Chapter 22: Wei Sheng
With murals and friends, Hang Liumei quickly got used to life in Dunhuang. After she and Qi Xiuchun went to the county town to find an old Chinese doctor, another romantic case arose.
Hang Liumei remembered that her eyes healed quickly, but Xiuchun's ankle swelled up that same night. But she remained determined, finding a dog-beating stick to prop herself up and jumping around with her injured foot raised. The director told her to take a two-day break from work, but she refused. Hang Liumei wanted to get her food, but she refused. When Hang Liumei tried to help her to the bathroom, she pushed her back inside, nearly falling flat on her face. Only then did she agree to let Hang Liumei support her arm to go to the restroom.
Sister Xiuchun had always taken care of Hang Liumei, but now she finally had her chance to shine. During the day, she'd put out water and food for Qi Xiuchun, and at night, she'd come home and massage her with medicinal wine to reduce her swelling. They say like nourishes like, so whenever meat was served at the institute, Hang Liumei would go get a few goat bones to make soup for Qi Xiuchun.
More than half a month passed like this. At noon that day, Qi Xiuchun was pushed onto the kang again. Hang Liumei wiped the four legs of the small stool clean and placed it beside the kang. She put the lunch box on it and opened it. It was full of stir-fried carrots, mushrooms and yellow noodles.
Hang Liumei handed the chopsticks to Qi Xiuchun and took out a boiled egg from her pocket: "I added this especially for you, eat it while it's hot!"
Qi Xiuchun felt embarrassed by her care: "My dear sister, you are too partial to me! You might as well chew the rice into pieces and feed it to me. Those who know me will say that I twisted my ankle, and those who don't will think I am dying!"
"Bah, bah, bah, you're talking nonsense again." After saying that, Hang Liumei crossed one leg and sat beside her, watching her eat, ready to be ordered by her at any time.
Just after finishing the meal, Hang Liumei was about to take the dishes out to wash them, but Qi Xiuchun held her hand and said, "Just take a rest. I'm dizzy from walking around. The dishes are here, I'll go wash them. I can walk now, don't disbelieve me, look!" As she said that, she lifted her feet in front of Hang Liumei.
"I've already finished washing by the time it takes you to get out of bed and reach the sink!" Hang Liumei said, grabbing her things and running out. A moment later, she came back, shaking water off her hands, and asked Qi Xiuchun, "Is it almost time for your follow-up appointment? Let's take a couple of days off and go see him."
"It's today. You see, I'm almost recovered. There's no need for a follow-up visit." Qi Xiuchun leaned in to make room for Hang Liumei to take a nap. The two lay side by side and chatted.
Hang Liumei was so sleepy that she emphasized vaguely, "Anyway, if you want to go, remember to call me."
Qi Xiuchun said, okay, okay, you really worry about me. Hey - the last time I met that male teacher, he said that if I didn’t go for the follow-up visit, he would come to the institute to find me. Do you think this guy will really come today?
We just met by chance, he might have forgotten about it. If he really came to see you, he would be considered a caring person... Hang Liumei yawned and fell asleep, and didn't remember what she said afterwards.
Hang Liumei dozed off for a while, got up and went to the grotto. She was worried about Qi Xiuchun, afraid that she might need to relieve herself, so she ran back, but there was no one in the room! She was looking for someone in the yard when Gong Qinglian from the next room came out of the room, lifting the curtain and saying, "Kid, why are you not in the grotto at this time?"
She was a veteran at the institute, having arrived over a decade before Hang Liumei. Aside from the director, Teacher Gong was the one who guided the newcomers the most, acting like both a teacher and a mother. Hang Liumei loved her name and often followed her around at work, calling her "Teacher Gong" on the left and "Teacher Gong" on the right. Teacher Gong's child had been sick for the past couple of days, and I heard the fever had only just broken last night.
"Teacher Gong, have you seen Sister Xiuchun?"
"She just took the shuttle bus to the county town for a follow-up visit. Didn't she tell you?"
Hang Liumei stamped her feet anxiously: "I told her to wait for me, but she wouldn't listen! She must have left secretly because she was afraid of delaying my work. Forget it, I'll just wait for her to come back. Teacher Gong, is your Yuyu feeling better?"
"It's nothing serious. She just woke up and has an appetite now. I'll go get her a bowl of noodles."
After listening to her, Hang Liumei said, "Wait a minute," and ran back to the room to get the boiled egg from lunch and gave it to her: "Sister Xiuchun didn't eat this, so she left a note for me, saying, 'Teacher Gong, please take it back to Yuyu.'"
