Chapter 24 Discussing Ideals

  Everything was settled in the cave, and when they walked out of the cave, it was already deep into the night. The mountain wind was cool and refreshing, the sky was a deep blue, and several bright moons were emitting silvery white light. The stars twinkled, and the distant peaks were faintly visible. A few moonlit peaks were vaguely visible in the distance. All of this made the night so quiet, peaceful, and harmonious. The four people felt comfortable and relaxed, found a spot to sit down, and quietly enjoyed this rare moment.

  In this atmosphere, after a while, Rose suddenly asked: "What are your plans for the future? What's your ideal? Don't mind sharing." Xiaomei also became interested and looked at us intently, only to see that my brother and I gave a firm and unanimous answer: "Strive to become gods, eliminate all evil spirits, and bring peace to our continent! Find a loved one, live a happy life with family." This was what we had been thinking but not saying out loud, and now that Rose asked, it came out naturally.

  Rose's eyes lit up, and she asked, "What is the ideal red mate in your hearts like?" Xiaomei also stared with wide eyes, full of desire to know, expectation, and a hint of hidden sorrow.

  The two brothers were at a loss for words and said, "Can we think about it first and answer you later?" They wondered if people in this world were all precocious.

  "Come on, just casual chat, don't want to say then forget it, we're all grown up, I don't believe you've never thought about it!" Indeed a reckless rose, a thorny rose, not understanding subtlety at all.

  The corners of my brother's mouth twitched, and at this time, he first thought of a girl called "Little Witch". Although in some sense, he hadn't seen her before, but had a vague outline in his memory. However, when he looked up at Rose's appearance, he made up his mind to tease her a bit, so he gave Rose a sly smile: "The other half I want, are you sure you want to know?"

  Rose saw his impure smile and felt a tightness in her heart, but apparently not giving up until she achieved her goal was her style. Subconsciously, she said: "Of course."

  "My brother burst out laughing and said: 'Alright! I'll confess, the beauty I've been longing for in my heart has the fragrance of roses, the passion of roses, the kindness of roses... She is...' But what he was thinking in his heart was that she had the melancholy of lilacs, the..."

  "Ah……, you dare to flirt with my sister? Just wait and see how I'll deal with you." Rose hadn't even finished speaking before she pounced on him with a fierce cry. My brother, adhering to the strategy that a good man doesn't fight with a woman, chose the thirty-sixth plan - retreat as the best option.

  Actually, Rose didn't really want to fight, she was just intimidated by my brother's domineering attitude and couldn't accept it for a while, it was just an instinctive reaction. She didn't chase after him to hit him, but instead pretended to calm down and then looked at me with ill intentions and full of expectations. In my heart, I was screaming: My brother and sister, my dear brother, why do you always leave the gun pointed at me?!

  At this time, I secretly glanced at Xiaomei, who was also staring at me, and said somewhat unnaturally: "Uh~ this, bosom friend, I think Xiaomei is pretty good, huh." Finally, she nodded heavily and said with a sudden ease, feeling great about myself.

  Xiao Mei's heart was secretly delighted: "Is he indirectly saying that he likes me?", then her face turned red, fortunately it was dark and no one saw. Rose, on the other hand, was very dissatisfied, saying with her mouth: "A big boy, being so reserved, without any sincerity at all." But in her heart, she thought: Am I not good enough? Can't I even compare to a little girl like her?

  A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the ocean. This saying is indeed true, and another thing is that among women, comparisons are everywhere, these are all normal phenomena, regardless of their relationship.

  I could only smile wryly and remain silent, how do you want me to explain it, sometimes with women you can't be too literal, you have to insist: even if she's wrong, you still have to admit that she's right.

  I remained silent, and Rose suddenly felt powerless against me. Every time she thought she had the upper hand, she was actually the one getting frustrated. What a suffocating feeling!

  The atmosphere was broken when my brother came back again, he said to avoid the topic just now: "Everyone must be hungry, I just picked up some firewood down the mountain and will roast snake meat for you later." I hastened to agree: "I've been hungry for a long time, and as soon as I heard your roasted snake meat, I got even hungrier."

  Rose said with a sneer, "Look at you, like someone who hasn't eaten in years." The brothers knew she was just trying to pick a fight and didn't take the bait. They each went about their business, meanwhile Little Plum also came to help out. Before long, the roasted snake was on the rack, already skinned, washed clean, and smeared with seasonings by the brothers.

  The snake meat was quickly roasted to a golden yellow, and the fragrance wafted into our nostrils, making our stomachs growl. At this, everyone exchanged smiles, and then it was time to divide the meat. The brothers suggested that they should give some to their sisters first, but the sisters were too embarrassed, especially Rose, who said: "You guys have been busy for half a day, but I didn't help at all, how can I bear to eat first? Let's just divide it up and eat together."

