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Chapter 106 - 106 104 Love and affection sweet and honeyed
Chapter 106 - 106 104 Love and affection sweet and honeyed
?Chapter 106: 104: Love and affection, sweet and honeyed, inseparable from each other (second update) Chapter 106: 104: Love and affection, sweet and honeyed, inseparable from each other (second update) Down the long street and narrow lanes, people were singing folk songs:
On the fifth day of May, we celebrate Dragon Boat, we wrap zongzi, hang calamus, race dragon boats, beat gongs and drums, every household celebrates Dragon Boat Festival joyfully.
On the fifth day of May, we welcome Dragon Boat, we insert mugwort, hang sachets, eat zongzi, dip it in white sugar, dragon boats take to water with a merry cheer.
Today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and the streets are much busier than usual. Many shops have displayed festival goods at their entrances, including wrist ropes, sachets, paper kites, as well as various flavors of zongzi and duck eggs.
A group of children of various ages were playing hopscotch; two of them got into a dispute as they played.
The older one, Jianguo, is the grandson from the grain and oil shop: “This was woven by my grandma.”
Jianguo puffed out his chest, showing off the egg pouch on his chest.
The younger one is Aimin, who also had one: “This was woven by my mom.”
Jianguo grunted: “Mine looks even better.”
Aimin also grunted: “Mine looks even better.”
Jianguo slapped his forehead: “I have a tiger.”
On Jianguo’s forehead was a tiger painted with realgar wine.
Aimin, not wanting to be outdone, said: “I have one too.”
Jianguo pulled out a salted duck egg from his pouch: “My egg is bigger.”
Aimin pulled his out too: “Mine is even bigger.”
Yang Xining, passing by: “…”
Kids feel no embarrassment.
Adults do feel awkward.
Granny Zhu was frying syrup cakes in the kitchen, which had to be flipped one by one. Not too many could be fried in a single pot. The first pot would be kept at home to eat, and the following pots were given to the neighbors. It was, after all, the festival, so everyone should have a taste.
Granny Zhu prepared a bowl.
“Changling.”
Wen Changling responded and came over.
“Help me take this to Grandma Liao’s house.”
“Okay.”
Last Mid-Autumn Festival, the bank where Wu Haomin worked had given their employees mooncake gift boxes, and the packaging was a bamboo-woven food box. Granny Zhu couldn’t bear to throw it away and now it came in handy. She put the bowl with the syrup cakes into the food box and handed it to Wen Changling.
Wen Changling went off to “deliver the meal.”
Wu Haomin came to the kitchen, grabbed a piece of syrup cake with her bare hands—it was just out of the pot and hot. She blew on it as she ate: “Mom, can you not always send Changling around to do things?”
Granny Zhu scooped another bowl and placed it in a vegetable basket: “Then you take this to Dessert Shop.”
Wu Haomin obediently shut up and ate her syrup cake.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to deliver it; she was just busy. What should one do on a festival day? It was a time to send blessings to clients.
“Madam Liu, it’s been a while since we last touched base, how have you been recently?”
“I wish you a Happy Dragon Boat Festival.”
“Our Marlon Bank recently launched a new investment product…”
The grandson of Marlon Group was right next door, painting foreheads for the kids.
The tigers on Jianguo and Aimin’s foreheads were drawn by Xie Shang; he was good at painting, and the little tigers looked cute and endearing, attracting all the kids from the street to his yard.
Painting foreheads with realgar wine is a local Dragon Boat Festival custom. It involves painting a ‘king’ character or a tiger on children’s heads. Realgar repels toxins, and tigers ward off evil spirits.
“Brother, can you draw a dragon for me?”
Xie Shang lifted the child’s face and began to paint: “It needs to be a tiger.”
“Why?”
“Tigers ward off evil.”
“Oh.”
The maternal grandfather of Gu Kaiyun was a master of traditional Chinese painting who had taken only three close disciples: Gu Kaiyun, Xie Shang, and Gu Yihuan. Gu Yihuan, however, was expelled from the apprenticeship within a month.
It was rather unjust; his scrawling, chicken-claw script was evidence enough that he lacked artistic talent. Nonetheless, his mother insisted on thrusting him into the lessons to rub elbows, only to be disgraced.
The kids were all lining up to get their tiger painted, and Wen Changling came by to deliver the syrup cakes. Seeing that Xie Shang was busy, she did not disturb him but sat down to have some herself after placing the food down.
There was tea at Xie Shang’s, although it was unclear what kind. It paired quite well with the syrup cakes.
Tongtong came over and asked Wen Changling if she could weave an egg pouch for her as her mother didn’t know how to. Wen Changling had seen Sister Tao weave them for Aiguo and Aimin before.
“I’ll try it.”
