My wife is a witch princess

Chapter 33 Xia Li has some doubts

There are three advantages to not going to school to study.

First, it makes it easier to do some part-time work and supplement one's meager wallet.

Second, it makes it easier to take care of Xia Li, this young child.

Third, it makes it convenient to sleep and be lazy—of course, Song Che would never admit to the last point.

He pushed a copy of "Five Thousand Years of Chinese History" in front of Xia Li, saying, "Read this book today, and write down any questions you have."

After saying that, he sat down next to Jiang Shuo and poked the head buried in his arms with the pen: "Don't sleep. It's better to go home and sleep than to sleep in the library."

Jiang Shuo weakly raised his face, "Good suggestion... but Mother doesn't agree. If she had nodded, I would have run away long ago."

"Come on, do me a favor." Song Che put away the Chinese book and took out another book.

"What kind of help?"

"Please explain this to me, it's a first-year high school math problem."

"...Huh?" Jiang Shuo blinked, thinking he had misheard.

……

Jiang Shuo was full of doubts, but he didn't ask any more questions. He talked to Song Che for a whole morning, until he was foaming at the mouth and almost died suddenly. If it weren't for the fact that the person in front of him was Song Che himself, Jiang Shuo would have thought that he owed him in his past life and had come to take his life.

What Song Che liked most about Jiang Shuo was his "sense of distance." Even if he knew something was wrong, he would never ask too many questions and would go along with it to smooth things over.

When school was over at noon, Song Che returned the key to Jiang Shuo and took Xia Li home through the snow.

He planned to discuss studying at home with his parents today, and also subtly hint at Xia Li's intention to stay at his place.

His parents have always respected his choices, but at this crucial juncture of his senior year of high school, the sudden appearance of a female friend who wanted to apply to study at home made Song Che uneasy.

This can't be rushed; we need to lay the groundwork slowly. Let's get back to studying at home first.

On the way back, Song Che bought some instant noodles and hand-pulled noodles at the supermarket. "I'll cook noodles for you for lunch. Now that you've learned how, you can make noodles for me next time."

"Okay, I'll learn it."

Xia Li, with her hands in her pockets, suddenly stopped and lowered her voice, "Why are people staring at us? Have they discovered my identity? Silver hair really is too conspicuous..."

"Xia Li, you need to know something, it's very simple..." Song Che stopped beside her, "Silver hair isn't a disaster or an omen of misfortune. Look at their expressions, aren't they... not exactly malicious?"

"Yes. But there were a few people whose gaze lingered for too long."

"Then go back and watch it. Usually, they'll feel embarrassed first."

Xia Li raised her blue eyes and calmly met their gazes. The others were taken aback at first, then blushed and hurriedly looked away. But after a few seconds, they couldn't help but steal a glance again, and when they found Xia Li was still watching, they quickly ran away like startled rabbits.

Xia Li asked, puzzled, "Why are you blushing? I've already tried my best to tone down my aura."

"Even a frivolous person will blush," Song Che said seriously. "Even a frivolous person will blush."

"Improper people..." Xia Li glanced at Song Che's face, doubting whether his statement was accurate. She thought that people who read small books were the most improper, but she was an exception, because she saw it by accident... Accidental sightings don't count.

Xia Li had no idea that Song Che was so calm now, simply because he was used to seeing her. The first time he saw Xia Li, her face turned as red as a peach. At that moment, the witch's glance made four words appear in Song Che's mind: "ethereal fairy." Of course, this impression collapsed in just one month, turning into "big ball of faith," "gluttonous witch," and "debt-ridden witch."

Xia Li couldn't find a flaw in his expression, so she instead brought up the confusion that had been building up over the past few days. Based on her observations and reading, the world wasn't as peaceful as it seemed. Combining five thousand years of history with the retreating dwarves, Xia Li raised a question:

"Was that Great Wall, stretching for thousands of miles... built to prevent giants from invading?"

Song Che slipped and almost stumbled on the snow.

You mean to say that you, a witch, are going to shout "Tata Kai" next?

Even if Song Che couldn't remember clearly, he wouldn't confuse giants with history.

"...Is that how it's written in the book?" His tone was somewhat strained.

"Based on the retreat of the dwarves and the construction of the Great Wall, I deduced this conclusion."

That scared me to death! I thought official history had become even more unofficial than unofficial history.

"‘The Retreating Dwarfs’ is a work of fantasy literature, a work of fiction. The Great Wall is real, originally built to defend against northern nomadic tribes… but you can’t mix fiction and historical fact to draw conclusions." Song Che himself wasn’t entirely sure of the exact words. “Creativity is a human trait, but there’s a clear boundary between a work of art and reality. It might be a bit too early for you to be involved in these things now.”

"...Oh." Xia Li's tone revealed a hint of disappointment. Since the giant was fake, the traveling magician was most likely also fictional. Song Che had already said that only science existed here, only things that didn't follow the laws of magic. Even as she asked these questions, a sliver of hope remained in her heart.

She loved and studied magic, initially driven by a belief in protecting something.

If a witch loses her magic and cannot defend her beliefs, can she still be considered a witch?

Before they knew it, the two had arrived at the iron gate. Song Che opened the creaking iron gate and stepped aside to let Xia Li go in first.

"The history I showed you this morning is the actual trajectory of this world, but it's mainly limited to the last five thousand years. The ancient times before that are still shrouded in mystery for humankind."

As Xia Li entered the residential area, Song Che followed her in, closing the door behind him. A small path had been trampled into the snowy alleyway, making the ground slightly slippery. Song Che tugged at her sleeve, signaling her to slow down.

"So you should understand now, there is no such thing as 'magic' here as you think. To us, it's more like... a bunch of superstitious legends. Therefore, everything you mention about magic will be considered 'strange talk'."

Xia Li nodded, indicating her understanding: "Then, can I assume that they haven't discovered the existence of magic yet?"

"That's not entirely wrong. But that's the reality of this world." Song Che looked at her. "Have you sensed any 'magic' yourself?"

"Currently, no."

"Without magic, there's no way to talk about magic. You have to accept that if you live here," Song Che patiently explained. "Losing magic will change your lifestyle and perception because 'science' takes on part of the function of explaining and transforming the world. Take 'deep diving' and 'flying' for example. Can you imagine humans leaving the earth and going deep into the ocean at a depth of 10,000 meters, or breaking free from the shackles of gravity and flying towards the stars? We can't do it ourselves, but some people have indeed done it with the help of science."

Xia Li nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly asked, "Then why can't we see stars during the day?"

"Um... I think it was because the sun was too bright?" Song Che stomped his feet at the top of the stairs, shaking the snow off his trousers. "I can't remember. I'll check on my phone when I get upstairs."

Xia Li followed his example, lightly touching her toes to shake off the snowflakes from the edge of her boots, and went upstairs with him.

Her mind was filled with doubts. The things in this world were too new to her. Xia Li didn't know where to start asking questions. Sometimes, asking one question would lead to more questions, causing her to forget other things.

Bruce peeked out from under the door, felt the cold outside, and then sheepishly shrank back in, curling up into a ball on the small sofa.

Song Che picked up his phone from the table, typed in the question, and clicked search. Xia Li, observing from the side, thought the small cube resembled her magic mirror.

She wanted one too.