Returning to the small town to pick up the horse-drawn carriage, Yun Qingyue had not yet reached the beach upon arriving back at the fishing village when she saw black smoke rising from the direction of her little courtyard far off in the distance. A jolt of panic shot through her heart—could Li Lianhua have been discovered? Had his enemies tracked him down?
Frightened out of her wits, she leaped straight down from the carriage and sprinted toward the courtyard. Reaching the place at last, Yun Qingyue stood breathless at the doorway, utterly unable to believe her eyes. What on earth was she looking at?
Was this person covered from head to toe in soot, dust, and wood chips really the cleanliness-obsessed Li Lianhua? Wasn't he the type who wouldn't let a single speck of dust touch his person?
What in the world had happened today? Covered in wood shavings and smeared with soot, his once-impeccable clothes were not only filthy, but had actually been burned through with several small holes!
At that exact moment, Li Lianhua, who was coughing from the smoke, turned his head at the sound... and thus, the two of them found themselves locked in a magnificent, speechless staring contest.
Unable to help herself a moment longer, Yun Qingyue squatted straight down, buried her face in her arms, and burst into unrestrained laughter that made her entire body tremble. Li Lianhua had no time to destroy the evidence; his thoroughly bedraggled state had been taken in fully by the young girl before him.
Embarrassed, he looked somewhat helplessly at the person who was currently laughing with zero regard for her image. This truly felt different from his previous states of disarray—this was the kind of social death that really got to you.
At that moment, Li Lianhua only wanted to cover his face and bolt! And so, the man who thought this way acted accordingly. After washing up and emerging renewed, the youth pretended nothing had happened as he looked over at the person who had migrated to the stone table and was still laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face.
After a moment of silence, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and muttered, "Well, I originally wanted to cook a meal so it'd be ready for you as soon as you got back. I just didn't expect that this stove—cough—would be so hard to use!"
Yun Qingyue, who had been on the verge of letting out another round of mockery, was instantly touched. How was it that the more time she spent with this man, the more wonderful she found him to be? An ancient man, famous in his youth, and once the supreme master of a great sect—how could he possibly be this good?!
Even as she was moved to the depths of her soul, Yun Qingyue secretly blamed herself. The videos had all said he couldn't cook, yet after all this time, it had never occurred to her to learn how to cook together with him.
If the System suddenly returned and she had to leave, what would he do by himself?! Fortunately, Li Lianhua had found out on his own, and since she happened to have been planning to learn this skill anyway, she might as well start today.
Composing her expression, Yun Qingyue said earnestly, "It's my fault, too; I never thought about this issue. Starting today, let's learn together. I don't know how to do this either, I've only ever seen it done."
Having said this, Yun Qingyue felt too shy to look at Li Lianhua. Her gaze drifted randomly before she suddenly felt as though something was missing—no wait, she seemed to have forgotten something!
Right on cue, the patter of horse hooves sounded from outside, and the dull thud of wagon wheels rolling against the ground jogged Yun Qingyue's memory. "Oh no, my carriage! My things!"
Before she had even straightened up properly, Yun Qingyue watched as Li Lianhua—who had already reached the entrance—led the carriage forward, and she was once again struck by the unreasonableness of the martial arts world! Ah, forget about worldview, forget about physics—just throw them all away and forget it!
In contrast, Li Lianhua stepped back inside, a genuine smile on his face as he remarked, "These two horses have really been spoiled. What on earth have you been feeding them? They've actually learned how to recognize the way home!"
Yun Qingyue gave a wave of her small hand, and a woven sack materialized on the ground. "This right here is the special feed from where we're from. It's nutritionally balanced and tastes great, so it's only natural they miss it! Mix a little bit into their feed every day from now on—it's a reward for being good boys! There, I'm handing this over to you, so you're in charge of them from now on!"
Yun Qingyue knew that this man genuinely liked the two horses. Ever since his health recovered, he had taken over the job of washing and brushing them himself. So she simply decided to let him handle everything to do with them.
Sure enough, Li Lianhua picked up the sack happily. "Don't you worry, I'll take good care of them. But is this feed going to be enough? If you know the formula, I could try making some!"
Yun Qingyue shook her head. "I only know roughly what's in it, not the exact recipe. The ingredients they have here aren't enough to mix it together."
Watching Li Lianhua sigh with regret, Yun Qingyue mentally praised herself: *It's one thing that you wreak havoc on humans and dogs, but these two horses cost a pretty penny when I bought them, so let's not torture them!*
Better go learn how to cook: "You tidy up and feed the horses; I'm going to go make dinner!"
