Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 270 When Will the Flowers Bloom?
The spring breeze from the south crossed thousands of mountains and rivers and brought a few blue clouds, as if carrying thoughts from afar. In the afternoon when new buds were sprouting, a cool mist and rain fell on the city of Mo.

In the pavilion of the small courtyard where he had lived for seven years, Chen Xuan lay leisurely in a rocking chair, with a pot of tea beside him and a book with the scent of ink in his hand, listening to the sound of raindrops dripping on the banana leaves under the eaves.

After all, he still needs to restrain himself. It would be a bit too much to completely release his nature, otherwise he would become the boneless Ge Da Ge from his hometown who is half asleep and half awake.

As he grew up over the years, especially after becoming a grandmaster, Chen Xuan became more and more casual. Fortunately, they were all his own people, and he had gotten used to it without realizing it.

He doesn't care much about his image in the eyes of others, but as a half-scholar, he can't be too unrestrained in his daily life.

The rocking chair was given to him by Xiao Miao last year. Chen Xuan provided the blueprint and Xiao Miao built it by hand, without charging any wages.

Seven years have passed, and the little girl has grown into a fifteen-year-old girl. She has learned carpentry from her master for many years, and her skills are pretty good. She works diligently and efficiently. Recently, I heard that someone went to her house to propose marriage, but she has a younger brother with a brain disease, which made people give up, and the marriage has not been settled yet.

Hearing footsteps coming from the kitchen door, Chen Xuan turned his gaze from the book and looked at Xiao Ye who was holding the tray and asked, "Is the young master still awake?"

Xiaoye has grown into a beautiful woman now, gentle and graceful, like an older sister. Unlike Xiaocai, she still maintains her innocent and cheerful personality.

She was holding a bowl of porridge, glanced at the upstairs with resentment, and turned back to say: "The young master hasn't woken up yet. He drank too much with his classmates yesterday, and now he is still confused and uncomfortable. I made him some light porridge to warm his stomach."

After growing up, Xiao Gao unknowingly learned to drink. As a scholar, it is normal to drink and have fun. He can't just sit there and have awkward conversations at a party.

Chen Xuan glanced at the second floor and said, "You deserve it. You clearly have a lot of internal energy but you insist on telling others that you are bold and magnanimous. You are suffering now."

Only Chen Xuan dared to say that, but the concern in his words was genuine. Xiao Ye covered his mouth with his hands and chuckled, saying, "Xuan'er, you rest first. I'll take it to the young master."

"Well, don't forget to remind the young master that there is a party in the evening," Chen Xuan nodded and looked away.

Xiao Ye wanted to say something but stopped herself, feeling a little melancholy. In the end, she said nothing and went upstairs with lotus steps.

At this moment, Xiao Cai stuck her head out from the second floor and said anxiously, "He's been drinking every day for a few days. Can't Xuan Ge'er help the young master push it?"

"No, they are all the young master's best friends and teachers over the years, I can't refuse them," Chen Xuan said helplessly.

Xiao Cai was immediately depressed. She knew she couldn't push it away, but she felt bad. She muttered, "I can't just ignore my health. What if I get hurt by drinking?"

"He won't be hurt, it will just be uncomfortable at most," Chen Xuan said calmly. Not to mention that Xiao Gao's martial arts skills are indeed quite good now, he is a grandmaster, so how could he let a few jars of wine cause harm to Gao Jingming?

In fact, everyone knew that, although he didn't say it explicitly, Gao Jingming had already said goodbye before leaving. After all, he had been here for seven years and met so many people. He couldn't just leave like that.

The sadness of parting has been hard to get rid of since ancient times, so let him release it. Actually, Xiao Gao is usually very steady.

I guess Gao Jingming won’t get up before noon today. After so many years of high-intensity study, it’s rare for him to relax. Let him be.

The aroma of tea had faded, so Chen Xuan packed up, took an oil-paper umbrella, said goodbye, and left. No one asked him what he was doing.

Walking with an umbrella in the misty streets of Mo City, those familiar scenes will soon be gone.

Passing by the alley where the old man used to live, the food stall was no longer run by him. His son and daughter-in-law were in charge, and business was no longer as good as it used to be.

Things are wrong.

Not long after, Chen Xuan came to the post station and sent a letter to Mr. Tingfeng, whom he had never met before. In the past two years, the other party had rarely published novels, but his status in the circle remained unchanged.

Nowadays, Mr. Tingfeng rarely writes novels. It’s not that he has run out of ideas, but that he has started to mingle in literary circles. Occasionally, his poems are circulated and people talk about them with great interest.

The reason why it is talked about so much is that the world-famous Buddhist Tingfeng is still only known by name but not by sight. No one knows who he is, what his identity is, or even whether he is a man or a woman. It is a big mystery in the entire Jing Kingdom, and no one knows who can solve this mystery.

Chen Xuan had already seen that Gao Jingming was determined to return home, so naturally he had to make preparations in advance. He wrote a letter to say hello to Mr. Tingfeng, with whom he had been a spiritual friend for many years, and the address for future correspondence had also to be changed.

Chen Xuan was not worried about his identity being exposed. It didn't matter now. On the contrary, as long as he wanted, he could trace the source and find out who Master Tingfeng was. There was no need for that. It was fine like this, wasn't it?

Over the years, they kept in touch with each other through letters, about once a month. As they continued to communicate, they would occasionally share their daily lives in addition to their interests, without going into detail, just touching upon the details.

