Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Song Xiaotao moseyed over to the kitchen, taking her sweet time to light the fire and add water and brown sugar to the pot.

Li Yanlai stood leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. Watching Song Xiaotao’s sluggish movements, he truly couldn’t fathom what kind of Love Tribulation he could possibly have with an old woman who had one foot in the grave.

Instead of overcoming a tribulation, she might just keel over first.

Once Song Xiaotao’s brown sugar poached eggs were ready, she sat at the table with the bowl in her hands and began to eat with focused intent.

Today was her seventieth birthday. There was no grand banquet and no children or grandchildren gathered around her knees. After decades of hard work-getting married, giving birth, and raising children-she ultimately still had to look after herself.

Everyone in the village said she was unlucky.

Song Xiaotao smacked her lips. The brown sugar broth was sweet, and the eggs were tender. They weren’t her, so what did they know?

After eating, she had to wash the dishes. By the time she finished her chores, the sun was nearly behind the mountains.

Once the sky turned completely dark, the first day of Song Xiaotao’s seventieth year would be over.

The household was poor, so candles had to be rationed. At this hour, Song Xiaotao would usually lie down on her bed and think about what she needed to do the next day.

The trampled vegetables could be chopped up to feed the chickens. She had stopped raising pigs long ago; she was too old to herd them.

That young man had handed over ten taels of silver without a second thought. It seemed he was a wealthy fool who knew nothing of the world.

Since he wanted to stay, she would let him live here for a few days. But such labor shouldn’t go to waste; the kitchen roof was in disrepair, so she would have him fix it.

With those thoughts in mind, Song Xiaotao soon drifted off, snoring softly.

Li Yanlai could see in the dark. He sat on the roof, gazing into the distance where the winding mountain path vanished into the dense forest-a dark, invisible road ahead.

Just like his own future.

Li Yanlai felt a surge of irritability at the thought.

He used to listen to the Scholar tell stories of the past, and his favorite plots were always those where a “useless” underdog staged a comeback.

How he wished that one day he could win a glorious victory in front of everyone who looked down on him.

If only for the sake of Cui Guan, who had taken him in as a Direct Disciple?

But… but in this world, having things go your way is a stroke of luck, while failing to get what you desire is the norm.

Li Yanlai knew better than anyone that even if a stone gave its all, it would only ever become a polished stone; it could never become fine jade.

Unfortunately, his melancholy could only be shared with the moon.

Once the sun rose, he would have to tuck away all his vulnerability. The more people mocked him, the straighter he had to hold his back, pretending he didn’t care at all.