LW chapter 37

 

Before Chen Qing could speak, Qi Shuning slipped a red envelope into his pocket. Amidst the bustling crowd, Chen Qing felt as if he could barely breathe. There were too many people and too much noise. He still felt uncomfortable.

Zhou Yuan pulled him out of the crowd by the arm. Before leaving, Zhou Yuan said to Qi Shuning, “Hurry inside. We’ll take those people away for you.”

Laughter grew louder around them, and everyone’s eyes were on Qi Shuning. No one should have noticed Zhou Yuan interlocking his fingers with Chen Qing’s while pulling his arm.

As Zhou Yuan led him away, Chen Qing felt an unfriendly gaze on him, but when he looked around, he saw nothing. Shaking his head, he decided it must have been his imagination.

After leaving the courtyard, Zhou Yuan smiled and handed him the red envelope, coaxing him like a child. “Just keep it.”

Chen Qing wanted to return it, but Zhou Yuan had already walked off. As he went, he said, “Something might be happening inside. You can go check it out later.”

Seeing that everyone blocking the doorway had dispersed, Li Xin was bored. Meanwhile, Qi Shuning was in no hurry to enter his own room. Finally, he opened the door to Li Xin’s room after much urging.

Li Xin had originally been standing inside the room, but Zhang Yin eventually pressed him to sit on the bed. The two of them looked at each other, their eyes clear.

After some formalities, Li Xin had to leave. According to tradition, when siblings went out, they were supposed to be carried by their older brothers. However, Li Xin only had a younger brother. Fortunately, Zhou Yuan, his sworn brother, was there, so he carried Li Xin when he came out.

By the time Li Xin arrived at Qi Shuning’s temporary residence in a bridal carriage accompanied by music and drums, Zhang Yin and Li Tiejiang were already seated in the main seats. On the other side was the memorial tablet of Qi Shuning’s grandmother.

The village chief served as the witness and loudly shouted, “Give thanks!”

Zhang Yin wiped her tears with the handkerchief she held, occasionally coughing softly twice.

After being sent to the bridal chamber, Chen Qing saw Aunt Sun, who he hadn’t seen all day. He sat beside her for the feast.

Zhou Yuan still couldn’t sit still; he had to help Qi Shuning turn down drinks so that he wouldn’t go home too early.

After the feast, Chen Qing and Aunt Sun returned home. It was then that Chen Qing realized he hadn’t given Li Xin a gift.

When he told Aunt Sun, she said, “I gave half the money as a gift.”

When Chen Qing got married, Zhang Yin had also given that much. That’s just how social exchanges worked.

Chen Qing frowned. “But I didn’t see Li Xin off.”

Aunt Sun comforted him: “Li Xin is your good friend. He won’t mind. Besides, you helped embroider his wedding robe. He won’t become distant from you.”

Chen Qing nodded and went to the kitchen to boil water. Aunt Sun had drunk two cups of tea that day and was feeling sleepy. She took a hot bath and went to bed.

Once Chen Qing had finished tidying the yard, he heard sounds from the other end of the village and knew the festivities weren’t over yet.

The winter night was still cold. He patted his already chilly face, preparing to bathe and go to sleep.

But just as he was wetting his towel, there was a knock at the door.

He went to open it and saw Zhou Yuan standing outside. Zhou Yuan didn’t intend to enter; he just stood there, smiling at Chen Qing.

“You’re not coming in?” Chen Qing asked.

Zhou Yuan shook his head. “I drank too much. I’m afraid I’ll scare you.”

Chen Qing wanted to say that he wouldn’t be scared, but when he looked up and saw the red flush on Zhou Yuan’s face, he swallowed his words. “Then do you want to go back and rest?”

Zhou Yuan nodded. “Hold out your hand.”

Chen Qing did as he was told.

Zhou Yuan placed a handful of candies in his palm. Since Zhou Yuan had been holding them, the surface of the oiled paper was still warm.

“These are the leftover candies from over there. Niu Niu and I took them all.”

Chen Qing took the candies, warmth spreading through his heart. He asked Zhou Yuan, “How about I make you some hangover soup? We still have some kudzu root[mfn]Kudzu root is the thick, starchy root of the kudzu plant (Pueraria lobata). In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it’s called gé gēn (葛根) and is used for things like treating colds, relieving muscle tension, reducing fever, and even helping with hangovers.[/mfn] at home.”

