Luzhou Moon - Chapter 143
Although Lian Junchu felt her explanation was somewhat far-fetched, he couldn't offer a more reasonable explanation himself. He then examined the offerings more closely and noticed that the pastries were not yet cracked, suggesting that they hadn't been stored for very long.
"Ruzheng, I'd like to go to a nearby temple to ask."
Yue Ruzheng looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds gathering, as if it was about to rain. "Xiao Tang, don't leave now, it looks like it's going to rain soon."
Lian Junchu nodded in agreement, then knelt before the grave, gazing absently at the blank tombstone. Yue Ruzheng took out the offerings she had bought at the foot of the mountain from her bag, knelt beside him, and lit the paper money and incense.
Smoke swirled around the paper money, which had not yet burned completely, and it trembled in the wind.
Lian Junchu lowered her head, her eyelids drooping, her face slightly thin, which made Yue Ruzheng feel a pang of sadness. She always felt that although she had suffered many hardships, she was still lucky compared to Xiao Tang. At least after being adopted by her master, she had enjoyed a long period of peaceful life, while Xiao Tang, although about the same age as her, had to face bleak despair while she was wandering among the Merlin flower fields, falling down again and again, only to get up again and again.
Some ashes from the paper were blown up by the wind, swirling and landing on Lian Junchu's clothes. Yue Ruzheng reached out and brushed them away for him. Lian Junchu suddenly whispered, "Ruzheng, my mother will be happy to see this."
Yue Ruzheng's eyes welled up with tears, but she quickly concealed them, lowering her gaze as she asked, "Does she know who I am?"
Lian Junchu smiled, pursing his lips, and whispered towards the tombstone, "Mother... this is Ruzheng, Yue Ruzheng from Yinxi Xiaozhu. Meeting her was the most wonderful thing..." He glanced at Yue Ruzheng and continued, "We can't get married yet, but she promised me she would accompany me back to Nan Yandang, to gather herbs together, to cook together..."
Yue Ruzheng almost burst into tears, but seeing that he was truly speaking from the bottom of his heart to his mother, she couldn't bear to interrupt him. She could only silently burn the paper money, trying not to think about the unsolvable problem.
Although she didn't say anything at the grave, she remembered Lian Junchu's words deep in her heart.
All I want in this life is to be with him, to gather herbs together, and to cook together.
The wind picked up, and thick clouds quickly rolled over the mountain, with raindrops pattering down. Fortunately, the ceremony was over, and Yue Ruzheng helped him up, looking around to find shelter from the rain.
"Look, there's a thatched hut behind that big tree!" She spotted a dilapidated thatched hut in the pine forest and hurriedly pulled him toward it.
The thatched hut had no windows, only a dilapidated wooden door that was held up by ropes. The door was unlocked and kept opening and closing in the strong wind, but there was no one inside. At this moment, the rain gradually intensified, and Yue Ruzheng, disregarding everything else, reached out and pushed open the wooden door, bending down and going inside with Lian Junchu.
The shed was dimly lit, and the straw on the roof was sparse, leaking in several places. The two stood at the entrance, finding nothing on either side except for a few stone mounds in front, each topped with a crooked bamboo couch, which didn't seem to be inhabited. At one end of the couch lay a pile of oddly shaped objects, some empty earthenware pots, others of unknown contents, covered by a rough burlap sack.
"We'll just have to hide here for a while," Yue Ruzheng said, her brows slightly furrowed.
The two sat on the creaking bamboo couch, sharing the same room, yet no longer daring or able to be as affectionate as before. Yue Ruzheng intentionally or unintentionally kept a slight distance from him, both lost in thought, with only the raindrops dripping from the ceiling onto the ground.
A moment later, Yue Ruzheng suddenly felt a strange smell wafting around her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was odd about it. Just as she was pondering this, she heard Lian Junchu ask, "Ruzheng, are you cold?"
"I'm not cold, I'm not cold." Afraid he'd worry, she quickly smiled and said, "Little Tang, your birthday is in a few hours."
Lian Junchu paused, gazing at the dark, muddy ground ahead, then smiled faintly and said, "Why is it raining again?"
