When Li Qiao returned to Tingfeng Hall, the watchman at the corner of the street had just finished calling the fourth watch.
The Hour of the Ox had passed, and the entire city of Jiugao lay in deep slumber.
The courtyard was empty; Situ Jinbao was no longer there. Beneath the massive banana tree by the courtyard well, there was only the lonely silhouette of a woman and two wine jars that were nearly empty.
Li Qiao took a half-step forward and called out softly, "Sister?"
The person beneath the banana tree did not speak for a moment, maintaining her posture of looking up at the moon. However, those eyes—usually so shrewd and sparkling with intelligence—seemed unable to open now. After a long while, she finally lifted an arm and poured the last of the Dalu Brew from the nearly empty jar.
Just as the clear, swaying liquid was about to reach her lips, a hand suddenly reached out from the side, catching the cup with speed and stability.
Qin Jiuye felt her hand go empty. Only then did she realize what had happened, forcing her drunken eyes open to look at the familiar pair of feet on the ground beside her.
"Where did you go? Why are you only back now?"
Li Qiao’s fingers gripped the cup, but he made no move. "Were you waiting for me to return, Sister?"
The woman shook her head. A lock of hair escaped her already messy bun, swaying against her shoulder. "Who’s waiting for you? I was afraid you’d run off, and there’d be no one to work tomorrow."
The youth stared at her face for a moment, still not daring to make a judgment. He simply explained in a low voice, "You told me to look after A-weng when I had the chance. I saw him leaving earlier, so I followed him all the way. I only came back after seeing him board his boat and blow out his lamp."
The air grew quiet again for a moment before Qin Jiuye slowly raised her head. Her eyes, which had been half-closed, were now fully open. Her dark, bright pupils looked as if they had been washed by snow, more soul-stirring than ever before.
"That’s my A-weng, not yours. Why are you being so attentive? How am I supposed to calculate your wages for this..."
Calculate? When she was sober, there wasn't a cent she couldn't calculate clearly.
Li Qiao stepped forward and stated the truth plainly. "You are drunk."
Qin Jiuye ignored him, reaching out to shake the wine jar beside her. Her voice didn't sound particularly intoxicated. "That dandy Xu Qiuchi... who knows how much silver he spent on this Dalu Brew. It’s one thing to buy so much, but he didn't even take it with him when he couldn't finish it. And if he couldn't take it, why must it be left to benefit that stingy iron rooster Tang Shenyan..."
He stepped forward, intending to take the wine jar from her. "The wine is right here. It won't hurt to drink it tomorrow."
To his surprise, the woman instantly pulled the jar into her embrace, turning her back to him. "You don't understand. This wine doesn't keep. Once the clay seal is broken, it turns cloudy in less than half a day. It won't fetch a single copper then. It would be a waste not to drink it..."
As expected of the mistress of Guoran Residence; even when drunk, she didn't forget to click her mental abacus. However, the youth did not intend to let her continue. He advised her with renewed patience, "Sister, have you forgotten the business at Guoran Residence? You have to see patients tomorrow. If you keep drinking..."
She snapped her head up. Her eyes were so bright they seemed to reflect the stars in the sky, terrifyingly luminous.
"Who is your 'Sister'? You little brat, do you think you can talk nonsense just because I've had some wine? Hmph, don't think I don't know your true identity."
The gentle, submissive expression slowly faded from the youth's face. He looked expressionlessly at the woman clutching the wine jar with glowing eyes. After a long silence, he asked softly, "Then, who am I?"
The woman gave a cold snort and suddenly reached out a finger, pressing it against the center of his brow.
Her movement was slow, yet the youth seemed as if he had been struck by a freezing spell. He could not dodge, nor could he move; his ten fingers involuntarily tightened.
"You are... you are..." Her expression gradually became serious. After a long time, she said with absolute certainty, "You are a mutt I picked up."
The youth blinked, finally relaxing his slightly sweaty hands.
From a half-closed window not far away, the faint sound of Jinbao’s snoring drifted out, rising and falling in harmony with the chirping of insects in the courtyard.
The woman’s finger slowly slid down from his brow. Her shoulders, so close at hand, gradually slumped as she teetered precariously to one side.
Li Qiao stared at her thin shoulders. It was a long time before he slowly reached out his hand. Just as he was about to touch her, she moved again, and he pulled back.
When she was awake, she never initiated such closeness, nor did she ever speak to him with such light, casual banter. Now that she was right there, speaking to him without any defenses, he didn't dare get a single inch closer.
Perhaps because the wine was churning in her stomach, burning uncomfortably, Qin Jiuye twisted herself into a knot on the ground. Li Qiao watched her with his arms hanging at his sides for a while. Finally remembering a phrase, he cleared his throat and spoke.
"Didn't you say it yourself, Sister? If you sleep in the courtyard while drunk and catch a chill, your mouth will go crooked."
