Chapter 1008: Journey to Nanjing (8)

There’s a phrase: someone who “has no knack for it.”

The “knack” being referred to here wasn’t skill in the proper sense, but the petty cleverness of smoothing things over—cutting corners and making things pass.

Gongsun Yoye was the kind of person who didn’t have that sort of knack.

So even through that harsh childhood where she’d been forced into nothing but cultivation, she’d still thrown herself into training with earnest diligence—because that was exactly her temperament.

So even after she’d gotten firmly sulky and entered self-imposed closed-door cultivation, she kept swinging her sword like her life depended on it.

Maybe it wasn’t only because she was diligent.

Maybe it was because, other than throwing herself into sword practice, she didn’t know how to do anything else, and didn’t want to do anything else—because if she didn’t train, she wouldn’t know what she was supposed to do.

As a result, Gongsun Yoye was in a pretty grimy state.

She was the type who would scream “WAAAH!” while doing ten thousand furious sword swings, collapse from exhaustion, then as soon as stray thoughts surfaced again, scream and swing and collapse all over again.

And then—

Nanjing was hot.

Nanjing’s particular brand of humid heat was the kind of nightmare that made it impossible to escape even indoors, even in the shade.

Naturally, Gongsun Yoye’s appearance was... soaked through with sweat—almost like someone who’d fallen into water. Sweat was still sliding down her chin in rivulets, dripping.

What is this? They built the training grounds like a gym—did they put a swimming pool in here too?

Anyway, Qing spread her arms wide in a gesture of welcome.

For a brief moment, Gongsun Yoye’s lips pulled apart into a shy smile, flashing white teeth—

“Ah. Um. I’m... I’m sweating right now, and, uh... Miss Seomun suddenly came without warning, ah! I’m not saying I don’t like it, absolutely not. I’ll wash up right away and come back......”

“Hey now, since when do we get picky about that? No, it’s better this way. The sweat of someone who worked hard is beautiful. Heh-heh. Wow, that smell. I rummaged through every scent pouch I had today.”

Gongsun Yoye took a step back instead.

“My arms hurt. Ow, my arms are gonna fall off. I tried to hug you once and my arms are gonna fall off. Everyone, look over here—my friend says her arms are falling off and you’re just standing there watching.”

“N-no, uhhh......”

“Just once. Just once, let me hug you. Yeah? Hurry?”

“...Okaaay......”

Under Qing’s relentless nagging, Gongsun Yoye couldn’t win. She ended up shuffling forward—dragging her feet, wobbling, inching closer as if being pulled to the execution block, her eyes spinning in little whirlpools.

When she got close enough, Qing put on a show and—

WHUMP—!

She wrapped her up in an exaggerated tackle-hug.

A heartfelt reunion embrace!

Fully aware of her own sweat-soaked condition, Gongsun Yoye didn’t know where to put her hands. She flailed, panicking—up, down, everywhere—unable to settle them anywhere.

Still...

Mm. It’s really damp......

And at the same time... how do you put it—there was a strangely not-unpleasant sweat smell that hit her.

After savoring the joy of reunion for a moment, Qing finally let her go.

Gongsun Yoye had barely exhaled in relief when, all of a sudden, Qing’s hand slipped right into the front of Gongsun Yoye’s collar.

Then, as she puffed out the drenched fabric—

a sharp wave of cold air surged in, like a chilly wind!

“Hwaaaah......”

Gongsun Yoye froze in surprise—then let out a melting, almost indecent moan as the cold air hit her overheated body.

Apparently, the sound a person made when cold air suddenly dove into hot skin was the same in the Central Plains as it was in Qing’s hometown.

“How is it? Feels good, right?”

“Yes. Seriously. Wow. I feel like I’m alive again.”

For a moment she just stood there, face slack, enjoying that cold aura like it was a life-saving internal art.

Then, once her overheated body cooled down, Gongsun Yoye’s vision finally registered the other people present.

Because the moment she’d seen Qing, all she’d been able to see was Qing—so she hadn’t even noticed anyone else.

