Miao Chu

Chapter 365 Saw
Master Cao glanced at him sideways, said nothing, picked up the food box, and walked out.

Master Chen was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "Old Cao? You really have the nerve to take that!"

Master Cao glared at him with wide eyes and said, "If I don't take it, will you benefit from it?"

"If I have no face, does that mean I don't have a mouth either? Can't I even eat?" Master Cao pointed to his face. "Look here, is there a 'stupid' written on my face?"

Master Chen carefully stroked his precious beard, coughed twice, and said, "The people outside haven't left yet. You, an old geezer, are carrying food made by Xiao Song. Where are you going? Be careful they see you and rob you of everything!"

"Where am I going? You're rushing me, where else can I go? Am I not in a hurry? I'll just have to rush someone else!"

He added, "You 'robbed' everyone else? I bet you were the one who wanted to rob me even before you joined the outlaws!"

With that, Master Cao picked up the food box with his right hand, put his left hand behind his waist, hummed twice, and finally left.

Master Cao went to find his nephew, but after some questioning and urging, he didn't mention anything else.

The next morning, just after the busiest period of the day, a passerby came to help out at the restaurant, delivering a message to Old Lady Li, the wife of Chief Li. She said that the family had just received news from Hejian Prefecture and invited Song Miao to "take some time these next couple of days to come and visit."

Upon hearing that it was Hejian Prefecture, Song Miao knew that it was probably news from her elder brother, Song Huaizhou. Although she didn't know if it was good or bad, she quickly handed over her work, picked up some snacks, and bought some fresh fruit on the way. Not daring to delay, she went to the door immediately.

As soon as she entered the door, her daughter-in-law, Duan, offered her tea, while Old Lady Li handed her a letter.

"...It's quite far away, and it took a long time to find out before I finally received the news last night."

Song Huaizhou met his demise early last year. Thanks to the Li Family Escort Agency's connections in Hejian, they were able to get some information out of him.

It turned out that the teacher who led the group had a long-standing relationship with a local wealthy man, and during their study tour, all the teachers and students stayed at his house.

The wealthy man was very generous. At the farewell banquet, because the teacher was quite old and worried about the inconvenience of the journey, he specially lent him his own carriage and driver, saying that he would return after reaching the next destination.

The people of Hejian Prefecture have always been known for their fierce and unruly nature, and there are quite a few bandits. It is common for people in the city to appear as respectable ordinary citizens while secretly tipping off others.

The wealthy man was usually very flamboyant, which had long been noticed by those wicked people who wanted to take him down.

That day, the group used his family's carriage, the best one at that, which was very eye-catching. It was usually used for children to go in and out. Coincidentally, the direction was the same as the family's in-laws' home, so the robbers thought it was a family member taking a child back to the wife's home. They went up to rob the family, intending to tie them up and extort money from them. Little did they know that they had made a mistake.

Everyone says that students are poor. Although Nanlu is not exactly poor, they really can't find much money. A group of villains came full of expectations, but when they couldn't rob anything, evil thoughts arose in their hearts, and they killed them all.

With such a major case and so many students killed at once, the Hejian Prefecture was naturally implicated. They immediately dispatched local troops to suppress the bandits. Only after interrogating the captured bandits did they learn the whole story.

But it was too late.

After listening to what Old Lady Li had to say, Song Miao read the letter carefully again. Although she was prepared, she still couldn't help but sigh deeply.

Duan comforted her, saying, "No matter what, the person has been caught. He was executed last autumn. Blood debts must be repaid in blood. His head has already fallen to the ground, and he deserved it. You should grieve in moderation."

Old Lady Li said, "Fortunately, everything is going well for you right now. Even the Emperor and Empress Dowager have eaten your steamed buns, and you have a stable business. If your mother and brother knew this from the afterlife, they would be at ease."

He added, "I knew you would probably ask, so I asked around. I was hoping that your brother could bring back a piece of clothing or a purse, but unfortunately, I heard that it was a mess at the time, and the tombs were all mixed up, so it was really hard to tell."

Song Miao knew that robbers usually left nothing behind when they robbed people. By the time the authorities came to collect the bodies, they would most likely not be able to tell who was who. Now, after so many years, it was even less likely that any belongings would be found.

She thanked him, took the letter home, and thought of Song Huaizhou and Pingyang Mountain. She couldn't muster any energy and ate only a bowl of rice soup for dinner before going to bed early.

When I'm in a bad mood, I can't sleep comfortably.

