Chapter 18

Everyone’s appetite opened up and they began digging in.

Gu Chonghua squinted his eyes in enjoyment as he ate a small fish. “Mhm! Yao Yao, how did you cook this? It tastes really good. This is called eating!”

As the son of a landlord, he used to eat well and used good products. It was a pity that the times changed afterward and he could barely make ends meet.

Wen Ruyu took a sip of the soup and also thought that the taste was amazing!

Extremely flavorful!

Gu Qingyao smiled. She put all the required seasoning and in generous amounts. Of course, the soup was delicious.

“Grandfather, Grandmother, eat more. I cooked all the fishes and we can give those in the pot to the grandpas and grandmas at the cowshed.”

There were nine old people at the cowshed and all of them lived in the straw shed beside the cowshed. They were all demoted and their lives were much worse than the Gu family’s.

They were all very knowledgeable seniors and many of them were big shots in their own fields. Gu Qingyao had been learning from these seniors since young but it was all in secret.

Gu Chonghua nodded and did not object.

Everyone finished their lunch very quickly and Gu Qingyao went to do the dishes. Gu Yunshen brought snacks up to the mountain to pick herbs while Gu Chonghua and Wen Ruyu who could not stay idle went to the field to tend the crops.

Gu Qingyao poured all the fish soup in the pot into a jug, covered it tightly and brought it to the cowshed.

While the cowshed was called a cowshed, but cows were not the only animals here – There were also some pigs, chickens, ducks and geese that were all taken care of by the grandpas and grandmas here.

When Gu Qingyao reached, the grandpas and grandmas happened to be about to make lunch.

They all beamed at the sight of Gu Qingyao. “Yao Yao is here!”

Gu Qingyao greeted them with smiles. Seeing her teacher Zhou Bingsheng, she beamed and walked up to him. “Teacher, I brought some good food for you all!”

Zhou Bingsheng was a famous calligrapher and painted in the country and he could be said to be an extremely influential person in the painting field. He had been demoted to this place for nine years and was one of those seniors who suffered rather early on as he was also from a landlord family.

Gu Qingyao began learning calligraphy and painting at 6 years old and was very much adored by this grandpa.

Hearing that there were delicacies, Zhou Bingsheng chuckled and put down his basket that contained ragweed before going to wash his hands smilingly.

Zhou Bingsheng was already 70 this year but he was extremely healthy and clear-headed. With the Gu family taking care of him over the past few years, he did not suffer much.

It was lunchtime soon and everyone packed up and went over to eat.

Gu Qingyao asked for a pot from the grandma who makes meals and poured all the fish soup out. Zhou Bingsheng was stunned to see so much fish soup and asked, “So much? Leave some for yourself, little girl. You’re still at the growing stage. Don’t treat yourself badly.”

Gu Qingyao smiled. “Don’t worry, teacher. I will take care of myself. You and the other grandpas and grandmas are old already and worked so hard in the previous farming season. Hurry and nourish up now otherwise the body will not be able to take it after a long time.

“I caught these at the stream on the mountain and was lucky to catch so many. Our family has already eaten. These are for you all.”

Zhou Bingsheng smiled and took a bite and squinted his eyes immediately. “Ah! This is really tasty! This is called living!”

The seniors around them smiled as well. “It’s already good to be able to eat at this age but you still want to enjoy life?”

Zhou Bingsheng said helplessly, “Who dares to enjoy life! I just occasionally recall the past and am rather regretful. Now that we are in this Qing River Brigade, our lives are already not bad.”

Everyone was silent upon hearing that.

Although they were demoted, they were fortunate to be delegated to the Qing River Brigade. While days were tough as well, they were still considered passable.

Many people in the same line of work could not take the humiliation, and died.

Gu Qingyao noticed the repressive atmosphere and hurriedly said, “Teacher, the tough times will eventually pass. You all must take care of your health and personally witness the arrival of that day.”

Zhou Bingsheng was stumped for words and smiled. “That’s right. I must live well. There’s only hope for those who are living.”

Gu Qingyao did not stay for long and left after chatting awhile.

On her way back, she happened to see Mo Beihan returning with firewood and a sack in his hand.

He flashed a smile immediately at the sight of Gu Qingyao. “Yao Yao!”

This familiar voice.

Every time she saw him in the previous lifetime, he would call her this gently and joyfully.

“Brother Beihan!”

The tall Mo Beihan walked to Gu Qingyao’s side. Looking at the pure smile on her face, he felt reinvigorated that life was full of hope.

He took out a wild chicken from the sack and passed it to her. “Here. Bring it back to nourish yourself. Don’t be unwilling to eat it. I will go to the mountain everyday in this period that I’m home and will get more meat for you.”

Gu Qingyao looked down at that wild chicken and shook her head. “We have not finished the meat at home! Bring this back! Your family needs it too…”