Descend to Earth (II)
"And there's not even a clerk or carver named Jia in the shop... Sir, let alone this short, fat shopkeeper Jia..."
He made awkward faces and grimaced, trying to convey his hidden meaning in a subtle way.
The last bit of hope was ruthlessly extinguished, and He Shu hung his head dejectedly.
A majestic crane, having just arrived in the mortal world, was actually toyed with by a vulgar mortal. It was really... unacceptable!
He lowered his eyes and sighed silently in his heart.
Her slightly lowered brows were concealed beneath a light veil embroidered with white cranes. With a gentle movement, she gently lifted a corner. The auspicious cloud pattern outlined by silver thread shimmered in the light streaming in from the window, as delicate as tears condensing in the corners of her eyes.
"'The Bond of Understanding', I... I know this book, sir!"
A young lady, also wearing a veil, squeezed out of the crowd and came to them. Her voice was hoarse, probably because she had caught a cold and had not yet recovered.
As if she was a little anxious, she took a big step and pulled the hem of her skirt. She stumbled forward and the bitter smell of medicine on her body came towards He Shu with the wind.
To everyone's surprise, the woman steadied her body nimbly. He Shu was close by and could see the most clearly. He couldn't help but admire the woman's excellent physical skills in his heart, and quietly retracted the arm that he had stretched out to support her.
"It's the one Ikki wrote, right?"
As the woman spoke, she looked at He Shu. Through the two veils, her eyes fell without hesitation on the man who was not dressed in a striking way, but had an extraordinary temperament and was out of tune with the crowd.
He Shu suddenly raised his head, the light in his eyes almost overflowing, like a lost bird suddenly seeing the way home, and he rushed to the woman in a few steps.
"My father has mentioned the name 'Qi Xiang Zhi' many times, and I've often heard him talk about the author of this book, so it feels familiar to me."
"Has your father ever mentioned this to you?"
“…”
He Shu bombarded him with questions, and even though he got negative answers all the time, he still didn't give up. Fortunately, the woman was very well-mannered and responded to his questions one by one without getting tired of it.
Their movements finally attracted attention. Unable to contain their curiosity, the book readers pricked up their ears, and whispers spread like ripples.
As a supreme immortal, He Shu had excellent hearing, so those whispers that he thought were hidden naturally penetrated his ears without missing a word:
"Is that lady with the veil a girl from the Li family?"
"That's right. Look at the material of her clothes. Who else in Chaisang City can afford to wear them except the Li family? But his daughter has been waiting to be married since she came of age and rarely shows up in public. Why is she so..."
“…”
"Sorry, young lady, I'm being abrupt."
He Shu couldn't help but think of the rules about separation between men and women in the human world, and felt that he couldn't act like he had never seen the world, so he quickly took two steps back and kept quiet.
He hadn't read the storybooks in vain these past few days. After coughing twice to try to calm himself, he calmed down his eagerness and imitated the descriptions of the characters in the book from memory. He straightened his body, shook his not-so-wide sleeves, and put his left hand behind his back. When it touched the tassel on his belt, he couldn't help but nervously grab it, twisting it unconsciously:
"I'm really eager to find books, I'm sorry to make you laugh."
After saying that, he laughed dryly twice.
"It's okay, I understand your feelings."
He Shu's behavior could be described as affected, but although he failed to achieve the suave and dashing look he desired, and was even a little "naive", fortunately he did not make a fool of himself, and his appearance was more pleasing to the eye than those dandies who were arrogant, self-proclaimed to be humorous but were actually frivolous.
The woman in front of him probably didn't notice his little thoughts. She didn't react much, but just raised her eyes and glanced at the crowd that was about to surround them.
"The girl is so considerate, sensible, and warm..."
"Young Master—"
She suddenly interrupted He Shu's words.
"It suddenly occurred to me that my father did mention quite a bit about this author, but it involved quite a lot, and I can't quite put it all together. If you have time, could you please have a moment with me?"
"But the girl..."
The woman didn't wait for He Shu to finish speaking, and made a move to walk towards the door of the bookstore. She ignored the gazes falling on them and turned her head:
"I heard the crispy abalone and conch in the teahouse next door are delicious. Sir, would you please go and try them with me?"
She deliberately raised her voice, causing the whispers around her to become louder and louder.
He Shu didn't think about it anymore. Since the girl didn't care, why should he bother about it? Anyway, they were upright and had nothing to fear.
The two of them quickly came to the teahouse next door and found a seat by the window.
"Sir, where did you find the book 'Knowing Each Other'? This book... is considered a banned book."
As soon as they sat down and ordered tea and snacks, the woman asked straight to the point.
"Ban...banned book? I don't know about that."
"Don't worry, sir. This book hasn't been officially published. It's just been circulated privately among the nobles, earning the name of a banned book... But I heard from my father that this book is not very good. I wonder why you are looking for the sequel?"
