Chapter 47 The name 'Yu Nie' from the medical family means a fleeting glimpse of good fortune...
There is an old saying about homosexuality.
Although Yu Nie considered herself a terrible humanities student, she had at least heard some of these anecdotes and stories from her ancestors.
Although she respected all orientations, the way that "young man" spoke always made her feel that it didn't sound like a young man's voice.
Zijing and Ahui are both young men who have not yet come of age. They look not much younger than "Little Brother" in terms of age, but their speech and behavior are quite different.
Even though customs differ greatly between ancient and modern times, the appearance and voice of young people can still be traced.
Although both were young men, the "young man" spoke and acted much more softly than Zijing and the others. He didn't seem like a rough laborer, but rather like a young lady waiting to be married.
After thinking for a long time, she finally realized where the "wrong" thing was: this wasn't brotherly affection, it was clearly not romantic love!
Perhaps she had been caught peeping, for Lan Ting glared at her sharply.
Peeping is ultimately immoral, and she was in the wrong from the start.
After being glared at like that, she could only give an apologetic smile and walk away dejectedly.
The caravan owner, who had been chatting with her the whole way, had witnessed everything that happened between them.
As she returned to the fire to continue tending it, the owner came over and comforted her, saying, "Little Taoist priest, don't take it to heart. That Nie Lanting just has this bad temper. He's fierce and menacing to everyone, except for the young man beside him. He doesn't give anyone any face."
Yu Nie casually picked up a stick used for poking firewood and replied nonchalantly, "I am a magnanimous person and will certainly not hold it against him."
Like a peddler praising his own wares, she was always good at exaggerating her own abilities.
However, recalling the sensation she felt when she accidentally touched the "young man's" palm as she handed him the medicine bottle, she remembered the feeling.
Those were hands with skin as delicate as soft tofu, as white as white porcelain jade fired in the Wuxia kiln.
Adding to the caravan owner's last two sentences, she couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Isn't it said that bosses dislike unruly employees the most? If that person has such a bad temper, why did you hire him to work?"
"Hey..." The caravan leader had an "you don't know" look on his face: "Those two aren't hired by me."
Upon hearing this, Yu Nie exclaimed in surprise, "These two aren't from your merchant caravan?!"
The leader shook his head and, without keeping anyone in suspense, recounted how he met and became acquainted with Nie Lanting.
It was said that due to the continuous heavy rain, the two men stayed at the same inn in Jincheng County as their caravan.
Nie Lanting and his companion originally intended to cross the Yellow River to reach the Lianzhou area. However, heavy rains caused the water level to rise rapidly and showed no signs of stopping.
While chatting with their caravan, Nie Lanting unexpectedly learned that they could cross Panshan Mountain and Zuli River to reach Yongdeng Ferry upstream and cross the river.
Because they were unfamiliar with the mountain roads, Nie Lanting paid the caravan a sum of money to take them along.
The shopkeeper said, "I heard they came from Shuoyang, so we're from the same hometown. Plus, it's on the way, so I decided to take them with me."
So that's how it is. Yu Nie murmured to himself.
It seems she guessed right; that "young man" clearly wasn't the type to do manual labor, so why would he have work to do in the caravan?
Nie Lanting, on the other hand, looks quite like a merchant caravan member. He's big and looks like someone skilled in wielding swords and spears, or carrying bricks and sand.
If you ask what makes him look different, it's simply that he has a fair complexion and doesn't look like someone who's been exposed to the elements.
As they were talking, the water in the pot began to boil, and beef was cooking inside.
Instantly, even the leaves on the mountain trees were imbued with the fragrance of beef soup.
The boss insisted on showing off his skills, wanting to personally prepare the flavor. He was worried that the waiter would mess it up and ruin the reputation of their Shuoyang clear-stewed veal.
And sure enough, it actually turned out to be true. Yu Nie drank so much that his mouth watered, and he drank three big bowls in a row.
Perhaps they felt bad about eating so much.
