Chapter 34: Farewell

  Sheng Siyan responded with a sound, put away the book, and went to the inner room to soak in a hot bath.

  After washing, she cleaned up the house, but that basin of water had to wait for Wang's wife to come and deal with it.

  She is ten years old this year, but she still doesn't have enough strength and can't even lift a bucket of water.

  Furthermore, Wang also pitied her and wouldn't let her do such heavy labor, fearing that she would roughen her hands.

  Sheng Siyan always thought of herself as a village girl and wanted to exercise more, otherwise she would grow up in the future and not even be able to lift a bucket of water, really treating herself like a spoiled young lady. She found Wang's stubbornness somewhat amusing but also very touching.

  Having a mother like Wang is her good fortune. Although the family was poor, they still raised her as their precious daughter. ——Wang didn't know about the concept of "richly raising" a child, but she had been practicing it all along...

  Wang saw Sheng Siyan finish washing and came over to carry out the dirty water to pour it away, resting together with her.

  The next morning, Wang Shi and Sheng Siyan changed into plain clothes, wore white silver hairpins on their heads, each carrying a food box, rode in a small donkey cart, heading towards the capital city.

  For these four years, Wang relied on treating illnesses for the villagers and picking medicinal herbs in the mountains, drying them out and selling them to pharmacies in the city, and still managed to accumulate some silver money.

  The food at home is better than before, and a donkey cart has been added for transportation.

  Carts and ox carts were out of the question; they couldn't afford horses or oxen for the time being.

  The donkey cart is also good.

  Sheng Siyan is very good at being happy on her own.

  Half an hour later, they arrived in front of the Shen Nong Fu of the Sheng family.

  Just like every year for the past fifteen years, people have come here spontaneously to pay their respects.

  Five years ago, they also met Zheng Dainai here who came specifically for worship.

  But Zheng's grandmother seemed to have come only once and never came again.

  At least later when Sheng Siyan and others came again for worship, they did not see Zheng Dainai anymore.

  Wang took out the prepared dishes and wine from the food box, placed them on the ground, inserted three incense sticks, and knelt down with Sheng Siyan to worship.

  There were also many ordinary people around who knelt down and worshiped at the Temple of Shennong.

  Sheng Siyan quietly estimated that the local people here should be treating Shen Nong Fu as a temple of medicine, coming to worship with or without reason, burning incense, probably meaning "cure diseases when sick, prevent diseases when healthy"...

  Wang and Sheng Siyan kowtowed three times, just about to get up, when a man walked over, knelt down beside Wang, and also gave Shen Nong Fu three loud knocks on the head.

  Wang and Sheng Siyan were both startled.

  Wang's head turned sideways, staring at the man with a glare, just about to yell at him to go somewhere else to kneel and worship, not disturbing her and her mother. Suddenly seeing the person's profile clearly, she involuntarily let out a low cry, covering her mouth with her hand, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

  Sheng Siyan had never seen Wang's flustered appearance before, and for a moment, she looked at him with great curiosity.

  The man's appearance was quite elegant, with a short mustache under his chin, slender eyebrows and clear eyes, fair skin, very gentle and refined, with an air of elegance. He wore a cyan-gray long shirt, which was somewhat worn out.

  "...... Niang, are you okay?" Sheng Siyan called out softly, using her hand to push Wang's arm.

  Wang's eyes snapped back into focus, and he let out a low murmur, muttering: "Seventh Master, you're back."

  The man turned his head, looked at Wang Shi, and smiled warmly, "What's wrong? I'm back, aren't I?" As he spoke, he looked at Sheng Siyan who was watching him and Wang Shi with great interest, and asked, "Is she... our daughter?"

  The Wang family's daughter-in-law trembled again, covering her face with a handkerchief and sobbing as she spoke a few words, roughly apologizing to this "Seventh Master" for not being able to give birth to a son.

  Sheng Siyan suddenly understood, and with a bright smile, she called out to the man in a crisp voice: "Dad!" Then she advised Wang Shi, "Mom, Dad is back now, you can have another child with him, a little brother for me!"

  The man burst out laughing and helped Wang up, nodding repeatedly: "That's right. As long as the green mountain is there, don't worry about not having firewood to burn. Since I'm back, of course, I won't let you two suffer again. —— These years, it's really been hard on you two."

  Wang finally calmed down and said softly: "......not hard."

  "...it's very tiring!"

  "Stop spouting nonsense in front of Father!" Wang shouted at Sheng Siyan.

