Chapter 3 Falling into the Water "You're so annoying."
"Cough cough cough."
Yuemingxi coughed up some water, grabbed the ground, and climbed out of the stream.
Turning her head, she saw the fish swimming even faster than before, as if they were taunting her.
Staring fiercely at the fish in the water, Yue Mingxi shook her head, straightened her arms, and stood in the stream again.
She was determined to catch all those fish that were laughing at her.
For some reason, the water flow suddenly became rapid, and the fish's movements became unusually slow.
Yue Mingxi's eyes widened, not wanting to miss this good opportunity.
He quickly bent down, grabbed the fish, and threw them onto the ground, scattering dozens of fish onto the ground in one swish.
Straightening up, Yue Mingxi put her hands on her hips, pointed at the fish still swimming slowly in the stream, and laughed heartily.
"Now you know how powerful I am, right? I'll spare you for today, but remember not to take a detour when you see me in the future."
Realizing she had finally had her fill, Wu Shanqing withdrew her hand, freeing the fish from their restraints, which then scattered in all directions.
She nimbly emerged from the stream, put on the embroidered shoes she had placed on the ground, found a few wooden buckets in the backyard, filled them with water, and carefully placed the fish into the buckets.
Leaning over the bucket, Yue Mingxi beamed with joy. These fish were enough for her to eat for a very long time without having to go out.
After taking the two largest fish out of the bucket, Yue Mingxi ran to the kitchen and started cooking them.
Two big fish; if the boy wants to eat them, it's enough for two people.
Remove the scales, gut the fish with a knife, and clean out its belly. There is no oil, no seasoning, and no other ingredients.
After much thought, Yue Mingxi realized that grilled fish was the only option.
After placing the cleaned fish in a wooden basin and taking away the tinder, Yuemingxi ran to the backyard.
After placing the wooden basin on the ground, Yuemingxi called out to Wushanqing, who was still lying on the roof, "Hey, can I break off a few branches from your tree?"
"Whatever," Wu Shanqing said indifferently.
Yue Mingxi chuckled twice. "Thanks."
With both hands around the tree, Yue Mingxi quickly climbed up and broke off a few branches from the less desirable parts of the tree.
Jumping down from the tree, Yuemingxi broke off the small branches that had forked from the branches, walked to the stream, and carefully washed the branches.
To prevent the branches from being too weak, Yuemingxi inserted two branches into each fish to make a simple frame on which she placed the fish.
After gathering firewood and starting a fire, Yuemingxi focused intently on grilling the fish.
While grilling the fish, she kept talking to Wu Shanqing, who was lying on the roof.
"Hey, you really don't eat? Do cultivators like you never eat?"
"I don't cultivate immortality."
"Why don't you eat if you're not cultivating immortality? Is it really comfortable to be hungry? My grilled fish is delicious. Don't be fooled by the lack of seasoning; it's the most natural and healthy way to preserve the fish's freshness."
"I won't be hungry."
"Are you really not going to eat? I'm grilling one for you. This fish is huge and smells amazing." Yue Mingxi swallowed hard. If it weren't still raw, she would have eaten it right now.
"You're so noisy." Wu Shanqing frowned.
"Hehehe, it's so boring being alone." Yue Mingxi flipped the fish over. "Why don't you stop on the roof? It's tiring for me to look up when I talk to you. Come down and talk to me."
"Just shut up."
Yue Mingxi snorted, "I'm not going to shut up."
"Oh," Wu Shanqing said indifferently.
Yue Mingxi ignored his indifference. "Are you really not going to eat my grilled fish? It smells amazing, and it'll be ready in a bit. It'll smell even better in a little while."
"I won't eat it." Wu Shanqing, unable to bear it any longer, jumped off the roof.
Having lost his sense of taste for thousands of years, he had long lost interest in food; the aroma of food only triggered a conditioned reflex of stomach pain.
Allowing her to cook here was already the greatest act of his patience.
"Okay then, I'll finish it all by myself."
Watching Wu Shanqing disappear before her eyes, Yue Mingxi hummed softly.
After drinking three bowls of sleeping pills with an unusually strong herbal taste, Wu Shanqing sat in a chair and numbly closed his eyes.
My head is throbbing, and I can't sleep at all.
The sleeping pills had no effect on him; he hadn't had a good night's sleep in thousands of years.
With a soft sigh, Wu Shanqing wearily rubbed the corners of his eyes.
He calculated everything, but he couldn't have predicted that she was a fool.
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble in the first place.
-
I took off my embroidered shoes, sat by the stream, and soaked my calves in the cool water.
Feeling refreshed, Yue Mingxi ate the steaming, fragrant grilled fish and contentedly closed her eyes.
These days are so comfortable.
Her nose felt a little sore and itchy. Yue Mingxi swallowed the tender fish, held the grilled fish far away, and sneezed twice.
Rubbing her nose, Yue Mingxi didn't seem to care and continued eating her delicious grilled fish.
After finishing the whole grilled fish and drinking a few handfuls of water by the stream, Yue Mingxi stood up and began to clean up the stall she had created.
After cleaning everything up, Yue Mingxi picked up another whole grilled fish. Having eaten and drunk her fill, she was ready to get back to work.
As soon as Yue Mingxi stepped into the front yard, she spotted Wu Shanqing sitting under the crooked tree.
The boy, veiled in white, remained motionless, and Yue Mingxi could not tell whether he was awake or asleep.
