Chapter 10.2 (1/2)

s.h.i.+ Yi gets a visit from an unexpected person. Anyone able to guess who? I’m very fond of that person…

Chapter 10.2 – Like Your First Adornment (2)

The décor of their accommodations for the night could not be considered beautiful and fine.

It was more similar to the homes of ordinary folk.

She was not certain whether it was because of the pingtan she had listened to after dinner or because of the atmosphere of this place but she suddenly was reminded of their time together, before he had left, in Zhenjiang. It had been brief but also mysterious. At the time, she had only been anxious about trying to get along with his strange family, but now that she recalled that period, she increasingly wanted to sigh.

His existence in such a family, was it destined?

A wealthy, powerful family hidden from the rest of the world.

She slept until some time past three o’clock in the morning, when that image of transcribing down tea names repeatedly began appearing in her mind. After tossing about in bed, she arose. She deliberated for a long time until, finally, she dialed his number, but listening to what seemed like an endless dial tone, she several times considered hanging up the call.

Was he resting? Or still in the laboratory? Or in a meeting?

Raising her mobile phone up in front of her eyes, she stared at the screen that indicated that the call had not yet connected, and her thumb was already sliding over to select the option to hang up. Suddenly, the call was connected… s.h.i.+ Yi immediately brought the phone to her ear.

“It’s so late. Why are you still awake?” Zhousheng Chen’s voice was somewhat puzzled.

“I had a dream.” She still sounded sleepy. “It was the same dream, over and over again. I knew I was dreaming, but I couldn’t wake up and could only watch it happen.”

“A nightmare?”

“Mm-hmm. Nightmare.”

“Those water towns all have their own tales.” She was not certain where Zhousheng Chen was. There was a slight echo accompanying his voice coming through the receiver. “I have heard some of them. Most contain some mentions of being haunted or bewitched, but I do not really believe those. Perhaps you did not get enough rest during the day?”

“Mm-hmm. Perhaps.”

The dreams had all been the same. They were all about him and her, and s.h.i.+ Yi did not find them frightening. As a result, when she awoke, she only had an urge to hear his voice, as if she needed to confirm that he truly did exist, that he was in the same time and s.p.a.ce as she was.

“What did you dream about?” he asked.

“I dreamt that I was copying out the famous teas of each of the dynasties,” she answered in soft voice. “Can you recite them out? I mean, teas from the Tang dynasty?”

“Almost. I do know some.”

“For example?”

“For example?” He gave a chuckle. “You would like me to recite tea names to coax you off to sleep?”

“Mm-hmm.” She had originally been lying on her back, but now she turned to the side and changed to a more comfortable position. “I want to hear.”

“My wife should be one of the Top Four Female Voices, right?” he teased her. “I am just someone who does research, and there really is nothing special about my voice. I am afraid you will start to dislike it after listening to it for a while.”

“I won’t,” she laughed. “Never in this life will I dislike it.”

On the other end of the phone call, he grew silent for a moment. And then, he called her name.

“Mm?”

s.h.i.+ Yi thought he wanted to say something.

Unexpectedly, though, he really began reciting the tea names to her. Meng Deng; Zi Sun; Divine Spring Water, Small Bundle; Bright Moon in the Jade-Colored Mountain Stream; Budding on Fang Mountain; Tea of Lake Yong Holds Essence; White Dew of West Mountain; Yellow Shoot of Huo Mountain…

For some of the names, individual words were slightly different than what she knew, perhaps as a result of how they had been recorded down, but she did not speak up to correct him.

She sat up and leaned against the wooden headboard, looking out the window at the spa.r.s.e lights. The architecture and design of this place carried an ancient feel. In that life, the Cui family of Qinghe and Chang’an were both north of the Yangtze River. What did Jiangnan look like then? She did not have much of an impression, and had only learned from the poetry of Li Bai and Du Fu that Jiangnan’s “maidens were as snow.”

And several hundred years later, she was sitting here, listening to Zhousheng Chen recite to her from the other side of the ocean some rather pointless tea names.

There was nothing special about his voice that was worth mentioning.

He was reciting very slowly, but he was very patient. She discovered that the best trait of Zhousheng Chen was his patience. She did not know whether he was like this with everyone, but at least from when they first met to the present, he had always been like this with her.

“Tea from East White Mountain of Wuzhou; Keemun Square Tea Cake; Thin Tea Cake of Qu River; Yellow Bundle of Qimen; Striated Tea of Ya Mountain; ‘Pillars of Heaven’ Tea; Little River Bundle; Tea of Jiukang; Fire-Riding Tea; Dogwood Window…” He paused for a moment. “That is about it. It is just these ones. Would you like to listen to another dynasty?”

“Mm.” s.h.i.+ Yi hesitated, wanting to ask him if he was too busy.

All of a sudden, a very faint sound could be heard outside of her room door.

It sounded like something metallic falling to the floor. She had heard this sound earlier before as well, but she had been too eager to hear him speak and had ignored it. “s.h.i.+ Yi?” Zhousheng Chen suddenly called her again. “Is there something the matter?”

“I think I heard a weird sound…” she whispered, and then she comforted herself, “It wouldn’t be what you said, that ‘this place has its own tales’, right?…”

He chuckled, and in a slight teasing tone, he reminded her, “You are a Buddhist, and you do not do bad things. Why should you be scared of G.o.ds, demons, and ghosts?”

“I don’t know. It’s my nature, maybe?”

She thought over this point carefully. Indeed, someone who had pa.s.sed through reincarnation should not be fearful of the dark or terrified by G.o.ds, demons, and ghosts.

Zhousheng Chen said a few more words.

Very seldom was s.h.i.+ Yi the one who initiated a phone call, and he, too, unexpectedly began chatting with her on his own accord about his research work. As s.h.i.+ Yi attentively listened to him, she walked over and closed the windows until they were tight. When she went over to check the door, she heard some footsteps.

She fixed her attention upon the sound, trying to hear it more clearly.

“Are you still afraid?” Zhousheng Chen seemed as if he was by her side and could see the s.h.i.+fts in her mood.

“A little bit…” In a lowered voice, she explained, “I think maybe someone really likes this water town setting. I just heard some footsteps.”

“Sometimes, the more frightened a person is of something, the more the person wants to get close to that thing.” Zhousheng Chen’s voice carried a rea.s.suring strength, and there was a deliberate gentleness in it to comfort her. “Do not open your door. Go back on your bed and try to sleep. If you cannot fall asleep, I will keep you company and talk to you.”

She was truly a little frightened, so obediently, she climbed back into bed. “Am I holding up your work?”

He gave a laugh. “No.”