Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2884 Master Qingsong 102.0
"My master? Why are you suddenly asking about my master?"

The third great-grandfather looked at the children surrounding him and smiled.

All day long, he, Madam Ning, and Ning's older sister strolled leisurely around the city, ate at several distinctive restaurants, visited Master Jiang's teahouse, drank some of Master Jiang's fine tea collection, and finally went to the shopkeeper's shop, where they each picked out a drink that suited their tastes. They also brought back a lot of snacks that the family thought were delicious.

When they got home, the Third Grandfather found that in addition to Xiao Fengqi, Qi Zhifeng, and Ning Cheng, who had been left at home, Shen Cha, Xue Ruitian, Xia Chen, Jin Miaomiao, and Jin Jing had all arrived. The children's eyes lit up when they saw him.

Why are there only a few of you?

After the Third Grandfather returned from personally escorting Old Madam Ning and Sister Ning to the backyard to rest, he saw that Xue Mu had already arranged dinner. Judging from the grill and the condiments on the table, he knew that they would be having barbecue tonight.

“You guys aren’t good at this, so I’ll have to do it.” After washing his hands, Third Grandfather waved to Xue Mu, who was preparing to grill the meat. “Watch me do it first, learn properly, and then you can try it yourself.”

"Okay, whatever you say."

Xue Mu responded and smiled at Xue Ruitian, Shen Cha, and the others. Seeing that they had already started eating snacks, he quickly went to bring over the tea that had been brewed and poured the tea into each person's cup.

“My brothers are on night duty tonight, so they won’t be coming over. The Commander and I are going back soon too.” Shen Cha picked up her teacup and smiled at her third grandfather. “When we came over just now, we were startled to find only Brother Xiao, Brother Xiaofeng, and Brother Xiaochengzi at home. We thought something had happened, but they told us that you all left early this morning.”

“If you had told us earlier that you wanted to go out and explore, we could have recommended a few restaurants to you.” Xue Ruitian took a sip of tea and looked at Third Grandfather. “There are too many restaurants and eateries in the city. A considerable number of them are law-abiding business owners, but there are also a few who want to take shortcuts.”

Third Grandfather recounted the names of the restaurants he had visited that day, spread the slices of beef on the shelf a little more evenly, raised an eyebrow at Xue Ruitian, and said, "These places were pretty good, weren't they?"

Upon hearing these names, Xue Ruitian nodded and said, "Yes, these are also places I would like to recommend. They are not only good quality and inexpensive, but also taste exceptionally good. The owners of these restaurants are all very nice people."

"I can feel it." The third grandfather looked at the beef, which had changed color slightly, and flipped it over one by one. "Would you like it tender or tougher?"

"Tender ones, the tougher ones are probably too tough to chew." Xia Chen saw the grill and got a little itchy, so he waved to Xue Mu, "Get me a grill, I'll grill the fish for you guys."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Seventh Brother is good at grilling fish?" Shen Cha looked at Xia Chen curiously. "I've never heard of that!"

"We were forced into this!" Xia Chen shrugged. "What kind of food do you think we can find at sea? The food we brought on board was basically all gone after three months of sailing. So what did we do when we ran out of food? Apart from resupplying when we stopped at ports, we just ate whatever was in the sea. Fish, shrimp, all kinds of shellfish—we cooked them right away, boiling, frying, stewing, grilling—we used every cooking method imaginable. We had several old fishermen on board, and their dipping sauces and the dishes they cooked were all excellent."

"Seventh Brother has learned this skill too?"

"Of course, I'm an old fisherman now, and a very experienced one at that."

Xia Chen got right to work. After Xue Mu prepared the grill and all the barbecue supplies, Xia Chen rolled up his sleeves, picked up a small brush, dipped it in oil, and brushed the grill several times. While Third Grandfather placed the grilled beef into several small dishes and had Xue Mu take them to everyone, he carefully observed Xia Chen's technique and nodded silently.

"How is it, Grandpa?" Xia Chen noticed the Third Grandfather's gaze and smiled at him. "Not bad, right?"

"You can tell he's an expert; he's not just saying that casually."

“Of course.” Xia Chen raised an eyebrow proudly and said, “I’m not bragging, but I’m probably the best cook among the younger people here.”

"What's so great about this?" Xue Ruitian blew on the slice of grilled beef and put it in his mouth. "This meat is pretty good today. Even without any sauce, it's delicious on its own."

“That’s right!” Xiao Fengqi also ate a piece. “However, we have better meat where we are. I’ll have someone send it to you later. You can try it; it’s even sweeter than this.”

"Then it's settled!" Xia Chen nodded slightly after being fed a piece of fish. He then brushed some oil on the grill before placing the prepared fish on it and adding a few shellfish. "Once this one opens, we can eat it."

Third Grandfather looked at the group of people, sighed softly, and suddenly felt that he had no regrets, and his last wish had been fulfilled.

"Uncle-Master?" Jin Miaomiao noticed the Third Grandfather's condition and looked at him with some concern.

"Don't worry about me. I'm strong and healthy, and I'll keep you going for many more years. Besides," Third Grandfather glanced towards the backyard, "we still have a long time to spend together. There are still many things I wanted to do when I was young that I haven't been able to realize yet!"

"Both of yours?"

"Of course!" Third Grandfather had already started grilling the second batch of meat, and said as he grilled, "By the way, what did you want to know about my master earlier?"

"I just want to know a little bit about everything." Shen Cha thought for a moment, "It feels like a legend."

“My master is indeed a legend, the longest-lived elder of the Yun family.” Third Master smiled. “As you know, there aren’t many long-lived members in families like theirs, which are known as the Imperial Preceptor’s families. Although my master’s health isn’t very good either, it’s much better than the elders before him.” He looked at the children, flipped the meat over, and said, “I have a question for you.”

"Uncle-Master, please ask."

What do you think is the reason for my master's longevity?

The children exchanged glances, all seeing the other's confusion, and then unanimously shook their heads at their great-grandfather.

"What do we not know?"

"He never meddles in other people's business." The third grandfather brushed another layer of oil onto the beef and continued, "Unless someone asks him to, he never gets involved in anyone's disputes. Even if someone comes to his door for help, he will consider whether to handle it himself or delegate it to another elder. He always tells us that a person's energy is limited. You can manage the sky but not the earth. Don't think you can do everything, and don't think you can control anyone or anything."