Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 561 Children's Affairs
"Not idle, but greedy." Xu Chuo said.

"Come and eat if you're hungry. Grandma has been waiting for you." The old woman's smile was full of pampering. She took the tongs from Pei Ye's hand, picked out two good bones, and without weighing them, brought them to them on a table next to the stove.

"I thought you were not busy now that the twelfth lunar month had come and I saw you coming so often."

"I've only come here twice." Xu Chuo smiled.

"Oh, in the past it took several months or half a year to see each other again." The old woman complained.

"I've been staying at the old house these days." Xu Chuo said, "I go out for a walk every day, but I can't find a lot of food."

"Alas, how can a few stalls stay open for a lifetime? They are all small businesses, and they will be gone if they are affected by a little trouble."

"Yes, the world is full of storms and it is difficult to be a stable person."

The old woman turned her gaze to Pei Ye again, looked him up and down carefully, and smiled: "Younger, you haven't come here with anyone for a long time. Usually you only want a little more than half a catty... Younger, you are teaching in that university, is this the only good friend you have?"

Pei Ye didn't know what to say. Xu Chuo broke the steamed bun and said with a smile: "People in Shengqianfang are full of evil minds. They are afraid of polluting the place of mother-in-law. Only he is stupid and has nothing to do with it."

"Oh, you are talking nonsense." The old woman glared at her and then looked at Pei Ye, "What a handsome and intelligent young man - you must not lower yourself to her level."

Pei Ye smiled but said nothing. Now that his food and accommodation were provided by others, how could he dare to have any opinions?

"I won't bother you anymore. Eat slowly and don't worry about the time."

The old woman left. Pei Ye looked at Xu Chuo's bowl and followed her example, breaking off two pieces of steamed bun into the soup. Then he scooped a spoonful of chili and mixed it in, and he got a bowl of red beef soup steamed bun.

To be honest, the food in Chang'an is similar to the Shaolong style, but Pei Ye has never eaten this combination. The table is not big, and the two of them are sitting close to each other. The woman opposite the hot steam holds the bowl with both hands, dealing with this bowl of delicious soup seriously, and the tip of her nose is red from the steam.

Pei Ye indeed felt that the woman who came to this old house was not the same person as the "Tong Jun" mentioned by others, just as she no longer wore those elegant clothes and rarely put on any makeup.

"This lady said you haven't come here with anyone for a long time." Pei Ye chewed his steamed bun, "Did the owner come here with anyone last time?"

Xu Chuo swallowed the food in his mouth, raised his eyes and looked at him with a smile: "Do you mind that you are not the first one?"

"..." How strange, Pei Ye thought, "Why should I mind?"

"Then what are you asking?"

"..."

"You have your good friends, and I have my good friends too." Xu Chuo stopped teasing him and drank a sip of soup, "Last time, I came here with Sister Si Si, and it's been quite a while."

"Sister Sisi?" Pei Ye was stunned. He had never heard that the woman had such a good friend... In fact, he had never known that the woman had any "good friends". When the old woman mentioned the word "good partner", his eyes widened, and he felt that the woman seemed to be born to stand there outstandingly.

"Yes, I mentioned this to you before." Xu Chuo carefully disassembled the cow bones, "We completed the first draft of "Swing Rope" together."

"Oh, she is..." Pei Ye didn't know whether it was appropriate to inquire about someone's close friend, and he didn't know where to start.

"She," Xu Chuo paused, "is two years older than me. She is very gentle and knows a lot about poetry and books. When I was a child, I studied with her and always asked her for advice."

Pei Ye stood in awe: "She really knows a lot... Doesn't that mean she is also proficient in all five classics?"

"She was one year older than me, but one year younger than me. She read all the Five Classics when she was eleven." Xu Chuo smiled. "Are you curious about her? I'll show you her 'deeds' when we get back to the old house. Before I introduce you to her, I'll let you get to know her first."

In fact, Pei Ye couldn't be said to be very curious, but he had few opportunities to get to know this woman. These days, they studied together by the pond in Tianli Temple and got along like a pair of friends. Pei Ye was actually willing to chat with her.

After eating a pot of beef bones and baked buns, it turned out that Pei Ye had eaten more than three pounds. Xu Chuo put the money on the table, said goodbye, and the two of them went out the small door.

As soon as I lifted the heavy curtain, the heat on my face dissipated in a breath or two, and when I touched it again, it was cold.

When the night frost first falls, the so-called Peach Blossom Alley is named after the several large old peach trees on the side of the road. In spring, it must have been a large cluster of delicate pink flowers, but now only dense dry branches are left.