Now she saw them: her younger brother and sister-in-law wearing oddly satisfied smiles; Seol Iri, someone she only knew by face;

and one kid, staring blankly with hollow eyes and dark shadows under them, looking unbelievably tired—those rotten eyes just... fixed on her.

“Um... Miss Seomun? Uh... this child is......?”

“Oh. Jayeo? She’s your daughter, Yoye.”

A sudden, out-of-nowhere declaration: this is your daughter.

“Huh?”

“Yoye’s daughter. Jayeo, you found your mom.”

“Mommy...?”

“N-no, Miss Seomun? You can’t just say that. I’ve never given birth—”

Jayeo looked up at Gongsun Yoye—tall, long-limbed—and asked, blinking slowly.

“You’re not mommy?”

“Th-that, uh......”

“You won’t be mommy?”

Jayeo stared with those pitch-black eyes, unblinking.

“...Uh. Yes. I’m her mommy......”

Gongsun Yoye lowered her head.

Was it really okay to become someone’s mom like this?

“Ooh.”

Only then did Jayeo toddle over—

and throw her arms around Gongsun Yoye in a tight hug.

While Gongsun Yoye panicked all over again, not knowing what to do with this suddenly acquired daughter, Jayeo turned her head toward Qing and spoke with a faint crease between her brows.

“Mommy is damp. Damp mommy.......”

KWA-GWANG.

Gongsun Yoye froze solid, like she’d taken a direct hit.

It wasn’t exactly a “misunderstanding” to begin with, but either way, it was cleared up quickly.

Qing hadn’t even held a wedding, and it wouldn’t take long for Jayeo to realize she wasn’t a biological child. And when she did, no matter how dull a kid was, she’d be forced to feel shock.

So instead, Qing wanted her to understand early: she’s not my biological daughter—and so what?

To make it something ordinary. Something natural. Something not worth fussing over.

So I’m Dad.

And all my close friends are Mom.

Because the more moms you have, the better.

Mom! More moms! You must be so happy to have so many mothers!

And in truth, the Central Plains was a place where it wasn’t strange at all to have multiple mothers.

Anyway, after washing up and coming back out all clean and fluffy, Gongsun Yoye stood there while Jayeo tilted her head.

“Damp mommy isn’t damp.”

“Th-the damp part... isn’t like that anymore.”

“Not damp now? You’re not-damp mommy?”

“N-no, uh... yes.......”

Even though she understood the situation, Gongsun Yoye still looked completely flustered—like she was the type who found children difficult.

Which made sense. Gongsun Yoye was stiff by nature, so suddenly trying to act gentle and friendly around a child would look even more awkward.

Anyway, like that, Gongsun Yoye’s closed-door cultivation ended in such a warm, wholesome mood......

...Or did it?

Anyway—Gongsun Gong Clan’s guest-welcoming dinner banquet!

A setting where the entire Gongsun family—officially, the entire Gong Clan family—had mobilized. Dishes were placed one after another, and once again, since Qing was being treated as an honored guest, the Gongsuns came up in turn to greet her.

In the middle of it, Sima Ryeong latched onto Qing and carefully opened the subject.

“Unni, unni—when you think about it, our... kind of lacking—no, really, very, extremely, truly lacking unni is always indebted to you.”

“Ah. Chunbong?”

“So, um... is the Half-Sword Twin-Blade Society something that requires a certain level of martial arts? Like... do you have to pass some kind of evaluation?”

“Why? You want to join?”

“No! How could I dare? It’s not for me—it’s because of Chunbong-unnie. We exchange letters, and she keeps writing nonsense like, ‘Unnie clearly expects me to join, but she’s childishly pretending not to know and won’t offer me membership,’ and—ugh.”

“Oh. Did I not say it?”

Chunbong was already a member in her heart, but had I never said it out loud? I mean, if she wanted to join, couldn’t she just say she wanted to join?

“Right? That’s what I’m saying. She’s always like that. If she wants something, she should just say it, but instead she hovers around, circling and circling until someone brings it up first. So that’s why I’m telling you......”

“Oh. Next time I see her, I’ll tell her to join.”

Sima Ryeong shook her head hard.