This sentence was indeed effective. The person on the ground stopped wriggling and bolted upright.
"A crooked mouth won't do. For a practitioner, a crooked mouth is a major taboo. People might start saying I've practiced too many heterodox ways, and all the hard work Guoran Residence has put in over the years would be for nothing." The woman seemed to sober up slightly, exhaling a long breath of wine fumes. "But why does that sound familiar? It feels like someone just said that..."
Muttering under her breath, she leaned against the stone stool behind her, swaying as she tried to stand. Halfway up, she lost her balance and plopped back down.
After three such attempts, she grew angry.
"This wine is truly a foul thing. How does that Yinquan Distillery have the face to sell it so dear? It’s actually more expensive than the life-saving medicine at Guoran Residence. It’s simply unconscionable!"
She protested with righteous indignation, while the youth stared at her unmovingly. He seemed to find her current state a rare curiosity, momentarily forgetting to act.
"What are you standing there for? Give me a hand."
She held out both arms toward him. There were even bits of green onion from Lu Zican’s dish stuck to her elbows.
He stared at those two arms for a moment before slowly, tentatively grasping them.
She was very light; he had known this since the last time he carried her on his back. Her arms were thin and frail; one grip and he could feel the bone, as if they might snap if he used too much force. Thus, he didn't dare exert strength, merely maintaining a gentle balance.
Since he didn't move, she could only use his arms to "climb up."
The katydids in the grass seemed to have grown tired of shouting. The insect cries suddenly ceased at this moment. The world was silent; even the stars stopped flickering. There were only two silhouettes by the stone stool, drawing clumsily closer under the moonlight.
In the next instant, the thin figure suddenly tripped. She pitched forward.
With a muffled thud, both of them fell to the ground.
Qin Jiuye opened her eyes and looked down at the person she was pinning beneath her.
The youth’s slightly stubbled jaw was right against her cheek. she couldn't see his expression, only feeling a scorching heat wherever their skin touched.
"Hmph." Her voice held a hint of knowing, as if she had caught him in some transgression. "And you say others are drunk... clearly, you're the one who's drunk. You can't even stand straight."
Having said her piece, Qin Jiuye lay atop him and chuckled to herself.
Had she turned her head at that moment, she would have seen that the rusted blade was positioned half a finger’s width behind her neck. The blade had not left its scabbard; the edge faced outward while the spine faced inward, braced firmly behind her to separate her from the moss-covered stone stool.
The youth remained silent. His thoughts drifted for a moment, falling into a sort of pensive trance born of unattainable longing.
Why had he been tackled to the ground? Why had his blade not left its sheath? And why was he protecting her back? He was truly unfamiliar with such maneuvers; he didn't understand why he, who had never learned such a technique, could perform it so naturally now.
He was supposed to only know techniques for killing.
The woman finally realized something was amiss. She reached up to rub the back of her head, then grabbed his scabbard and pulled it close to inspect it.
"Wasn't this blade leaning against the wall earlier? How did it get into your hand? Oh, this is your blade, not Old Tang’s wood-chopping knife. But looking at it now, there’s not much difference..."
Li Qiao shifted his gaze and finally spoke. "Sister, could you please get up? You're a bit heavy."
Qin Jiuye was certainly not heavy, but she did seem genuinely disoriented—or perhaps she simply didn't want to get up. After a few futile kicks of her legs, she stopped. She leaned closer to his face, a breath scented with wine and mint falling against his ear.
"This is a punishment. You have to take it."
Punishment? What punishment?
The word 'punishment' was supposed to be a daily occurrence for him. But this kind... he had never seen it before.
Perhaps seeing his silence, Qin Jiuye began to mutter again.
"Don't you dare be defiant. This is to punish you... punish you for staying out all night yesterday to go meet a girl..." She stopped mid-sentence, her tone turning into a grumble. "Ugh, now that I think about it, ever since I picked you up, my life has become less and less comfortable..."
Li Qiao lay flat on the ground, unmoving. His senses seemed infinitely magnified; he was entirely surrounded by her voice, her scent, and her warmth. There was no way to resist, nowhere to flee.
After an unknown amount of time, the woman finally finished venting. Like a snail, she slowly crawled off him and sat back on the ground.
Almost the next instant, the youth scrambled up. He ended up kneeling to the side, clutching his chest, his head bowed as he brooded over something.
Qin Jiuye turned her head, her bright black eyes filled with undisguised confusion.
"What's wrong with you? Could it be that my antidote was truly too potent, and your body can't handle it?"
Even as her words landed, he remained silent, the only sound being his somewhat ragged breathing.
The youth’s profile was half-hidden in the shadows. Qin Jiuye stared for a long time but couldn't decipher his expression. After a while, she suddenly took a deep breath and spoke with sincere gravity.
