TL: Hua
During his stay in this water town, Qi Xiaoyu just trained his voice and practiced basic skills. He practiced several popular plays repeatedly. He was worried about Gu Zizhen’s back pain and thought that after returning, he would share more of the pressure of the troupe.
The water town was quiet at night, so he couldn’t practice his opera anymore, fearing to disturb the neighbors, so he sat by the window, looked at the lights in a daze, and thought about things. Two-thirds of his thoughts were about the opera troupe, and one-third were about Xun Qian.
A few days passed like this, and the Qingming Festival was approaching. The little girl named Ah Lan from the neighbor’s house really sent them a basket of sweet green rice balls.
Ah Lan often came to visit these days but usually came to chat with Auntie in the afternoon or asked her and Qi Wanrou to go to the river to wash clothes together.
When she came to deliver sweet green rice balls that morning, only Qi Xiaoyu was at home. Qi Wanrou went to the market with Auntie to buy things.
Ah Lan was still wearing a blue printed cloth cheongsam, but unlike in the past, she tied a scarf of the same color on her head, which made her young and beautiful face even more graceful and beautiful, unique to girls from the south of the Yangtze River.
She held the basket, stood by the river, looked at Qi Xiaoyu with smiling eyes, and said, “I heard that Mr. Qi came from the north and probably hasn’t tried our Suzhou sweet green rice ball yet. This basket is freshly made. You put it on the fire and steam it for ten minutes. It’s delicious.”
Qi Xiaoyu took the basket with both hands and politely thanked her, “Thank you, Miss Ah Lan. Aunt Liu is not at home. I will tell her later.”
Ah Lan blinked her curved eyes and looked at him, smiling, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t tell her. I want to give it to you.”
Ah Lan smiled again and said, “If Aunt Liu is not at home, can you cook it yourself? I think it’s usually your senior sister who cooks. If you can’t, I’ll go to the kitchen to help you.”
Qi Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, then he understood a little and refused in a gentle voice, “Thank you for your kindness, but don’t worry. I’ll wait until Aunt Liu and Senior Sister come back and then steam it together.”
Ah Lan was stunned for a moment, her fingers twisted together, her voice half as low as it had been a moment ago, but she still forced a smile on her face, “Mr. Qi, you really don’t need me to go in and help?”
Qi Xiaoyu hesitated for only a second and then nodded decisively, “No, thank you, Miss Ah Lan, for your kindness.”
Qi Xiaoyu’s refusal was obvious.
Ah Lan looked at him with undisguised disappointment in her eyes.
Qi Xiaoyu pursed his lips, lowered his eyes, and remained silent.
While the two were in a stalemate, Qi Wanrou and Auntie each carried a large basket and walked back along the bluestone road by the river.
Seeing them standing at the door from a distance, Qi Wanrou went forward and asked, “Why don’t you go in?”
Auntie continued, “Ah Lan? You’re here delivering sweet green rice balls? Come in, sit down, and have a cup of tea before leaving.”
Ah Lan came back to her senses, took a step back, and waved to Auntie with most of her high spirit missing. “Thank you, Aunt Liu. I won’t go in; I want to go home to help make lunch.”
While inviting people to drink tea, Auntie pointed at the basket and said to Ah Lan, “After lunch, call your mother to go to the town. There are people distributing food in the town, including sweet green rice balls and mugwort cake, all free, and the packaging is very good, so you don’t have to bother making it.”
Ah Lan hurriedly agreed, took a few steps, and couldn’t help looking back, glancing at Qi Xiaoyu. But she saw Qi Xiaoyu looking at the things in the basket with his eyes downcast, holding the colorful packaging box of sweet green rice balls with ten white jade-like fingers, frowning slightly. He looked at the packaging box with a clear and light gaze, more attentively than looking at her.
Ah Lan sighed, thinking, ‘The falling flowers have intentions, but the flowing water is merciless[mfn]One-sided love.[/mfn].’ She took off the headscarf, held it in her hand, and left.