Gong Qinglian held her wrist and said, "No, no, keep it for yourself. It's okay as long as she's a child."
Hang Liumei stuffed the egg into Teacher Gong's pocket and ran away quickly.
Hang Liumei had been thinking about Qi Xiuchun all afternoon. When she finally finished work, she hurried back home, bag in hand. The evening heat made her face burn. When she got home, she saw that Qi Xiuchun still hadn't returned!
Hang Liumei had no appetite at dinner that night, and she was worried that she might have missed the bus to work due to her poor mobility. When everyone was sitting together to practice sketching, Qi Xiuchun finally came back.
Hang Liumei helped her back to the house to rest. She was sweating profusely and drank two teacups of water as soon as she entered the door. Hang Liumei handed her a towel. Qi Xiuchun wiped her face and neck, then sat on the kang and fanned herself with waste paper.
Hang Liumei asked Qi Xiuchun with some blame why he didn't wait for her.
Qi Xiuchun smiled, his eyes sparkling. He tapped Hang Liumei's forehead with a piece of paper and said, "Guess who I met in the county town?"
"Who is it?"
"Huang Hanwen!"
"Huang Hanwen? Who is Huang Hanwen?"
"Oh, that's the male teacher who had to pay for my medical bills!"
"Huh?" Hang Liumei was truly shocked. "You actually ran into him! This guy is truly determined!"
You got it right, this guy is really thoughtful! Qi Xiuchun leaned against the wall and told Hang Liumei how they met today.
After she arrived at the county town, she couldn't walk fast because of her injured foot. She got off the bus slowly and was alone at the end. Then she heard someone calling her name. Qi Xiuchun stopped and looked around. A young man jumped out from somewhere, patted her shoulder, and then stood straight in front of her.
He was standing too close. Qi Xiuchun swayed and almost leaned on his shoulder. Her face immediately turned red and she said angrily, "Huang Hanwen! Why is it you? What are you doing? Are you trying to make my other foot sprained as well?"
Huang Hanwen stood across from her and chuckled, "You still remember my name? It seems you're obsessed with me just as much as I am with you. You've wronged me. I thought you were supposed to come see the doctor today, so I waited at the station early this morning, but you never showed up. I was about to get on the bus to your institute to look for you, but I didn't expect that 'I've searched everywhere for him, and when I turned around, he was standing there, in the dimly lit area.'"
"Stop talking nonsense. It must be an accident. Who is so stupid as to wait for a stranger here for nothing?" Qi Xiuchun lowered her head and said the harsh words. In fact, she was too shy to meet his eyes.
"You're wronging me, sister. Look—" Huang Hanwen ran a few meters away and pushed his bicycle over. "I know your leg isn't fully healed yet, so I pushed the bicycle here specially, waiting for you to arrive so I could be your driver."
He pushed his seat in front of Qi Xiuchun, who twisted her body to deliberately oppose him: "You are really interesting. Other drivers drive four-wheeled vehicles, and you are more like a rickshaw puller."
"Yes, yes, I am the coachman. I will be your coachman today, but I don't know if you will appreciate it." Huang Hanwen did not mind the trouble. He pushed the cart around and brought the seat to Qi Xiuchun, and even dusted it twice for her.
Qi Xiuchun got on the scooter, and Huang Hanwen, beaming, pedaled ahead, taking her to the old Chinese doctor. After accompanying her all the way to the doctor's appointment, Huang Hanwen offered to take Qi Xiuchun back to the station. Qi Xiuchun naturally agreed, only to discover that Huang Hanwen was riding in the opposite direction of the station.
"Isn't this the way to the station? Did you take the wrong way?" Qi Xiuchun asked in a low voice from behind. She believed that Huang Hanwen had no ill intentions and didn't want to disrupt his plan.
Huang Hanwen turned around and said, "It's still early for the bus to leave. It would be a pain to send you there now and have you wait there. You're usually too tired to face the grottoes. I'll take you around the county and go to a nice place first."
Qi Xiuchun stopped talking. She was a little nervous and a little expectant.
"arrive!"
This is the school where Huang Hanwen works.
Huang Hanwen didn't let Qi Xiuchun get out of the car. He jumped out and pushed her in. Before the guard came over and said anything, Huang Hanwen quickly said, "This is my friend, an artist, who is here to guide art education." Then he took Qi Xiuchun in.
