Spring is not my spring
It was several days later that Yulan came to her senses. She had contradicted her master but she had nothing to be afraid of. After all, Liu Er was not a real master in the Liu family. She just didn't know why she always felt a little embarrassed to see him.
Bao Fu also felt it was strange. Yulan always asked him to do errands recently. He wondered if Yulan was being lazy these days, and even complained to Liu Er.
Liu Er looked at the yard. Even though it was a summer day filled with flowers, it still felt deserted. He said, "Bao Fu, there's some space in the yard. Let's build a swing under the tree."
Bao Fu nodded in agreement, thinking, isn't that something only little girls like? Without asking any more questions, he told the servant to do it. He is no longer the same as before, but he is going to accompany the second young master to private school, so he is a little more energetic.
Mr. Shen teaches right next to the study. There are several tables in a small open room, and men and women sit on the floor according to their age.
Bao Fu learned to speak a few sarcastic words in a refined manner from attending the class, and he would show off in front of Yulan. Yulan could barely read, and she thought Bao Fu was mocking her. Every time he said something sarcastic, Yulan would hit him with a broom, until Bao Fu was too afraid to even touch his half-bottle of vinegar.
"Auntie, please forgive me. I won't dare do it again." Bao Fu was truly frightened. He usually thought Yulan was petite and cute, with a good temper, like a ripe peach that would yield juice if pinched. But the memory of his one-on-one fight with the kitchen maid with squinting eyes was still fresh in his mind, and he didn't dare to fight back, fearing that the old lady would be too cautious and cripple him.
Yulan didn't really want to beat him to death; she was just furious. Why did that boy dare to show off in front of her after only a few days at the private school? Wasn't he just relying on his male status to go to school with the Second Young Master? If she could go with him, she would definitely learn better than Bao Fu, know more, and then she could make her own way.
Late at night, everyone was asleep. Yulan knew Liu Er, given his personality, hadn't been studying. North Courtyard had few rules, and no one was on night watch; everyone went to sleep when they were tired. So Yulan threw on a smock, tied her hair into a bun, and, carrying her lunch box, knocked on Liu Er's door.
She struggled for a long time before going, but she finally went. She wanted to see what book Liu Er was reading and what characters he was writing. Perhaps out of curiosity, Yulan finally took advantage of the moonlight to walk outside Liu Er's house. She didn't know when a swing had appeared.
"Second Young Master, please read carefully late at night. I asked the kitchen to make some mung bean porridge for you to drink." Yulan gently placed the bowl on the small round table, her eyes unconsciously glancing at what Liu Er was writing on the desk.
"Are you curious?" Liu Er asked.
"A little bit." Yulan said truthfully.
"Come here." Liu Er asked Yulan to stand in front of the desk. Under the moonlight, Yulan looked at the two unfamiliar words on the rice paper in confusion.
"I think the name Yulan was given by Aunt Qingfang based on the generational character 'Yu'. It doesn't have any meaningful meaning. You said you couldn't remember your previous name, so I wanted to give you a new one." Liu Er handed the ink-dipped pen to Yulan and whispered in her ear, "Take it, I'll teach you."
Liu Er placed his hand on Yulan's sleeve and traced the painting on the rice paper stroke by stroke.
Yulan's mind was completely elsewhere. Liu Er was so close to her, so close that she could smell the scented hair oil he'd used to wash and comb his hair today, so close that she could feel his breath, a puff of hot air, in and out of her ear. She had no idea what he was writing, what he was doing, or what was on the paper.
"Fei Chun." Liu Er looked at the words on the rice paper with satisfaction and continued writing: "Innocent."
Yulan looked at the twisted words on the rice paper in confusion: "What does it mean?"
"The top is your name, the bottom... is mine."
Spring is not my spring, and summer is not my summer. Insects have their own world, not just a broom in this small space.
Yulan gently stroked the name on the rice paper. The words seemed magical. She didn't recognize them, but they felt familiar. She read them silently several times: "Feichun... Qingbai... Ye Feichun... Liu Qingbai..."
"Your last name is Ye?"
"Well, my mother's last name is Ye. I think my last name should be Ye too."
"Okay." Liu Er wrote another word "叶" in front.
"What does Feichun mean?" she asked.
Liu Er gently tidied up the loose hair that had fallen from her bun, trying to tell her in the simplest words: "When you came, it was just the beginning of spring, and I thought you brought spring with you. It wasn't until you lost your temper that I realized that you were the one who smiled, and you were also the one who didn't smile."
"so?"
"It means: You are just you, you don't have to please anyone, not even me."
"But I seem to be used to hearing the name Second Young Master Yulan."
"It's okay. You can listen to whatever you want. This name is just my wishful thinking."
"Um……"
The next morning, Yulan was still Yulan, and Liu Er was still Liu Er. The only change was that Yulan had embroidered the words "Ye Feichun" on her purse. She wanted to tell her mother that she now had a name: Ye Feichun. Not the Yulan who was ordered around, nor the evildoer hiding in the woodshed.
