"Did the two of you go to buy vegetable seeds and plant the vegetables yourselves? We've been waiting for a year already!" Zhang Meizhen went on a tirade the moment she opened the door. She reached a hand out and knocked on the Spring Festival couplet on the door frame. "See this Spring Festival couplet? Do you know why the red colour has faded? Because this is from last year!"

"Calm down, calm down, Meizhen-jie. If you don't let us go in, 'last year' will turn to 'two years ago,'" Gan Qing said.

"You can go on a date any time you want, must you have your date while buying groceries when there's a whole bunch of starving people crying for food? Where's your conscience? Shameless couple!"

Yu Lanchuan, "..."

His movements involuntarily turned awkward.

"Line your stomach with some snacks first." As though nothing had happened, Gan Qing took out a chocolate bar from the shopping bags to pacify Zhang Meizhen. Her breathing steady and her face not blushing, she said, "Why do you always pull me in when you're teasing Little Master Yu? As an innocent bystander, I feel very stressed."

"I'm the innocent bystander here. Who was the one dawdling and taking her own sweet time?" Yu Lanchuan's eyes sank a little and he had nothing nice to say. He turned towards Zhang Meizhen. "Meizhen...jie, eating high-sugar snacks before meals may easily disrupt your insulin production. She does not have good intentions, she wants to turn you into a beautiful round ball."

Zhang Meizhen was holding a chocolate bar with a bite taken out of it. "..."

These little brats!

This year, for the sake of maintaining the air quality, there was once again a prohibition on setting off fireworks and firecrackers within the city district of Yanning. Yang Yifan had gotten balloons and a bicycle pump from somewhere and hung balloons of all sizes in the enclosed balcony. She taught Han Zhou and Liu Zhongqi to throw a special type of small darts at them. Some of the balloons were filled with confetti and some with candy. The sound of balloons popping and the gremlin kids exclaiming noisily filled the balcony. The destructive power was even greater than fireworks and firecrackers.

Han Dongsheng rubbed his ears and said to Old Master Yang, "Those old uncles and old aunties are asking when you will be starting your classes. They want to learn staff techniques from you."

"I'm lacking in talent and knowledge, I can't teach them." Old Master Yang sighed. "These old brothers and sisters of mine are already so old. Their bodies have problems everywhere and they wouldn't even know what they are if they didn't get a proper check-up at the hospital. How could I dare to casually start a class and teach them as I like… Furthermore, just you look. I can't even teach my own descendant properly."

"The real experts use the strength in their fingers but most people don't have that much strength in their smaller muscles so they still need to use the strength in their wrist." On the balcony, President Yang was like the head honcho giving the underage kids a serious demonstration. "People usually use their most nimble fingers to hold the dart so that the dart can be held steady and can also be thrown out. Your wrist must curve as little as possible, just like this…"

Before the worshipful and nervous gaze of the teenager and the child, President Yang sent the dart flying with a swoosh. Her hand movement looked extremely cool but the gap between the dart's landing point and the target was a little large—she hit the window. The window steadfastly endured this disaster from nowhere, then angrily bounced the dart back. Yan Hao heard the wind whistling behind his head and quickly shrank his neck back. The little dart brushed past his bird's nest hair and fell into Han Dongsheng's tea cup, splashing Han Dongsheng with a faceful of Dong Ding oolong tea.

Yang Yifan dropped her pose as though nothing had happened. "...this is what happens when your wrist curves too much."

Han Zhou, the boy prepared to be a winner in life, saw that the expressions on the faces of the adults did not look good and immediately shouldered the blame for this beautiful sister. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I won't be naughty anymore."

Yang Yifan patted Han Zhou's head, then shot a chilly look at Liu Zhongqi who was delighting in someone else's mess. "There is a reason why some young friends of ours are what we call 'solo since the mother's womb' ."

Old Master Yang said in great agitation, "Each generation is worse than the last."

Zhang Meizhen jutted her chin towards the kitchen. "There are also some who live up to the might of their names."

