"It's getting late. Let's head back."
Glancing at the sky and seeing that noon was approaching, Liu Anqing called out to the children in the field. The afternoon would be much hotter, which made it unsuitable for outdoor activity.
"Coming!"
Hearing him, Fang Ye shouted back from the field, then plucked the eggplant in front of him and headed toward Liu Anqing.
"Coming right away."
"Wait just a second."
At the same time, the voices of Erina Nakiri and Alice Nakiri drifted in from two other corners of the field, along with the sounds of their clothes brushing against leaves and stalks.
Everything was orderly and peaceful.
If not for—
"Ah!"
A cry of pain suddenly rang out from deep within the garden.
Fang Ye, who had just been relaxing and was about to head back and talk with Liu Anqing about the Five Methods of Produce Evaluation, immediately frowned when he heard it.
Without hesitation, he dropped the vegetable basket and turned, running toward the source of the sound.
If he had to guess, it was Alice Nakiri.
"Did something happen?"
He snapped off a branch from an eggplant plant as he ran, tension written across his face. He was worried she might have encountered a snake, and at the same time his mind was already racing through what he should do if she really had.
Reason told him that he ought to wait for Liu Anqing.
At Liu Anqing's age, he surely had experience dealing with snakes. But if it really were an emergency, Fang Ye knew he would have to step in anyway. Otherwise, Alice could be in real danger.
"Waaah... I think I twisted my ankle."
"Haa... so it's only a twisted ankle. You scared me. I thought you ran into a snake."
From within the cornfield came Alice Nakiri's tearful voice. The moment Fang Ye heard what had actually happened, the tightness in his chest loosened.
Human beings were always inclined toward compromise.
When he first heard the scream, he had assumed the worst—that she had encountered a snake. Now that he knew it was only a sprain, a twisted ankle suddenly didn't seem like such a big deal.
Pushing aside the leaves, he found Alice sitting on the dirt among the corn stalks, clutching her ankle. Her pale little face was full of pain.
"What do you mean, 'only' a twisted ankle? Twisting your ankle really hurts!"
Hearing Fang Ye's relaxed tone, Alice lifted her little head, eyes glistening with tears, and protested with obvious indignation in her voice.
"Well, there's nothing to be done now. You were the one rushing around so fast, and only after falling did you realize it hurts. Come on, climb up. I'll carry you out. The noon sun is getting pretty harsh."
"And my vegetables—they all fell onto the ground!"
"Forget the vegetables. At a time like this, don't worry about something that unimportant. We can have someone come collect them later."
Noticing the reluctance in Alice's eyes, Fang Ye couldn't help teasing her a little. Then he crouched down in front of her, and she naturally draped herself onto his back.
"I'm ready."
After finding a comfortable position on Fang Ye's back, Alice held her straw hat in one hand and spoke softly by his ear. Fang Ye rose to his feet.
In that instant, a solid weight settled onto his back. An ordinary child might have struggled, but Fang Ye possessed the physique of a young adult in his prime, so for him it was easy enough.
"Sorry... I caused you trouble."
Alice buried her head in the hollow of Fang Ye's neck, her voice low and carrying a trace of dejection.
"This wasn't your fault. Life is full of accidents. If you blame yourself every single time something unlucky happens, living becomes a very painful thing."
As he carefully pushed aside the corn leaves in front of him, Fang Ye answered in a gentle voice.
He could feel the tiny motion of Alice nodding against the side of his neck.
"But next time, you really do need to be more careful—especially when you're on your own. If that happens, no one will come save you, and all you'll be able to do is cry and wait for someone to find you."
"That would never happen to that extent! And besides, I'd never fall twice in the same place!"
Alice muttered stubbornly. Twisting her ankle out in the field had already been embarrassing enough. If she managed to fall again in the same way, she might honestly go into hiding for a while out of sheer humiliation.
Before long, the two of them reached the edge of the field.
Erina Nakiri and Liu Anqing were waiting there, and the moment they saw the two of them emerge, they hurried over.
"I still have medicinal wine back in my room. Come with me later, and I'll rub the ankle until the blockage is worked out. It'll be better in two days at most."
