Song Qi stopped and glanced at the sky before looking back at her with a self-mocking smile. "Honestly, these past few days here have been the most peaceful, relaxing days of my life. Looking back now, my old life feels like a dream. I used to drift through every day in a daze. Because of my obsession, all I ever did was cultivate.
"My obsession was to reach the highest realm, then ascend to another world to find my parents and see whether they were still alive. That old man told me that as long as I cultivated diligently, I would find the answer.
"But I never expected it. Just as I reached the highest realm and was joyfully preparing to ascend, with my guard completely down and my trust in him absolute, he dealt me a fatal blow and sent me falling into the blazing flames of the abyss. The moment I fell, I heard that old man's crazed laughter. Even now, I still don't know why."
After hearing him out, Shen Moxi could feel his bewilderment, grief, and bitter anger. She did not know how to judge it either, since she had never had any contact with his former world.
She turned and hugged him, comforting him softly. "Everything from the past has already gone with the wind. Now you're just Song Qi, a Song Qi with family and someone he loves. Whoever you were before doesn't matter anymore."
Looking at the fluffy head against his chest, Song Qi chuckled softly. "Yes, none of it matters anymore. I just have some regrets. I don't know whether my parents really are still alive, or whether they're even in that world. Maybe we really weren't destined to be a family. We were separated not long after I was born, and in the end, I still never got to see them."
"All right, let's stop talking about it. Come on, let's see whether Aunt Shan and the others are back." Shen Moxi took his hand and headed back.
When they reached the courtyard gate, they saw Song Yongjun and Huang Yushan washing their hair and hands in the courtyard, their bodies still covered in mud and dirt.
Shen Moxi glanced at Song Qi and pulled him over. "Aunt Shan, what happened to you two? Why are you covered in mud?"
Huang Yushan finished washing her hair and straightened up, saying angrily, "It was that rotten bastard from the Lin family. Our field is right next to his. His family forgot the time while watering their field and flooded it, then opened a gap in the ditch bank to let the water out. It all ended up in our field."
"Your uncle and I were walking back this way from the innermost part of the field, wanting to check whether there was anything we hadn't tidied up properly. We weren't paying attention and slipped, getting mud all over ourselves. That guy wouldn't even admit it, so we had an argument with them." After drying her hair, she took a little brush and brushed the nearly dried mud off her clothes, then went inside to change.
"That's so rotten of him. Even if he needed to drain the water, he shouldn't have drained it into someone else's field without even telling you. Didn't you go to the village chief?" Shen Moxi hated shameless, unreasonable people like that.
"Ah, that family is used to acting like thugs. Nothing you say does any good. Their skin is so thick that even if we went to the village chief, all he'd have to do is move his lips and apologize. It wouldn't cost him a thing or hurt him at all." Song Yongjun shook his head.
"People like that will spend their whole lives scratching a living out of the dirt. Once our shop is running smoothly, we'll bring Mom and Dad over to help. We won't farm anymore either. We can just rent the land out," Song Qi said.
"Exactly. We won't stoop to his level. Hurry and change so we can eat. We've already got everything ready." Shen Moxi nodded.
"All right, go inside and start eating. I'll come once I've changed." Song Yongjun poured the water from the basin into the vegetable garden.
The two went inside and sat down first. Huang Yushan came out just after changing and muttered angrily again, "Ugh, what a rotten mess."
Shen Moxi smiled at her. "Aunt Shan, there's no need to stoop to his level. Just think of him as your grandson."
Huang Yushan burst out laughing. "Haha, Moxi really knows what to say. That's right, he's my grandson. I won't stoop to his level."
Song Qi smiled and shook his head too, thoroughly agreeing with her.
That evening, Song Yongjun and Song Qi had a few drinks. Both of them especially liked the spicy boiled pork slices made that night, particularly Song Qi. Neither had seen a dish like it before. Though spicy, it was wonderfully satisfying, and they could not stop eating.
After dinner, Song Yongjun, who had drunk a little too much, actually started singing. Huang Yushan truly could not bear listening any longer and dragged him back to their room.
Shen Moxi waited for Song Qi to finish eating, then they cleared the table together. Song Qi took charge of washing the bowls and plates, while she swept the floor inside once more.
Once everything was cleaned up, Shen Moxi thought about tomorrow's stall. Their clothing selection was no longer complete, so she took out the previous designs and put them into the workshop, making a few more pieces in every size and color.
She checked the livestock in the pasture. They would be ready to eat in two more days. So much delicious food-just thinking about it made her mouth water.
"Master, the results of your auctions are out." Just then, Xiao Tao suddenly popped out.
Shen Moxi sat up straight in excitement. "How much did they sell for? Is it enough to upgrade?"
"Yes, it's enough. They sold for fifty-four million altogether. The points have already been added to the system. Master, you can select the upgrade now." There was a faint hint of smugness in Xiao Tao's mechanical voice.
Shen Moxi was in no state to notice. She excitedly opened the system interface and, sure enough, saw a little upgrade notification beside her points.
She immediately selected the upgrade without hesitation.
"The system is upgrading. Please wait..." After Xiao Tao's notification, Shen Moxi exited. Since the upgrade was already underway, she was no longer impatient. Checking tomorrow would be soon enough.
Once the clothes were finished, she took them out of the workshop and sorted them one by one, then found two boxes and packed the men's and women's styles separately.
When Song Qi came in, Shen Moxi had just finished organizing everything. She beckoned to him. "Put these in your space. I added some more. Some of those styles were missing sizes."
Song Qi nodded, walked over, and stored them away with a wave of his hand.
"Song Qi, I have good news for you." Shen Moxi looked at him mysteriously. "The auction money was just enough. My storage space can be upgraded and unlocked now."
"You've finally gotten your wish." Song Qi smiled and stroked her head.
"Hehe, it's so tempting! From now on, I can put important things in there too. I won't have to worry about someone stealing them, or losing them, or not being able to find them." Shen Moxi rolled around happily on the kang.
Song Qi nodded in amusement. "A space really is tempting. Although I don't know what yours is like, back where I came from, not everyone could have one. Anyone who had a space was either a child of fortune or someone with the most formidable strength."
"Haha, I'm so happy, so happy! I think I won't be able to sleep tonight." Shen Moxi rolled over once.
"All right, go wash up and get ready for bed. I've already washed up." Song Qi pulled her up and lifted her off the kang.
Song Qi's sudden intimacy made Shen Moxi's mind go briefly blank. When she came to her senses, her little face flushed bright red.
She hurriedly got down from his arms and ran out to wash up.
"Heh, I never saw you get shy when you were being bold before." Song Qi smiled and shook his head, then took off his jacket and shoes and lay down under his own quilt.