In the kitchen, Gan Qing held a block of lactone tofu in her right hand and a cleaver in her left hand, her eyes watching Yu Lanchuan add seasonings to the wok. "Put less salt, I've tasted the sauce just now, the saltiness… Enough, enough!"

In Old Master Yang's kitchen, the stove and the kitchen counter were in different places. As Gan Qing spoke, her eyes were on the wok on the stove and she had to twist the entire upper half of her body over. Yet, the cleaver in her hand never stopped moving. The sight was enough to make anyone nervous.

"Nonsense, I know how much salt to add!" Yu Lanchuan retorted impatiently. "Watch your own chicken claws, stop showing off. We don't want to eat red braised fingertips… What the hell are you cutting, your technique failed, didn't it?"

Lactone tofu was soft in the first place. Gan Qing had chopped at it randomly without a care, cutting the tofu until it resembled a lump of mud.

"Are we making jiaozi with tofu filling today?" Yu Lanchuan said mockingly.

Gan Qing didn't trade barbs with him. The thudding of the cleaver hitting the chopping board stopped. She gathered the "tofu filling" on the chopping board and dropped it into the soup pot that was filled with liquid. Then, she gave it a light stir with a chopstick. The "tofu filling" swiftly expanded, strands as fine as hair unfolding to float about in the water.

Yu Lanchuan, "..."

"Nope," Gan Qing said, calm and composed. "I'm making a soup that's easy on the digestion."

With that, she washed the cleaver under running water, then tore off a paper towel to wipe it dry. She drew her hand back and threw, and the cleaver flew back to the knife rack three steps away.

"Her knife skills are the real thing," Zhang Meizhen praised.

Gan Qing went up to the wok and took a peek. She turned off the fire. Quick as lightning, without waiting for Yu Lanchuan to complain about her meddling, she grabbed a pinch of either dried basil or thyme and threw it in.

"Hey!" Yu Lanchuan couldn't stop her in time. "This is red braised meat, not curry chicken! Did you ask for permission before randomly making fusion food?"

"I know, I know," Gan Qing swaggered to the side and washed her hands. "This is the latest revised version, I haven't applied to get it copyrighted yet. I'm letting you benefit from it for free."

Zhang Meizhen muttered, "...It's just that she doesn't follow the rules when seasoning the food."

No wonder Tianyi Crayfish's kitchen didn't want her!

Usually, Gan Qing only made a couple of everyday dishes and there weren't enough ingredients for her to unleash her abilities so she could still be considered to follow the rules. For the New Year's Eve dinner, there were many dishes and many ingredients, giving her the chance to let loose. For the sake of everyone's safety, Yu Lanchuan had no choice but to hover by the wok and keep a strict watch for enemy forces, his hands wielding the soup ladle, spatula and other implements as weapons, ready at every second to smack away her sneaky claws.

Old Master Zhou himself could not get used to sitting still and watching other people do the work. Initially, he poked his head into the kitchen and wanted to help. In the end, he watched the heated combat full of the glint and flash of cold steel with wide eyes and an opened mouth, and slipped away again, sticking close to the wall.

This chaotic New Year's Eve feast was finally put on the table. The alliance leader and the little demoness had exchanged over 800 moves with both sides winning some and losing some. Hence , both the normal dishes and the "improved" dishes shared equal limelight.

Old Master Yang had the sofa in the living room moved to the side and put up the biggest dining table in his home. There was even a rotating tray on top. He filled the cups with wine and let out a long, deep sigh.

All those years back, when the fame of the Five Supremes reached every corner of the land, he was the youngest among them. When he was with those brothers of his who had achieved fame much earlier and were legendary figures, he was like a follower who was just there to make up the numbers. They didn't even allow him to drink too much wine.

In a flash, a few decades of spring and autumn passed in flickers of light and shadow. When he looked around him, he realised that the ones left by his side now were the younger generation and he had become the first one at the table to raise his cup and lift his chopsticks.

"This year…" Old Yang paused, a little uncertain from where to start talking. In the end, he gathered everything into three simple words. "...was not easy."

Maybe his tone was too complicated. Once he spoke those words, all the older people at the table fell into silence.

