Ink Burns

Chapter 17 New Woodcarving

Zhou Liniang didn't understand He Shanyue's meaning for a moment. Before she could think about it, she saw He Shanyue walk to the door in the moonlight, and said as he walked in:

"The day before yesterday, should it be the day before yesterday. It was just an ordinary day. Several young ladies of the Cheng family went to the third floor as usual. They thought that today's class would be the same as usual, mostly some boring ancient books and scriptures."

He Shanyue walked to the box again and slowly opened the locked box.

"Who knew that today's course would be very different."

He Shanyue pulled out a plain silk handkerchief from his sleeve pocket, interlocked his index finger and thumb, and took out a number of items one by one through the handkerchief. Just one look at the items was enough to make one blush: furry, slippery, colorful,
He Shanyue walked out without changing his expression, and carefully and meticulously put them in order.

"Today's course is very different and not up to par, but it's useful enough, especially for beautiful young girls like you who come from humble backgrounds. The teacher who teaches the class that day might start with this."

Zhou Liniang took a few deep breaths. Her shriveled chest urgently needed intense stimulation to keep her heart beating.

She is not stupid, she can understand what these things are.

Even if she didn't understand what was at the beginning, she could still understand the colorful erotic pictures at the end!

He Shanyue didn't care whether Zhou Liniang understood or not, he lowered his head and continued to say what he was saying: "When these things were arranged one by one, the teacher was very simple and patient, and the young lady who was listening to the lecture went from being at a loss to blushing, from embarrassment to timidly hanging her head, and she didn't know how much she listened, how much she remembered, and how much she could use——"

"But, the water flows sometimes smoothly and sometimes against, the north wind has good and sometimes bad winds, some people obey, while others would rather die than obey."

"How long can you use your beauty to serve others? A girl from an honest family can be called a gentleman by learning poetry, songs, pipa, zither, tea ceremony and chuiwan. I would rather die than learn these things!"

He Shanyue's voice was deliberately sharp and he spoke very quickly. After waving his arms in a running start position, he took two steps at a time and ran to the thick corner of the camphorwood box in an exaggerated manner. He clenched his five fingers on both hands and then suddenly opened them: "Bang!"

"There was a big hole on her forehead, white brain matter flowed out along with bright red blood, her body fell limply to the ground, her eyes could not close, she could only stare at the sister she had been with for a long time, breathing out more than breathing in."

He Shanyue glanced at the scattered stools: "Those sisters who were watching must have been frightened and immediately stood up, kicked the stools away in panic, and started to scatter like birds and beasts."

Zhou Liniang shivered all over and retched, "Who is that girl who hit her head?"

He Shanyue said calmly: "Whoever is sick is the one."

"Miss, that Miss." Zhou Liniang murmured.

Zhou Liniang suddenly looked up: "How do you know this! How do you know these scenes!"

He Shanyue looked down at the blood and brain matter splattered all over the floor, then looked around at the stools that had been kicked to pieces, then bent down and picked up a gilded pomegranate hairpin from the corner.

There were stains of clotted blood and even some fragments of flesh and blood on the hairpin.

He Shanyue placed the hairpin in his palm and handed it to Zhou Liniang: "I guessed it."

Almost everyone who can draw has the ability to associate the cause and effect of the picture based on the existing picture.

Zhou Liniang was shaking all over, not daring to look, let alone think about it.

He Shanyue minding his own business, put those aphrodisiac and even more life-threatening things back into the box through the handkerchief, squatted down to lock it, and lifted the handkerchief, letting it blow away with the wind.

"Let's go." He Shanyue said.

"Is she dead?" Zhou Liniang raised her eyes and suddenly felt dizzy: "Is my uncle's daughter dead?"

"He should have died just now." He Shanyue did not stop and walked towards the third floor porch: "That scream is usually the last cry of a dying person."

Zhou Liniang felt dizzy and her stomach was churning. She walked forward blindly like a zombie. When she returned to her room, the dinner box was already on the table.

When Zhou Liniang saw the tofu in the food box, she vomited with a "wow".

The right wing was in turmoil all night.

First there was the overwhelming sound of vomiting, followed by the sobbing and suppressed crying, and then the sound of footsteps pacing back and forth and standing for a long time.

