Hwaryun looked at Yeon with a bewildered expression, then opened his mouth in silence.
Hwaryun skillfully accepted the small pieces of candy that Yeon gave him, bit by bit.
Seeing this, Yeon smiled and said, "Is it good? This is something I cherish."
"Yeah, well... it's good."
"But..."
"......?"
Yeon, who had been staring at the half-eaten candy, smiled slyly.
'Even if he is the young master of Machun Temple, two years is a long time. If you count the number of rice bowls, it's three, six, nine, twelve... 2100!'
Yeon gave Hwaryun a light tap on the head.
"Who are you talking to so casually? You little thing."
"......"
Yeon put her hands on her hips and spoke sternly, but Hwaryun looked utterly shocked.
It was as if he had seen someone get struck by lightning and immediately get up, or rather, as if he himself had been struck by lightning. Hwaryun, who was so surprised, even dropped the old basket he was holding.
Seeing his shock, Yeon herself was taken aback.
"Did... did it hurt a lot? I was gentle... just a light tap..."
"No, it doesn't hurt..."
"Really? But this again!"
"......!"
Yeon gave him another light tap. Hwaryun flinched, took a step back, and rubbed his head a few times, looking utterly exasperated as he stared at Yeon.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Hwaryun started to laugh.
"......?"
He then suddenly stopped laughing and carefully examined her face.
For a long time, until Yeon tilted her head in confusion.
"Um, I have to go now."
Perhaps because he had been hit for speaking casually, or perhaps to humor her, Hwaryun said this.
When he suddenly said he was leaving, Yeon was taken aback and blinked.
"Eh, now? Already?"
Hwaryun nodded and picked up the basket he had dropped. Yeon pushed the remaining candy into his mouth and hurriedly ran to where the nanny was hiding to fetch an umbrella, then quickly said,
"Take this. It's raining... and I feed the chickens here every morning. If you come at this time, you can see me. Got it? You should come and play."
Hwaryun tried to avoid taking the umbrella, but Yeon firmly held his hand and gave it to him.
Hwaryun looked at Yeon, then nodded and turned around.
Yeon, who had been fidgeting, grabbed the boy who was about to turn away and gave him all the candy and rice cakes she had.
Hwaryun looked at her as if to ask why she was giving him these things, but when Yeon pushed him, he didn't refuse and started to walk away.
As Yeon watched the boy's back, the nanny, Ms. Zhang, quickly approached her.
"Miss!"
"Ah, Nanny."
Ms. Zhang wiped her hands with a thin cloth and held an overcoat over her head to shield her from the rain, then examined Yeon's face.
"Miss, do you like that boy?"
Yeon swallowed her complicated expression and forced a smile. Do I like him? That's not the issue...
"......If you ever see him, be nice to him, okay? Make sure he gets something good to eat."
At Yeon's earnest request, Ms. Zhang nodded, but she couldn't hide her worried expression.
* * *
Recently, Danmug Chienji has had a headache. It was his eldest grandson, who seemed to have no sense of propriety at all.
"Do you think my heart will change just because you come every day?"
"No?"
"......No, if you know that, why do you keep coming?"
"What? I just want to see Grandfather."
The grandson's matter-of-fact tone left Danmug Chienji speechless.
"Ahem."
"Ah! I fetched the water for the tea today. From the stream behind here."
"What if you fell in...?"
"Jiang Li came with me. I'll make the tea for you today, Grandfather."
Danmug Chienji groaned and waved his hand, indicating that she could do as she pleased.
The granddaughter then began to move her hands with ease. Every action was as smooth as flowing water.
'No...?'
Danmug Chienji, while preparing the tea leaves, looked at his granddaughter with a peculiar glint in his eyes.
He was surprised when she woke up and came to thank him for the blood treasure.
She acted as if the scars on her face didn't exist.
But he thought she probably couldn't distinguish between what was ugly and what wasn't, having only been awake for a few months.
However, she continued to visit every day. When she came, she didn't do much.
She would spend about an hour with him, sipping the tea he made and chatting about trivial things.
But during the long time she sat, she never slouched, never got bored, and never found the occasional silence awkward.
A master could see the principles of the world in a falling leaf.
To Danmug Chienji, who had once ruled the world, this granddaughter showed signs of extraordinary talent.
'Even so, it's amazing. Is it because of the bee washing? No, that can't be... but...'
The way she arranged the tea set, poured the hot water over the tea leaves, and shook the pot to release the aroma was exactly the same as his.
It was so similar that he wondered if it was because of the bee washing.
But most of all, watching this young girl hold and move a teacup the size of her hand made his heart strangely stir.
"Grandfather, here you go."
The small girl, concentrating all her attention, extended her arm to offer him the teacup, but her arm was too short to reach the table.
Danmug Chienji, suppressing a burst of laughter with a cough, took the teacup from her.
He closed his eyes and savored the tea.
The clear, clean color, the deep aroma, and the natural sweetness lingered in his mouth for a long time.
'Was it really this good?'
Decades ago, when the family was at its peak, he could taste all kinds of rare tea leaves, but not now.
For a long time, Danmug Chienji had been accustomed to the taste of old, stale tea leaves. But the tea his granddaughter made reminded him of the rare tea he had tasted in his most glorious days.
The taste of the tea was as clear as a spring, and after one sip, his breathing and stomach felt a bit more comfortable.
It was the same tea leaves he had brewed and drunk the other day...
"How is it?"
"......"
As he savored the aroma, the persistent pain from his damaged dantian, which had been bothering him since the battle with Xuelagou decades ago, slowly subsided.
'It doesn't feel... right?'
When he opened his eyes, his granddaughter's bright eyes were looking at him, expecting his opinion on the tea.
"......Your skills are not bad."
Does she take after her father?
His eldest son was also skilled in tea and often sat with him to enjoy the aroma.
Danmuk Chienji thought of his eldest son, who had passed away before him, and closed his mouth. Thinking of his son felt like a nail in his heart, but how much more must his daughter, who had never seen her father's face, feel?
"You should practice tea ceremony instead of making rice cakes."
He said this to change the subject, but a shadow fell over the young girl's face.
He inwardly regretted it but didn't take back his words.
Once, his granddaughter had brought him a rice cake for morning greetings.
The red bean filling was too sweet and almost bitter, and the white cake was almost inedible. After eating it, a strangely refreshing and cool mint taste lingered in his mouth.
He was an old man who had been through wars. Eating was a necessity, not a pleasure, and he had no interest in snacks or gourmet food.
He could eat anything given to him without complaint. Drinking tea was his only luxury, and even that was limited to old tea due to the family's decline.
But the poorly shaped red bean rice cake his granddaughter had made was an incredibly unique taste even for Danmug Chienji.
At the time, he thought it was natural for a child to not be able to make good food, but seeing how well she prepared the tea, it was clear she was just a poor cook.
Danmug Chienji secretly decided that when his granddaughter got married, he would send her the best cook from Zhejiang Province as part of her dowry.
"Still, the tea..."
The granddaughter mumbled, trailing off.
Danmug Chienji thought that praising her too much might make her arrogant, but he couldn't bring himself to be strict.
"I told you, this is good enough."
Only then did the shadow lift from her face, and she smiled.
Danmug Chienji realized that during the brief moment her face darkened, he had forgotten the taste of the tea. Now, he could taste it again. It was warm and soft, with a sweet flavor.