Hiromi Collection - Chapter 7
"Because, because my father isn't like that."
"That's strange, why would I want to look like your father?"
“Because, because,” the girl said, her face flushed, before finally managing to utter a sentence, “because everyone says I look like my mother. If you look like my father, then, then I can marry you.”
"No way, you're so ugly!" Xiao Jiang Xuewei tugged at the girl's braid and laughed.
The girl burst into tears, running home with her disheveled braids in hand. Xiao Jiang Xuewei, unconcerned, made a face, then peered at the sticky, amber-colored candy in the old man's metal lunchbox by the roadside, drool dripping onto his clothes.
That awful kid could never be him! Jiang Xuewei thought with disgust.
The lights flickered on and off, and Jiang Xuewei's story reached high school. During this time, young Jiang Xuewei continued to be mischievous, but gradually began to mature; his grades weren't great, but he managed to squeeze into the top fifteen of his class through hard work; he didn't hold any official position, but he was very enthusiastic about helping the class; in the second semester of his first year, he secretly started dating a girl. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but her smile made everyone around her happy. Jiang's parents were the same actors from the previous scene, but with added wrinkles through makeup, creating a realistic effect. They had a good relationship, sometimes arguing, usually over trivial matters, but they would end up going shopping together, like two old children. Jiang Xuewei's family bought a new house. Although they had a loan of over ten years and had to source the renovation materials themselves, the whole family was incredibly happy when they moved in.
How could such an ordinary person be himself! Jiang Xuewei unconsciously clenched his fist.
"Hmph, let's see what you do during the college entrance exam!" He himself didn't realize that he was hoping for Jiang Xuewei's misfortune on the stage. This emotion had been brewing to a dangerous degree, but since he didn't realize it, he couldn't use his superb mind to think about the reasons.
Sure enough, Xiao Jiang failed his college entrance exam! He didn't even get into a vocational college, while his girlfriend got into a prestigious university.
Now let's see what you do! Jiang Xuewei sneered at the stunned boy on the stage, waiting for his girlfriend to break up with him and his parents to scold him. Or, he'll face his parents' unspoken words and his girlfriend's expectations of him to succeed. Let's see if those pressures can crush him!
As expected, Xiao Jiang Xuewei became depressed, his smiles faded, and the Jiang couple became increasingly cautious in their attitude towards their child, afraid of reopening that wound. Girls who came to see Xiao Jiang Xuewei were either turned away or simply driven away.
The lights in Jiang Xuewei's stands went out, and the spotlight shone on the little Jiang Xuewei who was crawling in the center. The music used dull drumbeats interspersed with the screams of the cello, which clearly expressed the protagonist's sad, inferior, and self-punishing mood. But to him, he felt that the unhappiness that had accumulated in the previous scenes was relieved a lot.
"I understand, I finally understand, I'm sorry!" The middle-aged man next to him suddenly shouted, startling Jiang Xuewei. When he turned around, the seat next to him was empty. Jiang Xuewei rubbed his eyes—it was really gone! The middle-aged man who had been sitting next to him had vanished without a trace. By the time he turned around again, the drama had reached its climax.
The girlfriend came to confront Jiang Xuewei before leaving for another city. It was a rainy day, and the rain poured down on the white curtain. The two of them stood in the rain, each holding an umbrella.
"Unless I die, you won't get rid of me." The girl casually tossed out her only words and walked away.
Jiang Xuewei on stage was stunned, and so was Jiang Xuewei off stage. This seemingly gentle actress could actually display such charisma! Jiang Xuewei off stage tried to steer his thoughts toward academic appreciation, but something felt increasingly sharp stuck in his throat, forcing him to want to shout something out.
While Jiang Xuewei tried to stop the abnormal shouting, the play on stage continued as usual.
Jiang Xuewei gave up further education, working on construction sites while studying his beloved architecture at night school. He had moved to another city to live alone, but not the city where girls go to university. Work was tough, studies weren't going well, living conditions were poor, and he lost a lot of weight. But the girl would visit him every few days, helping him with laundry and cooking, and bringing him many books and daily necessities.