"Your father's words... I beg to differ. This storybook is indeed inferior to others, but reading tastes naturally vary from person to person. I truly think this book looks very novel and I really appreciate it."
He Shu said this and laughed at himself:
"I'm afraid you'll laugh at me, but I was deceived by a dishonest merchant a few days ago and bought this book. I only realized after I finished reading it that the seller didn't sell me the complete version, but I still love it so much."
The woman sitting opposite him listened attentively, without any intention of mocking him for being so serious about a book.
"I think your persistence is quite similar to Mr. Wang Chong's style of reading extensively in the market and writing Lun Heng."
She picked up the teapot to pour tea, and her sleeves suddenly slid down half an inch, revealing a wrist that was not thin and delicate, unlike the delicate hands of a girl in the boudoir.
As she moved, the smell of medicine drifted away again. He Shu couldn't help but be stunned, but the other party had already naturally gathered her sleeves and smiled:
"Be careful, sir."
"Um... I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it, Miss, you are so kind. I just read the storybooks to kill time and have no intention of writing a book. It's really too much praise."
He Shu didn't understand who Wang Chong the woman was talking about. He was just an illiterate crane. Not to mention the classics of the human world, he hadn't even read many books from the fairy world. He could only continue the conversation with a vague understanding.
The woman seemed to see through his guilty conscience, lowered her head, chuckled, and put down the celadon teapot in her hand.
"Then what is it about 'The Encounter' that makes you so anxious to continue reading it?"
"Hmm... I can't really explain it. Maybe I think it's a bit absurd for a young servant to fall in love with the Immortal Lord, but I can't help but be curious."
While the two were talking, the waiter placed crispy abalone snails on the table, but they were so immersed in the conversation that they completely ignored the food.
"Really? If it were me, I'd probably like their immortal status. Immortals have such long lifespans, so their love for each other would be eternal, right?"
He Shu felt anxious after hearing this. All the gossips he had heard at the Peach Banquet and the separations and reunions he had witnessed in front of Yue Lao's Palace suddenly surged up in his throat.
“No, it’s not…”
The fairies in Yaochi Fairyland were very fickle, sometimes liking one immortal king, sometimes liking another emperor; the stars in the Star Official's Palace who had partners were almost always sleeping in different beds...
The life of an immortal is immortal, but love is not.
Maybe they don’t understand love either, but they just need the company of another person in their long life, and who that person is is not important to them at all.
He Shu blurted out a few words before he reacted and immediately stopped talking endlessly. The person in front of him was just a mortal, and he couldn't talk about business matters.
"No one can say for sure. After all, no one has ever been to the Ninth Heaven. Who knows what the gods there are like? Eternal love, heaven and earth, maybe there is, maybe not. But in my humble opinion, it has nothing to do with the length of life. What do you think, young lady?"
"...Young Master is right."
The woman seemed to understand something. She lowered her head, then picked up a piece of cake, pulled aside her veil and took a bite.
The jawline, revealed through the slit in her veil, was soft, its curve naturally converging to her chin, revealing a hint of jawbone due to her thinness. Her lower lip was slightly fuller than her upper lip, and her lips were light in color. The corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, adding a touch of openness to her pale cheeks.
Perhaps because of her illness, her cheeks were slightly sunken, her skin was so thin that it was almost transparent, and there was a faint bluish-gray tint under her eyes, with fine shadows cast by her long eyelashes.
He Shu was already flustered and could not hear what the woman said. He lowered his head and missed the opportunity to see her face.
His eyes wandered away, but his hand reached out to the pastry as if it had found support, picked up a piece and tasted it. For a moment, the only two thoughts in his mind were to speak carefully and concentrate on eating.
"This crispy abalone snail is sweet but not cloying, crispy but not mushy, and the sweetness seems to be tinged with the aroma of burnt grains."
"Sweet but not cloying, crispy but not mushy..."
"What's wrong? Is it not to your liking?"
"No, no, this...this crisp..."
"Delicious Crispy Abalone Snails."
"Yes, this crispy abalone snail is very delicious. I just heard the girl say it downstairs. It feels familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen it before..."
"Is it from the book 'Knowing Each Other'?"
"Well, has the girl read this book too?"
He Shu took a sip of tea, swallowed the pastries that had just filled his mouth, and asked curiously.
"It's just a guess. He even has an impression of details like the taste of the cakes. Shouldn't it be written in the book that the young master likes to read?"
The woman did not answer directly, but just asked back with a smile.
"Ah, I remember now. It was at the Peach Banquet at the very beginning of the story when the fairies praised the Peach Cake. It was also there that He Shi and Xuan Du Jun met!"
He Shu was very happy that he could actually "remember everything he saw". He chuckled and picked up another piece of cake.
After hearing his words, the woman's fingers holding the teacup curled up unconsciously, and the tea in the cup rippled slightly.
"It seems that the young master really likes this book."
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