Chapter 55 The two parted ways at the intersection...
The two parted ways at the intersection, and Zhu Mingyue hurried home carrying the groceries she had bought.
The front door was wide open, and Xie Pei was seen sitting in the yard with a piece of meat in his hand. With a slight flick of his wrist, a piece of meat landed precisely on the eaves in a parabolic arc.
Er Ya's claws remained firmly planted on the eaves, her head slightly extended forward, as she snatched a piece of meat and swallowed it whole, looking quite content.
Cluck cluck! Cluck cluck cluck!
Er Ya's eyes suddenly widened, and she paced anxiously a few steps on the roof. The next second, she spread her wings and swooped down.
~
Standing high up, it could see far, and its vision was even clearer than that of ordinary people in dim light. It spotted Zhu Mingyue from afar, pounced on him, and finally landed on Zhu Mingyue's shoulder.
Zhu Mingyue called it "Er Ya" and gently stroked the bird's head with her finger.
Gaga! Er Ya tilted her head so comfortably that she wanted to shove her whole head into Zhu Mingyue's hands.
A man and a bird walked home in the last rays of the setting sun.
Xie Pei glanced at him and silently poured the remaining pieces of meat into the basin. Er Ya smelled the meat and seemed to remember that she hadn't finished her dinner. She flapped her wings and flew to the ground to continue eating the meat with her head down.
Zhu Mingyue felt that he must have been arguing with Xu Lingguang in the afternoon and was so angry that he was hallucinating. He actually saw a hint of resentment in Xie Pei's eyes. He rubbed his eyes and found it unbelievable.
It must be a hallucination. It's all Xu Linguang's fault!
He bit his lip lightly, a hint of embarrassment on his face, and explained dryly, "The Ghost Festival is in two days. Today, Li Zhengyang and I went to the county to buy some fruits and paper money for the sacrifice."
Xie Pei: "Mm."
His tone was calm and indifferent, as if he didn't care much about where he went. And look at his eyes—goodness, where was all that resentment? They were practically freezing cold! This was the real Xie Pei!
As Zhu Mingyue thought about it, she became lively again, carrying a package on her body and taking things out one by one like an amusement park hamster.
As he rummaged through his belongings, he explained, "These are three sets of paper money, and three sets of fruits as well. But I figured it's enough to just put them out as a token gesture. They're quite expensive, so we can take them back and eat them ourselves." He didn't have a deep relationship with the Xie family—no, he should say he had absolutely no relationship with them. When he arrived at the Xie family, both elders had already passed away, and Xie Hong had also died suddenly. As for the reason, he glanced quickly at Xie Pei halfway there, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.
In short, he didn't care about the only descendant of the Xie family, so why should he care? It was only because he had been influenced by the traditions of his previous life that he paid special attention to festivals and sacrifices. Otherwise, given his relationship with these three people, he wouldn't even bother to buy paper money.
His complexion returned to normal, and he continued to rummage through the package. "This is two catties of water chestnuts and two catties of glutinous rice balls. I love them so much. I've never seen them for sale at Jufang House before." He opened the package and picked up a piece. Because it was made of glutinous rice, although there was no sugar added, it became more and more fragrant the more you chewed it. You could taste a hint of sweetness if you savored it carefully. He loved this kind of light and sweet but not greasy dessert. The only downside was that it was a bit sticky.
"Would you like to try some?" he mumbled, handing the glutinous rice balls to Xie Pei.
Xie Pei took half a step back, a hint of resistance on his face.
Zhu Mingyue ate a piece and was still not satisfied, but unfortunately, some glutinous rice balls were still stuck to her teeth. They were sticky and she couldn't get them off with her tongue. The feeling of having something in her mouth was very strong.
Damn, why is it so sticky? Were the glutinous rice balls he used to eat adulterated? He finally understood Xie Pei's resistance, and also understood why Jufangzhai didn't sell this stuff.
This is so sticky! I've only eaten one and it's already like this. If I eat a few more, my jaw will be stuck together. That's so unseemly.
Imagine a young master and lady finishing their glutinous rice balls, picking their teeth, and gazing deeply into each other's eyes—the thought alone sends chills down your spine.
Then he imagined the young master and young lady as him and Xie Pei...
No, no! Xie Pei absolutely cannot eat these glutinous rice balls. He has to keep them for himself and eat them secretly. Let him suffer this humiliation alone!
He gritted his teeth in frustration and continued rummaging through his things. He found the red gauze dress that Fuyunji had given him, a dress he had changed out of as soon as he left the county town and passed through the outskirts. Outside the town, the population was sparse, and even if he encountered a few scattered people, they were all farmers. No matter how well he dressed, no one would be interested in his clothes, so he might as well take them off sooner rather than later. He felt itchy all over as soon as he wore them for another second.
He stuffed the gauze skirt back into his bag as if he had done something wrong, and touched his nose as a last thought to hide his embarrassment.
Xie Pei: ...He saw it all.
Zhu Mingyue didn't care; even if he saw it, he had to pretend he didn't. He was going to hide the dress away in the closet later, and it probably wouldn't ever be seen again.
He acted all mysterious, which attracted Er Ya to stroll over and stick her head into the package. After being lovingly stroked by Zhu Mingyue, she hurriedly ran away.
He had taken everything except two pieces of clothing. He pulled out a small sandalwood box, but this thing had been digging into his back the whole way.
Zhu Mingyue feigned mystery: "Guess what this is?"
