Chapter 72: Just Add Firewood to Reignite the Dead Ashes

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Just Add Firewood to Reignite the Dead Ashes

Yun Zhen took out the Mango Pomelo Sago milk tea.

Wait! That wasn’t right. Why was it hot? Logically, the piping hot milk tea should have gone cold by now. After all, several hours had passed.

"What’s wrong?" Yun Old Lady noticed her daughter’s odd expression. Yun Xiu also looked at Yun Zhen with concern.

"The treasure land in my mind can preserve heat!" Yun Zhen felt like the pleasant surprises would never end.

The old couple was equally astonished, but they quickly calmed down. They told themselves to stay composed; their daughter was blessed by destiny. This was an immortal’s treasure, so keeping things warm was nothing out of the ordinary.

Xiaobao stared at the bright yellow-orange cup. She seemed to catch a whiff of something even sweeter and more fragrant than the candy from earlier. "Mother, what is this?"

"This is milk tea," Yun Zhen explained. "It’s tea mixed with cow’s milk. It should also have fruit and white sugar in it. This is my first time drinking it, but it’s probably sweet."

Sweet? She smiled and continued, "My newly made good friend gave this milk tea to me. She is a highly knowledgeable scholar and will become a teacher in the future!"

"A woman?" Yun Xiu and Yun Old Lady asked in unison.

"Yes, a woman," Yun Zhen replied. "She is open-minded, straightforward, generous, and kind. Actually, we’ve met several times, but we only officially became friends today."

Could a woman really become a teacher? Yun Xiu and Yun Old Lady were incredibly confused.

Yun Zhen understood their doubts. She told her parents everything Su Yue had shared with her, such as how everyone in that world had the right to an education.

"Men and women have an equal opportunity to study, and they can even participate in the same selection examinations?"

"Doesn’t that mean a person spends half their life studying?"

"That nine-year compulsory whatever... requires no tuition fees at all!"

Listening to Yun Zhen, Yun Xiu and Yun Old Lady’s eyes widened as they voiced their continuous disbelief. Yun Zhen simply kept nodding. At first, she hadn’t dared to believe that such a wonderful thing existed in the world either.

Yun Xiu’s face filled with yearning. "Could it be a world identical to the Great Harmony spoken of by the ancient sages?"

A world where everyone was equal, and the common people lived in peace and contentment. A world free of war, enjoying absolute tranquility. A world where everyone possessed virtue and treated each other with kindness. Could it be that his daughter had visited the idealized, prosperous, and peaceful golden age everyone dreamed of?

Having picked up a few words from her husband, Yun Old Lady happened to know exactly what Yun Xiu was talking about. "Honor the elderly of others as we honor our own, and care for the young of others as we care for our own?"

The elderly would be provided for, and the young would be nurtured. The Great Harmony!

"It doesn’t look quite like that," Yun Zhen furrowed her brows and said. "But it is indeed remarkably fair, and there is no distinction made between men and women."

It was her ideal golden age. How wonderful would it be if everyone lived in a world without hunger and cold!

Yun Xiu and Yun Old Lady were profoundly shaken by Yun Zhen’s words.

Yun Zhen found four porcelain cups, poured half a cup of Mango Pomelo Sago into each, added a bit of hot water, and handed them to her parents and daughter. "Father, Mother, Xiaobao, come have a sip. The milk scent is very rich."

Yun Xiu and Yun Old Lady snapped out of their daze. They grabbed their cups, took a sip, and were instantly amazed.

It was sweet! Tart! And filled with the rich scent of milk!

Xiaobao took a sip, her eyes completely lighting up. "Mother! It’s delicious! Xiaobao really likes this!"

"Once we have money in the future, our Xiaobao can drink it every day!" Yun Xiu consoled his granddaughter. Xiaobao narrowed her eyes in pure delight.

Possessing a sharp sense of taste, Yun Old Lady offered her critique. "This is genuinely delicious. It’s much more fragrant than sweet water. Aside from fruit, milk, and tea leaves, there are special spices in here." She then sighed in admiration. "The people of the Immortal Realm are truly incredible. To think they could come up with such a wonderful tea recipe."

"With so many rich ingredients in this single cup, it must cost several dozen cents, right?" Yun Xiu asked his daughter.

