The hand warmer cover came crashing down on his head, but he easily dodged it and caught it.
Xiao Man's face flushed red and then turned pale. Finally, she sighed and shook her head, saying, "This person is hopeless. All he thinks about are these things. I was going to make you a new dress with the most beautiful embroidery and not charge you a single penny, but that's impossible now. You can continue wearing your tattered clothes."
"Come on." Zexiu tossed the stove cover to her. "I learned how to change the subject when I was ten."
This person is incredibly difficult to deal with, and utterly detestable. Xiaoman took a deep breath, smiled, and said, "Yes, you've discovered my secret. What should I do, Uncle Zexiu? I like you so much, please grant me my wishful thinking."
Zexiu laughed heartily, grabbed a stray lock of her hair, gently tucked it behind her ear, and whispered, "Silly child." Then he pushed open the door and walked out.
Xiao Man's heart was pounding so hard she almost cried.
She slumped back onto the bed, picked up the hand warmer cover, sewed a few stitches haphazardly, but couldn't sew any further, so she simply threw it away, lay down on the bed, and covered her face with a pillow.
I'm happy, but I feel like crying.
What a terrible feeling it is, as if you can't grasp anything at all, yet you're foolishly happy.
She seemed to be getting closer and closer to the other side, gazing at the bright spring scenery, feeling both incredibly sweet and incredibly apprehensive.
She knew those things were fleeting; they would fly away the moment she reached out to embrace them. Beautiful things are transient; they cannot be bought or exchanged with money, and they are not stable at all.
When she was in Wutong Town, she would ask herself: Xiaoman, what do you want most? She would answer without fail: money, to be a rich person.
Now she asks herself the same question: Xiaoman, what do you want most?
She dared not answer, refused to think about it, and finally slowly fell asleep.
*******
As it turned out, Xiaoman's embroidery skills delighted Tuan Shanzi. Early on the third day, he came over excitedly with two newly made hand warmer covers in his arms. As soon as he saw her, he smiled broadly, and his arrogance and rudeness from their first meeting seemed to have vanished.
"Good girl! Did you really make this?" He carefully held the hand warmer cover, as if afraid of breaking a precious item.
Xiao Man nodded. "Mr. Round Fan was kind enough to save me, but I have nothing to repay him with. This little bit of embroidery is nothing to brag about. I'm just glad you like it."
"I love it! It's nothing! It's something to be proud of!" He was so happy that he was almost incoherent. He tucked the hand warmer cover into his clothes and asked, "Besides this, can you embroider anything else, young lady?"
Xiao Man figured he wanted her to embroider a real round fan, so she nodded: "I know flowers, birds, fish, insects, ladies, and I can barely manage to embroider pavilions and towers, but I'm afraid it won't meet your standards, sir."
The fan-wielder exclaimed happily, "Alright, you wait and see!"
He vanished in a flash, returning a moment later with a sandalwood box. He carefully placed it on the bed, slowly opening it. Inside were two round fans. One was plain, pure white, while the other depicted a beautifully dressed lady, smiling and holding a flower, exuding elegance. The handles were meticulously carved from the finest sandalwood, adorned with ring-shaped amethyst crystals, and the fan surfaces were made of fine silk—truly exquisite.
"This is a round fan with a lady picking flowers that someone lent me to admire. I really like it, but the person is urging me to return it. With your excellent embroidery skills, could you please embroider this lady's image onto this white fan?"
Xiaoman took the fan and looked at it. Seeing his expectant look, she deliberately smiled and said, "Embroidery is possible, but..."
"But what?" The fan was just waiting for her to name her price; a thousand gold pieces or ten thousand silver pieces would not be a problem.
Xiaoman said, "However, the Gu worms in my body have not been cleared yet. I still have to eat those pills made by centipedes and earthworms every day and drink scorpion soup. I also have a fever and am very weak. I'm afraid I will ruin your fan."
