61 Moon Shadow Pair
◎I'll pick the first pomegranate for you to eat◎
Song Jinyi scratched her head, her fingers awkwardly tickling the tip of her nose. She was about to find an excuse to get away with it, but when the words reached her lips, she didn't know what she was thinking, so she just asked, "When I was going back, I saw you walking out alone. I was worried about you, so I followed you here. I also wanted to ask you, why are you here?"
Song Jinyi described the tracking as concern and said it with confidence.
Xie Wuyang seemed to believe her words. He looked at Song Jinyi, his eyes meeting hers, his eyes filled with deep sadness, his long eyelashes trembling slightly. "Sister, do you remember what I told you about my mother?"
Song Jinyi thought for a moment, nodded hesitantly, and said, "You told me that your mother unfortunately passed away young."
Xie Wuyang gave a bitter smile and told her, "Sister, although my mother lived on the grassland, she was actually a Han Chinese who was abducted and became the lover of a powerful foreigner.
Later, the powerful people robbed many new women, and my mother's situation became difficult. She had no choice but to give birth to me, and she became even more depressed. She often cried when she looked at Shengjing City in the east.
Later, a great turmoil struck the family, and my father died suddenly. According to grassland customs…” At this point, his eyes darkened and his tone became subdued. “According to grassland customs, when the head of a family dies, the heir will inherit all of the previous head’s property, including all his women…”
Her breath caught when she heard this. This rule was considered a rule in their foreign country, but it was absurd in the Central Plains. She couldn't believe how Xie Wuyang's mother - the Central Plains woman - would deal with it?
Xie Wuyang was trembling all over, his teeth chattering. He gritted his teeth and continued, "She couldn't bear it anymore, so she chose to commit suicide, leaving me alone in that dangerous place, suffering miserably.
Sister, do you want to know how I went from being a normal person to being like that when you first met me?"
He didn't wait for Song Jinyi to answer, and said, "My brother has disliked me since I was a child. After my parents passed away, he wanted to expel me from home. Because of my appearance, he came up with a despicable trick and sold me to the military camp as a prostitute. On the first night...
I tried my best to kill two people and escaped from there. I was seriously injured and exhausted. I fainted in the desert before dawn and was picked up by a passing caravan.
Because of my face, they brought me from the borderland to Yunzhou and wanted to sell me to a noble as a bed slave. I resisted fiercely several times.
They broke my ribs alive and put a collar around my neck. If I hadn’t met my sister, maybe I would be…” Xie Wuyang’s tone was very calm, as if he was telling someone else’s story.
Song Jinyi put her hand on his lips and said softly, "That's enough. No need to talk anymore."
The calmer he spoke of these inhuman experiences, the more uncomfortable her heart felt, as if someone was clutching it tightly. Those words turned into snowflakes falling in Song Jinyi's heart. At first, it was just a snowflake, but later she realized how piercing it was.
Her brows were furrowed, and her heart was filled with pain. She reached out and held the person in her arms, silently comforting him.
He buried his head in the crook of her neck and said in a muffled voice, "I just want to learn from you Central Plains people's customs and find a place to bury my mother's things so that her soul can rest in peace and come here to worship her every year."
Xie Wuyang was very close to her, his breath fanning her jaw as he spoke, and his thick eyelashes fluttered across her neck, but she didn't care at all, thinking about his words.
She patted his back and said, "I once heard that there's a large, desolate forest outside the north city. Many people are buried there because they don't have a gravesite. You can bury your aunt's belongings there. I'll go with you."
Daxia was a vast country with abundant resources, and there were many traders coming and going. Emperor Gaozu of Xia issued an edict that night markets could not be banned until three o'clock in the morning.
It would still be some time before curfew, enough time to go back and forth.
The two walked for half an hour and arrived at the desolate forest.
The tall trees were intertwined into spider-web-like shadows under the moonlight. Graves were everywhere on the ground. The moonlight that seemed soft in the past now became pale and creepy.
As the eerie wind blew against her cheeks, Song Jinyi's mind, which had just heated up, cooled down and she couldn't help asking herself: How dare you come here so late at night?
But then she changed her mind and realized that if Xie Wuyang came alone, she would not feel at ease, as the two of them could still take care of him.
She found a relatively flat and open place and asked Xie Wuyang what he wanted to bury. He silently took out a golden knife and buried it in the soil, making a small mound.
He knelt on the ground reverently and kowtowed three times, expressing how much he missed his mother.
Song Jinyi stood behind him, looking at him silently.
After Xie Wuyang finished bowing, he stood up and turned around to look at her. His dark green eyes were covered with a layer of moisture at some point, like banana leaves wet by rain, making people feel damp, depressed and uneasy.
Such a pitiful and fragile look aroused Song Jinyi's pity.
She walked closer, meeting his sparkling gaze and brushing the stray hairs from his forehead. Her eyes were filled with deep tenderness as she whispered to him in a gentle voice, "The dead are gone, the living are gone."
"You know there's a saying in the Central Plains that if someone you love dies, they'll turn into stars in the sky and stay with you forever. You're not alone. Besides the stars, you also have me by your side..." She paused, "and Sister Ruolan and Li He are by your side."
The comfort of words is often pale. She looked at him immersed in sadness, sighed, and told him about her past.
"You have met your parents and had a happy time. When I was little, I was alone. I had no parents, no family, and I was completely lonely.