After a while, Old Mr. Zhou finally said, "Every year is not an easy year. Otherwise, why would we call it the 'passing' of a year?"

Charging through road after road, passing through trial after trial. No save points, no redo.

When they reached the point where time was past and scenery changed, when it was too late for their many regrets, only then would they have the chance to look back and review their journey, and then suddenly come to the realisation...

It turned out that many of the times when they had thought themselves as the lowest point of their lives, they had actually only started to step into a deep pitfall.

It turned out that many of the times when they had thought themselves on the brink of flying on the wings of success, they had actually just jumped lightly when they arrived at the peak of their lives, and would very quickly fall back to the ground and continue rolling down the slope.

Old Yang knocked his wine cup against the rotating tray on the round table a few times, and said his good wishes. "May everyone stay safe and sound next year."

His heart weary, Alliance Leader Yu added a line. "Obey the law and don't cause trouble."

Zhang Meizhen thought for a while. "Enjoy each day as it comes?"

Han Dongsheng said, "Be thankful for what you have."

Yang Yifan said, "One must have dreams. For example, turn rich overnight and take over Lane Crawford."

Yan Hao practised saying "Happy New Year" in his heart a few times but when it was his turn, he was still unable to manage more than one thing at a time and failed to perform. He clinked his wine cup in a fluster, and forgot to say the words he had spent a long time rehearsing.

Fortunately, he was not the only one who did not speak. Gan Qing was also silent. She knocked her wine cup lightly against the rotating tray and drained it in one gulp. Holding the cup between two fingers, she showed them the bottom—she had drunk first as a sign of respect.

"Cheers!"

From outside the window, the sudden, dominating sound of firecrackers could be heard. There were still people with no self-awareness breaking the law. A police car appeared out of nowhere and rushed over to the source of the sound. As a bachelor, Comrade Yu Yan for whom nothing had gone right for more than half a year frequently had to "put on a show" during festivals and holidays. He might be right inside that busy and exasperated-sounding police car, on night shift.

The over forty hours long "background noise" Spring Festival Gala was airing. The young people's phones were starting to set off mini earthquakes here and there. Yang Yifan's fingers were flying busily but at the same time, she still fought ferociously against the tide again and again, dragging the conversation topic at the dining table back from where it was sliding towards "Quickly get married, quickly get a child, quickly get a second child."

The little darts were too dangerous and had been kept away by Zhou Beibei. In a rare occasion, Gan Qing displayed her capabilities and demonstrated to the gremlin kids the correct way to pop the balloons. She tied a knitting needle to the clothes drying rack and raised it to poke the balloons one by one. The milk candies wrapped in gold foil rained down all over the floor.

Amidst the popping sounds, Liu Zhongqi was fuming. "You guys are just refusing to teach me martial arts! I was only ten marks short of 120 in my end-of-term exams!"

Yu Lanchuan in the house and Gan Qing on the balcony said in unison, "Do you know how many people are separated by a single mark in the gaokao?"

Liu Zhongqi, "..."

And so, the conversation in the living room shifted from children's education to graduating and job-hunting, and then continued on to the abyss that was the national economy and the welfare of the people. First, the two little friends were put on public trial and their end-of-term exam results taken out for everyone to analyse. After that, the armchair critic adults were also not spared. The exam results for adults were a lot simpler. There were only two subjects—one was "Marriage and Family," the other "Career Success and House Ownership." Regrettably, among these young sprouts of the martial arts community, not a single one passed.

As an "underperforming student" who did not pass a single subject, Yan Hao suffered through the older generation's lecturing, each of them cutting in with their own comments. Gan Qing was glad that she had hid herself in the balcony earlier on. She picked up a piece of candy from the floor and tossed it into her mouth and pretended that she was not there.

Yang Yifan walked over lazily to the balcony, holding her phone. She also picked up a candy and peeled off the wrapper while sending voice messages to someone at the same time.

"...It's Lunar New Year, don't make a fuss."

"Wasn't it because you weren't in the other day?"

