Notes on Longevity

Chapter 38 Gardenia branches broken, March breeze rustling willows
"No, I'm innocent, Master!" Shu Ping was shocked and immediately knelt down, complaining to the old master, "Besides, look at how I looked just now, who bullied whom?"

"You!" Zhang Wanyi was so angry at Shu Ping's appearance that she started rambling incoherently: "You threw away all the things I gave you, shouldn't I ask you what that means? And why are you always avoiding me? I'm not going to eat you!"

"Men and women should not touch each other. We must keep our distance. It would be bad for you if people misunderstood." As soon as Zhang Wanyi finished speaking, Shuping followed up as if explaining something.

After Shu Ping finished speaking, he didn't forget to look up at Zhang Wanyi, but she was looking at him with a pout and a frown, as if she was disappointed in him.

"Teacher, look at him!" Zhang Wanyi rolled her eyes at her, then looked at the teacher. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but swallowed her words back. She could only stare at the teacher with a pitiful expression.

"Shuping, this is wrong of you. Wan'er gave you something, how could you throw it away?" The old troupe leader asked Shuping, understanding Zhang Wanyi's expression.

"Master, you're being unfair." Shu Ping didn't answer the old master's question directly, but instead complained with his head down.

"How am I being biased?" The old troupe leader was also puzzled when he heard this, and he asked Shu Ping.

"You knew perfectly well that Wanyi and I both loved that tall, slender gardenia tree in the courtyard, yet you still made me climb up and pick it, almost breaking the tree in the process; but you had Wanyi pick the flowers and then had someone bring a wooden ladder. Don't you think you're being biased?" Shuping complained about what happened two years ago when the gardenias were in bloom and people were picking flowers to make incense. Yet, it also seemed as if she was talking about something else entirely.

The old troupe leader was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and finally shook his head helplessly, saying, "I originally thought about your height, but forgot about your weight. That's a bit biased."

Zhang Wanyi was completely confused by what the old troupe leader was saying. Although such a thing had happened back then, what did it have to do with favoritism?

But Yang Youan and Xie Xiaoshuang understood the implication in his words. They walked towards the two men at the same time. Yang Youan helped Shu Ping, who was kneeling on the ground, up and said, "Oh, Brother Shu, this happened so long ago. Don't keep it in mind. You know the roads in the capital well. Tomorrow I need to go find that young Taoist priest, but I don't have any Taoist books. Could you take me to find a bookstore so I can buy some Taoist books?"

Shu Ping was somewhat confused by Yang Youan's words and wondered: Don't you have a Taoist scripture in your room?
Before he could respond, Yang Youan pulled him out of the living room.

After seeing Yang Youan pull Shuping away, Jie Xiaoshuang said to Zhang Wanyi with a smile, "Alright, Sister Wan'er, it's normal that these men don't understand our women's feelings. When we have time, I'll go with Zhenghe to find Brother Shuping and ask him for you."

"Then thank you, Miss." Zhang Wanyi lowered her head, feeling wronged. Her thoughts were like the March breeze blowing through the willows by the river, but they just passed by without her understanding.

But how could he not understand when the March wind rustled the weeping willows?
"Then why are you deliberately avoiding Sister Wanyi?"

On a snowy day, Yang Youan and Shu Ping sat on the wooden threshold at the entrance of the pear orchard, bundled up in thick clothes, with only their faces showing.

"Because I'm different from her," Shu Ping said, staring dejectedly at the deserted road covered only in thick snow. It wasn't that he disliked Zhang Wanyi, nor that he didn't understand her feelings; it was simply that although they seemed similar, there was a significant difference between them.

"Hmm, what's different?" Yang Youan was also staring at the snow falling from the sky, but he didn't understand why Shu Ping would avoid Zhang Wanyi like the plague if he also liked her.

"As you know, although I used to be an opera singer, I ultimately relied on traveling around to make a living, taking on any job I could find. I've sung ghost stories and even erotic ones. But she's different. She comes from a family of opera performers. If it weren't for the turmoil ten years ago that led to the destruction of her family, I would be indulging in wishful thinking if I wanted to see her now."

Shu Ping was talking about the differences between himself and Zhang Wanyi, but Yang Youan just laughed. Shu Ping didn't understand and gently patted Yang Youan's shoulder, asking, "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm amused that Brother Shu cares about these things too." Yang You'an laughed until he was a little out of breath. It wasn't that he found it funny, but rather that a gust of cold wind had choked him. He coughed a few times, then tilted his head and looked at Shu Ping calmly.

"Does it matter? Shuang'er and I, one a scholar and the other an actress, are doing just fine, aren't we?"

Shu Ping smiled bitterly and helplessly: "I can't compare to you. You passed the imperial examination twice, and this time you were directly nominated by the Minister of Rites to enter the imperial examination. Your future is limitless. Even if you fail this time, you will still have the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination). You can marry whomever you want. And people will say, 'Look how lucky that actress is, marrying a Jinshi.' But what about me? My background is not as good as hers, and even my acting skills are not as good as hers. What do I have besides my brute strength?"

Yang Youan understood. It turned out that Shu Ping was avoiding Zhang Wanyi because of his own background. But he also felt that Shu Ping was right. If he had just been a down-on-his-luck scholar, without knowing Brother Li and Brother Zhang, and without gaining the favor of the Minister of Rites, he might have ended up like him. How could he have dared to accept Xie Xiaoshuang's love?

Yang Youan remained silent, sitting quietly on the threshold with Shu Ping, his hands supporting his chin. He thought about it from Shu Ping's perspective, and it was indeed true. If he admired a woman with a good background, while he was down on his luck, how could he possibly say those things?

The two of them stared blankly at the falling snow until evening before returning to the backyard.

After everyone gathered for dinner, they returned to their own rooms. Shu Ping, Zhang Wanyi, Yang Youan, and Xie Xiaoshuang lay on their beds with worried expressions, each lost in their own thoughts.

Time passed slowly. Shu Ping, unable to sleep, kept wiping the knife he had carried since childhood in his room. Zhang Wanyi, on the other hand, sat by the window, watching the figure in the opposite room being illuminated by candlelight and finally falling onto the window as he wiped his knife. Her eyes were filled with tears, whether from the cold wind or from being saddened by someone's seemingly incomprehensible thoughts, it was hard to tell.

In Xie Xiaoshuang's room, she had fallen asleep early because she couldn't resist the urge to sleep, while Yang Youan was engrossed in reading the Taoist canon. If it weren't for Ping An's arrival, he wouldn't have picked up those Taoist canons that he had already read several times.

The old troupe leader sat by Ping An's bedside, looking at the sleeping man and shaking his head helplessly. He pitied Ping An; if Ping An weren't a Taoist priest, he might have kept him in the garden, just as he had taken in Shu Ping and Zhang Wanyi.

(End of this chapter)