Peach Blossom Land On Longyin Island Chapter 5
byA Sister-in-Law Must Know How to Cook
Longyin Village did not have a precise method for calculating the annual calendar, but it did possess its own phenological calendar—the village elders determined the twenty-four solar terms and important festivals by observing changes in flora, fauna, and weather: the croaking of frogs signaled the Beginning of Summer, the chirping of cicadas marked the Summer Solstice, the hawk’s first fierce flight indicated Minor Heat, the descent of white dew meant the Beginning of Autumn, the ripening of grain was the Limit of Heat, the arrival of wild geese was White Dew, and the yellowing of chrysanthemums heralded Cold Dew…
The first solar term An Le experienced after arriving here was the Summer Solstice. Now, White Dew had passed, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching. Whenever a festival arrived, Longyin Village celebrated collectively, choosing a suitable spot in the village to hold a grand banquet where all the villagers, old and young, attended. Lacking entertainment, the villagers used the excuse of festivals to create a huge, lively gathering.
Therefore, the village was filled with a festive atmosphere early on the morning of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Father An and Mother An had gone to help out in the village early. An Su Su, after her usual round of play, returned to call her brother to wake up.
When An Le opened his sleepy eyes, the space beside him was indeed empty.
“Where is An Xiaoyu?” An Le yawned, asking habitually. For some time now, the person was never there when he woke up. An Le had to admire the energy of the ancients; they went to sleep at the same time, but he needed to sleep until late morning before thinking about getting up. As for the other person, he didn’t know when they woke up—every day, the moment he opened his eyes, the person was already gone. However, he generally knew what the other person was doing: gathering information.
It was difficult for a handsome outsider youth in a secluded village that hadn’t seen outsiders for a hundred years not to attract special attention from the villagers. The villagers were enthusiastic; everywhere they went, they felt the villagers’ scrutinizing gazes and concerned greetings. Since the two of them were so conspicuous, they couldn’t secretly search for the map. An Xiaoyu suggested that they might be able to use the villagers’ curiosity about him to inquire about the map from their mouths. Consequently, An Xiaoyu had been wandering around the village every morning after waking up.
The half-month deadline was drawing near, and there was no progress on the map. He clearly sensed that An Xiaoyu was growing increasingly anxious.
“Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu is cooking.”
The answer was unexpected, and An Le couldn’t help but be surprised: “He can cook?”
An Su Su smiled innocently, saying sweetly, “Xiaoyu is my sister-in-law, so of course he can cook. Da Zhuang Brother’s sister-in-law and Little Hua Sister’s sister-in-law can all cook.”
In six-year-old An Su Su’s understanding, if you were a sister-in-law, you could cook. Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu was a sister-in-law, so Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu could cook.
An Le rubbed An Su Su’s chubby, fleshy face, suppressing a laugh: “Your Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu isn’t an ordinary sister-in-law. Your brother estimates he hasn’t stepped into a kitchen since he was born.”
He clearly looked like a rich young master, who must have had many people waiting on him at home, An Le thought to himself.
“Mm-hmm!” An Su Su nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling. “Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu is different. Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu is a merman. Brother, everyone envies Su Su for having a merman sister-in-law. Everyone says they want to go pick up a merman to be their sister-in-law. Brother,” An Su Su quickly climbed onto the bed, opening her round eyes and whispering to An Le, “Does Brother like this merman sister-in-law Su Su picked up?”
An Le joked, “What if I don’t like him?”
“Then Su Su will go pick up another one for Brother.”
An Le tapped Su Su’s forehead, amused: “Do you think mermen are like seashells on the beach, that you can just pick one up whenever you want?”
Hearing this, An Su Su’s eyes instantly dimmed. She slumped down dejectedly and said, “Brother is right. Ya Ya and the others have been searching for days and haven’t found one. Ya Ya asked me to help her find one, and I couldn’t find one either.”
“No wonder I haven’t seen you much these past few days. So you went to look for mermen again.”
“Brother, Grandpa An said mermen live in the ocean. Does Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu live in the sea too? What do houses under the sea look like? Do Brother Xiaoyu’s tears turn into pearls too?” An Su Su asked curiously, her eyes wide with confusion.
An Le thought for a moment, rubbing Su Su’s head, and said softly, “The merman Su Su picked up doesn’t live under the sea. He lives on the other side of the ocean. Your brother doesn’t know what the houses there look like. Maybe they build houses with wood, like us, or maybe they’re different, and their houses are built with steel and cement, or maybe their houses are even taller than Maomao Mountain. Does Su Su want to go see that world?”
“Taller than Maomao Mountain?!” An Su Su’s eyes widened. She gestured with her hands, “That high! How do they get up there? Do they climb? Aren’t they tired?”
An Le smiled gently: “They build a special kind of staircase. This special staircase climbs up by itself. As long as you stand on it, it can take you up.”
“The staircase climbs up by itself?!” An Su Su was dumbfounded; clearly, she couldn’t imagine a staircase that moved on its own.
An Le nodded and said, “The people there named this kind of staircase an ‘elevator.’ It can move by itself and can take people up as high as Maomao Mountain.”
“Elevator?” Great confusion showed in An Su Su’s eyes. “Su Su knows stone stairs and wooden stairs. Stone stairs are made of stone, and wooden stairs are made of wood. Is an elevator made of electricity? Brother, what is electricity?”
It was difficult to explain what electricity was to an ancient person, especially one who was only six years old. An Le pondered for a moment and said, “Su Su, do you remember the last time we went fishing with Father on the boat?”
