Chapter 568 Picking Up a Mute Embroiderer! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
"Longling—Longling—"
Zhao Qingxiu, who was preparing to return to the Beitian Nursing Home, suddenly stopped walking on the passageway between two red walls.
She turned her head and stared blankly at a red wall next to her.
The subtle yet distinctive sound came from this direction.
Zhao Qingxiu initially doubted whether she had misheard.
In this ancient temple with its green lamps, at the break of dawn, how could there be the special jade sound that only women of the clan would make when wearing tokens of love?
However, as the "lingling" sound from not far to the southeast grew louder, Zhao Qingxiu hesitated for a moment, then involuntarily followed.
She hadn't heard that voice from her hometown for so, so long.
I can't even remember it in my dreams.
But upon hearing it now, the deeply buried memories resurfaced.
Zhao Qingxiu was certain that it was the one.
In this world, there are some sounds that cannot be imitated. You cannot describe them, and you may even forget them. But when you hear them again by chance, you can remember them as if they were yesterday.
"Longling—Longling—"
This peculiar jade-like sound was about ten feet away from her, roughly seven or eight courtyards and halls away.
However, the temple complex was crowded with winding roads, and some houses were already occupied by people washing up in their courtyards. Zhao Qingxiu couldn't easily climb over them, so she had to find her way through the shadows of the alleyways before dawn.
She was initially hesitant about whether to go and find out the source.
After all, she had deviated from her original plan to return to the Beitian Nursing Home to continue hiding. Now she was in the enemy's territory, and going too far might be dangerous. Moreover, at dawn, a mute girl running around blindfolded would easily be discovered.
However, the owner of that "tinkling" sound of jade colliding seemed to be moving as well, and at a considerable speed.
The sound of "Longling" gradually faded away, growing farther and farther away from her.
Zhao Qingxiu's heart jumped, and she couldn't help but continue following, keeping her distance. As a result, she was kept on tenterhooks by the sound, moving in the same direction as it.
Along the way, Zhao Qingxiu's small face, blindfolded with a sky-blue ribbon, seemed somewhat lost in thought. As they hurried along, the changing light revealed a faint trace of reminiscence on her face.
I remember that in the Zhao family of Nanlong, every Zhao girl who came of age and was ready to be married was given a special ice-white jade hairpin.
From as far back as she could remember, Zhao Qingxiu had longed for this piece of jewelry.
However, her family had told her very early on that she wouldn't have it, because it was something only women from the direct line of the Zhao clan of Nanlong were entitled to wear, and the clan elders wouldn't give it to women from collateral branches.
Moreover, her family was one of the poorest branches of the Zhao clan in Nanlong, and she was a mute girl who was disliked by everyone.
Thus, a white jade hairpin became something envied but unattainable in childhood fantasies, something one could only wear in dreams.
Later, the closest and only chance I had was when I was incredibly lucky enough to be chosen by my mother-in-law as her son's child bride, to serve her well.
According to the customs of the Great Zhou Dynasty, child brides did not have a banquet or wedding ceremony after their marriage. Generally, their maternal family would make two or three sets of new clothes for them to take them back to their husband's family. Child brides were betrothed from childhood and could not go back on their word, otherwise they would be condemned by the surrounding villages.
The day her mother-in-law personally came to pick her up and take her home was the happiest day of Zhao Qingxiu's first half of life.
My mother-in-law, Zhao, was the eldest daughter of the Zhao family in Nanlong. She was her aunt and of the same generation as my father. However, she was highly regarded by the elders of the clan and married into the Ouyang family, a scholarly family in the area, at a very young age. From the time I can remember, my mother-in-law was known as the Zhao family's female role model in the clan.
In my memory, my father, who always sat on the doorstep with his back to her, blocking out the sky, was pacing back and forth at the door that day, nervously rubbing his hands and occasionally craning his neck to look at a bridal sedan chair in the distance.
The old woman, who always sighed and groaned as she opened the rice bin, wearing a gray apron, forced a long-lost smile onto her wrinkled face as she mended her own old clothes.
That day, Zhao Qingxiu, who was as thin as a bamboo pole, rarely sat at the table. She folded her hands and leaned on the table, looking longingly at her mother who brought out a plate of pork, which was only eaten during the New Year... The neighbors all praised her for being lucky and not a money-loser, and her parents also showed long-lost smiles.
Although some of his peers gossiped, saying that it was a case of a mute girl paired with a sickly man.
But Zhao Qingxiu didn't care at all. She went to see Tanlang once, and she was willing to stay by his bedside for the rest of her life.
I remember the first time I met my mother-in-law, what impressed me most was the icy white jade hairpin she was wearing.
She was standing at the back of her family, head bowed, glancing furtively at the icy white jade hairpin out of the corner of her eye…
"Longling—"
It sounds really good.
