“Yours?”
Nan Shan was surprised.
“To be precise, I copied it,” Uncle Zhong looked at the book, seemingly lost in memories.
“Other children have books to read, so my child couldn’t be illiterate either. I borrowed some books and copied them word by word. Then, I taught him word by word. He was very smart and learned quickly. He was the best, most well-behaved child in Eastern Yi.”
“The child you’re talking about is…?”
Nan Shan asked cautiously.
Uncle Zhong snapped out of his reverie, and his cloudy eyes suddenly filled with tears:
“That was my child… that was my child…”
He suddenly collapsed, clutching the book, and began crying heart-wrenchingly.
Nan Shan, feeling heartbroken, was about to say something comforting when the half-open door was suddenly kicked open with a loud bang.
Instinctively, she looked up and saw Shouxin storming in.
“You’ve been messing with my kitchen?”
He demanded, glaring at the elderly man on the floor.
The old man looked up in confusion, and upon seeing Shouxin, his eyes revealed real pain.
Shouxin, however, was enraged by his gaze.
He pulled out a bell and was about to strike, but Nan Shan immediately used spiritual power to restrain his wrist:
“Shouxin, are you crazy? Even if that thing isn’t useful, it can still kill someone!”
“Why did you mess with my kitchen?”
Shouxin gasped, the bell in his hand vibrating violently, as if he wanted to end it all with the old man.
The old man remained silent, clutching the book as if it were a precious child.
“Are you going to cook? For whom? For Nan Shan? Or for the Xian Jun?”
Shouxin kept pressing, the bell’s spiritual power surrounding him, making his clothes shake violently.
Seeing the bell about to crack, Nan Shan was alarmed and quickly said, “It was me! I asked him to cook!”
With just that one sentence, Shouxin’s pupils turned blood red, like the sun hanging above.
But it was only for a moment.
He quickly returned to normal, staring at Nan Shan as if betrayed:
“You asked him to do it?”
Nan Shan, stung by his gaze, withdrew the spiritual power controlling him and said, “I did it because…”
“Let him cook for you, and you’re not afraid of eternal damnation?”
Shouxin said coldly, then turned to leave.
Nan Shan, not caring about the still-stricken old man, quickly followed.
As he was about to close the door, she darted inside.
“Get out! I never want to be friends with you again!”
Shouxin’s voice was frigid.
Nan Shan helplessly said, “Can you at least let me finish what I’m saying?”
“Get out!”
Shouxin’s expression was cold, like a disillusioned adult.
Nan Shan paused but still insisted, “I’m not leaving.”
Shouxin turned and walked away, but after two steps, Nan Shan used spiritual power to pull him back.
“I haven’t explained everything. You’re not leaving,” Nan Shan sat at the table, acting shameless.
Shouxin: “…”
“I wasn’t planning to eat the food he made.”
Nan Shan immediately got to the point.
Shouxin’s eyes flickered, but he didn’t say anything.
She had never been taught how to handle such matters.
When she realized her feelings for Ji Yue, her first reaction was to hide them.
But some things can’t be hidden, especially after she realized that Ji Yue also treated her differently.
In the end, she had no choice but to follow her heart and relentlessly pursue him.
Would I scare Ji Yue?
Nan Shan finally started to worry, but Shou Xin, who didn’t know what she was upset about, just gave her a knife after seeing her sigh:
“You’re cooking today.”
“Why?”
Nan Shan was displeased.
Shou Xin said, “I usually do the cooking, what’s wrong with you doing it once?”
“I always do the cooking, why do I have to do it now!”
Nan Shan said defiantly, with no guilt about enslaving a seven-year-old.
Shou Xin sneered, “You think I want you to cook? If you dare, I wouldn’t dare eat it, what if you poison me? I’m just giving you something to do so you stop overthinking.”
Overthinking?
Yes, she was indeed overthinking, and the root of it was that she had too much idle time.
When people are idle, they tend to think a lot of useless thoughts.
The more Nan Shan thought about it, the more it made sense, so she decisively took the knife.
Shou Xin had just said it casually, but didn’t expect her to actually cook, so he happily went to the front courtyard to slack off.
Nan Shan entered the kitchen and immediately started to feel troubled.
Though she came from a poor family, her parents spoiled her so much that she had hardly ever cooked.
Moreover, because Shou Xin, this little adult, took care of everything every day, it had been a long time since she had seen raw vegetables and meat.
Standing in the kitchen now, she suddenly didn’t know where to start.
Just as she was struggling, a sound came from the side room not far from the kitchen.
Nan Shan looked up and saw Uncle Zhong shakily walking out.
Although they lived in the same courtyard, for some reason, they rarely met.
The last time they saw each other was at dawn, and now the day was almost over, with the blood sun overtaken by dark spots.
Their eyes met, and Nan Shan waved politely, “Uncle Zhong.”
“Madam Xian Jun?”
Uncle Zhong was surprised as he walked over, “Why are you cooking yourself?”
As he got closer, Nan Shan could clearly see his face and was taken aback, “Uncle Zhong, you’ve gotten younger.”
Uncle Zhong chuckled, “Madam Xian Jun, you really know how to joke. I’m old, how could I be younger?”
Nan Shan smiled but didn’t respond.
He really had gotten younger, it wasn’t just her imagination.
After experiencing several shifts of day and night in Dongyi, Nan Shan had noticed some patterns.
For example, Ji Yue was in his best state at dawn, but as the dark spots started to invade the blood sun, his condition gradually deteriorated.
This change wasn’t obvious most of the time, but after dusk, when the light faded, he would become emaciated and weak, barely able to stand against the wind.
But Uncle Zhong was different. In the morning, he was frail and old, but as the day went on, he seemed to get better, and by the afternoon, the wrinkles on his face seemed to have decreased. Of course, since he was already old in the morning, fewer wrinkles didn’t make him look much younger, but his vitality and the slight straightening of his back were unmistakable.
