Genshin Impact: Liyue's Strongest Thousand Rock Army

Winter is the season when all things perish and all living things wither. Although it does not snow in Liyue, for some unknown reason, this winter is unusually cold.

Su Ping was wearing a thick cotton coat with the hem extended to his ankles, which was typical clothing for cold regions.

Even though he was wearing this, Su Ping still shivered when a gust of cold wind blew past. His face turned red from the cold and even had slight cracks on it.

Just a little bit of air inhaled through the nose was so cold that it almost froze my lungs. This shows how cold the day was.

Next to Su Ping, Su Yue was leaning on a crutch made of boxwood and painted with insect-repellent oil. It looked quite decent.

Su Yue was also wearing thick clothes. Looking at the clothes he wore, they were similar in style and workmanship to Su Ping's. They could barely be considered father-son outfits.

They were going to Jiang Youyi's home, not to visit, but to pay their respects...

From a distance, Su Ping saw several white silks hanging outside the familiar house. The cold wind was blowing and making the white silks swing wildly.

There were two women standing at the door, one in her prime, the other with half-gray hair. Their faces were filled with sadness, and their tears could not stop falling. With the howling of the cold wind, they were already sobbing uncontrollably.

When Su Ping approached, he saw the bloodshot eyes of the mother and daughter, as well as the indescribable sadness. He pursed his lips and spoke softly: "Aunt, Sister Youyi, I am sorry for your loss..."

Su Yue also said his condolences in a calm voice. He had experienced the pain of losing a loved one, so he knew it was useless to say anything else, so he didn't say anything else.

Jiang Youyi's mother, perhaps because of the death of her husband and her advanced age, was so devastated that the only thing she could see was the loved one lying on the ground. She didn't care about anything else.

Finally, it was Jiang Youyi who was talking to Su Ping and his son, but she couldn't say any more after just a few words. The death of her loved one was too painful.

Afterwards, when Mr. Jiang was buried and a tombstone was erected, and his family prepared a buffet, Su Ping and his son were present to help deal with the people who came.

As if sensing something, Su Ping looked back after arranging the table. Jiang Youyi was sitting there with a dull look on her face, as if her soul had been taken away, leaving only a walking corpse.

That look was almost identical to Su Ping's appearance back then.

He walked closer and started to say what he had always heard before, "Sister Youyi, please eat a little. Don't let your body collapse!"

Although it sounded a bit strange, Jiang Youyi also knew what he meant. Now that her father had passed away and her mother was old, the burden of the family would be handed over to her, and she had to hold on.

If she collapsed, then this family would be on the verge of falling apart.

"I know." Jiang Youyi answered in a low voice. Only Su Ping, who was standing next to her, heard it. Her voice was hoarse and full of sadness.

In the eyes of the children, the woman who was about to become the breadwinner of the family reached out and wiped her cheeks to wipe away the tears. Then she took a deep breath and focused her attention on the dish on the table.

"You should eat something too. You've been busy all morning." Jiang Youyi looked at Su Ping.

Su Ping nodded without saying anything, then helped her pick up the dishes and added food to his own bowl.

Jiang Youyi looked at the half-full bowl in front of her, picked up a little with her chopsticks, put it in her mouth to taste it, but it was tasteless, as if she was chewing rubber.

Perhaps the families of the deceased all over the world behave like this at this buffet, and even if there are some differences, they are basically the same, right?

By the time everything was done and the dust settled, it was already evening sunset. The people who left cast long shadows in the faint sunlight.

Su Ping and Jiang Youyi stood in front of the door and watched them leave.

"Su Ping, come with me." Jiang Youyi looked at the child who had been busy for a long time and said lightly.

Su Ping did not refuse. After persuading his father to go back home, he followed the woman into the house and stood there, waiting for what to happen next.

The furnishings in the house were certainly not luxurious, but they were not shabby either. After all, Mr. Jiang was a carpenter after all, and he could make the furniture himself.

In the ordinary room, there stood a man and a woman. Jiang Youyi sat down first, and asked Su Ping to sit down as well. Then she looked at him and opened her thin lips slightly.

"Thank you for today..."

Su Ping shook his head slightly and said, "It's my duty. No need to thank me."

Jiang Youyi looked gloomy and didn't say anything. It was not because of Su Ping's words, but because there were too many traces in this room that belonged to her father, the somewhat stubborn old man.

Su Ping had no intention of interrupting. Mourning for the deceased was one of the few ways to comfort the living. He was well aware of this. That feeling was unforgettable and he would never forget it.

After a long time, Jiang Youyi took a deep breath, as if the haze that was weighing on his heart had been dispelled a lot, and his gloomy expression finally improved a little.

She looked at Su Ping, like a small, inconspicuous flower bud that had been battered but still stood firm, and said softly, "It's getting late and the weather is cold. You should go back early too."

"it is good."

"It looks like the weather won't get warm for a while. When you go back, go out less and don't catch a cold. My house... is cold too, so you don't have to come over so often!" A trace of confusion appeared in Jiang Youyi's eyes.

