar with you."

Tao Jingyang remained silent for a while, then closed the cage again and placed it on the ground.

She shook her head and said, "Seeing it looking like it was in pain, I don't know why, but I also felt very uncomfortable."

It's better that she's gone; perhaps it was just that we weren't meant to be.

Li Chengze put a grape in his mouth, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"Whoosh!" At that moment, another bird flew in and circled in mid-air.

Fan Wujiu was the first to react, saying, "Your Highness, it's a carrier pigeon. But it doesn't seem to be one of our pigeons."

"Summon them down to take a look."

"Yes." Fan Wujiu put his hand in his mouth and whistled.

Li Chengze untied the carrier pigeon's leg and opened the container. As soon as he looked inside, everything went black.

Seeing that he looked unwell, Tao Jingyang asked, "What's wrong? Who sent the letter?"

Li Chengze spread the letter in front of her and pointed upwards with his finger: "Take a look for yourself."

"Is it... looking for me?" She picked up the letter and read it carefully... Oh, it's Fan Xian again.

That was the only couple who spent the whole day hanging around in front of Li Chengze and Tao Jingyang.

The letter read: "Greetings, Second Prince."

Tao Jingyang, are you free later? I need to talk to you about something. If it's convenient, I'll come over tonight.

Tao Jingyang: ......

"Well... him, well, how should I put it, actually, he's... quite polite, huh?" At least the first sentence mentioned Li Chengze.

Then, Tao Jingyang quickly turned to You Ran and said, "Could you get me some paper and a pen? I need to refuse him right away."

Li Chengze remained silent, seemingly tacitly approving of Tao Jingyang's actions.

After Tao Jingyang finished writing her reply and showed it to Li Chengze, she tied the letter to the carrier pigeon's leg.

Just as Fan Wujiu had already held the carrier pigeon in his hands and was about to release it, he heard Li Chengze speak:

"Alright. Fan Wujiu, let's not release the pigeon."

Li Chengze picked up his pen and wrote a new letter, replacing the one written by Tao Jingyang, and tied it back to the carrier pigeon's leg.

There was only one word on it—"OK".

Fan Wujiu and You Ran exchanged a furtive glance. After Fan Wujiu released the pigeons, he quietly nudged You Ran with his elbow.

With a clear understanding, he and Fan Wujiu quietly left "without anyone noticing".

"Fan Wujiu, tell me, why did your prince agree to let Fan Xian come?"

"I don't know." After saying this, Fan Wujiu put on his stern face again, looking very serious: "You are not allowed to speak ill of the Second Prince."

"Look at how stingy you are." You Ran clicked her tongue twice and shook her head arrogantly.

He thought to himself, "Fine, let's not talk about him then. It's like nobody cares about discussing him."

Fan Wujiu looked You Ran up and down, as the setting sun cast its golden rays upon them.

"Why do I feel like you're becoming more and more like your Miss Tao?" Fan Wujiu fully utilized his intelligence and came to this conclusion after thinking for a long time.

You Ran looked puzzled, and frowned her almond-shaped eyes—no, her almond-shaped eyes had become uneven due to her frown.

She asked, somewhat confused, "Really...?" Then she immediately realized what she meant and said protectively, "You! Don't talk about Miss Tao!"

After saying that, he snorted and turned away.

Fan Wujiu was left standing there, stunned. He couldn't help but wonder: Is this still the same You Ran who used to be so quiet? Or is it a completely different person?

Fan Wujiu couldn't figure it out, so he scratched his temples and went to do his "evening cultivation" for the day, still wondering.

As night fell, the last rays of sunlight were blocked by the mountains, and the sky turned a serene deep blue.

Tao Jingyang lay on the couch, watching Li Chengze practice his internal energy cultivation.

"Is that porcelain bottle still working?" Tao Jingyang asked him in a very low voice, worried that he might disturb him.

"It works, but the true energy obtained through it still needs to be cultivated and refined by oneself."

Li Chengze controlled his true energy, allowing it to circulate throughout his meridians until it truly settled within his dantian.

Tao Jingyang exclaimed "Wow!" and sighed repeatedly, "That's really quite troublesome."

Thank goodness I don't have to practice, otherwise I'd be exhausted.

After hearing this, the latter gave a smile and said gently, "You are already at the ninth rank, so your talent is naturally extremely high. It's normal that you find me troublesome."

She suddenly remembered that she hadn't had a chance to tell Li Chengze about her situation yet.

Just as she was about to speak, footsteps came from outside the door: "Chengze, actually I..."

Tao Jingyang had no choice but to shut his mouth again.

"Your Highness, Miss Tao, our guests have arrived." It was Fan Wujiu's voice.

Li Chengze calmed his breathing and waited until his true energy had completely stabilized before saying to Tao Jingyang, "Let him in now?"

The latter nodded and said, "Okay."

In the side hall.

Fan Xian was slumped in a chair, resting with his eyes closed.

He has certainly been through a lot today, and he is here now for no other reason than this.

He was really getting on his nerves.