Лучшая актриса - Глава 9
Yue Ruzheng leaned against the windowsill, propping her chin on her hand as she looked at him. He turned his head slightly, looking at his shadow in the sunlight, and said, "Why don't you ask who came just now?"
"Didn't you tell me that if I ask more about things I don't want to talk about, it's a waste of my energy?" she said, seemingly with a hint of resentment.
Tang Yanchu's gaze was calm as she said lightly, "You're not always so stupid."
Yue Ruzheng pursed her lips and said, "Xiao Tang, come here."
He raised an eyebrow at her, and seeing her smile, he got up and walked to the window. Yue Ruzheng, however, suddenly thrust the handle of a calligraphy brush she had been hiding behind her back into his cheek, shouting, "Am I sometimes really that stupid?"
Caught off guard, Tang Yanchu was poked and hurriedly tried to dodge. Yue Ruzheng reached out and grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from dodging. Tang Yanchu forcefully broke free, took a step back, and said with a hint of anger on his face, "What are you doing?"
Seeing his displeasure, Yue Ruzheng quickly said, "I was just joking with you, you're not angry, are you?"
Tang Yanchu pursed her lips and said defiantly, "Do you think I can't avoid it? I don't like this!"
Yue Ruzheng was taken aback, not expecting him to think that way. She gently tapped his shoulder with the end of her calligraphy brush and said, "Tang Yanchu, don't always overthink things."
He turned to the side, said nothing, and walked back to the well to sit down.
Yue Ruzheng, supporting herself against the wall, laboriously walked to the doorway of the main room, then limped towards him. Hearing her footsteps, Tang Yanchu turned around, frowned, and stood up, saying, "Why did you come out? Aren't you afraid of falling?"
Yue Ruzheng said, "Seeing you sitting here so angry, I'm afraid if you don't come out soon, you'll offend the owner of the house I'm staying at."
Tang Yanchu glanced at her and said, "I dare not accept such praise. This is a remote and impoverished place, and I have nothing of my own."
"At least you still have a place for me to stay." She couldn't help but smile when she saw that he was finally willing to talk, her round eyes sparkling.
Tang Yanchu didn't say anything at first, but Yue Ruzheng reached out to grab his clothes. He dodged her, frowning, and said, "Look at what's all over your sleeves!"
Yue Ruzheng looked down and saw black spots on the sleeve of her light purple short jacket. She exclaimed in surprise, "I poked you with the brush earlier, and ended up getting my sleeve dirty instead!"
Tang Yanchu said calmly, "This can be considered as getting caught in one's own trap."
Chapter Seven: In the stillness of the mountains, only a single lamp shines.
After that, the courtyard returned to its peaceful state, and no one else came looking for Tang Yanchu. Yue Ruzheng didn't seem to care much and didn't press the matter. She simply asked him curiously if he had spoken the Pingyang dialect that day. Tang Yanchu told her that he had indeed spoken the Pingyang dialect, which was similar to the Min dialect, and naturally, Yue Ruzheng, who lived in Luzhou, couldn't understand it.
Yue Ruzheng thought for a moment, then asked, "Then why can I understand what you usually say to me? When I hear you speak, it seems like you have an accent from another region."
Tang Yanchu paused for a moment, then said, "I'm not from Pingyang."
"Where are you from?" Yue Ruzheng asked.
He shook his head and didn't answer. And so the conversation ended again.
After this inexplicable argument and his sudden displeasure during their playful banter, Yue Ruzheng realized that Tang Yanchu wasn't as indifferent as she appeared on the surface. She was like a frozen lake with swirling undercurrents, ready to be stirred up at the slightest provocation. She was usually carefree and playful, especially with her senior brother Shao Yang, always bickering and inseparable. But in Tang Yanchu's presence, she gradually felt as if she were walking on thin ice, hesitant to act rashly.
Fortunately, Tang Yanchu was mostly quiet. Yue Ruzheng knew he would go into the mountains every day with a bamboo basket on his back, sometimes returning with many medicinal herbs, sometimes empty. She once asked him why he went into the mountains even without herbs, and he simply replied that he was used to going in to check things out. Sometimes, he would carry the sorted herbs down the mountain to sell, a journey that would take most of the day. When he returned, his basket would sometimes contain more rice, sometimes more fresh fruits and vegetables. He didn't eat much himself, but he could cook all sorts of dishes. Yue Ruzheng had never seen him cook, and he probably didn't want her to see it either.
