“Jiaojiao, why are you here all by yourself? Where are your servants?”
Wei Xiyang’s sudden question prompted the little girl in Ye Zhao’s arms to poke her head out. She answered earnestly, “I saw Grandpa on the bridge across the way, so I came over to find him. Those people should be catching up soon, right?”
Her voice was crisp, her articulation clear.
*Boom—*
Like a sudden clap of thunder, Ye Zhao felt himself fracture.
“What... what did you call him?!”
The little girl answered honestly, “Grandpa.”
Looking into the girl’s clear eyes, Ye Zhao froze in place for a long time, motionless.
Well, it was confirmed. This well-behaved, adorable little girl was actually the granddaughter of that old firecracker, General Wei.
“Heh... hehe... life really is full of surprises, huh...” Ye Zhao barely managed to keep his facial expression under control. His smile looked more like a facial cramp; anyone watching would find it awkward.
Wei Xiyang arched an eyebrow, staring coldly at Ye Zhao. He asked in a heavy voice, “What do you mean by that?”
Ye Zhao gave a polite yet strained smile. “I’m praising your granddaughter’s cuteness.”
“Hmph!” Wei Xiyang lifted his chin proudly. “My granddaughter naturally looks good.”
While Wei Xiyang was gloating, Ye Zhao quietly leaned toward Pei Shian and whispered, “Is she really that old man Wei’s biological granddaughter?”
“Pfft,” Pei Shian let out a soft chuckle, lowering his voice to reply, “I can testify—she is.”
Ye Zhao felt depressed. “Sigh... truly, one cannot judge by appearances. A fine shoot can indeed grow from bitter bamboo...”
After lamenting thus, he remembered something and looked down to instruct Wei Jiaojiao, “Don’t tell your grandpa what I just said.”
Hmm? The little girl tilted her head, understanding something as she flashed a smile. “Okay, I won’t. Brother, what is your name?”
“Ye Zhao.”
A flash of surprise crossed the girl’s eyes. As she stared at Ye Zhao, a light of reverence gradually filled her gaze. “So you are Young Master Tianshu...”
Wait, what?!
Ye Zhao paused, then leaned down to explain to her, “No, I’m not. Don’t listen to the nonsense people around here are saying. You can call me Brother Ye, but whatever you do, do not call me Grandpa Tianshu.”
“Pfft.” It wasn’t just little Wei Jiaojiao who was amused; Pei Shian also let out a laugh.
Seeing Ye Zhao’s serious expression while saying such droll things was truly a delight.
Before long, the little girl’s mother arrived with servants to take her away. However, Wei Jiaojiao refused to comply. She clung to Ye Zhao’s neck, refusing to leave no matter what, stating with a serious and solemn face that she wanted to follow her grandfather, rejecting her mother’s request.
Left with no choice, the trio became a quartet. Ye Zhao hefted the "sweet burden" in his arms and walked toward the opposite bank with the other two.
Xie Yusong and his companions, arriving late, followed unhurriedly at a distance.
Now that the panic had passed, the crowds were slowly regaining their composure, though the immediate area remained empty of pedestrians.
Upon reaching the foot of the bridge, Ye Zhao gazed at a willow tree by the bank and suddenly stopped.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Seeing him seemingly lost in thought, Pei Shian asked suspiciously, following his gaze. There was nothing unusual to see.
Unexpectedly, the man who had been dazed just a moment ago suddenly brightened. A look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face as he turned to Pei Shian. “Shian, I remember now! We really did know each other before!”
The group was stunned. Pei Shian’s expression froze as he stared blankly at Ye Zhao’s face.
Did he... really remember?
Ye Zhao didn’t care about their reactions. He set the little girl down and excitedly pulled a mask from his robes, holding it up to his face. “Do you remember now? Does it look familiar like this?”
“You...” Pei Shian frowned, his thoughts in disarray.
Seeing his expression, Ye Zhao knew the other man didn't understand what he meant. He lowered the mask and prompted him, “Then do you remember the child who once gave you a small orange bean lamp?”
“The Lantern Festival, by the Ten-Mile Long Bridge, a white fox mask, and an orange bean lamp.”
Ye Zhao’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Pei Shian, reminding him over and over, trying to awaken a certain memory.
Gazing into those eyes that were as dark as starlight, a fragment finally surfaced in Pei Shian’s mind, becoming clearer and clearer...
In the night, Ye Zhao looked at the willow branches swaying gently in the breeze, as if seeing their cold, withered state in the depths of winter.
