Chapter 566

After the Little New Year, the Great New Year arrived. The entire city was already covered in a thick atmosphere of the New Year.

People on the streets were hurrying along, and several stalls selling spring couplets were crowded with people.

I had already brought Huang Weiwei and my son home. This time, Bureau Chief Chen Yazhi didn't fight with me; Huang Weiwei coming home was her own firm decision, and secondly, Chen Yazhi had truly seen Xi Meizhu's capability.

My mother asked me to go out and buy spring couplets, saying that during the New Year, posting them on the door not only adds to the festive spirit but also wards off evil. Now that there was a little person in my house, it was better to be careful about invisible and intangible things like warding off evil.

A trivial task like writing spring couplets was something I had started doing when I was eight.

Ever since I learned to read, my father urged me to practice calligraphy every day. My father didn't have much education, but he wrote a beautiful hand. Especially calligraphy; my father always believed it was the highest realm of Chinese culture.

My family's spring couplets were never bought outside; they were always written by my father himself.

Every New Year's Eve when posting the couplets, my father would stand before his own work and laugh, "Confucius doesn't mind ugly characters, as long as every stroke is there."

Influenced by my father, my calligraphy was also quite good. By the time I was eight, I was the one writing our family's spring couplets.

I couldn't refuse my mother's request, and besides, I had been staying at home for the past few days and felt a bit depressed, wanting to go out for a walk. There were no brushes or ink at home, and even if there were, since my father was gone, I had no interest in picking up the brush to write couplets.

The person writing the spring couplets was an old man, an old gentleman wearing thick-lensed glasses. A tuft of goatee under his chin was already gray, looking very humorous.

The old gentleman had a deep foundation; he was proficient in running script, regular script, and cursive script.

To judge calligraphy, one must look at the skeleton; only characters that stand firmly can be considered to have grasped the true essence of calligraphy.

I stood quietly behind him, watching him steady his wrist and move the brush, stroke by stroke, like iron brush and silver hooks.

When the crowd buying couplets gradually dispersed, the old gentleman turned back, smiled at me, and said, "Young man, you give it a try!"

I hurriedly refused. After appreciating his calligraphy, I thought my own level wasn't in the same league. To wield a brush in front of the old gentleman was simply showing off in front of an expert.

He smiled and shoved the brush into my hand, saying, "Come on, Confucius doesn't mind ugly characters! As long as every stroke is there."

That one sentence directly touched my soul. I almost felt as if my father were standing before me. Their tone of voice was exactly the same, and even their appearance and mannerisms were so similar.

I gathered my courage and said, "Old gentleman, I don't write well."

"Write boldly," the old gentleman smiled slightly and said, "I've been selling spring couplets here for ten years. Countless people have bought my couplets, but this is the first time I've seen someone learn to write from me. In the past, this would be a matter of 'high mountains and flowing water'."

Just now, while watching the old gentleman write, I had indeed couldn't help but secretly trace the strokes. I didn't expect such a small action to be discovered by him.

Taking the brush from the old gentleman's hand, I focused my mind and spirit, and brushed onto the red paper: "A single sound of firecrackers bids farewell to the old year, ten thousand peach charms welcome the new year."

The old gentleman looked left and right, and said happily, "Young man, not bad, the foundation is there. If you practice a bit more and steady your characters, you could become a master in the calligraphy world."

I was filled with shame from his praise. For someone of my age, the tradition of writing calligraphy was already rare. I had taken a few classes in elementary school, but by middle school, because calligraphy wasn't counted in grades, everyone had shelved their brushes and ink. Because I had liked writing since I was a child, I still scribbled a few characters every now and then until college.

The old gentleman told me that he was a resident of the City Calligraphy and Painting Academy. Usually, he exchanged ideas with other calligraphy enthusiasts, and during the New Year, he would set up a stall on the street to write couplets, not for the money, but for the festive spirit.

I tried to pay him, but he scolded me with a dark face.

He pulled out two small stools, asked me to sit down, found two small porcelain bottles of wine from a pile of paper, and handed them to me, saying, "Come, let's have a drink, you and I."

The weather in Hengyue City around the New Year could almost be described as freezing cold.

It wasn't snowing, but the wind blowing was particularly cold and gloomy, drilling into the gaps in one's clothes. If one wasn't careful, one would be chilled to the bone in no time.

I wasn't wearing much when I went out—just a sweater and a simple coat over it.

The wind drilled in from my neck and from the bottom of my pant legs, blowing my body until I felt like an icicle hanging upside down.

I couldn't refuse the old gentleman's kindness, and seeing that it was still early, I simply accompanied him for a few drinks.

The wine was Erguotou, much stronger than Yuntou Daqu. It went straight from my throat into my stomach like a knife. The old gentleman pulled out a plastic bag containing half a bag of peanuts.

I saw this and was delighted; one old and one young, drinking and eating peanuts on the freezing street, living in harmony.

