Chapter 10: Meeting
Bolts of cloth in various colors were neatly arranged on the wooden shelves, mostly light and thin styles for spring and summer. On the far right, a crescent-white brocade satin shimmered, its delicate auspicious cloud pattern seeming to flow with a lustrous sheen.
Feng Yuzhen was carrying the rice, flour, and vegetables she had bought. At noon, she had spent two copper coins on a vegetable bun to fill her stomach. She was on her way to the meeting place when she was drawn to a halt by that bolt of cloth, unable to resist looking at it again.
She had just had two new outfits made for her wedding, and the new year had just passed, so she certainly didn’t need any more. She was thinking of Cui Jingkong.
She thought of how well her brother-in-law had taken care of her for the past half month. Not only had he saved her in the mountains, but she had also almost misunderstood him. She felt increasingly guilty and was eager to repay him.
Lost in thought, she stared for a long time. The shopkeeper’s wife saw this and beckoned her to come closer, unfolding the auspicious cloud patterned crescent-white satin and inviting her to touch it.
“Buying for your husband, are you? Yes, it’s getting warmer now. It gets hot quickly here. It’s about time to make him some summer clothes.”
Feng Yuzhen’s fingertips were still lingering on the smooth, cool satin. These casual, well-intentioned words hit the mark. It was as if a drop of hot wax had fallen on her hand. In a flash, she pulled her hand back.
“…I’m making it for a junior in my family.”
Her explanation was barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz. The shopkeeper’s wife, having dealt with many customers, simply took her for a shy new bride and didn’t think much of it. She smiled and said no more.
With her ears burning, Feng Yuzhen had no choice but to have a length of the cloth measured under the other’s teasing gaze.
When she returned to the meeting place, she happened to see Qian Yongshun with another man. The two of them were working together to lift a table onto the ox-cart. Even from a distance, she could see the intricate carvings on it.
Qian Yongshun was leaning against the ox-cart, panting heavily. But the man behind him, who was doing most of the lifting, wasn’t even out of breath.
In the blink of an eye, the man emerged from behind Qian Yongshun. She was startled. The man’s face was indeed hard to look at.
The right half of his face could be called ruggedly handsome, but his left cheek was deeply scarred, as if by a sharp weapon. The scar ran fiercely across his forehead and the corner of his eye. Even the iris of his left eye had turned a pale gray because of it, making him look even more stern and unapproachable.
But thanks to his strong and tall build, he had an extremely tough appearance. Dressed only in coarse, short clothes, his muscles were as hard as iron, and he stood as straight as a towering, imposing mountain.
Because of the man’s strange appearance, Feng Yuzhen couldn’t help but look at him a few more times. But he was extremely perceptive and his gaze immediately followed hers, so she quickly turned her head away.
The tabletop was placed face down on several layers of dry grass, with the four legs facing up, and was firmly tied to the back of the ox-cart with a rope.
Qian Yongshun and Zhao Yangyi were whispering to each other again. He patted the other’s solid chest and winked at him. “How about it, Brother Zhao? I didn’t lie to you, did I? This girl is not bad!”
Zhao Yangyi didn’t answer him directly. He carefully recalled the little widow who had been staring at him in a daze. He didn’t know if she was too scared to react or just childishly curious. To say she was bold, yet when caught in the act, she was very guilty.
Her small face was fair, her almond eyes watery, and her expression was gentle. She looked so tender you could pinch water out of her. He could wrap his hand around the slender arm that was carrying the heavy object.
She was only nineteen, nearly eight years younger than him. When he had gone to join the army, Feng Yuzhen was still a child. Even when he had been slashed by that blade on the battlefield, it hadn’t been as difficult as this. He was so embarrassed. Zhao Yangyi only nodded sullenly.
Qian Yongshun was overjoyed. In all these years, he had never seen the tough guy show a tender side, like an iron tree blooming. He reassured him not to worry and promised to set them up as soon as possible.
On the way back, Qian Yongshun became quite talkative. He chatted with her, saying that the man just now was his master carpenter’s nephew.
He had joined the army at sixteen, and that scar was from a slash by a foreigner at the border. He had worked hard to become a junior commander in charge of five hundred men, but then he learned that his parents and siblings had all died of smallpox overnight.
He had insisted on leaving the army despite attempts to persuade him to stay, and had come to his uncle’s place to become a carpenter. Although his appearance was frightening, he was strong and skilled. A few matchmakers had approached him in the past, but he had politely refused them all, so he had remained single until now.
Qian Yongshun sighed with emotion for a long time. Feng Yuzhen responded noncommittally, but she was completely bewildered.
In her two lives combined, she had never been with any man other than Cui Ze. It had been less than a month since her husband’s burial after her rebirth. She really couldn’t be blamed for not understanding the hidden meaning in his words.
But as the ox-cart approached the private academy, Qian Yongshun’s mouth immediately clamped shut, and he was even more reluctant to go forward. Feng Yuzhen had no choice but to get off the cart with her bundle.
The vermilion gate seemed even more imposing up close. Feng Yuzhen’s throat was dry, and she felt inexplicably nervous, as if she didn’t belong here.
A young boy with his hair in a topknot opened the door and asked loudly, “Who are you looking for?”
“I’m looking for Cui Jingkong from Qianshan Village. I’m his sister-in-law. I’m just here to drop off some clothes for him.”
The doorman looked her up and down, told her to wait there, and ran off like a gust of wind to get him.
