Yun Chenbei’s master’s surname was Mu. Because he was an outsider with a reclusive and odd personality, he lived in a rather remote place.
It was almost outside the village.
His was the only house in the area, situated next to a bamboo forest.
He was a cranky old man with half-white hair.
When Yun Jiao went to his house, she also spotted a familiar dog.
The big black dog with a nicked ear.
Upon seeing Yun Chenbei, Big Black merely lifted its eyelids.
But when it saw Yun Jiao, its head shot up instantly.
"Big Black, what are you doing here?"
Yun Jiao greeted Big Black.
The big black dog immediately stood up, its tail wagging like a spinning top.
The tabby cat at Yun Jiao’s feet twitched its ears, its jade-green eyes staring at the big black dog.
Big Black saw the tabby cat too, and the two of them faced off, looking like they were about to get into a fight.
Yun Jiao suddenly squeezed in between them, grabbing a paw from each and putting them together.
"Don’t fight, you’re both friends. Big Black, this is Boss. Boss, this is Big Black."
The cat: ...
The dog: ...
The disdain the two animals had for each other was palpable.
After making the introductions, Yun Jiao paid them no more mind and followed her fourth brother into his master’s house.
She had been here before.
In front of the modest wooden house was a fairly large courtyard, where many logs were piled up.
An old man sat in a rocking chair, smoking a long-stemmed pipe.
He didn’t even lift his head to look when he heard them enter.
"Master."
"Grandpa Mu."
Only after hearing their voices did the old man slowly raise his head to glance at them.
"You’re here."
Yun Jiao walked over. "Grandpa Mu, this is for you."
It was a can of fruit cocktail.
Old Man Mu didn’t refuse, casually taking the can and setting it aside.
"Go on and play."
Yun Chenbei, being introverted and a man of few words, got straight to work after arriving.
He was currently making furniture.
He brought a half-finished piece out of the house to continue his work.
"Brother, is this chair for our house?"
Their new house was ready, and they needed furniture for it.
Yun Chenbei nodded and brought out a small, carved wooden dog from inside, handing it to her.
"Here, play with this."
He tended to get lost in his own world while working and was worried he wouldn’t be able to look after Yun Jiao.
Yun Jiao held the wooden puppy and saw it had a wind-up key on top.
She gave it a few twists, placed the puppy on the ground, and the little thing began to walk forward on its own.
It was a shame it didn’t make any noise.
’It’s pretty fun, though.’
"Grandpa Mu, I’m thirsty."
The old man poured her a cup of tea.
The tea was fragrant and smelled quite pleasant.
But one sip was enough to make Yun Jiao’s little face scrunch up from the bitterness.
The cranky old man laughed at her side.
He had clearly done it on purpose.
"You’re uncultured. This is good stuff."
He said, taking a large gulp himself.
"It’s bitter on the tongue, but the aftertaste is sweet."
Yun Jiao smacked her lips but didn’t taste any sweetness at all!
Yun Jiao mumbled, "Well, I like sweet drinks."
Old Man Mu shook his head. "You have no taste."
Yun Jiao: ’...You’re the one with no taste!’
"That little toy... it’s ugly."
He was talking about the puppy Yun Chenbei had given her, his expression full of disdain.
Unconvinced, Yun Jiao put her little hands on her hips. "How is it ugly? It’s really cute!"
’How could a gift from her brother be ugly?’
Old Man Mu huffed and, instead of arguing with Little Yun Jiao, got up and retrieved something from inside the house.
Yun Jiao saw that it was a small bird.
It looked exactly like a real bird, only it wasn’t moving.
Old Man Mu pressed somewhere on the bird’s belly, and in the next second, it actually took flight. It flew forward, circled around once, and then returned to land in Old Man Mu’s hand.
"This... is true Mechanical Techniques."
Yun Jiao’s eyes widened in amazement.
Old Man Mu said smugly, "Isn’t it much better-looking than your brother’s ugly thing? That thing isn’t just clumsy, it’s plain and bare. Utterly hideous."
Yun Jiao’s cheeks puffed out. ’Even if what you said is true, you can’t just put down my brother’s work like that!’
She was very protective of her own.
Old Man Mu gently tapped her on her little head.
"You’re still not convinced, are you, little one?"
Yun Jiao replied, "My brother just started learning. For a beginner, this is already very good."
Old Man Mu snorted. "When I first started, I could already make things that looked better than that."
Yun Jiao mumbled something under her breath that Old Man Mu couldn’t quite catch.
"Were you just bad-mouthing me?"
"No," she said, denying it firmly.
Old Man Mu tossed the little bird to her. "Here, take it and play."
Although the little bird looked exactly like a real one, it felt different in her hand.
After all, its insides were made of wooden mechanisms.
Yun Jiao played with it happily in her hands. She asked Old Man Mu, "Grandpa Mu, next time can you make me some moving fish? A killer whale and a Whale Shark would be best."
Old Man Mu shot her a look. "Placing orders now, are we?"
"Or my tabby cat, and Big Black would be fine too."
"Killer whale... Whale Shark... what are those?"
Old Man Mu seemed quite interested in these two creatures.
He had lived inland before, and since moving here, he hardly ever went down to the shore. His knowledge of many sea creatures was superficial at best.
Having never seen a killer whale or a Whale Shark, he naturally had no idea what they were.
Yun Jiao gave him a simple description.
He heard that these two types of big fish were eight or nine meters long, some even over ten meters.
Old Man Mu stroked his chin. "These things in the sea grow a lot bigger than the animals on land."
Yun Jiao nodded. "I have photos, too! But right now I only have one of a killer whale. You’ll have to wait a bit for the Whale Shark. I’ll show them to you when I get it."
"Alright."
The old man lazily settled back into his chair.
Yun Jiao sidled up to him, staring at him with her big, wide eyes.
"What is it? Want another toy?"
Yun Jiao shook her head. "No. Grandpa Mu, are you hungry?"
Old Man Mu said, "Nope."
"But I am."
Old Man Mu chuckled. "Thinking of taking back that can of fruit you just gave me?"
Yun Jiao said with righteous conviction, "That’s for you to eat! Can I go to that patch of dirt down there and dig up some sweet potatoes to roast?"
It wasn’t quite sweet potato harvest season yet, but they were edible.
"Go on. The patch on the far left is the red-fleshed kind. The one next to it has purple sweet potatoes."
"Huh? There are purple ones?"
She placed the mechanical bird back in the old man’s hand, then ran down to the patch of dirt and started digging with her bare hands.
Old Man Mu grumbled, "You silly girl. Who digs these things up by hand?"
With that, he turned, went back into the house, and brought out a small hoe for her.
"Use this. Don’t go around saying this old man mistreated you."
Yun Jiao held up her grimy little hands and gave him a brilliant smile.
"I won’t! I’ll just wash them clean."
But digging with the small hoe was indeed much easier than using her hands.
From a single vine, she managed to dig up several round, plump sweet potatoes.