Yue Ruzheng knew he was referring to their first encounter four years ago. A spark ignited in her heart, and she instinctively moved closer to him, whispering, "What did you think of me when you first saw me?"
He turned to look at her, somewhat bewildered. "I wasn't thinking about anything..."
Although he seemed more mature than before, Yue Ruzheng thought his eyes still held the same depth as when he was nineteen, like a still, deep pool, so clear and pure that one couldn't bear to disturb it.
She unconsciously reached out and gently stroked his cheek with her fingertips, just a light touch. He, as always, kept his eyes lowered and remained silent.
"My little Tang will soon be as big as me," she murmured in a barely audible voice.
Lian Jun could feel the warmth of her fingertips. When they brushed against her face, it was like willow branches drooping on the lake surface, with a gentle breeze causing the leaves to ripple softly.
"Ruzheng, what you're saying sounds like..." He was smiling, but he suddenly stopped speaking, and his clear eyes dimmed.
Yue Ruzheng was afraid he was thinking of Lian Junqiu, and was about to say a few words of comfort when he stood up and said, "I'll go to the temple across the street now and ask if they know who came to pay their respects. If there's a place to stay at the temple, I'll come and pick you up."
"Now?" Yue Ruzheng was a little worried. Fortunately, the mountain rain came quickly and went quickly. At this time, the sound of wind and rain outside gradually subsided, and the raindrops leaking from the top of the thatched shed changed from continuous to occasional crystal drops.
"I'll go with you," Yue Ruzheng said, bracing herself against the edge of the bamboo couch.
Lian Junchu shook her head slightly. "The rain hasn't stopped outside, and the mountain path is difficult to walk on. Just wait here for a while. I'll be back soon."
"Oh well……"
He walked out of the thatched hut, with Yue Ruzheng following behind. However, Lian Junchu, seeing that the rain had not completely stopped, told her not to see him off any further. So Yue Ruzheng stood in front of the wooden door until he was out of sight, before reluctantly returning to the hut.
Sitting alone in the shed felt like an eternity, and Yue Ruzheng took another look around. Beside her was the pile of odds and ends, several light brown earthenware jars stacked haphazardly, rainwater dripping from the gaps in the thatch above, hitting the rims of the jars and splashing out tiny droplets.
She walked forward involuntarily. The earthenware pot exuded a rich fragrance, both delicate and mellow, which would immerse one in it without realizing it.
It was like when she was a child, lying in her aunt's arms, sipping sweet rice wine.
Now, however, the flavor is milder, and it is precisely this elusive, hazy quality that makes it all the more captivating.
Yue Ruzheng felt as if she had returned to the past. Her thoughts drifted far away, and she involuntarily squatted down, reaching out to touch the cool earthenware pot. The patterns were not exquisite, and the bottom contained the leftover glutinous rice from brewing the rice wine.
She had initially thought this was an uninhabited thatched hut, but the glutinous rice didn't seem to be something left behind from a long time ago... Yue Ruzheng frowned as she thought, then looked at the miscellaneous items covered by a burlap sack. They looked square and neat, like some kind of wooden box or cabinet.
Driven by curiosity, she gently lifted a corner of the burlap.
A heavy camphor wood chest appeared before her eyes.
The brass rings were interlocked and covered with greenish-blue patina. The wood was also of poor quality. Perhaps due to its age and the damp environment, the box had a dark color and looked as if water would seep out if pressed hard.
A thin mist filled Yue Ruzheng's heart, and her soul seemed to have lost its way. This box seemed like something she had seen in a dream, yet it couldn't quite overlap with her memory.
She hesitated for a moment, then finally reached out and forcefully lifted the lid of the box.
--It wasn't filled with beautiful conches and shells, shimmering with a faint light, as she had imagined.
But it wasn't empty either.
Instead, the entire camphor wood box was filled with debris.
Pieces, grains. Pale white, dark yellow, cold and hard fragments.
The pale white pieces were fragments of seashells, as if they had been crushed and smashed with all one's might until they were reduced to nothing but dust.