Slowing her pace, Yue Mingxi walked to the crooked tree and gently placed the grilled fish on the small wooden table.
After setting the grilled fish out, Yue Mingxi quietly walked into the house.
After taking off her soaking wet tank top and shorts, Yue Mingxi changed into a traditional Chinese dress and put on suitable canvas shoes.
Clutching the bed sheets, blankets, pillowcases, and tank top shorts together, Yue Mingxi tiptoed to the backyard.
After washing the fish by the stream and hanging them on the clothesline, Yuemingxi picked up the heavy wooden bucket filled with fish.
After making four trips back and forth, she finally managed to transport all the fish to the front yard.
As she straightened up, Yue Mingxi noticed that the boy had been lying on the roof again.
Looking at the perfectly preserved grilled fish on the small wooden table, Yue Mingxi tilted her head back and asked, "You really don't eat grilled fish?"
"I won't eat." Wu Shanqing's indifferent voice drifted from the rooftop.
“Not eating is bad for your health.” Yue Mingxi scratched her head.
She didn't quite understand. If he wasn't cultivating immortality, why didn't he need to eat? People need food to live; is it really good not to eat?
People who die young can't stand seeing others mistreat their bodies.
"You're so annoying." Wu Shanqing frowned.
"Just one bite. If it's not good, we won't eat it." Yue Mingxi held up one finger, emphasizing.
“Just one bite,” Wu Shanqing jumped off the roof, “and then shut your mouth.”
"Okay, okay, okay." Yue Mingxi nodded frantically, unable to help but curl the corners of her lips into a smile, feeling as if she were coaxing a three-year-old who was picky about food.
Wu Shanqing slowly walked to the small wooden table, bent down to pick up the twig, his brows furrowed. He hated the feeling of not being able to taste food.
He was going to great lengths to shut the idiot up.
Wu Shanqing took a small bite into the fish's belly and then stopped.
The fish was tender and delicious, cooked to perfection, with no burnt taste at all. The rich aroma filled the entire mouth, an explosion of flavor on the taste buds.
After thousands of years, he tasted the long-lost aroma of food.
Yue Mingxi opened her eyes wide, watching his reaction, and excitedly asked, "How is it? Isn't it delicious?"
Wu Shanqing's fingers tightened around the branch. "What did you add to it?"
"Nothing was added." Seeing the boy's puzzled expression, Yue Mingxi blinked. "Is it because it doesn't taste good? If it doesn't taste good, then don't eat it."
"No." Wu Shanqing sat back down on the small wooden chair.
"?" Yue Mingxi was completely baffled. "What do you mean?"
Wu Shanqing lowered his head and ate the fish in small bites, ignoring her.
Yue Mingxi chuckled, "Then it must be delicious."
Without disturbing him, Yue Mingxi went to the backyard to fetch a basin of soil. While moving the fish, she discovered that when she fell from the sky yesterday, she had smashed a shallow crater in Wu Shanqing's front yard.
They filled the manhole with soil, poured water on it, and stomped on it every now and then.
Yue Mingxi exhaled a breath, and with a little more sunshine, the human pit would return to its original state.
I glanced up at the crooked tree. The boy was still eating fish. After eating for a long time, there was still more than half of the fish left.
Yue Mingxi couldn't help but laugh; this person's eating habits were also pleasing to the eye.
Walking gently to his side, Yue Mingxi smiled and said, "Don't worry about choking, eat with peace of mind. This fish only has large bones, no small ones."
Wu Shanqing paused for a moment and then hummed in agreement.
"By the way, my name is Yue Mingxi, Yue as in moon, Ming as in bright, and Xi as in stream. What's your name?"
“Wu Shan Qing.” The boy’s clear, cold voice echoed in Yue Mingxi’s ears. “Wu as in black, Shan as in green mountains.”
"What a beautiful name," Yue Mingxi murmured to herself.
Wu Shanqing ignored her; he wouldn't have told her his name if he hadn't eaten her fish.
But I can't stand having a restless, noisy, and silly person by my side.
Even if you ignore her, she can still talk a good game.
"Your name is really nice, Wushanqing, but my name is also very nice."
"Wu Shanqing, do you like to eat fish? I like to eat fish too. How about we eat fish again for our next meal?"
"Let me tell you, I'm really good at catching fish. I caught a total of fifty-two, ate two, and now I have fifty left, all of which I've put in the wooden bucket."
"By the way, Wu Shanqing, I'm sorry, I made a big hole in your yard, but I've already fixed it. Aren't I amazing?"
"Wu Shanqing, Wu Shanqing, why aren't you saying anything?"
Eating the grilled fish slowly and deliberately, without any distractions, Wu Shanqing replied perfunctorily, "Impressive."
"Hehehe, I also think I'm very awesome." Yue Mingxi rubbed her sore back and prepared to go to the hut to get a chair to sit down and chat with Wu Shanqing.
Apart from the small chair that Wu Shanqing was sitting on, there wasn't a single other chair in the entire front yard.
"Knock, knock, knock." Someone knocked on the courtyard gate.
A soft, gentle female voice came from outside, "Excuse me, is anyone home?"
A note from the author:
The names of both the male and female protagonists are taken from Su Shi's poem "Xing Xiang Zi: Passing Qi Li Lai".
The excerpt is from the lines "Crossing the Shaxi River is swift, the Shuangxi River is cold, and the Yuexi River is bright," and "But the distant mountains are long, the cloud-covered mountains are chaotic, and the morning mountains are green."
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