The day her mother-in-law took her home, she wore a heavy headdress, yet she tried her best to sit upright in the swaying, simple sedan chair, her eyes fixed straight ahead. Suddenly, her mother-in-law reached out, touched her head, took off a white jade hairpin, and inserted it into her tied-up hair. After comparing it from both sides, she looked at her flushed face and chuckled softly:
"It's so beautiful! Grandma, wear it a little longer, then you can have it later..."
"Ah!" she stammered, her expression a mixture of joy and shyness.
"Longling—"
The carriage jolted along, and the pendant of the icy white jade hairpin in her mother-in-law's hand swayed back and forth in front of Zhao Qingxiu. Her eyes were tired from following it, but she was still very happy.
But then...
In the dimly lit passageway, Zhao Qingxiu walked silently, a look of loneliness appearing on her face.
At that moment, she came to her senses and realized that she seemed to be getting closer to that peculiar jade sound.
"Longling—!"
I turned the corner lightly, and the sound was already very close.
Zhao Qingxiu quickly hid in the darkness of a corner, her small, blindfolded face slightly turned towards the direction from which the unusual jade sound came.
It looked like a man's footsteps.
The footsteps seemed vaguely familiar, but at this moment, they appeared hurried, as if rushing forward.
At that moment, the man suddenly stopped. Just as Zhao Qingxiu sensed something was wrong and was about to back away, "whoosh," a firework exploded in her ear.
Zhao Qingxiu trembled all over.
"Longling—"
The morning breeze seemed to make the icy white jade hairpin pendant in the man's hand tinkle, but... there was only the sound of jade, no footsteps.
He's not moving?!
Zhao Qingxiu took half a step back.
It seemed like they had a vague realization about something.
Her body stiffened instantly, she heard her heart pounding faster in her chest, and she couldn't breathe...
The first rays of sunlight pierced the dark blue sky at dawn, but many ancient buildings in Xunyang City, including Chengtian Temple, remained pitch black.
In a corner of Chengtian Temple, in a small alley, the atmosphere fell silent. The fireworks were fleeting, but they illuminated the two people at the beginning and end of the alley.
Ouyang Rong saw the slender girl's figure clearly, and stared at Zhao Qingxiu blankly for a long while.
From head to toe, no detail was overlooked, including her eyes being covered by a sky-blue ribbon, and the long, narrow cloth bag she was carrying... Ouyang Rong, who had been frightened and fled early in the morning, first frowned, then relaxed his gaze, turned to look in the direction of the carriage he had mistakenly thought was being searched by the female officials of the Imperial Observatory, a look of realization in his eyes, and quietly nodded.
Ouyang Rong immediately turned back, his gaze fixed on Zhao Qingxiu not far away. He opened his mouth several times, but a thousand words were stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say them, not knowing what to say.
Until, in the shadows around the alley corner, a slender girl with a ribbon blindfold turned to run away.
"Um... wait a minute!"
She heard that slightly hoarse yet still incredibly familiar voice.
Zhao Qingxiu was so frightened that she quickened her pace.
Then, a curious and puzzled voice came from behind:
"Oh, it's you? Mute girl, what are you doing here? Long time no see."
Zhao Qingxiu froze, then hesitated for a moment before slowly stopping.
Just then, she heard footsteps approaching, and Tanlang walked over, his voice sounding very happy.
“Dumb girl, I went back to the Beitian Nursing Home at Donglin Temple before and looked for you and that old Taoist priest. You weren’t there, and I was quite worried about you.”
Zhao Qingxiu stood there, stunned.
"ah?"
Her mind went blank for a moment... Although he seemed to be completely unaware of what was going on, the approaching footsteps and the familiar male scent still made Zhao Qingxiu's heart leap into her throat, and she subconsciously took a step back.
A moment later, she noticed that the man in front of her had also stopped naturally and had not come any closer to her.
Zhao Qingxiu breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, trying to give him a bewildered look.
"Ah... um... ah?"
Ouyang Rong continued in a concerned tone: "Don't you recognize me? I'm that stubborn fool in the underground palace who wouldn't listen to advice and wanted to climb up. That's what Master Sun said, haha, remember?"
Zhao Qingxiu clutched the sword-wrapping cloth bag to her back, her small face bowed, revealing only a section of her slender, porcelain-white neck and a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
"Um……"
"As expected, you knew it when I mentioned it. It really was quite silly of me back then. Weren't you peeking at me when I was climbing up the rope? I'm so sorry..."
"Mmm, mmm."
She shook her head, as if speaking up for him.
He suddenly smiled and patted her on the shoulder: "Hey, mute girl, you're such a nice person."
The slender girl, blindfolded with a sky-blue ribbon, paused for a moment, then turned around, facing him sideways, her ears flushed slightly.
