Note: I'll try to catch up a little but will probably be a few days behind the actual chapter updates from now on, especially since she's going to drop about 10k words when the novel goes into VIP.
Shen Ni wakes up to find Bian Jin sleeping next to her. She watches as Bian Jin slowly wakes up, blinking her eyes like a newborn fawn. Bian Jin starts to sit up, then realises she's only wearing her underclothes and pulls the blankets up uneasily around herself. Shen Ni very considerately gets out of bed and hands Bian Jin her outer robe. Shen Ni thinks about how, back when she was younger, Bian Jin never used to be self-conscious about being only in her underclothes when she was coaxing Shen Ni to sleep. Bian Jin thinks about how she can no longer be as relaxed around Shen Ni given that their relationship has changed, and also she can no longer see Shen Ni as a child now that Shen Ni is all grown up (and hot).
As Bian Jin is washing her face, she notices the cut across her palm. She frowns at it briefly, her thoughts wandering, then goes and asks Auntie Wan for the first aid kit. Shen Ni, meanwhile, is checking on updates from the court as well as household logs. The logs indicate that there was an unidentified intruder last night. Shen Ni inspects the courtyard, but finds nothing. As they sit together at the breakfast table, Shen Ni asks about the cut on Bian Jin's palm. Bian Jin replies that she cut herself accidentally, and it's nothing major. Shen Ni doesn't ask any follow-up questions.
Shen Ni's digital watch keeps beeping with messages from her various group chats. Her colleagues and acquaintances are excited about the Shangyuan festivities that are taking place the following night. That was the merriest festival in TangPro before the invasion of the Black Box virus, and now that the virus has been temporarily destroyed, the people are keen to celebrate. This was also why Li Ruoyuan commissioned the Great Wheel of Fire.
Bian Jin mentions that she received the governmental invitation to attend the Shangyuan festivities. Shen Ni asks if she wants to go.. Bian Jin thinks to herself that Shen Ni probably wants them to go together in order to keep up appearances, as they did when the rensheng incident. She says yes, much to Shen Ni's surprise. Bian Jin even asks if Shen Ni is planning on doing the lantern riddles, and adds that she'll start preparing if that's what Shen Ni wants to do. Shen Ni reflects on how Bian Jin is the kind of person who wants to do everything she sets her hand to properly, even a leisure activity like guessing lantern riddles.
Shen Ni had been originally planning to spend the Shangyuan festival working the late shift at Firewall Construction HQ, so that her subordinates could all go out and participate in the festivities, but now she decides to see if there's anyone who can swap shifts with her. If not, she plans on writing a monitoring subroutine. Shen Ni then tells Bian Jin that she needs to go to Firewall Construction HQ early the next day, and that Bian Jin should wait at home for her. After she returns home, they'll go to the festival together. Bian Jin says yes, and Shen Ni finds herself thinking what a good girl Bian Jin is, even though she knows it's not the case.
The next day, Shen Ni leaves for Firewall Construction HQ, and Bian Jin remains at home, waiting — something she's not good at. A full four hours before Shen Ni is due back, Bian Jin opens their closet to choose an outfit for tonight. Most of the clothes are from the set that Shen Ni gave her on the occasion of their wedding. They're all brightly-coloured, and the height of fashion. Bian Jin remembers telling Auntie Wan that these clothes don't suit her, and Auntie Wan replying that Shen Ni thought they suited Bian Jin very well. Bian Jin hesitates by the closet, her eyes lingering on the clothes Shen Ni gave her.
Shen Ni reaches Firewall Construction HQ to find Zeng Qingluo sorting through a large stack of accounts and invoices left by the previous administrator, which are a mess. As she stands up, she suddenly loses control of her left leg, a prosthetic, and Shen Ni has to catch her. Shen Ni scans the leg, and discovers that it's an A-tier prosthetic, which exceeds the capacity of Zeng Qingluo's B-tier jade core. Zeng Qingluo is risking overload, which in turn could lead to madness.
