Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 525 – Sharing the Umbrella Like Old Friends, No?

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Tang Thirty-Six’s raised hand was very low, as was his head, and his voice was truthfully also very low.

Although his face was not visible, it could be imagined just how embarrassed he was.

The crowd parted like a tide. No matter how embarrassed he was, given that he was widely regarded as Chen Changsheng’s good friend and also the fact that he was the superintendent of the Orthodox Academy, and then adding on the fact that Su Moyu and Xuanyuan Po persistently turned their heads away, Tang Thirty-Six could only walk forward, all the way until he reached the Pope.

Mao Qiuyu had a rather unsightly expression. Only through sheer will did he resist the urge to discipline him with a word or two.

On the other hand, the Pope had a very calm expression as he passed the Divine Staff into Tang Thirty-Six’s hands.

The Divine Staff was not as heavy as imagined, but Tang Thirty-Six felt it was as heavy as a mountain, so heavy that he almost couldn’t bear it. Getting on his knees, he bowed in Chen Changsheng’s place.

His head was lowered, but he could still sense the gazes being focused on him from all around. Some of these gazes were stunned, some disdainful, others gratified, but even more were surprisingly hostile, sharp like swords.

He felt himself incredibly unfortunate and thus incredibly angry. Under Mao Qiuyu’s direction, he said a few words of gratitude, but his heart was filled with nothing but incessant curses.

These curses were naturally aimed at the person who had left him with this task and then run off to parts unknown, Chen Changsheng.

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The snow was falling harder and harder, and the streets had long since become devoid of pedestrians. Within the alley, lanterns were continuously being lit.

Chen Changsheng had already stood for a very long time in front of Fortune Peace Road, gazing at the sky while sighing in his heart.

The snow clouds obscured the sun and the capital was somewhat gloomy. One could barely tell from the intensity of the light that the sun was currently moving west, on the verge of sinking below the horizon.

The time on the slip of paper had said dusk, but the world in dusk had always been somewhat fuzzy. The idea of dusk itself was rather fuzzy. It would always take at least an hour from the moment the sun began to sink below the mountains until the moment it completely sank below the horizon, so then was it still dusk right now?

Did he perhaps come a little too early? Or would she really not come?

He thought, if the sky has gone completely dark and she still hasn’t come, I guess I’ll leave.

Suddenly, a loud sound came from the distance, from the direction of the Li Palace. He simply had no idea what had occurred, much less that the matter had to do with him. In the snowstorm, he rubbed his hands, at times looking in the direction of the Imperial Palace, at times looking in the direction of the Divine General of the East’s estate.

There was a problem with his meridians and their output of true essence was insufficient, but his body was truthfully brimming with true essence, so he had no need to fear the cold. The reason he was rubbing his hands and occasionally stamping his feet was purely a problem with his mood.

The sky gradually darkened and would soon turn completely black. He had also abandoned all hope.

From a distance, a voice rang out from behind him.

“Why are you standing here?”

Upon hearing this voice, his body slightly stiffened. Turning his body, he saw a person holding an umbrella slowly walking out of the alley behind him.

The umbrella was somewhat old and seemingly rather strange. The space under the umbrella seemed to be cut off from the dusky light and was very difficult to make out clearly, even impossible for the average person to see.

But Chen Changsheng could, because he was very familiar with this umbrella. This umbrella was originally his. Of course, this umbrella was the Yellow Paper Umbrella.

Just like a snowflake drifting down from the sky, the Yellow Paper Umbrella slowly made its way over to him, then tilted back, revealing Xu Yourong’s face.

It was an appearance very difficult to describe with words. One could only rely on the cliché of describing it as perfect.

Seeing this sublimely beautiful face that truly was unfamiliar to him, Chen Changsheng was rather nervous, rather absent-minded.

Only after gazing into her eyes and finding that familiar sense of tranquil indifference was he able to gradually relax.

He was familiar with her voice and also familiar with her eyes. The moment their gazes met, all unfamiliarity melted away and it seemed as if the two had returned to the Garden of Zhou.

Journeying together in life and death, accompanying each other morning and night, sitting to discuss the Dao, rising to confront the enemy, meeting each other for the first time like old friends, white-headed and growing old.

(TN: This seems to be a play on the Chinese idiom “白头如新，倾盖如故”, which carries the meaning of “some people can know each other until they grow old and still treat each other as strangers, while some people can stop their carriages and meet each other for the first time yet chat like they were old friends.” 白头 means white-haired. 倾盖 means the overlapping canopies of carriages. In this case though, the idiom is changed to “倾盖如故，白首到老”, which we can take to mean meeting like old friends and then growing old together.)

Sharing the umbrella just like they were old friends.

