Jinling Guest Four Seasons Cake
Chapter Thirty-One
Strangely enough, although everyone was clearly interested in what the letter said, none of them dared to open it.
In the end, Zhou Yulin opened the letter in front of the two of them. Under their intense and curious gazes, the girl frankly turned the paper over, "It's an IOU."
"Ah—that's it!" Yu Tao'er looked quite disappointed. She struggled to her feet and sighed, "I thought I was going to see a good show!"
Zhou Yulin scanned it again and confirmed that it was indeed an IOU.
Why would he give you an IOU for no reason?
Gu Ling waved his fan, seemingly oblivious to the cold air around him. Zhou Yulin thought for a moment and quickly realized, "This wasn't given to me by him; it was already in my clothes."
Unable to figure it out for a moment, Zhou Yulin folded the IOU and put it back in her pocket. Then she glanced at the two of them and said, "You've both received my wedding invitation, right? Remember to come."
Gu Ling continued to wave his fan, "Sister Yu Lin is always so entangled with the matter of marriage!"
Indeed, upon hearing this, Zhou Yulin began to recount her experiences: her initial substitute marriage upon arriving in Jinling, her mistaken marriage in her dream, and now her desperate desire to marry here. Zhou Yulin felt that her story was enough to form a three-part marriage saga.
"Will there be a lot of handsome men on your wedding day?" Yu Tao'er said lewdly. "Don't worry, you can get married, I'll take care of the handsome men."
Gu Ling was speechless. "Would you die if you didn't have a man by your side? Besides, how can you ignore such a handsome guy like me standing right next to you?"
The two started arguing again, and Zhou Yulin quietly left the battlefield. She hadn't gone far when she ran into Tao Yao, who had come in looking for her.
"Miss." Zhou Yulin waved her hand, but Tao Yao's eyes lit up and she said excitedly, "Miss Yuyue has returned to the manor. Madam is urging us to go back quickly." It was like a thunderbolt. Before Zhou Yulin could even figure out what her relationship with Xie Wuwang was, the person in question had already returned.
As soon as Zhou Yulin boarded the carriage, she noticed the pastries prepared on board. These flower-shaped pastries were the Four Seasons Cakes, a specialty of Jinling. Named after the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, they were filled with the most representative petals of each season.
Farewell to my friend in Jinling, I bid him farewell throughout the four seasons. The moon shines coldly on the riverboat, the flowers are light but the sentiment is heavy.
Each month, disciples of the Xuanling Sect have one opportunity to go down the mountain for training. Zhou Yulin likes the sweets of the people down the mountain, but doesn't like going down the mountain, so he often asks his senior brother to bring some up from down the mountain.
It was early spring when Zhou Yulin, having heard that his senior brother had returned from his training at the foot of the mountain, arrived at Xiaoyao Peak on his sword, which had not yet fallen. The doors of Xianming Hall were wide open, and the peach blossoms on the branches outside were in full bloom, with birds chirping. On a white jade table under the peach tree were two jugs of peach blossom wine. Zhou Yulin knew that his senior brother had brewed it last year, and it had just been dug up from the ground this year. Next to the two jugs of wine were seasonal cakes. None of his senior brothers liked sweets, but Zhou Yulin was the only one who couldn't live without them.
She recalled the Jade Pendant, and as soon as she reached for the pastries, the crane guarding the side immediately pecked at her hand, its tiny eyes about to give Zhou Yulin a disdainful look. "Alright, alright, I know, I'll wait for them, okay? You're really stingy, Si Yu," Zhou Yulin conceded.
Siyu proudly raised its little head and flapped its wings twice, as if to say that it was natural.
Time flowed and seasons turned, and the clouds rolled in and out several times. Zhou Yulin couldn't remember. She only felt that just before she fell asleep, someone touched her head. The way this head was touched was very familiar to Zhou Yulin. "Second Senior Brother..." In the woman's resentful voice, Gongsun Su smiled and withdrew his hand. "I did a divination today, and it predicted that you would be on Xiaoyao Peak."
"Does this even need divination?" Lingxing rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. "Isn't this something you can figure out with your toes?"
"You're not living long enough, are you?" Lingxing sat down cross-legged directly opposite Zhou Yulin and began to complain as soon as she sat down. "These days, I'm so annoyed by that old geezer. He's over fifty years old and he's like an iron tree in bloom, but he just has to do all sorts of nonsense."
The old man was Elder Nanshan, who was already a master of Gu magic at the age of fifty. He was known for his unpredictable temper, and his disciple Lingxing was even more elusive, appearing and disappearing without a trace.
