Chapter 69

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

The day before the Double Ninth Festival, Shaowei and the others went into Xi Shan, picked cornel, and gathered many fruits.

The monkeys in the mountains no longer harassed them; even some particularly clever monkeys helped pick some fruits, placing them on Shaowei's usual path, then scratched their faces, left quickly, and hid in the mountain forest to observe secretly.

Ji Jin saw this and felt it was very much like paying tribute... Truly, all things have spirits.

Zhan Zhan likewise displayed the phrase "all things have spirits" to the fullest; every time they entered the mountains, it was especially smug, patrolling all around, pressing its face against other birds to boast that it was Shaowei King's guard, truly the eagle and hound among birds.

With Mo Li, Shaowei, and Shan Gu present, no fruit in the mountains was hard to pick; they accidentally picked too many, filling two large hemp sacks completely.

Qingxiang Sister suggested that since they couldn't finish them all, they might as well carry them to the county market to sell, earning some silver.

Shaowei immediately nodded in agreement.

Shaowei had no great material desires, and with Jiang Fu around, she had never worried about food and clothing, but the temptation to do business once with good friends and be a fruit vendor was hard for her to resist.

The few agreed on this, and rose early together the next day.

Jiang Fu was awakened by the noise, pushed open the window yawning, and saw the sky just turning bright; Mo Li had led the green ox out of the ox shed and hitched it to the cart, while Ji Jin and Shan Gu each held a sack to load onto the ox cart, but Shaowei snatched them away, lifting one sack in each hand and easily placing them on the cart.

Five people and one ox thus set out in high spirits, and Shaowei did not forget to order Shan Gu to close the courtyard gate.

Seeing the gate closed, Jiang Fu stretched lazily, intending to refresh himself and cook breakfast on his own, but after the stretch came an extremely long yawn, so he naturally lay back on the bed to continue sleeping.

It was the Double Ninth Festival, and the street market was especially lively; besides vendors calling out daily necessities and food along the street, many shops and even alley entrances had various medicinal herbs drying outside. Ji Jin told Shaowei and Shan Gu that drying herbs along the street was a Double Ninth custom; when townspeople passed by and caught the herbal scent, it would ward off evil and plague.

Whether useful or not, just follow local custom; Shaowei thought this and inhaled deeply several times.

The enthusiastic Shaowei harbored great ambitions, and Qingxiang Sister also thought that if the fruits sold well today, they might enter the mountains again another day.

However, though the street market was lively, that liveliness belonged to others and had nothing to do with them.

Impulsive youths lacked experience and thought too simply; mountain fruits were too wild and could not compare to the attractive appearance of orchard fruits. Shaowei looked at the fruits on other vendors' stalls and felt those plump, healthy fruits seemed to arrogantly question her wild fruits: What do you have to compare with me?

Moreover, they were common local seasonal fruits, and the locals were not enthusiastic about them.

Furthermore, they could not get good stalls; good locations were mostly taken. Shaowei could seize them by force, but Qingxiang Sister and Ji Jin did not approve, after all they came to sell fruit, not to fight.

After all this busy selling, shouting until smoke seemed to rise from their throats, by most of the day they had earned only seventy or eighty coins.

But these seventy or eighty coins had not yet warmed in their hands when Mo Li set his eyes on the hemp cakes sold at the neighboring stall.

Seeing Mo Li staring, Shaowei meant to stop him, but when she turned, she saw the cake was made with glutinous millet, dyed with madder, red and white alternating, layered upon layered, with a fragrance that assailed the nose.

Shan Gu turned to look as well and was immediately attracted.

Qingxiang Sister saw this and had meant to say the cake was simple and she could steam it; yesterday her Mother had steamed a pot, and her Father had cut two slices at night, according to custom applying them separately to her and Yan Family Brother's foreheads, taking the auspicious meaning of "cake application rises high"—

But seeing Mo Li and the others truly longing for it, and Ji Jin also softly advising from the side that it was "hardly ever going out," Qingxiang Sister gritted her teeth, held the money bag, and stepped forward to ask the price.

Hearing that one piece of cake cost ten coins, Qingxiang Sister's eyes went black; she had meant to buy only three pieces, she and Yan Family Brother would not eat, but Shaowei had already raised a hand, fingers spread wide, and said grandly: "Cut five pieces!"

The five sat before the fruit stall eating cake; whether they were truly hungry or because money earned themselves was more precious, the cake tasted exceptionally sweet.

After closing the stall, Qingxiang Sister simply used the remaining money to buy a large bunch of red cord for knotting; thus the money bag was empty—truly earning money at the market and spending it at the market, not a single coin brought home.

On the way back, Mo Li led the ox, Ji Jin and Shan Gu followed beside the cart, Qingxiang Sister and Shaowei sat on the cart; the ox cart moved slowly, the autumn breeze was pleasant, and chrysanthemum fragrance accompanied them.

