Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gongyu Hao waved his hand. “It will take me a few days to return from the mountain. I am concerned about leaving the rest at home. Yan Lingsu, please stay home and care for your mother and sisters. Grandfather taught me how to identify medicinal herbs in the past. If I come across any medicinal herbs, I will bring them back.”
It was a pity that Yan Qixun could not access her pocket dimension. Many medicinal herbs were growing in her pocket dimension— Ginseng, Panax Notoginseng, Ganoderma Lucidum, Astragalus, and Cordyceps were in her pocket dimension.
She had personally planted these herbs in her previous life. Although they were not ancient herbs, they still possessed some spiritual energy. It was much better than common medicinal herbs in the current era. Besides, they could sell these herbs for a decent amount of silver.
The family practiced breathing techniques for a while and then rested for the remainder of the day. They then woke up in the morning, feeling refreshed. Although it was their first time, it was very effective. After brushing their teeth and washing their faces, Yan Lingsu taught her mother and siblings some martial arts.
However, visual learning was different from physical learning. After practicing for more than an hour in the morning, they had only learned a few moves. On the other hand, Gongyu Hao did not need to practice martial arts. Instead, he went to make breakfast.
Last night, he had tasted the tofu soup made by Yan Lingsu, and he thought it was delicious. As an immortal, he did not believe that men belonged in the kitchen. However, he was proud of his sister for making such a tasty soup.
“Qixun, you know what good food tastes like. You should teach me how to cook so that when Lingsu is busy, I can help with the cooking.”
Yan Qixun gave him a thumbs up and said, “That’s great, Second Brother. In my past life, men were also good at cooking. If you were to get married in the future, your wife would live a happy life.
“Are you looking for a monkey wife? Hahaha!”
The thought of getting married never crossed Brother Monkey’s mind. Gongyu Hao rolled his eyes at her. “Impossible. I am never getting married. Not in this lifetime.”
Yan Qixun rolled her eyes. She then thought to herself. ‘I haven’t asked you about Fairy Goddess yet. Based on what I know, you even had a little kid.’
If her son did not want to marry, Gongyu Mingxi would lecture him. But wasn’t her son an immortal? Perhaps getting married would ruin his cultivation. Gongyu Mingxi felt that her son was too mature for her, so she let him decide for himself. As for her future sister-in-law that is yet to exist, Yan Qixun naturally didn’t have a reason to argue. She was only concerned about herself.
“If you aren’t interested in getting married, then so be it. I’m not getting married either.” Yan Qixun told her brother.
Was it because research and experiments weren’t exciting anymore, or was it because cultivation wasn’t fun anymore? Or was it because the mountains and rivers were no longer beautiful? Not to mention that women were not pleasant to be around these days. Getting married was like a slow death sentence. Although love was beautiful, she was not interested in marriage. In this current environment, there were no grounds for love.
Gongyu Hao was an immortal, so it was okay if he did not marry. After living for two lifetimes, Gongyu Mingxi did not feel that he was unfilial if he decided not to have children. After all, she had no children in her past life too. It was a pity that her father in this life had inherited this grandson for nothing. However, even her daughter wasn’t interested in getting married, so Gongyu Mingxi was in a dilemma. Her current situation just wasn’t favorable.
However, when someone had reached a certain age and still didn’t manage to get married, the government would intervene and force a marriage. Of course, a family could pay a fine every year to avoid a forced marriage. But the current world was unkind to people who refused to get married. In this era, the government and the public were very involved in people’s family lives. If there were an unmarried old lady in the family, the people would question that family. This would affect the reputation of the ladies of that family.
Yan Qixun had lived in this current life for more than eight years. Seeing her mother’s expression, she knew that her mother was conflicted about all this. She bumped her fists together, waved to her mother, and said, “Mother, there’s no need to worry. I will eventually move to a state where people wouldn’t gossip about me even if I don’t get married. When a capable person reaches a certain status, the world would not measure them by the standards of an ordinary person.”
Her words inspired Yan Lingsu and Yan Lingyu. The two little girls had suffered emotional trauma in their past lives, and it was still engraved in their hearts. They wouldn’t accept the fact that marriage was compulsory. They wondered if they could live an unmarried life and not be judged, just as Yan Qixun had just explained.
Gongyu Mingxi couldn’t help but worry when she saw the expressions on the two little girls’ faces. She was worried about this when she heard about her two daughters’ past lives. Her son and daughters did not want to get married, and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt extremely anxious. However, her son and daughters were unique, so anything she said wouldn’t have mattered.
Apart from the beautiful memories of leaning by the wall and smelling the sweet fragrance of flowers, Gongyu Mingxi had experienced two disappointing marriages in her past life. She yearned for the clear waters and the prosperous world Yan Qixun had in her past life.
A woman could be free and independent, just as Li Yian, the legendary poet of her era. If she had lived in the era where Yan Qixun was from, how unrestrained would she be? Who would dare question her as a woman? If anyone were to ask her, she would spit on their face. What bothered her the most was that the person who questioned her back then was a woman.
However, since her son and daughters did not want to marry, Gongyu Mingxi just sighed and put her thoughts aside. Her children and future grandchildren would have their own opinions and ideas. These children of hers were very independent and would not be easily influenced by others. Her worries were for naught. She decided to leave it to their father to deal with in the future.
The morning sun had risen, and they sat down for breakfast. Gongyu Hao filled a jar with tofu soup and sent it to the old master. He also packed two portions of tofu to be divided between their two granduncles. As for the bean remains, they were also brought along in a wooden bucket.
Yan Lingsu was supposed to check on her Grandfather Zuo’s health, so she went along with Gongyu Hao. Yan Qixun packed four tofu pieces and sent them to the Zuo family. After sending them off, she thought of cousin Yan Lingfeng. She picked up two more trays of tofu and made a trip to his house.
Out of the ten trays of tofu, six or seven trays were left in the water tank. The weather was cold, so it wouldn’t go bad even if it were, left there for a few days. As for the remaining trays, Yan Qixun had planned to wait for Yan Lingsu to return so that she could dry them up and turn them into snacks.
The remaining pieces were then cut into thin slices to be dried up in the sun. Then they could just soak them in some boiling water and add them into the pot whenever they were cooking.
Yan Lingsu and Brother Monkey carried the wooden bucket and trays to their granduncle’s house. Aunt Guo saw that the two siblings were bringing something over. She then said, “Your great-grandfather has eaten the food that your family had previously sent over. It was delicious, and he was delighted with it. I didn’t expect that you would bring him more food today. The old man is going to love this.”
If it were anything else, they would have respectfully declined. But keeping the old man fed was the children’s duty, so it wasn’t necessary to refuse. The old man had not been feeling very well these past few days. But his children and grandchildren were dutiful, so he was happy. He would feel better if he was in good spirits. The Guo family was grateful and could only accept their offerings.
Yan Lingsu smiled and said, “Great-grandfather, eat your fill. We can always make more. These were made with the soybeans that you gave us, Aunty. It didn’t take much effort. Qixun had some free time, so she read the old book that my grandfather had left behind and saw a tofu recipe. She was hungry and thought that she would try to make it. Not only did she make tofu, but she also made some soup. The taste isn’t bad. Great-grandfather would like it.”
“This is a big jar, so Great-grandfather won’t be able to finish it all in one meal. There’s enough for you too. If you like it, I can give you the recipe so that you can make it for yourself in the future.” Aunty Guo was surprised..