“Hey, wait…”
She was stunned for a moment, then didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She had intended to ask the doorman to give the bundle directly to Cui Jingkong, but she was a step too late, and he had already run off.
There were five or six students in the schoolroom who boarded at the academy on weekdays because they lived far away. They usually only went home once every three or four months and were mostly the sons of wealthy families and minor officials.
Their parents often sent people to visit, not only to bring clothes and bedding, but also to see their children in person, to see if they had lost weight, and to offer some words of comfort. So the young boy had run off to get him without any further questions.
It was as if the inside and outside of the gate were two completely different worlds. Feng Yuzhen didn’t dare to take a step inside and stood obediently at the entrance.
The spacious and bright courtyard was paved with green bricks. Winding paths led to secluded spots, with red walls and green tiles. In the distance, she could see a gray rockery, and even a few servants hurrying through the well-arranged corridors.
Cui Jingkong quickened his pace as he entered the front courtyard, and this was the scene that greeted him.
The academy was built against a mountain, and behind the widowed sister-in-law who had come to see him was a scene of vibrant spring.
She was wearing a lotus-root-pink magnolia dress. The slightly cinched waist roughly outlined her fine figure. Feng Yuzhen was a very gentle woman. Now, with her restrained posture, she herself was like a budding flower in the mountains, blending into the spring scenery.
The woman was in a daze at that moment, looking towards the garden to the west. Hearing footsteps, she suddenly turned her head with a look of astonishment, and her eyes met his. A hint of pleasant surprise appeared in her eyes, and the corners of her lips subconsciously curved up.
A strand of her dark hair was blown across her face, and she reached up to tuck it behind her ear.
The spring colors of the garden cannot be contained.
The line of poetry surfaced in his mind. Cui Jingkong’s steps faltered. The flesh and blood thing in his chest suddenly quickened upon seeing her, then began to hum incessantly.
He didn’t understand. He only found it noisy, but he couldn’t control the excitement that spread through his body as he walked towards his widowed sister-in-law, step by step.
It’s just been too long, he told himself. It’s been ten days. After enjoying the sweetness of being able to reduce the pain from time to time, he had become unable to tolerate the pain that was once commonplace.
Feng Yuzhen called his name. He nodded. He looked much more somber than when they had parted, almost like the first time they had met at the funeral after her rebirth. But for some reason, his expression gradually softened as he walked over.
When he stood in front of her, his gaze did not fall on the bundle, but was fixed on her upturned face. He opened his mouth. “Sister-in-law, why have you come?”
Faced with this handsome face, she almost took a small step back. After so many days, the haste she felt when facing her brother-in-law once again dominated her limbs.
Feng Yuzhen lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze, and held out the bundle to him. “Inside are your old clothes and your handkerchief. I was worried about a late spring cold snap in a few days, and thought you might need them.”
Underneath the bundle, Cui Jingkong’s palm was facing up, and their hands secretly overlapped for a moment.
Having lived together for a few days, Feng Yuzhen was no longer as jumpy as a frightened bird. She just treated it as a normal touch. Cui Jingkong’s expression was also normal as he asked her, “Thank you for your concern, Sister-in-law. But the two places are not too close. How did you get here, Sister-in-law?”
There was no ox-cart outside, and a horse-drawn carriage was even more impossible. Had she walked? Her leg…?
He was about to look down at the hem of her skirt when Feng Yuzhen replied in time, “I went to town and took the Qian family’s ox-cart. It’s parked to the south. I brought it over for you on the way.”
Feng Yuzhen felt as if she were on pins and needles under his gaze. She uneasily adjusted her hair bun. “Kong’ge’er, you should go back to your studies. I won’t keep you.”
This action, however, allowed Cui Jingkong to catch a glimpse of the familiar jade hairpin in his widowed sister-in-law’s dark hair bun. His eyes flickered. Seeing that she was about to leave, he said out of the blue, “I will be back soon.”
Feng Yuzhen naturally asked, “Next month?” She only knew that the academy’s studies were demanding, and they probably had a couple of days off each month.
He glanced nonchalantly at the west corner of the courtyard and a faint smile appeared on his face. “No, in a few days.”
They won’t be able to hold out much longer.
All he needed was one opportunity to gain a great deal of room to maneuver.
Despite her flustered refusal, he insisted on seeing Feng Yuzhen off to the cart. The moment Qian Yongshun saw him, he was so scared he fell off the front of the cart, his head covered in sweat, and stammered his name, “Scholar Cui.”
When he returned to the private academy, he did not go directly through the front courtyard, but took a detour through the garden. Although there was no one around, a young boy’s voice came from behind a wall. “Who was that?”
“My…” Cui Jingkong paused for a moment. “My widowed sister-in-law.”
“She doesn’t look like it,” the voice continued. “They’ve already gotten the drug. Zhong Yun is furious. She’ll make her move in five days at most. I’ll only protect the young miss. Remember to act according to the plan.”
Cui Jingkong smiled faintly, noncommittally. “Alright.”
He was also getting impatient. Trapped on this chessboard of Zhong Jide’s own making, he was in desperate need of a reason to break free.
Before his widowed sister-in-law, he could only resort to the worst strategy, suppressing his true nature to the extreme. He didn’t know how many years he would have had to endure, but she had come, and he no longer needed to suffer so bitterly.
In every way, for him, his widowed sister-in-law was like a timely rain that always arrived just when his eyebrows were on fire—sweet, moist, and delicate.
He savored the thought in his mind, replaying the sweet taste of their brief touch over and over again. He couldn’t wait for that day to come.