Chapter 70
"Brother Danyang!" I picked up the child and ran, but I could never outrun it.
Li Danyang leaped behind it and pierced its body with the sword in his hand. Then, it suddenly started to burn from the wound pierced by the sword.
At this point, all the scarecrows on the street turned to ashes.
The child I was holding was so frightened that he clung to me tightly, afraid that I would abandon him.
Li Danyang came over and said, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay, anything else?" I asked.
“No more.”
I carried the child back to Sun Peng's house and turned on the lights in the house. The child then woke up and hugged me and cried loudly.
I'm experienced in bullying children, having bullied Qingyun many times at Baiyun Temple. But this child was crying, and I was helpless, so I had to ask Li Danyang for help. Li Danyang came over, took the child, put him on the bed, and kept playing with him.
Perhaps Sun Peng was woken by us, or perhaps he hadn't slept in the first place. He heard his companion crying, so he came out of that room. Seeing Li Danyang and I comforting his friend, he whispered, "Sun Lei, didn't you say you were the bravest?"
Seeing Sun Peng come in and laugh at him, Sun Lei immediately held back his tears. They were like little kids, full of energy, not even sleepy in the middle of the night. I couldn't hold it any longer and fell asleep against the wall, their whispers still ringing in my ears.
When I woke up again, Sun Lei's family was at Sun Peng's house. I recognized Sun Lei's mother immediately; I had seen her yesterday. Li Danyang was chatting with them, and everyone's face was filled with smiles.
I simply washed my face and walked out of the house. When the people in the yard saw me coming out, especially Sun Lei, they hugged my arms and shook them.
"Jia Jia, my mother said she wanted to thank you and uncle."
Seeing that he was a little cute, I couldn't help but ruffle his hair, bent down and said, "How are you going to thank us?"
"Aba is already cooking. Come to my house and eat meat later."
I looked at Li Danyang, and Li Danyang nodded slightly.
I said to Sun Lei, "Okay, then I'll go to your house for dinner later."
Sun Lei's mother also came over and thanked me profusely, but I could only make out the gist of what she said. Li Danyang finally translated for me. When it was time for dinner, Sun Lei took us to his house. Sun Peng was also with us. They were always playing around together, which reminded me of Maomao and Zhang Song. I wonder how they're doing these days.
The buildings here are all pretty much the same, with walls made of loess and straw. The houses are divided into two sections, with cooking and drinking areas in the middle, called the "window basement." Sun Lei's father, Sun Ruiming, is cooking at the stove. Like everyone else in the village, he's been a farmer here for generations.
Entering the east room, I found the same layout as Sun Peng's house: a bed on the south side, two wooden cabinets against the north wall, and a round clock hanging on the wall. However, when I saw a painting next to the clock, my heart was shocked.
The smiles and frowns of the person in the painting, the charming expressions in his eyes, and his gentle temperament...
Li Danyang saw me staring blankly at the painting on the wall, patted my shoulder and asked me, "What are you staring at?"
I finally came to my senses and hurried out of the east room. Looking at Sun Ruiming, who was steaming food under the window, I said, "Uncle, where did you get that painting?"
When Sun Ruiming saw me asking this question, he looked at me with a puzzled look and said, "This was left by the older generation. I thought the painter was pretty good-looking, so I've been hanging it there as a decoration."
Li Danyang also noticed that I was not in a good state and asked, "Little sister, what's wrong?"
I shook my head. I couldn't explain it to him in a few words, so I asked, "Uncle, do you know the person in the painting?"
Sun Ruiming shook his head and said, "I don't know that, but my father definitely knows."
As he was speaking, a white-haired old man came in through the courtyard gate. He looked to be at least ninety years old. He walked with a shaky gait and slow movements. Sun Ruiming said, "He just came back. You can ask Aye."
Sun Ruiming helped the old man into the east room and asked him, "Aye, do you remember who that painting depicts?"
He asked, pointing at the painting on the wall.
"I remember. I remember."
Although I didn't quite understand what they were saying, I remembered this clearly. I sat next to him excitedly and asked him, "Grandpa, how did you get that painting?"
The old man obviously didn't understand what I said. In the end, it was Li Danyang who translated for me and I finally understood the whole story.
The reason why the person in the painting makes me so emotional is that I will never forget that beautiful face. She is Xie Baoyi!
Since Sun Hao and Xie Baoyi parted ways, he has devoted himself to studying in the county town, braving the bitter cold and scorching heat, determined to pass the imperial examination and win Xie Baoyi's heart. However, as is often the case, Sun Hao failed his first attempt at the imperial examination. He became devastated. His cousin in the capital saw him constantly holding an IOU, refusing to eat or drink. Sun Hao, already frail, finally fell ill after being caught in the rain. Fortunately, this was the capital, and his cousin, a businessman, had some family wealth. After consulting a renowned doctor, Sun Hao's condition gradually improved. His cousin, perplexed by Sun Hao's constant gaze at the IOU, assumed he was gloomy because of his debts.
Only then did Sun Hao explain the IOU and how he met Xie Baoyi to his cousin. His cousin then said, "If you truly feel that you've let down Madam Xie by failing the imperial examination, you should work even harder and strive to pass the next imperial examination so that you can marry her into our Sun family with great fanfare. Since you're so distracted and self-pitying every day, it's better for you to give up on Madam Xie and save her from wasting your time."
His cousin's words were like a wake-up call. Sun Hao picked up his books again. Seeing his cousin studying hard every day, his cousin felt comforted and often said to others, "My cousin will definitely pass the imperial examination and bring honor to our Sun family."
Two more years passed like this, Sun Hao never leaving the house, immersed in a sea of books. However, the aftereffects of the heavy rain gradually began to show. Every winter, Sun Hao would cough incessantly, eventually coughing up blood. With the spring exams approaching, Sun Hao, eager to secure a good rank and avoid wasting time, kept the incident secret from his cousin.
But Sun Hao coughed up blood day after day, and his face turned pale. His cousin also realized something was wrong. He quickly called a doctor for treatment. When the doctor felt his pulse, he frowned.
Seeing the doctor's expression, Sun Hao asked, "Doctor, what is my condition?"
At first the doctor didn't want to tell him in person, but Sun Hao was stubborn, so the doctor just said: "The disease is incurable and there is no medicine to save it."
Sun Haoru suffered a heavy blow.
From then on, Sun Hao continued to study all night long. His cousin saw this and felt deeply saddened.
The following spring, the peach blossoms in his cousin's yard blossomed, like Xie Baoyi's pair of peach blossom eyes, smiling at him.
As expected, when the spring exam list was posted, Sun Hao was on the list.
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