Chapter 55
In the blink of an eye, a week has passed since I returned to the Heavenly Realm.
Everything was proceeding smoothly and in an ideal manner. Zhou Huai returned to his master to focus on cultivating his mind, while we received many visitors.
Half of these visitors came to hear about everyday life, while the other half sneakily came to watch us gossip.
The God of Love and the God of Wealth got together, and they felt it was a great pity that this momentous event didn't make the headlines in the divine realm.
Every time this was said, Wu Qi would nod in agreement, wishing he could put up banners in every temple dedicated to the God of Wealth around the world to announce this moment.
My social anxiety flared up again, and I just kept rubbing my forehead and forcing a bitter smile.
After resting for a while, Wu Qi and I went to the Heavenly Emperor to receive our orders.
Standing in the main hall, I suddenly understood what it meant to be outmatched by others and to be in a world beyond our understanding.
We changed into casual clothes, and he hung copper coins around his waist as decoration, which made a crisp sound when they moved in the wind.
Although I no longer need to wear red thread around my neck, I still habitually wear a red string, as if only in this way can I match my red outfit.
The Heavenly Emperor saw through the secret between us at a glance.
"Isn't life nice?"
I subconsciously concealed my expression.
Everyone knows that this "not bad" carries multiple meanings. Does it mean that my relationship with Wu Qi is good, or that the arduous tasks we do in the interpersonal relationships are good, or that our friendship is good...? I can't say for sure, and I won't actively identify with any of them.
He simply said, "They're all good."
The Heavenly Emperor stroked his silvery-white beard, squinted at me, and smiled, "Our little matchmaker seems to have become much more composed."
I didn't dare to look up and meet his gaze, but I felt that his gaze was solemn and profound.
It was as if he could see my naive soul through my skin, and see that little white rabbit from hundreds of years ago who didn't know how to be sociable, now acting like a little adult, chatting with him in the main hall.
After looking at it for a while, he finally turned his gaze to another one.
"Wu Qi, how's the task I assigned you going?"
I was startled and couldn't help but look up at him from the side. Cold sweat instantly covered my entire body.
We really had a lot of fun and wandered around on this trip, but as for the mission, I didn't hear Wu Qi mention it at all.
This guy must have forgotten!
I'm working on the wording, and it feels just like writing an essay in the human world.
After being given a few topics, he started making things up, and ended up writing a philosophical paper on a 1,000-word essay paper.
Just like now, the Heavenly Emperor has given me a topic, and I'm following up by guessing what the task is, and then I'm putting together a grand mission plan.
I came up with a starting point and was about to step in to fill the gap when I heard Wu Qi say slowly, "I've been to both the South and the North."
...
What.
Wu Qi, abandoning his usual carefree demeanor, calmly said, "Wherever we go, there is plenty of food and clothing, and the people are prosperous and the country is wealthy."
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head and met my gaze, which was so wide with astonishment that my eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets.
The Heavenly Emperor seemed to notice my surprise and burst into laughter beside me.
"With the God of Wealth descending upon the world, the land is indeed fertile and boundless."
Wu Qi pursed his lips and laughed along with the Heavenly Emperor, a sound that suggested wealth: "Your governance is truly effective."
After a brief chat about what we had seen and heard in the human world, the Heavenly Emperor released us and sent us back.
Before we'd gone far, I couldn't help but ask Wu Qi, "Did you really come down with a mission? Why didn't you ever tell me? Maybe I can help you with something."
"You?" Wu Qi fiddled with two copper coins between his fingers, his eyelids drooping. "Wherever you go, it's all about bowing to heaven and earth, bowing to parents. Everyone's become love-struck, who has time to make money for poverty alleviation?"
"..."
I was so embarrassed by his words that I almost started a fight with him on the spot.
But then I thought about it again, and our relationship is no longer what it used to be. Isn't Wu Qi's 107-year-old dark history enough for me to talk about?
I immediately calmed down, beckoned him to lower his head.
Wu Qi was puzzled, then bent down.
Is the experience of becoming 'love-obsessed' something learned from one's own life?
Wu Qi's body suddenly stiffened.
He stared straight at me, his gaze intense and undisguised. I covered my lips and chuckled softly, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
When we reached the entrance of the Temple of the Matchmaker, I waved goodbye to him and sarcastically told him, "Think about me for a while, you'll soon find out what the marriage inscription on this plaque really means."
"..."
