Chapter 527: Beneath the Umbrella, Like Old Friends?
(The previous chapter was called "Raise Your Hand if You Need a Leave" — that's the chapter title, not an actual leave notice... Surely no one actually thought I was taking a leave and got angry, right? Made it just in time, didn't even get to edit this chapter.)
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Tang Thirty-Six raised his hand very low, his head also very low, and his voice was actually very low too.
Even though his face couldn't be seen, one could imagine just how awkward he must have felt.
The crowd parted like a tide. No matter how embarrassed he was, as a well-known friend of Chen Changsheng, especially bearing the title of National Teaching Academy Superintendent, and with Su Moyu and Xuan Yuan Po stubbornly turning their heads away, he could only walk forward, all the way to the front of His Holiness the Pope.
Mao Qiuyu's expression was somewhat grim; he barely restrained himself from scolding him.
But the Pope's expression was very calm as he handed the divine staff into Tang Thirty-Six's hands.
The divine staff was not as heavy as people imagined, but Tang Thirty-Six felt it weighed like a mountain, almost too much to bear. He bent his knee to perform a bow on behalf of Chen Changsheng.
With his head lowered, he could still feel gazes coming from all directions — some were astonished, some disdainful, some gratified, but most were hostile, sharp as swords.
He felt he was innocent, and thus very annoyed. Following Mao Qiuyu's guidance, he spoke words of gratitude and such, while cursing incessantly in his mind.
Those curses, of course, were meant for Chen Changsheng, wherever he might be at that moment.
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The snow fell heavier and heavier. There were no longer any pedestrians in the streets and alleys; lanterns were being lit one after another in the lanes.
Chen Changsheng had been standing on Fushui Road for a long time. Looking at the sky, he sighed inwardly.
Snow clouds obscured the sun, making the capital somewhat dim. He could only vaguely tell from the brightness that the sun was moving westward, about to set.
The time on the note said dusk, but dusk was often a blurry time in the world — dusk itself was a vague concept. From when the sun began to set until it completely sank below the horizon, there was always about an hour. So, was it still dusk now?
Had he arrived too early? Or was she really not coming?
He thought, if the sky was fully dark and she still hadn't come, then he would leave.
Just then, a loud sound came from afar, vaguely from the direction of the Li Palace. He had no idea what had happened, let alone that it was related to him. Rubbing his hands in the wind and snow, he glanced now toward the direction of the Imperial Palace, now toward the direction of the Eastern Divine General's Mansion.
His meridians had problems; the amount of true essence he could output was insufficient, but the amount of true essence in his body was actually quite abundant, so he wasn't afraid of the cold at all. The reason he kept rubbing his hands and occasionally stomping his feet was entirely a matter of mood.
The sky grew deeper and darker; it was truly about to turn pitch black. He had given up all hope.
Just then, a voice sounded from somewhere behind him, a little ways off.
"Why are you standing here?"
Hearing this voice, his body stiffened slightly. He turned to look and saw a figure holding an umbrella slowly walking out from the alley behind him.
That umbrella looked somewhat old, somewhat strange. In the dim light, it seemed to isolate everything beneath it, making it hard to see clearly. An ordinary person might not even be able to see it at all.
But Chen Changsheng could, because he was very familiar with this umbrella. It was supposed to be his. This umbrella was, of course, the Yellow Paper Umbrella.
Like a fallen leaf in the snow, the Yellow Paper Umbrella slowly came before him, then tilted slightly backward, revealing Xu Yourong's face.
That face — hard to describe in words, only clichéd with the word "perfect."
Looking at this face, so beautiful and indeed very unfamiliar, Chen Changsheng felt nervous, a little dazed.
He looked into her eyes, found that familiar tranquility and calm, and finally began to relax.
He was familiar with her voice, and also familiar with her eyes. Once their gazes met, the strangeness vanished, and the two seemed to return to the Zhou Garden.
Traveling together through life and death, accompanying each other day and night, sitting and discussing the Way, rising to face enemies — like old friends at first meeting, growing old together.
Beneath the umbrella, they were like old friends.
But why talk about growing old together now?
Chen Changsheng felt that suddenly thinking of these words was terribly awkward.