"You will definitely succeed, because you are the one I've set my sights on!" the girl said sweetly, resting her head on Jiang Xuewei's shoulder on the stage.
Having just calmed down, Jiang Xuewei felt a tickle in his throat upon seeing this scene. He thought of his girlfriend—good family background, good looks, impeccable grades, easily outshining the woman on stage. Why did he feel uncomfortable? A certain emotion had been troubling him from the beginning until now; what exactly was it?
"Failure!" Jiang Xuewei cried out in his heart. Looking at the Jiang Xuewei on the stage, holding his design draft and standing in front of the high-end commercial building, he increasingly longed for that Jiang Xuewei to be unhappy! This feeling was so strong that he wished he could go up and mess with that Jiang Xuewei's life himself.
“This is…my design draft,” Jiang Xuewei said hesitantly.
"Okay, you can stay. We'll let you know if you get the job. Next." The interviewer glanced at the drawings quickly, opened the door and asked Jiang Xuewei to leave. The moment the door closed, Jiang Xuewei on the stage saw the drawings he had worked so hard on for months being thrown into the trash can.
Another failure! Jiang Xuewei, sitting in the audience, felt a surge of secret joy. Next, it would be your girlfriend leaving you.
When the girl finally reached the point of entering society, Jiang Xuewei was still doing short-term jobs at various construction sites. Her relatives and friends began to advise her to give up on that good-for-nothing boy. At first, the girl resolutely refused, even threatening suicide, but gradually she began to semi-voluntarily accept some blind date dinners. Finally, one day, the girl left.
The sky has fallen! On stage, Jiang Xuewei is facing an unprecedentedly harsh reality. He has suffered a great blow this time because one of his pillars of support has collapsed, and he can hardly get up.
But it was only almost true! As Jiang Xuewei whistled casually in the audience, the Jiang Xuewei who had been depressed for months suddenly decided to take the university entrance exam again. Jiang Xuewei in the audience realized he couldn't understand the thinking of the person on stage at all. No matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't fathom why Jiang Xuewei, in such dire straits, would need to take the university entrance exam. Even if he passed, what would be the point? Would his girlfriend come back? Would everything go smoothly afterward?
Several more people disappeared from the audience, but Jiang Xuewei didn't notice. His entire focus was on the stage, as if he were fighting against the resilient person standing there. Jiang Xuewei went to university, graduated, struggled to find work, took a job at a small company, was framed and fired, got married, had a child, his family wasn't wealthy, and his child wasn't particularly bright, but he gradually built a reputation in the construction industry, his career reached its zenith, he was diagnosed with cancer, and he passed away.
"Looking back on my life, although there have been many ups and downs, it has not been in vain." His hands trembled as he held his wife, who was wiping away tears, in one hand and his son, whose eyes were red, in the other. "At least, through my own efforts, I have obtained what I wanted. Those failures and successes, those who brought me pain and joy, have all added different colors to my life. So my life is colorful, my life is happy!"
My life is colorful, my life is happy!
The words echoed repeatedly in Jiang Xuewei's mind as he sat in the audience, a surge of emotion instantly filling every corner of his chest. It turned out that he was missing just this one sentence, just this one feeling. He, Jiang Xuewei, had everything except emotion. He experienced no pain, no setbacks, no true joy, no true happiness. Those superficial, enviable things couldn't move his heart at all; his life was a singular, splendid existence.
It turns out that he also wanted imperfect parents, an imperfect self, and an imperfect life. The emotion he felt towards Xiao Jiangxue from beginning to end was actually "jealousy"!
"I understand, I really understand," Jiang Xuewei murmured. His body began to disappear into the dark theater. He felt his consciousness gradually float up, slowly rising. Above the stage ceiling, he saw the actors behind the white curtain, a group of puppets sitting side by side...
Old Shou sat on a long bench, carefully wiping the face and body of the puppet in front of him with warm water, occasionally looking up to see if a few more people had arrived in the theater outside the curtain.
"Only with you can my puppets move." He helped the puppets put on their clothes, picked up the basin of water, and went backstage. "Without human emotions to fill them, my puppets can't put on a wonderful show." He hummed a little tune and leisurely walked back to his guardhouse.
