Chapter 288 Going to the Xia Family
The Taoist priest was taken aback, put down the teapot, and carefully looked at Song Chunxue's face.
"This was for Sanwa, right? Bring us their birth dates and times." The Taoist priest sighed, "Time flies so fast, Sanwa is getting married soon."
“No, I calculated it for myself,” Song Chunxue said earnestly. “How did you figure out, Senior Brother, that I wasn’t calculating it for myself?”
The Taoist priest's gaze fell on Song Chunxue's face again, scrutinizing her carefully for a moment.
"I can't be mistaken, you haven't had any romantic entanglements or been tempted by love. Who are you going to marry?" the Taoist priest couldn't help but tease. "Could it be that Mei Yang had a son, and you're getting restless?"
Song Chunxue picked up the whisk from the table in an annoyed manner and tapped the Taoist priest's arm!
"Senior brother, so many years have passed, and you still bring up Mei Yang with me? You can't get over this hurdle, can you?"
"If you keep acting like this, I'll do some divination for you!"
"You hide in the Taoist temple every day, and the women down the mountain will take time out of their busy schedules to burn incense, just to see you. It's clear that you're quite lucky with women."
At this point, Song Chunxue looked up and laughed, "How strange! Why is it that after two years, Senior Brother not only doesn't seem to have aged, but his beard has become even darker, and his complexion is rosy and radiant?"
"Could it be that my senior brother is like those legendary alchemists, taking some kind of youth-preserving pill every day to keep his face looking the same for ten years?"
The Taoist priest took a breath, wanting to curse.
Seeing the cloth bag she brought, filled with his favorite foods, he refrained from eating it.
“Those who cultivate the Tao do not eat or drink indiscriminately, and they naturally age more slowly than ordinary people. Isn’t my junior brother becoming more and more energetic and walking with great speed?”
"You used to have very obvious wrinkles around your eyes and downturned mouth, but now you look more energetic than you did three years ago. Could it be that you've also taken some kind of anti-aging pill?"
Master Zhang said irritably, "Now that you can recognize most of the characters, you no longer read proper books, but instead run off to read those books on cultivation by bad people?"
Song Chunxue said calmly, "Senior brother, are you talking about books like 'The Romance of the Western Chamber' that tell about love between men and women? How does that mean it's bad for cultivation? I think it's fine, just like drinking alcohol, it's nice to have a sweet moment now and then. It's not like reading it means you have to get involved with other people."
"..." The Taoist priest almost dropped his teacup, his eyes bulging. "You're reading 'The Romance of the Western Chamber'?"
"Yes, if Senior Brother wants to see it..."
"I won't watch!"
"Senior brother, do you rarely read this kind of book? I don't think it's surprising if you read a lot. But I haven't read many either, but I've noticed that among the miscellaneous books that the fourth and second brothers used to read, 'The Romance of the Western Chamber' was the most serious. You..."
"Shut up! I never read such frivolous books. I have been living a life of purity and abstinence for many years. If I were to read such books, it would be disastrous. Junior brother, you should not read them either."
"..." Song Chunxue was surprised that her senior brother actually told her to shut up.
It seems that in my senior brother's eyes, this kind of book is a blasphemous and filthy book.
She quickly apologized, "Senior brother, please don't be offended. I won't look at it again. It's my fault for not understanding these things. I'm sorry for making you laugh."
The Taoist priest placed a short apricot wood stick in the firebox of the tea stove, picked up the boiling tea pot, and poured two pots of tea for Song Chunxue.
“You don’t need to be like this. Since you often read these books, it means they don’t affect your cultivation. It’s your senior brother who is overreacting.”
"But it's best if you look at them less often. How well do you recognize the acupuncture points? Do you know where to insert needles when you have a headache?"
Song Chunxue picked up her teacup and silently took a sip of tea, almost burning her lips.
The Taoist priest chuckled, "Playing dumb at crucial moments, have you been slacking off lately?"