The woman with the round fan laughed and said, "It doesn't matter. If I had known you had such embroidery skills, I would never have been so rude." After saying that, she stood up and bowed deeply to her. "I was very sorry for being so rude to you earlier. Please forgive me, young lady."
Xiao Man was overjoyed and quickly helped him up, saying, "Sir, you are too kind. You saved my life. I would give you my life back if I could, let alone embroider a fan."
The woman with the round fan exclaimed happily, "Young lady, you are indeed eloquent and persuasive! My nephew has excellent taste! Come, please follow me."
He grabbed Xiaoman's arm, forgetting all manners, and led her through a maze of twists and turns back to the room where he had previously diagnosed her. Zexiu was there getting medicine and was very surprised to see them. She asked in surprise, "Second Uncle, what are you doing here..."
With a beaming smile, the man with the round fan patted him on the shoulder forcefully: "Good nephew, you have an eye for talent! Quick, fetch the long incense stick!"
"What's going on?" Zexiu asked Xiaoman with her eyes, and Xiaoman winked and said, "Watch the show."
The incense sticks were infused with various herbs, making them completely different from ordinary incense. The fan-wielder lowered the curtain, lit two incense sticks in each of the four corners of the room, and then ordered Zexiu to boil water. She poured the freshly boiled water into a large copper basin placed in the center of the room. Soon, the room became hot, humid, and suffocating; Xiaoman covered her nose, unable to suppress a cough.
Suddenly, she felt an unbearable itch on her injured right hand and hurriedly tried to scratch it through the bandage. Tuan Shanzi took out a bamboo tube and a pair of silver chopsticks and said, "Don't scratch, Zexiu, quickly untie the bandage."
After the bandages were removed, the skin and flesh of the wound were completely torn open, revealing bright red flesh that was throbbing. Xiao Man was so itchy that she couldn't stand it and was restless. Ze Xiu went outside and brought a kettle of boiling water to pour into a copper basin. As the steam rose, she saw several green lights rush out from her wrist and were caught one by one by the fan like picking up vegetables. Upon closer inspection, they were three or four long worms as thick as silk threads. They wriggled a few times before stiffening. The fan quickly stuffed them into a bamboo tube and sealed it with a stopper before saying, "Alright, all the Gu worms are out."
As soon as the insect crawled out, Xiaoman immediately felt excruciating pain in her wound, and blood began to flow. She gritted her teeth and said, "Mr. Fan, the wound hurts!"
The fan-wielder stuffed the bamboo tube into a drawer and said, "Such a serious injury, and it's been dragging on for so long, of course it will hurt."
"But if my hands hurt, I can't do embroidery."
The fan-wielder suddenly became very anxious, spinning around in place several times before finally stamping his foot and shouting, "Wait a minute!"
He ran out, seemingly looking for something, and returned a while later carrying a rattan medicine box. He first wiped the blood from her wound with a clean cloth, then tied her arm with a rope to slow the bleeding. He then took out a blue porcelain bottle, poured some white powder on it, and finally took out a bandage, wrapping it tightly around her arm. He said, "Until the wound heals, don't let this hand get wet. Change the dressing twice a day, and it won't hurt so much anymore."
Zexiu opened the curtain, letting the moisture and smoke drift out. Seeing Lianyi and the others looking expectantly at the door, she smiled and said, "It's alright, the Gu worm has been removed."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Lianyi ran in overjoyed, hugged Xiaoman's head, and choked out, "Master! You're not dead! That's wonderful!"
Xiao Man patted her head, then suddenly felt something was wrong. She turned around and asked, "Mr. Round Fan, didn't you say that those centipede medicines would take three days to remove the Gu worms? It's only been two days."
The fan-wielder looked somewhat embarrassed. He couldn't very well say that he initially disliked her, but was pressured by Zexiu, so he deliberately came up with this terrible idea to deal with her. The Azure Dragon Gu wasn't actually that scary, at least not to an expert. There were many ways to deal with it; scorpion soup and centipede pills were just the most disgusting and troublesome.