Come quick, come quick! The world's largest market, a market that sells the unbelievable, can be found by following the sunset path at dusk!
Chapter Seven: Misplaced Glass
Name: Lu Li Gender: Female Age: Appearance: Around 30
Occupation: Owner of Liuli Gongfang (glass art shop) Address: No. 16, Beixu Lane, Bomeiji
As she pushed open the door, a crisp "ding" sound rang in the girl's ears, and she couldn't help but stop to find the source of the sound. A round, white porcelain bowl, reminiscent of the delicious sponge cake she'd tasted as a child, held a long, pale blue piece of paper tied to its base with a thin thread, along with a small golden bell. As the girl entered, the gentle evening breeze of a summer's dusk carried her in, causing the paper to swirl softly, tinkling sweetly—it was the golden bell singing!
Where did the shop owner go?
The young girl looked around the small shop with some curiosity. From the outside, it seemed like a dimly lit shop, like an ordinary glass and jade workshop, using bright artificial light and heavy red and green to decorate the expensive items in the scorching glass counters. However, the small shop really surprised her. The glass house had an open glass roof, allowing the magnificent sunset and golden-red sunlight to stream down from above. The antique furniture looked as if it had been carefully manipulated by a master painter. On the smooth and warm contours of the furniture, worn by time, there was a fine golden line that suddenly made it vibrant and alive.
"I've never seen a workshop so clean, nor so many crystal-clear glass pieces!" the girl exclaimed inwardly. As she walked slowly, she carefully examined the translucent and exquisite objects, as if visiting a long-lost friend. Her heartfelt, warm smile was no less radiant than the colorful jade. "I definitely made the right choice coming here!" the girl told herself softly in a corner of her heart. The negative emotions that had filled her with dread surged back naturally when she faced these crystal-clear glass pieces, just like the night they first appeared, overwhelming her.
The girl had always disliked glass, a deep-seated aversion she'd had since childhood. Her father was a glass craftsman, utterly captivated by the lifeless objects fired in kilns. This fascination etched a lingering melancholy onto her mother's beautiful face, a lingering mark that remained even after the birth of her twins, and then, on her deathbed. Thus, her father, a lover of glass, named his twin daughters after his most cherished possession.
“If the elder sister is Liuyan, then the younger sister will be called Liyin!” The father said this with great enthusiasm, less than a month after the mother passed away.
She hated Liuli the most! Although the five-year-old girl did not quite understand the meaning of death, she had an innate jealousy and hatred towards Liuli. Perhaps this resentment was planted in the tiny embryo from the time her mother was pregnant. With the accumulation of ten months, it gradually took root and was engraved into the young heart. In order to replace her dead mother, she continued to hate those beautiful things that took away her happiness and husband!
Girls who look exactly alike, but among the sisters there is only one Ryugao, and of course, only one Rion! So, girls who look exactly alike are not the same.
The girl hated the words and appearances that compared her to her sister, the cold and heartless words of the adults who praised her sister and mocked her, and the way they often concluded with things like, "If they didn't look exactly alike, who would believe they were sisters?" The girl hated those words even more than she hated Liuli!
“Rion, you probably don’t know, glass is very difficult to fire. If the firing temperature isn’t controlled properly, it often fails; and that’s why every piece of glass in this world is different,” her father said, gazing at the glittering object in his hands with a deep, affectionate look—a look the girl had never seen anywhere or ever before outside her father’s small workshop, including—on herself. But it didn’t matter. Loving glass was the right thing to do, so her father, who loved glass so dearly, could be forgiven. From that moment on, the girl began to love glass, solely because of her father’s words: “Every piece of glass in this world is different!”
The first girl didn't like Ruri, but the second girl did, so they were different! The girl often told herself this. Rin, who liked Ruri, and Ryugao, who disliked Ruri, should be a clear distinction, so she shouldn't compare herself to her sister anymore!
But why do people still say things like, "The older sister is much smarter than the younger sister"? I really hate it!
"I hate...I hate my older sister the most! I wish I didn't have her!"
