Chapter 8: Holding the Fire-Avoiding Diagram Doesn't Avoid Fire at All
The forest is deep and secluded, casting long stretches of shade. Birds chirp and sing, seemingly right beside you. But when Qingduo looks up to search, the branches are lush and swaying, making it hard to distinguish whether they are tree branches or the swaying tails of birds.
Tang Li and Zeng Zhengqing carried offering boxes of food and paper money. Qingduo walked empty-handed, her arms crossed, the erotic drawings hidden in her sleeves making a rustling sound.
Zeng Zhengqing walked beside Qingduo and, hearing a sound coming from her, casually asked, "What's that sound?"
Qingduo tried to stay calm and lied, "Ah...it's a branch! I stepped on a dry branch!"
Zeng Zhengqing stopped asking questions. Qingduo carefully lowered her arm, keeping it a certain distance from her body, like a scorpion raising its pincers, not daring to make a sound. She knew that her posture was not good and would damage her elegant image, so she lagged behind a few steps and silently followed behind.
When Uncle He returned from his shopping trip, her father couldn't wait and urged them to hurry up. She didn't even have time to deal with it and could only leave with her sleeves full of sweat. Zeng Zhengqing was right beside her the whole way, so she didn't have a chance to deal with it.
The paper in her sleeve was light yet heavy; Qingduo wondered when she would be able to get rid of this burden.
"We've arrived." Tang Li, who was leading the way, stopped and stood before the tombstone, which read "Tomb of my beloved wife, Qin Luofu." Qing Duo and Zeng Zhengqing arranged the offerings and knelt before the tomb. Tang Li rolled up his sleeves to wipe the dust off the tombstone, then took out a tinderbox and lit the paper money.
When Qingduo saw the fire, an idea suddenly struck her: Hey! Why not burn it all down!
Tang Li sat cross-legged in front of the fire, picked up some paper money and put it in, his face unusually serious. He said softly, "A Luo, your daughter and son-in-law have come to see you."
After bowing, Zeng Zhengqing rose and solemnly said, "Mother-in-law, I, Zeng Zhengqing, have come to pay my respects. I was deeply grateful for your care when I was young, and I will always remember it. Unfortunately, you have passed away long ago, and I will never see you again. Now that I have married your daughter, I will do my utmost to take good care of her and live up to your expectations. I hope that your spirit in heaven will protect my father-in-law and my wife, and ensure our well-being and safety." After speaking, he bowed again.
Qingduo kowtowed and said, "Mother, I'm here. I'm married. You know my husband; he's the one you and Father chose for me when I was little. So don't worry, he's a very good person and kind to me. Although we've only been together for two days—oh, today is the third day—I'm very happy. Mother, you have such good taste. Thank you, Mother." She then quickly kowtowed again.
She straightened up and found Zeng Zhengqing looking at her with a surprised expression. Qingduo didn't understand what he was surprised about and stared at him curiously. Then she saw him smile, so she put aside all her thoughts and her eyes were filled with a smile as well.
The woods were quiet, and Zeng Zhengqing seemed to hear the sound of flowing water. He listened carefully and clearly discerned that the gurgling water was the spring of his heart.
*
"I want to speak with Mother alone for a few minutes. Please move away and don't eavesdrop," Qingduo said after the two finished their prayers.
The two men had no objections and stood up to walk away. Qingduo turned back to look at them, complaining that they were too close: "Far away, much further away!" Only when she was sure that the two men could neither hear nor see her did she turn around, squat in front of the fire, take out the erotic pictures from her right sleeve, and throw them in one by one. The flames instantly leaped up, greedily devouring their food.
"Mother," Qingduo murmured softly, "You've been in heaven for so long, how have you been? I think there's happiness on earth, and there's happiness in heaven. But you've been gone for so long, and you haven't come to me in my dreams to tell me if you're doing well."
"Father has a new companion, not one of those I told you about before, sigh, just another womanizer. Have you found a new companion in heaven? This time, find someone honest and reliable! If you go there, he won't be unruly and ruin your reputation."
She thought for a moment, then took the picture out of her left sleeve and put it back in, adding, "Oh, I forgot you've already gone."
"It's alright if you don't have anyone to keep you company. Your father and I have burned plenty of paper money for you every year. You should be very well-off in heaven. Do whatever makes you comfortable. If you have no one to keep you company, take a look at this fire avoidance picture. I drew it. I think it's pretty good. Anyway, one of them can sell for several dozen coins. I guess you can consider it burning money for me."
In the past, she would have been extremely reluctant to do this. However, she is now the wife of bookseller Zeng Zhengqing, no longer the Tang Qingduo who would calculate every penny. She wants to burn her past, hide her past of drawing erotic pictures, start anew, and become an elegant, quiet, and spotless young lady of the Tang family.
It is said that the God of Fire is a woman, and is ashamed to see erotic pictures depicting secret acts, so they are often pasted on the beams of houses for fire prevention. Qingduo watched as the drawing paper gradually turned into charred fragments, which floated in the heat.
She curled her lip in disdain.
The fire-avoidance diagram does not actually avoid fire.
After seeing his daughter and son-in-law off, Tang Li returned to Qingduo's room, lit a candle, and let the candlelight fill the entire room. Standing alone in the room, he finally felt the reality that his daughter was married, and his heart, like the room, suddenly felt empty.
After his wife's death, he and his daughter had been each other's only support. At that time, he had suffered a great blow from the successive deaths of his parents and wife, and was so grief-stricken that he lay in bed for several days without eating or drinking. Little A-Zhao, with a mourning band tied around her forehead and hanging down to her waist, walked up to him, opened the scroll in her hand, and whispered, "Father, don't cry, Mother is with us!"
