CH 70

translator: baumkuchen

After that day’s outing, Lu Qingjiu originally thought that the dragon would come find him again and tell him more, but for a long time afterwards, he didn’t hear anything about him, with only Bai Yuehu occasionally updating him, saying that the dragon had already fled Shuifu village and there was no sign of him around. 

Lu Qingjiu thought a lot about what that “leave” he’d written in his hand could mean, but no matter how many guesses he had, there was no one to give him a satisfactory answer.

It was flourishing springtime, so the trees in the courtyard were covered with leaves once more. The lush green grape vines wound around the trellis, covering half the courtyard, blocking the sun and casting a dark shadow, preparing a cool refuge from the sweltering summer in advance.

Yin Xun’s birthday was a month after Lu Qingjiu’s, in the middle of April. 

Everyone said “in peach-mirrored streams, mandarin fish grow plump”. April was when the peach blossoms were in full bloom, and the mandarin fishes were fat. In order to celebrate Yin Xun’s birthday, Lu Qingjiu went to town early in the morning and bought a fat mandarin fish, as well as ingredients for dishes they didn’t usually eat and were a little more complicated to make, planning on giving Yin Xun a grand birthday celebration. 

The cake of course needed to be personally made. This time, Lu Qingjiu planned on making a durian mille crepe cake. Before he’d come here, Yin Xun and Bai Yuehu practically seemed to have never had any exotic fruits before. Yin Xun seriously explained that he had two main reasons as to why he’d never had durian before.

“Which two?” Lu Qingjiu asked.

“One, because durians are on the expensive side,” Yin Xun said sadly, “Two, because I’m on the poorer side.”

Lu Qingjiu, “……” What kind of days had his pitiful son been living.

Lu Qingjiu bought an entire durian back home. He didn’t even throw away the skin, planning on using it to use it to stew with chicken. The durian flesh revealed had a unique, pungent fragrance. He casually fed Bai Yuehu, who was standing nearby, watching, a piece.

Bai Yuehu accepted the piece of durian. His eyebrows furrowed slightly. Yin Xun also tried a little piece. The expression he made was similar to Bai Yuehu’s, both looking rather serious. It was unclear whether they liked it or not.

Lu Qingjiu asked, “Do you like it?” After all, there were some people who just couldn’t get used to durian. Those who liked it, liked it very much, while those who didn’t wouldn’t even want to touch it.

“How much is it per jin?” Yin Xun asked in a small voice. 

Lu Qingjiu, “This one is more than five hundred.”

Yin Xun’s expression instantly changed. “I like it! Let me eat some more!” This wasn’t a bad smell at all, it was the fragrance of RMB.

A helpless expression appeared on Lu Qingjiu’s face as he said if they didn’t like it, there was no need to force themselves, he could make another flavour of mille crepe cake, mango actually tasted pretty good……

But after hearing the price of durian, Yin Xun and Bai Yuehu both insisted with serious expressions on their faces that they’d never tasted such a delicious fruit before, making it so that Lu Qingjiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. 

In the courtyard, the ten chickens they’d bought had turned to twelve, mainly because they’d eaten a lot. As Lu Qingjiu planned out the menu, feeling that they’d had a little too much stewed chicken, simply decided to make steamed chicken. There was also Yin Xun’s favourite sweet and sour ribs and fish with pickled vegetables. For those, he made as much as he possibly could. After all, they had Bai Yuehu here, so there was no need to fear not being able to finish everything.

Aera jr Oe Hlcuple kjr qijcclcu ab mjii Djl Tefte ab afii tlw ab yglcu yjmx rbwf nfufajyifr ogbw atf olfiv, tf tfjgv atf tewwlcu bo j mjg fculcf ogbw atf vbbg, jr lo rbwfbcf kjr qjgxlcu ja atf fcagjcmf ab atflg tberf.

Vegf fcbeut, wbwfcar ijafg, tf tfjgv atf rbecv bo xcbmxlcu ogbw atf mbegasjgv. Oe Hlcuple kfca ab ub bqfc atf vbbg, jcv kjr wfa klat Aleofcu, j ojmf atfs tjvc’a rffc lc j ibcu alwf, rwlilcu yjmx ja tlw.