Zhou Yuan pressed his forehead. “No need. I drank over there. You should go back and rest. It’s cold outside.”

Chen Qing stood there watching him leave.

Zhou Yuan glanced back and saw that Chen Qing was still standing there. He turned around again. As Chen Qing’s eyes widened, Zhou Yuan gently touched his cheek. His voice was hoarse. “Go back quickly.”

Chen Qing ran off. Zhou Yuan closed the door for him and then climbed over the wall to leave.

Chen Qing’s heart pounded. He lay in bed for a long time before finally calming down. However, after turning off the light, the painting he’d seen at Li Xin’s house the night before came to mind again.

Ahhhhh!

Chen Qing pulled the blanket over his head and screamed silently.

The next day, the fog lingered for a long time. Chen Qing and Aunt Sun had planned to go to town to buy New Year’s goods. The New Year was only two days away.

They hadn’t planned to bother Zhou Yuan, but when they passed by his house, he had hitched up his ox cart and was waiting for them.

So, the two of them climbed onto Zhou Yuan’s ox cart. Along the way, they met some fellow villagers, and Zhou Yuan invited them to join them on the cart. It was very crowded. Chen Qing curled up alone on the edge of the cart. As more people climbed aboard, he was pushed into the seat next to Zhou Yuan.

Those in the back were talking about Li Xin’s wedding. No one noticed Zhou Yuan brushing the back of Chen Qing’s hand with his free hand while sitting in front.

As the Lunar New Year approached, the town grew lively. There were more vendors than usual, and the streets, which were once somewhat empty, were now packed with people.

The sight of the dense crowd made Chen Qing’s scalp tingle.

Zhou Yuan left the ox cart and went shopping with them.

In the past, when Chen Qing and Aunt Sun bought New Year’s goods, they only bought a few necessities. This time, however, they finally dared to shop more freely.

Aunt Sun bought various dried fruits, a little of each seasoning, and blessing couplets. Seeing that she was interested, Chen Qing overcame his fear and accompanied her for a long time. What Chen Qing hadn’t expected was that Zhou Yuan followed them the whole time.

While she shopped, Aunt Sun asked Zhou Yuan about certain things. When the time was right, she bought a little for him. After shopping, she asked Zhou Yuan what his plans were for the New Year.

Zhou Yuan helped carry Aunt Sun’s and Chen Qing’s backpacks. As they walked, he said, “I have no plans. I want to bury my grandmother in the mountains. There’s nothing else I can do.”

He was carrying his grandmother’s memorial tablet and planning to use the New Year to dig her grave and set up a tombstone later.

“How are you going to do the New Year’s Eve dinner?” Aunt Sun asked again.

Zhou Yuan shook his head. “Just make something simple. I’m not good at cooking.”

Aunt Sun felt sorry for him. “Come eat at our place on New Year’s Eve. Everyone will be home celebrating, so no one will notice.”

Zhou Yuan glanced at Chen Qing, who merely lowered his head.

He curved his lips. “Then I’ll trouble you, Auntie.”

“What trouble? Didn’t we do the same during the Mid-Autumn Festival?” Aunt Sun patted his shoulder.

On the way back, a few more people got on. Since everyone was carrying a lot of goods, they all gave Zhou Yuan a fare, which he accepted. Chen Qing took out a few copper coins from his pouch and placed them in Zhou Yuan’s palm.

Zhou Yuan took them but, instead of tucking them into his sleeve as he did with other people’s money, carefully put them in his pocket.

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhou Yuan went to see the village chief. He brought some snacks and told the chief that he wanted to find a place to build a grave for his grandmother.

There was no need to inform the village chief—after all, the mountain behind the village was huge, and the grave would be very small.

The village chief had some opinions about Zhou Yuan because of the Chen Simeng matter. However, Zhou Yuan was very serious about the matter, and the gift he brought was substantial, so the village chief smiled.

“It’s fine. The mountain is big. You can pick anywhere you want.”

Zhou Yuan nodded and thanked the village chief again.

On the morning of the twenty-ninth day of the lunar year, Zhou Yuan went up the mountain alone. He found an open spot where he could see the Luo River. There, he dug a hole and buried all of his grandmother’s clothes that he had brought from his hometown. He kept only one piece as a memento.