"Guess which one here is the oldest?" Xu Chuo wrapped himself tightly in his cloak, with only his head sticking out.

Pei Ye looked and found that none of the trees looked young. Not only were they strong, but the bark was also wrinkled like iron. He looked for a long time and pointed to the one with the densest branches.

"You are wrong. It is the smallest and crooked one." Xu Chuo smiled and pointed with a finger from the seam of his clothes. "This one has lived at least twenty years longer than the others. In fact, trees do not necessarily grow taller and taller. Sometimes, like people, they get shorter as they get older."

Pei Ye looked at her.

Xu Chuo raised his eyebrows slightly: "What?"

"Hmm? I thought you were going to say something... profound."

"The high theory is that when Pei Shaoxia writes poems in the future, he can use this as an image."

“…We’ll talk later.”

The woman really knew this old alley very well. Even though it was now closed, she knew clearly which shop sold wine and which sold noodles, which shop made the most delicious pastries, and which shop had made sugar figurines with more than ten years of craftsmanship.

Pushing open the door of the old house, the night was deep and silent, but the moonlight was very clear and the courtyard was bright. After Xu Chuo entered the door, she stood there with a smile on her face. When Pei Ye looked at her blankly, she raised her hand and pointed to the top of the gate.

"The small words on top were written when Sister Si was ten years old."

Pei Ye stared at it - it was indeed a delicate carving that could not be seen without using his true energy. It said: "Order the door gods to allow Sisi and Xixi to come in and out freely at any time, and to ensure that Miss Qi will not hear them if they return late."

It was indeed a bit crooked, but it was not because the carver could not write, but because he was too weak. In the end, he drew a very complicated symbol - Pei Ye recognized this one, which can be seen in Taoist temples. It is a talisman for praying for children.

Pei Ye was really amused by this trace, and he laughed, "This is too high, how did you climb up there?"

"It was her idea. I was very obedient at that time." Xu Chuo said, "I held the ladder for her from below, and she carved on tiptoe. After she came down, her arms were sore for the whole day."

"Your idea is too crooked." Pei Ye laughed, "If I were there at that time, I would have stolen the key and made a copy for you, and I would have been the door god myself."

"It's a pity that I didn't recognize Mr. Pei at that time."

Pei Ye raised his head.

"But fifteen years ago, Young Master Pei seemed to be less than three years old. Has he learned not to wet the bed?"

"..."

The two of them walked towards the courtyard, and Xu Chuo said with a serious expression, "In fact, it was her idea to use the 'sword' as a weapon to defeat the One Day Theory."

Pei Ye was surprised. "We looked through the World Sword Book for a long time, and finally decided to ask Senior Yue Muzhou to do this." Xu Chuo said, "She said he is a swordsman who can grasp the essence of the sword."

"I have been helping you think along these lines." Xu Chuo wrapped his cloak around his waist and said seriously, "Although I don't understand swords, I think if a sword can really transcend Haotian, you have to grasp its true meaning, grasp the 'sword' itself, in order to control this power on your body."

"Miss Cui's [Sword Form]?"

"I think it should be just a performance." Xu Chuo strolled and spoke slowly, "It may not be the 'sword' itself, but you can trace it back to the true meaning you need. In other words, you have to master that essence before you can use the so-called [Sword State]."

Pei Ye was silent, thinking quietly.

It is not an easy task to pursue something that one does not know whether it really exists or not. They have discussed many times, big and small, about what it will ultimately look like.

Xu Chuo stopped again and pointed to the garden, saying, "Do you see that pear tree? Its lower branches have all been cut off. It's almost becoming a poplar tree."

Pei Ye had indeed noticed that the branches of pear trees usually grow low, and their flowers bloom in a large cluster like those of apple trees. However, this tree was already very tall, but the lower two-thirds of its branches had been cut off, which looked both funny and strange.

"Why, did she do this too?" Pei Ye said.

"That's about right." Xu Chuo smiled. "In the summer we wanted to pick pears to make tea, and she insisted that the pears that grew higher up were sweeter. When I felt better I followed her instructions and climbed up to pick them, and then planted them."

"..."

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"Later, she was beaten and I was scolded. The most innocent one was the pear tree, which was also chopped down so that it could no longer be climbed."

Pei Ye was silent: "Didn't you say she was gentle?"

"Well... everyone has two sides." Xu Chuo smiled and looked at him, "Do you think I'm gentle or not?"

"..." Pei Ye actually understood a little bit. Just like you can't say that the woman in front of you is not gentle, but it doesn't feel right to say that she is gentle.

