bookrandom Chapter 62 No wall is completely airtight.
Chapter 62 No wall is completely airtight.
After Lin Yue's frequent activities in various countries, the leaders and practitioners of those countries were not fools and realized that a special group of people were operating in the Panda Kingdom. Therefore, they began various forms of surveillance and control.
But as it turned out, no matter how strictly they guarded against it, the supplies still disappeared. During this time, Lin Yue flew all over the world, collecting supplies everywhere. At first, she needed to touch the items, or be within a distance of ten, twenty, thirty, or forty meters to collect them. But as her mental strength grew stronger, retrieving items from a distance was now as easy as taking something out of a bag for her; even from 500 meters away, she could retrieve items out of thin air.
Therefore, Lin Yue did indeed play a role in the chaos that has gripped the world. But her primary contribution was securing essential resources for her country's survival, relentlessly striving for them. This was an arrangement by the state, designed to provide its people with a guarantee of survival.
After all, it was other countries that started the war, plunging their own country into crisis. Since that's the case, everyone should suffer together. Amidst this turbulent world situation, Lin Yue did not back down, resolutely carrying out the mission entrusted to her by her country, and dedicating herself to the future of her nation and people.
Amidst this chaotic situation, Lin Yue's eldest child's elementary school graduation ceremony soon arrived. Domestic education had once fallen into a "tiger parenting" mentality, with various national mechanisms attempting to select bright children for high-end, specialized fields. This left parents confused and bewildered, unsure how to raise their children.
At the graduation ceremony, Lin Yue was invited to perform at the school. Lin Yue's eldest daughter, second daughter, and Xiao Bao performed a Tai Chi routine on stage, while Lin Yue played the guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) and Gong Yong played the xiao (a vertical bamboo flute).
The moment the zither and flute harmonized, the three children's spiritual realm instantly rose to a new level. Through the manipulation of their breath, they gathered fallen leaves scattered across the stage, forming a ball, and then placed it in a trash can. This magical process opened up new avenues of thought for the parents present. Perhaps studying isn't the only path; spiritual cultivation is also a viable option, and maybe their children have a talent for it.
Previously, the country had not opened up this kind of practice, but now it is gradually being recognized and understood by the public. This gradual deepening may bring new hope and possibilities for the future.
However, Lin Yue was unaware that the school was conducting the performance via live video streaming. Only a minority of parents were present in person; all those unable to attend watched the live stream. Behind each student were not just two parents, but also grandparents, other relatives, and friends.
Seeing this amazing scene, although we've seen many videos of ancient martial arts families practicing qi, tai chi, and boxing before, they all seemed superficially similar. But this time, Lin Yue's child's demonstration showed the real "qi" of an ancient martial arts family, proving that the child can truly cultivate it and practice martial arts, appearing in the public eye without any warning.
Lin Yue's three children's public appearance this time was unexpected for her, and it inadvertently opened a window for parents at the bottom of society who are anxious about their children's education, allowing them to see another possibility.
Spiritual practice is different from learning. Learning can be improved through repeated practice and memory reinforcement, but spiritual practice must be gradual. Only when one's state of mind reaches a certain level can progress be made. Therefore, in ordinary society, on the surface, there may not be much difference in spiritual practice between the rich and the ordinary, but in reality, the differences are significant.
Cultivating oneself, practicing Taoism, or practicing Buddhism—"cultivation" emphasizes self-reflection and enlightenment, while "practice" stresses using concrete actions to resolve various problems. Therefore, in society, those who practice cultivation are usually well-off and possess a certain level of economic strength.
However, Lin Yue's performance, and the outstanding performance of her three children, have opened up a bright path for ordinary children who lack academic talent but have potential in spiritual practice. This has given many previously confused parents and children new hope and direction; perhaps the path of spiritual practice can become a way for them to realize their self-worth and change their destiny.
Because of this appearance, Lin Yue and her family faced a barrage of harassment. After all, the elementary school their child attended was right across from their community, and the community was large, with many people recognizing their child and Lin Yue, and knowing that she ran a hot pot restaurant. People from all walks of life came to Lin Yue to inquire about where her child was studying and practicing spiritual cultivation.
To the outside world, they gave a unified story, claiming it was the result of two months of study at a certain Taoist temple in a certain province. Many people investigated Lin Yue's whereabouts and discovered that she had indeed taken her child to that temple for two months two years ago. As a result, some parents from families with financial means took their children to the place Lin Yue publicly claimed to be studying during their summer vacation.