“Qingjiu, long time no see,” Jiufeng greeted Lu Qingjiu enthusiastically. On her neck was still that necklace with eight human head pendants. Right after she finished greeting him, the eight heads began to fight each other for the right to say hello to Lu Qingjiu first. 

“Long time no see.” Lu Qingjiu noticed that there was another tall man wearing a black mask that only revealed his dark eyes standing behind Jiufeng. “Is there anything you need from me?”

“Bai Yuehu isn’t home?” Jiufeng asked.

“He’s gone off to the fields,” Lu Qingjiu said, “It’ll probably still be a while before he gets back.” His impression of Jiufeng, this lady, was rather good, so after a pause, he asked, “Do you want to go inside to wait for him?”

“Alright.” Jiufeng nodded happily. Then, she turned and pointed at the man standing behind her. “This is Shaohao. He’s here to look for Bai Yuehu for something.” 

The moment Lu Qingjiu heard the name Shaohao, he instantly understood. In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there was such a god. His full name was Shaohao, the White Emperor. The legends said that there five phoenixes took to the sky at the moment of his birth. He could control hundreds of birds, and where he lived, everything, whether it was grass, trees, rocks or animals, was covered in beautiful patterns. He was a very romantic god.

“You’re Lu Qingjiu, right?” Shaohao’s voice was very gentle. He seemed to be a good-tempered person. He walked up to stand next to Jiufeng, and reached out a hand to Lu Qingjiu. “I’ve long looked forward to meeting you.”

Lu Qingjiu had already gotten used to him being “heard of”. He reached and shook Shaohao’s hand, then invited the two into his courtyard.

There was still stuff cooking that couldn’t be left unmanaged, so Lu Qingjiu had Yin Xun get some snacks for the two to eat while he returned to the kitchen. 

“What did they come to our home for?” Yin Xun had always been very wary of strangers.

“I don’t know,” Lu Qingjiu said, “They seem to be here for Bai Yuehu.”

Yin Xun “oh”-ed, then brought out the snacks for the two people.

Out of the snacks, some had been bought from town, and some had been made by Lu Qingjiu, and they all tasted great. Upon seeing the snacks, Jiufeng began to salivate. Without bothering with pleasantries, she reached out and began eating. As she ate, she said to Shaohao, “Have a taste, it’s delicious.” 

Upon hearing this, Shaohao hesitated slightly, but seeing how happily Jiufeng was eating, he reached up and pulled off his mask. Only after the mask was removed did Yin Xun find that the bottom half of his face was inked with black patterns, almost entirely covering the bottom half of his face. These patterns were all incredibly beautiful, but with how they were inked onto his face, they made the person before him inexplicably seem a little more treacherous.

Yin Xun didn’t dare to look any longer, turning and leaving after putting down the snacks.

As Shaohao watched him leave, he asked, “He’s a mountain god?”

“Yep.” Jiufeng munched loudly on Lu Qingjiu’s sun-dried sweet potatoes. With a face full of satisfaction, she said, “He smells delicious, doesn’t he? Just like roulingzhi…… If only I could eat him.” It was just a pity that Bai Yuehu was watching. 

Shaohao smiled and said, “If you eat him, Bai Yuehu can add another dish to his dinner table.” If Jiufeng ate Yin Xun, Bai Yuehu probably wouldn’t let Jiufeng off.

Jiufeng blinked. “Isn’t that why I haven’t?”

Shaohao took another bite of dried sweet potato, no longer paying any more attention to Jiufeng.

When Bai Yuehu came back from the field, he brought with him a huge bunch of vegetables. On his head was a straw hat, and on his feet were rubber boots. No matter how you looked at him, he looked like a son of a farmer’s family. When he entered the courtyard and saw the two guests there, he didn’t greet them, rather going straight to the kitchen and handing the vegetables he was holding to Lu Qingjiu. 

