Chapter 328: Moonlight Eve

Startled, Li Huowang suddenly stood up and stumbled back several steps.

The sound of the overturned stool immediately caught the vendor's attention. He cautiously approached. "Sir, is something wrong? Are the noodles not good, or the soup not to your taste? Shall I get you another bowl?"

Li Huowang, his face looking extremely grim, glanced at the vendor, then at his pregnant wife. Without a word, he tossed down a piece of silver, climbed into his carriage, and hastily departed.

"Sir, you've paid too much! A bowl of noodles doesn't cost that much!" the vendor called out, but his words only made the carriage speed up.

Inside the speeding carriage, Li Huowang clutched his stomach, his expression peculiar. "What's going on? Was that just the Black Grand Emperor mimicking me, or does it genuinely believe I'm its father?" He had always thought the Grand Emperor was like Dan Yangzi, as its very existence was to take over others' bodies. But what had just happened seemed entirely different from what he had previously imagined.

"Father?" a voice echoed again, immediately met with Li Huowang's retort, "Don't call me father!"

"Why?"

The Black Grand Emperor's question momentarily stumped Li Huowang. After a moment of thought, he recovered. "Right, why can't it call me that? It's not necessarily a bad thing for me."

The crowing of a rooster made Yang Xiaohai slowly open his eyes. He rubbed them, looking around, still finding it a bit hard to adjust to sleeping alone in a room. For the first few days, he hadn't slept soundly without the smell of Senior Brother Cao Cao's smelly feet.

Yang Xiaohai stretched with effort, got out of bed, and began to dress himself. At his age, growing taller by the day, his Taoist acolyte's robe was clearly too short.

Facing the cold morning wind, Yang Xiaohai shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the White Family's kitchen. Living in Niuxin Village was much better than sleeping rough outside. There was a well in the courtyard opposite the kitchen, making it very convenient for washing clothes, dishes, and personal hygiene, without needing to fetch water early in the morning.

The water was boiling, and the rice, which had been soaking all night, was ready. Yang Xiaohai skillfully began to cook the porridge. While rice porridge is simple, its taste depends on how it's made. If it's slowly and carefully simmered until the rice oil emerges, it acquires a unique flavor.

The jar of pickled vegetables was opened. Yang Xiaohai picked up his chopsticks, took out some pickled vegetables, placed them on the cutting board, and began to slice them into strips and sections.

Yang Xiaohai, fully engrossed in his task, was interrupted by footsteps. He looked up and saw the chubby-faced woman. "Little fellow, you're up early again today."

She was holding a new garment in her arms, a man's clothes.

"Bring out last night's leftover tofu; we'll have it with the porridge," Yang Xiaohai said. He couldn't help but sigh with emotion, thinking how much better life was now, even having leftovers.

"Alright," the woman replied, not annoyed by the instruction, and obediently did as told.

When the porridge was ready and the vegetables were chopped, others gradually arrived in the main hall for breakfast.

Li Huowang had been gone for a long time, and everyone had gradually adjusted. Yet, everyone felt an emptiness, as if they had lost their backbone. With no one giving orders, they weren't sure what to do for a while. As for the harsh words he had spoken before, no one harbored any resentment. They had all faced life-and-death situations; their hearts were tough. Not to mention being called useless by Li Huowang, even if he had stood there scolding them for a day and a night, they would have just laughed it off.

But at least they weren't blind; they could all see who was most saddened by Li Huowang's departure. Since Li Huowang left, Bai Lingmiao had not smiled, and she no longer exuded that approachable feeling. She seemed to have become a block of ice, keeping everyone at a distance.

Chun Xiaoman sighed softly, picked up a piece of pickled vegetable with her chopsticks, and placed it in Bai Lingmiao's bowl. She had been sleeping with Bai Lingmiao during this time, just in case her good friend might have negative thoughts.

Bai Lingmiao picked up the pickled vegetable, put it in her mouth, and chewed it into small pieces.

"Miss Bai,"

Lu Zhuangyuan's words made Bai Lingmiao look up. Her long white eyelashes blinked, and she calmly asked, "Leader Lu, is there something you need?"

"You see, we've rested for quite some time now. I think the Lu family troupe can go out and perform. The autumn harvest is over, farmers have nothing much to do and are preparing for winter; they'll have free time to watch plays."

"Okay, but today is the Mid-Autumn Festival eve. How about we wait until after the festival to leave, Leader Lu? What do you think?"

Leader Lu nodded somewhat awkwardly. "Yes, that works too." He had actually planned to take his whole family out to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, to avoid feeling uncomfortable in this village. But since she had said that, he could only give up on the idea. After all this time, he had already found out clearly that this girl's entire family had died, so this Mid-Autumn Festival would certainly not be easy for her.

"I can make mooncakes!" Yang Xiaohai volunteered. "Back then, that bald man always made us bake mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival. I was the fastest and best at it among the acolytes!"

Seeing Chun Xiaoman wink at him, Yang Xiaohai paused, then quickly sat down and buried his head in his breakfast.

After breakfast, Yang Xiaohai dug out the mooncake molds. Fortunately, White Family Village seemed to have everything; otherwise, it would have been hard to get them.

Gou Wa feigned innocence, poking half his head out from the kitchen doorway. "Xiaohai, need any help?"

"No, I can manage it myself."

"Alright, then I'll look forward to eating tonight! I'm taking Gao Zhijian to build the tile kiln!"

After a day of busy work, night fell, and a bright moon hung high in the sky. Pastries and fruits bought from the peddler, along with the stacked mooncakes, were placed on the table. To admire the moon, naturally, there had to be wine. A jar of wine from the cellar was also brought out.

Sitting at the head of the table, Bai Lingmiao raised her wine cup towards the others. "May the full moon bring reunion to everyone and everything. May all be smooth and prosperous. I wish everyone's family happiness and harmony!"

The others exchanged glances, then, in twos and threes, raised their cups, responding awkwardly and vaguely with some unclear words.

After a cup of wine, Bai Lingmiao's eyes were a little red. "Come on, everyone, don't just drink! Have some mooncakes. Junior Brother Yang's mooncakes look really good; they must be delicious." With that, she picked up a mooncake and took a small bite.

Seeing everyone's cautious expressions, Bai Lingmiao sniffed and smiled. "Look at me, on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, I haven't even changed the offerings in the ancestral hall. You all eat; I'll be back in a moment after I'm done." With that, she picked up a plate of mooncakes and walked towards the White Family ancestral hall.

As soon as Bai Lingmiao left, everyone let out a sigh of relief. Gou Wa, feeling quite uncomfortable, tugged at his collar. "Ah, this Mid-Autumn Festival..."

"You all eat first; I'll go check on her," Chun Xiaoman said, standing up to follow.

Gao Zhijian, however, grabbed her hand and subtly shook his head. "Let... let... let her... be alone... for a bit!"

"Everyone, eat the mooncakes. Junior Brother Yang's mooncakes are really good," Bai Lingmiao said, holding the mooncakes in both hands, as she placed them before the densely packed spirit tablets in the ancestral hall. These spirit tablets were all new, representing the entire White Family Village, men, women, and children alike, neatly arranged here. The black-on-white spirit tablets formed an overwhelming, continuous black wall, looking down from above at the sole remaining bloodline of the Bai family.