"Okay, you can drop the meat in here, it should be warm enough to give them a nice quick sear."

Qing Lan had already prepared a second pot and kept it ready on the stove, a thin layer of some type of oil coating the bottom. A bit of smoke rose from within the pot so a pleasant sizzling sound spread through the kitchen as soon as he dropped the meat into the pot. Qing Lan pushed the herbs and spices she had prepared towards him just as soon as he finished with the meat, giving slight details about the local ones.

"You can just use the normal ones as you see fit, but this one has a rather spicy earthen taste so be careful with it, this one is a bit bitter but it helps tenderise the meat so it cuts down on the cooking time, we just need to make sure to take it out before we eat. And this last one tastes a bit like mushroom, it’d be best if you cut it into small flakes before you add it."

Liang Chen gave all three herbs a quick taste, otherwise he wouldn’t know how much of each he should add. Qing Lan seemed to be lying a little about the second herb, it was more than just a little bitter, it’d probably leave behind some residual flavour even if they fished it out before they served the food. They had probably just come to accept that, a little annoyance was fine if it made things easier after all.

He cut the first and third herb after tasting them, each one small enough to cling to the meat so that you could taste them without the flavour being too overpowering. The second one he rolled up with some string and dropped in, stirring it around with the searing meat. Truthfully, he could use his poison to tenderise the meat if he wanted to. He had a poison that was specialized in breaking down the bond between things and thus melting them, if he just controlled that reaction a little and focused it on the meat protein and broke it into smaller pieces then he would achieve the same effect without the lingering aftertaste produced by the herb. But he didn’t do so, he accepted the annoyance.

"It’s nice to do something normal…"

"What’s that?"

"Nothing, please just ignore it."

The words slipped out of him before he could stop himself so he could only shake his head when Qing Lan tilted her head, her gaze focused on the roasting vegetables in front of her. Yes, it was nice to act normal, it was nice to pretend like he had gone back to a time before the execution, back to before he became the twisted thing he was now. He had buried the past and stepped over it, but now it had dug its way out of the grave and clung to his feet. And his body accepted it. It allowed it to hold onto him, it slowed down so that it wouldn’t fall to the wayside. As twisted as he had become, that love he felt was still there. Buried beneath oceans of blood but there nonetheless, it was one of the things that still kept him human.

He shook his head once more to return his focus to the cooking, stirring the pot. Once the meat had seared nicely, the juices fully sealed inside, he grabbed the redwine and poured it in. A lot of good flavours were now stuck to the bottom of the pan, if it was up to him he would have just roasted the vegetables in this same pot but it seemed like Qing Lan did it differently now. He scraped the wooden spoon along the base of the pot as the redwine evaporated, loosening everything that had clung to it. A familiar voice reached him as he stood there, playfully bouncing about.

"Oh, something smells good. What are we cooking here, anything we’ve had before?"

Yan Ling’s chin landed on his shoulder as her voice snuck into his ears, her arms wrapping around his waist. She was a bit shorter than him so her chin shouldn’t normally fit on his shoulder, he guessed that she was likely tiptoeing just because she wanted to create a scene like this. Whatever the case was, he could see Qing Lan smile softly, stealing a few glances when she thought they weren’t looking.

"No, I haven’t made it for you before. I ate it a lot as as kid, but it’s been more than a few years since I last tried to make it."

Liang Chen didn’t have to spell out why he hadn’t made the dish in so long, not even cooking it for the one who would end up becoming his wife. It was a dish that was tied to nothing but happy memories, but as was often the case, it was the joy in those memories that made them all the more painful. Yan Ling had her fair share of those very same memories so she knew how it felt. But Liang Chen had helped her fill up some of those memories by associating them with other things so it was only fair that she did the same. After all, they were already one, what he couldn’t do, she would do for him.

"Oh, now that just makes me look forward to it. I hope you’ve got the recipe memorised, Little Lan will need to taste it in the future."

What a silly thing to say. She knew better than anyone else just how good Liang Chen’s memory was, there was no way he’d ever forget something like that from his past. But right now they were normal, right here they were normal. So she played along with her role, and for the first time since they met, the two got to at least pretend to be a normal couple.

Liang Chen cast an askance glance at Qing Lan but she didn’t seem surprised by the pet name that Yan Ling threw out. Perhaps that was just to be expected, Yan Ling had spent so much time with them that it was nigh-on impossible that she would hide the child that was basically their daughter. No, she had probably even introduced her as their daughter to begin with, that was basically what she was after all. But even so, they kept Qing Lan in Liang Chen’s interspatial ring today, leaving her with Yumao and Sheng Lian. It was probably Yan Ling’s consideration, both towards the Qing family and towards Liang Chen.

"Ah, that should be enough. Let’s mix them now."

Qing Lan’s nose wrinkled for a second as the smell from the pot hit her, reminding her of what they were actually doing. She pushed her pot closer to Liang Chen so that he could tilt the contents of his over without having to push aside Yan Ling, but it was probably a pointless consideration, it wasn’t like Yan Ling would have let go to begin with, she’d just make him drag her along.

"Table’s all… Set."