“Your friends have come to see you,” Lu Qingjiu said.

“En.” Bai Yuehu’s attitude was very cold.

“They’re probably looking for you for something, right? I’ll handle things in the kitchen, you should go accompany them,” Lu Qingjiu said.

Bai Yuehu nodded and left. 

However, there had been something off about Bai Yuehu’s expression. Lu Qingjiu, finding this a little strange, raised his guard. When he was washing the vegetables, he moved over to a position closer to the window. The window just so happened to face right into the courtyard. Standing there, he could vaguely hear the conversation of the people outside.

“Yuehu, long time no see,” Shaohao said.

Bai Yuehu directly sat down across from Shaohao. “What’s going on?”

Shaohao said, “There’s a little issue on my side, do you want to accept this job?” 

Bai Yuehu, “No.”

Hearing Bai Yuehu refuse so decisively, Shaohao seemed a little surprised. He said, “I’m paying very well, you’re really not going to accept?”

“No,” Bai Yuehu said, “There’s no need to come look for me for this from now on.”

Shaohao, “……You’re really not doing it?” He sat up, staring at Bai Yuehu with a disbelieving look in his eyes. “This isn’t like you.” 

Bai Yuehu raised his chin slightly, a hint of pride appearing in his expression. “There’s no longer any need.”

Next to them, Jiufeng whispered, “I told you he’s doing really well now, and you won’t be able to get him to come, but you didn’t believe me.”

She then stuffed two more sweet potato slices in her mouth as she shed a sad tear. “Not at all like me, who never has an assured meal, after one meal, I never know when my next will be.”

Shaohao glanced over at the kitchen with a strange look on his face. Lu Qingjiu hurriedly ducked to the side, but he still felt like he’d been seen. These people’s conversation was so strange, what had Shaohao come to find Bai Yuehu for? No matter how he heard it, it sounded like someone trying to lure his family’s child out to work? The more Lu Qingjiu thought about it, the more he felt like something was wrong. He pricked up his ears, fearful of missing something. 

“From now on, there’s no need to come look for me,” Bai Yuehu said, “I’m not doing it anymore.”

Shaohao said, “Your standards of living have really gone up, huh. How about this, I’ll add another five hundred yuan……”

Bai Yuehu, “Five hundred?”

Shaohao, “It’s enough for you to have a meal of xiaolongbao.” 

Lu Qingjiu, eavesdropping behind him, was currently feeling a very complicated mix of emotions. What five hundred yuan, was this Shaohao really trying to give only five hundred yuan to get Bai Yuehu to work for him, was his family’s fox spirit someone who you could employ with just five hundred yuan? Don’t even talk about five hundred yuan, not even five thousand was enough.

But clearly, Bai Yuehu’s way of thinking didn’t seem to be quite like that of Lu Qingjiu’s. Lu Qingjiu actually sensed hesitation from his silence. Lu Qingjiu really couldn’t believe it, his family’s little expert farmer was actually being bewitched by five hundred yuan!

“So are you going?” Shaohao chewed on a nut as he asked again.

Bai Yuehu said, “I’ll think about it.” 

Lu Qingjiu really couldn’t keep listening any longer. He placed down the vegetable he was holding, stormed out of the kitchen and gave the three people chatting in the courtyard a fake smile. “What are you guys talking about?”

“He’s asking me to do something.” Bai Yuehu was unexpectedly very frank.

“Do what?” Lu Qingjiu truly couldn’t think of what thing you could ask Bai Yuehu to do for you for just five hundred yuan.

Seeing how Lu Qingjiu looked like he was protecting his child, Shaohao laughed. “Don’t worry, I was just asking him to help me eat something.” 

“Eat what?” Lu Qingjiu was like a parent watching his child being abducted, his gaze full of suspicion.

“A group of creatures known as Youyan  have appeared in my territory,” Shaohao said, “They’re hunting and killing my birds. Because there’s too many of them, dealing with them is a little troublesome, so I wanted to ask Bai Yuehu for some help.”