He said, "Hmm... well, that method is the same..."
Xiao Man immediately understood, and cursed him countless times in her heart. Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she smiled and said, "I am very grateful to Mr. Fan for removing the Gu worm for me. I will start embroidering a fan for you today. However, my right hand is injured, so it is not the same as usual. I, as her bodyguard, can help her out. However, her eyesight is not very good. If you heal her eyes, the embroidery will be completed twice as fast."
The fan waved to Lianyi, then grabbed her eyelids and stared at them for a long time. Lianyi's eyes welled up with tears from the pain, but she dared not utter a sound.
"This is easy to treat. Apply the medicine to your eyes three times a day for half an hour each time, and also apply it to your eyes while sleeping. With acupuncture and massage, you can recover in a month."
Xiao Man smiled slightly, stood up and curtsied: "Then I will be troubling you for the next two months, sir."
The Scroll of Chaos, Chapter Four: Ladies Picking Flowers (Part One)
Updated: 2008-10-04 15:09:25 Word Count: 4366
Sunday, two updates a day, this is the first one.
****************
Xiaoman firmly believed that only mice and earthworms lived in mud. Even though the underground manor was very comfortable and elegant, she was still worried that the soil above might collapse and crush her to death.
She took the flower pattern outside to draw it, but after drawing for half a month, she only managed to draw one apricot blossom.
Finally, the fan-wielder couldn't help but cautiously remind her, "Miss, that... the apricot blossom embellishment is enough..."
Xiao Man's wrist suddenly trembled, and the paintbrush fell to the ground. Her face was pale, and she clutched her chest, her expression full of pain: "Mr. Round Fan, I'm so sorry. I really tried my best, but... I think I ate too many earthworms and centipedes. I feel dizzy and lightheaded. Perhaps the poison is still in my body..."
The man with the round fan forced a smile and said, "Miss, it's probably just psychological. That stuff doesn't have any residual poison..."
“I’m not lying.” Her eyes glistened with tears, pure and innocent. “I have nightmares every night, I dream that I swallow a scorpion. When I have nightmares, I can’t sleep well, and when I can’t sleep well, I feel weak all over, and when I feel weak, I can’t draw well…”
The fan-wielder walked away silently, and after a while, he brought her a bowl of rock sugar bird's nest: "Miss, don't rush. Slow and steady wins the race. Eat some bird's nest to calm your mind first."
Xiao Man looked at him gratefully, slowly ate most of a bowl of bird's nest, and then picked up her paintbrush to continue painting... She painted another apricot blossom, and with a clatter, the paintbrush fell to the ground again. Her face turned pale, and she was covered in cold sweat. Clutching her chest, she groaned, "Mr. Round Fan, I've tried my best, but I still feel unwell..."
Tuan Shanzi dared not urge her any further.
Actually, the pattern wasn't difficult to draw. While her drawing skills weren't top-notch, Xiaoman's needlework was fine enough to complete it in a day or two. What was remarkable was the artistic conception she captured: the vibrant beauty of spring, the thousands of pink apricot blossoms in a riot of color, a graceful lady in elegant attire holding a flower, her chin lowered, a faint smile playing on her lips. That shy, bashful, surprised yet delighted feeling was truly indescribable.
Xiaoman drew another apricot blossom this morning, and then stared at the lady without moving.
She is so beautiful, it's as if she's about to step down from the painting.
He stepped down, his fine clothes transformed into coarse rags, his ethereal bun into disheveled hair, and he brandished a bald feather duster, whipping her wildly. His voice was like the harsh cawing of a crow: "What good is it that I gave birth to you! You're less useful than giving birth to a piece of pork! At least pork is edible!"
Xiao Man gave a wry smile and picked up her brush to draw her eyebrows and eyes. Suddenly, someone patted her on the back. She hurriedly turned around and saw Lian Yi looking at her with bright eyes. Suddenly, Lian Yi stretched out a finger and touched her face, laughing, "This is the nose, this is the mouth, this is the eyebrows. Master, I can see clearly now!"
