Time flew by, and ten days passed.
The two senior sisters continued their pre-college entrance exam cramming sessions in their rooms every day.
The two old men, meanwhile, were as consistent as ever, watching ants and rarely clamoring to go out to play.
Incidentally.
Besides watching ants to pass the time, the two old men would also conduct various bizarre experiments and research on them daily.
For instance, feeding ants strange things, or directly boiling them in medicinal baths in clay pots…
In addition to the mutated ant from the very beginning, the two old men had successfully bred seven or eight more mutated ants, each seeming to possess different abilities.
Today, the two old men put this group of ants together to tear each other apart and fight, ostensibly to assess each ant's strength.
Ye Fan glanced at them, feeling a headache coming on.
Are you sure you're not just playing a 'gu' cultivation game?
Of course, complaining was just a side note.
Ye Fan's main task was still to enjoy the warm evening sun.
A deck chair, a low table, and a pot of fragrant tea.
Ye Fan was immensely satisfied: This, indeed, is the life!
If only some melodious music could accompany this, it would be perfect.
Ye Fan pondered if he should get a new communication jade.
The communication jade he held was far behind the current mainstream version. Apart from basic communication functions, it had almost no other features.
It wasn't that True Person Ziyun was stingy and unwilling to give him a better one, but rather that True Person Ziyun hadn't considered this aspect at all back then.
Think about it.
True Person Ziyun had intended to cultivate Ye Fan into a super talent, so why would he bother with such trivial matters?
The two senior sisters were a prime example: all they did was cultivate, with almost zero personal recreational activities…
Ye Fan gently closed his eyes.
He would buy a communication jade with a 'player' function later.
It's a shame these people from another world don't make movies.
Perhaps he should find some people to get something like that going?
"Ye Fan, here we come!" a clear voice broke the tranquility of the small courtyard.
The visitors were none other than Princess Jiu, Liang Rujing, and Liang Meikong, who had come along.
"Ye Fan, long time no see," Liang Meikong greeted with a smile.
After these past few days of interaction, Liang Meikong's initial minor grievances and hostile attitude had completely vanished!
Holy cow!
Ye Fan was too delicious!
Or rather, Ye Fan's cooking was too delicious!
He almost wished he could snatch Ye Fan away to be his personal chef!
It could be said that Liang Meikong had been completely captured by Ye Fan's culinary skills.
"It's you two." Ye Fan stood up and greeted them lazily.
You two siblings come twice or thrice a day, and you call this "long time no see"?
And speaking of which, one a prince and the other a princess, do you two have nothing better to do every day?
Of course, Ye Fan was just habitually complaining.
He was quite welcoming to their arrival.
"Ye Fan, I've brought the things," Liang Rujing took out a large pile of ingredients from her ring. "It's going to be a lot of work for you."
Ye Fan glanced at the guards standing nearby.
Earlier, while organizing the kitchen, he had casually mumbled that he hadn't eaten seafood in a long time.
At that time, this guard was outside cleaning.
Now, looking at the ingredients Liang Rujing had brought, they were all seafood…
The guard sheepishly scratched his head.
"Alright, we'll have seafood tonight then." Ye Fan didn't dwell on it and took the seafood to process it.
The Liang siblings were indeed captivated by Ye Fan's cuisine, but they had no interest in the process of creating it.
Liang Rujing went to watch the two old men play with ants, while Liang Meikong struck up a casual conversation with the guard.
"Has Ye Fan been doing anything unusual recently?" Liang Meikong asked in a low voice.
"Reporting to Your Highness, he's been the same as usual," the guard replied honestly. "These past few days, apart from occasionally going out to buy things, he's been staying at home. He's either tending to his plants or lying out in the sun."
Liang Meikong's mouth twitched.
It was exactly as he had imagined…
He swore that Ye Fan was the most peculiar person he had ever met!
He had no ambition at all, even more lazy than a salted fish!
What the heck, how can someone be so lazy?
Every time he saw Ye Fan in this state, he couldn't help but think of his late imperial grandfather…
Sometimes he even suspected that Ye Fan was actually an old man.
That his youthful appearance was merely a disguise…
After dinner, Liang Meikong and Liang Rujing lay on their chairs, completely satisfied.
They savored the lingering taste in their mouths while unconsciously patting their bulging bellies.
Why was their appetite so unreliable?
Alas…
It was too troublesome to come over like this every time. They really needed to find a way to get Ye Fan to come back and be their cook.
Ye Fan was beyond words.
The first couple of days, the siblings had been somewhat reserved. Even when they overate, they would discreetly rub their stomachs.
He remembered seeing Liang Rujing's overstuffed stomach then, and the little girl had blushed with shyness.
Looking at their current demeanor, had they become so comfortable with him that they had completely abandoned all pretense?
He wondered if their parents would disown them if they saw this…
"By the way, Ye Fan, do you have anything planned for tonight?" Liang Rujing suddenly asked.
"What is it?" Ye Fan replied, puzzled.
"It's like this," Liang Rujing adjusted her posture. "Tonight is the Lantern Festival, right? If you're free, why don't we go out and have some fun together?"
"Lantern Festival?" Ye Fan blinked.
"No way?" This time it was Liang Rujing's turn to be bewildered. "You don't know about the Lantern Festival?"
Even Liang Meikong looked at Ye Fan with a look of astonishment.
Even a three-year-old child knows about the Lantern Festival, right?
Ye Fan, are you teasing me?
"I'm really not very clear," Ye Fan replied somewhat sheepishly.
"I'm speechless. Are you even from Daliang?" Liang Rujing said, exasperated. "The Lantern Festival is…"
After Liang Rujing's explanation, Ye Fan suddenly understood.
The founding ancestor of Daliang had used the "Lantern Strategy" to secure his victory in the war of establishing the nation. Therefore, on this day every year, the Daliang nation celebrated nationwide.
There was no need to mention holidays and bonuses; even prisoners in jail got a good meal.
In simple terms, it was Daliang's National Day…
Around eight in the evening, the group set off grandly.
One had to admit, National Day was truly lively.
The biggest feature was the countless decorative lanterns scattered throughout the streets, which reminded Ye Fan of the Lantern Festival.
People around them were wearing brand-new clothes, their faces beaming with joy.
Some mischievous children were running around chasing each other with their toys in the crowd.
Ye Fan's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to a past life he had experienced after transmigration.
That year, after being injured by his enemies, he had been hiding in a remote town to recuperate.
On that Lantern Festival night, Ye Fan met her for the first time.
Their paths crossed, and they both turned back simultaneously.
Her smile made Ye Fan see all the beauty in the world…