Gongsun Su picked up the wine pot and poured three cups of wine. When Zhou Yulin naturally reached out to pick up the wine cup, Lingxing took it first. The baby-faced third senior brother raised an eyebrow that he thought was very cool, "Why would a child drink wine? Go drink your water."
"..." Zhou Yulin glanced at Ling Xing, "You're only a few months older than me."
“No.” Lingxing took a sip of her drink. “Children should have the awareness of children.”
Zhou Yulin didn't believe such nonsense. She sat down and eventually obediently poured herself a cup of tea. Surprisingly, the teapot didn't contain bitter tea, but rather sweet peach wine from the foot of the mountain.
Catching a glimpse of their junior sister's bright, star-like eyes, the two senior brothers couldn't help but chuckle, as if they had expected it. Lingxing snorted, while Gongsun Su, swirling his wine cup, said without any politeness, "This senior brother is so biased, it's almost to the point of being out of control. Every time I ask him to go down the mountain to bring me some incense and temple ash, I've been so busy asking him to bring it to me that I've even dreamt about it, but he's gone down the mountain four times and hasn't remembered to bring it for me even once."
"You do have hands, don't you?" A gentle, refined voice came from behind them.
Zhou Yulin quickly sat up straight. Xuan Qingxian's usually cold and aloof gaze softened with a faint smile when it fell on his junior sister. "These Four Seasons Cakes are a specialty of Jinling. I happened to pass through Jinling and brought some back. Try them and see if you like them?"
Peach wine and seasonal cakes had become Zhou Yulin's unattainable dream.
She tore open half of the Four Seasons Cake and put it in her mouth. The cake, which was obviously too sweet, didn't taste as sweet as it used to. A slight bitterness spread between her lips and teeth.
"It's all a lie." Zhou Yulin lowered her eyes and repeated herself as if deceiving herself, "It's all a lie." In the snow, the fragrance of plum blossoms wafted, and the cold wind was biting.
A moment later, a silver-white figure appeared where the carriage had been. Xuan Qingxian lowered his eyes and looked at the peach petal in his palm. He had a thousand questions in his mind: why did that woman suddenly come back to life?
He had clearly only taught this trick to one person. Thinking of that person, the coldness on Xuan Qingxian's face disappeared. He touched the still warm Four Seasons Cake in his bag and then felt relieved.
*
The Liu family home was brightly lit today. Before Zhou Yulin even stepped across the threshold, he could hear the cheerful laughter coming from the hall.
Where is my sister?
Unfortunately, the question came right to her. With Tao Yao's help, Zhou Yulin walked into the hall. The blurry figure had a real face. The person in front of her was Xu Zuiyue.
Unlike Xu Zuiyue's occasional arrogance, Liu Yuyue was more approachable and down-to-earth, with a smile that reached her eyes, giving people the feeling of a carefree and unrestrained chivalrous knight.
"Ningning." Liu Yuyue stepped forward and hugged Zhou Yulin tightly, the fragrance of osmanthus filling her arms. "Thanks to you for taking care of the family."
These words made Zhou Yulin feel extremely guilty.
Xie Wuwang and Madam Liu were present, but the owner of the mansion was nowhere to be seen. "Didn't Father come?" Zhou Yulin asked, somewhat puzzled.
Madam Liu's expression changed, and Liu Yuyue explained cheerfully, "Father has been busy with accounts lately. When he has some free time in a few days, we can have a meal together as a family."
For some reason, Zhou Yulin immediately realized that the people present were hiding something from her.
However, some things are better left unsaid, so Zhou Yulin just pretended to be innocent and replied, "Then I'll have to take advantage of you, sister."
After chatting for a few minutes, they all went back to their rooms. Liu Yuyue had come all this way and needed to rest.
However, this night was destined to be anything but peaceful.
Zhou Yulin sat in the room, recalling where she had found the diary, and sure enough, she found an identical diary.
The diary entry ends on January 1, 453 of the Celestial Calendar, while today is March 10, 458. Ten days from now, isn't that the day she gets married?
Zhou Yulin found it strange, recalling the letter Yu Zhenzhen had given her.
Nearly a century later, the puppeteers who appeared in the Wu family of Jiangning had already left traces in Jinling a hundred years ago.
The matter Liu Yuning was investigating was none other than the bandit robbery that happened when she was fifteen years old.
At that time, many teenagers and young girls in the city disappeared in Jinling. Although Liu Yuning escaped death, she lost that memory.
