17: Winter storage

The oil lamp's flame flickered violently, and the room fell deathly silent, with only Li Dashan's heavy panting. Zhang-shi covered her mouth, tears streaming down silently.

Li Qingshan, Li Qinglin, Li Qingfeng, and even Li Qinghe were completely stunned!

They had never imagined that behind their seemingly ordinary surname 'Li,' this deliberately forgotten, deeply buried Family secret in their father's heart would crash down on everyone like a massive boulder! So the 'Qing' in their names carried such heavy humiliation, struggle, and resentment!

It carried the humility of a famine refugee changing his surname to survive, and the obsession of a son-in-law's descendant wanting to properly establish his own ancestral hall and restore his own surname!

Li Dashan wiped his face and looked at Li Qinghe and Li Qingfeng, his eyes burning with a nearly insane flame—the eruption of generations of accumulated humiliation and resentment in this moment:

"I thought... in my lifetime... it would just be like this... working hard until death... raising you all... getting you married... that would be enough to honor our ancestors... establishing an ancestral hall and opening a Family estate... would depend on you... on your children to fight for... but... but heaven has opened its eyes!"

"Heaven has opened its eyes!"

He slammed the table fiercely, making the bowls and chopsticks jump.

"Qinghe! You've recovered! And you've gained a heaven-sent Opportunity! Qingfeng! You've caught up too! The Immortal Sect is opening its doors to recruit disciples—this is something that happens once in countless lifetimes! The last time was hundreds of years ago, our Qing Family's chance... has come!"

He stood up abruptly, his tall figure casting a long shadow in the oil lamp's light, carrying the resolve of a Family head:

"Third son! You go! On the second day of the second lunar month next year, go to Ascension Platform with dignity! Go and fight! Go and strive! Once you enter the Immortal Sect, study hard! Bring honor to our Qing Family! Bring honor to our ancestors!"

"Once you enter the Immortal Sect! Master your skills! Our Family! Can properly establish an ancestral hall! Open a Family estate! Let our Qing Family's descendants! For generations! Use the eight characters 'Qing Yuan Tian Ming, Xuan Jing Yu Qing' for their generational names! Let your great-grandfather and great-grandmother who starved or died sick on the famine road! Let your grandfather who couldn't lift his head even in death! In the underworld! Also stand straight! Laugh out loud!"

"Fourth son!"

He turned to Li Qinghe, his gaze complex—filled with guilt, hope, and a deep sense of protection.

"You... you stay at home! Practice secretly! You have a great Opportunity, you're the root of our Family! You can't take risks! Wait... wait until your third brother establishes himself in the Immortal Sect, masters his skills, and can return down the mountain... by then, say... say it's the immortal Cultivation Technique your third brother brought back! Only then can you openly display your abilities! Understand?"

Li Qinghe's heart shook violently!

This seemingly rough farmer of a father, under immense shock, had actually devised the safest, most protective plan for him and the entire Family in an extremely short time!

Making him hide, letting his third brother venture openly, using a time gap to legitimize the secret on him! This quick wit and deep love made Li Qinghe's throat tighten.

"Eldest, second son,"

Li Dashan looked at his other two sons again, his tone softening with a hint of apology:

"You... don't have this immortal fate. Father has failed you. When spring comes next year and the house is built, I'll find you wives! You... you have lots of children! Let your children try too! Our Qing Family's root must not break! Our Family's generational order must be established!"

Li Qingshan nodded heavily, his dark face showing simple determination:

"Father, I understand! I'll farm, support the Family, have children!"

Li Qinglin also thumped his chest forcefully:

"Father! Don't worry! I'll make my son become an immortal master!"

Li Dashan finally looked at Li Qinghe, his gaze sharp as a knife:

"Qinghe, remember! Your recovery from drowning, gaining this Opportunity—aside from the people in this room, only heaven and earth know! Don't mention it to anyone! Especially about the ancestral hall, not a single word can leak! Understand? It could bring death and Family destruction!"

Li Qinghe met his father's gaze and nodded forcefully, clearly: "Father, I understand!"

The oil lamp's flame gradually stabilized, its dim yellow glow enveloping the small room.

Outside the window, the harsh winter wind howled fiercely.

Inside the room, something unprecedented was coalescing.

It was the relief after the heavy Family secret was uncovered, the resentment from a humiliating history, and even greater anticipation for the future and a united, all-or-nothing resolve!

Li Qingfeng clenched his fists tightly, flames burning in his eyes—this was his path to Ascension Platform.

Li Qinghe slowly clenched his palm, the faint blue Qi Ming Pulse Gate mark in his palm slightly warm.

He looked out at the boundless night outside the window, then at his blood-related Family inside the room.

Protect the Family, establish the ancestral hall, open the estate. His father's words were like a brand, etched into his heart.

Third brother was the open spear; he was the hidden arrow.

This small Li Family courtyard deep in the Great Barren Mountains would be the starting point of his dormancy and the Foundation of the Qing Family's rise.

The road was still long, but the direction had never been so clear... The December wind, like knives wrapped in sand, scraped across the bare treetops of Li Family Village, howling mournfully.

In previous years at this time, every household huddled indoors, surviving on pickled vegetables and coarse grains, the atmosphere as heavy as a frozen river.

But the small courtyard of Li Dashan's home was like burning an invisible charcoal fire, steaming with heat.

Since that night when the oil lamp flickered and the secret between the old and young was completely torn open, this Family seemed infused with a new, silent strength.

That strength wasn't noise, but a heavy, goal-aligned busyness.

Li Dashan became the busiest spinning top. With the burning banknote and heavy silver in his pocket, and a defensive tool in hand, he braved the cold wind to visit several nearby villages, bargaining with the managers of brick and tile kilns to secure the blue bricks and gray tiles for building the new house after spring.

He also gritted his teeth and bought a strong, glossy-haired yellow ox in its prime, tying it in the newly built shed in the backyard.

The yellow ox chewed dry grass, occasionally emitting low moos, which sounded more beautiful to Li Dashan than immortal music.

He also asked around to find good land near water sources with fertile soil, planning to buy a few acres when the silver became more plentiful, to give Eldest and Second a place to settle.

Zhang-shi, with Eldest Li Qingshan and Second Li Qinglin, took out the accumulated, musty old items one by one, sun-drying what needed it, mending what needed it, and firmly discarding what should be thrown away.

The worn-out tables and chairs were reinforced by Li Qingshan with sturdy wooden strips.

The yard was piled high with straight, thick beams and rafters that Li Qinglin had cut from the back mountain, emitting the fresh scent of new wood, waiting for spring construction to begin.

In the kitchen, the large iron pot was always steaming, with Zhang-shi finding ways to improve the meals.

The coarse grain cakes contained more and more white flour, the stew had thicker oil slicks, and large chunks of meat appeared every few days.

But at the dining table, the best piece of meat always quietly ended up in Third Li Qingfeng's bowl.