Yang Ge was stunned, "Huh?"
The old man spoke leisurely, "She said she fled from disaster at home, but how could a girl from a family escaping famine turn out to be as beautiful as she is? And to just happen upon us, what are the odds in this whole wide world? I figured right away she must have come for you."
Yang Ge was even more confused, "Then why did you still let her stay in the inn?"
The old man looked at him with a "are you dumb" expression, "What does it matter what trick she’s playing? She’s still a person, right? Don’t the old saying go, ’marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog’? As long as she enters the Yang Family’s house, wouldn’t she have to depend on you afterward? They are just fishing, we take their bait and just not get hooked!"
The old man’s eyes might seem dim, but his mind was clear within.
Yang Ge couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "You... you’ve turned wicked, haven’t you?"
The old man jabbed his walking stick, slightly annoyed, "What rubbish are you talking about!"
Yang Ge thought about it, then said, "I know you are worried for me, but some things aren’t as simple as you think. If they dare to bait, they aren’t afraid of us spitting out the hook..."
He paused, then decided to clear things up for the old man, "That girl, comes from the palace."
If the old man truly knew nothing and sincerely treated that Zhao Miao, he really couldn’t say much more, afraid of hurting the old man’s kind and warm heart.
Since the old man saw clearly, he naturally had nothing else to hide.
The old man was stunned, asking in disbelief, "Which palace?"
Yang Ge gently patted the old man’s shoulder, smiling, "Don’t be afraid, now they only have these underhanded tactics against me, if they had any other moves, they wouldn’t stoop so low."
The old man still felt a bit guilty, and asked cautiously, "A palace maid?"
Yang Ge pondered briefly, nodding, "It should be a palace maid."
The old man breathed a sigh of relief, "That’s good, that’s good… A palace maid isn’t a big deal, right? I’ve heard every year the palace lets a batch of older maids return home. Don’t worry, we secretly had Matchmaker Wang check out that girl, she’s still a pure maiden, entering the Yang Family won’t disgrace your ancestors."
Yang Ge could tell, the old man’s words did not quite match his heart; he still had some affection for Zhao Miao.
He couldn’t help but reflect, truly worthy of someone from the palace, their skill in manipulating hearts was formidable, in such a short time they had already won over the old man…
He thought for a moment, then said, "It’s not about whether her entering the Yang Family dishonors the ancestors, but that the imperial court wants to use this method to leash me. If I really marry that girl, I’d be selling my life to the court. From then on, at the court’s command, I’d have to traverse mountains of knives and wade through seas of fire. Don’t you know me? I just want to live peacefully and quietly, a tranquil and leisurely life, without many grand ambitions... To speak of suitability, the Gu girl from the Eastern Market is more suitable than Zhao Miao."
The old man lightly slapped him on the forehead, scolding with a laugh, "Now you realize she’s suitable? Too late, she’s already a mother, expecting her second! I told you before, the Gu girl was a good match, but you insisted you had a fiancée back home..."
Yang Ge, feeling overwhelmed, quickly waved his hands pleading for mercy, "I was just making an analogy, just an analogy. I’ve just gotten home, can you let me rest for a few days!"
The old man laughed until he was out of breath, Yang Ge quickly stepped forward and emitted a thread of True Qi to soothe his chest until he caught his breath.
He waved his hand, signaling Yang Ge not to worry, and finally sighed deeply, "I’m really getting old, not as capable as before. A couple of years ago, I could still carry a few dozen pounds of pork and walk ten miles without breaking a sweat, but these past years, I don’t know why, my body suddenly became frail, I can’t walk two miles without gasping for breath... Fuyu has settled down in recent years, so I don’t worry about him anymore, but you, always floating around alone, that’s not really a solution. One needs a family to have a home."
Perhaps all elderly people are the same, once their health starts to decline, they always want to hurry and arrange the major life events of their younger relatives while they still can...
Perhaps in their hearts, this is also their duty.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Yang Ge smiled, channeling the blue True Qi, slowly sorting through the old man’s meridians: "You’ve done so many good things in your life, helped so many people, you definitely deserve to live a long life. Fuyu and your sister-in-law still count on you to help look after their children. It’s much too soon for you to talk about being old... Don’t worry about me; when I meet the right one, I will bring her to pay respects to you."
Under his care, the old man slowly exhaled a breath of warm air and relaxed significantly. He spoke earnestly, "What does ’suitable’ mean? If you really want to pick, even if a goddess descends from heaven, you could find flaws. Good enough should do. Your uncle and I were married without even seeing each other, only met on the day she entered our home, and haven’t we spent a lifetime together?"
Seeing that he didn’t bring up Zhao Miao again, Yang Ge knew the old man had taken his previous words to heart and felt slightly relieved. He smiled and agreed, "Yeah, yeah, I won’t pick. When I meet someone suitable, I’ll bring her to meet you."
Listening to his words, not outright refusing anymore, the old man felt much lighter: "That’s the deal. We’ll ask Matchmaker Wang to look around and see if there’s any suitable girl... Fine, fine, you don’t want to listen, we’ll leave it at that. I’m old, can’t control you young people..."
Yang Ge hurriedly changed the topic: "Right, right, how’s the inn business these days? Have there been any strange characters coming to stay or causing trouble?"
As expected, the old man was distracted by this diversion and answered, "That’s what I wanted to talk about. From the day you returned, there’ve been more of those martial artists, speaking with foreign accents, staying at the inn. Some paid for a whole month, spending all day doing nothing but sitting around drinking tea... Won’t this cause any trouble?"
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
Yang Ge: "There shouldn’t be any trouble. If there were truly any troublesome people, I reckon they wouldn’t be able to get into our inn... Don’t worry about that, I’ll go to the inn tomorrow, with me there, no one will make trouble."
The old man looked at him skeptically: "Can you handle those martial artists? Maybe we should just close down for a while. We can’t afford to mess with them, but we can hide."
Yang Ge chuckled: "No worries, leave it to me, I guarantee there won’t be any trouble."
Seeing his confident response, the old man stopped worrying and sat back in his armchair, gripping his cane: "What are we eating for lunch? I haven’t tasted your cooking in a while."
Yang Ge stood up, rolling up his sleeves: "No problem, what would you like to eat?"
The old man thought for a moment, then said, "It’s getting late, and the meat market won’t have much good meat left... see what we have at home."
Yang Ge: "Alright, sit down, have some tea, I’ll have it ready in no time!"
He strode into the kitchen and tied on his apron.
Soon, the kitchen was filled with a "sizzle" as the fragrant smell of frying green onions, ginger, and garlic filled the courtyard.
The old man sniffed appreciatively and comfortably sipped from his tea bowl.
When Yang Ge had prepared three dishes and a soup, and called the old man to eat, he heard faint snoring before he even got close.
The intense April sunlight filtered through the grape trellis, falling on the old man whose wisps of silvery white hair tenderly fluttered in the light.
Yang Ge slowed his pace, looking at the old man curled up in the chair, as if he just realized how much the old man had aged these last few years...
Time spares no one.