After tossing and turning in bed for half a day without being able to sleep, Song Miaoqiang simply got up, sat at the table, and without lighting a lamp, simply opened the window.

It was already late, with only a crescent moon and some stars in the sky, casting a soft glow over the courtyard.

She gazed at the moon for half a day, seeing layers of heavy clouds surrounding it, and felt a mix of emotions.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching.

In the past, whenever a festival approached, the elders on the mountain would try to gather them back together.

On the night of the fifteenth, her parents would take her down the mountain to see the lantern festival. On the sixteenth, everyone would admire the moon and flowers, with some singing and others joining in.

My mother told me that the first time she went down the mountain when she was a child was during the Mid-Autumn Festival. She went to see the lantern festival with everyone and said that she was "dazzled by the colorful world". She couldn't stop looking at anything she saw. In particular, she became addicted to the lantern riddles that the vendors were selling. She could never guess enough of them.

When she returned to the mountain, she not only pestered her parents, but also kept pestering people, asking the elders to give her riddles.

But if the riddles are too difficult, she can't guess them and will cry. If the riddles are too easy, she can guess them too easily. She's happy, but it's even more troublesome—she still won't let go, grabbing people and not letting them leave, and demanding that they continue to come up with riddles.

That year, Aunt Wan even made her best dish, Crossing-the-Bridge Fish Slices, too old. It was because when she was scalding the fish, she saw the fish slices change color and suddenly thought of a riddle of suitable difficulty. She hurriedly grabbed a pen to write it down and didn't keep track of the time.

The next day, her great-aunt and second cousin went down the mountain early in the morning and bought her a bunch of riddle books.

But she doesn't remember anything from that time, so she has absolutely no recollection of it.

Later, when her father was cleaning the house, he found that box of riddle books and chatted with her mother about it. Only then did she learn about this old story, but she refused to admit that she had done the "bad thing".

By then she had grown up a bit, and there were many other novelties to do during the Mid-Autumn Festival. She found the riddle book, but after flipping through a few pages, she put it back and put it back in the box.

During those Mid-Autumn Festivals, Uncle Xu would make lanterns for everyone. Her lantern was always particularly unique. Once, the inside of the fish lantern glowed, and after turning the mechanism, the fat fish could swim in the water. Another time, it was a bird lantern that would pop up and announce the time, making a clanging sound.

During family reunions, the fireworks made by Grandma Lu are indispensable. They can last for a quarter of an hour, and after exploding in the air, they meander into colorful shapes, including flowers, trees, pavilions, insects, fish, birds and animals, and so on.

She first saw fireworks when she was five years old. She thought they were beautiful, but she couldn't help being nervous. She kept grabbing Grandma Lu and asking, "They're so loud, will they scare the Moon Goddess and the Jade Rabbit?"

Grandma Lu comforted her, saying it wouldn't happen.

She was very anxious—"Will they be able to see such beautiful fireworks?"

"Of course!"

Song Miao leaned back in her chair, slowly looking at the moon, thinking about the beautiful fireworks, the lovely lanterns, the song her uncle sang—it was really awful, almost drowning out her aunt's flute playing, and that box of riddles... As she thought about it, her initially low spirits gradually lifted.

Can they see themselves?

—Of course you can, right?

After admiring the moon by the window for half a day, Song Miao felt her mood had calmed down considerably. She poured herself some water, intending to drink a couple of sips before going to sleep, when she suddenly heard a soft creak outside, followed by a faint light coming towards the window. A moment later, someone outside called softly, "Sister?"

The sound was tentative and very faint, mostly a whisper, with almost no real sound.

With that cry, the light shone brighter, and a lamp was raised low from outside the window, along with a tiny head that popped up to speak.

—But it was Xiaolian.

With her hair down, she stood on tiptoe and saw Song Miao sitting behind the window, looking hesitant. Finally, she couldn't hold on any longer and suddenly lowered herself down. After a while, she stood on tiptoe again and asked softly, "Sister, what are you doing?"

Song Miao leaned closer and whispered back, "Sister, you're looking at the moon, aren't you going to sleep yet?"

Xiaolian nodded, then shook her head and said, "I'm going to the outhouse."

But even though she said she was going to the outhouse, she stayed there for a long time, looking at Song Miao through the window, and whispered again, "Sister, don't be sad. I don't have a brother either, but I have an uncle. How about I let you have my second uncle as your brother?"

She added, "I can also be a younger sister! Then the older sister will have both an older brother and a younger sister!"