Tongtong moved a chair over and sat down.
“Uh,”
Wen Changling looked up.
The owner of the dried fruit shop was leading her eldest grandson. They had been in the queue but specifically came over to Wen Changling’s side. The owner seemed to find it difficult to speak: “Uh, Xiao Wen.”
Xiao Wen looked puzzled.
“I said some unpleasant things about you before, and I want to apologize.” The owner was rather embarrassed. People of her generation seemed to not be very good at apologizing, “I really didn’t mean anything by it. I just can’t hold my tongue and like to gossip too much. I’m sorry, please don’t take it to heart.”
Granny Zhu had been encouraging Xiao Wen to interact with everyone more recently. And everybody thought that Wen, the girl, was quite nice after all. She was not someone who dealt with corpses at the morgue.
She was just a solitary person who had left her hometown and was living in a strange city, not being one to talk much.
“It’s okay.”
Wen Changling wasn’t adept at handling such situations, so she took a piece of sugar cake and asked the innkeeper’s eldest grandson, “Do you want some? It’s very sweet.”
The innkeeper’s eldest grandson’s nickname was Mangmang.
Mangmang accepted the sugar cake.
That settled the matter, and the innkeeper’s wife smiled, “Mangmang, aren’t you going to thank your sister?”
“Thank you, sister.”
Mangmang approached and watched Wen Changling make an egg purse for Tongtong, “Sister Wen, can you make one for me too?”
“Sure.”
Wen Changling made a total of three.
Xie Shang had finished painting, and the children scattered.
“Changling.”
“Hmm?”
She then realized there were only two sugar cakes left, and she felt a bit full.
Xie Shang called her over.
She wiped her hands and sat down, “Are you going to paint me?”
“Yeah.”
She didn’t know what else was mixed into the realgar wine, but it had a bright yellow color.
Wen Changling felt if she went out with a yellow tiger on her face, she would be embarrassed, “Adults don’t need to be painted.”
“Adults can be painted too.”
Alright then.
She couldn’t refuse Boss Xie; Boss Xie was hard to please.
Xie Shang lifted her face and dipped the brush in the wine.
Next door, Grandma Lin was bathing in orchid bathing soup.
Their yards shared a wall with no soundproofing, so she could hear the elderly woman’s weathered voice reciting, “On the fifth of May, bathe in orchid soup, to expel evil spirits, and ward off sickness and pain.”
He painted a prayer on her forehead.
He wished for Miss Wen to be free from evil spirits and free from disaster and pain.
“Done.”
“Let me look.” Wen Changling took the mirror next to her, “Is this the character for ‘king’?”
She reached out to touch it.
Xie Shang pulled her hand away, “It hasn’t dried yet.”
He had painted the ancient character for “king” on her.
“It looks so good.”
Small and delicate, like a flower on her forehead.
Wen Changling sincerely complimented him, “Xie Shang, you’re so talented.” After praising him, she took out an egg purse from her pocket, “You painted ‘king’ for me, so this is for you.”
She had used multicolored strings.
Xie Shang looked at it for several seconds, “This is for children to wear.”
“Adults can wear it too.”
She stuffed the egg purse into Xie Shang’s hand, her hand sticky with the sugar, and she went to wash it.
Su Beihe sent a message.
[Why haven’t you come over yet? Madam Zhai is waiting for you.]
Xie Shang put the multicolored egg purse Wen Changling had made on the table, stood up, and after a moment’s thought, picked it up and tucked it into his clothing, “Changling.”
Wen Changling was washing her hands.
Xie Shang approached her, “I need to go back to the Su Family to celebrate the festival.” He had bought the goat-hair brush for painting tigers on children at an auction; the brush’s handle was made of jade, and he placed it in Aiguo’s paint dish to wash.
Wen Changling uttered an acknowledgment, “Then you should go.”
“Do you want to come with me?”
Madam Zhai said she had gathered many jewels.
Xie Shang really wanted to bring Wen Changling with him to help her earn some jewels.
Wen Changling didn’t hesitate for even half a second, “No, I’m going to watch the dragon boat race.” She showed tremendous interest in the dragon boat race and excitedly told Xie Shang, “Granny Zhu said there are a few decent young men in the Lotus Pond Street team, and we’re going to check them out for Sister Haomin.”
Xie Shang half-cleaned his brush and then dropped it into the basin, not bothering with it any longer, “What are you checking out for?”
“Physique, Sister Haomin likes men with good builds.” Miss Wen, constructed of steel, chuckled, “I heard they row dragon boats without their tops.”
Xie Shang was silent.
She glanced at her phone, “It’s almost time, I need to leave.”
She waved her hand and ran off.
Xie Shang: …
Forget about giving her the jewels; give them to the Su Beihe family instead.