Lu Qingjiu asked, “How much are you offering?”

Shaohao said, “Usually it’s a thousand per favour, this time I’m adding another five hundred.” So it was one thousand five hundred.

Lu Qingjiu, “One thousand five hundred? Do these Youyan taste good?” He was asking Bai Yuehu.

Bai Yuehu shook his head. “Incredibly disgusting.”

Lu Qingjiu, “How is it compared to the corpse of the Rain Master’s Concubine?”

Bai Yuehu considered it for a moment. “Slightly better.” He paused for a moment, then added, “At least the meat is soft.” 

A pitying look directed at Bai Yuehu appeared on Lu Qingjiu’s face. What kind of life had his family’s fox spirit been living…… 

Shaohao, clearly already seeing that Lu Qingjiu was Bai Yuehu’s food provider, waved his hand a little helplessly. “Alright, I know you won’t let him do it, but at least let me bum lunch off you.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “Alright. Today just so happens to be Yin Xun’s birthday, you and Jiufeng can stay and eat.”

Hearing this, Jiufeng began to happily kick up a ruckus with her eight other heads once more, only reluctantly quieting down after Bai Yuehu became annoyed with her noisiness. 

After eating a few snacks, Shaohao stopped and placed his mask back on.

Yin Xun asked, curious, if he’d tattooed those patterns onto himself. Shaohao shook his head. “No, I have them naturally. Some people are scared by them, so I covered them.”

Unlike Bai Yuehu and Jiufeng, who kept themselves completely separate from humanity, Shaohao seemed to live in human society, and Lu Qingjiu even noticed that the car he’d driven to his door was a Porsche supercar. This car that was stopped outside his house had an air that was completely at odds with the simplicity of their home.

However, this made Lu Qingjiu a little curious about why some mythical creatures could integrate into human society, while others were unable to. After he asked this question, Shaohao replied with a smile, “Because those people already lived amongst people in mythology, or their original bodies were human.” 

Oe Hlcuple jrxfv, “Vb lo sbe’gf j wsatlmji mgfjaegf atja lrc’a mibrf ab tewjcr, sbe mjc’a lcafugjaf lcab tewjc rbmlfas?”

Vtjbtjb, “Qfii…… Rba delaf.” Frlcu Djl Tefte jr jc fzjwqif, tf fzqijlcfv, “Mbg fzjwqif, lo Djl Tefte kfgf ab kbgx lc tewjc rbmlfas, atf foobga tf kbeiv tjnf ab fzqfcv ralii kbeivc’a yf fcbeut obg tlw ab fjgc jcsatlcu.”

Lu Qingjiu said, “That’s probably just because he hasn’t found the right job……” With just that beautiful face of his, it was more than enough for Bai Yuehu to become a “flower vase” celebrity. Even if he didn’t go into acting, he should still be very popular as a model or something.

“He doesn’t have any choice.” Shaohao shrugged. “He doesn’t have an ID card, neither does he have a residence certificate, nor does he have any academic qualifications……” Seeing Bai Yuehu’s face become gloomier and gloomier, Shaohao quickly amended, “Of course, these things aren’t very important.” 

Bai Yuehu didn’t speak. He picked up a piece of dried sweet potato and bit it in half with a crack.

Shaohao laughed awkwardly, his neck feeling a little cold. He really had gotten a bit complacent, taking advantage of how Bai Yuehu wouldn’t dare to get angry with Lu Qingjiu around to play around without regard for his own life for a bit.

The more Lu Qingjiu listened, the sadder he felt. Just how much injustice had his family’s fox spirit suffered over the years? In the past, he couldn’t even afford to buy the seeds to grow vegetables, and when he passed baozi shops, he could only swallow down his saliva and force himself past. As he thought about it like that, a fatherly pity and love was born in his heart. He wanted nothing more to take Bai Yuehu into his arms, stroke his head and tell him that he would always have his father.

Even though Shaohao didn’t manage to get Bai Yuehu to work for him, he still managed to get a lunch, which seemed quite satisfactory. 