Then, the old Taoist priest from the temple called Lin Yue, full of gratitude: "Thank you so much! You've given us free publicity, and our temple has seen a surge in enrollment—it's packed with people!" Lin Yue replied awkwardly, "Brother Taoist, I'm so sorry. My child unintentionally demonstrated some of the techniques you teach, which caused you trouble." The senior disciple on the other end laughed and said, "I should be thanking you! Because of your unintentional publicity, our tourism and cultural industry has flourished. The mountain is truly overflowing with people now!"
After hearing this, Lin Yue felt less guilty. She never expected that her unintentional act would bring about such a big change to the Taoist temple.
Lin Yue's unintentional act sparked a tourism boom and a surge in the number of disciples at renowned Taoist temples across various provinces and cities. Everyone believed that since the child's academic performance was mediocre, perhaps he could achieve something in spiritual practice, so many flocked to give it a try.
The masters of various Taoist temples also got busy, sending out some senior Taoist priests to examine the children's aptitude, temperament, and character. They actually found that some children were indeed suitable for cultivation. Some senior Taoist priests had been searching for disciples in the secular world for many years without success, but thanks to Lin Yue's unintentional publicity, they actually received satisfactory disciples in the last year or two before their passing. Everyone was overjoyed and silently thanked Lin Yue for this unexpected "divine intervention".
Meanwhile, Lin Yue kept her three children even more covered up to protect them, even preventing them from going out. Every day, the three children would jump around, read books, and practice meditation in their own villa. Completely unaware of the hustle and bustle outside, they were currently playing games happily at home with Gong Qiang's two children.
Meanwhile, Gong Qiang's daughter, one of Lin Yue's brothers' children, had a bit of a ulterior motive. After seeing some messages from her grandmother, she quietly asked Lin Yue's eldest daughter, "Sister, how do you cultivate? How do you practice?" Lin Yue's eldest daughter didn't keep anything to herself. Every morning when she practiced her boxing and martial arts on the roof of the villa, she would ask Gong Qiang's children to get up early and go to the roof so she could teach them.
At first, Gong Qiang's two children couldn't get out of bed, so Lin Yue's eldest daughter had to climb over from the roof to pull them up to practice together. After two or three days, Gong Qiang's daughter, who had initially been curious and eager to learn, lost interest, but was still being dragged out of bed to practice every day, which annoyed her. When Gong Qiang found out, he looked at his eldest daughter and said, "You can't rush this kind of cultivation."
Unexpectedly, Gong Qiang himself got up early to practice with his three children. Of his two children, only his son wasn't academically outstanding; instead, he enjoyed martial arts. Gong Qiang and his son persisted in practicing every day, and Gong Qiang's wife, watching them, became interested and wanted to join in. Thus, the group gradually grew.
Later, the elderly couple felt they could practice some of the techniques themselves. Finally, the two families on the rooftop—Gong Qiang's family of six and Lin Yue's family of five—began their daily practice on the rooftop at the same time every morning. Gong Qiang thought to himself, since his brother and sister-in-law were letting their three children practice, there must be a reason. Other families would spend a lot of money hiring a teacher, but this was free, and his brother and sister-in-law were leading the practice. So every morning he was more enthusiastic than anyone else, getting up early to wait on the rooftop to practice together.
The outside world was chaotic, but the Gong Qiang and Gong Yong families were relatively peaceful. They lived on the same floor, with two apartments per floor. For security, Gong Qiang installed an iron gate in the stairwell; one had to pass through this gate to enter their own apartment through the elevator. Gong Yong's apartment had the same layout during its previous renovation.
At some point, Gong Qiang and Gong Yong acquired two more security doors, installing one in the fire escape and the other in the stairwell. They weren't very noticeable from the outside, but were clearly distinguishable from the inside. Just in case, they even installed security measures on the roof.
To be honest, the world is in such chaos. It may seem calm on the surface, but there are undercurrents beneath. The country has tried its best to maintain this fragile balance, but there are many unemployed people, food shortages, and countless people who are not getting enough to eat. This has led to many people fighting each other over basic necessities.
Gong Qiang and Gong Yong knew that danger could strike at any moment, so they carefully protected their family, hoping that the turmoil would end soon and their lives could return to peace.
During this chaotic period, schools were forced to close. With the outside situation volatile, parents faced numerous difficulties picking up and dropping off their children, and the streets were rife with armed robbers and other criminals. Schools switched to online learning, which meant families with many children, like Lin Yue's family with three, required three tablets. The children had to rely on these devices for daily classes, which negatively impacted their eyesight.