"'The Swing' is our most magnificent masterpiece. It is actually my dream. We have worked hard together for almost three years. Sister Sisi ran around looking for books before we finally completed a naive first draft." Xu Chuo looked at him, "You are not very reliable. You didn't come even though you made an appointment. I think I will be the only one to finish writing this storybook in the end."

If Piao Qing had said this, it would have sounded coquettish, but from the woman's mouth it sounded like a casual chat or even a joke. She was speaking seriously, but did not seem to have any emotion in what she was saying. There was only a faint atmosphere surrounding her.

Pei Ye just pursed her lips and pretended not to hear.

"Since it's mentioned today, I'll just tell you about it." Xu Chuo said, "You'll continue reading "Yili" tomorrow. After you finish reading it, you should be able to face that problem. We'll see how things turn out after we finish. If it goes as expected, there will be another hurdle. At that time, I want you to read Sister Si Si's research on the matter, and see if you can study Zhu Wen's "Heaven and Earth Crucible" technique... That's probably all I can do."

Tomorrow will indeed be the fifth day.

"Have you figured it out yet? Why?"

"The first thing is to use etiquette to regulate the mind. I think this is the reason why Zhu Wen asked you to read this book. Once a complete heart-to-heart talk is written, you should be able to see yourself more clearly. You just need to face the next heart-to-heart talk. As for what happens next, it is my inference and guess, so we can talk about it later."

"it is good."

"I won't be going to Tianliyuan tomorrow. I'll be sorting out some writings here. When you come back in the evening, go to mother-in-law's place and bring me another portion of beef bone steamed buns."

"If you don't go, who will teach me the Book of Rites?"

"Let the kitten pass on the message then."

"Oh."

Xu Chuo went back to the courtyard to sleep, but Pei Ye still came to the library in the night, lit a small candle, and opened the articles and books that he had not finished reading. He was now used to sleeping only two hours a day.

The fifth day passed as usual. Pei Ye walked through the streets in the moonlight and looked to the north. He saw the majestic and dark Suzaku Gate, the stone tablet with the blood wiped off, and the vast and boundless Dongjiantai.

Some people on the street were pointing at it and saying something. Pei Ye withdrew his gaze and left the street.

In Taohua Alley, it was still the old woman's store. Pei Ye lifted the curtain and walked in: "Hello, grandma. I want four pounds of beef bones and three portions of baked buns. I want to divide them into two portions to take away... Can I lend you a basket?"

"Okay." The old woman smiled, "I'll find you a clay pot to put some soup in."

"That's perfect."

"Are you busy today, little one?"

"...Busy, she's busy every day." Pei Ye said, pausing, "Have you always called her Xiao'er?"

The old woman laughed, "Yes, the big one and the small one are running around in the alley every day, chirping. If you don't call her the little one, what else would you call her? What would you call her?"

"...Master Xu."

"She also has a nickname. You can try calling her by that name next time." The old woman smiled and carefully wrapped the filled jar with cotton cloth.

Pei Ye watched her do it, leaning on the table and curiously asked: "Mother-in-law, what is the relationship between this Sister Si and Master Xu? Do they live together?"

"I don't know what the relationship is, anyway, they are both children of the prime minister's mansion, and they are very good friends." The old woman said with a smile, handed the wrapped earthenware jar to the boy, and earnestly reminded him, "It will be cold on the way back, so when you get home, light a fire and heat it up before giving it to her. The youngest girl has a chronic illness and can't eat cold food."

"Well, I know..." Pei Ye took it subconsciously, but was suddenly startled, "Mother-in-law, why does Master Xu have a root of illness?"

"Alas, it was probably because it fell that night. How could a child withstand such a cold rain?" The old woman sighed.

Pei Ye was stunned: "What?"

"Why, don't you know?"

"…know what?"

"Back then, Prime Minister Xu was murdered by a villain, and his residence was searched and confiscated. Sisi was arrested and taken to the music school, where he died the night before." The old woman sighed, "This child has a strong temper. People say he refuses to be humiliated."

"..."

"It was already the 15th month of the lunar calendar, and it was raining heavily that night. The youngest son dragged the body back from the music school by himself. The next day we saw her fainted at the gate of the prime minister's residence. She was so small, her body was covered with wounds from being strangled and rubbed. She almost froze to death." The old woman murmured, "I heard that she is now teaching at the university. She has finally made it through."

"...But, but, didn't she say last night when she came here," Pei Ye paused, "that she came with someone last time, that Sister Si Si, and it's been a long time..."

He froze.

"Yeah, it's been a long time...it was ten years ago."

(End of this chapter)