After crossing the mountain, she took out several bottles of "alcohol" from her luggage, falsely claiming that it was "Huoyang Dew," which she had developed herself. She said that before applying any medicine, she would pour a little onto gauze to clean the wound, so that it would not easily become infected.
The leader repeatedly refused to accept it.
He only accepted it after she insisted on giving it to him.
The group bid farewell at Panshankou.
Watching the caravan disappear into the distance, Yu Nie turned around and found herself alone, along with Nie Lanting and that "young man".
It took most of the day to traverse the entire mountain.
It was still dark, and Yu Nie wanted to speed things up and get ahead a bit more.
After all, they came from the same caravan. Even though there had been some unpleasantness before, Yu Nie did not turn around and leave when it was time to part. Instead, he took the reins and slowly walked up to the two men.
She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Uh... it's getting late, and I still have to hurry on my way. Otherwise, I'm really scared to walk alone through this desolate wilderness. I'm quite afraid to be alone."
She spoke frankly. Knowing that the other person was on the same path as her and could have traveled together, Yu Nie didn't ask if they wanted to go together, thinking of the awkwardness before, and decided to leave alone.
If you keep going forward, you'll reach the Zuli River, and beyond that, you'll reach Jingyuan.
Without needing to calculate carefully, she knew Jingyuan definitely wouldn't arrive tonight, so she could only speed things up and head towards the vicinity of the Zuli River.
Where there is water, there are bound to be residents. If she's lucky, she can find a place to stay, so she doesn't have to live in fear in the wild and have a bad night's sleep.
"Then, gentlemen, we shall part ways here. May we meet again someday." She bowed and turned to leave.
Before she could turn around, the "young man" suddenly called out to her, "Wait a minute, young Taoist priest..."
Yu Nie stopped and turned around.
Ignoring the people around him who tried to stop him, the young man went straight up to her.
He seemed to still feel guilty and said softly, "I didn't have the chance before while I was on the mountain, but now that I have the time, I still want to formally ask the Taoist priest for forgiveness."
Upon hearing this, Yu Nie was taken aback at first, but then he came to his senses and realized that the person in front of him was referring to the matter of delivering the medicine.
For her, this matter is already over.
She replied magnanimously, "Young master, you are too kind. You already apologized on the mountain earlier, so there is no need to apologize a second time. Besides, I have not taken this matter to heart, so you need not worry about it."
Unexpectedly, the person in front of her was still preoccupied with the unpleasantness that had just occurred, and Yu Nie felt a surge of warmth in her heart.
No other evidence is needed; this persistence alone is enough for her to see how thoughtful this "young man" is.
Most people, once they apologize, will not apologize a second time.
"Young Master" said, "Young Taoist Master, you have a broad mind and a heart as vast as the sky. If it were anyone else, they would have taken it to heart, after all, they lost face in front of so many people. But you just laughed it off. I truly admire your magnanimity."
Yu Nie said, "If you keep praising me, I'll get arrogant." She smiled and said, "My greatest strength is that I'm easygoing and don't hold grudges. Let bygones be bygones."
Perhaps finding the young man's words pleasant and his demeanor agreeable, she asked, "By the way, having chatted with you for so long, I haven't yet asked your name. May I ask?"
Nie Lanting also came to the two of them at this time, guarding against Yu Nie as if he were an enemy.
The young man replied with a smile, "Enjoy the intoxication, for the year ends amidst the snow and haze." He then cupped his hands in a salute, saying, "My surname is Chen, and my given name is Yan. You may simply call me by my name, young Taoist priest."
“Chen… Yan…” She savored the name, murmured the two characters, and said with delight, “It is indeed a good name. It is fate that we are here. My senior sister also has the surname Chen. Her given name is Langxi, which is taken from the meaning of ‘Langgan Cuili, Xihuang Shangren’.
The young man praised, "It seems your family is quite skilled in naming. The two characters complement each other, possessing both the quality of fine jade and the leisurely charm of drifting clouds."