He struggled to sit up and looked at the painting, then froze. The woman in the painting was as pure as the moon and as gentle as a poem, her red lips smiling as she looked at him. She held an infant in her arms, who was looking up and reaching out to grab the red camellia on her head. It was a painting he had made for his wife and daughter shortly after A-Zhao's birth.
Overwhelmed with grief, he embraced A-Zhao—his only family member in the world—and vowed to take good care of her for the rest of his life.
Tang Li stared at the reflection on the wall and sighed. His actions could hardly be considered keeping his vow, especially after A Zhao grew up. He found that his daughter could support herself with the painting skills he taught her, so it was even less about "taking care" of her.
How many years can a daughter stay by her father's side? He began to regret not spending more time with A-Zhao; after she got married, she was spending time with someone else's son!
Damn it! He looked down and wiped his eyes, thinking to himself that he should have found a son-in-law who would live with his wife's family!
Suddenly, a crumpled piece of paper on the table leg caught his attention. There was no such thing before Ah Zhao returned home! He picked it up in confusion, unfolded it, and stared in disbelief.
This...this...this!!!
Look at what that girl did!
*
Qingduo was still immersed in the joy of returning home when Fangqing helped her rest, at which point she began to have another kind of worry.
Tonight, Zeng Zhengqing won't be sharing a room with her, will he?
Even after the candle was extinguished, she was still uneasy. She reluctantly got into bed and quickly slipped under the covers. Then she heard Zeng Zhengqing say, "Go to sleep."
Qingduo breathed a sigh of relief; after a tumultuous day, she quickly fell asleep. While sleeping soundly, she suddenly felt someone standing by her bedside. Someone had relit the candles, the light blindingly bright. Then she heard the person shout:
"You brat! You've got some nerve!"
Haha!
Before Qingduo could even open her eyes, upon hearing the familiar voice, her body reacted immediately. She got up and ran away as if she had undergone countless training sessions.
A "whoosh" sound came from the air. Qingduo wondered, where did the feather duster come from?
"Ah Zhao! You stop right there! How dare you burn erotic pictures for me! And you drew them yourself! What kind of education did Tang Li give you!" The man behind him kept chasing after him.
As Qingduo fled for her life, she thought:
Is that so? Mother always calls Father by his full name. When will she ever call him "Ali" in a sweet, affectionate way? Father will then start to flatter himself!
*
Zeng Zhengqing had only shared a bed with his wife for three days after their marriage, and this was the second time his wife had woken him up.
To be precise, I was woken up by the heat.
He covered himself completely with the quilt, while his wife was kicking her legs wildly in the air. If he hadn't heard what she was saying, he would have thought she was possessed.
She mumbled, "Wrong, wrong."
Zeng Zhengqing couldn't help but laugh out loud. With her lively personality, she must have been causing trouble all these years, and he never expected her to be so unsettled even in her dreams. He got up, grabbed the blanket, and just as he was about to cover Qingduo with it, Qingduo kicked him, flipping the blanket off. Zeng Zhengqing was caught off guard and suddenly felt a blackout as a blanket was pulled over his head.
He hurriedly pulled the blanket off, and the first thing he saw was Qingduo's tireless climbing steps in the air. He sighed inwardly, reached out and pressed down on her legs, and Qingduo indeed calmed down.
He breathed a sigh of relief and was about to turn around to cover her with the blanket again when, before he could turn his face away, the mountain climbing leg started up again. Luckily, he dodged quickly and narrowly missed it.
Having survived the ordeal, he breathed a sigh of relief, shifted back to keep his legs away from Qingduo's, and stared intently at her with a furrowed brow, trying to control her legs so he could cover her with the blanket.
In a flash, Zeng Zhengqing had an idea. He lay down, about to put it into action, when suddenly he realized something was amiss. The two hadn't consummated their marriage, and had even avoided physical contact for the past few days. Would what he did...
He thought it should be fine. After all, they were already husband and wife in name only, so it wasn't against the rules. Besides, he didn't have any ulterior motives; he just wanted to cover her with the blanket so she wouldn't catch a cold.
It's okay. Once she calms down, you can let her go. She won't even notice.
Thinking of this, Zeng Zhengqing felt reassured. He lay on his side, raised his leg to press down on Qingduo's leg, pulled her blanket over both of them, paused slightly, and finally hugged her.
This was the first time, aside from our wedding night, that I had been close to her.
In his arms, she finally calmed down and fell asleep peacefully.
Zeng Zhengqing smelled an indescribable fragrance emanating from her. It wasn't the floral scent of cosmetics, but a unique fragrance that made him reluctant to let go, even though Qingduo was no longer moving around.
In an instant, memories of her flooded back: the dripping camellia, her mischievous expression, her joy after lifting the veil, her nervousness after kicking him, her smug pride in her thoughtfulness, the smile they exchanged during the memorial service…
And then there was that heartfelt statement she made: "He's a very good person, and he's very kind to me... I'm very happy..."
She was happy.
Be with him.
His heart pounded involuntarily. Whether it was the weariness from not having rested late at night or the intoxication of the fragrance of flowers, Zeng Zhengqing felt dizzy. His mind was in a mess, his thoughts racing. After thinking about it for a while, he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up, it was already the next morning. He had slept very comfortably. He felt something warm and soft in his arms, and when he looked down, he met Qingduo's almond-shaped eyes.
Zeng Zhengqing then realized that he was still clinging to her like a vine, not letting go. He was instantly struck as if by lightning, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets, his whole body stiffening, unable to speak.
Qingduo was timid. After hesitating for a moment, she asked cautiously, "You... do you want that?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com