Senior sister, stop working and go home for dinner.

Chapter 388 Closure and Reopening

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On the west side of the resort, in front of a long-vacant shop.

Lingdang pushed open the wooden door, which was covered in a thin layer of dust. She looked around at the dusty pet cages and shelves in the customer room, as well as the pet dryer in the corner that she had bought from a second-hand market years ago, which was now completely out of power.

Everything is the same as when I left.

Everything is different now.

Stone stood at the doorway and asked with a simple, honest expression, "Should we tidy up?"

"Um."

Lingdang gently placed the trembling little animal in her arms into a wicker basket lined with an old towel, then turned to get a broom from the corner.

She paused for a moment as soon as she grasped the broom.

She recalled the first time Qi Lan walked into this store a long time ago. Her amber vertical pupils swept over the cheap props and sloppy signs, and a mocking smile curled at the corner of her mouth.

"Longhushan Special Pet Exchange Center?" Qi Lan said at the time, "They don't even have a single pet, yet they have the nerve to call it that."

She was so angry she wanted to scratch someone.

Now when I think about it, it feels so distant, like something from a past life.

The bell lowered its head and began sweeping the floor.

Dust danced in the sunlight streaming through the windowpanes, like fine gold dust.

Footsteps came from the doorway, very softly.

The bell looked up.

Qi Lan leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest.

"You've actually opened for business?" Qi Lan walked in, kicking aside an empty can that had rolled over to her feet. "What's this thing? A gray fluff ball?"

"I don't know." Bell continued sweeping. "I just caught it."

Qi Lan approached the wicker basket, bent down, and squinted at the trembling ball of fur. The little beast peeked at her through its paws, and when she stared at it with those amber vertical pupils, it trembled even more violently, almost curling itself into a perfect ball.

"...Useless." Qi Lan straightened up. "But the fur is alright, maybe it will look better after a while."

The bell didn't answer; it simply shoveled the swept dust into the dustpan.

Qi Lan leaned against the cat tree, watching her busy figure, and suddenly said, "Chen Anran is still in seclusion."

The bell kept moving: "Mmm."

"The villagers have settled down. That little stone village, with its few dozen people, started helping out with chores in exchange for food today. Fatty's side has a few more people helping with cooking and washing vegetables, the Feng family's medicinal herb garden has a few more people helping with weeding and watering, and some people from the Jiang family's side have gone to learn how to polish parts."

The bell stopped sweeping and turned its head.

Qi Lan said, "So you need manpower here? Don't be fooled by the fact that they're a group of ancient people; they're all very diligent."

Lingdang held the broom and remained silent for a while.

"...No need," she said, her voice more steady than before. "I don't have any heavy work here, Stone and I can handle it."

Qi Lan raised an eyebrow but didn't speak immediately.

Her gaze swept over the dusty shop. The cages that had been empty for so long needed cleaning and wiping, the shelves were bare, and the signboard needed to be replaced. The "Closed" wooden sign still hung outside the door, covered with a thin layer of dust.

"Alright then." Qi Lan didn't insist. "Then you can take your time cleaning up. If that gray furball dies, remember to bury it far away, so it doesn't stink at the entrance of my Meow Fairy Abode."

Lingdang ignored her and continued sweeping.

Qi Lan stood there for a couple of breaths, then turned to leave, but stopped again.

"Oh, right," she said without turning her head, "that shop's name is too long and hard to pronounce."

The bell stopped being used for sweeping.

"...What's it called?"

Qi Lan didn't answer; her figure had already swayed out the door and disappeared into the midday light.

Lingdang stood there, staring at the empty light spots at the doorway. Her lips moved, but she ultimately said nothing.

She placed the broom against the wall, walked to the wicker basket, and squatted down.

The little animal had already pulled its head out from under its belly, its two round, black eyes timidly surveying the unfamiliar surroundings. Its fluffy, short tail was still slightly puffed up, but it wasn't trembling as much as before.

Bell stretched out her finger and touched the tip of its ear very lightly.

The little beast shrank back, but couldn't escape.

"...I'll call you Gray Ball then," Bell said.

The little beast blinked, it was unclear whether it understood or not.

Lingdang stood up and looked around the mess in the customer area. The cages needed cleaning, the cat trees needed to be reinstalled, and she wasn't sure if the pile of dusty pet toys in the corner was still usable. A new signboard was also needed outside, but she hadn't even decided on a name for the new shop.