"I even prepared a present for you…"

"Ai… hey, what's this about parting without hard feelings?"

At the side, Gan Qing listened to each line with great interest. She saw President Yang let out a tsk, her patience exhausted, then stopped replying and put her phone away.

"Boyfriend?" Gan Qing asked.

"There are plenty of 'boys' but 'friends' are harder to find." Yang Yifan fished out a slim cigarette for women. "He's a little puppy. He does my hair and I've given him presents a few times. A couple of days ago, he wasn't there when I went to get my hair styled. I didn't want to bother changing the appointment so I got someone else to do it and now he's harping on it… I can't take the ones that are too baby next time. They're sticky, it's annoying."

As she spoke, she reached into the cabinet on the balcony and rummaged around and took out a bag. "Since he doesn't want it, I'll give it to you. It's a wallet, the style is very feminine. It's unisex."

"No, thank you," Gan Qing hastily refused. "I don't have money to put in it."

"If you don't like it, that's fine. Tell me what you like, I'll look for it another day." Yang Yifan smiled and blew out a puff of smoke. She easily accepted Gan Qing's refusal and put the bag away, then opened a WeChat group on her phone. The group members were very active, their chats flooding the screen and the photos flashing past quicker than the eye can see. There were famous brands, jewelry, luxury cars, candlelight dinners… it was a group that flaunted wealth like they were demented. Yang Yifan randomly tapped on a photo and showed it to her, and asked. "Do you like bags? Does this bag look good? It's a new model… I think that other than the time when you moved in, I've never seen you carry a bag."

Gan Qing looked rather like she was facing a dilemma. "I… Even though I'm just muddling along and waiting for death, I don't have any aspirations to be a kept woman for the time being."

"Your gender doesn't match my criteria either. Actually, I've long since wanted to have a chat with you," Yang Yifan said. "That old man of my family told me that you're Wei Xiao's disciple."

Gan Qing was momentarily stunned. For some reason, she couldn't help but feel that there was something not quite right about hearing the name "Wei Xiao" come out of President Yang's mouth… It was like a fourth wall had been broken.

"That Wei Xiao…" President Yang flicked off the cigarette ash. After a pause, her tone gained a rare respectful tone. "...Senior Wei Xiao. Even though I don't know him, I've always been very thankful to him. Unfortunately, I've never met him."

Gan Qing didn't understand her meaning. She couldn't think of any way Wei Xiao who had lived in hiding for over twenty years would have had any interactions with Yang Yifan.

"You don't know?" President Yang said. "When Senior Wei Xiao was young, didn't he once fight a match with some people which then started a feud? Among those people was my dad."

Gan Qing, "..."

In the middle of her shock, she turned her head and glanced swiftly at Old Master Yang in the living room. Hold up, wasn't Yang Yifan's father Old Sect Leader Yang's only child? Old Sect Leader Yang's only child's martial arts abilities were destroyed by Wei Xiao? The person with such a deep grudge against her wanted her to continue staying here, and even celebrated the Lunar New Year with her?

Yang Yifan stood in the middle of a pile of gold confetti and turned her head back. "Yeah, that's right. I'll be honest with you, my dad's martial arts skills were ruined by his hands."

Gan Qing said nervously, "I'll be honest with you, I feel rather awkward right now standing here."

Yang Yifan smiled. "There's no need for that. Back then, my dad thought of himself as the one who would inherit Beggars' Sect. What he hated the most was people saying that he didn't have the talent for martial arts. He couldn't obtain the true teachings of the Dog Beating Staff and was on the verge of losing himself in madness. He also didn't have a proper job and our family was so poor that Grandpa had to chip in to support us. Every day, he forced me to wear patched-up clothes and eat scraps, all in the name of preserving 'tradition.' I thought that it was pretty good that his martial arts abilities were ruined. We could finally live like normal people."

T/N:

I can't remember if I footnoted this before but gaokao refers to university entrance exams in China.

Also, "upright leader from orthodox sect x wily girl from unorthodox sect" is a classic wuxia trope, that's what the "alliance leader and little demoness" phrase is referring to.