"Okay, Grandpa Qing."
Looking at Alice's slightly swollen ankle as she lay on Fang Ye's back, Liu Anqing let out a quiet breath of relief in his heart. Thankfully, the injury wasn't serious.
Beside him, Erina looked at Alice—clearly uncomfortable and occasionally hissing in pain—and said coldly, "You're always this careless."
Her words were sharp, but she still reached out on her own and took the straw hat that Alice had been clutching the whole time.
"I know I was wrong, and I've already been punished for it, so stop lecturing me already. Besides... Brother Fang Ye's back is really warm. It makes people feel safe."
As she spoke, Alice closed her eyes and sniffed lightly against Fang Ye's shoulder. At that moment, even the pain in her foot didn't seem quite so noticeable anymore.
There was a faint lavender scent coming from him.
Perhaps that was where the feeling of safety came from.
"I remember you're actually older than Fang Ye."
Hearing how Alice addressed him, Erina lifted a brow.
The two girls were no longer the completely ignorant one-year-olds they once had been. They now had a clear understanding of age, and both knew that Fang Ye was actually a few months younger than Alice.
"So what? Alice has always wanted an older brother, and Brother Fang Ye fits every single thing I imagine a big brother should be like."
At this, Alice only pouted.
Watching the amusing interaction between Erina and Alice, Liu Anqing couldn't help smiling.
There was no way he could have watched these three little beans grow up bit by bit over the past two years and feel nothing at all. In his heart, he had already long since begun thinking of them as his grandchildren.
It was just that—
there was something he absolutely had to go and do.
"Children... after today, I'll be leaving."
Much as he hated to break this lovely moment, Liu Anqing said it anyway.
He knew that a short pain was better than a long one.
Once this lesson ended, they would part. Gathering them all together again later would only be troublesome, especially for saying something like this. So now was the best time to say goodbye.
The air suddenly went still.
Fang Ye stopped walking and turned his head slightly toward Liu Anqing.
Alice opened her eyes wide, forgetting even the pain in her ankle.
The straw hat in Erina's hand nearly slipped, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Grandpa Qing... you're leaving?"
Though Fang Ye found it a little sudden, he was not truly surprised.
Liu Anqing had once been the head chef of Juxia Lou. The fact that he had been willing to stay in Japan for two whole years to teach them was already astonishing enough.
Unless he had some absolutely impossible reason preventing him from returning to China, there was no way he could remain in Japan forever. He had family waiting for him across the sea.
"That's right. These past two years have made me very happy. But in life, partings are always with us. I've stayed with you this long—now it's time for each of you to set out on your own paths."
After teaching them the Five Methods of Produce Evaluation, there was really not much left that he could give them.
From here on out, the path of cooking would have to be explored and cultivated by their own hands. In the end, each person would walk a completely different road.
He could not force his own road onto someone else.
If he did, all he would create was another Liu Anqing.
"I understand. Grandpa Qing, have a safe journey."
After a short silence, Fang Ye ultimately chose to accept the reality. Even so, there was an unavoidable sourness in his heart—and something warm against the back of his neck.
It was Alice's tears.
"Grandpa Qing, please stay safe on the road. We'll miss you. We'll come visit you in China someday too. Please don't forget us."
"Good children. I'll wait for you to come see me in China."
Erina felt the same ache in her heart. In truth, she had always known that Liu Anqing would leave someday.
She just hadn't expected that day to come so quickly.
"I don't want Grandpa Qing to go..."
"But I know Grandpa Qing is free. Grandpa Qing, I hope you have a safe journey."
Alice pressed her lips together. No matter how reluctant she felt inside, she knew she couldn't be selfish. Otherwise, even if he stayed for her sake, she wouldn't truly be happy.
"There's really no need to make it quite this dramatic. I may be leaving, but my plane ticket is for tomorrow."
Seeing the way all three of them reacted, Liu Anqing felt his own nose sting a little, but he forced a smile and teasingly shared his travel schedule.
"If it's tomorrow, then we want to personally cook a dish for you—as a farewell gift!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter85)
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Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 65
From Junkman to Wasteland 50
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 35
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 40
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