He Yiyi was right, Fu Yi was very good-looking.
His face was revealed through the half of his makeup that had been removed. He was handsome and refined, unlike the effeminate manner of other actors. Instead, he seemed like a noble young master with a cool and aloof nature. He removed his makeup, loosened his theatrical robe, changed into a blue cloth shirt, and stepped out.
I stepped forward and asked, "Are you Fu Yi, Young Master Fu?"
He paused slightly, then nodded faintly.
I said, "I was entrusted by He Yiyi to cure your muteness."
Fu Yi frowned, glanced at me, and then turned and left.
I tried to chase after her, but Lou Xiyue grabbed my arm.
I said angrily, "How can he be so ungrateful?"
Lou Xiyue said, "I might not be able to accept this kind of affection."
[48] Flowers in the Mirror (VI)
Many girls may meet their sweetheart when they are just beginning to fall in love. At that time, they are in the best years of their lives, with flowers blooming everywhere and youthful vigor. They look at him once and think that it is for a lifetime.
That year, atop the towering, ancient Anning Pagoda, amidst the overlapping green mountains, He Yiyi wore a flowing brocade dress in shades of moon white and peach pink. After placing incense in the incense burner and prostrating herself in worship three times, she turned around and saw Fu Yi.
Fu Yi, dressed in a blue robe, tilted his head slightly as he spoke to an old monk in the same temple. Sunlight shone on his clothes, making them look clean and simple.
The bronze bells at the corner of the pagoda swayed in the wind, the incense smoke drifted in the air, and the Bodhi tree in the courtyard was covered with dappled patterns on the ground.
He Yiyi prayed to Buddha for a marriage.
She stood under the tree, watching Fu Yi, until the afterglow gradually faded from the horizon.
He Yiyi said to me, "Qi Xiang, some people may not be the best looking, but when you look at them, you'll feel that there is no better person."
I knelt down beside her and nodded, saying, "I know."
Is this what people often call a match made in heaven?
She followed Fu Yi from Anning Temple all the way to Dongyue Temple, watching her beloved change into his opera costume and appear on stage with captivating charm. Every smile and every raised eyebrow was etched into her memory.
He Yiyi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You may not understand, but I just wanted to see him back then. Even just one look would have been enough."
I rested my chin on my hand and watched a flock of wild geese fly across the gray sky over Yangzhou, and said to her, "I totally understand."
I think I should become sworn brothers with He Yiyi through a blood oath, because our emotional paths are too similar.
He Yiyi ran away from the He family mansion and joined a theatrical troupe to learn opera. Fu Yi was her teacher.
For most people, performing opera was a means of livelihood; through the cold autumn and harsh winter, without exception, only those who sang well could earn a living. But He Yiyi learned opera for love. Her ultimate goal was to sit in the same dressing room as Fu Yi, chin in hand, watching him apply makeup stroke by stroke in front of the bronze mirror. With such a vast difference in their understanding, she simply couldn't learn opera well.
Of course, she didn't intend to study well.
The older generation in Peking Opera are very demanding. They have to get up at dawn to practice their singing in the cold wind and do handstands on the wall to practice their movements.
If they don't practice well, they'll be whipped.
Once, she clung to the bed, burying herself in the quilt, refusing to go out and do the deed. She wasn't very diligent to begin with, and this outburst angered the Third Master of the garden, who whipped her fair hands until they were raw and bleeding. She clung to Fu Yi's arm and wailed, "Master, I don't want to go out and do the deed."
Fu Yi bent down and asked her, "What's wrong?"
With a pained expression, she leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I've started my period."
Seeing a blush creeping up Fu Yi's ears, she giggled. Fu Yi took her hand and applied the medicine, gently blowing on it before applying more powder. His movements were so gentle, like a feather brushing against her heart.
People say that learning opera in the Peking Opera world is tough, and even ordinary people might not be able to endure it, let alone a well-bred lady like He Yiyi.
I think she must have suffered a lot, but since Fu Yi was there and she was there too, she didn't feel the suffering.
Most men and women who are immersed in love are like this: no matter how much pain they endure or how much suffering they experience, in the end, a simple smile from him can clear up a patch of sunshine.
He Yiyi didn't feel bitter, but her parents on the other end of the line often had tears in their eyes.
They captured her and locked her in her boudoir for three months, forbidding her from stepping out.
Now, He Yiyi is a married woman, and you can hardly see the spoiled and domineering look she had back then. It's hard to imagine how she managed to break the lock and run out of the mansion barefoot in a panic.
I asked He Yiyi if she could do it all over again, would she still work this hard?
She thought for a moment and said, "Yes."
She looked at the withered leaves sliding off the branches below the railing and asked me, "Qi Xiang, if it were you, what would you do?"
I smiled and said, "I guess I'll be just like you."
So love is irrational. When I chased An Chen to Medicine King Valley, I never considered whether he loved me. After more than a year, all I wanted was to see him. Thankfully, fate was kind to me, and when I saw him again, I didn't find out he already had a wife, concubines, children, and a happy family. Looking back now, I realize that I was truly filled with youthful passion and nowhere to put it.
He Yiyi said she only knows how to sing "Farewell My Concubine" because she is not talented and her aspirations are too low.
Another reason is that she is not an actress and cannot perform so many plays. She cannot sing sentimental and soft tunes for others, so she picked a play that does not require much skill and is easy to sing the male lead role in, and she studied it carefully.
They rehearsed together, and Fu Yi would use his paintbrush to depict Yu Ji's beauty and put her headdress on for her. He would stand so close to her and tell her which line of the song should be sung in a higher key. On the stage, he would embrace her and bid her a heartfelt farewell.
He Yiyi thought this ambiguity and intimacy was love, and so did I.
She completely broke with the He family.
I think this was a bit too impulsive. After all, they are your own parents. You could have gone to their graves, cried in front of them, and made a show of it.
But He Yiyi is such a stubborn girl; once she's made up her mind, she heads north with great passion until she crashes into a wall.