Chapter 56: Enhancing Proficiency in Psychokinesis

After dinner, Tang’s father was ready to send everyone back to their rooms. At home, the routine was that Tang’s mother cooked, Tang’s father washed the dishes, and Lalu Lasi and Tang Yi were responsible for eating. Especially now, with the college entrance exam approaching, the couple, like millions of other concerned parents, wished they could handle every possible task for Tang Yi, so he could focus solely on his studies.

But tonight, Tang Yi didn’t move. Smiling, he said to his father, “Dad, let Lalu Lasi and me do the dishes tonight. I’m already grown up. I should do what I can around the house.”

His mother replied, “That’s enough. You should go and study.”

Tang Yi was prepared with his counterargument. “Mom, it won’t waste any time. I’m actually a bit too full after dinner, and I can’t focus on my books yet. This way I can digest a little.”

When it came to arguing, even his parents together couldn’t compete with Tang Yi, and sure enough, he convinced them quickly.

Lalu Lasi shot a resentful glance at her troublesome trainer. Hmph, why wasn't he ever this filial before?

Naturally, the task of washing the dishes fell to the young girl. Lalu Lasi extended her hands and released two streams of psychic power—one to keep the dishes suspended at a certain height, the other to guide the dishcloth, wiping back and forth.

What seemed a simple task became, as the two had agreed, ten times more difficult when done with psychic control. Lalu Lasi had to make sure the psychic force holding the dishes wasn’t too weak, or they might fall and break, but not too strong with the dishcloth, so it could gently clean every part.

Although Lalu Lasi had shown impressive psychic skills in the first round of the selection competition, this was something else entirely. Simply moving an opponent off the field was a rough and forceful use of psychic power, but washing dishes required the finesse of delicate needlework, demanding much greater effort.

She had already broken a dish at the table earlier, and even though Tang’s parents hadn’t scolded her at all, she was especially careful now. She couldn’t bear to break a whole stack—after all, it was her own money at stake!

With this on her mind, Lalu Lasi was more serious and focused than she’d been even during the earlier match. Her ruby-red eyes didn’t dare blink, afraid any distraction would affect her psychic control.

She’d brushed her green bangs completely back, a style that didn’t suit her at all, just to keep her hair from blocking her view.

And the greatest motivation behind all of this was that bank card.

Though everything was unfolding according to Tang Yi’s plans, seeing Lalu Lasi so intensely dedicated made him wonder if, in her heart, money had already surpassed her kind, lovable, and gentle trainer.

Surely it hadn’t gone that far, had it?

Tang Yi tried to reassure himself as he watched sweat bead on Lalu Lasi’s smooth, pale forehead. And this was after only one dish; clearly, such meticulous psychic control was far more draining than he’d imagined.

Feeling sorry for her, and knowing her hands were full, Tang Yi pulled out a tissue, planning to wipe her brow. But as soon as his hand touched her forehead, Lalu Lasi snapped, without even looking up, “Don’t touch me! Move! If I drop it, it’ll come out of your pocket!”

Tang Yi sheepishly withdrew his hand.

I really am more important than money… right?

He was starting to lose confidence.

It was an hour later by the time all the dishes were clean. As if they'd completed a great undertaking, both let out a long sigh of relief.

Tang Yi had only watched from the side, but it wasn’t easy for him either. He’d kept a close eye on the dishes, and more than once, when Lalu Lasi misjudged her psychic force and a dish nearly slipped, he’d caught it in the nick of time.

He’d said Lalu Lasi should bear any losses herself, but he still felt sorry for her. He couldn’t really let her lose her newly-earned, barely-warmed money all at once.

Lalu Lasi was left panting, her whole body glistening with sweat—she looked more exhausted than after a match.

Since Tang Yi had quietly helped with the dishes near the end, Lalu Lasi wasn’t angry anymore, but she did suggest, “Why don’t we buy some iron bowls? Then we won’t have to worry about breaking them, and I won’t have to work so hard. I can already tell that from now on, dishwashing will always fall to me.”

“No way. Iron bowls don’t break,” Tang Yi refused flatly.

“Hmph! You’re just thinking about my money!” Lalu Lasi pouted, starting to get angry again.

Tang Yi shook his head with a wry smile. If there was no risk of breaking dishes, what would be the point of training her psychic control?

Still a bit disgruntled, Lalu Lasi wanted to retreat to her little bedroom to rest. But Tang Yi saw right through her and called her back. “It’s still early. Come to my room.”

Lalu Lasi crossed her arms nervously. “What do you want with me?”

Tang Yi’s mouth twitched. “Writing a summary report! What else could I want? From now on, you need to develop the good habit of writing a summary every day.”

Inside the room, Tang Yi opened a new document on the computer for her, then took out a pen and demonstrated, tapping the pen tip on each key of the keyboard.

The meaning was clear: Lalu Lasi should use her psychic power to control the pen and tap out her summary report on the keyboard.

“The summary must be at least five hundred words,” Tang Yi said. He’d originally thought of requiring eight hundred, but since it was the first day, he’d keep it reasonable.

“But what should I write?”

“Just write your thoughts on using psychic power just now—what you didn’t pay attention to, what was difficult, anything you think could be improved. Whatever comes to mind, write it down.”

Tang Yi knew the summary was important. If you only practiced and didn’t reflect, it would be forgotten by the next day, so he was quite serious.

Lalu Lasi pursed her lips, too exasperated to argue. She suspected that in a past life, Tang Yi must have been a Gengar spirit, a ghost come back for mischief.

After a short rest and gathering her thoughts, Lalu Lasi did as Tang Yi instructed. She split her psychic power, picked up the pen, and began tapping at the keyboard.

Compared to washing dishes, tapping the keyboard was much easier, though the speed was inevitably slow.

Five hundred words—how long would that take?

Lalu Lasi gazed at her slender fingers and had a bright idea: if she could control more than one pen at once, she could type so much faster.

How clever I am!