Miss Wang Er was unable to sleep because of the noise. She kept mumbling and cursing, "Damn it! You're not dead yet, just go to sleep! Are you waiting to die so that you can have a good sleep?"

After a while, Miss Wang half opened one eye and asked, "Did you scare her away?" He Shanyue closed his eyes slightly and did not answer.

Cowardice means obedience.

Cowardice also means weakness.

It would not be a bad thing for her to realize as soon as possible that the Cheng Mansion is not a paradise, and take her cat, tree and wood carving to find her lover and real life.

He Shanyue turned over and faced Miss Wang Er in the dark. He spoke for the first time, "Whether she leaves or not, whether she stays or not, whether she comes or not, it has never been up to her."

She, her, he, they, them, them, the common people, are all like this.

The next morning, Huang Zhi tied her hair into two buns, pinned with the silver cicada that Shanyue had given her, and blinked as she told He Shanyue, "My cousin vomited blood yesterday and is in a very bad condition. We asked a doctor to see her, but the medicine didn't seem to work. The atmosphere at home is not good, and my wife asked me to come and tell you that there will be no class today."

What good can medicine do for a dead person?
He Shanyue looked up and saw that Huang Zhi looked natural, so he handed Huang Zhi a handful of melon seeds and thanked him.

After Huang Zhi left, Ku Huanglian, who was from the same clan as Zhou Liniang, came over tiptoeing - it was enough to show that the relationship between the two was not good.

As soon as Huang Lian arrived, he heard the door slam shut, and then came the muffled crying and Huang Lian's curses from inside. After a while, he heard the door bang open again, and Huang Lian walked out angrily.

Miss Wang Er listened against the wall, put down the melon seeds in her hand, and sneered, "It's just as you said. They don't allow her to resign. If she resigns, where will the money for her brother's betrothal gift, her father's tobacco money, and her mother's clothes come from?"

The person next door is still sobbing, separated by a wall, like the pain of life tickling me through a layer of gauze.

Miss Wang Er cursed, "Damn it."

Towards evening, Coptis chinensis comes first.

The person next door started crying, and then fell into an unbearable silence. After waiting for a while, the door opened wide and Huang Lian came out. He was not as angry as he was in the morning. He even nodded to He Shanyue who was sitting at the door.

He Shanyue stood up, waved his hand, and smiled gently, looking very kind, but his eyes glanced at the museum shelf on the right.

The civet cat wood carvings come in various shapes, some catching butterflies, some sleeping lazily, and some sitting upright with their paws folded.

Huang Zhi said later: "There will be no class tomorrow. Madam said so. My uncle is holding his breath now. There are many women in the backyard so we won't cause any trouble."

He Shanyue thanked him again, and as if remembering something, he turned around, took out a silver leaf half the size of a palm from the small drawer on the dressing table, and handed it to Huang Zhi.

Huang Zhi was a little stunned.

What is this for?
She hasn't said anything yet!
He Shanyue's attitude was gentle and her tone was sincere: "I would like to trouble you to help me inform my former workshop, which is called 'Guoqiaogu'. It is now in Songjiang Mansion. I forgot to bring in a few boxes of paint. After all, you are a member of the Madam's family, so you should be able to move around more conveniently."

Huang Zhi stepped back repeatedly: "No, no, this is not possible! Although the Cheng family is kind, they are strict in controlling people who come and go."

It’s not that I don’t help carry things.

But the relationship is not particularly close, and this silver leaf was promised at the beginning!

Huang Zhi can help take care of it.

But you have to pay extra.

He Shanyue was shocked when he heard this: "Really? I'm really sorry to trouble you!——"

He Shanyue explained, "Just now, Huang Lian from the Madam's room also came and brought Miss Zhou a beautiful civet cat wooden sculpture. Oh, it was the new civet cat wooden sculpture sitting with its paws together - I thought I could bring something into the inner courtyard!"

Huang Zhi narrowed his eyes after hearing this: "Coptis, right?"

He Shanyue smiled and said, "Yes. It was Huang Lian. Miss Zhou was homesick, but Miss Huang Lian brought the wood carving in, and then Miss Zhou stopped crying. It turns out that sisters from the same family are closer."

　It's not a light comedy like Yizhi and Miaoshou. The writing style is more like the early works Di Ce and Tian Jiao, but it will be fun all the time.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)