Chapter 13: Coming Back Tonight
The morning wind slipped in through the ajar door, rustling her bangs. Feng Yuzhen, feeling the chill, groggily propped herself up from the bedside.
She had chattered on for who knows how long last night, eventually talking herself to sleep. She didn’t know how she had ended up spending the night hunched over by the bed.
Her back ached. She kneaded her shoulders, and the thin blanket covering her slid to the floor.
Who covered me?
Feng Yuzhen picked it up, her consciousness returning. She looked at the bed. The person who had been lying there last night was gone. The bedsheet had been stripped clean, leaving only the quilt and pillow.
Cui Jingkong had already left. Had he gone to the academy so early in the morning?
She loosely tied up her hair and called his name, searching the room and the yard, but couldn’t find him.
She only found the bedsheet hanging on the bamboo pole, dripping water onto the ground. It looked like Cui Jingkong had washed it this morning.
Why does this brother-in-law always try to do my chores?
Feng Yuzhen was quite troubled by this. Although her brother-in-law had rested on her bed for a night, the bedding was still what she used every day. For her brother-in-law to wash it with his own hands…
For the past month, Cui Jingkong had been cooking and washing bedsheets, acting like a respectful and loving brother-in-law. He was almost a completely different person from the jade-faced demon rooted in her mind.
Feeling helpless, she went to the stream to clear her head. The morning stream water was bitingly cold. Splashing the cold water on her face made her shiver, her nose turning red.
A few days ago, a family of unexpected guests had flown in and made their home in the old locust tree. Feng Yuzhen was sweeping the fallen leaves under the tree when a small magpie stumbled out of its nest. It was still very clumsy, chirping and circling around her.
She held out her hand, and the young bird with a white belly and green wings landed on it, pecking her palm with its tender beak.
Feng Yuzhen stroked its round head and couldn’t help but tease it, “Alright, all you know is to beg for rice every day? You’re going to eat half of the rice in the house in a few days.”
***
While the mountain forest was still shrouded in a white, misty fog, his back basket was already more than half full of firewood, with some wild fruits he had picked on top.
A rustling sound came from the bushes five steps away. Cui Jingkong’s steps faltered. He gripped the handle of his axe and said coldly, “Who’s there?”
He slowly drew out the axe, but a golden-striped tiger—commonly known as an orange cat—jumped out of the bushes. It was round and well-fed. It had probably smelled the familiar scent of bitter orange and thought it was the woman from nearby coming to offer it food as usual.
It was meowing and about to rub against his leg when it hesitated, sniffed carefully, and the scent gradually turned into a grim smell of rust.
The cat’s yellow eyes reflected a fierce god holding an axe. Its pupils dilated, it arched its back, and fled into the bushes.
Even animals knew how to judge people. When he was around, there were hardly any animals within a li. But in just a few days, seeing that Feng Yuzhen was kind, they had probably been fed from time to time and had all come back.
Cui Jingkong put the axe back in his basket and continued on his way.
Even without the years of fighting with wild dogs for food, he had no interest in these cats and dogs and never found them cute.
These small animals were afraid of him. Even if Cui Jingkong never drove them away himself, they would tuck their tails between their legs and run away as soon as they saw him, as if the words “villain” were written on his face.
In a way, they were much smarter than people. At least they knew their place.
He came in through the back door and heard the commotion in the front yard. He saw his widowed sister-in-law acting casually, holding a small magpie in her hand.
The curve of her smile as she looked down was very gentle. Cui Jingkong suddenly remembered that when he was eight years old in the temple, he had also raised a gentle little bird in his palm.
A sparrow? A swallow? Or a pigeon? He couldn’t remember. He only knew that in the end, it had also died in his palm.
A faint sound came from behind her. Feng Yuzhen turned to look. The young man had taken off his bamboo basket and the straw hat from his head, revealing a refined face. He opened his mouth and called her, “Sister-in-law.”
The young bird was afraid of strangers and flapped its wings, flying away in a flash.
“Kong’ge’er, did you go up the mountain to chop firewood?”
Feng Yuzhen raised her hand and awkwardly touched her temple. Her hair was only loosely tied up with a wooden pin, and a few stray strands were scattered by her face.
