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Capítulo 37

Upon hearing the name of Old Madam Chong, Xiao Dao sat up abruptly.

"Oh dear." Xiaoyue pulled her down to lie down. "Are you a reincarnated rabbit? Why are you always moving around?"

Xiao Dao lay on the pillow, frowning. "Guess what? Does Old Madam Chong know something? She reminded us to go to Xianyun Temple, and this time we discovered something incredible."

"She's an old lady, maybe she just said it casually."

"Hmm." Xiao Dao shook his head and said to Xiao Yue with certainty, "My mother said..."

"What did you say?" Xiaoyue immediately perked up, pricking up her ears to listen to the golden words of wisdom.

Xiao Dao chuckled, "My mother said that we should take every woman over forty years old seriously."

Xiaoyue asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Because women in their forties have many stories, and those stories may happen to us in the future." Xiao Dao sat up, went barefoot to the floor to get her wooden clogs, and put on a small vest.

"Where are we going?" Xiaoyue asked, following along.

"I heard that Old Madam Chong has a habit of chanting scriptures every day." Xiao Dao tilted his head. "I can't sleep either, so I'll go visit the Chong family's ancestral hall."

"I'm going too." Xiaoyue remembered Xue Beifan's words and told her to keep a close eye on Xiaodao, so she followed closely behind.

With the moon high in the sky and the night perfect, Xiaodao and Xiaoyue, dragging their wooden clogs, arrived lightly and gracefully at the entrance of the Chong family's ancestral hall. Sure enough, two young maids were resting on a small couch by the door. The "tap tap tap" sound of the wooden fish inside the ancestral hall blended perfectly with the night, like the chirping of insects and the weeping of cicadas, not at all noisy, but rather highlighting the cool, still night.

Xiaoyue stood properly in front of the door, while Xiaodao peeked inside. The two maids exchanged a glance, wondering how to remind the old lady that it was too rude of them to barge in like this.

Just as they were in a dilemma, the wooden fish stopped playing. Madam Chong turned around, smiled slightly, and waved to the two of them.

Xiaoyue and Xiaodao breathed a sigh of relief and ran inside. Madam Chong was a kind person and it was clear that she enjoyed being with young people. It was evident that Chonghua had grown up happily and had never been forced, which explained why he was so filial.

Xiao Dao remembered that her mother was the same way, always discussing things with her and never forcing her to do anything. She was also very obedient and filial. In her mother's own words, "My biggest regret in growing up is that no one doted on me when I was a child, and now that I'm grown up, I have no mother to take care of me. I spoiled you so much when you were little, if you don't take good care of yourself when you grow up, how can you face your grandmother?!"

The old lady gave the two of them two soft prayer cushions and said with a smile, "Come, first offer incense to my old man."

Xiao Dao and Xiao Yue respectfully took off their wooden clogs and entered the ancestral hall to offer incense to the Chong family ancestors. Then they sat down with their knees drawn up to their chests and looked at Old Madam Chong.

At the door, a maidservant brought hot tea and two servings of pastries.

"Try this, it's my son's favorite taro pastry." Madam Chong gave one to Xiaoyue and one to Xiaodao. "My son, don't let his refined and clever appearance fool you, he's actually just like a taro."

"Taro?" Xiaodao and Xiaoyue both looked up and thought for a moment, finding it hard to associate the gentle and refined Chonghua with taro.

"Haha." Old Madam Chong laughed heartily, "His temperament is just like his father's. He was hard as a rock when he was born, but soft and cuddly when he was born."

Xiao Dao and Xiao Yue couldn't help but laugh. Xiao Dao glanced at the memorial tablet for Chonghua's father on the shrine and asked, "Does Madam miss Old Master Chong very much?"

Madam Chong did not deny it and nodded, "Yes, so I come to keep him company every night."

Xiao Dao and Xiao Yue exchanged a glance, lamenting that the loving couple could not stay together until old age.

"He's been dead for many years. Even if he were here, I'd find him annoying, but I miss him when he's gone. That's just how it is between husband and wife." Madam Chong held her teacup and looked at Xiao Dao. "You're quite the clever girl. So, do you have something to ask me?"

Xiao Dao smiled and flattered, "The old lady is indeed shrewd."

"Stop being so sweet-talking. I know what you want to ask." Madam Chong put down her teacup. "Actually, it was just a tragic fate."

Xiaoyue asked curiously, "Are you talking about the strange things that happened at Xianyun Temple?"

Madam Chong nodded. "There are several excellent theaters in Jinling City, where famous actors perform. One of them is the most legendary, a dashing and romantic man known as the Fourth Master Wen."

Xiao Dao became interested, "Is his voice very good?"

"That's right. His rendition of 'The Phoenix Hairpin' was so poignant and heart-wrenching that it broke the hearts of many. At least half the girls in Jinling City were infatuated with him."

Xiao Dao nodded, "Go listen to her when you have time... that woman singing opera in the mountains, she's also singing 'The Phoenix Hairpin,' are they related?"

"Everyone says you're a clever little devil," the old lady said, handing the two of them some snacks. "I've also been to Xianyun Temple before..."

Xiao Dao asked in surprise, "Madam, what are you doing at Xianyun Temple? That old nun eats people."

"Haha." The old lady shook her head with a laugh. "I didn't know that. I was just going to the temple to pray. I wasn't even twenty back then."

Xiaoyue and Xiaodao were both puzzled, but they didn't interrupt and waited for Madam Chong to finish speaking.

"To tell you about this, we have to start from three years ago." The old lady recalled the past. "On my birthday, we invited a theatrical troupe, the most famous Wen family troupe in Jinling City. That day, they performed two plays. The first one was 'The Phoenix Hairpin,' which made me sad and shed tears. The second one was 'Eternal Joy,' which made me laugh non-stop. Besides the wonderful plays, I also remember something else that reminded me of that time I went to the Xianyun Temple to worship the gods many years ago."

The old lady was also intrigued by Xiaodao and Xiaoyue's thoughts. "What is it?"

"There's an old saying that a charming young man often has countless women around him." The old lady said, shaking her head and sighing, "But there's always a devoted, silly girl by his side, waiting for him to leave."

Xiao Dao frowned slightly, thinking of Shen Bibo's cousin, Yu Lanzhi. Calling her selfish was an understatement; she was foolish, single-mindedly devoted to her cousin. Her cousin was the selfish one, philandering outside the marriage, yet treating her like a flower blooming in his backyard—neither spending time with her nor allowing her to blossom beyond the walls, leaving her alone, exhausted and yearning, slowly growing old.

Madam Chong put down her teacup, reached out and used her cane to slowly stand up.

Xiao Dao and Xiao Yue quickly got up to help her.

She waved her hand and took out a strange wooden figure from beside Chonghua's father's memorial tablet, showing it to the two of them. The wooden figure was about the size of a palm, its facial features were not very clear, and its limbs were not very symmetrical; it seemed to have been poorly carved.

"This is..." Xiao Dao wondered.

"Someone once said that if you could carve the likeness of your beloved into a wooden figure and drip your own blood onto it, he would settle down and become obedient." Madam Chong smiled, with a hint of self-deprecation.

Xiao Dao touched the wooden figure, then looked at the memorial tablet, and exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be..."

The old lady nodded. "I made this wooden figure when I was young. I can't help it; he was a romantic and amorous young man who was never satisfied."

"Then it wasn't done well?" Xiaoyue frowned.