She cherished this name so much that she was reluctant to use it yet. She had a hunch that if she called it, many people would remember her, not the small North Courtyard. In her heart, she seemed to have a special place reserved for these three characters.
The whole North Courtyard could see that Magnolia was in a particularly good mood today. She wore her favorite lily of the valley jade hairpin on her head. The little lily of the valley flowers were jumping around on her head, making her look particularly lively and cute.
"Sister Yulan, you look so beautiful today." Yulan was in a good mood and didn't pack a gift box today, so he was itching to hit her. Yulan didn't have time for more nonsense and just smiled and replied, "Of course."
She was busy finishing her work as soon as possible so that Liu Er could teach her how to read. She wanted to know how to write her name. She had only written it a few times yesterday and didn't remember it well.
It was night again. Yulan put on a smock, tied her hair into a simple bun and went out. Before leaving, she hesitated and applied some apricot blossom powder on herself.
Liu Er had left the door open for her, so she didn't need to knock and went in with her lunch box. Tonight, she brought two bowls of sour plum soup and placed them on the small round table, just the right amount to cool off in the hot weather.
Liu Er sat at the desk, seemingly waiting for a long time. Seeing Yulan approaching so casually again, he didn't know where to look for a moment. He could only glance out the window at the swing and stammered, "Next time... don't dress so... casually... and enter... another man's room... I'm a gentleman, that's all."
After he said that, Yulan finally realized what was wrong. Her face instantly became hot and she rubbed her cheeks with her hands.
"Forget it, come here." Liu Er waved towards Yulan. There was a box on the table. "Inside are your four treasures of the study. Open it and take a look."
Yulan was a little stunned for a moment and didn't dare to reach out to open it.
"No matter how incompetent I am, I'm not so incompetent as to even have a set of four treasures of the study." Liu Er saw that Yulan didn't dare to open the box, so he opened it for her. The brushes, inkstones, paper, and inkstone inside were nothing special, just the most common materials. "The gift from Concubine Yun back then should have been more valuable than this, right? It's my fault. Following me has made you less arrogant."
Yulan was a little lost in thought as she looked at the four treasures of the study. It wasn't because they were so beautiful or valuable, but because she suddenly kept asking herself in her mind, "As a woman, am I allowed to open this box?"
This sound seemed to be from a long, long time ago, perhaps hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years, or perhaps even earlier, when countless tiny sounds converged from the mountains and fields, from rivers and lakes to the sea, condensing into waves dozens of feet high that crashed against the cliffs and surged back and forth.
Finally, she turned her head and looked into Liu Er's eyes. Her black pupils shone with water as she asked cautiously, "Can I really study as a woman?"
"Of course, reading can clarify one's aspirations, and everyone should read." He suddenly felt that Yulan's silliness was a little cute, so he moved a round stool and asked Yulan to sit next to him.
"Isn't it that... women have no talent..."
"Nonsense!" Liu Er finally understood what Yulan meant and interrupted, "Men and women who don't read will be confined to a small space. Just like... just like..."
Just like me...
Liu Er choked up. Sometimes, looking at Yulan, he saw himself, like the cricket in the cage. He could still let it go. But what about the cricket pictured at the footer of the travelogue? The book described vast mountains and rivers, but the cricket could only stay quietly in a corner. Perhaps in a few years, the book would be eaten by insects and die along with it.
Bug, how high can you fly...how high can you fly...
"Never mind. Let's learn to read first."
Yulan had been gone for a few days, and Haitang noticed something was wrong. She didn't hide anything and asked directly, "Where did you go at night?"
"Where are you going? I'm not sleeping next to you?"
The servants' room in the north courtyard was a large bunk bed, and Haitang slept next to Yulan. But Haitang usually slept soundly, so Yulan didn't worry at all that Haitang would find out.
This question actually made Yulan shudder.
"Really?" Haitang vaguely sensed something was wrong, but she didn't ask any further questions. She planned to find out for herself late at night.
Haitang is simple-minded and straightforward, but Yulan is not stupid either. When delivering the meal, she told Liu Er that she would come back to learn to read after a while.
Liu Er was silent for a while but said that he had to let Haitang know. Only when she knew would she tell the East Courtyard. When the East Courtyard knew, they would think that he was not doing his job and let down his guard. This way, life would be easier for the North Courtyard.
Yulan nodded seriously, then thought about it and felt something was wrong, so she turned back and questioned Liu Er: "Don't you want my reputation anymore?"
Liu Er pretended to be enlightened and said that he was confused and inconsiderate.
Yulan also knew that he was pretending. Although she didn't know what his intention was, she was sure that it was not a good intention. She walked to his desk, drew a "turtle" on a piece of paper, and left angrily.
"Okay, my bug drew a turtle to wish me a long life." Liu Er picked up the "turtle" and looked at it repeatedly with satisfaction. He felt like he wanted to frame it and hang it in the house to admire it.
Name it: "Longevity as Long as the Southern Mountains" gifted by Ye Feichun
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
