Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 1005 - 985. Off we go!

Chapter 1005: 985. Off we go!

Qiaoqiao said he’s obedient, truly obedient.

When told not to bring any luggage, he genuinely only brought his phone and charger. After hopping into the passenger seat, he stuck his head out the window and obediently smiled at the Song Family:

"Dad, Mom, Teacher Song, Teacher Tang, Teacher Xin, Seventh Uncle, Aunt Lianhua, Brother Yanping, Sister Tian Tian... I’m going with my sister to the Imperial City now! It’s not safe for her to go alone as a girl!"

The last line was delivered with such a sense of security, clearly something he’d picked up from TV dramas. But Zhang Yanping couldn’t help but roll his eyes:

"You can’t even drive. You might as well take me—I could at least switch out and help drive."

Qiaoqiao puffed up with pride. "But I’m hard-working! I can carry my sister’s luggage! Brother Yanping, you’re so lazy!"

Zhang Yanping: !!! Lazy? Him? How was that laziness? Mental work versus physical labor—which one has more value, huh!

And Song Tan, the one always playing favorites, only said to Qiaoqiao, "Don’t stick your head out of the car window."

Then the engine roared to life, and the battered pickup truck rumbled out of the courtyard.

Though there were quite a few family members left at home, everyone fell silent, as if the entire courtyard had grown still.

...

In the winter mountains, some mist was inevitable. The battered pickup wound its way along twisting roads, no longer as bumpy as in the past, which left Qiaoqiao—who had already braced himself by gripping the handrail—a little disappointed:

"It doesn’t bounce around anymore when we ride now..."

Song Tan chuckled. "What, did you think it was a trampoline? I’ll say this upfront—this time we really don’t have time to go play. Your sister’s busy."

But Qiaoqiao turned to look at her and then grinned foolishly. "No need. I know how hard you work, but before, every time you left, you’d be gone for half a year... I can’t bear to let you go."

He looked a little embarrassed. "I just want to stay with you, Sis. I don’t want you working or studying that far away. When you went to school, there was no one left in the village to play with me..."

His tone didn’t convey much sadness, because for children, colorful memories tend to eclipse everything else.

But Song Tan’s heart softened in an instant.

That’s true. When she went to university, the other young people in the village either went off to study or to work. There really were no peers left.

In a village this vast and empty, aside from the elderly and aunts and uncles, there was only Qiaoqiao, a lone kid...

It made perfect sense that he would feel lonely.

Still, she said with some helplessness, "This time I’ll only be gone for three or four days."

Qiaoqiao shook his head. "Three or four days is so, so long! Brother Yanping said driving there takes over nine hours. That’s so exhausting. If I go with you, I can help you keep an eye on the road."

He looked like he had a grand plan. "When you’re tired, you can sleep, and I’ll call you if there’s another car."

Song Tan: ... You’re really a bold and imaginative little rascal, aren’t you? But let me tell you, your sister may no longer be a mere fragile mortal, but even she can’t withstand this kind of "help."

She resolved to drive with utmost focus this time!

But just as she resolved to concentrate fully, Qiaoqiao, having nothing to do in the car, switched into chatterbox mode: "Sis, you’re giving so many things to that guy in the Imperial City. Do you like him a lot?"

Song Tan nodded. "He helped me soooo much. Without him, I might’ve..." I might’ve been blown to pieces right after reincarnating. Even if I could cultivate later, with a fragile soul, it would’ve taken years of effort just to stabilize myself.

And her family, so fragile and poor, could never have withstood such a toll or the ensuing gossip...

And as for Qiaoqiao, if she hadn’t hired a tutor for him, how would she ever have realized he was such a clever kid?

As for the "like" Qiaoqiao mentioned, it wasn’t the kind of like between a man and a woman.

Song Tan smiled. "Without his help, our lives in the beginning might’ve been really tough."

Qiaoqiao half-understood, half-didn’t.

"But you give him everything from home. Do you like him more than you like me?"

Song Tan thought about it. She slowed the car down before answering, "Never."

"In our family, I will always like you the most—even more than I like Mom and Dad."

When Qiaoqiao was still a baby and their parents were busy in the fields, it was seven- or eight-year-old Song Tan who clumsily looked after this soft, chubby little thing as they stumbled through those poverty-stricken mountain years together.

In summer, she once desperately yanked the silly baby back from almost falling into a water tank.

In autumn, the siblings huddled together, quietly watching the rain drip from the eaves.

In winter, when Qiaoqiao had grown a bit older, he would point at her chilblain-covered fingers and cry, complaining that they hurt...

Other children probably shared a similar bond of closeness, as if they were one body. But as they grew older, desires, hobbies, interests, academics, survival pressures, and endless comparisons would dilute that childhood affection.

But Song Tan wouldn’t. And neither would Qiaoqiao.

His pure heart made him lose many things, but it also let him gain more love than others.

To Song Tan, her parents were her blood tie, but Qiaoqiao was her emotional anchor.

Qiaoqiao’s face turned red. He was thrilled, so excited that his eyes sparkled like stars, brimming with the purest form of happiness.

But then, he grew a little shy. "You... you don’t have to like me the most. Liking me as much as you like Mom and Dad is enough."

Song Tan burst out laughing. "Silly boy! Okay! Whatever you say, I’ll like everyone just the same!"

It wasn’t a competition. It was just the yearning for home. This love for home was what, even after a century in a different world, kept all her wishes tied to this tiny countryside.

Qiaoqiao was so happy he could hardly sit still. He squirmed in the front seat, but after a moment, he sighed: "I should’ve brought more fish."

Song Tan froze. "Our fish aren’t for any competitions."

Qiaoqiao ducked his head shyly. "That guy helped us so much, but you don’t even like him all that much. What if he gets sad? Our fish are delicious. If he eats them, maybe he’ll stop feeling bad..."

Then he gritted his teeth, as if faced with a great sacrifice: "I could even give him one of our lambs! Xiao Yang is so cute—he’d definitely be happy!"

Song Tan: ...

"Alright, alright, my little old man! You’re too young to be worrying over so much. Don’t worry, I already brought him plenty of stuff. Just make sure to work hard and help carry it all inside when we get there, okay?"

Qiaoqiao never refused physical labor. At this moment, he nodded enthusiastically like a hammer pounding a nail: "I’ll definitely carry everything!"

Song Tan glanced at him and said softly, "The road is long and kind of boring. Why don’t you get some sleep?"

Qiaoqiao shook his head and pulled out his phone. "Teacher Xin said that when you’re bored in the car, you can read poetry."

Song Tan chuckled. "Now that’s your Teacher Xin for you. No wonder you’ve been mulling over who you like the most recently! Reading poetry is great—very romantic. What poem are you reading?"

Qiaoqiao puffed out his chest proudly. Though the seatbelt constrained him, it didn’t diminish his spirit one bit:

"Teacher Xin said, young people should be brimming with vitality and vigor. We can read about the Sword Immortal, but we should definitely read Chairman Mao’s poems, too!"