Lin Yao's thoughts unconsciously drifted further and further away. He even started to think about what kind of partner Miaomiao would find in the future and how to arrange her marriage and having children. But after much thought, this father only came to one conclusion. Given the current situation, among all the known boys of the same age, anyone who could marry their Miaomiao would be marrying above their station. The matter of choosing a son - in - law must be handled with extreme caution.
Lin Yao completely forgot that Miaomiao was only 14 years old. Thinking about these things was way too premature.
"Then you play first. It's my working time now, so I can't play with you. I have to get down to business first. I'll come back to you when I get off work tonight."
After chatting with Miaomiao for a few more minutes, Yao Mingxuan checked the time and said.
"Okay, then go and get busy!"
"Goodbye, Uncle Lin. Goodbye, Miaomiao." Yao Mingxuan politely nodded at Lin Yao to say goodbye.
Only then did Lin Yao come back to his senses and quickly nodded in response.
After Yao Mingxuan left, Wei Ziqi and Miaomiao's "silly dad" first changed their clothes and went to soak in the hot springs.
Lin Yao felt that his daughter was old enough to understand the differences between genders. So, instead of soaking in the hot spring with his daughter, they went to separate pools for men and women.
When it was time for the steam bath, after putting on their steam - bath robes properly, father and daughter met in the steam room to drink tea and chat.
"Dad, why does Yao Mingxuan have to work? What is work?"
Taking a sip of the warm tea, Miaomiao asked the question that had been lingering in her mind.
Yao Mingxuan seemed very busy. Just after a few months' separation, he had changed a great deal. Although this change didn't affect their relationship, Miaomiao still felt out of place with him.
"Work is a way to earn a living. In this society, you need money to buy everything. So you have to work to earn money to support yourself and your family. Yao Mingxuan is still young now. His parents can work to earn money to support him. But when he grows up, he'll have to work to support his parents. What he's doing now isn't really work. It should be considered as training, getting prepared for future work in advance."
Lin Yao answered patiently and seriously.
Miaomiao thought for a while and nodded heavily. Wei Ziqi had once said that her wish was to earn a lot of money in the future to support her mother. Miaomiao now roughly understood what that meant.
Although money didn't have much meaning in Miaomiao's mind, she knew that no matter where you went or what you did, you needed money.
Yao Mingxuan, who was of the same age as her, had already started learning how to work, while she just ate, drank, and played every day. She always felt that something was wrong.
"Do I have to work in the future?"
"Not necessarily. If Miaomiao doesn't want to work, she doesn't have to. Dad has already earned enough money for Miaomiao through his work. As long as Miaomiao doesn't pick up any bad habits in the future, this money will be more than enough. So when there's no shortage of money, you can also enjoy life without working."
"But if all my friends go to work in the future and I'm the only one who doesn't work, won't I be out of place? And just spending Dad's money without giving anything in return isn't what a good child should do."
The filial Miaomiao firmly believed that it was wrong to sit back and enjoy while her father went out to work hard.
"Haha, it's not as serious as you think. Actually, work isn't just about making money. It can also be about self - improvement or achieving one's ideals. Every occupation has its own greatness. If you have a dream to fulfill, a goal to achieve, or a career to pursue, no matter whether this career makes money or not, it can be considered as your work."
Lin Yao didn't want Miaomiao to be so rigid. Many art - related jobs don't make much money when you're young, but there's no denying that they are still jobs and occupations. People doing these kinds of jobs may not be able to support their families financially, but they all have their own goals and are moving forward.
Some people think that work is just for making money, so they have no passion for their jobs. They just want to get paid.
These are two completely different concepts of work. If Miaomiao works for the latter reason, there's no need at all. If it's for the former, Lin Yao said that he would support her unconditionally.
"What kind of job can I do in the future? My ideal and goal now... are probably to bring honor to the family as Dad once said. But our family's mountain villa seems to be gone..."
Miaomiao propped her chubby little face with her hand and thought carefully. After thinking for a long time, she still couldn't come to a conclusion.
"You can be a doctor. Aren't you learning traditional Chinese medicine now?"
"But I'm learning traditional Chinese medicine to bring honor to the family as Dad said. The mountain villa is gone. How can I bring honor to the family?"
"The mountain villa is gone, but the people in the mountain villa are still here. I, as the master of the mountain villa, am still here. And you, as the young master of the mountain villa, are also here. Wherever we two go, the mountain villa is there. It's never restricted by location. And the purpose of bringing honor to the family is to let the whole world see how great our family is. If Miaomiao can do a good job as a doctor and learn the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine well, and let many people see how great Miaomiao is, in a way, it's also bringing honor to the family."
Lin Yao patiently guided Miaomiao bit by bit. This child had always done things as others told her to. To put it bluntly, she didn't have much ability to think independently.
Miaomiao became like this mostly because of him. The educational ideas in ancient times were not as flexible as they are now. Most of them were rigid and boring. When he first picked up Miaomiao, he didn't pay much attention to her. So she was always taught by those old - fashioned people in the mountain villa.
Miaomiao was born with a better memory than others. When those old - fashioned people faced the children's curious questions, they would choose to avoid answering and just told Miaomiao to remember the answers well. As time went by, Miaomiao gave up thinking independently and just needed to remember what others said.
By the time he found this problem, it was already too late. Miaomiao had already developed this bad habit and couldn't change it no matter what. So he had to keep instilling in Miaomiao that only what Daddy said was completely right, and what others said might be wrong and didn't need to be listened to.
Fortunately, Miaomiao had a strong admiration for him. After long - term brainwashing, Miaomiao completely believed him. Then he taught Miaomiao how to distinguish right from wrong and how to judge things correctly, and occasionally gave her the right to make decisions. He used this "boiling a frog in warm water" method to help Miaomiao regain her ability to think independently.
This method was obviously right. It was just a pity that later Miaomiao died and came to this world. The teaching and guidance only went halfway and was just abandoned like this.