Chapter 2890: Traveling Together

Chen Shixin finished the developing and printing only in the afternoon. His back ached and his limbs were sore, but the thought that in two days it would be mid-month—the day he could go out again with the two Misses He and Guo—kept him smiling even at the tedious work. Senator Huang watched him with silent irritation.

On the biweekly mid-month holiday, before the sun had climbed above the treetops, Chen Shixin was already pacing at the entrance of the Lingao City Rail Bairen Station. He wore a light gray fine-linen shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, exposing forearms tanned the color of wheat, and a pair of khaki trousers. His hair was carefully combed and slicked with a bit of pomade—a habit picked up from Trini, who maintained that an artistic professional must have some dignity about him.

He carried a small woven rattan food box. Inside were several delicate tea pastries he had gone out of his way to buy the night before at Nanguo: rose bean-paste crisps, coconut-coated glutinous rice balls, and the newly released honey-osmanthus gorgon-nut cake. He Xiaoyue had a sweet tooth; Guo Xi'er preferred soft, chewy textures. This gorgon-nut cake, lightly sweet without cloying and with a satisfying bite, would surely please them both.

From a distance two graceful figures approached side by side. He Xiaoyue wore a water-green modified ruqun today, the skirt hem stopping at her ankles to reveal white socks and low cloth shoes—fresh and neat. Guo Xi'er, by contrast, was dressed in pure Australian style: a goose-yellow blouse, an off-white ankle-length A-line pleated skirt, the sash tied in a bow at her waist. She moved with the bright restlessness of a bird in spring. Sunlight fell on their young faces, and the very air around them seemed to brighten a few shades.

"Have you been waiting long?" He Xiaoyue spoke first, her eyes bright with amusement. Guo Xi'er came straight over to peer into the food box. "What goodies did you bring? Let me see!"

Chen Shixin handed the box over, his heartbeat quickening a few paces. Whenever he faced both of them at once he felt a secret, guilt-tinged pleasure. To invite He Xiaoyue? She was clever and perceptive; conversations about design and painting never failed to spark his inspiration. To invite Guo Xi'er? She was innocent and artless, her guileless laughter sweeping away every shadow. But if he invited only one, wouldn't the other feel left out? He could not tell whether it was reluctance to break either heart or a selfish craving for the comfort of being surrounded by two remarkable women.

"We brought things too," Guo Xi'er said. She wore a fashionable woven rattan backpack of distinctive design, adorned with a pale-rose silk scarf that swayed with her steps. "Look, Shixin! I brought 'cola,' and this!" In her other hand she held a small square box wrapped in soft cloth, looking mysterious. "I'll show you something good in a bit!"

He Xiaoyue carried an elegant cotton tote bag. At Guo Xi'er's words she gave Chen Shixin a small smile and explained: "Xi'er got hold of a small music box." She didn't mention what she herself had brought, but her pockets were bulging, suggesting she had quite a few items as well.

"So where are we going today?"

"How about the newly opened Qinfang Park in Nanbao?" he suggested. "I hear they've transplanted quite a few exotic plants and trees. The scenery is distinctive, and there are fewer people—quieter than the Dongmen Market area."

"Great!" Guo Xi'er bounced. "We've been all over Bairen and Bopu—it's time for somewhere fresh!" He Xiaoyue nodded with a smile, though her gaze seemed to graze, almost imperceptibly, across Chen Shixin's slightly reddened ears.

The three boarded the commuter train to Nanbao. On a rest-day morning the carriages that were usually packed stood nearly empty. Only sunlight and breeze filled the compartment. They chatted and laughed the whole way, and the time flew. In less than half an hour they reached Nanbao Station. From the station, a walk of less than twenty minutes brought them to the park entrance. Qinfang Park was in fact a stretch of the upper reaches of the Wenlan River—a valley winding through the hills with a touch of landscape charm. The civil affairs department had lately developed it into a park, giving the residents around Nanbao Town a place for leisure and recreation.

The park was quiet, almost empty. They strolled slowly along a newly built elevated wooden boardwalk above the jumbled rocks by the riverbank. The summer breeze carried the moisture of the river and the fresh scent of flowers and grass. Newly planted hoop pines along the path cast dappled shadows. Chen Shixin walked in the middle, turning now to discuss with He Xiaoyue the compositional techniques of a recent illustration in Lingao Spring, now being tugged by the sleeve by Guo Xi'er to identify a cluster of purple irises he had never seen before. His arm would occasionally brush against their sleeves, the soft contact sending a feather-light tickle through his heart—half pleasant, half alarming—so he kept steering the conversation toward safer ground.