We're given a bit more lore about how the people of this world, greedy for power, started using more and more powerful prosthetics. This led to madness, death, and war. Legend has it that the Black Box virus was birthed in the filthiest corners of these battlefields. The jade cores gave humans a way to achieve greater control over their prosthetics, but there are still limitations. Using a lower-tier jade core with a higher-tier prosthetic can still lead to overload and madness, and the tier of jade core which each individual is able to use depends on their own natural-born abilities.
Zeng Qingluo tells Shen Ni she's aware of the risks, but she wants to be more powerful in case the Black Box virus returns. We learn that Zeng Qingluo's original left leg was cut off by her own mother, who was infected by the Black Box virus. Under the influence of the virus, she maimed her own daughter, then committed suicide. That's why Zeng Qingluo has devoted her whole life to Shen Ni's crusade against the virus.
Shen Ni promises to craft a new leg for Zeng Qingluo, who is deeply appreciative. She promises that she'll visit Bian Jin and Shen Ni at their home as soon as possible. Just then, both their watches buzz with a message from Diwu Que, an old comrade who has just arrived in Chang'an on a mission. We're told that Zeng Qingluo's right hand was chopped off during a battle, and it was Diwu Que who retrieved four of her fingers from where they'd been buried and Shen Ni who sewed them back on.
Shen Ni mentions that she has plans that night. Zeng Qingluo immediately guesses what's going on, and tells Shen Ni that she's happy to take Shen Ni's shift for the night — after she has dinner with Diwu Que — so that Shen Ni can spend time with Bian Jin.
Bian Jin, meanwhile, is leaving the antiques market, holding a snow globe with one gloved hand. It's a present for Shen Ni, to thank her for having looked after Bian Jin all this while. Bian Jin remembers how she'd given Shen Ni a snow globe when Shen Ni was little, and how Shen Ni used to stare at it, lost in thought — perhaps of her parents, who had disappeared. Snow globes are no longer widely available, which is why Bian Jin had to hunt for one at the antiques market.
Bian Jin decides that, instead of waiting for Shen Ni at home, she should just head to Firewall Construction HQ to meet Shen Ni there, and they can go to see the Great Wheel of Fire from there. She arrives to see Shen Ni by the entrance, back turned, wearing the cloak that matches Bian Jin's. Bian Jin is about to call out to her when she sees another young woman rush up to Shen Ni and embrace her happily.
Bian Jin reflects that it was a good thing she hadn't called out, after all. She decides that Shen Ni had never planned to attend the Shangyuan festivities with her, and had only said yes in order not to make things difficult. Bian Jin feels guilty at the thought that she'd asked Shen Ni to keep her — her wife in name only — company during Shangyuan, while neglecting her actual girlfriend. She wonders whether or not to go up to the couple and tell Shen Ni to spend the evening with her girlfriend instead, then decides it would make things worse. She tucks the snow globe away and leaves. She thinks that now Shen Ni is grown up, and a battle-hardened veteran as well, she probably would have no interest in a boring little toy like a snow globe.
She watches as Bian Jin slowly wakes up, blinking her eyes like a newborn fawn Willing to bet dark web levels of money that this is the first time anyone has ever compared Bian Jin to a newborn fawn.
As Bian Jin is washing her face, she notices the cut across her palm. She frowns at it briefly, her thoughts wandering Does Bian Jin... maybe not remember how this happened? Or am I reading too much into it.
This was also why Li Ruoyuan commissioned the Great Wheel of Fire I still think something is UP with this Eye of Sauron thing.
Shen Ni used to stare at it, lost in thought — perhaps of her parents, who had disappeared Hmmmmm.
Bian Jin is about to call out to her when she sees another young woman rush up to Shen Ni and embrace her happily Ah yes. Classic romantic misunderstanding.
oh I love what we’re doing with Zeng ‘I must be strong enough to protect people in the face of whatever comes and if that means risking overloading my capacity then so be it’, ‘I will give my life and loyalty to the one person on whom I have pinned all my hopes’ Qingluo here. Also damn, what a backstory. Anyway I love her.
