Wedding ceremony tomorrow

Chapter 46 Sharpening the Knife

The alley was pitch black.

Only the silvery moonlight streamed in, but it could only illuminate a corner.

Two figures gradually approached.

The girl, leaning against the door frame, finally saw the figure following behind her sister.

It was him... gold...

The girl opened her mouth slightly, but no sound came out.

Luo Qingfeng also saw her clearly, his face full of astonishment.

The two stood facing each other, one inside the doorway and the other outside.

Nightingale looked embarrassed, thinking her younger sister was surprised that she had suddenly brought back a man. She quickly explained, "A friend. There was a demonic disturbance in the town outside. He just escaped into the city and hasn't eaten yet, so... so I invited him to have a meal."

He then looked behind him and introduced, "This is my younger sister, Aya. She... can't speak yet, but she will soon."

Luo Qingfeng was taken aback, suddenly remembering what Fatty Meng had said in the woods that day.

"I heard her family is drowning in debt, and every time she earns money, she has to go back to pay it off. Apparently, she also has an elderly grandmother and a sick sister to support. So, every time there's a mission, we only care about the merit, but she only cares about the money..."

Luo Qingfeng felt secretly ashamed and said somewhat awkwardly, "Sister Nightingale, I know your sister."

"what!"

Upon hearing this, the nightingale looked utterly astonished: "Really? Where did you meet her?"

Luo Qingfeng had no choice but to recount everything that happened that day in detail.

Of course, he also mentioned the story of the girl going to him to ask for gold.

By the end, his cheeks were flushed.

Unexpectedly, the debts they owed all came from these two sisters, and now they're so down on their luck that they have to come here to freeload.

That was so embarrassing.

Upon hearing this, Nightingale's face immediately darkened, and she looked at the girl at the door sternly, saying, "Ah Crow, you've sneaked out again?"

Aya lowered her head, twisting her fingers around her black dress, remaining silent.

Nightingale continued her stern reprimand: "How many times have I told you not to go out alone? Why won't you listen? What will Grandma do if something happens to you? What will I do?"

Aya kept her head down, looking somewhat aggrieved.

Luo Qingfeng knew that the girl must have seen her older sister working hard every day to earn money, so she wanted to go out and help share the burden.

However, it's not easy for him to persuade someone about something like this.

What's more, these two girls in front of him are his creditors.

It's not good for him to take sides with anyone.

Just then, an old voice came from the courtyard: "Aying, that's enough, don't blame Aya anymore. We have guests, let's cook first."

Nightingale kept a straight face, looking angrily at the girl inside the door.

The old man quickly said, "Aya, go to the kitchen and start a fire to add firewood."

As if granted a pardon, Aya immediately lowered his head and hurried away. Then he gathered firewood in the courtyard and quickly slipped into the dark kitchen.

Nightingale sighed and said nothing more. She looked behind her with a wistful look in her eyes and said, "I never thought that an honest man like you would be in debt everywhere. You even owe money to my sister who rarely goes out, and it was a piece of gold. You're really something."

Luo Qingfeng: "..."

"Hmph, come in."

Nightingale snorted, went inside, and looked at the old woman in the hallway, saying, "That's my grandmother."

Then he added, "Grandma, his name is Luo Qingfeng, and he's a friend of mine."

Luo Qingfeng entered the room and immediately bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

The old man looked him up and down, somewhat surprised: "Oh, you're a scholar?"

Nightingale said somewhat sarcastically, "He's just a scholar, isn't he?"

The old man smiled broadly and nodded, saying, "Good, good, scholars are good. My daughter, Aying, likes scholars."

Upon hearing this, Nightingale immediately panicked: "Grandma, don't talk nonsense."

The old man smiled and said, "Alright, alright, you two talk it out yourselves, I, an old man, won't interfere."

Nightingale's cheeks flushed slightly. She glanced behind her and said, "Please sit wherever you like. I'll go cook. It'll be quick."

She carried the ribs and meat she had just bought on the street and hurried into the kitchen.

Soon, the sound of chopping bones came from the kitchen.

The old man in the corridor continued to sew shoe soles by the moonlight.

With nothing to do, Luo Qingfeng noticed a pile of unchopped firewood in the courtyard, so he went over and picked up the axe from the ground.

Upon seeing this, the old man quickly exclaimed, "Oh dear, this won't do! A scholar shouldn't be doing such rough work. That axe is heavy; put it down quickly, or you'll cut your hand."

