Death was a difficult thing for children to understand.
Seven-year-old Fu Min perhaps understood a little, but the other three were still too young to grasp it.
Fu Xiangdong had never met his father since the day he was born. Everything he knew about his father existed only in his imagination.
But seeing how his sisters reacted, he vaguely sensed something.
Fu Xinyang pattered over to her mother, clutching a White Rabbit candy in one hand while tugging at Ye Qingyun’s sleeve with the other.
“Mom, when is Dad coming?”
Fu Xinyu walked over calmly, gently pulled her younger sister aside, and answered seriously,
“Dad is dead. Dad isn’t coming.”
Ye Qingyun was taken aback.
Second Daughter was usually so quiet that she had thought the girl might be somewhat withdrawn.
She hadn’t expected her to say something like that.
Was it because she simply didn’t understand what death meant?
Fu Xinyang froze at her sister’s words.
She still couldn’t quite understand and asked sadly,
“Why isn’t he coming?”
While wiping the sticky rice paper from her sister’s chin, Fu Xinyu answered through her milk candy,
“Dead people can’t move. Dad is very far away. He can’t walk back.”
Fu Xinyang couldn’t accept that answer.
How could Dad not walk back?
She still wanted him to lift her high into the air.
“Th-Then… let’s go find Dad.”
She looked at her mother.
“Mom, let’s go find Dad.”
Ye Qingyun gently stroked her daughter’s hair.
“All right. We’ll go when you’ve all grown up.”
Fu Xinyu rolled her eyes.
She’s fooling a little kid.
But her younger sister believed every word.
Fu Xinyang nodded vigorously.
“Mm! I’ll eat lots and lots, grow up really fast, and then I’ll bring Dad home.”
Leaning against her mother’s shoulder, Fu Min suddenly felt a little sad.
“Mom… are we going to live here forever?”
Ye Qingyun thought for a moment before nodding.
“If nothing unexpected happens, then yes.”
“Will we never see Grandpa, Grandma, Grandma, or Uncle again?”
Fu Min asked.
It had been so long since she’d seen the people she used to know.
Even her grandmother and uncle, who hadn’t treated her well, were beginning to feel distant enough that she missed them a little.
Ye Qingyun spoke softly.
“If you want to go back and visit them someday, we can find some free time and make the trip.”
“Really?”
Seeing her mother nod, the little girl’s gloomy mood brightened instantly.
“All right, the water’s hot. Time for baths and then bed!”
Wang Tiezhu stood up, intending to leave.
Ye Qingyun promptly deposited the sticky-handed Fu Xiangdong in front of him.
“You’re in charge of this one. Let’s finish quickly so we can get these little rascals to bed and finally get some rest ourselves.”
Wang Tiezhu wanted to refuse.
One threatening look from Ye Qingyun, however, was enough to silence him.
Resigned, he nodded.
Come to think of it…
When was the last time he’d bathed a child?
Not thinking about it was one thing.
Thinking about it gave him a fright.
It had actually been three hundred years since he’d dealt with such troublesome little humans.
“Sigh… Come on, stinky brat. Grandpa will wash you.”
Grabbing Fu Xiangdong by the back of his collar, Wang Tiezhu carried him to the simple lean-to behind the house so the two males could bathe separately, leaving the room to the ladies.
Children became wildly excited the moment they saw water.
Fu Xiangdong shouted with delight as he jumped into the wooden tub full of hot water, splashing Wang Tiezhu with both hands.
Water sprayed all over the old man.
“…”
Suddenly…
He missed Second Disciple.
If she were here, she’d definitely have these little brats lined up neatly and behaving perfectly.
Then he remembered her personality…
Never mind.
The later she showed up, the better!
Ye Qingyun wasn’t having an easy time with the three girls either.
Fortunately, Fu Min could mostly wash herself.
Fu Xinyu was obedient.
Only little Fu Xinyang was especially mischievous.
Bathing all four children took a full hour.
Ye Qingyun was almost tempted to shave every one of them into little bald monks.
Afterward, she still had to wash all their dirty clothes and hang them out to dry.
By the time she finally finished, took a quick battle shower herself, and collapsed onto the bed, the entire village had long since fallen silent.
Before drifting off to sleep, Ye Qingyun prayed inwardly.
Heavens… please send this old lady someone to help as soon as possible!
Sadly…
When she opened her eyes the next morning, no miracle had occurred.
Stretching lazily, Ye Qingyun sprang up from the floor feeling completely refreshed and began preparing breakfast.
