Chapter 68: 66. The Sorrow of Mortals (2/3)

66. The Sorrow of Mortals (2/3)

After eating breakfast, I practiced alchemy for a while.

After eating lunch, I continued practicing alchemy.

In the blink of an eye, nearly half a day had passed.

Chen An was tired, so he leaned against the wall and sat down to rest.

With nothing to do, he moved his thoughts to open his panel and check his data.

【Name: Chen An】

【Cultivation: Qi Refining Ninth Layer】

【Wealth: 1203 Low-grade Spirit Stones】

【Alchemy: First-tier Advanced (2292/2500)】

【Golden Finger: Grandmaster (2503/12500)】

【Sleep Aid Technique: Proficient (385/500)】

【Fire Spirit Root: Middle-Grade (388/500)】

【Spouses: Song Huaying (3 stars), Gu Xinyue (3 stars), Wen Zhiyun (2 stars)】

【Offspring: Chen Yuejian】

"Without realizing it, even the progress bar for my Fire Spirit Root has passed the halfway mark."

Chen An muttered aloud, and after finishing, he added: "It's a pity that for the next four months, this progress bar will remain unchanged."

He shook his head.

He continued to check the various data on the panel.

He arranged his upcoming upgrade plan.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Chen An put away the panel, walked out of the Alchemy Room, and went all the way to the door of his little darling wife's room, where he stopped, reached out, and knocked gently on the door, saying:

"Ying, are you asleep?"

"Not yet, husband."

From inside the room came the little darling wife's soft and sweet voice, as pleasant as the light chirping of an oriole, making one feel a sense of joy upon hearing it.

Chen An pushed the door open and entered, seeing his little darling wife sitting on the edge of the bed with their daughter, patiently teaching her some etiquette for young ladies of noble families.

His little darling wife was once the daughter of a noble family, and she cared about these things from the bottom of her heart.

However, their daughter Chen Yuejian did not like these worldly etiquettes very much and learned them with her brows tightly furrowed.

"Mother, I want to go play in the courtyard..."

Chen Yuejian really couldn't keep learning, and she said in a weak voice.

Song Huaying decisively refused: "You are a young girl, thinking only of running outside to play all day long; how can you be so improper?"

Seeing that her mother was not an option, young Chen Yuejian decisively chose to find another way.

She climbed down from the bed, trotted over to stop in front of her father, reached out to grab his pant leg, lifted her chubby baby face slightly, and said pitifully:

"Daddy, I want to go play in the courtyard."

Chen An saw this and thought this little girl was something else; she was only a little over a year old and already knew how to act like a spoiled child. His little darling wife's genetic inheritance was perhaps a bit too strong.

Song Huaying pulled her daughter back and placed her on the bed, saying in a stern tone:

"It's no use looking for your daddy; let's see if your daddy listens to your mother or to you!"

"Ugh—"

Chen Yuejian let out a long, whining sound, looking at her father in front with pitiful little eyes.

Chen An was caught in a dilemma; on one side was his little darling wife, and on the other was his daughter. No matter which one he helped, he would be the bad guy.

After thinking for a moment, he could only look toward his little darling wife and use a strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao," saying:

"Ying, I have something I want to discuss with you; let Xiao Yuejian go out."

"I listen to everything my husband says."

Song Huaying knew that her husband was covering for their daughter, but she still chose to obey without hesitation, unconditionally following her husband.

As soon as Chen Yuejian heard this, her whole face beamed with joy, and she climbed off the bed, ready to go out.

Chen An grabbed her and urged:

"Xiao Yuejian, you are not allowed to run around by yourself. You must find Mother Gu or Mother Wen to accompany you while you play, do you understand?"

"Daddy, I know."

"As long as you know, go ahead."

Chen An said this and let go of his daughter, watching the little girl trot out of the room.

However, he was not truly at ease letting his daughter run out alone, so he followed her from a distance to see if she would go find her other two mothers.

After following her to check, he discovered that although the little girl was playful, she still knew how to listen to the adults.

After leaving the room, she did not run out into the courtyard alone, but instead ran into Gu Xinyue's room, calling for Mother Gu to take her out to play.

He returned to his little darling wife's room.

Chen An walked to the edge of the bed and sat down, gently pulling his little darling wife into his arms.

His little darling wife could not help but tremble, feeling afraid of what was about to happen.

It was truly just too frequent lately.

It was frequent enough that she was a little afraid.

Chen An noticed his little darling wife's abnormality and felt a pang of heartache as he looked at her.

He stroked his little darling wife's small face and said to her gently: "Ying, I just want to hold you simply; I won't do anything else."

"Husband, I'm sorry..."

Song Huaying's mood grew increasingly low, and her voice gradually became sorrowful as she said, "It is Ying who is useless; I am not good at this, nor am I good at that. In serving my husband, I am not as good as Sister Gu, and in caring for our daughter, I am not as good as Sister Wen. I am not a qualified wife, and even less a qualified mother."

"Ying, you have already done very well."

Chen An gently pressed his face against his little wife's face, comforting her in a soft, whispering voice.

Song Huaying did not respond, her voice merely becoming somewhat choked with sobs.

Chen An wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said to her:

"Ying, your husband is currently trying to find a way to see if you can also cultivate immortality, or to search for some Cultivation Method that even mortals can practice. Everything will get better."

"Mm."

Song Huaying only gave a soft response; she did not hold any hope for what her husband had said, taking it merely as comfort.

She knew one thing very clearly in her heart: if mortals could also cultivate immortality, then there would be no such thing as the distinction between immortals and mortals in this world.

This was simply not realistic.

Chen An knew that his previous comfort was very feeble, so he thought of changing the subject to console her, asking with a curious expression:

"By the way, Ying, could you tell me about the etiquette of noble families in the mortal world? I am quite interested in this."

"As long as my husband wants to hear it, Ying will tell you."

Song Huaying wiped away her tear stains and said.

For the period of time that followed.

Under Chen An's constant questioning, Song Huaying began to tell him about secular etiquette.

From generally applicable etiquette, she spoke of the niche etiquette of noble families, then to the unique etiquette of her own family, and finally to how she learned these etiquettes from her mother when she was a child.

At the very beginning, Song Huaying was indeed distracted by this topic, and the sense of loss in her heart gradually dissipated.

But when she spoke of how she learned etiquette from her mother, her entire mood suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse, and she could no longer hold it back, bursting into tears.

"Husband, I, I miss my mother. I miss my mother so, so much, sob, sob, sob..."

Looking at his little wife crying like a flower drenched in rain in his arms, Chen An felt incredibly pained, cursing himself in his heart for why he had to ask about noble family etiquette—wouldn't it have been better to listen to his little wife play the zither or blow the flute?

In the time that followed.

Chen An said no words of comfort, simply holding his little wife silently, watching her tear-streaked face, listening to her heart-wrenching sobs, and feeling the trembling of her delicate nose as she sniffled.

Once his little wife was tired from crying and had vented the pent-up frustration in her heart, he cast a Sleep Aid Technique on her to let her have a good sleep.

"Creak—"

Chen An pushed the door open and walked out, leaving his little wife's room with a complex mix of emotions in his heart.

He stopped overthinking it, and after telling Wen Zhiyun and Gu Xinyue, he went out alone toward the Market.

He thought about buying that book "Mandarin Ducks Flying Together" at Zhenbao Hang, and while he was at it, asking Manager Liu there to see if there were any Cultivation Methods for sale that could help mortals prolong their lives.

PS: Setting out the bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!