Chapter 73 The world is probably in chaos on New Year's Day...
The first day of the Lunar New Year is the day to pay respects to one's ancestors, but Chen Gengnian and the others can only accompany Lin Qing'an and Lin Yanfeng to pay respects to their deceased relatives tomorrow.
Chen Yuetao got up early to make sweet fermented rice with eggs and wontons. Lin Qingan and Abao were both a little too tired to get up, so Chen Gengnian suggested that they not go.
Hearing this in a daze, Lin Qing'an suddenly opened his eyes and quickly said, "Yes, I have to go."
No matter what, I have to let my parents see my health and let them see that I've taken good care of Lin Yanfeng.
Thinking like this gives me a lot of motivation, but getting out of bed in winter is an extremely difficult thing.
Lin Qing'an lingered in bed for a long time, crawling from one end of the bed to the other, but in the end, he still had to rely on Chen Gengnian.
Chen Gengnian took the clothes that had been tucked under the covers since he woke up and dressed Lin Qing'an one by one. Then he brought hot water for him to brush his teeth and wash his face, being gentle, meticulous and doting throughout the process.
Lin Qing'an obediently let him do as he pleased. The warm clothes, though not as warm as a quilt, were not so cold either, which gave him the courage to step out of the room.
The worship ceremony only took half a morning. After returning, the group chatted with Lin Jing and the others at home.
After A-Meng returned yesterday, he didn't talk much. When he had some free time, Lin Qing'an talked to him alone.
The man and the eagle talked a lot in the room, but almost all of it was about where A-Meng had gone and what he had experienced.
It turned out that over the past few months, A Meng had traveled to many places before finally finding a barely acceptable cultivation spot in a deserted village, which was several counties away from here.
"So, do you feel any difference in yourself now?" Lin Qingan asked.
A-Meng shook his head, "I didn't notice it, but I'm feeling sleepy more and more often."
As soon as it was mentioned, Lin Qingan immediately remembered things from the past. Before his master ascended to immortality, he was always sleepy and sometimes he could sleep for a long time.
Thinking of this, Lin Qing'an was overjoyed. Could it be...?
"I don't know either, let nature take its course!" A-Meng interrupted Lin Qing'an's guess directly.
In addition to these, Lin Qingan also learned that A Meng had been eating raw food during this period, so he was not used to eating cooked food and had to go out to find some food to fill his stomach every two days.
Lin Qing'an didn't have much to say about this. Originally, A Meng often ate raw food, but he started cooking after he went up the mountain and ate less. Lin Qing'an just told him to be careful.
But when Ah Meng said he would be leaving again in a while, Lin Qing'an immediately wilted.
Seeing him like that, A-Meng deliberately flew around arrogantly in front of him, which made Lin Qing'an scold it for being heartless.
As they were leaving, Ah Meng suddenly said, "You two should be more careful about being affectionate in the future; there are children in the house..."
"Huh?" Lin Qing'an asked innocently, "Aren't we not communicating?"
A-Meng turned around and flew over to peck Lin Qing'an on the head a few times. While Lin Qing'an was clutching his head and crying out in pain, he flew far away and finally threw a big black eye at Lin Qing'an, saying, "Big brother, your voice is incredibly loud!"
Lin Qing'an held her head and blushed.
Around noon, some of the villagers who were on good terms with Chen Yuetao came to visit, and the conversation always revolved around Lin Qing'an and her group.
Some people even suggested arranging a marriage between Lin Jing and Lin Yanfeng, which scared Lin Yanfeng and Lin Jing so much that they ran away as if they had fleas on their bodies.
That evening, the group discussed going to town the next day to pay New Year's greetings to the village head and the headmaster of the academy. This time, Chen Yuetao also went with them.
The purpose of asking her to go was simple: to see what she liked and buy it all back, since she wouldn't be going up there much after the shop was sold and she returned to the village.
However, A Meng volunteered not to stay home and guard the house, and since it wouldn't go, Bai Fu naturally wouldn't go either.
Lin Qingan didn't force it, only asking if it needed anything. A Meng simply said that bringing back two roast chickens would be fine.
Lin Qingan glanced at Baifu, muttered "Good fortune," and then followed the others.
The whole family went to town and brought some gifts to Uncle Hu and the landlord at Jinyun Restaurant. They also gave some snacks from their shops to the shop owners around the store. The town was very lively on the second day of the Lunar New Year, with many people playing around. Logically, they should have opened their shops, but Baiweifang was closed.
The group went to the academy, but unfortunately they didn't meet the academy's headmaster and could only hand over the gifts to the person in charge.
After buying things that Aunt Wang and Wang Tingting liked, they finally went to the village head's house.
The house was decorated with a strong festive atmosphere, but the two elderly people didn't look very happy. They only looked much better after seeing Chen Gengnian and the others arrive.
Only after inquiring did they learn that the elderly couple missed their son.
“We used to send letters home every two months, but this time it’s been almost a year since we’ve received any. All our letters have gone unanswered…” Aunt Wang choked back tears, her wrinkled face full of worry.
Chen Yuetao took her arm and gently comforted her.
The usually authoritative village head now looked much older than usual. Wang Tingting comforted herself, saying that neither side was right, and she simply sat down and silently shed tears.
She also misses her brother...
The atmosphere in the room was too oppressive and heavy. The village head sighed deeply before calling for Aunt Wang and Wang Tingting to take everyone to eat.
With Ah Bao, who has a sweet tongue, around, the atmosphere during the meal was much more relaxed.