Song Miao was momentarily stunned, then laughed, held the lamp for her, and said softly, "I don't need your Uncle Zijian, I already have a brother!"

He urged her again, "It's getting late, go to sleep."

Xiaolian wanted to speak, but hesitated. She nodded first, but after taking two steps back, she couldn't help but run back and whispered through the window, "Sister, I took a long nap at noon, and I'm not sleepy at all now—shall I massage your shoulders and legs?"

He added, "Now that I've learned acupoints, I know how to press them—the ones I used to press are nothing!"

As she spoke, she tried to roll up her sleeves, but with the lamp in her right hand, she couldn't move properly and was quite flustered.

Song Miao felt a warm glow in her heart.

Not wanting the child to fail to deliver this token of her affection, she went to open the door.

Xiao Lian carried the lantern and ran over.

Song Miao took the lamp from her and placed it aside, but instead of asking her to massage her shoulders, she said, "Why don't you sit with your sister for a while?"

Xiaolian remained quiet and didn't say a word. The two of them sat together by the window and watched the moon for a while.

Song Miao saw the person out the door shortly after.

This time, the child held up a lamp and closed both windows for her from the outside, then urged her to go to sleep.

Song Miao smiled and agreed, but she didn't go to sleep or open the window again.

She lit the lamp, ground the ink, picked up her brush, wrote a letter, sealed it, put it in the box, and then turned off the lamp and went back to bed.

The backyard was quiet except for a few chirping insects. When Song Miao blew out the lamp and went to bed, the chirping stopped as if she had been disturbed.

After Song Miao lay down, the chirping of insects did not immediately resume.

In the quiet, the only sounds were the very soft closing of the door next door, and Xiao Lian calling out "Mother" half asleep, followed by Cheng Erniang's very low voice. Although it was impossible to hear what she was saying, it was easy to guess that she had just come out of the house to see her and was now going back inside.

Song Miao felt a warm glow in her heart.

This time, after closing her eyes, she fell asleep not long after.

In her dream, she opened the fat fish that Uncle Xu had made. Inside the fish's belly was not a pearl, but a fluorite, which was very beautiful.

When Song Miao woke up from her dream, the time had already arrived.

She got up to wash up, but then she heard a knock at the door. When she answered, she saw it was Cheng Erniang.

The other party had already finished preparing and stood outside smiling, saying, "There are quite a few people here. Leave the restaurant to us today! If anything serious happens, just leave it for now and ask us again tomorrow. My lady, please rest today."

Song Miao had gone to bed late last night and was actually quite tired. Hearing Cheng Erniang's words, she hesitated.

Cheng Erniang then said, "My wife always tells me to speak my mind, so I'll be frank today—you've been too stubborn. You've been busy for so many days without even a moment to catch your breath. Now that everyone is familiar with their work and has taken charge of everything, it's time for you to rest!"

"The backyard is too noisy, and I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep well during the day. Why don't we go out and find an inn to rest? I'll ask Fourth Sister to take her Third Brother to book a room for you."

Song Miao thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "No need, I'll just rest in the room for a while. Second Madam is so thoughtful, always thinking ahead of everything. I really want to take a break and relax today."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Erniang said happily, "That's exactly right! It just so happens that several royal gardens in the west of the city are open to the public these days, and it's said that they have some very beautiful chrysanthemums inside. If you've had some free time after resting, my lady, it would be nice to go and see the flowers and enjoy the scenery!"

"When you come back, learn from me too. When I was in Fuzhou, I only saw ordinary yellow and white chrysanthemums. I didn't know that there were green chrysanthemums with curled petals. If they are really beautiful, I will take Xiaolian to see them next time I have a break!"

He added, "If it's boring to be alone, why not invite Madam Shen along? I think she's been feeling much better lately, and she's quite the fun-loving person—it's a pity about that Han..."

She paused here and didn't continue.

Hearing Cheng Erniang's rambling, Song Miao didn't respond, but just smiled. After giving a few instructions, she went back to her room and took another nap, sleeping until the sun was high in the sky before getting up.

While Song Miao was catching up on sleep, someone suddenly arrived at the Prince of Lu's residence.

The man was leaning on a cane, and his steps were unsteady. He had sparse white hair, a wrinkled face, and a hunched back.

Upon receiving the news, the chief clerk rushed out. Seeing the man, he carefully stepped forward to help him up and asked, "Why have you come, sir?"

(End of this chapter)