I Am Immortal in Great Yu

Chapter 125: Chapter 57: Double Kill

Under the boundless night sky, the bright moon shone, and a sudden wind gusted to life.

The night wind howled through Willow Alley, rustling the plants and trees into a great roar of sound that washed over the swaying lights of countless homes.

CREAK!

Fang Rui pushed open the door and stepped inside with a gust of night wind, startling the flame of the oil lamp and making it flutter wildly.

Inside.

On the table sat a large basin of old hen soup, steaming and fragrant. Droplets of oil floated on the golden broth, sending ripples through the milky-white vapor. Tucked within were large, tender chunks of chicken, mushrooms plump with savory juices, and fresh, fragrant green vegetables.

Nearby, the two little girls, Fang Ling and Nannan, were playing a game of animal chess, though they were clearly distracted. Every so often, they would tilt their heads to glance at the table and swallow hard.

”Be patient, dinner will be ready soon. You’ll each get a chicken leg...”

Fang Rui reached out and playfully flicked each of the girls’ pigtails.

Hearing Fang Rui’s voice, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family poked her head out of the kitchen. ”Brother Rui, did you deliver everything to Zao Hua’s family and the Changling Family?”

”Yes, it’s all been delivered.”

Fang Rui nodded.

He had gone out earlier to deliver a small bowl of chicken to both Uncle Zao Hua’s and Uncle Changlin’s houses.

Both families had been immensely grateful, moved to tears by the gesture.

This was especially true for Uncle Zao Hua’s family.

The scene was still vivid in his mind: Ah Huai had taken the bowl from Fang Rui’s hands and, on instinct, took a deep breath. He squinted, as if trying to inhale the very essence of the soup’s oily richness through his nose, letting it seep into his parched body. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes...

In that moment, Fang Rui was certain: Ah Huai was utterly content.

Like the little match girl striking a match on a freezing night, that bowl of chicken soup was a beam of light in a night so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. For Ah Huai, it softened the exhaustion and heartache from his recent trips out of the city, melting it all away...

In that moment, the bowl of chicken soup was no longer just a bowl of chicken soup; it had taken on a deeper meaning.

Uncle Zao Hua’s family had showered Fang Rui with thanks and seen him off with tears of gratitude—and that wasn’t a figure of speech.

’In this era, the scarcity of resources is unimaginable, as is the craving ordinary families have for any kind of richness in their food... Because of that, amidst such hardship, people are so easily moved, so easily satisfied.’

’It’s just... I’ve unintentionally become a beam of light, a window, in the bleak lives of others. Like the old squad leader for the narrator in ”The Golden Fishhook,” or Runtu for Brother Xun...’

’It’s just... what can one even say to that?!’

Fang Rui was overcome with a wave of complex emotions.

”Brother Rui, dinner’s ready!”

Third Lady emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron and carrying a bowl of steamed egg custard, its sides wrapped in linen to protect her hands from the heat. Her gentle eyes and tender expression, like that of a sister or a wife, scattered the lonely, melancholic feelings in Fang Rui’s heart.

Then, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family came out with more dishes. The two little girls swarmed around him with happy cheers, instantly enveloping Fang Rui in their lively warmth.

The warmth of home and hearth rose with the steam from the food, filling the small room with life.

Outside, in the boundless dark, the wind whistled and wailed, a sound like crying and howling that made the windows rattle in their frames.

But the storm was kept at bay. Inside, the oil lamp’s flame danced, casting a warm, dim yellow light that flickered between light and shadow.

Fang Rui felt utterly content and at ease. It was like the primal peace and security that a rainy night brings, an environment that gave him the ineffable feeling of being ’a traveler, returning home through the wind and snow, drawn to a single, bean-sized light’.

”Come on, Mom, Third Sister, Nannan, Ling’Er, sit down! Let’s eat while it’s hot!”

Fang Rui gave each of the four of them a chicken leg, saving a wing for himself.

—There were two whole hens in the pot, after all.

The two little girls, Fang Ling and Nannan, didn’t immediately start eating. They instinctively turned to look at Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Lady, respectively. But both women resolutely refused the choice pieces.

”Go on, eat. Don’t worry about it. We have plenty of silver, Mom, Third Sister, you’ve both seen it... This is just a normal meal. If we want more next time, I’ll just ask Brother Jiang to buy a couple more hens.”

Fang Rui was right.

For an ordinary person, with that much silver in savings and access to scarce goods through Jiang Ping’an, it would be more than enough for a family of six or seven to live very well.

But he wasn’t an ordinary person. If he were to truly eat his fill of normal food, Fang Rui alone could eat as much as the other four combined—and even that wouldn’t be enough to meet his body’s nutritional needs. He still required supplements from medicinal meals.

—And it wasn’t just about consumption from fighting. Even at rest, could an adult and a baby possibly eat the same amount? The difference in vital energy between an ordinary person and a Fifth Grade Martial Artist was far greater than that!

”Alright, alright! Third Sister, let’s all eat. And you two little ones...”

Seeing Fang Rui give another wing to both Fang Ling and Nannan, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family shook her head in resignation. ”You just spoil them!”

”Wow, this is delicious! Delicious! Brother, you eat too! You’re a grown-up, you need to eat a lot!”

Fang Ling put the wing back in his bowl. Then, she buried her face in her own food, gnawing on her drumstick and gobbling her rice with hearty snuffling sounds, just like a little piglet.

Such things are contagious.

Nannan placed her wing back in his bowl as well. She nibbled on her own drumstick in small bites, occasionally looking up at Fang Ling and smacking her lips in satisfaction. Her previously quiet, shy, and delicate demeanor was already starting to change.

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Lady also wore pleased expressions, faint smiles playing on their lips as they took small, delicate bites of chicken.