"For a moment there, I didn't think you'd come, Qing'er," said the middle-aged lady as she handed Yang Qing another pot to place at the table.
"I wouldn't have missed it, I did tell Gen I'd come and I didn't want to miss your cooking either," said Yang Qing as he grinned foolishly.
"I told you it would work," said the red-haired lady to the polite-looking man next to her called Gen who only smiled at her response.
Yang Qing's love for food which bordered on obsession was because of his mom. As body refinement specialists, diet was a key component to the goals of the Yang family so they put a lot of effort into developing their cooking skills to maximize the benefits they could get from the food.
However, efficiency didn't always equate to flavor. Most of the meals were bland except when it came to his mother. She was skilled in the nutritional aspect just as she was in realizing the flavors of the food.
Yang Qing may not admit it, but her cooking was the only reason he never ran away back then when he had been 'welcomed' into the Yang family way.
"You didn't come with that lovely girl Mao Yunru this time?" Yang Qing's mom meaningfully asked as she smiled lightly.
"I don't know what you mean Mom. I've had a busy day because of tomorrow's event so I haven't had a chance to see her," Yang Qing replied with a deadpan face like he was making a report to a superior.
His mother cast a long look at him before she slightly chuckled and said," You haven't changed one bit,"
She ruffled his hair lovingly and added,
"Luckily your brother gave me some grandkids, if I had to depend on you..."
She left a few things unsaid but the meaning was clear which drew some laughs from his brother and wife while Yang Qing was stuck with a reddened embarrassed face.
"Uncle Yang Qing, tell us a story," Yang Huan his red-haired nephew boisterously asked with excitement in his voice. His younger brother, Yang Xie seemed equally as excited as he looked at Yang Qing with round eager eyes.
Yang Qing's shameless bragging talents came in handy in these situations where he'd get to play the uncle with cool stories who led an active life.
Over the years he has regaled them with tales of how he gambled with dragons, barbecued with phoenix flames, raced a golden roc, and won, along with other embellished tales. No matter how unbelievable his stories sounded, his nephews believed every word and always looked forward to his visits so they could listen to more stories.
"Not now, but later I promise I will. " Yang Qing said as he ruffled both their hair when he saw how downcast they seemed.
"By the way Gen, where is Dad?" Yang Qing suddenly asked after he placed the last pot on the table.
The question had been directed to the 30-year-old polite-looking man across the table from him. Just like Yang Qing, he too has endured the torture of the Yang family however he showed an acumen for alchemy which saved him from following Yang Qing's path of being the Yang family's guinea pig. Though being an alchemist helped him, it was only by a tiny bit since he would occasionally be 'consulted' on a few things.
"Dad is at the institute, he said he had a lot to prepare for with the upcoming intake so he wouldn't be able to make it," Yang Gen said with an awkward smile.
"His hiding from grandfather, isn't he?" asked Yang Qing.
Yang Gen gently nodded as the two brothers and the red-haired lady shared a reuful smile.
"Grandpa really did a number on him," Yang Qing slowly muttered as he shook his head.
Their grandfather had inherited the Yang founder's personality and passion when it came to excavating the mysteries of the body-refining realm to the point that some even suspected he was the incarnation of their founder. He only had one child, their father. His father got subjected to all sorts of tests since he was a child that it made what Yang Qing endured seem like a vacation.
His father later run away from home when he couldn't take it and only came back after he had broken through to the foundation realm so he could be deemed 'unusable' for any future body-refining experiments. However, he had grossly underestimated his father's, their grandfather's commitment to the body-refining physique.
A new level of torment soon ensued as his father was used as a test subject on some more hypotheses. Those tests bore some fruit which prompted their grandfather to also break through to the foundation establishment realm to try and increase their efficiency of study. The torment only stopped when their father broke through to the core formation realm which only happened after they came to the Order. Moving here served as a blessing to him since he got a job at the institute as one of the foundational instructors in body refining. This ensured he would spend as little time with their grandfather as possible and also their grandfather landed a position in the Medicine Valley. Yang Qing and the rest of the family had no idea what he did there since they were afraid to go visit him, all they knew was thanks to his work there, he rarely came home.
Luckily for Yang Qing and Yang Gen, their father didn't inherit their grandfather's temperament and even encouraged them to break through as fast as they could. The two brothers heeded their father's advice though it's not known if it was to heed their father's advice or some other underlying reason but they did as they were told, Yang Qing was a palace realm expert and his brother was a core formation expert.
Their father even purposely invited their grandfather over and a few of the elders to celebrate, though in the real sense, it was some form of vengeance to irk them. It worked too since a few friends of their grandfather vomited blood in the celebration held when Yang Qing broke through to the core formation realm while his grandfather didn't look like he was far behind. When Yang Qing broke through to the palace realm, his father hosted another celebration again with much more fanfare. However, at that time his grandfather along with the few old men were rather reserved and they even seemed jovial in his breakthrough which rang alarm bells on Yang Qing, his brother, and their father. Such a calm look from those old men could only mean one thing and it wasn't good for the three of them which was why Yang Qing was hesitant in coming back and as for their father, after all the stunts he has pulled over the years, Yang Qing had doubts if he would ever come back. Since that celebration, he has never stepped foot in their home and even tried to convince their mother to relocate to the accommodations at the institute.
"I hope grandpa doesn't come,"
"Me too,"