He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "May I ask your name, young Taoist priest?"
While preoccupied with the "coincidence," Yu Nie suddenly realized that she hadn't introduced herself yet.
She slapped her forehead: "Oh dear, what a terrible memory I have! I was so focused on talking about my senior sister that I forgot to introduce myself."
She returned the greeting, saying, "My surname is Rong, and my given name is Yu Nie. The name 'Yu Nie' means 'a piece of fine light, which remains unchanged even after being reborn,' and it is also related to the name of a medicinal herb in the 'Compendium of Materia Medica'."
"Could this young Taoist priest come from a medical family?" This is the question that most people who know her name have.
In fact, she does come from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.
In this life, her parents were renowned doctors in Dingzhou, and they doted on her immensely.
She thought she would enjoy complete parental love shortly after birth, but fate had other plans.
Once, when the parents went out to collect medicinal herbs, their carriage encountered a rainstorm on its way back and accidentally overturned and fell off a cliff, killing both of them.
Overnight, she became an orphan.
Her uncle, who was her father's brother, pretended to adopt her out of kindness, but his real intention was to seize her family's pharmacy and land.
Later, in order to completely seize her family property, he took her to the Lingbao Temple under the pretext of "visiting relatives" and abandoned her there. After returning to the city, he claimed that she had been abducted and her whereabouts were unknown.
When she grew up, she followed her memories to find her home, only to find that her uncle's family had already sold off their property and the house was empty.
They asked all the neighbors, but no one knew where they had gone, as if the family had never existed in Dingzhou City.
She has never mentioned these past events to anyone.
Who would believe that an infant in swaddling clothes could remember these things?
Moreover, she had nothing on her to prove that she was the child the Rong family lost back then.
There were no keepsakes, no birthmarks, and even the name "Rong Yunie" was something she had begged her master to change back when she was four years old.
Emotionally, although she had a shallow connection with her parents in this life, she did not want the name "Rong Yunie" that they had gone to the trouble of giving her to disappear.
It's hard to believe it was fate, but this name is exactly the same as her name in her previous life.
Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if it was just a coincidence, or if it was fate. Perhaps this name was like an imperceptible spider silk, connecting her souls across two lifetimes.
As long as the name "Rong Yu Nie" remains, whether she is the daughter of the Rong family in Dingzhou or Xiao Yu who moves back and forth in Jincheng, she will always be herself.
"Brother Shen guessed correctly." She smiled slightly and readily admitted it.
Then she said, "But my parents have long since passed away, which is why I entered the Taoist temple."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yan said apologetically, "I did not know that the Elder family had passed away. I did not mean to touch upon the Daoist's sad memory. I hope that Young Daoist Yu Nie will forgive me."
"Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing... Brother Shen, you don't need to worry about such a trivial matter." She didn't seem to care much.
As darkness fell, and having become acquainted, they learned from the caravan owner that she was going to Longdao.
Shen Yan was worried about her safety traveling alone, so he suggested, "Daoist is going to Longdao. If you mind, why don't you come with us?"
"Ayan..." Nie Lanting called out to him from the side upon hearing the news. The meaning behind this was a reminder that only the two of them understood.
Shen Yan understood his concerns, but since they had already run so far, she thought that the pursuers wouldn't be able to catch up for a while.
Anyway, they're only after her and Nie Lanting, so no one else will be involved.
Despite Nie Lanting's reminder, she still insisted on taking Yu Nie with her.
In this desolate wilderness, how could she feel at ease letting her go alone?
It would be best to have someone to travel with, and Yu Nie did not refuse.
As dusk fell, the three of them mounted their horses and headed together towards Jincheng County.
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The author says: "Enjoy the intoxication, for the year draws to a close and snowflakes gather." These two lines are from Wang Guan's "Red Peony" from the Song Dynasty and Zhang Lei's "Following the Rhyme of Yuanming's Drinking Poem" from the Song Dynasty.
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