Chapter 49.2 (Part 2) (2/2)
“Early on, he went to make a living wandering the jianghu and made companions out of his Seven Princes. Why would he come back to this old place?” So speaking, he gave me a deep look.
“That’s an outrage! How can a person act that way. A father for a day means a father for a lifetime!”
“He has his own affairs. How could I have control over him?”
“Don’t let that fellow off so easily. If I were you, I’d tie him up and bring him back to kneel before the memorial tablet of his ancestors. Then I’d starve him for eight or ten days without food.”
He laughed out loud, gazing at me warmly. “Then I’ll do as you say in the future.”
I was still lost in my own thoughts…
No wonder. I’d been here for a while, but there was n.o.body in these rooms except for him. An entire day would pa.s.s with nothing but the parrot crying out by itself. So it turned out that he had such an unfilial son. But…why did his smile turn me cold and fl.u.s.tered?
I must be getting the wrong impressions…
Suddenly, the wind blew open the windows. I got up to close them, but the gale filled the room, chilling my body and making me s.h.i.+ver. I couldn’t take it and sneezed multiple times.
What an evil wind…
So frigid, almost enough to make me cry.
Fang Hua’s gaze was fixed on me as he rose up, about to get out of bed. Just as he lifted a corner of the corners, I sat down and pressed against the bedding. “Hey, what do you want to do?”
He focused on looking at me, eyes filled with enough warmth to drown a person as he lay back down, smiling affably. I grew a little apprehensive as I gave him a doubtful look. But he continued to wave a friendly hand my way. “Come here…”
There was a trick. For him to be so agreeable without reason, there was definitely something afoot. My neck shrank back as I recoiled, preparing to slip away. Yet he rose up to grab me from behind. I panicked as my heart started beating wildly. Laughing aloud, his hands moved from my waist to my fingers, lifting up my hands. With his body pressed against mine, he gesticulated a few times, head tilted to the side as he gave me a friendly look. “You’ve been negligent while attending to me. The weather’s so cold and yet you’re wearing so little. There should be clothes for you in this room.”
And then?
I felt a little muddle-headed as he maintained his advantageous position, feeling a bit left in the dark. He was very quiet as he watched my expressions, not revealing anything as he carefully touched my hands, before meekly resting his own on my shoulders. “Look at you, your body’s turned so cold.
His hands were clearly colder than mine. I lifted my eyes to glance at him. Did he always lie with such a straight face?
And also…
I really couldn’t keep myself from asking as I turned towards him. “How long are you planning to hold me?”
“I…” he seemed to release me reluctantly. “I measured you a bit, it should just fit. The length of the robes should be just right, you wait…” And he lifted the covers.
But I pressed them back in place.
Fang Hua was so close to me. With his long eyelashes, he looked towards my hands in surprise before smiling. He didn’t struggle, reject, or try to throw me off, but adopted a conniving expression on his face. Did this guy’s illness fry his brains? If he had clothes, he should’ve mentioned them earlier. Did he really have to stick so close and take my measurements. I could just try on the clothes to see if they fit.
Seeing him trying to move again, I held him in place and spoke. “Your body’s not well, so keep still for me.”
His complexion wasn’t good as his chest rose and fell. Unable to hold it in, he turned to cover his face with his sleeves and coughed again, speaking intermittently. “I want to get some clothes for you to keep out the chill. The nights are cold…and the mornings are chilly, why not…let me prepare some thicker cotton quilts for you.”
“Are you done yet? Lie down…” I glared at him, but my voice softened. “Where did you put the robes? Don’t get off the bed, I’ll get them myself.”
His eyes curved into a smile as he held me with a cold hand, the fingertips tickling my skin. “It’s in the third compartment over there, just take a few sets…they’re all new, so pick what you like.”
I suppressed a noise.
After opening the cabinet, I finally understood what he meant by ‘pick what you like’.
Two or three part.i.tions in the entire cabinet were filled with clothing. There were plain white robes, blue-green robes, simple and elegant robes or gaudy, flowery ones…every one was folded up neatly. The third level was a bit older than the rest, and the size was a bit off. Mixed up with the bunch was even a set of woman’s clothes…
Why would there be women’s clothing here?!
Shocked, I touched the robes.
“I wanted to find you some clothes in the morning, but ended up lying here for half the day because of weariness.” He looked at me with a remorseful face.
My hand drew back as I looked for other robes, replying carelessly, “It’s no matter.”
Only…
Why would he treat me so well? This was going beyond the boundaries of friends.h.i.+p. Fang Hua’s voice drifted over from behind me. “Have you finished choosing?”
“No.” I said in a low voice, hand exploring the second level of robes. The clothing all felt new, and the sizes were obviously much bigger than the previous level. I shook open some robes and compared them to my body…oh, too small. The colors of the robes weren’t half bad, just that the pattern…
Un, these were all male robes, like those for a young man.
“The clothes at the bottom all have smaller measurements. The first compartment has clothes that were all newly made a few days ago.”
“Whose clothes are these?”
They didn’t look like Fang Hua’s because they’d be too small on them. I measured a few of the top level robes and found them my perfect size. However, the measurements for these thick piles of clothing seemed to get larger and larger. Yet none of them had an owner, but all of them were new, how strange.
“It’s my disciple’s,” he said in a low voice.
“This one as well?” I pinched out a robe and shook it out. It was very beautiful, and seemed to be made for a teenage girl. The fabric emanated a sweet-smelling fragrance.
He seemed to be smiling. “That’s right.”
Those two words dismissed me…as if he didn’t want to discuss the matter any more.
“What a waste, making all these clothes with no one to wear them,” I casually draped one over my shoulders, head lowered to tie the sash.
He gave a leisurely reply. “These were all prepared by me over the years for that unworthy child of mine. Although he’s left me for many years, I still make a few sets for him every year out of habit. He used to always blame me for buying clothes that were too big for him. Now that they fit him, he’s not by my side anymore.”
I stood there dumbly, hands stiffening as I stopped moving.
“I used to imagine what he’d be like after he grew up.” The pale yellow light shone on his figure, gentle and mild. He patiently endured another round of coughing on the bed as he smoothed out his brow, an exhausted expression on his face. “I’m really sorry, I’m telling you things you don’t want to hear.”
I sprawled across his bed and burst out laughing as I tucked him in, speaking lightly, “You’re tired. Sleep early.”
In the stillness of the night, the moonlight shone down softly.
Fang Hua sat on the bed, the moon illuminating his figure in an extremely touching manner. It was a long while before he turned over and said one more thing. “…I wanted him to stay longer by my side, but why didn’t he understand?”
A long, long time afterwards, I would always remember this line.
He told me, “Actually, it’s not that I didn’t want to spend the family silver. And when I made the robes bigger than usual, it wasn’t because I wanted him to wear it in until they were old. In fact…I just wanted him to stay awhile longer by my side because I didn’t have much time.”
He slowly smiled at me, a simple but elegant smile.
When his eyebrows suddenly knitted together, they were like the misty depths of a rain shower in a landscape painting, filled with anxious worry that embellished the red teardrop mole by his eye.Original and most updated translations are from volaretranslations.