I often feel like I'm not myself.
Among the missing persons listed on the envelope was a very familiar face: Xie Wuwang.
Unlike the others who were never found, or Liu Yuning who was left half-dead, Xie Wuwang returned safely less than a week after his disappearance.
If two people with the same name disappeared at the age of fifteen, Zhou Yulin couldn't believe it was such a coincidence. So there was only one possibility: one of them was a fake.
Zhou Yulin rubbed her temples and noticed the hoodie on the back of the chair next to her. Suddenly, she remembered the IOU inside the hoodie.
This is an old IOU. The childish handwriting looks like the scribbles of two children. The names at the end are replaced with their fingerprints, making it impossible to tell who the IOUs belong to.
The lamplight illuminated the woman's face as she pondered intently. She picked up a brush and began sketching on the script, her previously vague thoughts suddenly becoming clear.
With those youthful memories, an answer seemed to slowly emerge.
When Liu Yuning was younger and not so sickly, she loved martial arts more than ink painting. Unfortunately, her family wouldn't allow it, so she secretly ran away to a martial arts school to learn.
There was a quiet little boy in the martial arts school. Every time Liu Yuning went to learn from him, he would just sit there silently. Once, Liu Yuning saw the little boy being bullied. She couldn't stand it and bit the man's arm. She brought up her identity as a young lady of the Liu family, and the men left reluctantly. She helped the little boy up from the ground, and at that moment she realized that it wasn't that he didn't want to talk, but that he was a complete mute.
The little mute boy couldn't speak, but he had a pair of bright, expressive eyes that seemed to speak volumes when he looked at people.
When Liu Yuning moved out of the Liu family home to study martial arts, her father soon found out. She was confined to her home for a whole month and made to write thirteen self-criticisms before she was released.
The first thing she did after she came out was to go see the little mute boy.
When Liu Yuning arrived at the martial arts school, she couldn't find the little mute girl, which made her very anxious. Just then, someone tugged at her clothes from behind. A pair of clear eyes looked at her, and the young boy handed her a crumpled piece of paper with only one line written on it: "I owe you my life."
The few simple words were written crookedly. Liu Yuning was about to retort, "Who asked you to owe me anything? Your life isn't worth much." But when she met that sincere gaze, she couldn't bring herself to utter any sarcastic words. She asked resignedly, "Do you want me to sign this IOU with you?"
He nodded vigorously.
Liu Yuning should have refused, but somehow she ended up writing the IOU with the other party.
The young boy solemnly wrote two notes, one for Liu Yuning and one for himself.
After that, the young boy seemed to truly be keeping his promise, training even harder every day than before.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye. The little boy had grown into a young man, and the tender, inexperienced girl had reached the age of engagement. Liu Yuning didn't want to get married. It was Liu Yuning's second to last visit to the martial arts school. That night, she drank a lot of alcohol. When she was dizzy, she leaned on the little mute boy's shoulder. Unlike his frail appearance as a child, the boy's shoulders were now broad, and his clothes carried the fragrance of herbs. These were the herbs he used to treat injuries from martial arts training, and Liu Yuning recognized them at a glance. "Little mute boy, will you take me away from here?"
For the first time, the usually easy-going boy didn't nod. He looked down at the drunken girl, whose gaze was already unfocused. "Let's leave here and open a martial arts school together. I'll be the boss and give you lots and lots of money. How about you marry me?"
The moon was not yet full that day, and the wild grass outside the martial arts school was blown into disarray. For the first time, the boy's burning heart made a mistake.
He took a sip of wine; the spiciness went down his throat. The night grew quiet, and he could hear the soft breathing of a woman beside him.
Looking down at his rough, scarred hands, the boy continued to sit quietly, not daring to make the slightest movement that might wake the girl, until the last light in the martial arts gym went out.
The stars in the sky have dimmed considerably, as if urging those who are away from home to return quickly.
At the Liu residence, there were others who would also find it hard to sleep tonight. Xie Wuwang and Liu Yuyue were not as loving as Liu Yuning had imagined.
Upon their return, the two slept in separate rooms.
It was rare for the young man to reminisce about the past, and when he thought about what he had done during the day, he smiled self-deprecatingly.
In the dead of night, the suffocating feeling of the cold water engulfing his body returned. As usual, he picked up the pills on the table and put them in his mouth.
There are nine pills left.
He walked toward the bed, fully aware of what this meant: his body, clinging to life, had only nine days left.
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