Su Ping could of course hear the vague sense of distance between the words, and immediately said, "If it's too cold, do you want me to bring two more thick clothes next time?"

"You should bring a brazier, or Sister Youi can ask for a quilt. I am not like before. I have money now! I can help you!"

Jiang Youyi was silent, her face visibly dull, like a lifeless mask, she didn't move, just stared at him blankly.

Su Ping saw this and waved his hand, saying softly: "When it's cold, you can put on more clothes and warm yourself by the fire, but it's hard to warm yourself up when you're cold. It's really hard to save you."

"Sister You Yi, are you really treating me like a child?"

"I...I don't want you to suffer with me. You have your own family to support. Brother Yue probably won't really agree with us. Let's just let it go! Okay?"

Jiang Youyi bit her lower lip, her slightly pale lips foreshadowing her nervousness, and the pleading tone in her words made her seem even more powerless at the moment.

Su Ping sighed and said, "Sister Youyi, even if you intend to end the relationship, I will not give up. I am helping you not just because of that relationship."

"When Mr. Jiang was still alive, I had a long chat with him one day. We discussed many issues, and the one we talked about the most was the mutual help between people."

"I say, you don't need a reason to help others. As long as you feel it's good, then just help. Once you decide to help, you can't worry about other things. Otherwise, it would be very irresponsible."

"I can help you, and I won't have any trouble myself, please rest assured, okay?"

"But..." Jiang Youyi was speechless, opening her mouth but not knowing what to say. In the end, she could only ask, "Why?"

She really couldn't understand it. There was really nothing earth-shattering and could become a memory between them. Even their meeting was so inexplicable.

A young girl who didn't want to get married too early found a famous child prodigy, set up a clumsy trick, and then everything happened.

They didn't talk much and didn't know each other that well. They were just ordinary friends at best. Was it really necessary to do this to help her?

"Didn't I just say that? You don't need a reason to help others." Su Ping said calmly: "Sister You Yi, don't worry, okay?"

"Well, you better tell me the truth. At least give me a reason. Otherwise, I really won't be able to rest easy!"

"If I must say, Mr. Jiang and I have business dealings and we have a very good personal relationship!"

Jiang Youyi fell silent again. She looked at the sincere child in front of her, bit her silver teeth and nodded, "Okay... Then all the borrowed Mora will be recorded in the account. When I have the ability to pay it back, I will return it to you as soon as possible! And the money for the buffet..."

"You don't have to do it right away. Just remember it first." Su Ping waved his hand. "I said it's a help, how can I ask for anything in return!"

But Jiang Youyi still insisted. After arguing for a long time, Su Ping had to agree to let her pay back the money, and then he walked out of the house with her.

“Sister Youyi, let’s stop here. It’s really cold.” Su Ping waved his hand and walked further and further away from her sight until he disappeared.

Jiang Youyi withdrew her gaze and helped her mother, the old woman who had been sitting by the door, back into the house. The wind was still howling and the cold was biting.

It blew the white silk hanging on the wall, causing it to flutter continuously, as if it would be torn apart in an instant and float away to an unknown distance, like rootless duckweed.

On the way, Su Ping sighed softly, because he remembered something that seemed insignificant now, but should have been very important in the past and was indispensable.

Mr. Jiang is not the kind of person who would force Jiang Youyi to get married. Although he appears stubborn, he is actually very understanding and would never do such a thing.

So what's going on?

Su Ping had only two answers in his mind. One was the old woman who was disheveled in the wind just now, and the other was that Jiang Youyi did not really understand her father's thoughts and came to seek his help.

As for what happened, Su Ping didn't know and didn't plan to ask. He just wanted to live well now, wait for his father to recover, and then find treatment.

That's...good.

……

It was the same year, and the winter was still as cold.

Just three days before the Sea Lantern Festival, Su Ping received a letter from Zeng Xi, saying that he had a child and was congratulating him through the letter. He also invited Su Ping to attend the full moon banquet in a month.

Su Ping smiled faintly, sat at the table, and used a paperweight to hold the letter. The paperweight was made of wood and the quality was pretty good. It was a gift from Mr. Jiang, along with the walking stick.

Putting down the letter and picking up the pen, Su Ping wrote the first stroke as if inspired.

“Death is a cold winter night, and the birth of new life is the warm spring after the cold winter, when everything is full of vitality and grows wildly.”

"I am thirty years old now. My life has not been perfect, but I have experienced lows and I have also struggled to climb to the top. The beautiful scenery from afar and the pain in front of me are engraved in my bones and will never be forgotten!"

"My life is over. Perhaps death is the only way to be relieved and to embrace a new life..."

At the very end, Su Ping wrote three words, and the book was finished.

So far, this eleven-volume work, which took nearly three years to complete, has finally been completed today. The stories in the last three volumes are very long because he injected the most emotions and descriptions.

From today on, Su Ping does not need to write this book anymore, because this part of the story... has ended.