newborn
After sleeping for a long time, Meng Yan could not even see the surrounding scenery clearly when he opened his eyes. His mind was in a mess, but the scene of moving to the riverside with his mother in his dream was particularly clear.
But when she woke up, she had to return to reality.
It took her a long time to adjust to the sunlight coming from outside. Before she could even sort out her thoughts, the light suddenly became so bright that it made her close her eyes and instinctively pull the blanket over herself.
What did you dream about?
A familiar voice drifted over, placed the items on the table, and walked towards the bedside.
"Yan Yan? It's noon now, I brought you lunch..."
The person who came ordered a long list of dishes, including both meat and vegetables, all of which were light in flavor, which must have been specially instructed by Senior Sister Zhang.
"Still not awake? You're sleeping too soundly. By the time you wake up, I'll be a white-bearded old man."
Adding Yue Lang's face to his master's beard and eyebrows was too jarring, and Meng Yan couldn't help but shake his head, clearing them from his mind.
"Hmm?" The person above seemed to have noticed something, poking at the blanket and gently calling out, "Yan Yan? If you're awake, move a little more; if you're not awake, move ten more times."
Meng Yan: "..."
Two hands stretched out from the edge of the blanket, crookedly complaining that the light was too bright and they couldn't open their eyes. Footsteps left and then returned, and the blanket was poked again.
"The doors and windows are all closed. Do you want to come out and try again?"
Still not fully recovered from the dream and exhaustion, Meng Yan didn't want to move, but hearing this voice, he couldn't bear to disappoint him, so he laboriously arched his head up a bit, revealing a corner of his forehead.
"Do you want to eat or drink? Stretch out one hand for eating, and two hands for drinking."
Meng Yan gave three examples; she wanted to be alone for a while.
"I want both? Then wait a moment, I'll go get you a glass of water."
I should have stretched it out five times; it can't just be a meal and a couple of sips of water, can it?
Although she was reluctant, Meng Yan knew she really needed to replenish her energy; she didn't want her body to collapse before she regained consciousness.
Struggling in bed, with Yue Lang constantly nagging beside her, she actually dragged herself out of bed and listlessly leaned against the bed railing.
"Here, have some water first."
Which dish would you like to eat first?
"Not eating? If you're not eating, I'll take it away, and the next meal won't be these dishes."
"I'm going to open the door. Close your eyes and count to three before you open them."
See you tonight.
The creaking sound seemed to split the room in two, instantly restoring quiet to the ears, which was conducive to recuperation, but lacked liveliness.
In the quiet solitude, Meng Yan slipped into bed and fell asleep.
.
Upon hearing that Meng Yan had woken up, the list of people to deliver food suddenly grew several times longer. If it weren't for Li the Trapped and Senior Sister Zhang stopping them, this group of people would have already rushed into her room and made a hole in the eaves.
However, the senior student who went to deliver dinner returned looking dejected, the food box in his hand untouched.
"It seems that Junior Sister Yan has fallen asleep again. I called her twice but she didn't respond, so I had to come back."
Yue Lang paused in his eating, then quickly put down the porcelain bowl and raised his arm.
"Everyone rest, I'll go." Li the cripple appeared out of nowhere, took the food box, and headed towards Meng Yan's house.
Yue Lang urged him from behind, "Master, you haven't eaten yet. I've finished eating, I'll go!"
"What are you showing off, young man? I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve!" After saying that, he quickened his pace as if afraid that Yue Lang would catch up.
When the group of officers saw Li the Trapped leave, they surrounded Yue Lang and asked, "When did you offend Master?"
"No, right?" Yue Lang was also puzzled.
Ever since that day I asked Li Xun, the kidnapper, to find an empty room, the way he looked at me seemed to carry a hint of hostility. It wasn't a life-or-death confrontation, but more like some kind of inexplicable emotion.
.
Over the course of several days, although everyone had seen Meng Yan, only Guai Zi Li, Chu Ming, and Yue Lang could get her to eat.
Chu Ming didn't need to say much; just by standing there, Meng Yan would obediently eat. Guai Zi Li refused to answer the question, but after his senior brothers staked out the bed several times, they discovered that he was using a fan to fan the food to make it smell good—a rogue's trick that worked quite well. Yue Lang, on the other hand, passed on his experience as easily as eating and drinking.
"That's it?" Everyone expressed disbelief.
However, their disbelief was limited to their own actions. They placed extra trust in Yue Lang, after all, during the ten-plus days he stayed in the valley, he taught everyone to draw a bunch of useful and useless talismans and helped them research many gadgets. He treated them like long-lost brothers. How could a brother lie to another brother?
Seeing this scene of brotherly affection and respect, Li the Cripple said with an ambiguous meaning, "Hmph!"
"Master, please don't have such a bad opinion about Yue Lang. He's a very good person. He treats us and Junior Sister Yan the same way. What did he do to upset you?"
Li the kidnapper glanced at Yue Lang, who commanded a large following in the crowd: "Hmph!"
