Chapter 47 Someone will take you back to kiss
Qiao Xi felt that Morax might have lived for too long and therefore had no concept of time. Half a month had passed since he told her he would be back in two or three days, and there was still no news of his return.
Qiao Xi even asked Yi Xiao and Liu Yun about this, but the answer they received was the same: the Emperor had his own deeper meaning.
Qiao Xi couldn't help but wonder what the deeper meaning of Morax was.
Without a specific timeframe, one is left in a state of empty waiting. Although one can temporarily escape this through practice and study, one still can't help but think about it when facing the light at night.
In recent days, Qiao Xi has been able to hear faint chirping of insects in the forest.
That morning, Qiao Xi carried a small basket and went with Jin Lan to pick locust flowers. When they were almost under the locust tree, they saw an old woman standing there.
Qiao Xi recognized the old woman's back view. She frowned and unconsciously stopped in her tracks. Jin Lan tugged at her arm.
What are you looking at?
Qiao Xi said, "I feel like I know that old lady under the tree very well."
Qiao Xi remembered; this was the mother-in-law she met the night her gold coins were stolen.
She said a lot of vague things about "cause and effect" back then, and now she's here again, meeting her and Jinlan. Is it a coincidence?
Jinlan looked at Qiao Xi and said, "Oh, you mean Grandma Qiao?"
Qiao Xi looked at Jin Lan and frowned: "She also has the surname 'Qiao'?"
“No,” Jinlan said, “Her name is Qiao, the Qiao of bridge. Half a year ago, she was hit by a wild boar and fell into a ditch. I rescued her and took her to the hospital. Now I often go to help her with farm work, like harvesting wheat and millet. She lives in a village north of Tianheng Mountain. She is a widow and has no children.”
Qiao Xi frowned. She sensed that this old woman was no ordinary person. From her sudden appearance beside her and her cryptic remarks to her current solitary state, everything seemed to fit the characteristics of a hidden important character in a comic.
Jinlan said, "Let's go, let's help Grandma Qiao pick flowers, and I'll take you to her house for some peach wine. Grandma Qiao's peach wine is very popular in the village."
Qiao Xi nodded. She thought it would be good to go and see. This old woman was too strange, and she wanted to figure her out.
Jinlan was already tugging at Qiaoxi's sleeve, waving at Grandma Qiao: "Grandma, you're here too."
Grandma Qiao turned around, her aged eyes extremely calm, and silently glanced at Qiao Xi, who was also looking at her warily.
After a brief eye contact, Grandma Qiao smiled, walked over to Jinlan, and said, "This must be the younger sister that Lan often talks about?"
Jinlan smiled and nodded: "Yes, she doesn't go down the mountain as often as I do, and you see her less often. Does Grandma's house still have peach wine? My sister has never tried it, and I'd like to get her some."
"Of course, it's reserved especially for Lan." Grandma Qiao smiled, then turned to Qiao Xi and said, "You're a very pretty young lady, it's our first meeting."
Qiao Xi knew that her mother-in-law was acting with her, so she nodded and said, "You are very beautiful too, Mother-in-law."
Jinlan paused, then turned to look at Qiao Xi and whispered, "Watch your words, Grandma Qiao is eighty-eight this year."
Qiao Xi blinked: "But she is indeed very beautiful."
Grandma Bridge was delighted. She smiled and took their hands, saying, "Let's go."
*
After Qiao Xi and Jin Lan finished picking the locust flowers for Grandma Qiao, and left enough for themselves, they each carried a basket on their backs and headed north towards Tianheng Mountain.
Because the villages on the north side of Tianheng Mountain are adjacent to the sea, the fishy smell in the air is more pronounced than on the mountain. Grandma Qiao led Qiao Xi and Jin Lan to a small courtyard. She took out a key from her pocket and tried to poke it into the keyhole a few times, but it wouldn't go in.
"Grandma, let me do it." Jinlan walked over, took the key from Grandma Qiao's hand, and opened the courtyard gate.
After the three of them went inside, Grandma Qiao said to Jinlan, "The wine is still in the straw behind the house over there. I can't move it anymore. Go and get a few jars to take with you."
Jinlan nodded, thanked Grandma Qiao, and was about to leave.
Qiao Xi called out to him, "I'll help you."
Jinlan said, "No need, it's too chaotic over there, I'm familiar with it."
As he spoke, he ran toward the back of the house.
Only Qiao Xi and Grandma Qiao remained in the courtyard.
Qiao Xi stopped pretending and asked directly, "Mother-in-law, did you show up on purpose again this time?"
Grandma Qiao raised her head and looked at Qiao Xi. Her eyes showed no trace of her previous old age; instead, they held a clarity that could see right through people.
She nodded and said, "Yes, I was waiting for you to come."
A breeze brushed against Qiao Xi's cheek as she sat down at the stone table in the courtyard. She asked Granny Qiao, "Shall we stop being riddle tellers? Why did you come to find me? Do you know something?"
Grandma Bridge walked up to her and said, “Child, the reason I came to you this time is to tell you that the moment is coming soon. You must remember what I told you about cause and effect. If you want to change the result, you must change the cause. But the cause has not yet appeared. When it appears, it will be a long period of suffering. However, that will be the only time when you can change it.”
Qiao Xi frowned: "Another riddle."
Grandma Bridge: "Because that's all I can say."
Qiao Xi: "Did I come here because of you?"
Grandma Bridge shook her head: "It's because of a kind child."
Qiao Xi paused slightly: "Jinlan?"