On this side, Qi Xiaoyu had absolutely no other thoughts about Ah Lan. He reached out to help Auntie carry the basket, followed the two women inside, and asked, “Are these all distributed by the town?”
Auntie answered excitedly, “Yes, the town officials said that they would distribute some things to everyone for the festival this year, and there will be some for anyone who goes to the market.
Look at this packaging; it’s really beautiful. The last time I went to Suzhou to buy things, the packaging was not half as beautiful as this. If I had known, I would not have bothered Ah Lan’s family to send sweet green rice balls.”
Auntie talked a lot all the way to the kitchen and saw Qi Xiaoyu help put the basket next to the stove. Then she pounded her legs and stopped to take a breath. “Wanrou, I’m going to the room to rest. Call me when you make lunch.”
Qi Wanrou hurriedly said, “You seem really tired, Auntie. Please rest. I’m going to make lunch, so just come when it’s ready.”
After Auntie left, only Qi Wanrou and Qi Xiaoyu were left in the kitchen, and it suddenly became quiet.
Neither of them spoke. Qi Wanrou added fire to the stove, while Qi Xiaoyu helped take out the sweet green rice ball and mugwort cake and place them on the plate.
After a while, Qi Wanrou suddenly spoke, “Dad’s original intention was that if you go far away, Commander Xun’s feelings may become indifferent after not seeing you. But judging from his current attentive appearance, I’m afraid that he will chase you to Suzhou in a few days.”
The fire in the stove was already burning, and Qi Wanrou’s words, accompanied by crackling sparks, burned all the way to Qi Xiaoyu’s heart, exploding all the way.
He often thinks of Xun Qian these days. From a distance, Xun Qian was actually a good person, much better than other warlords. He didn’t bully the weak, didn’t take advantage of his power, was capable, had a unique temperament, and was good-looking. There was nothing to find fault with in him.
It was just a little puzzling. What did he like about him?
He liked him so much that he wanted to get married.
When Qi Xiaoyu thought of this, his heart began to pound again and his ears turned red.
Qi Wanrou continued to add firewood, then poured water into the pot and put it on the stove to cook. Suddenly she said, “Ah Lan seems to like you a lot.”
“Hmm,” Qi Xiaoyu vaguely responded.
He was not stupid. He might not have noticed it a few days ago, but he immediately figured it out when she asked those questions just now, so he refused straightforwardly.
Qi Wanrou didn’t want to be vague and asked with a smile, “Ah Lan has feelings for you. When she was with me, she always asked about you. Do you like her?”
Qi Xiaoyu shook his head quickly: “Senior sister, don’t make trouble. I don’t have any thoughts about her in that aspect.”
Qi Wanrou wiped her hands dry, put a piece of silk cloth on the steaming plate, and asked casually, “Then do you like Commander Xun?”
“I—” Qi Xiaoyu paused. He knew clearly that he didn’t like Ah Lan, but he didn’t know whether he liked Xun Qian or not, especially after thinking about it over and over again in the past few days.
He couldn’t confidently say, “I don’t have any thoughts about him in that aspect” like he did before.
Qi Wanrou put the green balls one by one on the silk cloth, smiled, and glanced at Qi Xiaoyu. “I don’t think he can let you go, and you can’t escape either. Why don’t you sort out your own thoughts? Either you reject him directly like you did to Ah Lan just now or give it a try. He seems to be a good person.”
Qi Xiaoyu squatted in front of the firewood while listening to Qi Wanrou’s words. The fire burned his whole body hot.
After a while, he sighed and asked softly, “Senior Sister, what do you think he likes about me?”
Qi Wanrou didn’t expect her junior brother to ask such a question. She laughed, “Our Xiaoyu is so cute, well-behaved, and sensible, and so handsome. Does he need a reason to like you? Otherwise, go ask Ah Lan why she likes you?”
Qi Xiaoyu couldn’t help but curl his lips when he was praised. He raised his face and puffed his mouth, saying a little shyly, “Senior Sister, you are bullying me again.”