Xie Pei: ...
His response was Xie Pei's deafening silence.
Zhu Mingyue: ...Well, he really didn't expect Xie Pei to answer him. But then again, it was really boring! He often wondered how there could be such a boring person as Xie Pei in this world.
Being with him is like transforming into a preschool teacher, constantly asking and answering his own questions while also keeping the atmosphere lively.
Sigh, I'm so tired!
Gaga! Er Ya, having forgotten the pain of her previous injury, came over again, pecking at the wooden box with great interest.
Zhu Mingyue looked at Er Ya and thought, "Well, even a bird talks more than Xie Pei."
He opened the box with a wry smile, and inside lay a dark brocade robe, folded neatly, with even a waist ornament hanging from it—a safety buckle the size of a copper coin, which looked to be in pretty good condition.
Zhu Mingyue couldn't help but click his tongue. He hadn't noticed the accessories before. No wonder they were so expensive. The safety buckle alone was worth a hundred coins. Thinking about it, he had misunderstood the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper hadn't really ripped him off.
He said, "I bought this for you. Try it on and see how it looks."
Xie Pei looked at him, his face calm and composed, but a hint of doubt and confusion seemed to rise in his eyes.
He frowned slightly. "For me?"
“Yes,” Zhu Mingyue nodded, “Of course I bought it for you.” Afraid that he wouldn’t believe her, he picked up the clothes and spread them out on the spot.
"Hmm, the clothes are a bit long. I guess all those young masters from military families in the capital are over eight feet tall. Besides, these clothes wouldn't look good on a short person." He held the clothes up to Xie Pei's chest to check them out. A look of amazement flashed in his eyes.
It has to be said that he has a keen eye; he could tell at a glance that the clothes were a perfect match for Xie Pei.
Even before putting it on, just looking at it like this, I know Xie Pei would look absolutely stunning in it.
He stuffed the clothes into Xie Pei's arms and urged him, "Go try it on! I haven't measured it either, so I don't know if the size will fit."
Xie Pei lowered his eyes and remained silent, as he was half-pushed into the bedroom.
After a long while, Xie Pei emerged, dressed in black.
He was much taller than when Zhu Mingyue arrived. Perhaps because of the lack of nutrition before, they were able to eat their fill after Xie Hong died, and Xie Pei's height increased rapidly like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Before Zhu Mingyue knew it, she had to tilt her head slightly to look at him.
When Zhu Mingyue held the clothes up to herself, they almost dragged on the ground, while when Xie Pei wore them, they barely reached below his calves and above his ankles.
For a moment, Zhu Mingyue was consumed by jealousy. He was a month younger than Xie Pei, so why did he eat so much but not grow taller? He wasn't greedy; he could have grown to 1.8 meters tall.
To be fair, Xie Pei's figure and appearance were indeed exceptionally gifted. His broad shoulders, narrow waist, and upright posture were particularly striking under his fitted clothes, and were also exceptionally... breathtaking. In comparison, even the glamorous stars of later generations were nothing special.
Zhu Mingyue was absolutely delighted. "Wear it when spring comes and the weather gets warmer!"
Xie Pei let him stare at her, his eyes darkening and his ears turning slightly red. Fortunately, it was already late, and all the subtle emotions were submerged in the flickering red candlelight.
Zhu Mingyue, oblivious to everything, continued, "Just by dressing like this and standing outside the dumpling shop doing nothing, you can attract customers for me."
Xie Pei: "..."
The lust in his eyes vanished, and the red on the tips of his ears faded.
That day, Zhu Mingyue slept in late, something she hadn't done in a long time. But to call it a late sleep was really just around 7 AM.
The dumpling shop is closed for the day today. The traditional custom of the Yin Festival is to worship ancestors, and then the whole family gathers together to eat glutinous rice products. Naturally, he can't do business today, so he simply closed the shop.
On the day of the Yin Festival, it is said that the earlier one worships ancestors, the better. According to folklore, the ancestors are waiting for their descendants to burn paper money. Whoever receives it first will be blessed and will ensure that their descendants will have good fortune in the coming year.
Who doesn't want the blessings of their ancestors? This naturally led to the phenomenon of scrambling for sacrificial offerings.
In the dead of night, he was awakened by the crying of a child outside.
When it comes to showing respect to one's ancestors, it's natural to bring the children along. But what can a toddler understand? All they know is that they were sleeping soundly when their parents forcibly woke them up. Before they could even vent their morning grumpiness, they were dressed, carried, and off they went.
How cold the nights must be in late November! After a while, the child came to his senses and finally cried in distress.
Annoyed by the children's cries and the adults' curses every now and then, Zhu Mingyue rolled over in bed, oblivious to the commotion outside. He pulled the covers over his head and went back to sleep.
The ancestors of the Xie family weren't his ancestors, so how could they possibly protect someone with the surname Zhu? That's absolutely impossible.
He slept until Chenshi (7-9 AM), leisurely ate the glutinous rice porridge cooked by Xie Pei, and then slowly set off, carrying a basket of paper money and fruits behind Xie Pei.
The Xie family's ancestral graves only go back to Xie Pei's great-grandfather's generation. There are no graves further back, because his great-grandfather fled with his family and settled down in various places.
From Xie's great-grandfather to his grandparents, and down to Xie Pei's parents and Xie Hong, these four generations lived in the same place, and even their graves looked the same size at first glance.
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