Having uttered such cruel words, her lips trembled as she ran out of the house. Like a wounded and lost kitten, she wandered in the chilly early spring night, letting the cold raindrops pelt her face and body.
"Maybe it would be better if I died," the girl thought despondently.
And so, she really died. However, it wasn't just her who passed away! Just as the girl had said, the older sister who had chased after her younger sister that night was hit and killed by a car on a secluded road. It was as if a crisp shattering sound could be heard, and one of the pair of glass pieces broke.
It was from that time that the girl became afraid to see Liuli. Two years have passed without her realizing it, until today, when she finally stepped inside, unable to resist the allure of the "Luli Workshop" cursive calligraphy banner.
Ding~ The golden bell rang melodiously again, coming from the doorway leading to the inner room. The shop owner, a woman in her thirties, smiled warmly. She wore a craftsman's clothes and thick gloves. Although not a stunning beauty, her charming almond-shaped eyes, which curved when she smiled, still made people want to take a second look.
"Do you like that glass bead?" she asked, pointing to the perfectly round glass bead in front of the girl. At first glance, the small bead appeared colorless, but upon closer inspection, layers of various colors could be seen reflecting off it, like the sunlight reflected through a prism when one is a child—but much prettier!
The girl nodded unconsciously.
"Then take it." The female shop owner's dimples looked very cute, which made her look younger and gave people a strange sense of goodwill towards her.
"But..." The girl was still hesitant about whether to accept this sudden gift.
“When you get back, wear it around your neck,” the female shopkeeper said, taking out a blue silk cord, threading it through the glass, and personally placing it around the girl’s neck. “Come back to me in a hundred days.”
The female shopkeeper waved her hand gently, and the golden bell leading inside rang once, then rang again.
"Remember, whatever you do, don't take it down!" the shopkeeper said again, stumbling back. The golden bell rang once more, and then she disappeared from sight.
The girl accepted the gift with some doubt, then pushed open the door and left.
A golden bell rang once, and the pine door opened and closed again.
"It's rare to see a customer like this!" the female shop owner thought, watching the changing light and shadow in the kiln.
From that day on, the girl was lost in memories of the past every night. At three, she played in the mud with her older sister; at five, she was bullied, and her sister fearlessly pounced on the boy who was a head taller than her; at seven, they started elementary school together, and their grandparents bought them matching new clothes; at nine, she ranked first in her class, while her sister came in last; at fourteen, she fell in love with Ruri, and her sister said she wanted to be the first customer of Ruri's workshop; at sixteen, they went to high school together, her sister at a prestigious high school, her at an ordinary one; at seventeen, she won first place in the citywide piano competition, while her sister languished at an average high school; at eighteen, she had a boyfriend at an ordinary high school, while her sister applied to a top university; in the early spring of her eighteenth year, she argued with her sister about applying to different colleges and ran away from home…
Each time the girl wakes from a dream, she experiences a moment of disorientation, unable to distinguish between dream and reality. In her dreams, she sometimes seems to be her older sister, and sometimes herself. Those slow-paced, cinematic memories often shift and become disjointed; sometimes her sister is a gifted student at a top high school, and other times she dreams of receiving a scholarship there. Is it that her sister's and her own positions have been reversed, or that her sister's and her own memories are confused? In reality, is she Liuyan, or Liyin?
The tiny glass bead gradually changed, hanging on the girl's warm chest. Inside, granules slowly began to form, initially just small, like sprouts. Slowly, the beige granules grew, elongating and taking on a curved shape. By the forty-ninth day, the granules had become shaped like a baby curled up in the womb. The girl's dreams also began to grow longer and clearer. She saw her sister less often; more often, she seemed to be seeing those past events through her sister's eyes.
My little sister is so cute! She's amazing at sports! Even though her grades aren't great, everyone loves her, unlike me. Everyone's kind to me, but they're also distant. It feels like I'm on a stage while my sister and the others sit below! My sister is so brave! Why did she push me away?! No! I never want to be Liuyan again!!
On the hundredth day, the girl arrived as promised at Lu Li's workshop, marked by an elm tree in the bustling market.