“Madam?”
Uncle Zhong called again.
Nan Shan snapped out of her thoughts.
“Hmm?”
“If you don’t mind, would you let this old servant cook for you?”
Uncle Zhong asked carefully.
Nan Shan thought for a moment but refused, “I’ll do it myself. You know Shou Xin’s temperament. If he finds out, he’ll be furious.”
Uncle Zhong smiled bitterly, “I see.”
His disappointment was obvious, and just as Nan Shan was about to comfort him, she suddenly noticed his door was ajar.
Cultivators have keen senses, but Nan Shan, who had lived as a mortal for so long, still relied on her old senses.
However, when she concentrated, she could see clearly at a distance.
Focusing her energy, her gaze easily passed through the open door and landed on a worn tea table inside, where she saw several books.
She immediately recognized them; they were similar to the ones used when she was first learning to read.
After being rejected by Nan Shan, Uncle Zhong shakily turned to leave, but she suddenly called out to him.
“Uncle Zhong!”
He stopped, leaning on the kitchen doorframe.
“Madam Xian Jun, is there anything else?”
“I changed my mind,” Nan Shan said awkwardly, “I really don’t know how to handle these vegetables. Could you help me after all?”
“Really?”
Uncle Zhong’s eyes lit up.
Nan Shan nodded and stepped aside.
Uncle Zhong, moved to tears, quickly washed his hands and started preparing the vegetables.
Nan Shan silently backed up to the door and, seeing that his full attention was on the chopping board, quietly slipped into his room.
This was the first time she had entered his room.
The room, always kept shut, had a faint smell of an elderly person.
The furniture was much simpler compared to hers and Shou Xin’s rooms, but it had everything one might need.
Nan Shan walked straight to the desk and flipped through the books.
Sure enough, they were the ones she had used to learn to read, with smudges of ink left by her playful moments with Shou Xin.
“Madam Xian Jun?”
A frail voice suddenly called out.
Nan Shan startled and looked up, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest.
She hadn’t noticed him at all!
He was just an ordinary mortal, so old that his walk was unsteady, yet she hadn’t noticed his presence until now.
“What are you looking at?”
Uncle Zhong stood in the shadow, his face hidden, making it hard for her to see.
Nan Shan put the book down quietly and smiled, “When you were cooking, I was bored and decided to take a stroll. I saw your door open and came in, only to find my books.”
She then asked, “Uncle Zhong, why do I find my books in your room?”
Uncle Zhong slowly walked into the room, and Nan Shan tensed up, preparing to use her spiritual power.
But Uncle Zhong did nothing. He just walked to the desk and picked up a book, examining it closely.
After a long while, he smiled and said, “I wrote these books.”
“You wrote them?”
Nan Shan was surprised.
“More accurately, I copied them,” Uncle Zhong said as he looked at the book, seemingly lost in thought.
“Other people’s children all have books to read. Our children can’t be illiterate, so I borrowed books and copied them, one word at a time, then taught him. He was very clever and learned quickly. He was the best and most obedient child in Dongyi.”
“The child you speak of is…?”
Nan Shan asked cautiously.
Uncle Zhong snapped out of his memories and suddenly burst into tears, “That was my child… that was my child…”
He broke down, clutching the book to his chest, crying inconsolably.
Nan Shan felt a pang of sympathy, just as she was about to comfort him.
The half-open door suddenly slammed open, and Shou Xin stormed in angrily.
“You’ve been in my kitchen?”
He demanded, glaring at the old man.
Uncle Zhong looked up in confusion, but his eyes revealed real pain when he saw Shou Xin.
Shou Xin, enraged by the look, pulled out a bell from his pocket, ready to strike.
Nan Shan immediately used her spiritual power to hold his wrist, “Shou Xin, are you crazy? Even if it’s useless, that thing could still kill someone!”
“Why are you in my kitchen?”
Shou Xin’s breath was rapid, the bell in his hand vibrating with power, as if he wanted to take the old man down with him.
Uncle Zhong remained silent, just holding the book tightly, as if clutching the child he treasured most.
“You want to cook? For whom? For Nan Shan, or for me? Or for the Xian Jun?”
Shou Xin continued, pressing on, as the power from the bell enveloped the old man, causing his clothes to rustle with the intensity.
Just as the bell seemed ready to break, Nan Shan quickly intervened, “It was me! I asked him to cook!”
The moment she spoke, Shou Xin’s pupils turned blood red, like the sun forever hanging above them.
But it only lasted a moment.
He returned to normal, looking at Nan Shan with an expression of betrayal, “You asked him to cook?”
The pain in his eyes struck Nan Shan, and she finally released her hold on him.
“I just wanted to…”
“To have him cook for you? Aren’t you afraid of eternal damnation?”
Shou Xin’s voice was cold as he turned to leave.
Nan Shan couldn’t care about Uncle Zhong, who was still suffering, and hurried after him.
Just as he was about to shut the door behind him, she swiftly slipped inside.
“Leave! I never want to be your friend again!”
Shou Xin’s voice was cold.
Nan Shan sighed, “Can you at least listen to what I have to say?”
“Leave!”
Shou Xin’s gaze was filled with disdain, like a world-weary adult.
Nan Shan froze for a moment but stood her ground, “I’m not leaving.”
Shou Xin turned to leave, but after taking two steps, Nan Shan used her spiritual power to pull him back.
“I haven’t finished explaining. You’re not going anywhere,” Nan Shan said firmly, sitting at the table like a stubborn child.
“I didn’t intend to eat his food,” Nan Shan went straight to the point.
Shou Xin’s eyes flickered, wanting to say something but holding back.