Chapter 132 Yangqiu Flower What is Yangqiu Flower?

"Knock knock knock!"

The room door was ajar. Bai Miaomiao sat at her desk, then turned to see An Fusheng standing in the doorway. "Big brother?"

An Fusheng: "May I come in?"

Bai Miaomiao: "Okay."

An Fusheng carried a tray into Bai Miaomiao's room. "Grandma taught me how to make this new sweet soup. Would you like to try it?"

What is it?

"Peach gum, lotus seeds, and snow pear stew".

"Yes." Bai Miaomiao stepped aside. "Thank you, big brother."

"You're welcome." An Fusheng placed the sweet soup in front of Bai Miaomiao. "I'm here to apologize to you."

Bai Miaomiao was somewhat surprised, "Apologize?"

“Hmm,” An Fusheng said, “I shouldn’t have let your grandmother in this morning.”

Bai Miaomiao said, "It's alright. It's good that she came. I won't worry about her anymore."

Bai Miaomiao pulled out Bai Mangmang's stool for An Fusheng to sit on. "Although I didn't think I was wrong when I took my sister away before, I often think about the miserable life she was living at home, and I can't help but wonder if I was too selfish. Sometimes I think, if I were at home and helped her with some housework, she would have an easier time. If I were at home and comforted her when her second uncle scolded her, she would feel better. If I were at home and her second uncle had more people to scold, she would be scolded less often."

An Fusheng sat down. “Don’t think like that. These are all her own business. Even if she’s unfortunate, it has nothing to do with you. Besides, your second uncle is her son. She’s not really afraid of him. She lets him scold her because she wants to. But you are different. You were scolded because you had no power to fight back. As an elder, she didn’t even consider the fear that you children, who are only a few years old, might have to endure. Why should you think so much about her? She is an adult and doesn’t need you to consider these things for her.”

"But she raised me from a young age."

"She only takes you in because your father is her son. Your parents should be grateful to her, not you."

Bai Miaomiao paused, then said in a low voice, "I originally wanted to take my brother with me, but my second uncle refused no matter what. The staff who were helping us couldn't do anything about it either, so I just abandoned my brother. I'm a bad sister."

An Fusheng: "You're not bad, you're already great. I've never seen any ten-year-old girl as brave as you. And who's going to ask that being an older sister means being a good older sister? You were just born before them. Before being an older sister, you are yourself. If you want to be a rose, be a rose; if you want to be a pine tree, be a pine tree. It's all up to your own will and has nothing to do with being an older sister."

"I understand, thank you, brother."

"Then you shouldn't overthink things anymore, just focus on living your life well."

"Um."

"Try this sweet soup, Grandma said it tastes pretty good."

Bai Miaomiao used to like eating the less appealing parts first and saving the best for last. Often, people would assume she didn't like the food and take what she'd saved, leaving her feeling heartbroken. Sometimes, no one would share, but she'd already been full, so the food she'd deliberately saved didn't seem so delicious anymore. Today, Bai Miaomiao stared at the whole pear in the center of the sweet soup, which looked the best. Without hesitation, she scooped out a large piece and stuffed it into her mouth. The pear was soft but not mushy, with a refreshing sweetness. "So delicious!"

Eating what you crave most when you crave it most is definitely the best!

...

Bai Miaomiao lowered her head and ate the sweet soup.

An Fusheng was looking at the pegboard on the wall in front of Bai Miaomiao's desk, which was covered with all kinds of handmade works.

An Fusheng knew that Bai Miaomiao could draw and liked to do handicrafts. She had recently learned to crochet from her grandmother and crocheted gifts for everyone in the family. The gift for An Fusheng was a tricycle pendant in the shape of a cartoon pig. An Fusheng couldn't remember what it was called. He just didn't expect that she could make so many kinds of things. An Fusheng quickly noticed that there were wind chimes made of various fruit shells, paintings made of pebbles, dolls made of scrap fabric, various bags, and many other things that An Fusheng didn't recognize.

Bai Miaomiao felt a little embarrassed when An Fusheng looked at her handicrafts.

An Fusheng sincerely praised, "Each one is beautiful and unique."

Bai Miaomiao: "But doing these things seems pointless and will only delay my studies."

An Fusheng: "But doing these things makes you happy, doesn't it?"

Bai Miaomiao nodded.

An Fusheng: "Actually, I don't think everything needs to have meaning. For example, some people think that eating, drinking, having fun, daydreaming, watching the sunrise, and counting stars are meaningless, but these things can make people relax and happy. The purpose of life is to experience happiness, so isn't doing things that make you happy the greatest meaning?"

"Did you make that bag too?" An Fusheng asked, pointing to a dark blue handbag.

The bag's base is made of dark blue denim, and the embroidery on it uses colorful cotton thread to create a cartoonish sun. The lines extending from the sunlight are colorful, and the radiant sun is set against the deep blue background, making it both mysterious and passionate.

“Mm,” Bai Miaomiao said.

"It's really beautiful, it looks a bit like a type of embroidery used by the Miao people."

"Miao embroidery?"

“Yes, the Miao costumes you usually see are quite colorful, which are mostly from the Miao people in the southwest. The costumes of the Miao people in the east are actually quite simple. They mostly wear black or dark blue cloth clothes with some patterns embroidered on the collar and sleeves. Those patterns are usually quite abstract and simple, like the sun in your picture. The thread used is also a cotton thread without luster. This kind of embroidery is called 'shusha'. Although it is not colorful, it has its own unique sense of mystery and is also very beautiful.” An Fusheng learned about the culture here after arriving, and it was very similar to his original world.

