Chapter 78
“Eh…Xu Xuan.”
Shen Yao hurriedly chased after her, "Wait for me, why are you walking so fast?"
The two walked towards Xu's father's residence.
The room was still the same room, and the person was still the same person, lying lifelessly on the couch, his face ashen.
Shen Yao glanced at it only once before turning her gaze away and stepping aside to watch the touching scene between father and son.
Xu Xuan personally trimmed her father's nails, shaved his beard, and wiped his body. The water in the basin became murky and clear again, then murky again.
If she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes before, Shen Yao would never have questioned the scene of "filial piety and parental love" before her.
The servant went inside, brought out the copper basin, and the door creaked shut.
The room returned to quiet; you could hear your own breathing.
Xu Xuan glanced out the window, told Shen Yao to close it, lit the lamp, and then said to his father, "Aren't you going to tell me yet?"
The man responded with a cold snort.
Although he cannot speak, his tone can still infuriate people.
Men are well-versed in this.
Seeing that Xu Xuan was on the verge of anger, Shen Yao quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm, advising, "Ziwei, he's doing it on purpose, don't fall for it."
Xu Xuan clenched her fists.
But when facing Shen Yao, he forced a smile and said with his eyes lowered, "I know, I'm just unwilling to give up and want to try."
"But he won't tell you."
A hint of melancholy crept into Shen Yao's expression. "Perhaps, he didn't actually know either."
Their eyes met, and Xu Xuan paused slightly, blurting out, "Then who knows?"
Outside the Buddhist hall, the sunlight stretched the shadows of the two figures, one tall and one short, to an extremely long length.
Shen Yao wanted to go inside, but Xu Xuan stopped her, saying, "Don't go, she won't tell."
In my memory, my mother was just as cold and cruel as my father.
The father would whip the child with a rattan whip, while the mother would prick the child with an embroidery needle.
The pain in my body, hair, and fingers is still so intense that it makes me tremble every time I think about it.
Shen Yao tried her best to comfort him, "It's all in the past. Now, as long as we understand the ins and outs of the matter, everything will be resolved."
Her eyes held a tenderness more precious than a phoenix feather. Xu Xuan smiled at her, and the two went inside together.
The Buddha and Bodhisattvas are compassionate, always smiling as they deliver all sentient beings. It seems that in the eyes of the deities, all suffering does not exist.
Xu's mother knelt on the prayer mat below, devoutly worshipping Buddha.
Xu Xuan bowed and greeted her, "Mother."
Upon hearing this, Xu's mother opened her eyes slightly, then closed them again without even turning her head. She turned the prayer beads in her hand and asked with narrowed eyes, "Didn't you go on duty today?"
"The government office is closed for the New Year."
Xu's mother suddenly said "Oh," her voice sounding somewhat uneventful, but it quickly returned to normal. She said, "Now that your father is seriously ill, I eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist prayers every day. If you have nothing else to do, go out."
Before they had even exchanged two sentences, he immediately told them to leave.
This was the first time Shen Yao had ever seen this kind of interaction, and she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
"I have troubled you, Mother. I will take my leave now."
Xu Xuan's expression remained unchanged; it was a "heart as cold as ashes" formed from long-term disappointment and even despair, which manifested on his face as a frosty, ice-carved face.
No wonder he always exudes a chilling aura.
How can someone who has lived in an ice cave since childhood not feel cold?
Xu Xuan led Shen Yao directly out of the Buddhist hall.
As noon approached, a cold wind, carrying the warmth of the sun, brushed against their cheeks.
Such a warm breeze amidst the cold is a rare sight in the twelfth lunar month.
Shen Yao stretched out her hands to feel the weather and said to Xu Xuan, "The weather is quite nice today."
Xu Xuan looked up at the sky and murmured, "It seems pretty good."
He responded to her with a smile, admiring her.
At that moment, he felt that the woman was absolutely right. The weather was indeed fine today; the cold wind was surprisingly warm and refreshing.