"Welcome," the female shop owner said with a smile.
The golden bells rang melodiously as the girl entered, removed the pendant from her neck, and gently placed it in the other person's hand.
"Goodbye, and thank you." The girl gave a cute smile and walked out of the shop with light steps.
Ding~ The door opened, then closed again.
"Lu Li, that guy who just went out..." The beautiful woman who came in leaned against the table with an elegant movement. She had such a delicate face, but her voice was that of a man.
"A rare guest, isn't he?" Lu Li smiled as he examined the glass bead in his hand.
"You'll lose money if you keep doing this!" The male "beauty" lazily picked at his ear, then popped a piece of glass into his mouth, sticking out his tongue. "Ugh, it doesn't taste good! Ptooey!!!"
"The glass was made from the soul of a gangster boss~" Lu Li smiled as he watched the "beauty" turn green and gulp down cold water.
Who says this is a losing proposition? She carefully placed the pendant in the highest shelf of the display case. A crystal-clear glass slumbered in its case, inside which lay a blooming white flower, its petals enveloping a sleeping girl with it, her face serene and peaceful. It was an exact replica of the girl!
P.S.: Luli was a term used during the Warring States period to refer to glass.
Chapter Eight Golden Sparrow
Name: Yanxiang Gender: Male Age: Appearance: Around 20 years old
Occupation: Owner of a mahjong parlor Address: No. 20, Beixu Lane, Bomeiji
"Miss, Miss, where have you gone? Waaah..."
A young girl dressed in a blue dress walked sobbing through the unfamiliar market, her large, watery eyes, swollen like walnuts, desperately searching for her young mistress.
People were everywhere! Today is the Lantern Festival, and the market was filled with people celebrating the lanterns. Homemade paper rabbit lanterns made by farmers, exquisite Eight Immortals running horse lanterns made by merchants, and huge, elaborate, and luxurious glass lanterns made by officials all shimmered and hung on delicate gold ropes, stretching out from overhead and making the surroundings look like a fairyland.
"Uncle, have you seen my young lady?" the girl asked pitifully, bending down as she spoke to the old man selling lotus lanterns at his stall.
The old man looked up at her, pointed to the street corner, then lowered his head again and began to work on the skeleton with undivided attention by the flickering light of his own lantern.
"Thank you, uncle." The girl gave a timid curtsy and walked towards the street corner.
The young lady was the only daughter of Mr. He, a local gentry. Her beautiful name was Hongsu, and she was sixteen years old. She was skilled in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and was also exceptionally beautiful and talented, renowned far and wide. The girl was Miss He's personal maid, Xiaoque, who had just turned thirteen and had been in the household for over seven years. While not a beauty, she was pretty and pleasing to the eye. She was also diligent and obedient, thus winning the favor of Mr. and Mrs. He. Today was the Lantern Festival, and the young lady said she wanted to go to the market to relax. Xiaoque accompanied her. However, the market was so crowded that the two quickly became separated. Xiaoque frantically searched for her mistress, crying all the way.
Although Lin'an Prefecture was large, it had never seen such a large crowd during a lantern festival, let alone so many strangely dressed barbarians. Little Sparrow swallowed nervously, lowered her head, and hurriedly walked past a blonde, blue-eyed barbarian woman. As she turned the corner, her vision suddenly darkened.
It was like two different worlds. A bustling market and a quiet street, dazzling lanterns and two simple red lanterns. Before us was a small courtyard with a narrow plaque that read "Que Ge" (雀阁).
"Is anyone home?" Little Sparrow mustered her courage and stepped forward to gently knock on the door knocker. The small knocker, made of some unknown material, made a pleasant sound as it fastened against the door, which exuded the fragrance of wood.
"Is anyone home?" Little Sparrow asked again, raising her voice slightly when there was no answer. Her voice was as melodious as a lark's song.
The door creaked open.
The little sparrow was so frightened that it took a step back and almost fell down the steps.
"I am Xiao Que, a maid from the He family. I have come to inquire about my young mistress's whereabouts," Xiao Que asked cautiously into the dimly lit room, forcing herself to speak.