Xiao Man stood up with a smile and saw that Gen Gu and the others had come out. She laughed and said, "Not bad, Mr. Round Fan's medical skills are indeed superb. You can see my face clearly from this far away now. Can you see things in the distance clearly too?"
Lianyi squinted and looked into the distance, then shook her head and said, "I still can't see things that are far away, but I can see your faces clearly now, unlike before when they were blurry, as if there was a veil between us."
Xiaoman patted her head: "There are still half a month left, don't be anxious. Now that you can see, help me sort out the colored threads, separate the rouge and pine flower colors one by one, don't mix them up."
Yelü Jing walked over to look at the flower pattern she had drawn, and seeing that there were only a few sparse apricot blossoms on it, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "You've been drawing for more than half a month, and you've only drawn a few flowers?!"
Xiao Man blinked, not ashamed at all.
Yelü Jing picked up the round fan depicting a lady plucking flowers again, examined it closely, and praised it. After a while, he suddenly became a little stunned. He looked at the painting, then looked up at Xiaoman, as if he couldn't believe it, and continued to look down at the painting.
"Huh? This painting..." Before he could finish speaking, Xiaoman snatched the fan away.
"Stop causing trouble. I'm going to finish drawing the flower pattern today. You all go about your business." Xiaoman waved her hand and shooed Yelü Jing away like she was shooing away flies.
She knew, of course, what Yelü Jing was wondering about. Her face resembled her deceased mother by eight parts, and the lady in the painting also resembled her mother by eight parts. So, upon closer inspection, one could find that Xiaoman and the person in the painting had similarities.
She didn't know whose fan it was, or who painted it. Even if the woman in the painting wasn't her mother, she should be one of her mother's relatives or sisters. Such attire and such demeanor were only found in daughters of noble families, and her mother was none other than the third young lady of Guo Yusheng, a wealthy merchant from Jiangnan.
It turns out she also had such a hazy, youthful period, as delicate as a flower bud on a branch with dew on it, never knowing what hunger and despair were, the world was only beautiful in her eyes, even beggars were lovely.
Xiao Man picked up her brush and carefully sketched the intricate and dazzling apricot blossoms. She painted slowly and meticulously, without a single mistake. The wind whispered past her ears, and the poplar trees rustled like the soft roar of a dragon.
The midday sun felt warm on my skin, and even the wind seemed to carry a fragrance, with a touch of coolness that made me feel lightheaded.
Xiaoman's wrist suddenly stopped, a mixture of fear and anticipation in her eyes. She slowly looked up and met Zexiu's profile. His thick eyelashes trembled slightly as he intently gazed at the flower patterns she was drawing. He was so close, the cool fragrance emanating from his embrace enveloping her entirely.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she almost dropped the pen in her hand.
Those two thick, fan-like eyelashes blinked, and her alluring peach blossom eyes looked over as she whispered, "Why did you stop painting? I'm watching."
She lowered her head in a near panic, hurriedly wrapped the fan in silk cloth, got up and left, her voice incoherent: "I...I don't like people interrupting me."
She ran back to the underground manor as if her life depended on it, not even bothering to look back. Lianyi seemed to call out once, but she couldn't hear anything and didn't want to.
It's better this way: escape back, retreat to the original spot, don't expect anything, don't get close, don't think about it, and pretend everything is normal.
That way, she is still herself.
She should only have what she can have and not ask for anything else, pretending that she has never hoped for anything.
I never dreamed of it.
******
When the fan was halfway finished being embroidered, a guest arrived at the Fan Manor.
At that time, Lianyi was wandering around the wall with her face covered in medicine, and Gengu was beside her, talking to her with a smile.
Tianquan and Zexiu were playing chess face to face, and the outcome was uncertain. Yelü Jing watched the game from the side and made some unsportsmanlike remarks.