She heard Li Lianhua's muffled voice drifting from the back courtyard: "Just sit and wait for a moment, I'll be right there!"
Wait for him??? Having witnessed his divine operations firsthand, Yun Qingyue shook her head—she had better try it herself; burning down the house would not be a good look!
For her first time performing a task, Yun Qingyue had at least seen people use wood-burning stoves close up, so copying the basics should be possible... right?
Yun Qingyue took out ten catties of dried noodles, two catties of fresh noodles, a basket each of potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes, two or three varieties of leafy greens, and loaded long and short green beans into another basket. More than ten catties of fatty pork and a basket of eggs were each placed in their respective spots. She also brought out all the necessary kitchen seasonings, oil, salt, and so on.
Then she set to work plucking vegetables, peeling, washing, and chopping—all the prep work. Yun Qingyue decided to make braised noodles, accompanied by an egg drop soup and cold tossed green beans!
Yun Qingyue was not some pampered young miss who had never lifted a finger. While she couldn't claim mastery over all eight major regional cuisines, everyday home cooking and common dishes were well within her abilities; her parents back home had been very thorough teachers.
An overachiever was an overachiever; even if she fell somewhat short of a pure genius, she picked things up very quickly. After trying twice, she successfully lit the fire without a hitch on the third attempt, and Yun Qingyue began humming a little tune happily.
First, she rendered the fatty pork down into lard, leaving only a bit of base oil and about a catty of meat in the wok while pouring the rest into a jar, and then she officially began cooking!
Li Lianhua, lured in by the aroma, walked into the kitchen just as Yun Qingyue was dropping the noodles into the pot. He wore a look of utter disbelief and accusation: "Didn't you say you'd never cooked with this before?"
Could she really be this formidable on her first try? Was he just that dense? Plagued by a touch of self-doubt, Li Lianhua stared intently at Yun Qingyue's movements, completely unsure of what expression to wear!
Yun Qingyue looked back at him with an expression of pure innocence. "I've seen it done, you know. I actually know how to cook; I just haven't used a clay stove before, but I've watched other people use them! I'll tell you what to do, so you can help out too!"
Before long, Yun Qingyue's soft, gentle voice drifted through the kitchen as she slowly instructed Li Lianhua on how to tend the fire and add the oil... An hour later, the two of them finally sat down to their evening meal just before dark!
They glanced at each other and began to eat. At that moment, Li Lianhua exuded an air of absolute triumph. "I'm pretty amazing too, aren't I? Hurry up and drink some soup first, taste my handiwork—this cold dish isn't bad either!" As he spoke, he even used his chopsticks to pick up a morsel and place it in Yun Qingyue's bowl!
Yun Qingyue wanted to say: *Big brother, I literally held your hand and taught you every step of this!* But she held it in; when a child does something good, they need praise.
And so, she ate the dish he had picked out for her, took a sip of the soup, and found that it really was quite good. She couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up. "So impressive! For your very first time cooking, you made it taste this good—you're an absolute genius! You're a martial arts genius and a culinary genius too, simply wonderful! Eat up, eat up before it gets cold!"
Li Lianhua began to eat with a face full of smiles, looking so happy that the joy seemed visible even outside the front gate. Truly, no matter how formidable he would become later in life, right now he was still just a youth, a far cry from the old fox portrayed in the videos. Time and circumstances really did forge entirely different lives!
Yun Qingyue thought to herself that if time hadn't shaped the Li Lianhua of the videos, then letting the person before her remain a passionate, happy Li Lianhua forever would be without any regrets at all.
Next came figuring out how to tell him about Dan Gudao, the Gene Repair Fluid, and the System tasks.
Or perhaps she should only mention the events of the show and leave the rest unsaid. Without a guaranteed future, it wouldn't be fair to someone who had only just found stability!
Having made up her decision, Yun Qingyue tucked into her meal with gusto. Perhaps she was ravenously hungry, or perhaps food cooked with one's own hands genuinely tasted better, but in any case, the two of them successfully stuffed themselves into a food coma once again.
After clearing away the table, the two of them embarked on their usual digestion routine—digestive tea, casual chat, and a stroll, all in one go!
The two of them were uncharacteristically quiet today. Yun Qingyue, having unburdened her mind, had decided to properly teach Li Lianhua survival skills. Li Lianhua felt that ever since dinner had started, this girl who was usually so full of energy had become somehow different.