"By the way," he said, feigning casualness, "yesterday when I went to the Mass Arts Office to submit materials, I overheard people talking... the Qu family case has been decided."

"Ah!" Guo Xi'er's attention was instantly caught. "Tell us, tell us—what happened to Su-niang? And Master Wu?"

He Xiaoyue said nothing, but her step faltered slightly, her gaze fixing on Chen Shixin's face.

Chen Shixin lowered his voice. "Zhou... Su-niang was sentenced to exile. I hear she's going to Yulin Harbor in Sanya, to be assigned work by the Nanyang Company. Master Wu is fine—he was released long ago and has reportedly returned to Nansha. The most surprising part is the Qu family's elder mistress." He paused, seeing both women lean in, then continued. "Su-niang, in the police station, threw aside all fear and publicly accused the elder mistress of having beaten a concubine to death with family discipline back in Ming times, and of secretly ordering the killing of a servant girl who had made a mistake..."

"Heavens!" Guo Xi'er clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes enormous with shock. "Such cruelty!"

"In great households, many things never see the light of day," He Xiaoyue said, unruffled.

"... Those are the ones Zhou Su-niang knew for certain. There were others she'd only heard about. Heaven knows how much more there is."

He Xiaoyue knit her brows, but her voice stayed calm. "That may be so, but these are past events. Can old cases still be prosecuted?"

"That's exactly the issue." Chen Shixin shook his head. "Under the Senate's new law, there's no retroactive prosecution. Offenses committed during the Ming dynasty, so long as they weren't committed in Lingao, are in principle not pursued. The Qu family's Master Xia, that lawyer, is extremely sharp. He seized on this point and fought hard. In the end a settlement was reached: the Qu family dropped all claims of 'attempted murder' against Su-niang, and the procurator's office, citing 'insufficient evidence and matters belonging to a former dynasty,' dropped the charges against the elder mistress. She was held for a few days and then released."

By the riverbank a momentary silence fell, broken only by the murmur of flowing water. Guo Xi'er said indignantly: "That... that's letting that murderous woman off too easily! And Su-niang gets exiled!"

He Xiaoyue sighed softly, her gaze drifting to the shimmering river surface. "Su-niang... at first only wanted to find her brother." Her voice carried a note of helplessness. "She went through untold hardships to find a slender lead, contacted him privately—and in the elder mistress's eyes, that became an illicit affair. Most likely there was endless abuse, driving her to the edge, until she resolved to take the other woman down with her. That poor night-watching maid..."

Chen Shixin noticed that as He Xiaoyue spoke, her fingers unconsciously gripped the hem of her skirt, her knuckles whitening. He remembered she had mentioned that her own mother had been a concubine. Understanding welled up in him, along with an urge to comfort. He raised his hand halfway—but Guo Xi'er had already linked her arm through He Xiaoyue's.

"Xiaoyue-jie, don't be sad," Guo Xi'er said softly. "At least Su-niang wasn't sentenced to death. Exile... there's always a day she can come back. Besides, Sanya isn't the end of the earth anymore—three or four days by passenger ship and you're there. Master Wu knows the truth now, and the brother and sister have finally found each other. In a few years they'll naturally be reunited." She paused, then looked at Chen Shixin with some confusion. "But how did the Qu family let Su-niang off so easily? A life is still a life." Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she turned to He Xiaoyue. "Was it because of that time we asked Sister Shen..."

He Xiaoyue shot her a ferocious glare that frightened the rest of the sentence right back down her throat. Guo Xi'er, though she spoke without filter, was no fool. She instantly realized that saying such things in front of an "outsider" was extremely inappropriate. Her face flushed crimson, and the atmosphere turned awkward.

Chen Shixin pretended not to have heard. After a moment of thoughtful deliberation, he said: "I'd guess, first, that the elder mistress had her own dirty laundry exposed. Though it's hard to prosecute legally, her reputation is ruined. If it had escalated further, would the Qu family patriarch let her off when he returned? The family is now a major merchant concern—they can't weather that kind of storm. The Qu family was eager to settle. Second..." He lowered his voice. "Perhaps the Senate was content to let it play out. Though the Qu family got off, the exposure of these dark secrets swept away the 'propriety and ritual law' facade of the great households—perfectly showcasing the 'fairness' and 'boundaries' of the new legal system. A quiet warning to every old household like the Qu family."

He Xiaoyue raised her eyes and looked at Chen Shixin with a long, deep gaze—one that held approval and also a complex emotion he couldn't quite read. His heart quickened, and he blurted out: "Xiaoyue sees to the root of things, and Xi'er sees things clearly too." The moment the words left his mouth he felt they were amiss—seeming to favor one over the other—and hastily added: "In this world, it's not easy for a woman to survive, especially in times of transition between old and new."