This sentence finally broke down Wu Qi's last line of defense.
He suddenly took a step forward, tightened his arms, and lifted me up around the waist. I lost my balance for a moment, cried out in surprise, and clung tightly to his neck in mid-air.
He said, slowly and deliberately, "Is that so?"
I breathed heavily in his ear in a panic, my legs struggling and shifting wildly. But Wu Qi's palm pressed against my waist, swaying with each step, pressing down on my most sensitive spot.
I was so exhausted that I was put on the bed as soon as I entered the room.
Before my breathing had even settled, the person in front of me leaned down and wrapped their arms around me in an aggressive posture, then turned their head and lightly touched my lips with a fleeting touch.
I don't need to look in a mirror to know how red my face is; it looks like the sunset has been stripped from the sky and put on my face.
I raised my hand to touch his face, and he turned his head to rub my palm affectionately, then buried his face in it and gently sucked on my palm.
I traced my fingers down Wu Qi's angular face to his neck, and he leaned in to give me a long, lingering kiss.
He bit my lower lip and whispered, mimicking my tone, "Then you'll soon learn what it means to say the more you say, the more mistakes you make."
After saying that, he leaned over and pressed down on me.
Back in the celestial realm, taking off clothes is much more complicated than on earth! Back then I was clearly naked, unlike now, where I have to take them off and untie knot after knot, and in the end, I still have my undergarment left untied.
I admired Wu Qi's patience, but I also slowly became lost in his intermittent attempts to kiss me.
Springtime light is just beginning to peek through, yet it seems to both resist and welcome it.
Gentleness was reserved for the first time; the second time onward, it became violent and unbearable. I pushed him away several times, but he would grab my ankle and drag me back.
The white gauze curtain in front of the window rippled, revealing intertwined figures.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the sheer curtains, like a car passing under the shade of green trees.
It goes on and on, endlessly.
-
When I woke up again, it was already dawn, around three or four o'clock.
Wu Qi sat beside me, his fingers twirling my hair, his other hand holding a book of poems, seemingly engrossed in reading it.
His clothes were pulled off wide, revealing his collarbone and abs, which were covered with tiny hickeys.
I stared at it for a long time before finally raising my head in satisfaction.
"Brother Qi."
"Um?"
I nestled in his arms, my head resting in the crook of his neck.
"Are you still reciting your lessons?" My throat was hoarse and dry. Wu Qi handed me a sip of water before I continued, "We've been away from No. 2 High School for a long time."
It means that we've been gone for a long time and no longer need to deal with the teacher.
Wu Qi simply gave a casual "hmm".
He then added, "Not long, only a week."
"One day in the realm of gods is equivalent to one year in the mortal realm."
The last time I heard this phrase was when I first descended to earth. Now, when I say it again, I can no longer recapture the feeling I had back then.
I said, "Judging by the time, they... have all finished their graduate studies."
Wu Qi's book remained on a page of "Ode to the Red Cliff," his slender, cool fingertips tracing the rough texture of the paper, lingering on the top line—
"Time flows on like this, yet it never truly goes away."
"What's past is past, A-Yue," he comforted me, turning his head to kiss my forehead.
I was annoyed by his nonchalant attitude; it felt like my emotions had fallen to the ground, and no one was there to pick them up or collect them.
"Then tell me, did we really live in the human world?" I propped myself up on my arms, my hair peeking out from between his fingers, and my speech quickened. "What if, hundreds of years from now, even we ourselves have forgotten this experience?"
Wu Qi replied, "I won't forget."
"Who are you trying to fool by pretending you don't care all the time... huh?"
I was caught up in my emotions and blurted out whatever came to mind. It wasn't until a moment later that I realized Wu Qi had said "I won't forget," not something like "it doesn't matter."
Seeing that I was in a bad mood, Wu Qi had no choice but to stroke me gently.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me back to my original position, then said again, "I won't forget."
I asked, stunned, "What makes you say that?"
The morning light gradually streamed into the room, casting a hazy glow on his face.
He said firmly, "I'm certain that there are traces of our existence in this world."
After saying that, he stopped explaining and just told me to get dressed so he could take me somewhere.
When he led me there in a daze, I suddenly realized that this was the same mountain temple he had brought me to before.
That temple in the human world.
I don't know if it was timed perfectly, or if autumn was frozen in time here, but what greeted me was still an endless expanse of red maple leaves.
The mountains are filled with a misty, damp air, and you can even smell a faint earthy scent.
