The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 267: What secrets can separated lovers leave behind?

Shen Le's breathing suddenly tightened.

The whole room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The boy held his breath, the girl held her breath, and even the young alloy master who followed the boy and ran all the way here panting...

He also subconsciously held his breath and looked up at the girl's face.

Shen Le wanted to ask the Alloy Boss why he was joining in the fun. Can you help the boy to flirt with the girl, or can you help the girl overcome all obstacles and let her and the boy finally get married?

Or have you been, um, a super gossiper since you were a child?

Shen Le, who didn't realize he was also extremely gossipy, silently complained...

The girl's bright eyes were fixed on the boy, and she remained silent for a long while.

Shen Le had never seen such deep eyes before. With just a glance, sweetness, bitterness, hope, nostalgia, and pain were all mixed in those bright eyes and pressed deeply into his heart:
"Najisu," she called the boy's name in the grassland language, her voice soft. The boy was slightly shocked and stared at her, but Jinzhu did not say anything else, but just called him over and over again:

"Narisu...Narisu..."

The two people stood face to face, three feet apart, and they could touch each other just by stretching out their arms or leaning forward.

However, Jinzhu did not pounce on her, and the boy did not take a step forward or reach out to hug her.

The two people just stared at each other motionlessly. Although they were only a short distance apart, it seemed as if they were worlds apart.

After a long time, a smile appeared on the girl's lips, a smile that was so pale and transparent, and contained infinite sadness.

While shaking her head gently, she called him softly with all her love:
"Narisu... Actually, I knew from the beginning that it would be impossible for me to marry you..."

The boy's forehead buzzed and his face turned pale. He knew it from the beginning, from the beginning?

Then why do you still travel with me, listen to me teach you to read and write, go hunting with me, and sew quivers for me?

From winter to spring, from spring to summer, after so many days together, you are——

"Are you lying to me?"

He couldn't help asking. There was not much anger in the boy's voice, but rather it was cold, like a large piece of ice pressed into a charcoal stove, and the charcoal was about to go out:
"So long...we have been together for so long..."

"They call you the little general, they call you the young marshal." The girl smiled softly, her voice faint:
“I know of no Tatar girl who married an officer of a higher rank, not even a centurion or above.

——In the stories you told me, none of the princes, emperors, and Han heroes would marry a girl from the grassland as their principal wife. Not even one!"

Every time she spoke, the boy took a step back. Every time she spoke, he took a step back.

At the end of his speech, the boy leaned his back against the opposite wall, unable to stand straight, and just shook his head desperately:

"No... No... I'm not..."

I really want to marry you!

I really want to marry in a formal way!

I don't want you to be my concubine!
I really, sincerely, like you from the bottom of my heart!

"No matter how you think, it's useless. As long as my father comes to pick me up, your father will definitely send me back. If I marry you as your legal wife, your father will no longer be a general in the Central Plains."

The girl stood up gently, walked to the boy step by step, stood on tiptoes, and kissed him on the lips:
"I know you like me. But, Najisu... this is the only way I can repay you for saving my life..."

The moment the cold touch fell, the boy suddenly reacted. He pushed the girl away with all his strength, almost in fear, and ran out.

The girl staggered back as he pushed her back and she nearly fell to the ground, but luckily the young alloy boss yelled and leaped up, thus avoiding a tragedy.

The girl stared out the window blankly, looking at the figure of the boy running out. After a long while, she slowly slid down the edge of the kang and curled up into a ball.

The golden-haired beast lay beside her, rubbing its head against her face to wipe away her tears. The girl simply hugged it and buried her face in its fur.

This strange beast is invulnerable to swords and guns, and eats gold and iron. Its fur can be harder than steel, but if it wants, it can also be as soft and warm as an ordinary wild animal.

The girl held it in her arms, stroking its fur subconsciously, sobbing:
"Xiao Jin, you are the only one with me now... Can you stay with me forever? I will give you food, and all the gold, silver and treasures I can get will be given to you..."

Xiao Jin called softly, but did not answer. The young man did not go to see the girl again, but asked the maid sent by his father to accompany her to pass on a message to her:

"Is there anything else you want? Is there anything—I can do for you?"

And the news he waited for was not a request from the girl to meet him or elope with him.

He only received a handkerchief with a neat and beautiful line of ink on it, wrapped in a small pile of gold jewelry:

"If possible, could you please buy me as many books as you can? History books are best... I'll pay for it with this gold."

The young man stared at the jewelry in silence for a long time. These jewelry were commonly used by the Tatars, those large, rough-patterned ornaments: gold bracelets, gold earrings, gold pendants, gold rings, and gold pendants at the end of the braids...

None of the jewelry for Han women that he bought for her was there.

