Chapter 70

Dankook stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother. After searching for a long time, he finally heard that his daughter was here, and his expression was very complicated.

“You...”

Dankook stared at Lian for a long time and muttered.

“I thought you only resembled your older sister... but you also resemble your brother.”

Dankook, who always referred to Weiqing as "the head of the family," said this without realizing it. Lian, looking down at her sleeping cousin, said,

“Cheng seems to resemble her aunt.”

“No, Cheng...”

Dankook's face showed that he didn't know what he wanted to say, and he trailed off.

I've always thought that this child would resemble our brother. Even if I couldn't, I believed our brother would be a great talent, someone who could revive the family...

“Cheng... Yes, Cheng resembles me. Who else could she resemble? She's my only daughter...”

Dankook sighed deeply and said,

“Thank you for putting Cheng to bed. I'll repay this debt someday.”

With that, Dankook picked up Cheng and left Yueling Hall. Cheng, lost in a dream, clung to her mother, making Dankook happy.

* * *

Jinghang Yunlian.

This is a gathering of martial arts families along the Jinghang Grand Canal, from the northern Hebei Pang family and Jinzhou Yan family to the Huangbo family, Shandong Yue family, Nangong family, and finally the Dankook family. It started as a meeting to seek martial arts advancement and has now grown to include nearby temples.

However, in this small sense of belonging, the issue of children's education becomes even more sensitive.

Until about ten years ago, the Dankook family almost dominated this issue, but after the death of Dankook Xiancheng, the meeting became somewhat less active.

Who would want to boast about their son being better in front of someone whose son has died?

Then Lian woke up, and the Nangong family, which was to host the meeting, strongly pushed for it to reconvene in the spring of the following year.

Although it's still far off, the children are excited, and the adults are busy preparing to attend. Among them, only one young man, not quite an adult but no longer a child, is troubled.

'What if my nephews are disappointed when I go...'

No matter how much they seek righteousness and cooperation, martial arts families are a collection of blood relatives who pursue interests in the secular world, not schools that study Daoism or Buddhism.

So, naturally, when they gather on such a large scale, there is jealousy and sometimes mutual disdain.

Dankook Xianwu, who remembered how people who were cautious about even nodding to his brother when he was at the peak of his talent changed just before his brother's death, sighed.

“Uncle?”

Dankook Xianwu, who had been lost in thought, looked up to see a pair of sparkling eyes and sighed, smiling.

“Lian, but... have you already finished washing?”

“Yes? Yes.”

For a while, due to the soaring popularity of Qinglian water, Lian had been making it almost like a machine. Now, with the supply and demand stabilizing, she has some breathing room. Recently, she has been trying to make doraji syrup. The effect of the special doraji syrup, which they named "Baiyao Syrup," was clear, but the taste was a problem.

No matter how good the medicinal effect, if it tastes so bitter and unpleasant, it won't sell. So Lian has been working on the doraji syrup whenever she has a chance.

Today, they had agreed to prepare the doraji roots together. However, Lian's basin was already full of clean, white doraji roots, while Dankook Xianwu's and the deputy head of the medicine hall, Feng Xiaogang's, were still covered in mud.

Dankook Xianwu, surprised by the question, glanced at Feng Xiaogang, who also widened his eyes at the sight of the clean doraji roots.

“Eh, how did you...?!”

Washing the dirt out of the long, thin roots of doraji and peeling them is a tedious and laborious task. The dirt seems endless, and the shape of the doraji doesn't make it easy to peel.

Yet, Lian's doraji roots were as white as if the peels had been removed separately.

It didn't seem like she had washed them roughly. The water in the basin only had mud, and the doraji roots were smooth and unblemished.

“Just wash them gently with water...”

“Can you show us how you did it?”

Feng Xiaogang, grateful for Dankook Xianwu's intervention, watched Lian closely.

Lian, though a bit flustered by the sudden attention, took a few doraji roots from Dankook Xianwu and gently shook them in a new basin of water...

“Eh... eh? Eh?”

“It works like this.”

“Eh?”

The mud fell off, and the white doraji roots appeared.

Lian demonstrated a few more times, but neither Dankook Xianwu nor Feng Xiaogang could understand the technique.

‘I didn’t even try to use purification, but it just works.’

‘Is this what they mean by not being average?’ Lian, a bit flustered, looked at the two.

“I can’t do it. I’ll wash all the doraji, and you two can do the other preparations. Like chopping and such.”

Feng Xiaogang, thinking he couldn't just leave the water work to Lian, shrugged but was helpless against Lian's push.

In the end, Dankook Xianwu surrendered.

“Eh, yeah. Yeah! That’s fine! I’m good at chopping, right, Deputy Head Feng?”

“Ah... Yes.”

Feng Xiaogang, still staring at Lian's fingertips as if bewitched, started chopping the doraji roots, led by Dankook Xianwu.

However, the speed at which the doraji roots were washed was overwhelmingly faster than the speed at which they were chopped...

‘Feeling inferior...’

Lian, having washed all the doraji roots in the basin in no time, started fanning them, making the breeze feel sweet. As Feng Xiaogang felt even more inferior, Lian said,

“I’ll wash the herbs and prepare them from now on.”

“A, ah, no. How can Young Master do such menial tasks...”

Such tasks were usually done by the newest or youngest members of the herb room. Lian shook her head.

“Where are the menial tasks in the family business? I should lead by example.”

She couldn’t say that she was frustrated watching them wash for so long.

“A, ah, Young Master...”

“I can wash them faster than a few people, right?”

“That...”

There was no denying it. Feng Xiaogang looked at the mountain of doraji roots, buried in the mud, in despair. How could the roots of something buried in the mud be so white?

‘No, really. How can she wash them so quickly and cleanly?’

Do the direct descendants of martial arts families have a special talent even for washing herbs? What’s the point of having a medicine hall if this is the case? If the eldest grandson can do everything, why do we need a medicine hall? He even made Qinglian water by himself.

Feng Xiaogang glanced at Dankook Xianwu. Dankook Xianwu wasn’t much better at washing doraji roots. If anything, he was a bit worse due to the difference in skill...

“Deputy Head Feng, I can tell what you’re thinking just by your eyes.”

Feng Xiaogang, startled, almost cut his hand on the knife. Dankook Xianwu said sternly,

“But I’m better at chopping.”

“Of course.”

Even if he wasn’t good at this type of chopping, he had spent his life using swords, so it was natural. However, Dankook Xianwu, who had just boasted, lowered his eyebrows.

* * *

Lian, with a satisfied look, placed her hands on her hips and looked at the scene before her.

After finishing the Baiyao Syrup, she sealed the jars tightly and tied them with string, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

“Will this one taste better?”

“Well, I’m not sure...”

Even Dankook Xianwu, who always supported his niece, trailed off.

The doraji syrup, made with honey and sugar, should taste somewhat pleasant, but the one made by the family had a peculiar taste.

A strangely refreshing and spicy flavor mixed with a bitter taste, making it hard to describe.

Old people might drink anything that’s good for their health, but even Dankook Tianji, Lian’s grandfather, turned his head and coughed after taking a sip of the diluted syrup.

‘Ha. Even Ruan said it was like a poison.’

“Isn’t this the unique characteristic of our medicine hall’s Baiyao Syrup?”

“If it tastes bad, it won’t sell, will it?”

“Are you planning to sell this?”

Dankook Xianwu looked surprised. Lian nodded.

“We can’t rely solely on Qinglian water. And we need to use the herbs prepared by Yuqing.”

“Oh! You mean Yuqing, the herb gatherer?”

At the mention of Yuqing, Feng Xiaogang’s eyes sparkled.