But you see, I'm doing fine now, with enough food and drink, and I've even met you and Sister Ruolan and the others. We, the scattered fireflies, have come together to form a family."
When she said this, she tilted her head slightly and looked at the moonlight, and did not see the strange look in Xie Wuyang's eyes.
After a long silence, he said, "Sister, you are wrong. In my heart, you are the only family member in my heart." He turned his head and looked sideways at Song Jinyi, his tone very serious.
Her heart was like a calm lake, rippled by his words, and circles of ripples spread across her chest, giving her a strange sense of satisfaction.
The two of them sat quietly in the moonlight for a while.
Song Jinyi suddenly stood up, knelt down facing the tomb, and said solemnly: "Aunt, please rest assured. Since your son has met me and called me sister, I will treat him like his own elder sister."
Xie Wuyang glanced at her in surprise. Song Jinyi looked generous and extended her hand to him, motioning him to pull her up. She tilted her head and said to him, "Let's go home."
Xie Wuyang pulled her up and said, "Okay, let's go home."
******
In the blink of an eye, it was the 25th day of the lunar year.
There are five days left until New Year's Eve.
Unlike in the past, where working people could delay going home until New Year's Eve, general merchandise and food stores were open until New Year's Eve. But here, business gradually slows down as the New Year approaches, and many stores close for the New Year.
The guests, whose homes were away from home, packed their bags and set off on their journey home; those who lived in Yunzhou also took a break from their work and stopped going out for social events and meals, but instead bought New Year's goods and spent time with their families.
Song Jinyi simply closed the shop and focused on the renovations.
She wanted to take advantage of this time to get the store ready so that she could open it directly after the Chinese New Year without wasting any time.
Xu Ruolan made a bet with her that as the Chinese New Year was approaching, even the most stingy boss would have to let the workers go home to celebrate the New Year. Even the most greedy person would want to go home and spend the New Year with his family. No one would take this business.
Song Jinyi just smiled and said nothing. In his previous life, there was a word called "involution". If you don't do it, there will always be someone willing to do it.
When some craftsmen from the countryside of Yunzhou heard about this job, which paid twenty cents more per day than usual, they immediately put down their meals and came to the city to take the job. Unfortunately, Manager Song only wanted two people.
Those who got the job were thankful that they had long legs and sharp ears, which allowed them to get this job. They could earn some money before the New Year and then go home to buy a few pounds of meat for their children's mother.
Watching them working grunts and pans, Song Jinyi flattened his palm and placed it on Xu Ruolan's face.
Xu Ruolan accepted the loss and took out three copper coins from her purse and put them in her hand.
She accepted the gambling money with a smile, secretly sighing that Xu Ruolan was still too young.
For Song Jinyi, New Year's Eve in her previous life was no different from any other day. She mechanically repeated the same work until it was time to get off work. If her boss had no conscience, she wouldn't even get overtime pay.
It’s not even New Year’s Eve yet, and she’s still paying “overtime pay”, so why is no one coming?
And what's the point of working so close to the Chinese New Year? Later, the term "adjusted leave" was invented, squeezing people into compressed biscuits. Oh, it's unspeakable.
On the day before New Year's Eve, the wall was broken through and the debris was cleared away. Song Jinyi settled the wages for the past few days, and the remaining work could be completed in less than two days.
She agreed with them on a date and would come to resume the work on the fifth day of the New Year without any delay.
Once this wall was opened up, the hall became two rooms instead of one, and it became much more spacious. It could accommodate fourteen or fifteen tables before, but now it can accommodate more than thirty tables to receive guests.
Sometimes when Li He has nothing to do, she will run back and forth between the two halls for fun. This spacious hall is like a corridor to her.
Once, she turned around and saw Song Jinyi holding a broom with a devilish smile on her face: "Since you like playing here, why don't you clean this hall."
"Ah?" Li He stood there, wanting to cry but unable to. The hall was so big, how could she clean it? She looked at Song Jinyi pitifully.
Xie Wuyang happened to walk over, glanced at Li He, and said without emotion: "Sister, you're just kidding. We'll have to clean up after we get through this wall. It's useless to clean it now."
Li He didn't quite believe him, so she turned to Song Jinyi and asked, "Is what he said true?"
Song Jinyi rubbed her head and said, "Let's not clean here, let's go to the back room to clean."
Sweeping the house before New Year’s Eve means bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, and sweeping away the bad luck and misfortune of the year.
Xu Ruolan cleaned the kitchen, Xie Wuyang cleaned the yard, and Song Jinyi and Li He cleaned the house where they lived.
Song Jinyi was sweeping the floor with a feather duster, and when she opened the window, she saw Xie Wuyang standing in the yard with a broom. She followed his gaze and saw the pomegranate tree in the yard that had long been blown bare by the cold wind.
Song Jinyi leaned against the window and asked him, "This tree is dead, what's so good about it?"
Xie Wuyang looked over when he heard the voice and said, "Sister, I was wondering if this pomegranate tree will bear fruit next year?"
She nodded and said, "This tree is five or six years old. It should bear fruit next year. Do you want to eat pomegranates in the middle of winter?"
"Well, seeing this tree, I suddenly want to eat pomegranates."
Song Jinyi smiled brilliantly, revealing a row of white teeth like shells. "Okay, when the tree bears fruit next year, I'll pick the first pomegranate for you to eat."
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