After everything was done, Zhou Yuan leaned against the grave and whispered in his hometown dialect, “I promised to bring you to a place with mountains and water, and I’ve done it.”

“Are you well? I don’t know where you’ve been reborn, but don’t be too sad.”

“I’m doing well, too. I’ll soon have a family. He’s a very good and nice person. I’ll bring him to meet you when we get married.”

“Grandma, I miss you, but I can’t remember what you looked like.” Zhou Yuan closed his eyes. “It’s been so many years, and you haven’t even told me to dream about you.”

“I dug this grave myself. It’s a bit rushed, but I’m sure you won’t mind.”

Zhou Yuan stood up. “Grandma, I’ll come again tomorrow.”

It was New Year’s Eve.

Chen Qing and Aunt Sun got up early. They cooked the chicken they had slaughtered earlier that morning and now carried it to the grave with its head held high.

First, they went to pay their respects to the Meng family patriarch. As usual, Chen Qing bought incense, candles, and paper money. This was his contribution to the family.

While Aunt Sun spoke, Chen Qing stood quietly by her side.

When they reached Meng Tao’s grave, he lit incense and candles.

He had dreamed of Meng Tao once since then, but hadn’t told Aunt Sun. He wondered if mentioning it would make her happy.

“Mom, I dreamed of him again.”

Aunt Sun turned to look at Chen Qing as she burned paper money.

“The first time I dreamed of him, he said he didn’t understand why I was wearing mourning clothes when I didn’t know him well.”

Aunt Sun remembered that Chen Qing had seemed to call Meng Tao’s name in his sleep that time, and she smiled. “Sounds like something Taozi would say.”

Chen Qing also smiled, his eyes curved.

“The second time was when you had a fever. He was really anxious and asked me how I could still be sleeping.”

“Even in heaven, he’s thinking about you.”

Aunt Sun’s eyes turned red, and she nodded. “He was a filial child—and so are you.”

After returning from the mountain, Aunt Sun prepared the New Year’s Eve dinner, and Chen Qing took the paste she’d made and began sticking up the blessing characters and Spring Festival couplets.

In the past, during the Lunar New Year, they only bought the character “Fu” and stuck it on the door. This year, they also bought three Spring Festival couplets, all of which Chen Qing had to put up.

The house’s doorway wasn’t tall, so Chen Qing could paste them fine just by standing on tiptoe, but when it came to the horizontal scroll, Chen Qing had to set up a stool and was very careful.

“Ah Qing, be careful, don’t fall,” Aunt Sun called from the kitchen.

“Got it.”

After finishing the main room, they went to the kitchen, and Aunt Sun helped hold the stool while he quickly pasted them.

Finally, there was the front gate.

Normally, they only pasted two “Fu” characters on the front gate for the New Year, but today they also had to put up a horizontal scroll at the highest spot on the gate.

The stool wasn’t high enough, and Chen Qing held the bowl of paste weakly, sulking, wishing he were a little taller.

He lowered his head to tell Aunt Sun he couldn’t paste the couplet on the front gate, when someone took the bowl from his hands.

“Can’t reach?” Zhou Yuan asked.

Chen Qing stared at him—he could hear the teasing in his words, implicitly saying he was short.

“I’ll do it.” Zhou Yuan stood on the stool where Chen Qing had just been, gently raising his hand to smear the paste. “Horizontal scroll.”

Chen Qing came back to himself and handed him the horizontal scroll.

Zhou Yuan worked more neatly. He pasted the one on the front gate, then straightened the two that Chen Qing had just put up crookedly.

Even though they couldn’t read, they had asked the seller to choose ones with good meanings when buying the couplets. The bright red made the place look festive.

Zhou Yuan said, “I came here to borrow paste. I’ll go back and paste my own now.” After speaking, he looked at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing lowered his head.

Aunt Sun said, “It’s not easy to do it alone. Ah Qing, go help him paste.”

Chen Qing agreed, holding the bowl of paste and following Zhou Yuan.

Aunt Sun also reminded Zhou Yuan to come for dinner, and Zhou Yuan agreed.

It was said that Chen Qing helped him paste the Spring Festival couplets, but in reality Zhou Yuan did it himself, and he pasted them carelessly and crookedly, making Chen Qing sigh.

After a while, he finished pasting, and Chen Qing took the bowl home to help Aunt Sun cook. Zhou Yuan stood in the yard, watching the smoke rising from their house.