As he spoke, he picked up the note that Song Chunxue had written.
"Hmm, this character isn't as bad as it was last year, but you still need to practice more. When you turn sixty, your grandson will be showing off to everyone that his grandma is different from other grandmas, and you'll be so proud of yourself."
"..." That's what they said, but Song Chunxue didn't think it was anything nice.
I simply stopped arguing with my senior brother.
The Taoist priest looked at the birth dates and times of Sanwa and Mulan and pondered for a moment.
"Their zodiac signs aren't particularly compatible, but they can still live a lifetime together. Quarrels and arguments are inevitable."
"Sanwa still needs to study, so it would be best to get married in June or July. However, there is only one auspicious day in July, which is the 18th. If we don't get married in June, it would be better to choose July."
Song Chunxue understood that there was an old saying that one should not get married in June, lest they become enemies.
Although I don't know the reason, it's still best to avoid it.
Because they neglected this in their past life, the two in-laws are practically enemies.
"That's good. I trust the date you chose, Senior Brother."
Song Chunxue sighed, "Sometimes I think it's quite tiring. In the future, I will have to watch Sanwa's children being born one by one, growing up one by one, leaving one by one and returning one by one, and watching his daughters get married one by one. I don't want to witness it all with my own eyes anymore."
She looked at the Taoist priest half-jokingly, "Senior brother, when you go on your long journeys in the future, can you take me with you? Let's travel around, take my money to save more people, and go to places I've never been before."
The Taoist priest frowned in thought, "If I go out, the people I meet will all be poor and suffering from misfortune."
"We've had a drought here for the past two years, so I won't go anywhere else. If you..."
“I’m not talking about now, at least five years from now,” Song Chunxue said, waving her hand. “I was just saying it casually. Maybe in a few days I’ll be going to Liangzhou to find my daughter. I don’t dare go anywhere else.”
The Taoist priest took out a flatbread from his cloth bag; the pattern pressed by the wooden comb was quite beautiful.
"You'd better not follow my example. Only homeless people make their homes wherever they want."
*
With the date set, Song Chunxue planned to buy some things as soon as possible and visit the Xia family to see if July 18th was a convenient date for them.
Now that we have money, we should be more generous when visiting the Xia family.
She bought two jars of wine, caught two live chickens, eight feet of nice cloth, two boxes of snacks and other food, twelve steamed buns the size of plates, and six taels of silver.
This six taels of silver is equivalent to three times the betrothal gifts.
She would think twice before giving even three taels of silver to her eldest son, considering all the pros and cons.
But Xia Mulan didn't want to think about that.
The kindness shown to us in our old age cannot be compared to a few taels of silver.
Moreover, Xia Mulan's father is seriously ill, and it costs money to see a doctor.
The greatest regret in life is nothing more than wanting to care for one's parents but finding them gone.
She knew that Xia Mulan's biggest regret in her previous life was that her parents had passed away one after the other.
After Mulan's second son got married, Mulan's mother had a big fight with her daughter-in-law over a trivial matter, and then she took her own life by hanging herself with a rope.
Hopefully, this money will subtly change the fate of Mulan's mother.
The fourth brother had been following the caravan for the past few years, and had spent almost all the money he had earned. However, he loved traveling all over the country with Old Man Wang's caravan, so Song Chunxue followed him.
She knew that the fourth son couldn't stay at home.
Otherwise, if we go to the Xia family to recognize our relatives, bringing along the fourth son would at least save face.
On the day of Sanwa's day off, Song Chunxue harnessed a donkey and pulled a cart, intending to go to the Xia family.
"Mom, let's go directly to their house from the county. Do you know the way?"
Song Chunxue was stunned for a moment.
"Of course, I have a good memory and I know the name of their village. We can just follow the main road to their village and ask around. With a mouth under our noses, how could we not find our way?"
P.S.: The college entrance exam is coming soon. I wish everyone the best of luck and hope you all achieve top scores!
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