Qi Xiuchun followed him to his office, which was bright and clean. Everyone had their own desk, on which were neatly stacked student homework, a thermos with peony flowers printed on it, and a celadon tea can.
Qi Xiuchun sat enviously in his seat. The fresh paint felt different, even better than the director's desk. A composition book lay open before him. Huang Hanwen had only given it a "B," with his comments written next to it.
"Excuse me, I'm just a kid here and I don't have any skills. I didn't even finish grading homework this morning. I went to the station for fear of missing you." Huang Hanwen explained beside Qi Xiuchun.
Qi Xiuchun unscrewed his Hero brand fountain pen and traced the honeysuckle and lotus patterns on the mural on the straw paper. He glanced at him and said, "Your handwriting for your students is too flamboyant. They won't understand why they only got a 'B' and will blame you for being an incompetent teacher!"
Huang Hanwen squatted in front of her and said, "You are right. Then please leave me a painting so that I can appreciate the master's handwriting."
"So you became my coachman just to trick me into painting." Qi Xiuchun said this, but his subordinates still painted for him and signed the signature carefully.
Huang Hanwen picked it up and took a look. "This peacock is really nice. It captures both form and spirit. You're a great artist, thanks to your talent! Qi Xiuchun, so that's how you write your name. It's a great name, and it suits you perfectly. It's like four words: Zhong Ling Yu Xiu."
Qi Xiuchun's words became more gentle as she was praised by him. "This is the blue bird from the Western Wei Dynasty murals. It was used to bring food to the Queen Mother and gain her trust. You've mistaken the divine bird in the sky for an ordinary bird on earth."
"Oh? So it's the bluebird that carries messages. What a wonderful meaning, just like the line in the poem - 'I don't have the wings of a phoenix to fly with me.'"
Fortunately, he didn't finish the second half of his sentence, otherwise I really wouldn't know what he meant. Qi Xiuchun had just drawn it casually, without any hidden meaning. But after he interpreted it like that, it seemed like she was flirting. She stood up and said it was getting late and she had to get ready to go back to the station. Huang Hanwen didn't stop her. He carefully tucked the drawing into her book and took her out of the school.
As they crossed the street, Qi Xiuchun stopped Huang Hanwen, explaining that it was a rare trip and she needed to pick up something for a colleague. Then she got out of the car to buy some saxaul cakes for Hang Liumei. While she was choosing, Huang Hanwen wandered off into some shop. Qi Xiuchun saw a teacup nearby, and thinking of Huang Hanwen's hard work today, she bought him one as a token of gratitude.
Unexpectedly, when Huang Hanwen came back, he also gave her a pair of cloth shoes. He said that Qi Xiuchun's feet were worn out, and her feet sweat a lot in summer, so it would be better to change them.
After they parted at the station and waited for Qi Xiuchun to get on the bus, Huang Hanwen stood by her window and said, "Xiuchun, I took you to my school today because I wanted you to know that I'm a serious and honest person. If we can be considered friends now, I hope you can come to my school to find me when you come to the county town in the future. I regret hurting you, but I'm also very glad because this gave me the opportunity to meet you."
The car started moving, and Qi Xiuchun's heart was in turmoil.
"How did this saxaul cake come about?" Hang Liumei said loudly while chewing the cake after hearing the story.
"Yes, that's how it happened, so you should thank him!"
The two of them turned off the lights and went to sleep. It was quiet outside the window, but they were chatting happily inside.
Qi Xiuchun lay on her side, facing Hang Liumei, and said, "Do you know the story of 'Wei Sheng Holding the Pillar'? It's about a man and a woman who agreed to meet on a bridge. The woman was late, and then it started to rain heavily, flooding the bridge. The man, in order to keep his promise, held onto the bridge pillar and refused to leave. In the end, he drowned because of this."
"What's the matter?" Hang Liumei asked, scratching her hands.
"Oh, why don't you understand? Don't you think Huang Hanwen is just like this man who waited for me at the station all day today?"
"Even though he said that, we don't know if he really waited all day."
"Of course I waited, otherwise how could we meet by chance. Forget it, you still don't understand." Seeing that Hang Liumei was not listening, Qi Xiuchun didn't want to explain anymore. He lay down and said, "Let's go to sleep." Then he closed his eyes and slowly savored the taste of the day.
How could Hang Liumei not understand? She was just a little wary of Huang Hanwen. If someone insisted on coming to the police station to find her after only meeting her once, or waited for her at the station, she would not be very moved. She would even find it a little scary!
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