Bai Miaomiao has a natural fascination with handmade items. After hearing An Fusheng talk about them, she longed to see them. "Brother, have you ever seen them? What are they like?"

An Fusheng searched his phone for a while and found some pictures. He handed the phone to Bai Miaomiao and said, "Look, this is it."

"Wow, it looks so good!" Bai Miaomiao exclaimed.

“Hmm.” An Fusheng was very proud. In his previous life, the patterns on his clothes were even more beautiful and had more styles than those in these pictures.

"Is this a butterfly?" Bai Miaomiao asked, pointing to a pattern that looked like it had two wings.

An Fusheng: "Yes, according to legend, the ancestor of the Miao people, Jiangyang, was hatched from the egg of a butterfly mother. Therefore, the Miao people call butterflies 'butterfly mothers'. They revere butterflies, so they embroider them on their clothes."

"Wow!" Bai Miaomiao suddenly felt a strong urge to explore these abstract patterns. "What is this? A flower? What kind of flower is it?"

"Yangqiu Flower".

What is a sunflower?

An Fusheng thought for a long time, "It looks like a wild lily."

"Oh." After An Fusheng said that, Bai Miaomiao did look somewhat like him. "And very pretty."

An Fusheng: "Of course."

...

An Fusheng and Bai Miaomiao were discussing Miao ethnic group's silk patterns so much that they completely forgot they had to cook. Ji Fengnian came up to call him, and he reluctantly went back to cook.

...

As soon as An Fusheng entered the kitchen, he saw Zhaolin trembling against the kitchen door. An Fusheng asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Zhaolin pointed at Wen Yue with a trembling finger, "She...she...she..."

An Fusheng glanced at Wen Yue, who was skillfully cleaning a grass carp. "What's wrong with her?"

Zhaolin: "She's killing fish..."

An Fusheng: "What's wrong with killing fish?"

Zhaolin: "She's too ruthless."

An Fusheng gave him a very disdainful look, "Why didn't you say that when you were eating the fish?"

After An Fusheng finished speaking, Wen Yue expressionlessly scooped out another lively grass carp. She held the fish down with one hand and raised a wooden stick with the other, striking it twice until the wriggling fish stopped moving. Wen Yue threw the stick aside, picked up a kitchen knife, and began to dissect the fish.

Zhaolin's voice trembled, "You saw it, you saw it, it was too cruel, too ruthless!"

An Fusheng: "..."

I really don't want this apprentice anymore...

...

Zhao Lin thought Wen Yue was ruthless and cold-blooded enough for killing fish, but then he saw An Fusheng go to the backyard and come back a short while later with a chicken in his hand. The chicken's neck was turned upside down, and it couldn't even make a sound.

Ji Fengnian skillfully handed over a large porcelain basin. An Fusheng filled the basin halfway with cold water, added a spoonful of salt, placed the chicken neck on the basin, and with a slicing motion, the chicken blood gushed into the basin.

Zhaolin felt a slight itch on his neck, but he dared not touch it, fearing he might touch something sticky.

Zhaolin ran out of the kitchen as fast as he could.

The group of people who had been looking serious in the kitchen suddenly burst into laughter.

An Fusheng: "This basin you brought is way too big. This is a chicken, not a pig. There's no way there's so much blood."

Ji Fengnian: "Hehe, let's scare him a little."

"Ha ha!"

"Ha ha!"

"Ha ha!"

Unfortunately, Zhaolin had already run far away.

...

Zhaolin felt deeply wounded and desperately needed some cute things to heal, so he immersed himself in a group of children.

"This one is called Yellow One, and this one is called Yellow Two."

"No, it sounds awful."

"But cats are also called 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66!"

"Wasn't it you who named them?"

"But they all like it very much."

Wen Xinglin didn't want to argue with An Shisi, so when he saw Zhaolin coming over, he quickly said, "Brother Zhaolin, can you help me name my chick?"

So he was naming the chicks, huh? That's something he's good at. "Braised Chicken, Spicy Chicken!" Zhaolin blurted out.

"Huh?" The hope in Wen Xinglin's eyes hadn't even faded before disappointment filled his eyes.

"Isn't it good?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Zhaolin pondered for a moment, "Then let's change it to something more stylish, like Tchaikovsky Chicken or Zelensky Chicken?"

Several children opened their mouths to read, but suddenly forgot what Zhaolin had just said about chicken.

Seeing the children's bewildered expressions, Zhaolin said, "Never mind, let's just call Chinese chickens by their Chinese names."

Zhaolin thought for a long time but couldn't come up with anything. He said, "Let me tell you, a humble name is easy to raise. Braised chicken and spicy chicken are just right. They'll definitely grow fat. One chicken can make a whole plate, and the whole family can't finish it."

Wen Xinglin was about to cry, "I don't want to."

An Shisi: "I don't want it either."

Wen Xingmou: "I don't want it either."

Zhaolin: "..."

Wen Xinglin picked up the cardboard box. "I'm going to find my older brother."

"No! Come back quickly, I'll think of something better for you." Zhao Lin hurriedly stopped Wen Xinglin. "Let me tell you, your older brother is killing a chicken. If you go, your chicks will never come back."

Wen Xinglin paused, then silently put the cardboard box back.

"Then tell me, what would be considered the best?"

Wen Xingmou: "You must be obedient and polite."

An Shisi: "Yes, and you have to finish your food and not litter."

"Alright!" Zhaolin snapped his fingers. "Then let's call it being civilized and polite!"