Not long after, the senior brothers learned from Chu Ming about the "unusual" relationship between Yue Lang and Junior Sister Yan.
Yue Langfang emerged from the kitchen with a steamed bun in his mouth and waved to everyone: "Good morning, fellow senior brothers!"
Everyone finally understood Li the Trapped: "Hmph!"
Yue Lang: "?" The steamed buns don't smell so good anymore.
Despite his complaints, Yue Lang always had a large crowd around him when he drew talismans, and his name gradually spread to the other courtyard, with more and more people becoming his outer disciples in the world of talisman paper.
Li, the cripple, strode to the table with a "humph" and watched as the man wielded his brush to set off fire, turn water into fireworks. He was so engrossed that he watched for half the morning. When lunch was over, he strained his back because he hadn't moved for too long, and his "humph" became even louder.
Oh no, oh no, he's really angry now. Yue Lang had no choice but to run around in three directions. He would bother Meng Yan to eat at mealtimes, spend most of his free time helping out in various parts of the valley, and whenever he had a spare moment, he would rush to the front of Guai Zi Li's house to draw talismans and make some to amuse him...
The busy period didn't last long; things got even more chaotic.
Those relatives whom Meng Yan had kindly spared somehow found out where she was. Hearing that everyone in the valley had old ailments, they spread rumors to tarnish her reputation. The junior brother who brought the news back was on the verge of tears.
We mustn't let Junior Sister Yan hear this!
As everyone discussed countermeasures with Yue Lang, another junior sister brought back new information from outside the valley.
She ran towards us, waving, a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, panting, but still calling out, "Don't worry!"
It turned out that the junior brother was among the first to hear the rumors. He hurriedly returned to the valley without stopping, and the news only slowly spread after he arrived, eventually reaching ordinary people's homes.
The smiles of the clansmen shattered before they could even rise. The neighbors in the village spoke up for Meng Yan; the news reached the town, where the people dismissed the rumors with disdain. They intensified their efforts to spread misinformation, but then someone stepped forward, laying out the facts one by one, tearing apart the listed accusations, and instead promoting Meng Yan and the many affairs of Ping'an Valley.
She finished speaking in one breath, her face still flushed, and she counted on her fingers as she introduced the crowd that had come to show their support.
"Oh, right!" she clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "There's also a group of Taoist priests who don't look very familiar! They're called Taoist priests, but none of them are wearing Taoist robes. I don't know if their identities are real or not, but they must all be good people!"
Yue Lang, who wasn't wearing Taoist robes, coughed in full view of everyone. "I mentioned it briefly to my junior brother, but I didn't expect them to remember it. It saves us a lot of trouble."
The senior members of the organization stopped grumbling and reluctantly agreed to "we," readily inviting everyone to a celebratory meal.
"You guys eat, I won't go." Yue Lang slipped out of the crowd in a few steps. "It's time. Yan Yan has someone keeping an eye on things. I'm going to deliver the food and check on the situation. You guys can take our portions with you."
"How can you call it a favor? That's an obligation. Once Junior Sister Yan is feeling better, we'll have another gathering in the courtyard. Let's make it clear beforehand that no one can be absent! Everyone has to come!"
Yue Lang smiled and replied, "Yes, I will follow Senior Brother Hao's arrangements!"
Upon hearing the address, Senior Brother Hao turned around and led his men away, with the rest following closely behind him as they ran towards the kitchen.
.
On a sunny and breezy, uneventful morning, the senior apprentices were rubbing wooden boards and turning over the stove, while Yue Lang was drawing talismans on the side. Suddenly, they saw the courtyard gate slowly open. Everyone's eyes swept over and they saw that all the people who could work had arrived. Could it be that the wind blew it open?
The junior apprentice who was nearby went forward to close the door, then froze on the spot.
His senior sister called his name twice, then stepped forward and froze in place.
The entrance transformed into a stone carving room in an instant, and everyone who came booked a room. However, everyone kept their mouths shut and stood there without saying a word, which attracted the curiosity of others who came closer.
"Junior Sister Yan—"
Brother Hao's shout shattered everyone's pretense and amplified the effect, drawing everyone from sitting, lying down, and even sleeping over.
Meng Yan thus returned to her bustling and energetic life.
"Junior Sister Yan, you should rest a bit. If there's anything you absolutely have to do, let that kid do it for you. He's smart and quick to learn, and he can't just freeload off the valley, can he?"
Yue Lang nodded, then said happily, "I must say, this free meal is really delicious."
Everyone laughed, and others took it as a joke, but Meng Yan knew that every word was true. It seemed that Yue Lang had not suffered any more because of him during his time in the valley.
“You’ve all taken on the heavy work. I’ve been writing in the book every day. What’s so tiring about that?” Meng Yan put down his pen and stretched his wrists while replying. “Besides, what does a Taoist priest know about mechanisms? If he’s going to make future plans, does he want to starve?”
The senior brother clicked his tongue and said, "Well, such a big person, it turns out he's just a decoration."