To protect her children's eyesight, Lin Yue taught them a set of eye-protecting exercises. On weekends, Lin Yue would occasionally ride a magical eagle to Qingcheng to deliver spirit rice, spirit noodles, spirit vegetables, and some specialties from neighboring countries to her brothers, parents, and grandparents. She instructed her brothers, "These things cannot be given to outsiders; they can only be eaten by our family. Not a single bit can be revealed." Her parents deeply understood the importance of these things their children brought over.
When her brother bought his house, it wasn't on a middle floor, so there was no rooftop for growing vegetables. Plus, her grandparents felt a bit restricted there, even though it was over 140 square meters. Lin Yue thought about it and initially planned to buy a duplex villa near her brother's house, even a bare-bones one. But the world was too chaotic, and her parents persuaded her against it. Finally, she saw a fully furnished villa not far from their current house, with a large yard and a rooftop vegetable garden. Lin Yue considered that she had two elderly relatives and an elderly man with hemiplegia; they needed a garden where they could easily go for walks, and a place to grow vegetables. After all, the outside world was chaotic, and there wasn't enough food. If Lin Yue had to bring vegetables every time, she sometimes couldn't manage it all, and her brother's storage space couldn't be filled with them all—the spiritual energy would dissipate if stored for too long. With all these things in mind, Lin Yue ultimately decided to buy the villa.
After buying the villa, Lin Yue hired the same renovation team to go to Jincheng to raise the fence around her brother's house and replace the gate with a professional security iron gate. In these difficult times, Lin Yue strives to create a relatively stable and comfortable living environment for her family.
Lin Yue hired a renovation team, but before they could finish the work in about ten days, a group of local thugs set their sights on it. Left with no other option, Lin Yue had to stop the renovations, close the iron gate again, and the villa became uninhabitable. Since the villa had already caught the eye of the thugs, Lin Yue quickly sold it.
Because she always wanted a place to grow vegetables, Lin Yue found a large single-level apartment near Jiefangbei in Qingcheng, over 280 square meters, with a duplex above it. Above the duplex was another 120 square meters, which could be used for growing vegetables, essentially making it a multi-level house. Moreover, the 120 square meters of the duplex was a bonus. This time, since it was someone else's previously furnished apartment, she could move in immediately.
Lin Yue hired the same renovation team again. After arranging the living space, she only redid the waterproofing on the roof twice, leaving the downstairs area largely unchanged. She hired a professional cleaning lady to do a thorough cleaning, throwing out unnecessary items and unsuitable furniture, and renovating the space into a simple Chinese style.
Then, Lin Yue quickly brought her brother, brother's wife, parents, and grandparents to the house. Because it was on the top floor, there was a large garden of two or three hundred square meters, where they could grow vegetables, flowers, and grass, and even raise chickens and rabbits. They kept seed stock there, and built a chicken coop on the roof with ten chickens. The coop had living quarters upstairs and a feeding area downstairs—a very well-designed space. They also kept ten rabbits and quail. In short, the rooftop had become an ecological area, and they also kept some fish, so her parents could be self-sufficient when she wasn't there.
After finishing everything, Lin Yue quickly returned to Chengdu.
Lin Yue had only been back in Rongcheng for a short time when she was still worried. After all, the building had only one apartment per floor and no cast iron gate. She found a suitable iron gate in Rongcheng and, that very night, she and Gong Yong took a carpenter's boat over to weld the door from the elevator onto the building. Gong Yong was very experienced in installing doors, and he and Lin Yue quickly got to work outside.
Hearing the commotion outside, the parents thought some thugs had come. Looking through the peephole, they saw it was their daughter and son-in-law. They quickly opened the door and saw that Gong Yong and Lin Yue had installed a large, latticed iron door at the elevator exit, locked with a heavy padlock. Lin Yue's father said, "Isn't this a bit excessive?" Lin Yue quickly explained, "It has to be this way. It's not too chaotic around here. Qingcheng is surrounded by mountains, unlike Rongcheng, which is all plains."
Lin Yue hadn't told her parents about the thugs she encountered while renovating her villa, so they were unaware of the chaos outside. Now, the elderly men are busy in this large apartment; the downstairs is 280 square meters, the upstairs is 120 square meters, the rest is a garden, and the entire 120-square-meter rooftop is used for growing flowers and vegetables. The brothers have also ordered a lot of special soil and other supplies for growing vegetables. In short, they've all been very busy lately, decorating their new home.
The situation in Qingcheng is not as severe as in Rongcheng because Qingcheng has a large river, allowing some grain to be transported from other coastal cities, thus preventing major unrest. Rongcheng, on the other hand, has a larger population, and the transported grain cannot meet local needs, resulting in much more severe unrest.