"It’s fine, I won’t freeze." Chen Yan smiled, shook his head, and said in a low voice, "You forget, I can use spells."
Lu Sisi’s eyes glistened. She nodded and smiled, "I know, I just feel sorry for you."
Gu Qingyi stood quietly by the car, watching this young couple being all lovey-dovey...
Sigh, I really don’t want to see this! Hmph... might as well find a spirit monster to kill.
There is a market in town.
According to the traditions in Chen Yan’s hometown, the market is set up for three days prior to New Year’s Eve, from morning till afternoon.
They bought a bunch of meat, eggs, fish, vegetables, and fruits. It seemed enough for three people to celebrate the New Year. Then they saw a stall selling fireworks and firecrackers. Chen Yan noticed Lu Sisi and Gu Qingyi both had their eyes on it, so he generously bought a lot.
He bought a whole box of just the viral Gatling fireworks!
Realizing the tricycle couldn’t carry it all, he discussed with the shop owner to have the items delivered to his home. The owner saw how much Chen Yan bought and gladly agreed, collecting the money and noting down his address.
At noon, they found a noodle shop in town to have a meal. The three of them then wandered around the market once more, picking up some snacks and other items.
Gu Qingyi remained indifferent when buying groceries, but she suddenly became enthusiastic when purchasing snacks.
They bought two big bags of fried dough twists and sesame sticks.
The amount of malt sugar they bought was enough to give her diabetes.
They also bought sesame candies and crisp pastries, more than enough to make anyone overeat—Chen Yan roughly calculated that just these snacks alone were enough for Gu Qingyi to munch throughout the New Year.
After buying some New Year posters and Spring Festival couplets, the three of them headed home.
Actually... there is also a custom here to burn ingot paper money for ancestors on New Year’s Eve.
But Chen Yan didn’t buy any... after all, the old lady is still alive.
Burning some incense would be a gesture of respect for the Venerable—considering his status in the Domain Realm, equivalent to gods and Buddhas, it seemed reasonable to burn some incense.
Burning ingot paper money would really be crossing the line, wouldn’t it?
In the afternoon, the snow stopped, but the roads were even more slippery, and it took more than half an hour to get home.
As they entered the village, Chen Yan suddenly saw a figure standing by the roadside.
This person’s head seemed originally bald, but it appeared to have been a while since he shaved, as there was a layer of short hair growing. He wore a long cotton robe and had a single-shoulder cloth bag. His hands were not empty either, carrying bags of rice and flour.
This kind of attire looked like that of a monk, but a bit out of place, resembling a cheap imitation.
Chen Yan recognized him at a glance, slowly drove the car closer, and called out from the roadside, "Chuyi!"
The monk turned around, revealing an overly youthful face with ordinary features, slightly small eyes, and thick lips, looking about seventeen or eighteen years old, but with somewhat dull eyes.
He looked at Chen Yan, paused for a second, then slowly showed a simple smile, his tone carrying a hint of affection, "Brother Yan, you’re back."
This young monk’s name was "Chuyi."
His real name should be Wang Chuyi, but since he had left home to become a monk, he dropped his surname, keeping just "Chuyi" as a sort of Dharma name.
Whether he was a proper monk... Chuyi probably wasn’t considered a true monk. Because the temple he stayed at was a makeshift one—on the mountain behind the village, a wild temple.
This kind of temple, if it were in a big city, would be shut down by the authorities. It wasn’t officially registered as a temple.
But in the countryside, these things... as long as no one complains, the officials turn a blind eye.
Chen Yan remembered that Wang Chuyi should be eighteen this year, roughly the same age as him.
This kid... had a tough life.
When he was born, his father named him "Chuyi." Not because he was born on the first day of the lunar year. But... his father, when he was a child, only studied up to the first year of junior high—Chuyi.
Such a careless naming showed that his father wasn’t very responsible either.
When Wang Chuyi was less than a year old, one day his mother suddenly fell while working, couldn’t be saved, and passed away—to later find out it was a brain hemorrhage.
His father remarried when Chuyi was three, so he had a stepmother.
At four, his father died in a construction accident, and he was left with no family.
The construction site owner paid compensation, but at the time, Wang Chuyi was just a four-year-old, so the money naturally fell into the hands of his stepmother. She, of course, did not treat him well.
When he was young, he had a severe illness with a high fever. His stepmother neglected him, failing to take him to the hospital in time, which caused some developmental delay. As a result, from that fever, his mind seemed to be somewhat affected, making him a bit simple-minded.
Though not completely mentally impaired or intellectually disabled—he generally looked like a normal person, but his reactions were a bit slower, and he couldn’t remember complex things.
He always appeared simplistic and a bit dull-witted.
When he was a child, other kids in the village bullied him, treating him like an idiot. But Chen Yan, taught by the old lady to be kind, never bullied him.
When Wang Chuyi was young, he always liked to follow Chen Yan around.
He was a few years younger than Chen Yan, acting as his little tail and follower for many years. With Chen Yan protecting him, he didn’t suffer much bullying.
His stepmother never planned to let him go to school.