Upon hearing this, Meng Yan chuckled for no apparent reason. If that's the case, it's quite a noisy decoration, practically a trumpet that makes noise without any wind.
Although this horn wasn't particularly skilled in mechanical contraptions, it was an exceptional talent for drawing. She gestured to indicate the size and described the needs, and Yue Lang quickly sketched a design on a piece of paper and handed it to her. Even in its rough form, the basic shape was still discernible.
When Meng Yan studied the structure further, he found that Yue Lang's grasp of details far surpassed his own. When he wrote something, if it was to be one inch long, he would not add an extra half inch. With that, why would he need a ruler?
With Yue Lang by their side, the two of them stayed up all night in the house. They often fell asleep halfway through their painting, and the next day their minds were foggy, and they could no longer keep up with the previous night's train of thought. But strangely enough, their thoughts would quietly drift back in the middle of the night, and the two of them had no choice but to endure their sleepiness and continue to work hard.
A detailed plan and a set of design drawings—these were Meng Yan's parting gifts to her senior classmates. They contained most of her ideas from recent years, enough to keep the institute's creations innovative for several more years. By then, the new students would have grown up, and someone would take over and continue writing.
She only told everyone this when she set off to leave the valley.
It was a cloudy day that blocked out the sun, with a gentle breeze, neither stuffy nor dry.
Yue Lang was used to delivering meals to Meng Yan's room. Even though she had recovered from her illness, she hadn't changed this habit. Except when they went out together, she still kept running to deliver meals every day.
Calculating his arrival time, Meng Yan changed his clothes early, opened the door, and leaned over the table, looking out, waiting for him to stride in so he could tell him his long-considered idea.
Yue Lang quickly slipped through the door carrying a food box, smiling as he asked her to guess today's menu. His hands moved constantly, placing stacks of bowls and plates on the table.
"Would you like to move with me outside the valley? We can find a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains, where you can draw talismans and I can make mechanisms. In our spare time, we can travel around to different places."
Out of the corner of his eye, Yue Lang was watching Meng Yan, hoping to see how many dishes she could guess correctly. However, after hearing her words, Yue Lang's hand holding the porridge went numb on the spot. Just as he was about to feed it to the table, it was steadily caught by another hand and gently placed in its proper place.
After holding it in for a long time, the porridge in front of him formed a crust, but Yue Lang still held his chopsticks and looked like he was thinking.
He completely forgot what had initially caused his daze; he just felt his mouth was dry and didn't want to touch the porridge in his bowl, or rather, he didn't dare to touch it.
The hand opposite him slowly reached out and tapped his right hand as if tickling it, "Extend if you want, or don't..."
While the person speaking was still choosing a suitable number, Yue Lang had already pointed back a finger and poked her index finger without hesitation.
Even though I didn't know what the problem was, a voice inside me kept urging me to say yes!
The two looked at each other, their fingertips touching.
In the blink of an eye, two figures appeared, one on the left and one on the right, enjoying the breeze by the door.
.
It happened to be a market day, and the narrow streets and alleys were packed with people. The shouts of vendors competed to fill the air. Some stalls didn't have any shouts, but people still crowded the road so tightly that it was impossible to pass through.
In the shady corner, two little children met and stared at the objects in each other's hands.
The young master, with a jade pendant at his waist and a piece of paper clutched in his hand, mustered his courage and asked, "How about exchanging this talisman for your little trick?"
The little girl was curious and stretched out her patched arm to take it when a man wearing a straw hat suddenly appeared from the roadside. He looked imposing and strong. His gaze swept over them and finally landed on the little thing in his hand.
"Girl, you'd be at a disadvantage if you took over. This machine is quite troublesome to build!" the man said, stopping her.
Another tall figure appeared, his right hand hidden in his sleeve, his left hand grabbing the ear of the straw hat and pulling it back: "You're neglecting your stall and getting involved in children's business here."
"What are you saying!" Straw Hat struggled, pointing at the talisman and mechanism in the child's hand, "Whose skill is stronger, Junior Sister Yan's or that brat Yue Lang's? Whose side are you on?"
Without a second thought, Yinxiu replied, "Then it's naturally Junior Sister Yan!"
"Would you trade that brat's talisman for the mechanism personally crafted by Junior Sister Yan?"
"We definitely won't change it!"
"That settles it then." Straw Hat covered his ears and hissed a few times. "I'm stopping market chaos. If I don't, they'll both be the same price."
The little girl bypassed him and exchanged items with the young master. She stuffed the talisman into his hand, patted it a few times, and a flame shot out. She blew on it, and the flame shrank back. She patiently explained to him, "But big brother, these two things are the same price! All the little friends play with them all the time! Big brother, have you never played with them before? Then this talisman is for you!"
The two little ones ran away laughing.
Two grown men: "..."
Forgot that Meng Yan and Yue Lang are now the same company, even their prices are exactly the same. They can just pick up any kid on the street and have them carry things made by them, cheap and fun.
"Let's go back to our stall. Otherwise, after a few years, we might not even earn as much as that kid left in the valley!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