Wu Qi and I stood on the bluestone steps, like ghosts suddenly appearing in the mist. I looked blankly at the scene before and behind me, trying to find differences from the image in my memory.
Upon comparison, it was only found that the red paint on the wall was a bit lighter, and slightly inferior compared to the red paint all over the floor.
In my memory, the old monk sweeping the doorway had some wrinkles on his face.
Wu Qi led me along a shortcut, easily finding his way to a suspension bridge.
Beneath the bridge lay a tranquil lake, its surface rippled only by the faint presence of mosquitoes. The mist obscured the view into the distance, blurring the horizon into a vast expanse, as if we were the only two people left in the world.
As my toes stepped onto the bridge, a series of sounds followed the swaying motion.
Then I noticed that the entire bridge was covered with wooden signs written by tourists. They swayed in the wind like wind chimes.
Wu Qi pulled me forward.
I had no intention of prying into other people's wishes, but I couldn't help but try to decipher the words written on those crooked wooden signs.
"Ah Yue, where's that wooden plaque you had back then?" Wu Qi asked.
"I'll use it to prop up the corner of the table." I said without thinking.
"Really?" Wu Qi enveloped my entire hand in his palm. He clearly didn't believe me. "Didn't it say something like 'Brother Qi is so handsome, I like him so much'—or something like that?"
"..."
I raised my elbow and gave him a shove.
Although he was completely right, I still managed to maintain my last shred of dignity.
"Did you forget to dream while you were sleeping? Are you making up for it by talking in your sleep now?"
Wu Qi: "..."
He smiled, pursed his lips, and then said in a cheeky tone, "Ah Yue, you're all I dream about."
Me: "It's so sour!"
Wu Qi chimed in, "Why not 'It's so sweet it's killing me'?"
I couldn't stand him like that anymore, so I quickly changed the subject, "Speaking of me, where's your wooden sign?"
I thought he would bring up some other nonsense, but to my surprise, he stopped in the middle of the bridge and pointed it out to me.
"Here."
"ah?"
I was caught off guard and didn't react in time.
I still remember how curious I was when he was carving it, craning my neck for ages but not seeing a single word. Now he's placing it right in front of me, telling me that the wish he wrote down a year ago is right here.
I really want to open the box containing the wrapped gift.
My heart was pounding.
I looked at him, seeking his permission—
Can I really watch it?
Wu Qi nodded.
I quickly picked it up with both hands.
The wooden board felt cool to the touch, and due to the temperature difference between day and night in Nancheng, several obvious cracks had already appeared on the back of the board.
Clutching the wooden plaque, his fingertips touched the words Wu Qi had written at that moment.
I carefully turned it over.
After peeping, they froze on the spot.
There were no grand pronouncements, no affected sentimentality, and certainly no nonsense like "Wu Qi is the most handsome man in the world."
It consists of only four characters.
Standing side by side.
Sangyue.
Wu Qi.
The slender gold script. Like the name on a wedding invitation.
Those sharp emotions, those aversions to parting, were all gently and tenderly lifted up at this moment.
I finally understood where Wu Qi's confident tone came from.
We have indeed lived on earth.
This wooden plaque has silently accompanied humanity for many years.
No one can erase the traces of our existence.
With a sob in my mouth, I asked Wu Qidao, "Did you know back then that this would be the outcome?"
That's why we were left in the human world so early.
“Ah Yue”.
Wu Qi took my hand again, and the wind blew, dispelling the mountain mist.
Sunlight shines through the clouds and into the mountain, like scattered wisps of smoke and mist.
When he laughed, his expression remained as unrestrained and clear as ever.
"The world is you and me," he said.
-
When I returned to the Temple of the Matchmaker, the shock still lingered for a long time.
The surging tides crashed in, as if countless untold stories were stuck in my heart, making it hard for me to breathe.
I will forever run wild amidst the fireworks of human life.
Rather than getting bogged down in the quagmire of memory, I should put all that I have seen and heard into writing and put it all on paper.
I picked up my pen, but didn't know where to begin.
After much thought, I decided to start with the first time Wu Qi and I met in the human world.
It all started with that shower of pear blossoms.
"—It was springtime, and pear blossoms were blooming all over the streets, but the wind was a bit annoying, scattering them all over my head."
The scenery was indeed beautiful; I couldn't help but drift off into daydreams as I walked along the roadside.
-End of text-
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