Through this information, Chen Xuan roughly analyzed that Tingfeng Jushi was a girl and not too old. It was just a guess and could not be counted. There was no need to dwell on it. Both parties tacitly agreed not to mention the issue of private identity.

It is really a pleasant thing to have such a close friend online.

Mr. Tingfeng told Chen Xuan that he had three hobbies in his life: making money, eating delicious food, and collecting leaves.

Making money is easy to understand. Who doesn't love money? It seems that the other party is a money-grubber. The two of them have been working together in recent years. The other party must have made a lot of money. I don't know if he saved it. Anyway, Chen Xuan's share was spent on alchemy, and his savings dropped to five digits. This is a sad thing.

I love delicious food, so I’m probably a foodie for sure. I just don’t know if I just like eating it or if I can cook it.

As for collecting leaves, well, he is a man of letters, who doesn't have his own special hobby?

The other party joked that they were already good brothers. If they were lucky enough to meet, he would let Chen Xuan see the other party's small treasury, which would surely dazzle his eyes. Then he would take Chen Xuan to taste various delicacies, and mainly let Chen Xuan appreciate the collected leaves. He had already collected thousands of kinds of leaves.

Ms. Tingfeng said that although she didn't know how many kinds of leaves there were in the world, she wanted to collect as many as possible and sleep among all kinds of leaves after a certain time. That was her (his?) greatest wish in this life.

Seeing the other party's wish, Chen Xuan replied jokingly, "You don't want to rest in peace with your small treasury, but choose a pile of leaves. What if tomb robbers dig up your tomb and can't get out of it? You will cry to death."
In response to this, Mr. Tingfeng only laughed out loud. Chen Xuan could see that this was exactly the effect the other party wanted to express.

"She's an interesting soul. Her (his?) life must not be boring, unlike me who has no interest in anything all day long." After sending the letter, Chen Xuan stood in the rain with an umbrella, smiled, and moved on to the next place.

It's not that he really has no interest in anything, it's just that he hasn't encountered anything that interests him yet. His life is leisurely and he becomes lazy, commonly known as laziness, the kind that makes people sleepy just by looking at it.

Chen Xuan also told the other party about his hobbies, martial arts and flower growing.

The other party asked him that since he liked to practice martial arts, how high was his level of cultivation? Chen Xuan told him that it was at least as high as three stories. Then the other party joked that three stories high meant that he could break someone's fingers.

Therefore, the other party wrote this into a joke and included it in a certain work. In the book, a knight who specialized in breaking people's fingers appeared in the world, which puzzled the readers. Perhaps only the two of them could understand it.

Next is Chen Xuan’s hobby of growing flowers. This is true. After all, Chen Xuan has been raising a peach tree for many years, and the peach tree also blooms.

However, Chen Xuan was melancholy. The peach tree was only two and a half feet tall. Not to mention blooming, its growth rate was worrying.

It still has a main stem with three branches, and the branches are covered with green leaves all year round. The main stem has now grown as thick as an ankle, and Chen Xuan has grown it in a larger flowerpot as a bonsai.

Not to mention flowering and fruiting, I haven't even seen a flower bud so far.

Counting the time, he has planted the peach pit for thirteen years, and it is only two and a half feet tall. He has also been watering and nutrient-rich the soil, so it is about one foot tall every five years.

Chen Xuan sneered in his heart at this. We came to this world together, let's see who can survive longer. Now that I have reached the level of a grandmaster, I will have no problem living to the age of thirty if nothing unexpected happens. Moreover, the Ze Yuan Jue is positive and peaceful, which can extend the lifespan. I don't believe that you won't bloom in two hundred years.

The taste of home is here!

The premise is that the little peach tree does not abandon its friends and go home alone.

Anyway, when he learned that Chen Xuan had been growing peach blossoms but they hadn't bloomed for many years, Tingfeng Jushi was extremely happy. Every time he wrote to him, he would ask when the peach blossoms would bloom. You are called the Peach Blossom Prince, but what kind of Peach Blossom Prince are you if the peach blossoms don't bloom?
Asking Peach Blossom Prince when his peach blossoms will bloom has become an indispensable topic in their correspondence.

After communicating more, Chen Xuan simply sent the other party a peach leaf as a collection. The other party wrote back and told him seriously that he had received the leaf and kept it in the most conspicuous place in the leaf library. That way, every time the other party went to see his collection, he would remember that he had a friend who raised a peach tree that would not bloom.

After writing the letter, Chen Xuan’s mind flashed back to the exchanges he had had over the years. He didn’t know who the other person was, and everything was so ordinary. He had already gotten used to having such a strange yet familiar person in his life.

Maybe we will never meet in our lifetime, but that half box of letters proves that the other person really exists.

"It's mid-January now. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Gao Jingming will graduate and return home by the end of the month. He'll probably start studying for the imperial examinations when he gets back. He's burning with anticipation. After all, he was taught by Mr. Yushan, so he's inherited the same talent. With his current level of knowledge, he's bound to pass the imperial examinations. Then, it should be time for a wedding. Whose daughter did Gao Jingyu arrange for him to marry? I vaguely remember it was the eldest daughter of a Beijing official. Who cares? So, should I resign when I get back this time? Or should I just continue to mess around at the Gao family?"

On the way to the next destination, Chen Xuan thought to himself that he really didn't have any goals that he had to achieve in the future...

(End of this chapter)