Chapter 20 - 14: If You Are Well, It Is a Sunny Day
But she didn’t eat it, just clutched it in her hand.
Jiang Mu borrowed some more money from Chu Lingzhu and bought some joss paper, spirit money, and incense sticks from a roadside shop.
...
Led by Yuan Ahqing, the three of them arrived at a remote graveyard.
Two low earthen mounds stood side by side, surrounded by uncut weeds. A rough, uncarved wooden plank was stuck into each mound, serving as a tombstone.
Sure enough, the Yapu had just done a shoddy job.
Jiang Mu sighed to himself.
’Now that the bodies are buried, it wouldn’t be right to dig them up again and disturb the dead. All I can do is find someone later to carve and erect new stone tablets, and tidy up the graves.’
He cleared away the surrounding weeds and lit the spirit money.
The firelight flickered, and paper ash danced in the air.
Gazing at the leaping flames, Jiang Mu tossed her indenture contract into the fire, burning it to ashes.
Neither Yuan Ahqing nor Chu Lingzhu noticed.
"Grandma... Little Brother..."
Yuan Ahqing, who had been desperately holding back, finally broke down, wailing.
The emotions she had suppressed for so long were completely released in that moment.
A healer with a naturally compassionate heart, Chu Lingzhu couldn’t help but turn away at the sight, wiping at the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Hey,"
With red-rimmed eyes, she whispered to the man beside her, "I’m serious. Let me have Ah Qing. I’ll treat her well."
Jiang Mu replied flatly, "Ten thousand taels."
Chu Lingzhu’s lovely almond-shaped eyes went wide. With tears still glistening on her pink cheeks, she fumed,
"Jiang, you’re a robber! You only spent three taels on her!"
"I killed her father,"
Jiang Mu said suddenly.
Chu Lingzhu froze.
Jiang Mu gazed at the tombstones, his voice turning somber.
"Of course, a Demon deserved to die. I don’t feel guilty. It’s just... there are some things I still don’t understand. Keeping her with me might help me figure them out."
Watching the man’s brooding profile, Chu Lingzhu parted her lips, but ultimately said nothing.
As they were leaving, Chu Lingzhu saw Yuan Ahqing quietly take the skewer of candied hawthorns—the one she hadn’t brought herself to even taste—break it in two, and bury the halves in the earth of her brother’s and grandmother’s graves.
On the way back, Jiang Mu stopped to buy Yuan Ahqing some clothes, shoes, and socks that fit her properly.
Chu Lingzhu had followed them, apparently wanting to see how Jiang Mu would settle the little girl. But the moment she stepped into the courtyard and saw Bai Xiang, she snorted, turned, and walked away.
Perhaps their stars were simply crossed.
They just couldn’t stand the sight of one another.
Jiang Mu paid it no mind. He led the nervous and uneasy Yuan Ahqing over to Bai Xiang and explained the girl’s situation.
Bai Xiang was filled with pity upon hearing the little girl’s story.
She took Yuan Ahqing’s small, grimy hand and led her to the rear hall to get cleaned up.
As they walked, Yuan Ahqing’s mind was still reeling.
The grief and confusion from the graveyard hadn’t faded, and now, stepping into the courtyard of this grand estate, she felt like a mud-caked monkey who had stumbled into the Celestial Palace.
Insecure, awkward, nervous...
She didn’t even dare to breathe too deeply, terrified that her own stench would befoul the refined air of the place.
Thankfully, Bai Xiang possessed a natural, gentle maternal warmth that slowly put the little girl’s anxious heart at ease.
After she had bathed and changed into a clean, new cotton dress and soft-soled shoes, Bai Xiang personally combed through her dry, knotted, straw-colored hair, styling it into a pair of cute twin topknots.
The little girl’s tears didn’t stop the entire time.
She was reminded of her mother.
...
Once she was ready, Bai Xiang brought her out into the courtyard.
Jiang Mu, who was in the middle of his blade practice, finished his form and looked over. A clean, refreshed little girl stood there.
Her little face was still sallow and gaunt, and her skin remained coarse from constant exposure to the wind and sun. But her timid eyes, now washed clean of dust, were strikingly clear, revealing a hint of Spiritual Qi.
"Not bad. She cleans up into a pretty little thing. If we raise her well, she’ll be a great beauty one day."
Jiang Mu smiled.
THUD!
Yuan Ahqing suddenly fell to her knees, kowtowing to Jiang Mu. Her voice choked with tears as she said,
"Thank you, Master... Thank you for your immense kindness. Ah Qing can do anything—chop firewood, start fires, feed the pigs... As long as you don’t send me away, Master, I’ll do whatever you ask."
"We don’t keep pigs here. Well, actually, we do have a couple,"
Jiang Mu joked.
When he saw Bai Xiang narrow her almond eyes, he cleared his throat and asked with sudden seriousness,
"I killed your father. Don’t you hate me?"
Ah Qing looked up, her little face streaked with tears, but she shook her head firmly.
"Master is a good man... I know you saved me and my brother that day. My father... he wasn’t my father anymore..."
Jiang Mu sighed to himself and said gently,
"From now on, you’ll stay with Sister Xiang’Er. Do what she tells you, but don’t work yourself to exhaustion. Remember, no one will bully you in this house."
"Mm!"
Yuan Ahqing nodded forcefully as fresh tears welled up.
...
「Dinnertime.」
Bai Xiang had prepared a table laden with delicious food.
Yuan Ahqing, however, only ladled herself a full bowl of white rice. She then squatted silently under the eaves outside, curled into a tiny ball, and began to eat with her head lowered.
Jiang Mu sent Bai Xiang to call for her several times, but the little girl absolutely refused to come inside.
With no other choice, Jiang Mu had Bai Xiang put some of the dishes and a small plate of meat on a tray to take to her.
’Some deeply ingrained beliefs can’t be changed overnight.’
’Forcing the issue would only scare her. Best to take it slow.’
Under the eaves, a cool autumn breeze was blowing.
Yuan Ahqing held the large bowl, shoveling rice into her mouth.
She ate with the ravenous haste typical of a country child.
Mid-bite, she suddenly stopped.
Staring at the white rice in her bowl, images seemed to flash before her eyes: her little brother’s gaunt face, her grandmother’s stooped back, her father’s simple, honest smile, and the mother she remembered so vividly...
Tears splashed down into the bowl.
She tilted her head back, gazing up at the bright, clear blue sky.
She vaguely recalled that it had been a long, long time since she had last looked up at the sky like this.
Deep in her memory, her mother—who had studied for a few years and always spoke in a soft, gentle voice—had once taken her by the hand, pointed to the sky, as clear and blue as if it had just been washed, and said tenderly,
"Ah Qing, your name means ’clear sky.’ I gave it to you hoping you would always be safe and well, just like a fine, sunny day."
"Mother..."
The girl sniffled, her nose red. She lowered her head and, in great big gulps, swallowed the rice now mixed with her salty tears.
The rice was salty.
But within the saltiness, there was a hint of sweetness.