Qingxiang Sister's hands were not idle; she tied one knot after another, four different ones: for Ji Jin, the Qing Cloud Knot; for Shan Gu, the Peace Knot; for Mo Li, the Ruyi Knot; for Shaowei, the Sparrow Head Knot. Only Shaowei's was a loop knot to tie on the wrist; the rest were pendant knots.

Qingxiang Sister tied it on Shaowei's left wrist, and Shaowei could not help asking: "What does the Sparrow Head Knot mean?" Ji Jin and the others understood the meaning from the name alone.

"It means joy on the eyebrow tips, a heart leaping like a sparrow." Qingxiang Sister smiled in her eyes and said softly: "I wish Shaowei often feels joy leaping."

She had once accidentally seen the dense knife scars on Shaowei's left arm; she had always been timid and dared not inquire, thinking it must have been an extremely difficult and painful experience.

Shaowei listened to these words, looked at the knot on her wrist, and said nothing for a while; when she looked up, she asked: "We all have one; Qingxiang Sister should also have one. What knot does Sister like?"

She also shamelessly said: "Sister only needs to teach me; I will tie one for you."

She vaguely understood that such items were more meaningful when exchanged.

Qingxiang Sister thought for a moment and said with a smile: "I want a Panlian Jie. This knot is not difficult; Shaowei little sister is so clever, she will surely learn it at once."

Shaowei thought so too; how could a small knot be difficult for her?

However, the deceitfulness of such things is that they are extremely good at giving the illusion of being easy at first glance, but when actually tried, they often fail immediately.

But Shaowei was also competitive and unwilling to let Qingxiang Sister help, allowing only verbal guidance; Shaowei was anxious and frustrated, failing again and again, until a small knot made her sweat on her forehead and turn red in the ears. Fortunately, hard work pays off; just as Taoxi Township came into view, she finally mastered it.

Shaowei picked it up to look; although the shape was there, the originally new cord seemed to have endured over ten years of wind and rain, wrinkled and limp, not hanging straight at all, and even somewhat faded.

Anyway, she had already learned it; this one could just be for practice. Shaowei was about to discard it and tie another, but Qingxiang Sister hurriedly snatched it away, held it preciously in her hands, and said seriously to Shaowei:

"The Panlian Jie ties the fate between people. Since it is something Shaowei little sister tied with such sincere effort, this fate must be tied very firmly; we will surely never be separated."

Ji Jin smiled upon hearing this: "Exactly so."

Shaowei no longer insisted; she watched Qingxiang Sister wear the wrinkled knot at her waist, and thinking of what she had seen before, felt that pearls and jade should be worn to look better, to have weight; a light, floating knot could naturally hang straight.

Ji Jin also thought of the jade he used to wear; it had been a long time since he could have the elegant habit of wearing jade, and whether elegant or not was secondary...

In the evening glow, the youth looked toward the northeast, trying to find the direction of his homeland Chenliu Commandery.

Two days later, Shaowei found two ordinary-quality jade pendants from the miscellaneous box; with Jiang Fu's permission, she planned to give them to Qingxiang Sister and Ji Jin.

Meeting Shan Gu on the road, Shaowei painted him a pie, promising that when she got better ones in the future, she would definitely give him one.

Shaowei's thinking was practical—Shan Gu now had no pursuit of these elegant ornaments and no desire to be a gentleman; giving him one to wear, he would not understand it; better to attend to Qingxiang Sister and Ji Jin first.

Shaowei arrived at the little house first and waited a while; when Qingxiang Sister and the other arrived, Shaowei gave out the two jade pendants respectively, giving the White Jade Bird Pendant to Qingxiang Sister, and the Green Jade Fish Pendant to Ji Jin.

Both jades had some impurities and were not top quality, but they already made Qingxiang Sister feel fearful; she repeatedly declined, but seeing Shaowei truly gave from the heart, she could not help being moved to tears, with tears welling up in her eyes.

Ji Jin, however, remained silent for a long time, looking at the green fish pendant again and again, until Qingxiang Sister snapped at him: "Yan Family Brother, quickly thank her."

Ji Jin was not a rude person, but...

"May I ask, Jiang Sister, where did you get this jade pendant?" Ji Jin asked, then spoke directly: "I find this jade very familiar; it looks like... something I used to wear often."

Shaowei was stunned for a moment, recalled, and tried asking: "... Did you encounter a black shop robbery in the Huaiyang area?"

Ji Jin hurriedly nodded, relating his experience at the time with some embarrassment.

That year, after he had finished handling his parents' funeral affairs, his maternal uncle came personally to fetch him; the two left Chenliu Commandery, passed through Huai Yang Guo, and on the way unexpectedly encountered two black shops. The first one quoted a dish price, but at settlement multiplied it ten-odd times; he spoke up to question it, the partner revealed a fierce look, grabbed a long stick and said he would take him to a clinic to treat an ear ailment—

By the time they reached the second one, he naturally had experience; he paid the bill first, then used the rice and dishes. However, he slept too peacefully at night; when he woke the next day, the ornaments and money bag on his person were all gone... only the bits of silver his maternal uncle had hidden in his shoe tube remained, perhaps because the shoes were both worn and smelly, so they escaped the disaster.