But what reason was there to say they were white-headed?

Chen Changsheng realized that he had suddenly thought of this term and grew rather embarrassed.

At the moment, he did not know there was someone in the Li Palace that was even more embarrassed than he was.

“Why are you standing here? Didn’t we already agree to go eat Tofu and Fish?”

Xu Yourong’s demeanor was quite unlike Chen Changsheng’s current nervous state, as she had known who he was for quite some time and several dozen days had been enough for her to calm down. Moreover, they had touched far too many times in the Garden of Zhou. When she saw him, it was really impossible for her to feel an unfamiliarity, much less display any feeling of distance.

“…I already went into the alley and looked over it twice, but I couldn’t find this ‘Fish with Tofu’ that you spoke of,” Chen Changsheng replied.

Xu Yourong was stumped for words. Turning to the alley, she said with regret, “I don’t come back for three years and it just goes away like that. That place’s fish really was quite good.”

“How did you…come from that direction?” Chen Changsheng asked, pointing at the alley from which she had emerged.

That alley was not coming from the Imperial Palace, nor was it from the direction of the Divine General of the East’s estate, so he had not noticed her coming.

“I went to the Little Orange Garden and waited for a while. Mo Yu…did not come back, then I decided to head over and arrived a little late.”

As she spoke, Xu Yourong’s two eyelashes fluttered, her eyes turned down, and her cheeks blushed.

As she had been making her way to the appointed place, she suddenly recalled that this was the first time she and Chen Changsheng would…privately meet. The time in the Garden of Zhou naturally could not be counted, and she suddenly felt somewhat shy. She then recalled that it was she who on the Bridge of Helplessness had set this appointment and, not wanting to give off a bad impression, came up with the idea on the spot to bring Mo Yu along.

Who could have known that Mo Yu was not home?

She didn’t know if she should regret this or celebrate it.

In short, to her, these matters were even more complex than comprehending the Heavenly Tome Monoliths.

The light was too gloomy so Chen Changsheng could not see her expression. He was also rather slow in this aspect, so he naturally did not know why she would go to the Little Orange Garden to find Mo Yu. He could only think about how the object of today’s date was to eat a meal, so he asked uncertainly, “We might as well eat something else in this alley, or…go to some other place?”

“Let’s just eat here.”

Xu Yourong offered him the umbrella.

Chen Changsheng very naturally received the umbrella.

No words were required, not even a glance. Offering and receiving the umbrella were both very natural actions, as if performed countless times.

This was because, in the Garden of Zhou, they really had done these actions countless times—in the Plains of the Unsetting Sun, when they were encountering monsters and needed to hurry away, in the majority of cases, she was on his back with the umbrella in her hands. Whenever she was tired, she would hand the umbrella over to him.

With Chen Changsheng holding the umbrella, they walked side by side into the small alley.

The speed at which time changed the things of the world was perhaps not as fast as flowing water, but to change the restaurants in one alley was exceptionally easy.

The most famous dish of Fortune Peace Road had long since ceased to be Fish with Tofu, and was now Pot-Simmered Ribs.

In this short alley, there were five restaurants serving pot-simmered ribs, and every one of their signs claimed that their ribs were authentic Qi City Ribs, but it was impossible to know which one was true.

The steam rising from the iron pots seeped out of those restaurants, mixed with the heavy aroma of meat. In the cold weather, it was incomparably enticing.

Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong did not fear the cold, but they still found themselves somewhat yearning for this taste. Finding a restaurant that was relatively clean, they walked in.

The pots used for pot-simmered ribs were all set on kangs. After opening up the thick curtain hanging over the door, they were confronted by a wave of heat.

Today, the business was rather poor. This store that would normally be bustling with business today had only one kang table with customers. To be customers in this sort of circumstance naturally meant that these were true gourmets. Their attention was completely focused on the fragrant ribs and wine, not even noticing the young couple that had just walked in.

Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong walked to the innermost part of the restaurant. Before they could even sit down, they suddenly heard the sound of intense argument erupting from behind them.

One gourmet slammed his cup of wine down on the table and angrily roared, “Lady Yourong beat Chen Changsheng like he was a dog! How could she have lost?”

The other gourmet sneered, “Then why did Lady Yourong concede?”

The first gourmet was holding back so much his face was completely red. He choked out, “…That’s because she couldn’t forget the old times. Thinking of how Chen Changsheng was once her fiancé, she went easy on him.”

Hearing their argument, the owner walked out of the kitchen and quickly went to smooth things over. After appeasing his customers with great difficulty, he saw the figures of his new customers in the corner. That young couple had not sat down yet and the atmosphere was rather awkward. He found it strange, thinking, what do the arguments of others have to do with you two?