With a smile and a shake of her head, Qi Wanrou began steaming the arranged sweet green rice balls.
Then she wiped the flour off her hands, pulled a small stool, and sat down next to Qi Xiaoyu.
“I think what he did was quite rare.”
Qi Xiaoyu didn’t say anything and listened quietly.
“In the past with Zhou Sinian—”
Upon hearing his senior sister mention Zhou Sinian, Qi Xiaoyu immediately became nervous, thinking that that guy had secretly looked for her again.
Fortunately, Qi Wanrou wanted to talk about something else.
“He never mentioned meeting his elders and was always afraid of running into my dad.”
“I understand his difficulties and hardships, thinking that he is a student, has not yet established his career, and the time isn’t right. I also think that the gap between our statuses is too big, and I’m not worthy of meeting his parents.”
Qi Xiaoyu used to think that his senior sister was just deceived by the rich man’s sweet words. Although she was deceived, at least she was happy. Now listening to her words, he realized that Qi Wanrou had thought about so many things in her heart. He was immediately distressed.
“Senior sister, don’t think so. It’s Zhou Sinian who is not worthy of you. You are a hundred times better than him.”
“Don’t comfort me blindly.” Qi Wanrou smiled, turned her head, her voice trembling slightly,
“I could still find excuses for him in the past. But now, compared with Commander Xun, who is calm and fearless despite his status and position, I think what Zhou Sinian said is just an excuse. He just doesn’t love me enough.”
Hearing Qi Wanrou say this, Qi Xiaoyu was both sad and relieved. He wanted to find some other words to comfort Qi Wanrou, but he couldn’t find any.
For a while, both of them were silent and no longer said anything. Only the firewood burned more and more vigorously, steaming the whole kitchen with the aroma of sweet green rice balls.
They didn’t stay in the countryside of Suzhou for long. First, the distance did not pull Xun Qian’s attention away from him. Even Qi Fengjian had to admit that his approach was futile.
Second, Gu Zizhen’s body did not allow it.
Gu Zizhen had a back injury when he was young, and his age is getting to him. Besides Qi Fengjian, he was the one who worried the most during the escape. Once the back injury recurred, he could not hide it.
When Qi Xiaoyu and Qi Wanrou heard the news, they immediately bought train tickets to return to Shanghai the day after the Qingming Festival.
It was drizzling in the morning of the return trip.
The light drizzle covered the small bridge and the flowing water, which was hazy and picturesque.
The two invited Auntie to come visit them in Shanghai next time and said goodbye hastily at the bow of the ship.
Ah Lan also came, standing at the bridge and waving at them.
They stood at the bow with oil-paper umbrellas, saying goodbye to the water town where they had stayed for ten days.
Then they got off the boat, changed to trains, and rushed back to Shanghai.
There were many people on the return train. Qingming Festival had just passed, and those who came to visit the graves were now leaving by train.
Qi Xiaoyu found their seats and sat down. Behind them sat two rows of students, all wearing white shirts and black skirts or white shirts and black pants. They read a newspaper in groups of three or four and discuss it while reading.
In comparison, Qi Xiaoyu’s side was much quieter.
The tranquility and gentleness of the water town gave them a brief moment of relaxation and rest and also sorted out some things in their hearts.
But what lay ahead was the tortuous life they had to face.
The two exchanged glances with each other, which was a silent comfort and encouragement.
After sitting down, Qi Wanrou took out a bag of clothes from the luggage and stuffed it behind Qi Xiaoyu. “You should also pay more attention to protecting your lower back. The movements you usually do, such as lying down and bending down, are all burdensome to your waist. You can’t rely on your youth now. If you’re tired, you can sleep for a while. I’ll call you when we get there.”
In fact, he couldn’t sleep even if he wanted to. The sound of the train was already loud, but the group of students behind them was really noisy.
They were discussing the situation in Shanghai.
A female student said, “After Commander Xun came, Shanghai has become much more stable. He is really a very capable person.”