After finishing the porcelain bottle of Erguotou, I was a bit drunk. So I said goodbye to the old gentleman, took the spring couplets I had written, and swayed as I prepared to go home.

I had an idea: when I retire one day, I must practice my calligraphy well and come to the street to write spring couplets during the New Year.

It was two roads from the couplet stall to my house. I hadn't felt it when I walked over, but now that I had drunk some wine and wanted to walk back, the road felt incredibly long.

There weren't many cars on the road; everyone had gone home for the New Year.

I thought to myself, stepped onto the road, and prepared to cross.

Suddenly, there was a sharp screech of brakes. I was startled and quickly stood still. A car drove past me, stopping less than a meter in front of me.

I had just opened my mouth to curse when the car door opened, and Qian Youyu's head appeared.

"Brother, I knew it was you at a glance." He hugged my shoulder affectionately and spoke loudly with a grin.

I said irritably, "Lao Qian, you almost took my life just now."

Qian Youyu slapped himself and said, "I was in a hurry, too. I saw the person walking in front looked like you, so I couldn't help it."

I rolled my eyes at him and said, "Lao Qian, are you back for the New Year?"

Qian Youyu said with a grin, "I'm in no mood for the New Year; I'm busy."

"Busy with what?"

"My fault!" Qian Youyu slapped himself again and said, "My fault for not reporting to you earlier, brother. I'm getting married! The date is set for the eighth day of the first lunar month."

"Getting married?" I was surprised and asked, "Who are you marrying?"

Qian Youyu smiled embarrassedly, scratched his head, and said, "You don't know?"

I shook my head and said, "How would I know? Who is it?"

"Xuelai." Qian Youyu didn't dare look at me, his face full of joy and shame.

I cursed and said, "Lao Qian, an old ox eating tender grass, be careful you can't digest it."

Qian Youyu said with a grin, "Brother, don't look down on me; I'm in good health. Let me tell you, this little Xue wasn't in my sights before. She's a young girl; no matter how bad I am, I wouldn't dare have designs on her. But people, you can't resist someone else loving you, right?"

I wanted to laugh at what he said. Thinking of Xuelai, such an excellent woman, about to be stuck in this pile of old ox dung, I couldn't help but sigh. This society—there are no longer any age boundaries; as long as you have money, there is definitely love.

"What about Secretary Liu?" I teased him.

"Don't ask!" Qian Youyu said, his face full of displeasure, "Brother, look at my status now, and what's hers? Am I worthy? Don't disgust your older brother. Although I don't have much education, I still have self-awareness."

I laughed and said, "You've wasted Secretary Liu's painstaking efforts."

Qian Youyu sighed and said, "Would a woman like Yue Bai have eyes for someone like me? To tell you the truth, in her eyes, I'm just an upstart. I understand. There aren't many men who can handle a woman like her. Of course, brother, you count as one."

I was startled by his words, thinking he knew about my relationship with Yue Bai. So I scolded with a dark face, "Lao Qian, what kind of nonsense are you spouting!"

Qian Youyu returned to his grinning manner and said, "I'm not wrong, am I? A woman like Yue Bai, if a man doesn't have some skill, would she take him seriously? Suxi Town is so big, who has your ability? Tell me, besides you, who else would she fancy?"

I didn't want to continue discussing this with him, so I urged him, "Go quickly, Xiao Xue is waiting for you."

Qian Youyu took an invitation out of his pocket and handed it to me, saying, "Brother, you must do your older brother the honor."

I smiled and agreed, pushed him into the car, closed the door for him, and said, "Drive carefully!"

Watching Qian Youyu drive away, I was filled with mixed emotions.

My phone rang; it was Chen Meng, who started by saying, "Su Ya has disappeared!"

"What do you mean?" I didn't react for a moment.

"I just went to her place, thinking it was the New Year, to bring her some New Year goods. As soon as I arrived, I found she wasn't there."

"Maybe she went out to buy something?" I looked at the spring couplets in my hand.

"No. The room is a mess, and her luggage is gone too," Chen Meng said anxiously.

"Maybe she went back to her hometown in Guangxi for the New Year!" I comforted her, "If the luggage is gone, it should be fine."

"No, we once agreed that she wouldn't go home for the New Year, and besides, she has no home now." Chen Meng seemed to have kicked something, and a clattering sound came through the receiver.

"Do you want me to come over?" I asked tentatively.

"Do you have time?"

"I do now," I said, raising my hand to check my watch, "In two hours, New Year's Eve will officially begin."

"Forget it!" Chen Meng said, "I'll look for her."

After hanging up, a sense of unease suddenly welled up in my heart. Su Ya suddenly disappeared—could something really have happened to her?

She was hiding in a remote alley running a noodle stall; besides Chen Meng and me, no one knew where she was!

Could it be him? This thought rose rapidly in my heart, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on my back!