"With a constitution as riddled with holes as yours, you really aren't suited to keep wandering the Jianghu. Why don't you just stay with me? Keep working at Guoran Residence. We can negotiate the wages."
This time, she did not look away. She watched him quietly from beginning to end, seemingly waiting for his answer.
Li Qiao finally raised his head.
The woman’s face was bathed in eighty percent of the moonlight falling over Tingfeng Hall tonight. The remaining twenty percent shimmered between the roof tiles and the pond behind her. It was the softest of light and shadow, yet it outlined the contours of her features with unprecedented clarity.
He considered himself an expert at reading people, yet at this moment, he didn't dare judge whether she was speaking from drunken folly or from the heart.
He wanted to give her an answer, but he opened his mouth and no sound came out.
After a long while, Qin Jiuye finally looked away. She braced her hands on her knees and stood up, her tone returning to the light, drunken playfulness from before.
"Fine, fine. You think my temple is too small to house a great Buddha like you, don't you?"
The youth still didn't speak. Qin Jiuye began to feel annoyed again.
"Why aren't you getting up?"
Li Qiao paused, then answered truthfully, "Sister said this was a punishment. Since it is a punishment, I must endure it."
Qin Jiuye was silent for a good while before sitting back down on the ground.
"You... you are truly boring. How about I tell you an interesting story about myself?"
Li Qiao observed her expression, then slowly shook his head. "Better not. I'm afraid that when you wake up tomorrow, you'll dock my wages again."
Her eyes widened. "How could I?! Come here."
Regardless of his protests, she pulled him close, whispering mysteriously into his ear. "Do you believe that stones can talk?"
The youth said nothing. His body was as stiff as a stone.
The woman didn't notice, immersed in her own need to confide. She lowered her voice and continued, "I'm telling you, when I was very small, I fell into a big pit. There was a stone in that pit that could talk. It was the stone that called out to A-weng as he was passing by, and that's how he found me. Do you believe me?"
Wasn't this a story? Since it was a story, what did it matter whether he believed it or not?
The youth remained silent. She pressed him again. "Do you believe me?"
He had no choice but to nod. "I believe you."
She was very satisfied and leaned even closer. "My name was given to me by A-weng. He said that on the day he found me, the rain was pouring down. When he got closer, he saw a plant growing from a crack in the stone within that pit. That plant had nine leaves, and it stood over my head to shield me from the rain. The pit was full of venomous insects and snakes, yet I was perfectly safe. He felt I had a destiny with that plant, so he gave me this name, hoping it would protect me. Strange as it is, though I've been frail and sickly since childhood, I've managed to survive all these years. It seems the name was chosen well..."
She paused in her excitement. Clearly dissatisfied by the lack of response, she grumbled, "I've told you my secret, why are you being so stingy? You still won't say anything..."
It wasn't that he wouldn't say; it was that he truly had nothing to say.
Li Qiao pursed his lips and finally spoke. "I don't know where my name came from. The person who gave it to me only told me which characters they were. Perhaps she didn't know the meaning of the name herself. Perhaps the name has no meaning at all."
Qin Jiuye’s voice grew lower and lower, her head nearly drooping onto his shoulder. "What? Do you also have a muddled A-weng who can't remember things..."
Li Qiao looked at the stray hairs on the woman's head, which grew like wild grass, then turned his gaze toward the empty night.
"I have no A-weng. This name... I bought it with my life."
The insect chirps ceased once more. The small courtyard fell into a brief silence.
The woman’s breathing gradually became steady as she leaned against the youth. The youth’s silhouette had already merged with the shadows of the banana tree, until even the boundaries were blurred.
"Sister, how about I tell you a story as well? It's just a story; don't take it to heart. Just forget it when you wake up."
the person beside him smacked her lips in her sleep, as if in response.
"Once, there was a place where only summer and winter existed, yet there was an osmanthus tree that bloomed eternally. In that place lay the world's most precious and most evil treasure, guarded day and night by a Moon God with a tail. Those outside wanted to get in, and those inside could not get out..."
The moonlight was tranquil. The youth spoke in a low voice, but the woman gave no further response.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 大庐酿 | Dalu Brew | A type of wine mentioned in the text. |
| 银泉酒坊 | Yinquan Distillery | A wine shop mentioned by Qin Jiuye. |
| 听风堂 | Tingfeng Hall | The location where the scene takes place. |
| 九皋城 | Jiugao City | The city where the story is set. |
| 果然居 | Guoran Residence | Qin Jiuye's business/clinic. |
| 阿姊 | Sister | A respectful/familiar address for an older female. |
| 阿翁 | A-weng | A term for grandfather or an elderly man. |
| 铁公鸡 | Iron Rooster | A Chinese idiom for a stingy person/miser. |
| 土狗 | Mutt | Literally "earth dog" or "local dog," used here as a nickname. |
| 桂树 | Osmanthus tree | A tree mentioned in Li Qiao's story. |