After Lu Qingjiu had Bai Yuehu reject Shaohao’s invitation, only then could he head back into the kitchen, reassured, and cook the rest of the dishes.

It had already been a very long time since Yin Xun had celebrated his birthday. When the cake was brought out, he was so grateful that his eyes fill with hot tears. Lu Qingjiu placed the paper crown he’d made in advance on Yin Xun’s head, then lit the candles on the cake. The group of them began to sing him the Happy Birthday song.

Yin Xun sat there, sobbing, as he thanked Lu Qingjiu for giving him the chance to start a new life.

Lu Qingjiu, “……” Nevermind, let’s not fight with a child. 

The cake was a durian mille crepe cake. Lu Qingjiu had finished making it the night before, then placed it in the fridge to cool. Now after taking it out, he cut it into several pieces and served it to everyone after Yin Xun blew out the candles. The making of this mille crepe cake had been very successful. It looked really good, and the cream in between the layers was flavoured with durian, giving it a strong taste.

After eating the appetiser, the cake, next was a table full of proper meals. There were all kinds of chicken, duck and fish. Lu Qingjiu had made one of every dish Yin Xun liked to eat.

After taking a bite of Lu Qingjiu’s cooking, an amazed look appeared on Shaohao’s face. “Your cooking is very good.”

Lu Qingjiu was a little bashful. “It’s all because the vegetables Bai Yuehu planted are delicious, and this is Conglong meat, it tastes delicious even if I just casually stir fry it.” 

Shaohao smiled. “You’re too modest.”

Lu Qingjiu didn’t say anything else. Actually, he really did feel like his cooking skills were very ordinary. It was mainly because he usually had nothing else to do, so all his energy was invested into cooking. Adding the special ingredients, it was normal for it to taste better than ordinary food.

Throughout all of this, Jiufeng and Bai Yuehu didn’t say a single word. The two of them ate like they were fighting.

Shaohao’s appetite was like that of a human. He put down his chopsticks at almost the same time as Lu Qingjiu. Lu Qingjiu was a little shocked. “You’re not eating any more?” 

“I’m full.” Shaohao wiped his mouth. “If your ever free, come by and visit my home’s bird park.”

Lu Qingjiu accepted, “Okay.”

After filling his stomach, Yin Xun said that he couldn’t eat any more as he rubbed his stomach, and collapsed into a pancake on his chair. Lu Qingjiu noticed, since he’d stepped into the door, Shaohao seemed to be very interested in Yin Xun. Yin Xun, this dense idiot, hadn’t noticed at all.

“Is he very special?” Lu Qingjiu asked. 

Shaohao, realising that Lu Qingjiu was asking him this, smiled. “No, I just feel like he smells very tempting.”

Upon hearing this, Yin Xun, who’d originally collapsed and had been on the verge of falling asleep, instantly snapped to attention. He wasn’t so deluded as to think that Shaohao had some other kind of interest in him. As a human-shaped snack, he was well aware of the harsh reality of him being at the bottom of the food chain. This Shaohao praising him as smelling tempting, was basically equivalent to him praising him as delicious.

Lu Qingjiu asked, “Have you had roulingzhi before?”

Shaohao said, “I have.” He licked his lips. “It tasted rather good.” As he said this, he smiled at Yin Xun. Even though this smile was very gentle, it made Yin Xun so nervous that his eyes were bugging out of his sockets. 

Lu Qingjiu said, “He’s my friend, so don’t think about it anymore, eat something else.”

Shaohao said, “Alright.”

The conversation ended there. Shaohao, who’d eaten his fill, and Jiufeng, who still wanted to keep eating, got up and made their goodbyes. Only after Lu Qingjiu watched the two walk to the door, get into their car, and disappear into the distance, did he turn back and re-enter his house.

Seeing Shaohao had left, Yin Xun said that this person was really a beast in human clothing, he’d actually openly discussed whether he’d taste good right to his face…… 

Lu Qingjiu found it a little funny, but worried that Yin Xun would get angry, he held back his laugh and patted his idiot son on the shoulder.