He let out a light laugh. “So we met as early as fifteen years ago. On that Lantern Festival night, the piece you were playing right here was *The Radiant Phoenix*, wasn't it? I only just recognized you now. No wonder I always felt a sense of familiarity whenever I heard you play.”
“Do you remember? It was me. About fifteen years ago, when I was roughly Jiaojiao’s age. A little boy wearing a fox mask passed by the bridge, heard you playing, and gave you a small orange bean lamp. Do you still have an impression of that?”
Pei Shian suddenly stiffened. His eyes widened as he stared blankly at Ye Zhao. His mind went white, and he lost his voice.
After an unknown amount of time, two extremely soft syllables trembled from his throat. “It... was you...”
Ye Zhao, failing to notice anything amiss in the emotion behind those words, assumed the other man was equally excited. He became even more delighted. “That’s right! You finally remembered.”
Yes, he remembered. He remembered that Lantern Festival night, ten years after Tianshu had left.
By the Ten-Mile Long Bridge, the evening wind carried snow, and the lanterns were dusted with white.
As the bustling crowds of the night receded, he had waited long but saw no sign of his old friend’s return. White snow covered his shoulders, and his music had no listener.
A little boy dressed in snow-white winter clothes walked from the bridge, holding a small round lamp that emitted a tiny, warm, soft glow of orange light.
The boy wore a white fox mask. He crouched down before Pei Shian, who was playing the zither under the tree. “It’s so late, why aren't you going home?”
“I’m going back soon.” The boy then asked, “What about you? Why are you here instead of going home?”
“I am waiting for someone.”
“How long have you been waiting?”
Pei Shian’s vacant gaze finally settled on the child before him. He withdrew his stiff fingers from the zither, letting them hang at his sides. He nudged his seemingly frozen mind, thinking, and slowly said, “...I don’t remember.”
One year, two years... it was probably the tenth year by then...
The boy propped his chin on one hand and watched him, advising, “If they aren't coming, stop waiting.”
Suddenly, someone called out from the distance. The boy stood up, looked in that direction, then turned back to the person before him. He held out the small lamp. “It’s dark. I’ll give this to you. Be careful on your way back alone. The person you’re waiting for surely wouldn't want you to wait for them in the dark, cold night. Goodbye.”
With that, the boy ran away.
He was left with a small round lamp in his hand. Watching the boy’s retreating figure, Pei Shian stood numbly in place before slowly turning to return home.
He didn't even know what the face behind the mask looked like, nor did he have the curiosity to find out. Because at that time, his heart was already filled by another.
Nearby, Ye Zhao held Wei Jiaojiao’s small hand and continued, “For the two years after that, I came here on the night of the Lantern Festival, hoping to run into you again. Unfortunately, I never did.”
Memories were like a tide. Recalling this event from his youth and meeting his old acquaintance again now, Ye Zhao couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of fate. “So it turns out that every instance of 'feeling like old friends at first sight' has a trail to follow. The word 'fate' is truly beyond description.”
“Shian, who were you waiting for fifteen years ago? You seemed... very sad?” Even today, as Ye Zhao looked back, though the face in his memory was a bit blurred, the sorrow he felt upon hearing the other man play was still etched in his heart.
?
Just as he was wondering why the other man wasn't speaking, Pei Shian suddenly looked as if he were about to collapse, startling Ye Zhao and the others.
“What—what’s wrong?” Wei Xiyang reacted the fastest, grabbing hold of him. Ye Zhao asked anxiously.
“Move!” A great force suddenly shoved Ye Zhao back. Ye Zhao took two steps back, steadied himself, and looked closely. It was Pei Yunting.
A trace of tension now appeared on his usually cold face. He was supporting Pei Shian’s arm, calling out worriedly, “Father... Father.”
Pei Shian’s vision was swimming in darkness, his mind in total chaos. His face was pale, and his vacant, soulless eyes stared blankly in Ye Zhao’s direction. Suddenly, he let out a burst of laughter. “It was you. I... actually didn't recognize it was you... Hahahaha.”
The laughter was desolate, tinged with self-mockery.
Ye Zhao didn't know what was happening to him. He stood there somewhat stunned and helpless, responding, “No, it’s not your fault. I didn't recognize you at the Imperial Palace either.”
He was referring to their first meeting outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony during last year’s Mid-Autumn Banquet.
