She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 364 - 363: Chatting with Senior Brother

Chapter 364: Chapter 363: Chatting with Senior Brother

Ye Xinyan gave Guan He a displeased side-eye and said, "At this rate, you could talk the day to death."

"Big Brother Guan’s insight is penetrating, how could he be mistaken. It’s this little woman who was wrong, I always thought Big Brother Guan was a broad-minded person. But it turns out not to be the case, from Big Brother Guan’s tone, it seems there’s a lot of resentment. So, the usual carefree and open-minded attitude is all just an act?"

Guan He this time didn’t even look at her, and miraculously didn’t open his mouth to retort.

Ignored!

Ye Xinyan had lived two lifetimes and had never encountered this kind of treatment. This... the matter of winning over Guan He as a future enforcer didn’t seem so easy. Guan He, this guy, was impervious to both hard and soft tactics, just like a piece of tough meat. At this moment, he actually put on a deep and thoughtful air, which made him even harder to deal with.

"Hey, I’m saying, Big Brother Guan, you don’t know about the ancestors, but don’t you at least know about the master? You can also pay respects to the master. Why not pay respects to the master?" Ye Xinyan continued to look for topics to chat about.

This time, the day wasn’t talked to death, and Guan He said with little care, "The master said, ’when a person dies, it’s like a lamp going out; everything comes to an end.’ Whether you worship or not, it doesn’t matter, that’s all for the living to see. For me, it’s just a waste of effort."

Damn it, since he had this view, why didn’t he say so when she asked him just now? Instead, he talked as if he cared a lot about being abandoned. Isn’t that just nonsense?

"Everything comes to an end? Since your master said it so firmly, why can Jiang Yifan, who was taught by the same master, pay his respects so solemnly and respectfully?"

Ye Xinyan pursued this line of inquiry, uncertain of what Jiang Yifan’s conjecture about her identity might be. If Jiang Yifan’s master was a plain materialist and atheist, what was the basis for his certainty about her transformation? How would he explain her changes?

Guan He was different from usual today, looking much more serious and also a lot less fun. Guan He said, "Everything comes to an end; that’s just a personal opinion the master occasionally mentioned in casual conversation. He never imposed it on us or preached it to others."

Ye Xinyan seemed to understand, "I see, your master’s background is the same as yours, isn’t it? That’s why you can easily accept your master’s views. While Jiang Yifan was nurtured by his family from a young age, so the attachment to his family ancestors isn’t easily diminished."

"Tch." Guan He let out the first scoff of the evening, "My master comes from a wealthy family with a superior background; otherwise, how could he have produced an Imperial Scholar like Jiang Yifan. Don’t use your own guesses to judge others."

"Tch, I too come from a wealthy family with a very superior background. Both from wealthy families, how come I can’t make a guess? You said it yourself, it’s just a guess? It’s bound to be right or wrong. Tsk!" No more chatting, once Jinrong and Jiang Yifan leave, I’ll dock his food, hmph!

It seemed that Jiang Yifan was still somewhat influenced by his master, mentioning his ancestors less often, and the first to finish paying his respects was Jiang Yifan. Seeing Guan He and Ye Xinyan standing together, he strolled over as well.

Then, everyone else completed their ancestral worships. The sporadic sound of firecrackers in the village became increasingly frequent.

Shi Shu and Hong Wu held several strings of firecrackers and walked towards the yard entrance; by this time, Qi Jiaer had completely sobered up, and the half-Shichen nap he had allowed him to fully regain his energy. Seeing the thickly folded firecrackers in Shi Shu’s hands, he immediately scurried after them, followed by Zi Ning and Jiuhua.

For Jinrong, it was his first time ringing in the New Year in the countryside. Watching the strings of firecrackers and listening to the crackling sounds in the village, he was very eager to try, and said, "Why don’t we also set off a couple of strings? Our firecrackers must surely sound louder than those from other households. Let’s light a few more strings, and drown out theirs."

Jinrong spoke and even gestured around him, as if he wanted to group the other villagers’ homes together into one bundle.

Ye Xinyan looked at Jinrong with fascination. A prince, actually wanting to outdo the poor common folk in setting off firecrackers, what an ambition!

At over thirty years old, Guan He actually followed suit, taking a step and saying, "Anyway, I’m free, might as well give it a go." As he walked, he also expressed his regrets, "The snowfall came too early a few days ago. If it had started these last one or two days, we would be seeing a blanketing white right now, quite a lovely sight."

Wong Qiao hesitated for a moment, then Cheung Wusi said, "You should also go out and let off a couple strings of firecrackers, get a lucky start for our Construction Industry, our business for the coming year is bound to thrive."

"..." Watching Qi Younian and Cheung Wusi saunter out as well, Ye Xinyan’s eyes widened. There were such beliefs?

"What were you and your senior brother talking about just now?" Jiang Yifan asked.

Ye Xinyan looked at Jiang Yifan approaching her and, without answering, simply said, "Your senior brother seems different today from usual."

Jiang Yifan nodded, "The senior brother has no family, no commitments, although he lives freely and at ease, he never had such a bustling celebration with a family."

"Oh, I see." If what Jiang Yifan had said was true, then there was still a chance to achieve her goal of keeping Guan He at home.

Ye Xinyan acknowledged with a sound and then answered Jiang Yifan’s question, "Just now when we talked about ancestor worship, Big Brother Guan said that your master’s view is that death is like a blown-out lamp, everything comes to an end. Big Brother Guan thinks there is no difference whether one worships or not."

Jiang Yifan’s mind stirred and he asked, "Then what do you think? Is death like a blown-out lamp?"

Ye Xinyan looked at Jiang Yifan earnestly and said, "I think there are many things in this world that we don’t understand, so a lot of things can’t be conclusively judged."

"For example?" asked Jiang Yifan.

"For example, the movement of the stars in the sky, the alternating rise and fall of the sun and moon, the cycle of the four seasons, whether death is like a blown-out lamp, these are all things that belong to the realm of the unknown," answered Ye Xinyan.

"It’s a pity the master is no longer here. If he were, hearing you speak like this, he would certainly like you," said Jiang Yifan. He could completely assert that this Ye Xinyan was absolutely not the same one from before, the former Ye Xinyan, no matter how much she had changed, would not have expressed such thoughts.

"According to what you’re saying, if there really is a master of the unknown, then perhaps there is indeed such a thing as the spirits of the ancestors. Otherwise, where would the order of the heavens, the earth, and the stars, the regularity of the seasons come from?" continued Jiang Yifan, as if he was talking to Ye Xinyan but also as if talking to himself.

Ye Xinyan looked at Jiang Yifan, and then thought about Guan He outside, silently pondering what kind of person Jiang Yifan’s master was, to have cultivated such outstanding disciples in both literature and martial arts.

Listening to Guan He and Jiang Yifan speak, Jiang Yifan’s master must have been quite erudite, someone who had done extensive research into the changes and astronomy, someone who had his own thoughts on the objective existence of this world.