His maternal uncle held that shoe, sighing and full of puzzlement: 【When we came we also stayed at these shops, and nothing like this happened...】

Thinking it over, it must be because this nephew-in-law of his looked quite noble and refined, yet followed a field peasant like him, inevitably giving these black shop practitioners with their venomous eyes the implication that "family ruined, people dead, seeking poor relatives far away, there must be some surplus wealth on them."

Ji Jin's jade pendant was lost in that second black shop.

After he finished telling his experience, he couldn't help asking Shaowei: "Jiang Sister, did you also encounter that black shop when you came? Was anything missing?"

Shaowei then also related her experience in a light, unconcerned manner.

Ji Jin was shocked.

So, the jade pendant he was robbed of was actually turned around and presented by the shopkeeper to Jiang Sister's party?

Ji Jin held this lost-and-found jade pendant, and only after a long while returned to his senses.

A gentleman does not part with his jade without cause. Moreover, this piece of jade pendant he had carried since childhood was a memento his parents left him; its significance far exceeded the jade pendant itself.

He rose and saluted Shaowei in thanks, and insisted on going to thank Jiang's eldest sister.

Jiang Fu stood outside the hall door, looking at that solemnly saluting youth, and said with a smile: "Truly a clear-spirited, refined young gentleman."

Then she smiled and looked at Shaowei to the side—this little ghost's chosen road here and lodging place were indeed chosen very correctly, very well.

The camphor tree in the courtyard rustled, leaking golden-yellow autumn light all over the ground.

After several autumn frosts fell, the trees outside the small courtyard gradually became bare; winter days turned, and another New Year's Day arrived quickly.

Mo Li hung lamps, Shan Gu helped, Shaowei directed, while Jiang Fu stood in the corridor as usual, smiling and sighing: "Little ghost, this is the fourth New Year's Day we've spent together."

Before, Shaowei felt it was too slow; now hearing Jiang Fu count these four New Year's Days, she suddenly felt time fly like a shooting star, actually giving her some sense of urgency.

After this New Year's Day, Shaowei would be fifteen years old.

Fifteen-year-old Shaowei became even busier; Jiang Fu taught her more complex Qimen Arrays, and her demands on her grew higher and higher.

On this kind of matter, Shaowei rarely showed impatience, only couldn't help asking: "Why suddenly so urgently pushing me to learn these?"

Jiang Fu was always lazy and scattered; this was simply abnormal.

"You plan to wander the jianghu later, don't you." Jiang Fu sighed: "Now the world is gradually becoming not too peaceful; this jianghu probably isn't that easy to wander either; better to learn more to be secure."

Master and disciple sat facing each other by the window, a low table between them; outside the window there was already a touch of shallow green grass color.

Shaowei was silent for a rare while, then asked Jiang Fu: "Your illness... is it getting better soon?"

Jiang Fu smiled faintly: "With your body of sweet and abundant blood nourishing me, how could your master not be well? I'll probably live a thousand or hundred years."

Shaowei now rarely got angry and changed expression over this sentence; she only frowned, troubled that Jiang Fu's words always made it hard to distinguish truth from falsehood.

As she was about to look away, she suddenly caught sight of a silvery-white hair on top of Jiang Fu's head, exceptionally conspicuous amid a mass of jet black.

Shaowei reached out to pluck it: "You have a white hair!"

But Jiang Fu hurriedly raised her right hand to cover her head top, body dodging back: "This must not be plucked! If you pluck this one, it will inevitably cause ten or a hundred more to grow!"

Shaowei: "Why?"

Jiang Fu said solemnly: "You pull it up alive by the root; its neighbors see it, won't they all be scared into turning white?"

Shaowei: "... Then I'll remove its neighbors too."

Jiang Fu: "Then your master will probably have a full head of white hair—"

Shaowei knew she was making it up, so she also said casually: "I'll just dye it black for you again!"

Jiang Fu blinked: "You're going to be a wandering knight-errant; where would you have the time to attend left and right dyeing my hair?"

Shaowei hmphed, lowered her head to flip through the silk scroll: "I'll naturally send letters from time to time entrusting Qingxiang Sister to help you dye it..."

"You'll still send letters." Jiang Fu smiled, propping her chin: "That way, you won't be able to become a carefree, unattached wandering knight-errant."

Shaowei disliked being teased, didn't continue this topic, but didn't see the sigh hidden in Jiang Fu's eyes full of smiles.

That white hair on Jiang Fu's head was extremely glaring to Shaowei, yet strangely stubborn; combing couldn't dislodge it; Shaowei stared at it for two full months, yet still saw it alive and intact.

Every time she tried to extend her claws to pluck it, she was dodged in time by Jiang Fu; Jiang Fu even gradually derived amusement from it—this disciple of hers was like a civet cat, and this white hair on her head had become the feather duster teasing the cat to extend its claws.

Therefore Jiang Fu instead began to deliberately protect this white hair.

Until this morning, she came out from inside the house, and beckoned to Shaowei who was sweeping the ground.