Yun Zhen nodded solemnly. "About seven or eight cents."

Seven or eight cents? That was seven or eight catties of white rice! Yun Xiu and Yun Old Lady were both shocked and heartbroken over the expense.

"Your good friend must be a generous daughter of a wealthy family," Yun Old Lady said. "Zhen Niang, you must be careful when interacting with her. Only a wealthy young lady would use the equivalent of seven or eight catties of rice to treat you to such an expensive sweet drink."

"Zhen Niang has a good temperament. That’s why this wealthy young lady took a liking to her and befriended her. We don’t need to worry too much," Yun Xiu said, far more open-minded than his wife.

After hearing his daughter’s earlier explanation, he had a rough understanding of this friend. She was an open-minded and friendly woman. Moreover, she was going to become a teacher in the future, which meant she wasn’t just highly knowledgeable, but also wise and insightful. Being able to get along with Zhen Niang was simply destiny.

Yun Old Lady cared deeply for her daughter and felt immensely proud. Not only did her daughter have fantastic luck, but she also had a wonderful temperament. She herself must have accumulated great virtue in her past life to have Zhen Niang reincarnate into her womb.

Yun Xiu picked up the blueprint for the stove again. "There’s a small lid inside the stove that sits upside down over the firebox. It locks in the heat so you don’t have to start a new fire the next day. Just put in some more firewood, and it will ignite on its own." He marveled inwardly, "It truly is a Divine Artifact of the Immortal Realm. To think it can reignite from the embers just by adding firewood the next day."

Looking at her father’s increasingly joyous face, Yun Zhen thought she had made the right choice in buying the stove.

While her father studied the stove and Xiaobao warmed herself by the fire, Yun Zhen and her mother sorted through the items she had released from the treasure land in her mind. There was an iron pot, bedding, shoes, bags, clothes, a cotton-cushioned bench, a folding table, and a cabinet with a large mirror attached to it.

Yun Zhen organized everything piece by piece. "Mother, add some snow to this iron pot and put it on the stove to store hot water. Drinking plenty of hot water during snowy days will help us stay warm. We’ll give this bedding to the Village Head’s family. He has many children, so one set of bedding isn’t enough for them.

"You and Father can see about altering these clothes so we can wear them. Stuff cotton into the summer clothes to turn them into winter coats. Check if these cotton-padded shoes fit us. If not, distribute them to people in the village who can wear them. Set the unlined shoes aside for later. We’ll place the cotton bench around the stove to sit on while warming up.

"Put the table at the head of the bed for Xiaobao to crawl and play on.

"Place the cabinet against the wall to store clothes. This large mirror on it is a great item. You can see a person clearly from head to toe."

In the blink of an eye, Yun Zhen noticed her daughter inching closer and closer to the stove. She frowned and pulled her daughter back a bit. "This is fire. It’s very dangerous. Stay away from it in the future, or you’ll get burned."

Xiaobao nodded obediently. "Mother, Xiaobao won’t get close to the stove. Xiaobao is just warming up!"

Yun Zhen was still uneasy. "Father, find Uncle Zhao tomorrow and have him build a barricade around the stove." Enclosing the stove would prevent children from getting burned while running around.

"I had the same thought earlier," Yun Xiu said. "Although the stove can bring warmth to the house, people will get burned if they get too close. Not to mention, we have a young, ignorant child in the house."

Yun Zhen then released two large plush toys.

"WOW!" As soon as Xiaobao saw the toys, she lunged at them. "Big kitty!" Surprise flashed in her eyes as she hugged the tiger, refusing to let go.

Yun Zhen carried her onto the bed. "You can play with this, but stay away from the stove."

There was a large brown bear and a large tiger. The old couple was captivated by these novelties.

"These are toys abandoned by people in the Immortal Realm after they moved," Yun Zhen explained. "I brought them back for Xiaobao to play with."

"They are so solid. The outside has soft and fluffy fur, and the inside is stuffed with so much cotton," Yun Xiu noted. He lifted the large brown bear and placed it on the other side of his granddaughter, clearly feeling the weight of the toy.

Xiaobao rolled back and forth happily between the two large plushies.

"To think such excellent things were simply thrown away," Yun Old Lady sighed in awe. "Just how extravagant are the people of the Immortal Realm!"