Standing in the midday light and shadow, she suddenly remembered the first time Feng Xiaolu came to this store a long time ago.

At that time, she had just opened the shop, and the words on the sign were written by herself with a brush in a crooked manner. Below the small words "Longhushan Special Pet Exchange Center", she also drew a messy cat face.

Feng Xiaolu stood at the door for a long time, then laughed and said, "Lingdang, your shop name is too long. I have to catch my breath three times to finish reading it."

Her face flushed red, and she retorted, "So what if I'm a little longer? A little longer makes me look more professional!"

Feng Xiaolu didn't refute, but walked in and squatted down to tease her pet tabby cat.

Bell lowered its eyes.

She took down the "Closed" sign and placed it on the counter.

The gray ball tentatively poked half its head out of the wicker basket, its round eyes darting around.

The bell was turned away from it, and its sound was very soft.

"From now on, it will be called... 'Hidden Cloud Retreat'."

The gray group, of course, did not respond.

………………

Time flies, and two months passed quickly. During this time, the cultivators of Qingyang Valley did not cause any trouble, and it was unusually peaceful.

two months.

For the cultivation world, it is nothing more than a brief period of seclusion, a wait before a batch of pills is condensed, or a cycle of leaves covering and clearing a mountain peak.

But for this gradually forming settlement at the foot of Yunyin Mountain, sixty days and nights are enough for many things to happen.

After their initial amazement at everything in this place, the villagers of Xiaoshi Village have now fully adapted to life here.

Every day before dawn, Shi Laosi would get up, lean on his well-worn wooden cane, and hobble off to help out at the Xian Shan Fang restaurant.

He didn't actually need to do anything himself; Fatty Li had given him the title of "manager," meaning he only needed to sit aside and watch the young people work. But he couldn't stay idle; he always felt that his old bones could still be of some use, even if it was just helping to set the table. That would make him feel at ease.

"Grandpa Shi, you're up so early again!" Wang Rui yawned as he came out of the guesthouse and saw Shi Laosi already busy at the porridge stall. He quickly ran over and said, "Uncle Li said we can do these chores, you can rest!"

"What rest? An old man needs to move around to keep his bones from rusting." Old Shi waved his hand, his wrinkled face now showing a composure he would never have seen before. "Little Wang, the porridge is extra thick today, want to try some?"

Wang Rui took the bowl. The warm, smooth congee melted in his mouth, the rice grains already cooked through, carrying a subtle sweetness. He took a big gulp and mumbled, "Delicious! Much better than the congee in my company cafeteria and school cafeteria!"

Shi Laosi smiled with narrowed eyes, not asking what the "company" and "canteen" were, but simply continuing to add porridge to his bowl.

Two months ago, he was an old man kneeling in the mud, his forehead pressed against the cold earth, begging for mercy. Two months later, he can stand here with his back straight, watching the young people in the village drink porridge heartily, a smile on his face.

This peace was hard-won; he often woke up in the middle of the night, thinking it was just a dream. But every morning when he opened the door and saw those strange houses with warm lights, smelled the aroma of rice wafting from the porridge stall, and heard his granddaughter Xiao Cui's innocent voice learning to read and write with the Feng family's children, he slowly became convinced that this was not a dream.

Xiao Cui, that girl, has really made something of herself these days.

Old Master Shi's eyes welled up with tears as he thought about the changes in his granddaughter over the past two months. She had caught the eye of Feng Zhi, a gentle female cultivator from the Feng family, who said she possessed some spiritual talent and made an exception to take her in as a disciple. Every morning, she would help manage the herb garden at the Hundred Herbs Pavilion, and in the afternoon, she would learn to read and write. Feng Zhi also gave her a few thin primers, which Xiao Cui cherished like the back of her hand, keeping them under her pillow before going to sleep, afraid of getting them dirty.

"Grandpa," Xiao Cui said, showing him her crookedly written calligraphy when she returned home yesterday evening, "Master Feng said I write the character 'cloud' well, look!"

Old Shi couldn't read, but he could see the pride on his granddaughter's face. He carefully ran his rough fingers over the ink marks, repeatedly saying, "Good, good, well written."

That night, he folded the paper neatly and put it under the kang mat, and didn't sleep well all night.