  My brother knew not to be finicky, so he said: "Since that's the case, let's eat together." So my brother and Rose shared half of it, and I shared the other half with Little Plum. The sisters thought that my brother and I had big appetites, so they gave us a bigger share, but in fact we couldn't finish that much, so we said we would roast some later and gave most of it back to the sisters.

  The two brothers looked at each other, took out the clean lettuce and dipping sauce from their spatial watches, found a piece of paper to pad it with, picked up a lettuce leaf, tore off a piece of roasted meat and dipped it in the sauce, then wrapped the roasted meat in the lettuce leaf and started devouring it. The Rose sisters followed suit and started eating voraciously, astonishingly finishing their share even faster than the brothers, leaving them shocked once again.

  Suddenly felt that eating barbecue alone was less interesting, and continued the topic from earlier: "We've already talked about our ideals and romance, now it's time to talk about your sisters."

  "My ideal is to find a man who is both literary and martial, and spend every day together, traveling around the continent. When we encounter beautiful scenery, he can recite a poem for me; when I'm frustrated, he can give me a comforting hug; when we're happy, we can share it together... and strive hard for our own pursuits!"

  "Huh, sister Shī, I've heard that you have many suitors, can't find one?" I asked in surprise, but received two big white eyes from Rose Sister.

  "That group of idiots doesn't even deserve it! I wouldn't even want to hold my shoes for them." Rose was indignant in her heart, as if scolding someone who didn't understand romance. I obediently shut my mouth, but in my heart, I felt sorry for those guys who had been pursuing her miserably.

  She found herself getting a bit too excited, so she coughed and continued: "This young lady's second ideal is to be a majestic general or a heroic woman who upholds justice and eliminates the strong to support the weak. Hmph, those so-called talented scholars can't even enter this young lady's eyes." At this point, her brothers could only nod in agreement, and that was the image of a female chauvinist.

  "This last ideal of mine is almost the same as yours, hehe, so I won't say more." She said with a smile. The two brothers thought it was necessary to comment on her ideal, and they applauded: "Good, good! Indeed has the style of a female knight."

  Rose was very satisfied with the evaluation of the two brothers, and smiled at Xiaomei: "Sister, it's your turn, talk about your ideals."

  Xiao Mei obviously wanted to be more tactful, but what's even stranger is that she seemed somewhat melancholic as she said: "Since everyone is so interested today, I'll talk about my ideals. Don't laugh, okay?" Everyone indicated they absolutely wouldn't laugh, and only then did she take a deep breath, trying her best to hide the hint of sadness, saying in a soft voice: "My ideal is freedom: being carefree, uninhibited, worry-free, having a good mood every day... but, but... wah wah..." As she spoke to the end, her voice suddenly disappeared, and she began sobbing softly.

  The two of us didn't know how to comfort her at the time, and my heart ached with her crying. I thought about holding her tightly in my arms to comfort her, but it didn't seem quite right. In the end, Rose did it for me.

  After the most comforting, Xiaomei calmed down. Rose obviously didn't want to say anything more on this topic and changed the subject: "This barbecue is really fragrant, your craftsmanship is great!" The brothers were also understanding people and said: "Then let's eat a little more, finish eating and then roast again. However, there is one thing we don't understand, that is how you girls feel so mature at such a young age?"

  Rose sister looked suspicious: "Didn't your parents mention it when you were young? This is an unwritten rule on the mainland, that parents educate children under the age of 10 about relationships between men and women." The brothers suddenly realized, so that's how it was, but they really didn't remember such education. After looking at the brothers' expressions, they believed that we really didn't know.

  After this conversation, the relationship between us four people has unknowingly advanced another level. At this time, they had also finished eating their barbecue.

  It's clear they haven't eaten their fill, the two brothers originally wanted to give them the leftovers and have them try another serving, but they volunteered to try grilling themselves, so be it. Then it was a matter of enjoying the commotion while savoring the delicious food, what a carefree feeling!

  They were busy for half a day, and the smell of charcoal came out. The two brothers had to take matters into their own hands. That night, they roasted three snakes together, and ate half of one. Their appetite was so big that ordinary people couldn't afford it, but these ordinary people weren't the brothers nowadays. In the end, they insisted on learning how to roast snakes, and after ruining several more, the two brothers were parched and even drinking water didn't work. They thought: We can't go on like this, or we'll die of dehydration.

  So, the strong-minded ones came to a conclusion: learning is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Although they were reluctant, because they were all clever and skilled people who didn't want to give up, seeing the brothers' dispirited appearance, in the end they had no choice but to temporarily give up.