I’m SO curious what’s going on with Bian Jin, because this chapter reads almost like she doesn’t remember what she did and thought that night, when she’s back to pining over (and inventing girlfriends out of whole cloth for) Shen Ni
Honestly for two clearly intelligent and capable people, these two are so very stupid (affectionate) sometimes.
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baihe_media2024-06-23 09:25 pm
Chapter 14
As Bian Jin is washing her face, she notices the cut across her palm. She frowns at it briefly, her thoughts wandering, then goes and asks Auntie Wan for the first aid kit. Shen Ni, meanwhile, is checking on updates from the court as well as household logs. The logs indicate that there was an unidentified intruder last night. Shen Ni inspects the courtyard, but finds nothing. As they sit together at the breakfast table, Shen Ni asks about the cut on Bian Jin's palm. Bian Jin replies that she cut herself accidentally, and it's nothing major. Shen Ni doesn't ask any follow-up questions.
Shen Ni's digital watch keeps beeping with messages from her various group chats. Her colleagues and acquaintances are excited about the Shangyuan festivities that are taking place the following night. That was the merriest festival in TangPro before the invasion of the Black Box virus, and now that the virus has been temporarily destroyed, the people are keen to celebrate. This was also why Li Ruoyuan commissioned the Great Wheel of Fire.
Bian Jin mentions that she received the governmental invitation to attend the Shangyuan festivities. Shen Ni asks if she wants to go.. Bian Jin thinks to herself that Shen Ni probably wants them to go together in order to keep up appearances, as they did when the rensheng incident. She says yes, much to Shen Ni's surprise. Bian Jin even asks if Shen Ni is planning on doing the lantern riddles, and adds that she'll start preparing if that's what Shen Ni wants to do. Shen Ni reflects on how Bian Jin is the kind of person who wants to do everything she sets her hand to properly, even a leisure activity like guessing lantern riddles.
Shen Ni had been originally planning to spend the Shangyuan festival working the late shift at Firewall Construction HQ, so that her subordinates could all go out and participate in the festivities, but now she decides to see if there's anyone who can swap shifts with her. If not, she plans on writing a monitoring subroutine. Shen Ni then tells Bian Jin that she needs to go to Firewall Construction HQ early the next day, and that Bian Jin should wait at home for her. After she returns home, they'll go to the festival together. Bian Jin says yes, and Shen Ni finds herself thinking what a good girl Bian Jin is, even though she knows it's not the case.
The next day, Shen Ni leaves for Firewall Construction HQ, and Bian Jin remains at home, waiting — something she's not good at. A full four hours before Shen Ni is due back, Bian Jin opens their closet to choose an outfit for tonight. Most of the clothes are from the set that Shen Ni gave her on the occasion of their wedding. They're all brightly-coloured, and the height of fashion. Bian Jin remembers telling Auntie Wan that these clothes don't suit her, and Auntie Wan replying that Shen Ni thought they suited Bian Jin very well. Bian Jin hesitates by the closet, her eyes lingering on the clothes Shen Ni gave her.
Shen Ni reaches Firewall Construction HQ to find Zeng Qingluo sorting through a large stack of accounts and invoices left by the previous administrator, which are a mess. As she stands up, she suddenly loses control of her left leg, a prosthetic, and Shen Ni has to catch her. Shen Ni scans the leg, and discovers that it's an A-tier prosthetic, which exceeds the capacity of Zeng Qingluo's B-tier jade core. Zeng Qingluo is risking overload, which in turn could lead to madness.
We're given a bit more lore about how the people of this world, greedy for power, started using more and more powerful prosthetics. This led to madness, death, and war. Legend has it that the Black Box virus was birthed in the filthiest corners of these battlefields. The jade cores gave humans a way to achieve greater control over their prosthetics, but there are still limitations. Using a lower-tier jade core with a higher-tier prosthetic can still lead to overload and madness, and the tier of jade core which each individual is able to use depends on their own natural-born abilities.