He didn't yet know that in the Li Palace, someone was even more awkward than he was.
"Why are you standing here? Didn't we agree to eat tofu fish?"
Unlike Chen Changsheng's current nervousness, Xu Yourong had always known he was him; dozens of days were enough for her to become calm. Moreover, they had truly spent too much time together in the Zhou Garden. Seeing him, she really couldn't feel strange, let alone show any sense of distance.
"...I went into the alley earlier and searched twice, but couldn't find the tofu fish you mentioned," Chen Changsheng said.
Xu Yourong was startled for a moment. She looked into the alley and said with some regret, "I haven't been back in three years, and it's gone already. That place really had good fish."
"How did you... come from over there?" Chen Changsheng asked, pointing at the alley entrance from which she had come.
That street wasn't the way from the Imperial Palace, nor the way from the Eastern Divine General's Mansion, which was why he hadn't noticed.
"I went to the Little Orange Garden and waited for a while. Mo Yu... hadn't returned, so I came over. I'm a little late."
As she said this, Xu Yourong's eyelashes fluttered slightly, her gaze lowered a bit, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
Before coming to the appointment, she had suddenly remembered that this was her first... private meeting with Chen Changsheng. The Zhou Garden naturally didn't count. She suddenly felt a bit shy, and also thought that on the Naihe Bridge, she had been the one to extend the invitation. Not wanting to seem too forward, she had taken the spur-of-the-moment idea to bring Mo Yu along.
Who knew Mo Yu wasn't there.
She didn't know whether to feel regret or relief.
In any case, these matters were far more complicated for her than deciphering Heavenly Book Monoliths.
The sky was too dim; Chen Changsheng didn't see her expression. He was quite slow (chidun) in this regard, and of course, couldn't imagine why she had gone to the Little Orange Garden to find Mo Yu. He only thought that today's purpose was to arrange a meal together. Somewhat uncertainly, he asked, "Should we eat something else in the alley, or... go somewhere else?"
"Let's just stay here."
Xu Yourong handed the umbrella handle over to him.
Chen Changsheng took it very naturally.
No words were needed, not even a glance. The action of handing and receiving the umbrella was very natural, as if they had done it countless times.
Because, this action they had indeed performed countless times in the Zhou Garden — on the Never-Setting Sun Grasslands, when encountering demon beasts, when hurrying along the road. Most of the time, she was on his back, the umbrella in her hand, and when she got tired, she would hand it to him.
Chen Changsheng held the umbrella and walked side by side with her into the snow-covered alley.
Time might not change things in the world much faster than flowing water, but changing the taverns along a street was very easy.
Fushui Road was now far more famous for iron-pot stewed bones than for tofu fish.
In the short alley, there were five places selling iron-pot stewed bones, all with signs claiming to be authentic Qishi big bones. No one knew which one was real.
The hot steam rising from the iron pots overflowed from those taverns, mixed with the rich aroma of meat, incredibly tempting in the cold winter.
Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were not afraid of the wind and cold, but they still felt some longing for this atmosphere. Finding a place that looked a bit cleaner, they went inside.
Iron-pot stewed bones were always served on a kang table. When the thick cotton door curtain was pushed aside, a wave of heat rushed at them.
Business was slow today. In a shop usually bustling with activity, only one kang table had customers. Under such circumstances, those customers were true foodies, their attention entirely on the fragrant meat and bones and wine. They didn't even notice the young man and woman who had entered.
Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong walked to the innermost part. Before they could sit down, they suddenly heard fierce arguing behind them.
A diner slammed his wine bowl heavily onto the table and said angrily, "Miss Yourong beat that Chen Changsheng like a dog! How could she have lost!"
Another diner sneered and said, "Then why did Miss Yourong concede?"
The first diner's face flushed red as he forced out a sentence: "...That's because she still has old feelings. She thought about how Chen Changsheng was once her fiancé, so she went easy on him."
The owner, hearing the argument from the back kitchen, quickly came out to mediate. After finally calming those customers down, he noticed two new guests in the shadowy corner. The young man and woman hadn't sat down yet, and the atmosphere seemed somewhat awkward. He found it strange, thinking, "Other people are arguing — what's it to you?"