A male student retorted, “It’s not his own achievement. It is obvious that the artillery fire of the empire has been aimed at several cities in the north in recent years. He just took the opportunity to pick up an advantage.”
“Then he must be really good at picking up an advantage. Otherwise, why can’t the previous commander do it, but he can do everything well? The economy, education, people’s livelihood—all aspects are on the right track.”
After a while, they talked about education again. “If I had to say it, we should abolish all private schools and convert them into primary and secondary schools so that we can truly achieve scientific knowledge and democracy.”
“Do you think knowledge and democracy are so easy to achieve? Has our country’s education been popularized in rural areas? This time when you went home, didn’t you see how backward the education in the countryside is?
If there are no private schools, I’m afraid that the country’s people can’t even recognize more than a few words.”
After a while, they talked about celebrity gossip again.
It’s unknown what was written in the newspaper, but a group of female students burst into voices instantly.
“Hey, look at the person in this photo; he is so good-looking. Is he a new movie star?”
“Yes, he is good-looking, much better than the actor you wrote a love letter to a few days ago. Look for the name below and see which movie company he’s from.”
“Hey, wait, who wrote the love letter? Don’t talk nonsense, I wrote to the person in the photo.”
“Well, isn’t this Commander Xun? Didn’t I tell you that he is very handsome? Do you still think I lied to you?”
“Really? It’s really him! Hehe, it’s your fault. You didn’t show us the photo before; how can we believe you?”
A male voice suddenly interrupted them: “You girls are superficial. Do you only look at appearance?”
But this sentence has no offensive power at all. In front of Xun Qian’s photo, it was completely ignored.
He used to hear Xun Qian’s name from his master, auntie, and those neighborhood housewives, all of which revolved around his identity as a commander.
Now that it was said by these young girls, it showed his attractiveness as a man.
He remembered that when he first met Xun Qian, he was also amazed by his appearance. Now, when he heard others’ comments, he thought about it again and felt that his look was indeed impeccable.
Then, Qi Xiaoyu heard them continue to discuss the newspaper.
“Who is the woman in the photo next to Commander Xun? She looks pretty.”
“Jiang Jing? The newspaper said that she is Jiang Jing, the daughter of Jiang Muzhi, the deputy director of the Economic Department.”
“Hiiya, then there’s no place for you to drop off your love letter. It seems that the rich lady has taken it first.”
“Humph, who knows if they’re a couple? She looks tacky in this bright red and gold cheongsam.”
“If they are not a couple, why did the newspaper publish a photo?”
Qi Wanrou listened to the discussion behind her and turned her head to glance at Qi Xiaoyu secretly.
Qi Xiaoyu turned his head and looked out the window without saying anything. His heart was palpitating with unknown emotions. His ears were ringing, and he couldn’t hear clearly what they said later.
Until they got off the train and the students behind them dispersed, Qi Xiaoyu silently took his luggage, got off the train, and left the station without saying anything.
Qi Wanrou didn’t mention this matter, although she felt a little uncomfortable. She remembered saying the man was good yesterday, and it seemed that she had slapped herself in the face today. At least just looking at the discussion in the newspaper, it seemed that he was two-timing. While chasing her junior brother, he turned around and took photos with other women.
The two came out of the exit of the train station with their luggage, stood on the side of the road, and looked for people from the Red Moon Troupe.
Qi Fengjian said that he would come to pick them up if he had time and let them go back by themselves if he didn’t have time. Judging from the situation, he probably couldn’t make it.
Suddenly Qi Wanrou pulled Qi Xiaoyu’s sleeve and pointed him in a direction.
Qi Xiaoyu’s heart was in a state of confusion when he saw a black Lincoln sedan parked nearby, with people coming and going.
Xun Qian was wearing a well-fitting suit, standing next to the Lincoln.
Next to him, close to his arm, stood a woman dressed very fashionably, wearing a stand-up collar top, a large plaid pleated skirt, and short hair.