  "What's wrong with me?!" Sheng Siyan glared at Wang Shi, "Mother, we really did have a very hard time..."

  Sheng Siyan's black eyes rolled around, as if she wanted to tell Wang Shi: "This is your man, you have the obligation to coax him! He has the obligation to take care of us mother and daughter! You've suffered, you must let him know, otherwise all that suffering would be in vain. Of course, even if you hadn't suffered, after so many years of not seeing each other, exaggerating a bit wouldn't hurt. It's also the romantic interest between husband and wife..."

  The man smiled and pulled Sheng Siyan closer to examine her carefully, asking: "You're already ten years old this year, right?"

  Sheng Siyan nodded, "Ten years old."

  Perhaps due to the father-daughter bond, Sheng Siyan didn't feel any strangeness towards this man. She naturally linked her arm with his and whispered, "Dad, where have you been all these years? I thought..."

  "Why?"

  "I thought I was fatherless..." Sheng Siyan said with a hint of embarrassment, sticking out her tongue slightly.

  The man burst out laughing and patted her head, saying: "You kid, you're really good at talking nonsense!"

  Wang looked at the father-daughter duo, who didn't seem to have any estrangement between them, and immediately became familiar with each other. He also felt a bit awkward and said with a smile: "Let's talk about it when we get back. It's been so many years since we last saw each other, Seventh Master, how have you been?"

  The man was about to speak when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

  That chill was so obvious that even Sheng Siyan, who had always been resistant to cold and heat, couldn't help but shiver.

  What's going on? Is it going to snow?

  Sheng Siyan raised her head and looked at the sky.

  The sky is still bright and clear, although it's December, but there is no sign of snow.

  In the next moment, Sheng Siyan understood the source of that chill.

  Because she saw a man in black clothes, quietly, as if he had emerged from the ground, standing beside her father Sheng Qiye.

  The chill was emanating from the man himself.

  The man looked young, with a Qinglong crown on his head, adorned with a black pearl as large as an egg. His hair was combed up by the crown and hung down to his shoulders. A few strands of black hair fell across his forehead, scattered between his eyebrows, making his skin appear extremely pale, almost translucent. His eyebrows were long and black, with sharp ends that seemed like the edge of a knife. His eyes were slightly sunken, which made his nose bridge look even higher and more straight.

  Sheng Siyan couldn't help but stare at the man's nose again. That nose was as if drawn with a ruler, it was really too straight, truly "add one point and it would be long, subtract one point and it would be wide".

  No matter what kind of person you are, as long as you have a straight and pretty nose, you will definitely not be ugly.

  What's more, this man has not only a perfect nose, but also clear and distinct eyebrows, deep and long eyes, and a pair of pale thin lips, but the shape of his lips is flawless.

  The whole set of five senses is even more breathtakingly beautiful.

  In everyone's eyes, it is like a rainbow spanning the sky, a white rainbow spanning the day, making people dizzy and fascinated.

  He seemed to notice that Sheng Siyan was looking at him. His dark eyes turned around and then returned, looking at Sheng Qiye, opening his lips and saying: "Sheng Qiye, then I'll go back."

  His voice was low and smooth, like high-quality velvet, very comfortable to listen to.

  How can there be such a person? Truly from top to bottom, from inside to outside, everything is beautiful...

  Sheng Siyan sighed inwardly and turned her head to look elsewhere.

  As expected, the people in front of Shen Nong Fu were all staring blankly at the black-clothed man, seemingly shocked by his beauty.

  Sheng Qiye nodded, "Young Master Zhou can go back first. I'll visit your mansion another day." He said, cupping his hands together in a gesture of respect.

  Sheng Siyan heard the four words "Zhou Daguizi" and suddenly turned his head, staring intently at that person.

  The man seemed to notice Sheng Siyan's repeated gaze, slightly impatient, nodded towards Sheng Qiye, turned around and made a few leaps, his black robe sleeves fluttering in the wind like a giant black bat, quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.

  The cold feeling in front of Shen Nong Fu suddenly disappeared.

  Sheng Siyan pulled Sheng Qiye and asked: "Dad, who is that person?"

  "He is Zhou Huai Xuan. The eldest young master of the Zhou Manor." Sheng Qi Ye said with a sigh, watching as the man's back disappeared from view.

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  The female lead in this article is Sheng Siyan, as written in the introduction. Don't get it wrong. o(╯□╰)o

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