After eating his fill, Bai Yuehu went back to the courtyard to lie down. Lu Qingjiu, thinking of something, went to his room and grabbed his coat, then called Yin Xun to come out to the courtyard as well.

“I’ve decided to give you guys a bit of pocket money.” Lu Qingjiu pulled his wallet out from his coat pocket, thinking, his family’s fox spirit and little mountain god were already so big, they definitely needed to have a bit of pocket money on them, otherwise, if another Shaohao suddenly appeared, and they got tricked away by just five hundred yuan, what would he do then? Usually, he was the one who did the buying, so for a while, he hadn’t noticed. Shaohao had actually helped to bring this matter to his attention.

“Money? Why are you giving us money?” Yin Xun stared at Lu Qingjiu in confusion, clearly not understanding why Lu Qingjiu was bringing this up so suddenly. 

Lu Qingjiu said, “You can use it to buy snacks, or other things you want to buy. Our family is doing very well right now, we have no lack of food, so if you want to buy anything, just buy it, there’s no need to hold back.” Them being able to live like this, was really all thanks to Miss Ghost in the inner courtyard. Miss Ghost had really done so much for this family…… 

Yin Xun still wanted to say something, but seeing Lu Qingjiu’s mind was made up, he didn’t continue to insist.

Bai Yuehu originally also wanted to refuse, but seeing the serious expression on Lu Qingjiu’s face, he didn’t say the words that he wanted to say.

Lu Qingjiu said, “You’ll get two thousand yuan as pocket money every month. If it’s not enough, just ask me for more. You’re not allowed to randomly accept work—— Before taking up odd jobs like Shaohao’s, you must tell me first.” He earnestly urged, “Don’t get cheated away by five hundred yuan.” 

Bai Yuehu started to speak, then stopped.

As Yin Xun looked at all that red, shiny RMB, his hands began to shake slightly. He said, “This is too much……” He’d never seen so much money before. Usually, it was Lu Qingjiu paying, and he usually wouldn’t spend more than a hundred yuan buying ingredients. When he made large purchases, he would usually just scan a QR code.

Bai Yuehu had a serious look on his face. “Yes, it’s too much.”

Lu Qingjiu let out a long sigh. “Take it!” He couldn’t bear to watch his two children suffer grievances. Bai Yuehu was willing to eat a meal of mud for a thousand five hundred from Shaohao, this was something he completely couldn’t accept. His family’s fox spirit was so cute and fluffy, how could he let him do such rough work! 

Even though both Yin Xun and Bai Yuehu said that they couldn’t accept such a huge sum of money, at Lu Qingjiu’s insistence, they still accepted it in the end. Yin Xun said that he wanted to deposit it into his bank, while because Bai Yuehu didn’t have an ID card, he found an old can from the junk room, then, after cleaning the can, he carefully counted out the money and delicately stuffed it inside.

Lu Qingjiu said, “Right, Yuehu, even if you don’t have an ID card, don’t you have any other way of making money?” In his mind, dragons were always a representative of wealth, not at all like Bai Yuehu, so poor that he couldn’t even afford baozi.

Bai Yuehu said, “I can’t make money directly from humans.”

Lu Qingjiu, “Why?” 

Bai Yuehu, “I’ll get hungry.”

Lu Qingjiu was a little confused.

“The more I make, the more hungry I get,” Bai Yuehu explained slowly, “It’s better if I just do nothing.” Before Lu Qingjiu came, he was practically starving every day. Food made by humans would have human energy, and was very good for satisfying hunger, but he didn’t have any money, so he couldn’t afford it, and thus could only eat mythical creatures like Wenyao to satisfy his hunger.

Lu Qingjiu asked, “Then will you get hungry from me giving you money?” 

Bai Yuehu shook his head.

Only then was Lu Qingjiu put at ease. He looked at Bai Yuehu with loving pity in his gaze, thinking, how had these two people survived without him? He definitely needed to treat them well, and give them the warmest fatherly care…… Uh, no, friendship.