Little did she know that the young man in the scholar's robe in front of her was trying hard to suppress his smile, and at the same time, seeing that she hadn't left for a while, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the hairpin left by his mother that was making a "tinkling" sound.
He continued to ramble on, speaking as a fellow patient at the Beitian Nursing Home.
In a relaxed and casual tone, we exchanged pleasantries.
"By the way, what brings you to Chengtian Temple? And to meet you here is quite a coincidence. It seems we are truly destined to meet."
"ah."
Zhao Qingxiu lowered her head weakly, unsure of what to do with her hands.
Ouyang Rong held a white jade hairpin between two fingers, raised it slightly above his head, and swayed it from side to side.
"Longling—"
He noticed that the blindfolded mute woman in front of him, who had been looking down, suddenly raised her head as if by instinct, facing the direction of the icy white jade hairpin that had been speaking in the air.
Ouyang Rong raised an eyebrow, his expression strange. He first put away the icy white jade hairpin, then didn't try it again, his tone remaining enthusiastic:
"By the way, so you were sent to this Beitian Nursing Home?"
"Uh-huh."
Zhao Qingxiu's face froze for a moment, then, as if she had been accidentally activated, she nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
She was on tenterhooks when she noticed that her lover seemed to have quieted down for a moment, as if he was staring intently at her face.
Just as Zhao Qingxiu was beginning to panic and tremble, Ouyang Rong suddenly stepped forward, taking advantage of her unpreparedness, crossing the three steps she had just maintained, getting close to her body, grabbing her arm and forearm without saying a word, and striding forward.
He laughed heartily:
"My name is Ouyang Rong. To be honest, I hold a minor official position in the city, Jiangzhou Sima. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's basically a slacker job. However, I'm quite wealthy. I let it go last time, but since we've met this time, I can't just ignore you."
“Mute girl, you and I are truly destined to meet. Look, I can never seem to run into that Master Sun, but I've run into you several times... Fellow patients meet, come with me today, haha.”
"ah……"
Before Zhao Qingxiu could speak, Ouyang Rong interrupted and continued teasing:
"Well, he's unlucky to have met me, but you're very lucky. Come, let me find you a place to stay. Don't stay here anymore, I'm afraid you'll be bullied. You're so thin and frail..."
Zhao Qingxiu froze, about to wave her hand in refusal.
"Longling—"
"Here, please take this down for me, thank you."
Ouyang Rong suddenly turned around, took out a white jade hairpin from his sleeve, and handed it to him.
Zhao Qingxiu took the icy white jade hairpin in a daze, instinctively clenched it, and fell silent.
She lowered her head, touching the hairpin, seemingly completely absorbed by it. As Ouyang Rong grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, she lost all her own will.
But halfway there, he spoke softly.
"By the way, why are you blindfolded? Are you playing a game with your friends...?"
Before Zhao Qingxiu could answer, the well-meaning young man, lacking any sense of distance or propriety, suddenly turned around. This time, he went even further, reaching out and directly removing the sky-blue ribbon covering her eyes.
The ribbons fluttered in the wind, revealing the girl's eyes. Those big eyes that had left such a deep impression on Ouyang Rong were still there, but the two dark pupils... were as dim and lifeless as the pre-dawn sky above, and the pupils seemed to have lost their focus.
Ouyang Rong fell silent. He turned his head away and took a deep breath, trying to keep the noise down.
A look of fear appeared on Zhao Qingxiu's face, but before she could reach out to grab it back, the kind-hearted young man in front of her had already taken the initiative to put the sky blue ribbon back on her.
He was unusually attentive and meticulous, going behind her and putting on the ribbon with remarkable neatness. As he tied the knot, his hot breath reddened her ears, and she heard him speak softly and calmly:
"Embroiderer? Is that her name? Embroiderer."
Zhao Qingxiu: "Ah..."
Ouyang Rong felt her arm tremble slightly.
He couldn't help but grip her hand tighter. Looking at the unfocused, dark eyes in front of him, he didn't immediately press her for answers about why she was blind or put pressure on her.
A bright smile bloomed on Ouyang Rong's face:
"I looked through the roster at Donglin Temple last time. It's a very nice name, Xiu Niang, delicate and gentle... It's okay if you can't see. Now, let's not worry about the taboo of men and women not touching each other. Come on, let me help you walk."
Ouyang Rong smiled and extended his palm.
Zhao Qingxiu lowered her head silently.
The two remained silent for an unknown period of time, until only the sound of their heartbeats remained.
"ah."
She weakly stretched out her small hand, but before she could reach it halfway, it was firmly grasped by a warm palm.
As dawn broke in the alley, a blindfolded, mute girl, seemingly lost, was led away by a young man in a scholar's robe, completely bewildered.
(End of this chapter)
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