Luo Qingfeng stood a piece of wood upright and said, "Grandma, it's okay. I chop wood all the time at home."

After saying that, he swung his axe down.

"Snap!"

The large block of wood was immediately split in two.

The old man was astonished upon seeing this.

Just then, Nightingale's voice suddenly came from the kitchen: "Grandma, don't mind him. Don't be fooled by his scholarly appearance in his Confucian robes. He's stronger than me. Let him chop if he wants."

The old man looked surprised upon hearing this and then fell silent.

"Snap! Snap!"

While the nightingale was speaking, Luo Qingfeng chopped two more pieces of wood in succession, each time with just one axe stroke.

Upon seeing this, the old man began to look him up and down again.

After Nightingale finished processing the bones, put them in the pot, covered the pot, and then went to the kitchen doorway. She leaned against it wearily, watching the figure chopping wood in the courtyard.

The old man in the corridor kept glancing back and forth between her and the woodcutter.

Luo Qingfeng stopped chopping before finishing.

He was injured, and although the wounds had begun to scab over after a day and a night of healing, such movements still caused him pain.

Are you injured?

Nightingale, with her keen eyesight, immediately noticed the injury on his body.

Luo Qingfeng put down the axe in his hand and said, "It's just a minor injury."

Then she changed the subject: "By the way, Sister Nightingale, do you have a whetstone at home? Not an ordinary whetstone, but one for precious artifacts."

Upon hearing this, the nightingale exclaimed in surprise, "You have a magical artifact?"

Luo Qingfeng took out the rusty broken knife from his storage bag, gently wiped it with his fingers, and said in a low voice, "I guess so."

Nightingale was somewhat surprised. She walked up to him, took the broken sword from his hand, examined it closely, and was speechless: "This sword..."

Luo Qingfeng said, "It's a bit broken, but it's better than nothing."

Nightingale looked at him with some doubt and asked, "Are you sure it's a treasure? Can it be infused with star power?"

Luo Qingfeng nodded: "Confirmed."

Nightingale glanced at the broken knife in his hand again, returned it to him, then went into the house, took a black stone about a foot long and as thick as a brick, and handed it to him, saying, "I usually use this to sharpen my knives. It was given out in the yard, and it works quite well."

Luo Qingfeng quickly took the knife and placed it on the ground. Then, holding the hilt with one hand and the blade with the other, he squatted down and began to sharpen it.

Nightingale asked curiously, "Where did you find such a broken knife?"

Luo Qingfeng lowered his head to sharpen his knife, paused for a moment, and said, "It was left to me by my deceased wife."

The knife was stuck in the deserted mountain valley, on Zhao'er's grave. It was then used to signify its ownership by dripping blood on Zhao'er's grave and activating it with star power. Wasn't that considered something Zhao'er left for him?

Upon hearing this, the nightingale simply said "Oh," and didn't dare to ask any more questions.

"Ouch! My bones!"

After squatting and watching for a while, Nightingale suddenly remembered the bones in the pot, and hurriedly got up and ran into the kitchen.

Then came an angry scolding voice from the kitchen: "Ah Ya! The water's all boiled dry! And you're still adding fuel to the fire! You've filled the whole stove to the brim! The bones are all burnt! Can't you smell this strong burning odor? You little idiot!"

The girl sitting in front of the stove had a blank, silly expression on her face, and was still unconsciously adding firewood to the stove.

After Nightingale finished cleaning up the burnt bones and cooked all the other dishes, Luo Qingfeng was still squatting in the courtyard sharpening his knife.

"Hey, why are you still sharpening? This isn't an ordinary whetstone. You can't just put the blade on it and sharpen it a few times. If you sharpen it too much, you might wear the blade down."

Nightingale glanced at him from the kitchen doorway and saw that he had been dawdling for so long, still squatting on the ground, so she quickly spoke up to remind him.

But just then, a "crack" was heard, the sound of something breaking.

Nightingale's lips twitched, and she quickly stepped forward, saying, "See? I told you not to sharpen it, but you kept sharpening it. Did you break the knife? Sharpening a knife is never going to end..."

She suddenly stopped talking.

At that moment, Luo Qingfeng put down the knife in his hand and picked up the whetstone from the ground.

The whetstone, which was as thick as a brick, not only became a thin sheet, but also broke in the middle!

But the broken knife lying on the ground was still rusted and full of chips.

It looks like it's been polished for a long time, but there's been no change at all.

(End of this chapter)