House Dad's Literary Life

Yang Chonggui, with Xixi, walked through the middle of the martial arts field. Xixi took small, quick steps, closely following her grandfather, looking nervously at the people wielding spears and axes.

After several conversations inquiring about Xixi’s identity, Yang Chonggui took Xixi to an open space.

“Yang Xi, would you like Grandpa to perform a little trick for you?” Yang Chonggui swept away his previous stern demeanor, smiled, and said kindly to Xixi.

“Okay!” Xixi clapped her little hands in delight. The title of the most supportive audience was well-deserved.

Yang Chonggui nodded in satisfaction. He pointed to the large stone lock on the ground that seemed to weigh around sixty or seventy pounds and said, “First, Xixi, try picking up this stone lock and see if you can lift it.”

Xixi curiously examined it. She really followed her grandfather’s instructions, grabbing the handle and trying to lift it. However, how could that be possible?

“Ugh…” The little girl used all her strength, but the large stone remained unmoved.

“Can’t lift it, right?” Yang Chonggui said to his granddaughter with a smile.

“This is a big stone, it’s so heavy!” The little girl pouted and shook her head at her grandfather. Unable to lift it, Xixi was a bit unhappy.

“Grandpa can lift it, do you believe it?” Yang Chonggui patted his chest and asked.

However, Xixi didn’t shake her head, but instead nodded seriously.

“Do you really believe it?” The little girl didn’t follow the script, and Yang Chonggui’s prepared words were stuck in his throat, making him feel uncomfortable.

“Grandpa is very powerful!” Xixi continued to be the ever-supportive audience. She added, “My Papa is super powerful too!”

Forget it, let’s just show some real skills!

Yang Chonggui asked Xixi to stand aside. He walked to the heavier stone lock, bent down, and grabbed the handle of the stone lock with his right hand.

“Hah!” With a deep exhalation, Yang Chonggui lifted the sixty- or seventy-pound heavy stone lock with one hand.

“Wow!” Xixi seemed to have forgotten what she had just said and exclaimed in surprise, watching intently.

The exclamation of his granddaughter made Yang Chonggui feel as if he had been injected with chicken blood, and his mood surged.

“Up!” He shouted again, lifting the stone lock high above his head.

The shout was not actually because the stone lock was too heavy, Yang Chonggui did it on purpose. He likely wanted to create an appearance of great difficulty, only to triumphantly lift it in the end.

The effect was very significant. Xixi stared wide-eyed. The little girl clasped her hands in front of her, watching her grandfather nervously, afraid that the stone lock would fall.

Then, Yang Chonggui truly displayed all his skills, turning a simple stone lock into a captivating performance.

What about lifting and swinging high, those are all child’s play. Now, with moves like single blossoming, somersaulting, floating blossoms, dodging the shoulder, and leaning on the horse, among others, the heavy stone lock danced through the air, appearing as weighty as Mount Tai yet as light as a butterfly. It was a dazzling display!

Xixi was so captivated that she forgot to cheer.

Finally, Yang Chonggui performed a high-difficulty lock-elbow move. He threw the stone lock with force and then caught it with his elbow. This move was extremely thrilling, giving a sense of danger that the stone lock might smash the white-haired old man into pieces!

Xixi watched in fear and surprise. It wasn’t until she saw her grandfather catch the stone lock that she breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the cheers from the surrounding villagers reached Xixi’s ears, and the little girl became happy again.

“Uncle Gui is still vigorous in his old age! You youngsters who play around all day, you should quickly learn a thing or two from Uncle Gui!” The middle-aged man from earlier laughed and said on the side.

Xixi probably understood his Mandarin with a bit of a dialect accent, and couldn’t help but puff out her little chest.

“How was it? Did Grandpa’s performance with the stone lock look good?” Yang Chonggui put down the stone lock, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked with a smile. This performance made him feel a bit exhausted. After all, he was almost 70 years old. Although his body was still very strong, it couldn’t compare to his younger days.

“It was great!” Xixi jumped up and down on the ground and said happily, “Grandpa is super powerful!”