But how could that be what Pei Shian meant? The gaze he turned on Ye Zhao was uncontrollably filled with bone-deep sorrow.
“You... you came back. You came back!” Pei Shian murmured with a mix of joy and grief. “You came back... I didn't recognize you. I didn't recognize you. How could I not have recognized you...”
He gripped Pei Yunting’s hand tightly, like a drowning man clutching a piece of driftwood, his body trembling involuntarily.
Wei Xiyang likely knew what kind of foolishness this blockhead was falling into again. He knitted his brows, half-tense and half-worried, trying his best to keep his voice down. “If you didn't recognize him then, you didn't recognize him. Didn't you eventually recognize Ye Zhao later anyway?”
The meaning was cryptic. Ye Zhao didn't understand, but the two of them knew exactly what was meant.
The second half of Wei Xiyang’s comforting sentence could actually be translated as: *Didn't you eventually recognize Tianshu later anyway?*
Upon hearing that name, Pei Shian finally seemed to snap out of his own world. As he met his gaze, Ye Zhao’s body stiffened instinctively. Even now, he didn't know what had happened or what kind of verbal sparring was going on between the two men. In his confusion, he blurted out, “Do you still have that lamp from back then? If not, I can give you another one.”
After saying it, Ye Zhao wanted to slap himself. What kind of nonsensical response was that!
Thanks to this moment of stupidity, he slowly calmed down. He pursed his lips and finally spoke again. “It’s okay. No matter how much time passes, we were bound to meet again one day. Isn't right now the best proof of that?”
“Even if one day I don't remember you, don't remember myself, or even turn into a different appearance, you would definitely be able to recognize who I am, Shian.”
He slowly revealed a smile. Reflected in the gentle lights by the river, it was as if all the prosperity of the night was gathered in his eyes. “This world is too big; people always have to take a few detours before they meet the ones they want to meet. There are thousands of strangers, yet there are also those who travel ten thousand miles together.”
As he spoke, Ye Zhao paused. He had many things he wanted to say but didn't know where to start. It was an indescribable feeling. After hesitating for a moment, he said tentatively, “For a long time now, I’ve felt that you are probably the person who understands me best in this world.”
“The longer we spend together, the more I believe that old saying—some people can spend a lifetime together and never truly see each other, yet for others, even if they’ve only known each other for a day, one look is enough for the other to know what you’re thinking.” Ye Zhao smiled and asked him, “Isn't it wonderful?”
“...Yes.” Pei Shian’s throat tightened. His fingertips, hidden in his sleeves, twitched slightly. “I would never mistake you.”
So he said.
Ye Zhao responded with a smile. Perhaps he was the only one who didn't sense the subtlety of the atmosphere.
Ever since Ye Zhao had delivered that long speech, the way the people around him looked at him had begun to change.
He didn't know how much of a storm his words had stirred in their hearts.
Almost simultaneously, Wei Xiyang recalled how Pei Shian had believed Ye Zhao was Tianshu from the very beginning. Thinking about it now, Ye Zhao truly wasn't wrong.
Pei Shian was the person least likely to mistake him, and the one who understood him best.
“Sigh...”
Hearing Wei Xiyang’s sudden sigh, Ye Zhao found it strange. “Old man Wei, what are you sighing for?”
Unlike his previous refined manner, Ye Zhao was now speaking bluntly and without ceremony.
Wei Xiyang wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat. He said crossly, “None of your business! If you have the time, you should worry more about your own brain.”
Hey! Ye Zhao was stunned, then got angry. “What’s wrong with my brain? My brain is perfectly fine!”
He was answered by Wei Xiyang’s disdainful sneer. “Heh...”
Ye Zhao: “Stinky Donkey Three.”
Fine, let’s hurt each other then...
A vein popped on Wei Xiyang’s temple. “You stinking brat!”
“Stinky Donkey Three!”
“Stinking brat!”
...
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 卫娇娇 | Wei Jiaojiao | General Wei Xiyang's granddaughter. |
| 歹竹出好笋 | A fine shoot from bitter bamboo | Idiom: A good child from a bad parent/family. |
| 《明凰》 | The Radiant Phoenix | A musical piece for the zither (guqin). |
| 橘豆小灯 | Orange bean lamp | A small, bean-shaped or bean-sized orange lantern. |
| 裴云庭 | Pei Yunting | Pei Shian's son. |
| 驴三臭 | Stinky Donkey Three | A derogatory nickname Ye Zhao uses for Wei Xiyang. |
