Am I the only one who didn't ascend?

Jianmu District is the oldest district in Rongcheng. Thousands of years ago, the city was built around Jianmu and maintained a long period of prosperity. Today, the district with a thousand years of history has been renovated countless times and has become unrecognizable. It is just that the cleverly designed city view, especially the simple-looking buildings and various towering ancient trees, always makes people living in it feel superior to being with history - even if the buildings and plants they regard as historical monuments may only have a real history of one or two hundred years.

In this carefully whitewashed history, there are actually genuine products. In the north of Jianmu District, there is a slightly messy garden with many unremarkable trees that look almost dead and lonely. Under the trees is a cheap lawn. Although it is neatly trimmed and smooth, it lacks spiritual light due to poor varieties. In the middle of the garden, surrounded by a variety of plants, stands a slightly crooked wooden house with a simple shape that is almost shabby.

Compared with the quaint and elegant city appearance around, this garden and wooden house are undoubtedly outliers. Many tourists passing by here will be curious about who owns this outlier, and why the Rongcheng Municipal Government did not demolish it and clear it on the grounds of damaging the city appearance... Then people will get an answer that surprises them.

This is the house of Han Guming, the governor of Rongcheng. It was built by the ancestors of the Han family 1,200 years ago and is the first batch of buildings in Rongcheng. After dozens of generations of maintenance, it still retains its original outline. It is a rare real monument in this whitewashed Jianmu area.

However, it is obvious that the Han family rarely lives here. Since Lu Zhiyao moved the capital to Youcheng 500 years ago and entrusted the old capital to the Han family, the official residence of the Han family has been named the Governor's Mansion. The large fortress that is now high above can accommodate hundreds of Han family members to live in it, which can not only maintain the prosperity of the family, but also demonstrate the supreme status of the Han family in Rongcheng. As for the old house with a history of more than 700 years, it is just a historical tablet left in place for people to admire.

However, this tradition was broken by Han Guming. As a rebel of the Han family who acquiesced to the Jinlu Hall's policy of reducing the vassal states, during his decades in office, he gradually drove away the increasingly bloated Han family relatives who were entrenched in the Governor's Mansion; on the other hand, he reorganized the Governor's Mansion, greatly streamlined the internal structure, and demolished most of the living areas for luxury and enjoyment. And he himself would spend most of his time with his wife in the unremarkable ancient monuments...

Some people said that he was seeking fame, some said that he was just flattering the Jinlu Hall, and some said that he had a deep hatred with his family in his youth, so that as a member of the Han family, he vigorously suppressed the Han family after taking power, not only driving away his brothers and sisters, but also expelling many senior elders.

Han Guming himself never responded to these discussions, nor did he care. He was like a carefully designed and polished mechanical puppet, always strictly following the path designated by the Jinlu Hall, without selfishness or deviation.

Until today, until this moment...

Sitting at the dining table, Han Ying was lost in thought for a while.

Being in this old wooden house, all kinds of things about Han Guming's life naturally flowed into her heart along with the history and emotions carried by the wooden house... like a clear spring flowing in a quiet forest.

Even after thousands of years of vicissitudes, Han Ying still couldn't help but sigh for Han Guming's life.

Then, as if hearing the sigh in Han Ying's heart, the old man across the table raised his head and asked with some concern: "Yingying, is the food not to your taste?"

Han Ying smiled and shook her head and said: "No, it tastes very good. I... like it very much."

"That's good." Han Guming was somewhat relieved and a little ashamed, "After your mother passed away, I could only try to make these meals according to the taste in my memory, but I always couldn't get the point. When she was there, I always pushed all the housework to her on the grounds of being busy with official duties, and sometimes I was complacent about my cleverness. Now it seems that it is really..."

Han Guming changed the subject after a sigh.

"Yingying, your birthday is next month after next. Have you decided what gift to give?"

After a moment, as if pushed by the spring flowing in her heart, Han Ying couldn't help but smile sweetly and said, "Well, I've already thought about it. I don't want anything, as long as you can be healthy."

Han Guming touched his sparse beard and said helplessly, "Oh, in your opinion, I'm already an old man who needs to care about my health every day?"

Han Ying said angrily, "Look in the mirror yourself. If mother sees you like this now, she will definitely blame me for not taking good care of you."

Han Guming sighed and said, "Your mother...she will only blame me for not taking good care of you."

"What's wrong with me? Ah, father, you don't want to dislike my progress in the academy, right? I've been working very hard!"

In the relaxed and humorous daily conversation, Han Guming's eyes gradually glowed.

"I know, of course I know you work hard... Yingying, next month, it's your 22nd birthday..."

"Yes, you're one step closer to being an old maid, but don't rush me to get married like other parents, I haven't graduated from the academy yet!"

"Why would I rush... But if you meet someone you really like, just go for it, Dad... I'll always support you."

"Wow, it sounds a bit wrong for a father to support his daughter in such a matter! You, you are not angry and start to say weird things because I didn't celebrate your 90th birthday as promised half a month ago? Okay, okay, I was wrong! But I was... strange, what was I doing at that time?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter if I can't remember it. I can celebrate my birthday anytime, and at this age, it doesn't matter whether I celebrate it or not." Han Guming shook his head, and then fell into a trance and silence for a long time.

Han Ying chuckled twice and began to pick up the exquisite snacks on the table with chopsticks. Although she didn't show it on her face, she was secretly surprised at her father's cooking skills, which were so close to her deceased mother.

Soon, while Han Guming was not prepared, Han Ying ate up all the short ribs in black bean sauce that both father and daughter liked to eat, and then looked at Han Guming with a guilty conscience, fearing that he would make a helpless and doting sigh.

However, things didn't go as planned, and Han Guming finally sighed.

"Yingying, actually, I have already prepared your birthday present."

"?" Han Ying was surprised to hear that, and then smiled after a moment, "Please don't give her tutorial books and exercise books, like when I applied for the academy at the age of 16..."

Han Guming looked up in a trance, whispering softly: "At the age of 20, we will give her her favorite shuttle, hoping that she can fly freely in the golden years of her life."

"At the age of 21, she will condense the elixir in the academy and become a real person. We will give her the [Yellow Millet Sutra] to help her inherit the Han family's legacy."

"At the age of 22, she will leave the academy, and we will give her a mouthful of A sword for self-defense, to help her live independently. "

"At the age of 23, she should have found her own way. We will give her Beishan Stone to let her understand the meaning of bearing weight."

"At the age of 24, maybe she has found someone she likes. In that case, we will give her red silk, hoping that she can understand the meaning of love."

"At the age of 25... At the age of 25, we will dress her up beautifully, more beautiful than any other girl in the world, so that everyone in the world can see her best appearance, and then..."

At this point, Han Guming's emotions finally fluctuated uncontrollably.

However, compared to any hysteria in any situation, Han Guming chose an extremely restrained sigh.

"Then, this is the reason why I turned the wasteland into a wasteland."