He felt a vague sense of unease, wondering whether he should ask her what was wrong. Not naturally skilled at dealing with girls to begin with, he found himself somewhat dazed and at a loss.
"I'm going to go rest. Tomorrow, you can have the villagers come over to trade their things. I've already prepared everything for today; I even exchanged lots of small silver pieces and copper coins! Tomorrow morning I'll take them all out and lay them out. Starting tomorrow, we'll cook all our meals ourselves, and we'll learn to make all sorts of different foods together! Tomorrow I also want to ask around for someone who knows how to make clothes and do embroidery; I want to learn that too!" Yun Qingyue spoke with such relaxed ease that Li Lianhua felt an even deeper sense that something was wrong.
Yet, not knowing what had happened, he decided he had better observe a little longer. Let's see what this girl gets up to these next few days, analyze the situation, and then decide how best to ask!
And so, Li Lianhua nodded in agreement. "Alright, that's what I was thinking too. Tomorrow I'll go ask the village chief to find someone with good needlework skills to teach you. We won't learn for free—we'll pay tuition!"
"What do you mean, teach *me*? We're both going to learn, all right? At the very least, you need to learn how to mend clothes! The worst-case scenario is I learn it first and then teach you!" Listen to the sheer audacity of those words! Li Lianhua was utterly shocked when he heard that—why on earth would he need to learn that kind of thing?
All right, that settled it: Li Lianhua was now even more certain that something was wrong with Yun Qingyue. This person had made him learn how to cook, made him learn how to mend clothes, handed all the horses over to his management, and was now cooperating so eagerly with his trade efforts with the villagers.
Li Lianhua remembered that during the period when she was detoxifying him, she had been the one most afraid of trouble, using whatever was ready-made rather than lifting a finger herself! Why did this whole situation feel just like the time his former master's wife was about to leave for a period and gave her instructions to his master and their fellow disciples?
Leave??? At that word, Li Lianhua stopped in his tracks, shocked and rooted to the spot. Why on earth had that thought popped into his head?
Yueyue had said she didn't know anyone else here, and that she had come here specifically for him—how could she possibly leave? Where could she go if she left? The pugilistic world was so dangerous, where on earth would she want to go? The Bicha Poison was already cured, so why did his chest ache a little right now?
Suddenly feeling someone give him a shove, Li Lianhua snapped back to his senses. Reflexively, he grabbed the hand that had pushed him and blurted out anxiously, "What's wrong? What happened? Where are you going?"
"Have you gone mad? I called you several times and you didn't make a sound. I said, I'm going to sleep, and you go rest quickly too! Did you hear me? Hmph, big dummy!" With that, Yun Qingyue shook off Li Lianhua's hand and turned away in a huff!
Still in a daze, Li Lianhua mechanically lay down on the bed, continuously replaying all their conversations in his mind. She had said *your* place and *our* place, how she had accidentally ended up here, how she knew everything about him, along with all those unfamiliar foods, the unseen motorhome, and the equipment inside... Thinking of this, Li Lianhua bolted upright with a start.
That was it—Yueyue wasn't from this world at all. She had never tried to hide it; it was simply that his former self hadn't paid attention or noticed.
He really had been too careless to figure out such an important matter only now. She had said she didn't know when she would leave—did that mean there were certain conditions she had to meet in order to go? That was why she had agreed to let his master and mistress take her as an adoptive daughter, and why she had agreed to travel through the martial arts world with him.
So now that she was starting to teach him these skills, did that mean she had found a way to leave? No, he had to ask her clearly! Striding to the door and pulling it open, Li Lianhua stopped once again.
How should he bring it up? Should he just say he had guessed all her secrets? Demand that she explain herself? Putting aside the fact that Yueyue had already gone to sleep, even under normal circumstances asking like that would still get him a scolding!
Besides, since Yueyue knew everything, did she also know about Senior Apprentice Brother's matters? And if so, could they find Senior Apprentice Brother's remains?
He would first ask Yueyue whether she could still come back after leaving, or stay a little longer, and then ask Yueyue to wait for him so he could properly lay Senior Apprentice Brother's remains to rest and accompany his master and mistress for a while.
After explaining everything to them and asking their forgiveness, he would follow Yueyue and leave with her! He had finally managed to reclaim a younger sister; he couldn't just let her disappear like that!
Li Lianhua raised a hand to rub his chest. What on earth was wrong with today? Why did his heart feel so heavily blocked and uncomfortable?
Starting tomorrow, he would definitely keep this girl within his line of sight and observe her carefully. Then he'd find an opportunity to talk and clear the air!