Chapter 1380: Finishing the Peach

Chen Changsheng, like a walking corpse and running meat, stopped in his tracks once again.

There were always people and events in this world that could change someone.

Just like this very moment.

When Chen Changsheng was sinking into a mire of pain and confusion, Aqing reached out, gave him a pull, and dragged him out of the mud.

"Changsheng! This peach is huge!"

"Come quick, help me pick it!"

Aqing hadn't sold the remaining half of the Peach Orchard this year.

She planned to push her cart and sell them in Qingshan City herself, just like in the past.

"This one's the sweetest. Keep it."

Aqing handed the peach to Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Aren't we supposed to sell these?"

Aqing laughed. "You're so silly, Changsheng. Of course we keep the sweet ones for ourselves. Don't you like eating peaches?"

Chen Changsheng gave a helpless smile. "How many can This Chen really eat?"

"If you can't finish them, we'll brew wine."

Aqing said, "I still remember how to brew peach wine."

Chen Changsheng looked at the peach in his arms, thought for a moment, and nodded.

Even after working for half the day, the two of them had only picked a small patch of the Peach Orchard.

Chen Changsheng asked, "If we keep picking like this, won't the rest all rot on the trees?"

Aqing rested her chin on her hand. "I'll hire people to pick them later."

"It would only take a single Divine Ability."

"Who cares about Divine Abilities? You, Chen Changsheng, are no longer a cultivator, but a self-reliant mortal who works with his own two hands. And I, Long Qingme, am your boss. You're my hired hand, and if you don't pick enough peaches, I won't give you anything to eat."

"Didn't you just say you were going to hire people to pick them?"

"Right now, you have to call me Boss!"

Chen Changsheng chuckled, but Aqing swatted him and said, "What are you laughing at? No laughing."

"Alright, Boss, whatever you say."

"No more eating!" Aqing snatched his peach away. "Go pick peaches."

"It's getting dark. Let's wait until tomorrow."

Aqing thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow, then."

"At least the boss isn't too ruthless."

"Of course not."

Sometimes, before the sky was even light, the two of them would set out to pick peaches. Once they filled a cart, they would haul it to Qingshan City to sell.

The peaches from the Peach Orchard were always the best.

Everyone in Qingshan City knew that Aqing's peaches were always large and sweet.

It rarely took long for an entire cartload of peaches to sell out completely.

Occasionally there would be a few left over, but it didn't matter.

In the end, Aqing brewed them all into wine.

Days like these couldn't help but make Chen Changsheng forget many things.

Just as Aqing had said, right now he, Chen Changsheng, was no longer a cultivator, but a mortal, an ordinary person.

And as the boss's hired hand, Chen Changsheng had plenty to keep him busy every day. Between picking peaches and leading the donkey, it wasn't tiring work for him, but he could find joy in it.

"Sister Aqing!"

A figure walked over.

The young woman came skipping over, only clearly seeing the extra person beside Aqing when she drew close.

Xuanji narrowed her eyes, looking at Chen Changsheng closely.

Aqing said, "You came back late this year. The sweetest and biggest peaches were already eaten by someone else."

"Never mind the peaches for now."

Xuanji leaned in close to Chen Changsheng, looking at him carefully.

"You look very familiar."

Xuanji sized Chen Changsheng up and down.

Aqing was just about to speak.

But she saw Chen Changsheng reach out and shush her, signaling her not to say anything.

A smile surfaced on Aqing's face, and she kept silent.

Chen Changsheng likewise looked back at Xuanji without saying a word.

Xuanji suddenly remembered, and her eyes instantly widened.

"Ah!"

"Granduncle!"

Xuanji hurriedly took half a step back.

Chen Changsheng laughed and said, "I thought you didn't remember."

Xuanji said, "How could I? Granduncle taught me so many spells back then."

"But what are you doing here, Granduncle?"

Chen Changsheng glanced at Aqing and said, "I'm the hired hand your Sister Aqing hired to help pick peaches."

"Don't listen to your granduncle's nonsense."

Xuanji's gaze darted back and forth between the two of them.

She narrowed her eyes, which made Aqing lower her head in embarrassment.

"Something's not right!"

Xuanji looked at them and said, "You two..."

Chen Changsheng reached out and rapped her on the head.

"Ouch."

Xuanji froze for a moment, then said, "Granduncle, why are you just like Big Sister? You both love knocking people on the head."

Chen Changsheng said, "Show some respect. What is going on in that head of yours? When I first met your Sister Aqing, your Big Sister was still just a little girl."

"Ah?"

Xuanji froze, suddenly a bit confused.

She was likely having a hard time sorting out the generations.

Aqing asked at this moment, "Where is Miss Tong?"

Xuanji said, "Oh, Sister Tong took in a disciple this year, so she didn't come back. She's busy teaching her apprentice."

Aqing asked, "Then coming back all by yourself, aren't you bored?"

"How could I be bored?"

Xuanji said, "The world is vast. Can't I just go wherever I please?"

Aqing gave a helpless smile and said, "You barely have any Dao Cultivation, yet you dare say such things."

"Then teach me some more, Sister Aqing."

"Have your granduncle teach you. He knows a lot more than I do."

"This Chen..."

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, "Speaking of which, This Chen doesn't actually know many Divine Abilities. The only presentable things I have are some sword arts and the Yin and Yang Cultivation Method."

"I'll learn whatever Granduncle teaches me."

Aqing looked at the lively Xuanji and said, "So many years have passed in the blink of an eye, yet Xuanji is still just like a child."

"She's very much like Ruyi," Chen Changsheng said.

Hearing this, Aqing froze for a moment, then couldn't help but nod.

Chen Changsheng said, "She does have Ruyi's temperament, too—a lawless little girl who's studied the Dao since childhood and has some skills to rely on. If she went any further, she'd turn the whole world upside down."

"It wouldn't go that far," Aqing said. "She just likes to play a bit more."

Chen Changsheng said, "True..."

How could a child not love to play?

At dusk, the sun set in the west.

The rosy light of sunset spilled across this patch of the Peach Orchard.

A small table, two low stools, and a couple of peaches—all of this made it somewhat hard to snap back to reality.

Chen Changsheng stared blankly for a long time before muttering, "Aqing."

"Hmm?"

"Many thanks."

Aqing looked at him, yet felt somewhat surprised.

"Why do you say that?"

Chen Changsheng thought about it, but didn't know how to answer.

Aqing smiled, as if seeing right through his thoughts, and said, "If you don't know, then forget it."

"Mhm."

Chen Changsheng nodded.

Aqing rested her chin on her hand, watching the sunset's rosy glow slowly dip below the horizon bit by bit.

She turned her head to look.

Until that final ray of light fell.

The person in the green shirt also disappeared before her eyes.

Aqing's state of mind was very calm; she seemed to have anticipated all of this long ago.

She did not feel surprised.

Only when she looked at the remaining peach on the table did she feel a little upset.

"He should have finished this peach before leaving."