After the meal, Chen Gengnian and Lin Qingan accompanied the village head to drink tea. Chen Gengnian casually mentioned the current situation and also expressed his intention to close the shop. The village head agreed with this decision.
"The situation is serious right now. We are relatively peaceful here, but we can't guarantee that it will stay this way forever. So if you have enough to eat and wear, then you can indeed go away for a while."
"Where are you, Uncle Zheng?"
Lin Qing'an asked that question as soon as the village head finished speaking.
The village head laughed and said, "We've lived here all our lives, and I'm someone with a position, so it's not easy for me to leave my post. Besides, the Prince of Lin has recently joined the campaign to quell the rebellion, so things might be over soon. We won't trouble you any further."
Even if the village head didn't mention the other reason, Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian both understood that he didn't want to lose the letters his children would send after he left.
Since it was an uncertain matter to begin with, Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian didn't try to persuade them any further.
The family stayed for a short while before leaving to go shopping in town.
We bought a lot of things this time, almost everything we could eat, wear, and use. We also bought a lot of pots, pans, bowls, knives, and even several sets of tables and chairs. In particular, we bought a lot of quilts and clothes. In total, each person bought about dozens of sets.
That was a big order, so he couldn't buy it from just one shop. He bought from every shop in town, big and small. To avoid arousing suspicion, Lin Qing'an would secretly put each batch of items into his treasure bag in a deserted alley. In the end, he only had some small snacks left.
Even the roast chicken that Ah Meng wanted was put into the treasure bag.
The group did not stay overnight in town, and did not return to the village until dark.
For the next few days, he continued to laze around in the village. People often came to visit his house; they were all people Chen Yuetao got along well with, and some kind-hearted uncles and aunts also came to visit Chen Gengnian.
This continued until the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, when the village head sent someone with a letter saying that someone had bought the shop, so Lin Qing'an and his group went to town on the morning of the eighth day.
Lin Yanfeng and his classmates also started school on the eighth day of the lunar new year, so they went up together.
Actually, the reason for going up there was to say goodbye to the students of the academy, since Lin Yanfeng himself had voluntarily decided to drop out.
Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian hesitated for a long time before agreeing to his decision.
After all, they had already gone back, so it wouldn't be right to leave the two of them to continue studying. They were originally trying to escape the war, so what would be the point of leaving them here?
After discussing it, Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian unanimously decided that if the war dragged on, they would hire a tutor to teach them at home.
The transfer of the shop went smoothly. There wasn't much rent left, and all that could be transferred were the remaining items in the shop and some furniture.
The shop was run by a simple, middle-aged couple who both claimed to be from a nearby village. Lin Qing'an saw that they were honest, so after discussing it with Chen Gengnian, he only asked for ten taels of silver.
The couple touched their bulging purses and thanked him repeatedly with joy.
Because Lin Yanfeng and Abao hadn't dropped out of school yet, Lin Qing'an told them that he would move out in two days.
I figured there wasn't any rush, so I didn't go to expel Lin Yanfeng and the others today. They probably have a lot of classmates to say goodbye to, so it's good to give them more time.
So Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian spent the whole day tidying up the shop, putting everything they could take into their treasure bags, leaving only two beds behind.
In the afternoon, the village head sent someone to ask Chen Gengnian to help, but he didn't say what it was for.
After Chen Gengnian left, Lin Qingan was the only one left in the shop.
While Lin Qing'an was cooking, A Meng arrived.
Lin Qing'an watched as it scooped up a handful of sunflower seeds and stood on the chair, leisurely cracking them open. He then teased, "Oh~ Didn't you say you were going to stay home and play with Baifu? Why did my senior brother break his promise?"
Ah Meng glared at Lin Qing'an, not bothering to argue with his foul mouth, and said leisurely, "I'm afraid the world is about to descend into chaos."
"Huh?" Lin Qing'an asked anxiously, "Are they going to attack?"
Ah Meng neither nodded nor shook his head. Just as Lin Qing'an was frantically imagining things in his mind, Ah Meng's voice sounded softly again.
“This morning I went for a walk in the mountains of a neighboring county and saw a lot of soldiers patrolling around, but I didn’t think those soldiers were good people.”
"How do you know?" Lin Qing'an asked, frowning.
A Meng said with a solemn expression, "Because I saw many soldiers looting and plundering in the village."
Lin Qing'an finally couldn't sit still any longer. He put down what he was holding and paced back and forth with a furrowed brow.
According to what A-Meng said, wouldn't their county not be able to hold out for much longer?
In those days, there were no news broadcasts. If something really happened and you encountered a corrupt magistrate, you would have run away long ago and wouldn't have gotten away with anything.
No matter the era, chaos reveals the true nature of humanity.
Ah Meng stopped and asked Ah Meng, "Then, senior brother, what do you think we should do?"
With just one sentence, A-Meng understood what he meant by asking the question.
Ah Meng shook his head and said calmly, "The affairs of the world are already settled, and no one can change them. You are already very fortunate to have been able to save yourself and those around you."
Ah Meng had warned Lin Qing'an long ago that their arrival here had already broken the laws of time, and no one knew what the consequences would be if they continued to interfere.
Lin Qing'an remained silent for a long time after hearing these words.
After Chen Gengnian and Lin Yanfeng returned, Lin Qingan did not hide anything and told him everything that A Meng had said.
Chen Gengnian immediately said, "Then, Aqing, let's go back to the village first thing tomorrow morning!"
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