Half-face Make-up Volume 1 Chapter 29

A demoralizing spring rain came quietly. The willows by the pond unconsciously seemed to spit out the depression that had acc.u.mulated during the winter. The willow catkins was light as a feather, blowing in the sky. Green sleeves gently rolled up the transparent chiffon, and this beautiful scene was like a fairyland. The peach flowers bloomed in the garden one after another, and the beautiful flowers made people look back from time to time. The warm wind intoxicated people. I bathed myself in it and wanted to be drunk with it.

“The boat floated gently on the surface of the water, moving forward lightly. The wind was blowing gently, and the clothes faintly fluttered. I asked the pedestrians about the way ahead, and I just hated that the slow dawn hindered my journey. Finally, I saw my home, and I was so happy that I ran to it. The young servant greeted me happily, and the children waited in the doorway. The path in the courtyard was almost deserted, and the pine chrysanthemum was still growing there. I took the children into the room and there was a fragrant white wine overflowing in bottles. As I took up my goblets and drank by myself, I enjoyed looking at the trees in the yard and felt very happy. I leaned against the south window to express my pride and complacency, and felt very comfortable living in a shabby cabin. Walking in the courtyard everyday was a kind of pleasure for me. The door of the small garden was often closed, so I went out on crutches, taking a rest at anytime, anywhere, and looked up at the distance from time to time. Clouds naturally emerged from the mountains, and tired birds also knew to fly back to their nests. The sun was dim. While the sun was falling, I still wandered here with my hands stroking the lonely pine.” As I recited Mr. Wuliu’s poem, I bathed in the spring of the garden.

Xiao Yi saw me intoxicated, and he secretly laughed. That smile made me feel so bright, and I forgot all my worries. At that moment, I had an unforgettable feeling that everything was illusory.

“Qifu, do you like it?”

“What?” He gave me a puzzled look.

 “Several cups of green tea, a pot of liquor, a piece of farmland, a poem, and a painting. You and I traveled together in the world. Every day the sun rises and falls, and we roamed in this world in a refreshing way and spent every day with the rising and falling of the sun. That’s how we spend every day happily without a single worry.”

Xiao Yi laughed and shook his head. “Pei, you’re kidding me again.”

“Ha!” I seemed to have fallen from fairyland back into reality. All hope vanished and my heart fell again.

“Don’t you like the land of idyllic beauty?” I sighed. I tried to test his heart with these words, but it was not what I wanted.

“Ha ha, what if I like it? Why be serious about something that is illusory!”

I was serious, but he had no intention.

I was a little reluctant. “Don’t you care for me at all?”

“Pei, why do you say that?” His face was full of innocence and grievances.

“If you really love someone, there will be a pool of clear water in your eyes, and the shadow of that person will flash all the time, until the end of the world. But you only have countless beautiful women in your eyes.” Since I was only an insignificant woman in the world, my heart was naturally as fragile as thin paper, and it would burst in an instant.

 “Countless beautiful women? Ha ha, you mean that I love the attractive women and forget to return home everyday?” Since he was good with words, how could he not understand me?

With the gentle wind, willows and peach flowers were blowing in the breeze. And my heart was still at a loss.

“A woman’s heart is as deep as the sea and as narrow as a needle. Is your heart as narrow as a needle?” Knowing that he said it intentionally, I was still somewhat disappointed.

I resolutely gave up the garden full of the beauty of spring, turned, and ran into the room. He laughed and followed.

There was a fragrance in the room. Compared with the natural fragrance in the garden, it was a little insolent and obviously wild.

This was the smell of a geranium. This morning, in order to remove the damp moisture that had soaked the house throughout the entire winter, Mingzhu had taken it out. Normally, I didn’t like the fragrant aroma very much, so I used it very little.

Suddenly I heard Xiao Yi sneeze again, and then I heard him say to himself, “Huh? why does my nose itch again?”