Guo Xi'er didn't notice his subtle panic. She simply followed the thread of the conversation with a sigh. "It's true—things are so much better now. We can work, make friends, go out and have fun..." She paused, then flashed Chen Shixin a brilliant smile. "And meet interesting friends like you!"

That smile was without a trace of shadow or calculation—pure and bright as sunlight shining straight into one's heart. Chen Shixin was momentarily stunned, his ears burning hotter. He Xiaoyue, however, had already looked away, a faint curve touching her lips as she gently tugged Guo Xi'er. "Look—that pavilion over the water seems empty."

The topic was laid to rest. Around the waterside pavilion, flowers and trees grew thick, and a stream murmured past—very secluded. He Xiaoyue opened her cotton tote and efficiently spread out a blue-and-white printed picnic cloth. From Guo Xi'er's backpack she withdrew a carefully wrapped box, which opened to reveal a set of white-glazed hand-painted bird-and-flower Australian-style tea ware and a tin canister.

"I'll make tea—it's refreshing and cuts the richness," she said, unhurried and methodical, arranging everything just so.

She set out the tea things one by one, then poured hot water from a portable thermos, brewing a full pot. Guo Xi'er said: "This is top-grade oolong—from the Nanhai Farm food shop! You can't buy it anywhere else..."

She spoke as she eagerly produced the music box—a small case with an exquisite enameled painted shell. She wound it up, and it tinkled out a light, cheerful arrangement. Chen Shixin recognized it as "Auld Lang Syne." She then brought out, as if presenting treasures, several "Peony House" takeout cartons and a few bottles of dark "cola," along with several elegantly packaged candies: "These are real pine nut candies. Brought all the way from Suzhou Prefecture! And this..."

Chen Shixin opened the food box and laid out the pastries, deliberately placing the translucent, pale yellow gorgon-nut cake studded with osmanthus blossoms near He Xiaoyue. The three sat in a circle, their ears filled with the simple tune and the murmur of flowing water, their noses wrapped in the fragrance of tea, the sweetness of pastries, and the fresh green scent of the foliage. He handed He Xiaoyue a piece of bean-paste crisp, then pressed the marble stopper of Guo Xi'er's soda bottle for her. Watching one sip tea with elegance and the other guzzle with delight, his sense of satisfaction nearly overflowed.

This harmony and joy were so real that the urgency of making a choice was diluted by the warmth of the moment. Clinging to this completeness was perhaps a little selfish—but how could he bring himself to give it up? Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dancing on He Xiaoyue's serene profile and Guo Xi'er's flying strands of hair. Chen Shixin lowered his head and took a sip of tea. The liquor was clear and sweet on the return, much like his present state of mind—luminous, yet carrying an indescribable, sweet burden.

Admiring flowers, sipping tea, eating pastries. Chen Shixin continued to orbit between them, explaining to He Xiaoyue how the form of a distant Buddha-belly bamboo might translate into a painting, and tucking a wind-blown strand of hair behind Guo Xi'er's ear. He reveled in the feeling of being needed and liked. On this radiant holiday he became an elusive wisp of sweetness in the warm afternoon breeze.

Only when He Xiaoyue occasionally turned that still, water-clear gaze upon him did a sudden flutter of panic seize his heart, as though his little machinations had been seen through long ago. And when Guo Xi'er trustingly hooked her arm through his, pointing at an oddly shaped cloud on the horizon and asking what it resembled, the panic would be replaced by another, softer and brighter emotion.

They chatted and strolled in the park, and the whole beautiful day slipped by.

As the sun slanted westward on the return journey, all three were a bit drowsy, and conversation dwindled. After escorting the two young women to the vicinity of the Wanzige dormitory, Chen Shixin renewed his invitation at parting. "Next rest day, let's go to Juren Waterfall. I hear the scenery there is even better."

"Great!" Guo Xi'er agreed at once. He Xiaoyue also smiled and nodded. "Sounds lovely."

Watching their retreating figures side by side, Chen Shixin remained where he stood for a long while. Happy times are always fleeting, yet these beautiful memories would stay in his heart forever. Then the lines his master Trini so often recited came to mind:

Quant'è bella giovinezza, che si fugge tuttavia! chi vuol esser lieto, sia: di doman non c'è certezza.

(How beautiful youth is, yet how it flees! Whoever wishes to be happy, let them be: of tomorrow, there is no certainty.)

He looked up at the street lamps flickering to life one by one and let out a soft sigh. Inviting two at once—perhaps it wasn't quite right. But in this moment, he only wished to let this not-quite-right moment last a little longer.