She had thought her brother-in-law had already gone to the academy early in the morning, so she hadn’t been in a hurry to tidy herself up. She hadn’t expected him to have gone to the mountain.
“Thank you for your care last night, Sister-in-law. I was afraid you didn’t sleep well last night, so I didn’t want to wake you this morning.”
Cui Jingkong’s expression was cool, his posture erect. The vulnerability of last night was as fleeting as a night-blooming cereus.
She saw that her brother-in-law’s complexion had indeed improved a lot, but she was still a little worried. She was also concerned about the cold and dampness of the forest in the early morning and asked caringly, “Are you feeling better?”
Then she reached out her hand as she had last night, but met his dark, clear, and deep eyes, and froze in mid-air.
Only now did she realize it was inappropriate. They were only two steps apart, but the chasm that had been temporarily filled last night had once again split between them.
She hesitated for a moment, her fingers curling as she was about to withdraw her hand. But unexpectedly, Cui Jingkong suddenly bent down. The young man was tall and slender, but he bent his straight back to match her height.
“Trouble Sister-in-law.”
He lowered his head obediently. The widowed sister-in-law only needed to reach out to touch him, without having to stand on tiptoe or hesitate.
Cui Jingkong lowered his eyes and saw his widowed sister-in-law biting her lower lip. The red mole flickered, and she answered in a daze, “…Oh.”
She reached out and gently touched his forehead to check his temperature. This time, she was careful to only let it linger for a moment.
“It feels much better. You should be fine.”
Feng Yuzhen said in a low voice, her expression dazed.
She suddenly remembered that Cui Jingkong had told her last night that he didn’t have a fever. She had been half-asleep and had forgotten. She hadn’t expected her brother-in-law to play along and be willing to bend down to accommodate her.
She suddenly felt a sense of absurdity, as if they were children playing house at the village entrance. To break the stagnant atmosphere, Feng Yuzhen changed the subject. “Kong’ge’er, are you hungry? I’ll go cook now.”
Cui Jingkong nodded and followed her into the house. When Feng Yuzhen lifted the lid of the pot, she found that a pot of cornmeal porridge was already inside, only it had gone cold from sitting for a long time.
This was great. Even the meal had been prepared in advance. All she had to do was heat it up.
Anyway, she had already been embarrassed in front of her brother-in-law many times. Adding one more didn’t seem to matter. Feng Yuzhen resignedly brought it out, and the two of them ate it with the spicy pickled vegetables Auntie Qian had given them.
Only then did Feng Yuzhen have time to ask him, “Why did you rush back in the middle of the night? Is the academy on break these two days?”
Cui Jingkong’s gaze flickered to her lips. Feng Yuzhen couldn’t handle spicy food very well. Her mouth was slightly open, revealing the tip of her bright red tongue between her delicate white teeth.
He didn’t hide anything about this matter. “No, it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. I have to go back today.”
Feng Yuzhen’s brow twitched, and she put down her chopsticks—mainly because her mouth was numb from the spiciness and she wanted to take a break. She stared at the chip on the rim of her bowl for a long time, but still couldn’t remember such an incident.
Strange. It was already past the twenty-third of the third month, ruling out the possibility of the waning moon causing him pain. Cui Jingkong had rarely been sick since he was a child. If he had been seriously ill and had missed his studies, it was impossible that the storybook would not have mentioned it.
A flash of inspiration struck Feng Yuzhen, and she thought of another possibility: had this incident not happened in her previous life?
Could it be that her arrival had affected Cui Jingkong’s original life, leading to a variable that did not exist in her previous life?
But she was just a village woman, living at the mercy of others. Where would she get the divine power to interfere with the fate of such a noble person?
Or was it simply that her memory was poor and she had forgotten?
As she was trying hard to think, seeing that she wasn’t responding, the young man’s two fingers tapped the table under her eyes. “Sister-in-law? I’m leaving.”
She suddenly came back to her senses. “…Oh.”
Cui Jingkong stood up and went out. Feng Yuzhen went to see him off, but her mind was elsewhere. She looked up and saw that her brother-in-law was still standing at the fence, not moving.
The woman was completely bewildered and asked tentatively, “Kong’ge’er, when will you be back next time?”