An Su Su blinked, nodding: “I remember.”
“Then do you remember that sometimes the boat kept moving in the water even though we weren’t rowing?”
“Su Su knows,” An Su Su said proudly. “Father said that when there is wind, we don’t need to row ourselves; the wind helps us row.”
“Yes, Su Su is so smart,” An Le praised with a smile. “Wind is a kind of power; you can’t see it or touch it. Electricity is very similar to wind. Electricity is also a kind of power. Just as wind can push boats, electricity can push the staircase forward.”
“Electricity is like wind,” Su Su repeated, scratching her head, seemingly half-understanding.
“Yes, electricity is like wind, a very powerful force in nature, and it can do many things.” An Le gently rubbed An Su Su’s fuzzy head. He didn’t expect Su Su to understand all of this; perhaps in An Xiaoyu’s world, humans hadn’t yet fully understood electricity either. He just hoped that through electricity and elevators, he could spark Su Su’s curiosity and desire to explore.
The people here lacked curiosity and a spirit of exploration; he had noticed this soon after arriving.
That was why they hadn’t thought about leaving, not just because of the village rules, but more importantly, because they weren’t curious.
“Then where does electricity come from?” An Su Su tilted her head and asked.
Hearing this, An Le showed a relieved smile and countered, “Then does Su Su know where the wind comes from?”
“I know. Grandpa An said the wind comes from the sea.”
“Electricity comes from the wind.”
“From the wind?”
“Yes, electricity comes from the wind, and it can also come from the water, and it can come from the sky. Su Su, do you remember the lightning we saw during thunderstorms in the summer?”
“Lightning is electricity?” An Su Su seemed to grasp something.
An Le nodded.
“Then how does lightning make the staircase move?” An Su Su pressed further.
“Hiss… this…” An Le rubbed his chin, unsure how to explain. Explaining electricity alone was difficult enough, and the human use of electricity was even harder to put into words. Just as An Le was racking his brain trying to figure out a simple explanation without success, An Xiaoyu entered and interrupted the two: “You’re awake? Then come and eat.”
An Le secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said to Su Su, “I’ll tell you next time we see lightning. Let’s go eat first.”
“Tell her what?” An Xiaoyu was wearing a long robe made of indigo coarse linen, with both sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing the beautiful muscle definition on his exposed arms.
An Su Su’s eyes sparkled as she chimed in, “Brother was telling me about electricity. Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu, Brother said that where you come from, there’s an elevator made of electricity that can take people as high as Maomao Mountain. Is that true?”
“Elevator?” An Xiaoyu looked at An Le in confusion and asked, “What is an elevator?”
Tsk, should I explain it again? Forget it, I’m hungry. An Le secretly assessed his stomach. After a moment, he decided that eating first was more important. However, An Xiaoyu was still looking at him with a thirst for knowledge.
An Le blinked, pretending not to notice: “You made the food?”
The taste was actually quite good. Although it was simple porridge and vegetables, it wasn’t too bland or too salty, the texture was just right, and everything was cooked through—much better than what he could make. Since he could cook so well, could it be that he wasn’t a rich person after all?
“Hey, An Xiaoyu, how do you know how to cook?” An Le asked while eating. “Did I guess wrong? You’re not a rich young master?”
If he wasn’t rich, that would be bad, An Le thought. He was counting on clinging to this money tree for the rest of his life.
An Xiaoyu glanced at An Le, his expression unchanged: “I just learned. Su Su said Da Zhuang made fun of her.”
“Ah?” An Le’s expression tightened. He turned to An Su Su and asked, “Did Da Zhuang bully you?”
An Su Su shook her head, then nodded vigorously, suddenly indignant: “Yes! He’s jealous that Su Su has a merman sister-in-law, and he told everyone that Su Su’s sister-in-law isn’t a real sister-in-law because Su Su’s sister-in-law can’t cook.”
“…” An Le was speechless for a moment. He asked, “Then how did he know An Xiaoyu couldn’t cook?”
“He said you can’t make fire in the sea, so mermen definitely can’t cook.”
“…” An Le was momentarily caught between laughter and tears. He said to An Xiaoyu, “So you learned to cook to let Su Su prove them wrong?”
“Naturally.” An Xiaoyu’s expression was extremely serious. “Su Su saved me. I should repay her.”
“…”
“Hehehe, you ancient people are quite serious when you put your mind to it.” An Le muttered, then lowered his head to slowly drink his porridge. Just then, he heard An Su Su’s sweet voice again: “Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu, Little Hua’s sister-in-law knows how to tie many kinds of beautiful hairstyles. There’s the rabbit bun, the bowknot bun, and the lantern braid bun. Little Hua’s hairstyle is always the prettiest. Su Su wants one too.”
“Pfft—” An Le struggled to hold back his laughter and looked up at An Xiaoyu. Sure enough, An Xiaoyu’s expression was gradually stiffening.
“An Xiaoyu, hurry up and learn how to tie hairstyles for your benefactor. Be a qualified sister-in-law~” An Le couldn’t resist teasing him. As he spoke, he noticed that the tips of An Xiaoyu’s ears were faintly turning red.
An Xiaoyu slightly turned his head, his voice dropping: “I am not Su Su’s sister-in-law.”
“Oh, right,” An Su Su suddenly stood up and said to herself, “Brother said he doesn’t like Sister-in-Law Xiaoyu, so I still need to go pick up another merman sister-in-law for Brother. Brother, I’m going to pick up a merman now~”
Before she finished speaking, An Su Su dashed out.