Chapter 71: The Wang Family's Live-in Son-in-Law
"Fatty, go chop today's firewood."
"Yes, Master."
"Fatty, once you're done chopping, process that demon beast meat too."
"Understood."
After giving Wang Baole his tasks, Chu Feng returned to his residence and passed the time with a book in hand.
Ever since Fatty arrived, the Miscellaneous Dao Institute had gained a handy little worker for all odd jobs.
The only pity was that the boy's cooking skills were mediocre.
It wasn't that the food tasted bad, but because his cultivation was too low. Many of the ingredients lost their special properties in his hands, turning into regular food and failing to bring out their full effects.
Come to think of it, Fatty had already been at the Miscellaneous Dao Institute for a month.
He worked diligently every day without complaint and ate the least among them.
Even Chu Feng started to feel a bit embarrassed about it. After all, he wasn't some kind of heartless landlord.
"Master, aren't you going to teach Junior Brother how to cultivate?"
Qin Qin asked curiously when she returned from training and saw her master reading while her junior brother was busy in the kitchen.
"He doesn't even want to cultivate. Why should I teach him?"
Chu Feng replied with a straight face.
Qin Qin was stunned. Though she was cold by nature, she wasn't entirely unmoved by others.
She had seen all the hard work Junior Brother had done over the past month.
He was a very earnest person, which was why she had asked.
"Master, I'll go cook."
"Mm."
Chu Feng responded lightly and didn't say anything more.
An hour later—
The senior sister and junior brother brought the dishes to the table one by one.
Chu Feng picked up his chopsticks first. After tasting a bite, he praised, "Qin'er, your cooking is getting better and better."
Qin Qin replied, "It's all thanks to Master's guidance."
Chu Feng smiled and said, "As your master, I only gave a few casual pointers—it's your talent that made it work. By the way, have you encountered any difficulties in your cultivation recently?"
Qin Qin gently shook her head. "Disciple has had no confusion in cultivation. Ever since I received your guidance, my progress has been rapid. If you give me another year and a half, I believe I can break through to the True Fate Realm."
"And you say there are no problems in your cultivation?"
Chu Feng intentionally paused.
Both Qin Qin and Wang Baole were caught off guard and looked at Chu Feng with puzzled eyes.
While eating, Wang Baole secretly thought: 'Senior Sister is already so strong. Where we come from, even top-tier genius disciples take five to ten years to go from Dao Foundation to True Fate.'
'Senior Sister is just in the early stage of Dao Foundation now, yet she thinks she can reach True Fate in a year and a half? That's definitely the level of a prodigy.'
'So why does Master think there's a problem?'
Qin Qin didn't think too deeply and asked directly, "May I ask Master for guidance?"
"You little girl, are you rushing your cultivation just to meet the small goals I set for you?"
Chu Feng asked with a smile.
Qin Qin nodded. "That's indeed part of the reason. But since First and Second Senior Brothers could do it, I naturally can as well."
"And that's precisely why you're focusing only on improving your realm, not on comprehending 'intent,' isn't it?"
Chu Feng asked in return.
Qin Qin froze. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
She had clearly been cultivating according to her master's instructions, so why was he saying there was something wrong with her approach?
Chu Feng took a sip of tea and continued, "The reason I had you use your zither music to comprehend nature was so that you could ultimately gain an understanding of your own intent. It could be Zither Intent, Sword Intent, or anything else.
For you right now, understanding intent is the most important thing. Once you comprehend it, your cultivation will progress naturally, and you'll truly achieve the speed of a thousand miles in a single day."
As Qin Qin listened, her eyes grew brighter. So that was the reason.
In her usual cultivation, she had only focused on blending her music into nature but had never received any feedback from nature itself.
She had missed several chances to grasp intent, even though they were right in front of her.
"Thank you for Master's guidance."
Chu Feng smiled. "It's good that you understand. As for your small goal, complete it if you can—if not, don't pressure yourself.
You walk a different path than your First and Second Senior Brothers. Their foundations are much deeper than yours.
Remember, cultivation at the Dao Foundation stage is about laying your groundwork. Only when the foundation is solid can you build a tower that reaches the heavens."
"Mm."
Qin Qin nodded.
Wang Baole, on the other hand, was completely confused. The discussion between Master and Senior Sister was way too profound.
As someone still at the Body Tempering stage, he couldn't understand a word of it.
At that moment, even the ribs in his bowl didn't taste good anymore.
If he could, he wished he could turn back time and eavesdrop more during those stolen cultivation lessons—maybe then he'd understand a little now.
After finishing his guidance to Qin Qin, Chu Feng turned his gaze to Wang Baole.
"Fatty, how have you been these past days at the Miscellaneous Dao Institute?"
Wang Baole nodded enthusiastically like a pecking chick. "Very well. I've never lived so comfortably in my life."
Hearing this, Chu Feng fell silent.
He looked at the chubby kid in front of him and muttered, "How much hardship did this child go through before?"
'I've already made him do so many chores, and he still looks so grateful.'
Chu Feng narrowed his eyes and changed his tone, "Fatty, are you saying this just to curry favor with your master?
Your round, chubby appearance doesn't look like someone who's suffered much."
Wang Baole set down his bowl and chopsticks and began to explain.
"I haven't really done much hard labor before, but I've certainly done a lot of servant work—bringing people foot-washing water, cooking for others, that sort of thing."
???
Chu Feng and Qin Qin both looked at him with doubtful expressions.
"The more you speak, the more outrageous it sounds."
Wang Baole heard that and showed a conflicted expression.
Hoo...
After a moment, he let out a long sigh and said, "Master, Senior Sister… to be honest, I'm actually a live-in son-in-law, and one of those raised from childhood.
When I was young, I didn't suffer much, but the people from my wife's family constantly told me that I'd be her husband when I grew up.
They'd tell me what I had to do and how I had to behave. Even the old woman in the courtyard wouldn't let me cultivate—instead, she taught me all the ways to serve people.
Even my surname follows my wife's."
"A live-in son-in-law of the Wang family?"
Chu Feng blurted out instinctively.
"Let me guess—one day someone suddenly showed up with a Wendao Academy token and said, 'The 18-year term has ended. We await the return of the Young Master,' or something like that?"
???
Wang Baole was momentarily stunned. The words he was about to say got stuck in his throat, and for a moment, he didn't know how to respond to his master.
After a short pause, he finally said, "Not quite like that. It was just that half a year ago, my grandfather came to me with a Wendao Academy token.
He asked if I wanted to change my situation. I struggled with the decision for a while… and eventually chose to take the token and come here to cultivate."
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