The meat was gone.
Breakfast would once again consist of sweet potatoes.
As for lunch…
She planned to borrow Sister-in-law Chunhua’s method for making boiled rice soup and create her own version using pickled vegetables.
She washed the rice and set it to cook first.
While waiting, she cleaned and finely chopped the wild vegetables she had gathered while collecting pig fodder.
She scooped out half a bowl of the pickled vegetables her sister-in-law had given her, rinsed them once, squeezed out the excess water, and set them aside.
The wood-fired stove cooked rice quickly.
Once it was done, she transferred the rice to a bowl and spread it out slightly to cool.
Taking out the wok, she lightly brushed the bottom with oil before stir-frying the pickled vegetables until fragrant.
She added an appropriate amount of water and brought it to a rolling boil.
Then she poured in the rice and chopped wild vegetables, added a little salt, and finished with two drops of soy sauce.
She let everything boil over high heat for another two minutes so the broth could fully soak into the rice before pulling out the firewood to extinguish the flames.
And thus…
A fresh bowl of pickled vegetable rice soup was born.
Staring at the thick porridge-like mixture in the clay basin, Wang Tiezhu found it hard to believe, even with his own eyes, that this was food for human beings.
“You’re sure you didn’t accidentally use Sister-in-law Chunhua’s pig feed recipe?”
The four children gasped.
“Pig food?!”
Ye Qingyun shot the old man a glare.
“Don’t listen to his nonsense. This is clearly my original creation—pickled vegetable rice soup.”
It was absolutely meant for people!
The old man and the four children all took a cautious spoonful.
The moment it entered their mouths, their eyes widened.
“It’s actually delicious!”
Fu Min exclaimed in surprise.
She immediately received a disapproving look from her mother.
Ye Qingyun tasted it herself.
It really was exceptionally good.
And she’d succeeded on the very first try.
Looks like she had quite the talent for cooking after all!
The pickled vegetable rice soup was a huge success.
The children unanimously requested it again for dinner.
Naturally, Ye Qingyun happily obliged.
Life in the countryside meant no electricity.
And naturally, no television.
After dinner, the villagers gathered together to chat and exchange gossip until darkness fell, when everyone simply went to bed.
Ye Qingyun led the four children through martial arts exercises in the courtyard.
Only after exhausting every bit of their energy could she be certain they’d sleep soundly until morning.
By the time the moon hung high overhead, snores already filled the house.
Ye Qingyun let out a long breath.
She poked each of the four children lying in a neat row on the bed, making sure every one of them was sound asleep.
Then she quietly shut the door and headed toward the foot of the mountain beneath the moonlight.
With experience came preparation.
This time, she had borrowed two large burlap sacks from her elder brother beforehand.
She had even rubbed cooling balm on herself to keep mosquitoes away.
Heaven knew how horrifying it had been the last time she emerged from Ghost Creek covered in mosquito bites.
Wang Tiezhu had changed into the synthetic shorts Liu Ahmei had helped make for him.
He was already waiting at their usual meeting place with the borrowed flashlight.
The master and disciple reunited.
Same arrangement as always.
One stood watch.
The other entered Ghost Creek.
Three days had passed.
Another large number of stone frogs had gathered in the stream.
Already familiar with the terrain, Ye Qingyun moved swiftly, filling an entire sack in no time.
Seeing that it was still early, she decided to venture deeper upstream.
Unexpectedly…
She made another discovery.
She caught two large softshell turtles.
And stumbled upon a whole school of sweetfish.
Each turtle’s shell was about the width of two palms.
They were both around forty years old.
Their shells were prized in traditional medicine for nourishing yin and strengthening the kidneys.
Seeing how long they had survived, Ye Qingyun decided to spare them and released them back into the water.
The sweetfish, however, were another story.
They were a true delicacy.
Renowned as the king of freshwater fish, they required exceptionally pure water to survive.
Their flesh was famous for its unique fragrance, reminiscent of fresh melons and fruit.
They were migratory fish with a lifespan of only a single year.
The young spent the winter in the sea.
The following spring, they swam upstream to their native rivers.
After spawning in autumn, they died.
Summer was precisely when sweetfish were at their fattest and most delicious.
At that moment, Ye Qingyun missed more than ever the blessed realm she once possessed—a place where she could keep living creatures.
Now…
All she had were burlap sacks.
Even if she filled half a sack with sweetfish, very few would survive the journey home.
But!
Dried sweetfish were delicious too!