This was the first time in over twenty years that he had felt this way.
Though late, thankfully, it's not too late.
Life is a cycle of loss and gain; what we lose is merely a prelude to the next gift.
He wanted to accept this gift wholeheartedly, cherish it as a treasure, and never let it go for the rest of his life.
So on an ordinary day, he said, "Shen Yao, there's something I want to tell you."
His voice was deep, and his eyes were bright.
Shen Yao was stunned and stared at him blankly before replying, "Okay, go ahead, I'm listening."
"I...I...actually, I think, maybe we can start over—"
"Should we try a different approach?"
Shen Yao casually picked up the conversation.
"No, what I meant was..."
"Oh, I suddenly have an idea."
Shen Yao slapped her forehead, her face lighting up with joy, and said, "I have a way to find out about your background."
Xu Xuan was slightly taken aback. "What method?"
Shen Yao leaned close to his ear and whispered, "The talk of ghosts and gods."
Xu Xuan's eyes widened suddenly. "How can such evil magic be used?"
Shen Yao didn't care at all. "There's a saying, 'It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.' And whether it harms people or not depends on who's in charge."
With an idea popping into her head, Shen Yao was full of fighting spirit and couldn't wait to put it into action.
Seeing that Xu Xuan was still hesitant, she simply dragged her back to the Shen family home.
"Young Master Xu, do you know that hesitation leads to defeat? You can't go wrong by following me."
"Oh."
Xu Xuan sighed with regret.
Hearing this, Shen Yao turned around and said sternly, "Don't sigh and complain, it will drive away your good luck."
Xu Xuan raised an eyebrow, "So Miss Shen is this strict!"
*
The two returned to the Shen residence, just in time for dinner.
The timing was perfect. Madam Shen glanced at him and asked, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
Both of them looked embarrassed. Shen Yao chuckled and quickly went forward to hug her mother's arm, saying in a coquettish tone, "We weren't very hungry, so we came back right after our visit. Isn't that right, Ziwei?"
She winked at him, her eyes sparkling.
So cute!
Xu Xuan coughed a few times, then said, "Ayao is right."
His expression remained stern, but his tone was noticeably gentler.
Madam Shen saw this and felt warm inside. She smiled and said, "Alright, I was just asking. Don't overthink it."
The group sat down one after another.
The food on the table is all ready.
Shen Yao sat down next to Madam Shen, picked up a piece of braised pork knuckle with her chopsticks, put it in her mother's bowl, and said earnestly, "Mother, I remember you love pork knuckle the most, please try it."
Madam Shen was somewhat surprised. She stared at the piece of meat in the bowl for a long time but didn't dare to touch it.
Unsolicited kindness is either a sign of malice or theft.
Madam Shen asked tentatively, "Ayao, did you get into trouble outside?"
As soon as she said it, Shen Yao almost choked. She wiped her mouth and hurriedly said, "How could that be? I've been cultivating my character lately and haven't caused any trouble at all. Heaven can be my witness."
Shen Yao spoke with absolute certainty, but Madam Shen's eyes showed even greater suspicion. She turned to Xu Xuan and asked cautiously, "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"
Shen Yao also looked at Xu Xuan and shook her head.
Xu Xuan smiled and said, "Mother-in-law, everything is indeed alright."
"See? I told you it was nothing. You still worry about everything. Just like your father, you're a born workaholic and destined to be busy. You can't enjoy any happiness."
"Hey, you little brat..."
Madam Shen pretended to hit her.
Xu Xuan quickly said, "Ayao, that's enough, stop being so cheeky. Didn't you have something to say?"
One sentence calmed Madam Shen down.
Something unusual must be going on.
Just as I expected.
She glanced at the two of them a few times and said softly, "Speak, what is it?"
After building up the emotions for so long, it's time to reveal the true colors of what's to come.
Shen Yao looked worried and sighed, "I went home to visit my parents-in-law today and found that they both looked much older. My mother-in-law has been focusing on Buddhist worship lately, and the servants said that she hasn't eaten for several days. She looks really haggard. Alas, how pitiful and lamentable."
