She Only Cares About Cultivation

After registering in the morning, the children went home, and they can come back in the afternoon for a big cleaning.

Considering that both female teachers have children, the male teachers volunteered.

"Don’t come in the afternoon, leave it to us."

An Yi was very grateful, asked them how many children they had, and prepared four candies for each of them.

"Just a small token, thank you two teachers for your help. This is a gift from Mr. Zhang and me for the children, I hope you don’t mind."

In those days, it was rare for children to have candy, and Teacher An and Mr. Zhang prepared two candies each as a gesture of thanks, which was quite precious.

The male teacher was naturally very grateful, and Zhang Li was likewise thankful. She didn’t expect An Yi to be so considerate, even thinking of her share.

Mr. Zhang had three children, with two daughters, and An Yi had saved six candies for Mr. Zhang.

"Take them, these were sent by my classmate. My child is still small and they might melt in the summer, so you should take them back for your children to enjoy."

Mr. Zhang looked a bit embarrassed: "Teacher An, how can I accept this?"

"There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We’ll be colleagues, looking out for each other is only right. Take them, let’s go home, maybe we can even catch an afternoon nap!"

Zhang Li’s mouth turned into a bitter little smile, she nodded silently, and the two of them greeted Old Zheng, and left the school gate, going their separate ways.

Zhang Li looked back at An Yi’s joyful steps, occasionally teasing her daughter, which she truly envied.

She wasn’t as lucky as An Yi, who could hold her child and sleep peacefully. She still had to take care of her child and couldn’t finish the housework at home.

No, no, it shouldn’t be said about Teacher An, An Yi’s fate wasn’t as good; who knows if there were darker days hidden beneath her smile?

Little did An Yi realize that behind such a vibrant day, so many complex feelings ran. She only cared if her treasure was well-fed and well-rested.

Just seeing her healing-like smile made one feel invigorated all over.

As she pondered what to cook for lunch, a disheveled woman suddenly ran out from the grove by the roadside, directly kneeling before her. Upon closer look, it was Zhang Zhaodi, the same woman who insulted her at school.

"Teacher An, I’ve made a mistake, I’ve made a mistake, please let my child go to school. My husband hit me, called me names, and now everyone in town is laughing at me. Even the child is blaming me, Teacher An, I beg you to forgive me. I won’t dare to say anything against you again, truly, never again."

An Yi, without losing focus, switched directions, using a bit of Demon Art to quicken her pace so the woman couldn’t catch up. Her crying and kneeling wasn’t from recognizing her mistake, but from feeling misunderstood by her family, scolded, beaten, and pointed at by people in town. She couldn’t stand such rumors, hence she came back to apologize.

Such individuals aren’t worthy of forgiveness, so she didn’t even glance back and walked away quickly, leaving the woman unable to catch her.

When she returned to town with her child, it was already past lunchtime. Everyone was resting at home, waiting to go to work in the afternoon, leaving the road almost empty.

Once home, she shut the main gate, not stepping outside.

Upset by the day’s events, An Yi decided to treat herself to a grand meal, coaxed her child to sleep, and placed her in the space, worried the outside noise might affect her.

Then she entered the space, caught a duck, slaughtered and cleaned it efficiently, then marinated it with honey and various seasonings. In the yard, she had a broken jar, with charcoal fire inside. She hung the duck inside to roast, covered it, and awaited.

Meanwhile, she prepared dough, making water pancakes. Since the dough skins were large, she also washed scallions, sliced cucumber thinly along with other ingredients.

She had previously made sweet bean sauce herself, mixed in some Northeastern Soy Sauce. Once these preparations were complete, the ingredients had finished roasting. She turned the dough again until the charcoal fire waned, revealing the fragrant roasted duck, an absolutely delicious aroma.

Later, she sliced the duck, placing the duck frame in the space to make noodle soup for her daughter later.

She spread sauce on the dough, added the roast duck meat, taking a bite; the taste was so delightful that it made her eyes squint in pleasure.

After eating well, she cooked a pot of green vegetable soup to alleviate the oily feeling, and reclined on the lounge chair in the courtyard, unable to help but sigh.

"Life is beautiful, and it’d be even better if I didn’t have to go to work!"

No man, can’t get married, why not? I’m living more comfortably than any of you.

All day with your big mouths making plans, aren’t you just dissatisfied with your own life, envying me the lone wolf?

Humph, I have food, I have money, I spend how I like, what does it matter to any of you?

Truly idle day-by-day!

Every time her daughter slept in the space, she rested longer than usual, so An Yi also took a nap until their door was knocked on.

Hearing the noise, oh, that woman truly persisted, even finding their home? This really is...

"What business is it of hers?"

She closed the room’s door and entered the space, not caring less, she couldn’t possibly break in, could she?

When the child awoke, she fed her milk, washed diapers, took her to harvest vegetables and fruits in the field, fed the livestock, and rode on the big goose, laughing joyously.

The space was now quite full, with all sorts of material reserves within her activity scope, mostly Japanese products. Before nuclear radiation, she had gleaned quite a lot. If she hadn’t, these items would’ve been ruins, along with those people who wouldn’t survive, naturally without consequences.

In here are quite a few large items useless to her life; she had donated them, like machines and cars. Some food and necessities were kept, ensuring even without work her lifetime wouldn’t see hunger.

Would she let her quality of life suffer because of some unrelated person?

The woman outside, upon finding the door won’t open, started tearful moral kidnapping. She couldn’t bear it, opening the dog’s door, instructing Nut to go out.

"Don’t bite, just scare her away."

Next, she heard the woman’s distressed cries chased by the dog, she clapped her hands, sneered, and returned inside with her daughter.

Half an hour later, Nut returned, wagging his tail like he was asking for a reward: "Good, when I make duck frame soup tonight, you’ll have all the bones."

Nuts whimpered excitedly, wagging his tail throughout the courtyard.

In the evening, she steamed a pot of shrimp egg custard for her daughter, with duck frame stew underneath, though having eaten too much during the day, she didn’t want more at night. The soup was kept separately in the space; a pot made ten bowls of custard, leaving one, the rest saved, sparing the effort next time. That was her habit.

She liked making plenty of everything, and then slowly enjoying it in the space.

She pulled out the duck frame for Nut, who had been eagerly waiting. After the daughter ate her fill, she munched on a Passion Fruit as dinner.

Once night descended, she entered the space, never having lit the oil lamps, mainly finding lamps of the era ineffective, heading to the toilet in the dark. Luckily, the Japanese flashlight remained. She had brought back a lot, including the batteries.

Unfortunately, the generator was too loud, or she’d have her home attached with electricity. As for the radio, a Japanese product able to use batteries, it was inscribed in Japanese, so she rarely used it or listened, having no current interest.