“Tonight.”
“Mm… Hmm?” Feng Yuzhen’s expression was astonished. She looked up and asked him, “You’re coming back from the academy to stay tonight?”
The young man looked at the astonishment in her almond-shaped eyes. Only when the shock he had personally given her had completely dispelled her heavy thoughts did he feel satisfied. He curved his lips and corrected her, “From now on, every night.”
***
The doorman was listlessly propping up his head. He only cheered up when he saw Cui Jingkong arrive. He didn’t dare to push him, but just urged him repeatedly, “Scholar Cui, you’re finally back. Please go to the master’s study. It’s a mess in there!”
Cui Jingkong walked unhurriedly through the courtyard corridors. He brushed past Lady Liu, who was being supported by two old women and taken into a room.
This Lady Liu had been only eighteen when she became Zhong Jide’s concubine. They were more than twenty years apart in age. At that time, she had naturally been young and beautiful. Over the years, she had given birth to a son and a daughter and had been very favored.
However, her health had been damaged by the bumpy carriage ride when they were fleeing. She had been slowly recovering, but in the past three or four years, it had become a chronic illness. The doctors in the town were not very skilled and always said they couldn’t find anything wrong.
And now, Lady Liu had completely changed. Her face was sallow, and she would cough from time to time. She was too weak to be nourished and couldn’t even sit for long.
She had to be supported by a few strong old women just to stand, and she could no longer be of any help to her children.
As soon as she saw Cui Jingkong, a bony arm reached out from the side to grab him. She wailed in a voice like a broken copper gong, begging him to have mercy and let her son go. Then, as if possessed, she cursed, saying that Cui Er was a heartless wolf and would come to a bad end.
The two old women deftly lifted her up and carried her away over their heads.
Cui Jingkong’s eyebrows didn’t even move. He walked to the study door. The sound of arguing could be heard faintly from inside. He waited with a pleased expression for a moment. Hearing a high-pitched cry, he then lifted the curtain and walked in.
Zhong Yun and Zhong Changxun were kneeling in the center of the room. In front of them stood Zhong Jide, his face ashen.
And the mistress of the Zhong residence, Zhong Jide’s wife, was sitting in a chair on the west side. Old Madam Zhong was close in age to Zhong Jide, nearly sixty. Her face was as calm as an ancient well, her eyes closed in rest, as if she were completely unconcerned with the chaos before her.
To say she was unconcerned, yet she was firmly protecting her simple-minded second daughter, who had been plotted against, behind her, like a statue of a Buddha, imposing without being angry.
When he entered, the noisy sounds were cut off, and the eyes of the few people in the room were all focused on him for a moment.
Cui Jingkong walked to the front, knelt on both knees, and kowtowed twice to the old madam and the teacher. Only then did he straighten up and say, “This student has come to ask for the teacher’s punishment.”
Seeing that he had returned safely after a night, Zhong Jide didn’t have time to show his concern. He was in a rage and followed his words angrily, “What’s wrong with you now! Have you also become muddle-headed like them?!”
Cui Jingkong’s face was calm, his posture humble. He stated word by word, “This student’s first mistake is being late today and neglecting my studies. My second mistake is my improper conduct and arrogant behavior. My third mistake is repaying kindness with enmity and disturbing the peace of the teacher’s household.”
On the surface, it seemed as if every word was a harsh criticism of himself, but in reality, he was pinning all the blame on Zhong Changxun and his sister.
Everyone knew that Cui Jingkong himself had been harmed yesterday and had to be rushed to the clinic for treatment overnight. Was he to be blamed for harming himself for fun?
Cui Er knelt there, the very picture of a weak scholar who was only considering his teacher’s feelings. Even if his teeth were knocked out, he could only swallow them down with blood. It was just that he was under someone else’s roof and had no choice but to bow his head and take the blame to quell the matter.
Seeing that they had pushed him to this point, how could Zhong Jide not be furious? He suddenly drew out his ruler, strode over to Zhong Changxun, and shouted:
“You scoundrel! After doing such a filthy and despicable thing, you were clumsy and left clues. You were caught red-handed, yet you still dare to argue! Are you going to confess or not!”