Then, in a firm tone—

“No. Don’t do that. You should tease Chunbong-unnie until she’s the one who brings it up first. You spoil her too much, and her habits—seriously.”

Mm. I believe it. They really are sisters.

That was exactly what real sisters acted like.

Anyway, after Gongsun whoever, Gongsun so-and-so, Gongsun what’s-their-name finished greeting her one by one, the table was fully set with every dish.

Nanjing’s cuisine had, since ancient times, been beloved by gourmets—so much so that it was called “Jinling cuisine” in its own category.

As the capital of the Six Dynasties, and also the former capital of the current dynasty, Nanjing cuisine developed into refined aristocratic high cuisine—and most of what became Beijing cuisine later originated from Nanjing cuisine.

Even that famous Beijing duck originally came from Nanjing, so the various duck dishes Beijing was known for also appeared in Nanjing much the same way.

It was just that Beijing duck was so famous that “Nanjing duck” wasn’t widely known.

Nanjing’s representative dish was mandarin fish cuisine!

Fried mandarin fish, steamed mandarin fish, mandarin fish soup—their reputations were lofty. For reference, “mandarin fish” was what Qing’s hometown called a Korean perch.

Fried perch, steamed perch, perch soup?

Perch was, in both name and reality, the king of freshwater fish—how could it possibly taste bad?

Jinling meatballs were also a representative Nanjing dish.

They were made by mixing pork, shiitake mushrooms, white bamboo shoots, lily clams, and long-simmered beef tendon with quail egg whites, forming them into balls, then steaming them.

With not a single cheap ingredient among them, they were said to be one of the era’s highest-class dishes.

There were also dishes like dansomae and xiaolongbao—except these xiaolongbao used delicate steamed egg wrappers instead of wheat dumpling skin.

Anyway, Qing was moved—moved again and again—by this rare and different feast!

But no matter what, in a setting where it was her friend’s parents plus the entire extended family gathered together, she couldn’t do her usual “shoveling it down.”

So with tears in her heart, she had no choice but to eat like Seomun Surin’s brand of a refined beauty—an elegant meal......

And yet, there was one shameless woman watching her like she’d been bewitched.

“My goodness... she’s a heavenly fairy. Truly, there’s no fairy like her......”

Outside, Qing wore a face veil because she didn’t want to draw attention, but there was no reason to keep it wrapped around her face inside the estate.

And besides, it would be rude.

So the sight Qing presented now—

was a beautiful face delicately picking at food with elegance: the very definition of a beauty.

No matter what moment you captured during Qing’s meal, you could practically complete an instant masterpiece—a portrait of a peerless beauty.

So the Madam stared at Qing like she was enchanted, completely losing her mind.

If she’d only lost her mind quietly, it would’ve been fine.

The problem was her mouth.

“Ahh, how pretty. So pretty. How could someone eat so beautifully.”

“Ahem. Madam.......”

“And Daerang, you should look too. Oh my—so proper. How can she be that graceful?”

“Uh... Mother?”

“Hm? Cheonil, look. If you’re a woman, wouldn’t you want to learn from seeing that? My, my... now I understand why Murim people talk about ‘opening the eyes.’ Only today does this mother truly understand.”

As she kept talking, the dining table’s chatter strangely began to die down.

Some people even started sneaking glances at Gongsun Yoye, gauging her mood.

Qing, too, was just as troubled.

Mm. Yoye’s mother is...

...just completely, utterly clueless.

And “clueless” didn’t even begin to cover it—she was shockingly, severely clueless.

Gongsun Yoye’s expression had stiffened into a hard mask again, and with Qing here, she couldn’t exactly lash out—so she was sitting there pretending she hadn’t heard anything, trapped between doing nothing and doing nothing.

This won’t do.

There were families you could see every day and be happier for it.

And then there were families where you needed to see them only occasionally, to keep the household warm and affectionate.

So what do you do?

First, it seemed like she needed to get Miss Gongsun a little farther away from that shameless mother.

A temporary isolation measure, and also a way to loosen Miss Gongsun’s mood a bit, and get some fresh air.

They should probably take a short trip somewhere nearby—together.