Madam Shen was surprised and even put down her chopsticks, frowning as she asked, "How could this be?"
A servant hurriedly handed over a handkerchief, which Madam Shen took and wiped her mouth a few times. "Master visited his father-in-law before, and when he came back he said it wasn't a big deal."
She looked at Xu Xuan, who immediately replied, "It's a great blessing that Father survived this unexpected disaster; we dare not ask for anything more. But Mother is very depressed."
The crux of the problem can be summarized in a single sentence.
Shen Yao said, "Mother, you don't know, when I went back today, I saw that my mother-in-law looked almost ten years older. If this continues, she will get sick sooner or later."
Madam Shen's expression grew even more solemn.
Having said that, she understood and said, "Then we'll pick a good day and your father and I will visit again. We should visit each other more often during the New Year."
That's the logic, but it's clearly not what Shen Yao wants.
She said, "There's no need for that. My mother-in-law is a Buddhist. Why don't you invite her to the temple to burn incense and pray for blessings sometime?"
Xu Xuan chimed in, "Ayao is right, that's what Mother believes most."
The two women, working together, persuaded Madam Shen to arrange for Xu's mother to go to the temple to pray. Madam Shen was speechless.
Shen Yao and Xu's mother did not get along, as did Madam Shen.
Every time she went to the Xu family for social occasions, it was Master Shen who took the lead, while she assisted him.
Now that she was asked to meet with Xu's mother alone, Madam Shen instantly felt a headache coming on and kept groaning and rubbing her forehead.
"Do we really have to go?"
Shen Yao nodded vigorously: "Mother, I believe you can do it."
Continue to encourage.
Madam Shen's headache worsened.
She said, "Ah Yao, I saw that it seems to have snowed a few days ago. Is the weather not very good?"
How could this be?
Shen Yao looked up at the sky. White clouds drifted by, a cool breeze caressed her face, and there was no dampness in the air.
So he said, "Mother, please don't refuse."
Madam Shen glared at her, "Are you still my biological daughter?"
Shen Yao covered her mouth and laughed, "You should know more about this than I do."
So he got a sharp rap on the head.
As Shen Yao rubbed her head and cried out, Madam Shen sighed, "Well, we have nothing else to do anyway, so let's go together."
It means that Shen Yao and Xu Xuan went together.
The two immediately expressed their willingness to go together.
With Madam Shen settled, things became much easier with Madam Xu.
The mother-in-law sincerely invited them, and it would be awkward not to go, so both sides agreed to go for the incense offering the day after tomorrow.
Everything went smoothly.
Shen Yao was very happy, but Xu Xuan was not as optimistic as Shen Yao. Instead, he became increasingly depressed and often sat alone by the camellia in a daze these past two days.
So much so that Shen Yao once thought he liked camellias to the point that "if he didn't see them for a day, he wouldn't eat or drink."
But these camellias are meant to be given away as gifts.
In the evening, Xu Xuan was still sitting next to the camellia, dressed in thin clothes. When Shen Yao saw him, she ordered someone to bring him a cloak.
Xu Xuan said, "Thank you."
His eyes were full of affection.
Shen Yao didn't speak, but squatted down next to the camellia, gently stroked the petals, and praised, "What a beautiful flower, just as beautiful as a peony. I think the camellia is the peony of spring."
This is her assessment.
But Xu Xuan disagreed.
He got up and walked over, squatting down next to her shoulder. "A peony is a peony, and a camellia is a camellia. They are very different. How can you confuse them?"
"I was just using a metaphor."
"That's not right either."
"The peony is elegant and luxurious, while the camellia, though not as beautiful as the peony, blooms in winter and is superior in its pure and aloof beauty. Therefore, the camellia, with its own unique character, does not need to be compared to the peony."
Shen Yao smiled, "That makes sense."
Scholars speak differently; they can analyze even the simplest things in detail.
She then asked him, "So, do you really like camellias?"
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