Qing Feng’s voice announced his arrival in the kitchen, his words trailing off slightly as he seemed to spot Yan Ling and Liang Chen’s position. Liang Chen could practically hear the corners of his lips twitching so he guessed that Yan Ling was indeed tiptoeing to maintain her position. But contrary to what Liang Chen expected, Qing Feng didn’t follow things up with a humorous remark to make everyone laugh.

"That look takes me back a good number of years. We were exactly the same right after we had our wedding and our parents allowed us to live together, weren’t we?"

He made his way to Qing Lan’s back and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head as he reminisced about the past. But the past he reminisced about was one that Liang Chen knew nothing about. They had grown up to be rather similar, both in appearance and personality, to his own parents, but it was inevitable that the life they had lived was different. In the end, Liang Chen didn’t really know a single thing about these people. The thought had just struck him when he felt a light tingling on his shoulder, Yan Ling’s small glare greeting him as he turned his head.

"Stop thinking about pointless things. It’s fine, it always has been and always will be. Besides, it’s not like we’re pressed for time, you least of all. So it’s fine, just stop using that pretty little head of yours."

She spoke so quietly that the Qing couple couldn’t hear her, a small bit of her saliva still lingering on Liang Chen’s shoulder since she had bit him to draw his attention. Her teeth hadn’t broken the skin luckily so he didn’t have to worry about the nature of his body hurting her as it did when they shared a kiss. Naturally, Liang Chen couldn’t just stop thinking about things like that. But luckily, Yan Ling was right behind him to help him, when he couldn’t stop thinking then she would be there to distract him, allowing the four people to finish the dinner preparations calmly and peacefully.

Qing Chun was waiting for them in the dining room as they brought out the pot of stew as well as the side dishes that they had prepared, a leather bound book in her hand. Yan Ling and Liang Chen shared a look, Yan Ling gesturing towards Qing Chun and the bookshelf with her chin. Apparently, there was a rather clear divide in who did and didn’t use the books that they had received. The book snapped shut when the first pot was placed on the table, Qing Chun’s eyes turning into crescents as she leaned forward to take in the scent.

"Sweet, dinner’s done. Alright mum, we’re basically celebrating a wedding here so I’m looking forward to seeing how you’ve spiced up the food."

She felt a bit more casual than she did when she first introduced herself to Liang Chen, probably because they were about to eat dinner. But Liang Chen still noticed that she glanced at him a few times, staring at his face for a few split seconds before she looked away. Qing Lan put down what she was holding, wiping her hands on the cloth she kept on her waistband.

"If you want to get your hopes up then direct them at him, I only did the vegetables and heated the broth."

She gestured towards Liang Chen, who was putting down some bread they had warmed up. Qing Chun flashed him a thumbs-up before picking up a bowl, stealing another two glances at his face.

"Very well, future brother-in-law, I’ll welcome you to the family by getting a big bowl."

She reached for the pot of stew when she finished talking, but Qing Feng rapped the back of her hand with a spoon before she could snatch any of the food. It looked a bit chaotic, but Liang Chen could feel the warmth and comfort, the love that was shared here. Everything was quickly placed on the table and everyone got to their seats, the table that normally only housed for extended thanks to some wooden plank.

Qing Chun was finally allowed to grab some food, everyone filling their bowls and plates with whatever caught their fancy. But Liang Chen’s hands stopped shortly after they had started eating, a very small wrinkle growing between his brows. Something had arrived outside the house.

He hadn’t stretched out his senses, nor was the thing that arrived unleashing all its energy for others to see. But even so, he could tell that something had arrived, something out there was announcing its presence by moving the wind around in strange ways, as if it wanted to make sure that Liang Chen and Yan Ling knew about it.

Yan Ling’s hand landed on his thighs as the wrinkle between his brows grew larger, the two locking eyes quietly. She shook her head lightly, making it clear that she was likely involved. The energy that had started to quietly seethe settled down again just as a knock came from the door. The one on the other side of the door didn’t wait for long after announcing their presence with a knock, pushing open the door and entering, giving a low nod to apologise.

"Sorry for intruding on such short notice."

The one that arrived was a man, his face hidden because of how he lowered his head. But the dark silver hair that covered his head felt familiar to Liang Chen. Yes, he had seen hair like this before, albeit the one who had it was a woman, the shade was the exact same. The Qing family evidently knew this man, Qing Feng waving his hand casually as he pointed at an empty spot at the table.

"Nonsense, you’re family just like Yan Ling so our doors are always open for you."

The man raised his head as Qing Feng spoke, finally showing his face. He didn’t look too young, seemingly bordering on the thirties, but his features were clean and sharp so it looked like he took care of himself. But the thing that drew Liang Chen’s attention were his eyes, that pair of eyes that had locked onto him. They were a shade of grey so dark that they started to encroach on black. Granted, he had seen similar colours on other people in the past, but there were two particularly noteworthy people with that same colour. And when he added in the hair colour, which matched the third person in the three-man group he was thinking of, the realisation crept in. His gaze sharpened for a moment as he focused his senses on the man, and indeed, flowing within his veins was blood that Liang Chen was far too familiar with.

"Hello, Brother, it is nice to finally meet you."

The man spoke politely, his tone containing some exasperation as well as some apologetic undertones. Once again, the Sebettu had come to meet with him.