Yue Ruzheng ate her meals at her desk every day. Tang Yanchu, as always, would bring her food first before going out to eat himself. She had asked him to bring her a bowl and chopsticks to eat with her, but he refused.
Two days later, after Yue Ruzheng finished lunch, she noticed that Tang Yanchu had come to clean up after her previous meals, but now that the pain in her foot was not so bad, she gently got up, put the bowls and chopsticks into the bamboo basket, and walked towards the door.
The door wasn't closed. She cautiously approached the doorway, only to see Tang Yanchu sitting at the table in the outer room, his right foot propped up on the table, eating with chopsticks held between his toes. His leg was raised high, his body leaning forward, the sleeves of his robe hanging limply at the sides. Although she had gradually gotten used to his way of doing things these past few days, it was still the first time she had seen him eat with his feet, and she was momentarily stunned, standing at the doorway.
Tang Yanchu was originally facing away from her, but when she suddenly noticed her standing next to her, her eyes dimmed, and she stopped awkwardly, silently putting down her chopsticks and placing her feet on the ground.
"Xiao Tang...you should eat." Yue Ruzheng quickly said.
His face was expressionless as he said, "I'm done eating."
His bowl clearly still had plenty of food, but he stood up and walked out alone.
Yue Ruzheng was surprised by his reaction and felt uneasy. After standing there for a while and still not seeing him come in, she picked up her basket and walked to the door.
Tang Yanchu was sitting by the well in the courtyard with his back to her, his trousers rolled up, his feet in the basin washing clothes. She could tell he was washing the dirty clothes she had changed out of two days ago. Because his back was to her, Yue Ruzheng couldn't see his feet, only that he leaned slightly forward, his empty sleeves swaying. Afraid of angering him, Yue Ruzheng never dared to look him directly in the eye when they were facing each other, only daring to look closely when his back was to her. Tang Yanchu wasn't entirely without arms; his upper arms were severed about halfway down, whether congenital or acquired, she didn't know.
Tang Yanchu then used his foot to tilt the wooden basin, emptied the water, and glanced at her. Yue Ruzheng was about to explain, but he didn't say anything more. Standing by the bucket, he used one foot to hold the ladle and scooped water into the basin, one stroke at a time. Yue Ruzheng limped over, placed the basket by the well, and saw him standing barefoot on the damp bluestone ground. It was still chilly in early spring, and the insteps of his feet were pale with cold.
Yue Ruzheng couldn't help but ask, "Little Tang, would you like me to wash you?"
Tang Yanchu had already filled the water tank. Without looking up, he sat down on the stool and said, "No need." He put his feet in the water and vigorously scrubbed the ink stains on his clothes with his toes. After washing for a while, he said again, "Don't think that just because the wound doesn't hurt anymore, you can keep walking back and forth."
Yue Ruzheng smiled and said, "It's nothing. Actually, I've been injured before, but this time, due to the long journey, the wound is healing a bit slower."
Tang Yanchu looked up at her and said, "Aren't you afraid that one day you'll be badly injured? There won't always be someone to save you."
Yue Ruzheng said nonchalantly, "Since we're living in the martial world, we can't be afraid of this and that."
Tang Yanchu didn't say anything more.
Yue Ruzheng looked around. The courtyard was surrounded by a peach orchard with pink petals and backed by layers of lush mountains. The environment was very quiet and secluded. However, after living here for so long, apart from the old man from last time, no one else had appeared.
"Little Tang, is there anyone else around here?"
"No," he said, washing himself carefully. "I'm all alone here."
She thought for a moment and asked, "You said last time that you weren't from Pingyang, so did you move here later?"
He paused slightly, then quickly lifted the wooden basin, poured out the water, wrung out the clothes with his feet, and said, "I came here after I was nine years old."
He had a handsome face and well-defined features, yet his expression remained indifferent, as if nothing and no one in this world could bring him joy or sorrow. But every time he looked at Yue Ruzheng with his eyes as black as lacquer, she would feel a chill run down her spine for no reason. His eyes were devoid of emotion, yet they were like an ancient well a thousand feet deep, utterly tranquil and utterly cold.
"And what about your family?" She turned her head to look at his handsome features and asked boldly.
His breath hitched for a moment. He sat down on the stool, straightened his back, and his sleeves fluttered gently in the breeze.
"I have no family," he said, standing up and pushing the wooden basin towards the bamboo clothes rack by the well. Halfway there, he turned back and said, "Sit down."