He grabbed a diamond-shaped gold pendant and held it tightly in his hand until his palm was pricked and bleeding.

He wanted to throw the pendant down several times, or call Xiao Jin out to feed it to him, but he stopped at the last moment.
Finally, he sighed deeply, wrapped the gold in a handkerchief and put it in the box, took out his savings, and went to the street to buy books:

"These, these, these! I want all of these! Give me a set of them all!"

A few days later, the girl set out on her journey home with the people sent by her father, carrying several large and heavy boxes of books.

When she headed northwest, the young man was ordered to go south to Beijing to serve as a palace guard:

"Xiao Jin, please leave... The capital is not a place you can go. There are many nobles and strange people. I can't protect you..."

The boy hugged Xiao Jin's neck and said goodbye to him reluctantly. The young alloy boss looked at him carefully, sniffed him hard a few times, and turned around and ran away.

The young man watched him go away, then plunged into the woods and suddenly shouted:

"Xiao Jin——"

The golden beast flew back like an arrow, almost knocking the boy off balance. The boy hugged his friend, wanting to say something but stopping himself. After a long while, he asked hesitantly:
"Xiao Jin, can I ask you for a favor? ... That is, that is, during the years I have been in the capital, can I ask you to go check on Jinzhu and protect her?

She is alone on the grassland, I am really...really worried about her..."

The light and shadows gradually faded. Shen Le opened his eyes and saw the Alloy Boss squatting beside him, carefully studying the dried backing paper, his face almost buried in it.

He stretched out a finger curiously and poked the boss's shoulder:

"Hey, so half of you were raised by that girl?"

"What do you mean by relying on her for feeding?"

The Alloy Boss jumped up, waving his claws and teeth. He jumped up, fell down, and with a loud bang, Shen Le almost felt like there was an earthquake:

"We benefit each other! Mutual benefit! I protect her and she provides me with food! I have helped her fight many battles! - Wait, how did you know?"

Shen Le laughed. Alloy Boss's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He put his hands behind his back and circled Shen Le half a circle clockwise, then half a circle counterclockwise:

"So, you said you could see some things from the past, things related to this painting, is that true?"

Shen Le smiled but said nothing. The Alloy Boss was so anxious that he wanted to come up and shake him:
"Then you should quickly complete this backing paper! Quickly!"

"I haven't seen that part yet. Maybe the painting hasn't been completed yet. Wait, tell me first, what happened to the girl?"

"Later... Actually, she was doing pretty well... What? You want the details? I can't spoil this! If you want me to spoil it, you better fix this backing paper first!"

Shen Le turned and left.

After I make up for it, I can finish the plot by myself, and I am still waiting for your spoilers!
He walked out of the studio in one breath, entered the alley that separated the east and west roads, and walked quickly along the west wall.

Before I even reached the entrance to the third courtyard on the west side, I heard hurried footsteps from behind. The Alloy Boss had already caught up with me:
"Hey, what do you think is the secret hidden in this picture? Where is it buried?"

Shen Le glanced at him and turned directly to the courtyard gate. Alloy Boss followed closely, completely ignoring the fact that this courtyard was Shen Le's private residence, not a place to receive guests:

"Tell me! Tell me! I always feel that this secret is very important, otherwise he wouldn't have left it to me in this way!"

Honestly, if it was just a secret related to that boy, it could be a gold mine, or a secret place.

However, considering the love affair between the two that ended without any result, and the fact that the girl later "lived well", Shen Le was a little bit unable to guess the direction of the plot:
Could it be that the girl discovered a secret place on the grassland, but was unable to develop it, so she left a letter to the boy from the past?

The boy couldn't touch it, and thought it was very important to his friend, so he drew it in the painting, split it into two parts - or even three parts, and left it to Xiao Jin?
He had been repairing the painting for a whole day and was so tired that his head was buzzing. He wanted to lie down and take a nap. But the alloy boss kept sticking to him, so Shen Le could only sigh and throw out an immature opinion:
“I think we may have to wait until the core of the painting is restored—you see, we now have a landscape painting, a less detailed map, and the direction of a formation.

Once the painting is restored, and the landscape is reconstructed, maybe we can locate it?"

At least narrow down the location a bit!

For example, narrow it down to one hundred square kilometers, narrow it down to a few hills, and then, based on those hills, find the location of the formation?
"You make sense!" Alloy Boss was excited:

"No need to wait for the painting to be restored. I have the scanned version of the restoration map I made. I'll go check it against the satellite map now!"

　In the book review section of the previous chapter, a reader asked the cat to give a happy ending...

　　Well, the cat thinks that, at least according to the cat’s standards, the endings of the boy and the girl are both very good, meow!

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(End of this chapter)