Zeng Qingluo tells Shen Ni she's aware of the risks, but she wants to be more powerful in case the Black Box virus returns. We learn that Zeng Qingluo's original left leg was cut off by her own mother, who was infected by the Black Box virus. Under the influence of the virus, she maimed her own daughter, then committed suicide. That's why Zeng Qingluo has devoted her whole life to Shen Ni's crusade against the virus.
Shen Ni promises to craft a new leg for Zeng Qingluo, who is deeply appreciative. She promises that she'll visit Bian Jin and Shen Ni at their home as soon as possible. Just then, both their watches buzz with a message from Diwu Que, an old comrade who has just arrived in Chang'an on a mission. We're told that Zeng Qingluo's right hand was chopped off during a battle, and it was Diwu Que who retrieved four of her fingers from where they'd been buried and Shen Ni who sewed them back on.
Shen Ni mentions that she has plans that night. Zeng Qingluo immediately guesses what's going on, and tells Shen Ni that she's happy to take Shen Ni's shift for the night — after she has dinner with Diwu Que — so that Shen Ni can spend time with Bian Jin.
Bian Jin, meanwhile, is leaving the antiques market, holding a snow globe with one gloved hand. It's a present for Shen Ni, to thank her for having looked after Bian Jin all this while. Bian Jin remembers how she'd given Shen Ni a snow globe when Shen Ni was little, and how Shen Ni used to stare at it, lost in thought — perhaps of her parents, who had disappeared. Snow globes are no longer widely available, which is why Bian Jin had to hunt for one at the antiques market.
Bian Jin decides that, instead of waiting for Shen Ni at home, she should just head to Firewall Construction HQ to meet Shen Ni there, and they can go to see the Great Wheel of Fire from there. She arrives to see Shen Ni by the entrance, back turned, wearing the cloak that matches Bian Jin's. Bian Jin is about to call out to her when she sees another young woman rush up to Shen Ni and embrace her happily.
Bian Jin reflects that it was a good thing she hadn't called out, after all. She decides that Shen Ni had never planned to attend the Shangyuan festivities with her, and had only said yes in order not to make things difficult. Bian Jin feels guilty at the thought that she'd asked Shen Ni to keep her — her wife in name only — company during Shangyuan, while neglecting her actual girlfriend. She wonders whether or not to go up to the couple and tell Shen Ni to spend the evening with her girlfriend instead, then decides it would make things worse. She tucks the snow globe away and leaves. She thinks that now Shen Ni is grown up, and a battle-hardened veteran as well, she probably would have no interest in a boring little toy like a snow globe.
Tech watch: Snow globe
Named men: 5.5
Reverse Bechdel passes: 0
Re: Chapter 14
Willing to bet dark web levels of money that this is the first time anyone has ever compared Bian Jin to a newborn fawn.
As Bian Jin is washing her face, she notices the cut across her palm. She frowns at it briefly, her thoughts wandering
Does Bian Jin... maybe not remember how this happened? Or am I reading too much into it.
This was also why Li Ruoyuan commissioned the Great Wheel of Fire
I still think something is UP with this Eye of Sauron thing.
Shen Ni used to stare at it, lost in thought — perhaps of her parents, who had disappeared
Hmmmmm.
Bian Jin is about to call out to her when she sees another young woman rush up to Shen Ni and embrace her happily
Ah yes. Classic romantic misunderstanding.
Re: Chapter 14
And, I love snow globes so so much. Very drawn to them for some reason.
Poor Zeng Qingluo ... losing an appendage here and there. :(
Re: Chapter 14
Also damn, what a backstory.
Anyway I love her.
I’m SO curious what’s going on with Bian Jin, because this chapter reads almost like she doesn’t remember what she did and thought that night, when she’s back to pining over (and inventing girlfriends out of whole cloth for) Shen Ni
Honestly for two clearly intelligent and capable people, these two are so very stupid (affectionate) sometimes.