Grandma Bridge didn't speak, but smiled slightly, and that smile gave an affirmative answer.
Qiao Xi guessed that she didn't say because that was all she could say, but why Jin Lan? She didn't know Jin Lan before.
*
On the way back, Qiao Xi kept frowning and scrutinizing Jin Lan. Jin Lan felt that her gaze was chilling and couldn't help but distance herself from Qiao Xi.
Qiao Xi narrowed her eyes: "Jin Lan, tell me the truth."
Jinlan asked warily, "I ate that box of pastries you had, but it's been three months. How do you still remember?"
Qiao Xi: "What? You ate my box of pastries?"
Jinlan: "...I was careless, that's not what I was asking."
Qiao Xi asked, "Do you have some kind of secret?"
Jinlan: "Besides eating your snacks, what else do you know about me?"
"I didn't know you knew Grandma Bridge."
Jinlan: "I know a lot of old men and women. I'll take you to meet them one by one another day and tell them you're my sister."
Qiao Xi sighed. She felt that Jin Lan wasn't faking it, but what exactly did that old woman Qiao mean?
Why is her coming into this world related to Jinlan?
Wait a minute, Qiao Xi paused. This whole thing was just her speculation from beginning to end. Grandma Qiao hadn't admitted a single thing, so what was that smile she gave at the end? Was she just naturally cheerful?
Qiao Xi couldn't understand it. She scratched her hair hard, which startled Jin Lan. He thought Qiao Xi had gone crazy.
"Peach wine, have some." He said, taking out a jar and handing it to Qiao Xi.
Qiao Xi took it and looked at the round, white jar in her hand, wondering if Grandma Qiao was really some kind of hidden figure, could she, an outsider, drink the wine she made?
While Qiao Xi was still hesitating, Jin Lan had already opened a jar, tilted his head back and drank it down. He wiped his mouth and said, "Refreshing!"
Qiao Xi was so shocked she was like a bell ringing. She couldn't help but clasp her hands in a fist and palm salute to Jin Lan: "Hero!"
Jinlan frowned: "It's sweet, and it's bubbly too. It's super delicious, you should try it."
Sweet, bubbly, and super delicious...
These words struck Qiao Xi's heart with perfect precision.
Qiao Xi squinted uncertainly. She was already eighteen years old, an adult, and could drink alcohol.
Also, the sweet sparkling water—she's been here for almost a year, and she really misses it.
Driven by a craving, Qiao Xi opened the bottle and took a small sip.
Jinlan: "How is it?"
Qiao Xi's eyes lit up: "It's sweet!"
Jinlan: "I knew it!"
Qiao Xi took another sip: "It doesn't taste like alcohol!"
Jinlan: "Grandma Qiao said that because this is wine she fermented with potatoes and honey, and also filtered and distilled it, the wine flavor is very light when peach juice is added."
Qiao Xi had secretly tasted the wine in her mother's wine cabinet before, but she couldn't drink either the white wine or the red wine.
She really likes this refreshing, fruit-like wine.
Seeing that she hadn't been seriously affected by just a couple of sips, Qiao Xi simply followed Jin Lan's example and drank the whole can, then wiped her mouth and exclaimed, "Refreshing!"
*
Qiao Xi's alcohol tolerance was worse than Jin Lan had expected. He hadn't anticipated that this fruit wine, which had virtually no alcohol content, would actually knock Qiao Xi out.
"And this person's drinking manners are terrible..." Jinlan couldn't help but facepalm, looking at Qiao Xi who was climbing the tree and calling her a wild boar.
He walked to the tree, looking helpless: "Wild boars can't climb trees."
“You’re right,” Qiao Xi mumbled sleepily, then laughed, “That wild boar is going to come down from the tree and fly away!”
As she spoke, Qiao Xi made it look like she was about to jump down from the tree.
Jinlan was sweating profusely. Qiao Xi was already chubby, and he had developed some muscles from practicing martial arts recently. If he fell from such a height, would he be crushed to death if he tried to catch him?
But if I don't go to catch her, will Qiao Xi fall to her death?
Jin Lan took a deep breath. He didn't care anymore; he had to catch Qiao Xi. He couldn't let Qiao Xi die, no matter what.
Just then, Jinlan was suddenly pulled away by a large hand. Confused, Jinlan turned her head and saw Morax.
He stared blankly: "Your Majesty?"
Morax didn't look at him, but simply responded with a soft "hmm".
Then, standing under the tree, he reached out and caught Qiao Xi just in time.
Qiao Xi buried her face in Morax's arms and said in a daze, "It smells so good, I want to take a bite."
Morax: "..."
Upon hearing this, Jinlan almost burst into laughter on the spot. Was she about to bite?
Qiao Xi kept trying to burrow her head into Morax's arms, but when she found that they were too hard to fit, she angrily raised her head and bumped it.
Jinlan suppressed a laugh, thinking to himself: Little Qiao Xi is so cute, Your Majesty, you're smitten, aren't you? I'd headbutt your chest, oh my god!
Qiao Xi sighed, looked up at the person holding her, and said with a flushed face, "Morax, you're back?"
"You're back?" Morax gently smoothed the hair at her temples.
Qiao Xi smiled, looked at Morax, and said nothing more.
After a while, she said again, "I want a kiss."
Morax paused, glancing sideways at Jinlan beside him, who immediately covered her eyes.
Morax coughed helplessly and said, "There are people here. I'll take you back for a kiss."
Jinlan: ! !
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Author's Note: I've been dealing with some really demanding things lately, so updates will be a bit late. See you tomorrow!
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