Yang Chonggui finally saw the admiration he wanted to see in his granddaughter’s eyes. He was pleased and stroked his beard with a smile.

……

Yang Yi and Mo Fei were still in charge of preparing dinner, and Mo Fei had an additional task of keeping an eye on the fire!

Originally, Yang Yi didn’t let Mo Fei do this, sitting at the stove, surrounded by smoke and fire. However, Mo Fei learned how to stuff firewood and clear ventilation to make the fire burn more vigorously. So, she grew to like this job and insisted on helping Yang Yi watch the fire.

Yang Yi put a whole chicken that had been plucked and cleaned into the pot to cook, then glanced at Mo Fei, who was staring at the fire, and said, “At noon, you were working in the kitchen with Mom. Do you know how mom evaluated you later on?”

“How did she evaluate me? Did mom tell you?” Mo Fei became nervous. She quickly stood up and looked at Yang Yi, asking.

Yang Yi deliberately kept a straight face and said, “Not directly to me, Yang Huan gave you a heads up, and then told me.”

“What did she say? Did she mention that I’m clumsy and don’t know how to do anything?” Mo Fei looked at Yang Yi’s expression and asked with a hint of sadness.

“Of course not, Mom praised you. She said you’re hardworking, a good woman for living a good life!1” Yang Yi suddenly smiled. He rubbed Mo Fei’s head with his palm, his fingers not very clean.

“Ah?” Mo Fei couldn’t believe it and asked somewhat silly, “Really? Didn’t mom notice that I can’t cook?”

“She noticed it. With your little skill, how could she not? But my mom didn’t care about these things. She saw that you were so hardworking, so she gave you a passing grade.” Yang Yi gestured with his hand across his chest, indicating an average level.

“You’re lying, it’s not a passing grade!” Mo Fei became smart this time. She playfully hammered Yang Yi’s arm with embarrassment and said, “You just said Mom praised me!”

“I am a good woman for living a good life!” Mo Fei repeated this evaluation, her face filled with a joyful smile.

“I’ve always thought you were good at living life! That’s why I like you so much!” Yang Yi deliberately showed a lot of dissatisfaction, “I didn’t even see you being pleased with my evaluation of you!”

“You’re just a big bad guy! You tricked me!” Mo Fei giggled and playfully twisted her body.

At this moment, Xixi came back from the martial arts field with her grandfather. The sky hadn’t completely darkened yet, and the little girl couldn’t wait to run to the kitchen to tell her mother and father about her afternoon adventures.

The martial arts arena, the stone lock performance, and the big knife tricks were all very new and exciting for Xixi.

Mo Fei was not surprised at all that Yang Yi’s father knew martial arts, but she noticed something and asked Yang Yi, “Is Dad also a teacher?”

Yang Yi nodded and said, “About 20 years ago, the town said that it was too hard for the children in our village to go to school in the town. They had to walk more than ten miles of mountain roads each time, which was not realistic. So, they let our village use an empty house to set up a village primary school and sent teachers over, but they lacked a physical education teacher.”

“Dad used to teach martial arts to the people in the village, so this job fell on him. There was a salary, so he agreed. So now, many people call my dad Teacher Yang…” Yang Yi waved his hand.

“Dad is quite amazing!” Mo Fei exclaimed with admiration.

“He himself quite enjoys being called that.” Yang Yi shook his head with a wry smile.

……

After dinner, while Yang Huan and Mo Fei were tidying up the dishes and preparing to take them to the kitchen for washing, Dong Yue’e and Yang Chonggui exchanged glances and said, “Tiezi, Mo Fei, there’s something we’ve been wanting to ask.”

“Mom, go ahead.” Yang Yi nodded.

“This, have you and Mo Fei held a banquet in the city?” Dong Yue’e was worried that Mo Fei would think too much, so she waved her hand and said, “I don’t mean anything else. In our village, there’s an unwritten rule that when getting married, you should host a banquet, inviting relatives and friends to gather and celebrate. It’s considered a formal confirmation of the relationship.”