Peach Leaves

Chen Ping'an carried water back to Liu Xianyang's courtyard and poured it into the kitchen water jar. Then he ran to the bedroom door and called, "Liu Xianyang, can I use some of your firewood, oil, and salt? I want to make fish soup for Miss Ning to help her recover."

Liu Xianyang, happily catching up on sleep, jolted awake and roared, "You, Chen! Are you trying to drive me crazy? I'd just dreamed Zhi Gui smiled at me! You owe me another Zhi Gui!"

Chen Ping'an shook his head, then remembered something. "Sorry. I actually ran into Zhi Gui by the Iron Lock Well just now, but Granny Ma interrupted us, and I forgot to pass along your message. When I take Miss Ning her fish soup, I promise I'll tell her."

Liu Xianyang sprang upright with a Carp Tumble, threw on his clothes, and ran out to sit on the threshold of the main hall. Watching the thin figure bustling about in the kitchen, he chuckled. "I'll come with you to deliver the soup. Oh, was Zhi Gui wearing that bright red pomegranate skirt today? Or the pale green one? Ah, once I save another two hundred coins, I can buy her that silver powder box with the dragon pattern. I know she's had her eye on it forever, but she can't bear to buy it. It's all that miserly Song Jixin's fault. He dresses like some pampered brat from Fulu Street, while poor Zhi Gui barely gets a few new clothes all year. If I were her young master, I'd buy her anything she wanted. She'd live better than the daughters of Fulu Street's richest families—a young lady worth ten thousand in gold!"

Chen Ping'an ignored Liu Xianyang's hopeless daydreaming. He truly couldn't understand why Liu Xianyang liked Zhi Gui of all people. It wasn't that he looked down on her for being Song Jixin's maidservant, or thought she wasn't pretty. It was just that, no matter how he looked at them, she and Liu Xianyang didn't seem destined for each other.

Curious, Chen Ping'an asked, "Why do you call her Zhi Gui now instead of Wang Zhu?"

Liu Xianyang grinned. "Once I found out you didn't know how to write the characters for 'Zhi Gui' either, I stopped caring."

Chen Ping'an said helplessly, "What's the point of comparing yourself to me? Compare yourself to Song Jixin. Zhi Gui isn't my maidservant."

Liu Xianyang scoffed. "It's not like that fellow beats you at everything. Has he ever called anyone 'father' or 'mother' in his life? No, right? There's one thing he can't match you in, Chen Ping'an. No wonder Gu Can's mother, Granny Ma, and those other sharp-tongued women talk the way they do. Song Jixin's family background was never exactly aboveboard. Otherwise, why wouldn't he live openly in the Supervising Official's residence? Why go suffer in your Mud Bottle Alley instead? And he still dares to look down his nose at people, so he deserves to have mud slung at him and be called a bastard."

Chen Ping'an stood and walked to the kitchen doorway. "Liu Xianyang, Song Jixin and I are hardly friends, but saying that about him..."

Liu Xianyang hurriedly raised both hands, determined to cut off the lecture. "I won't say it again, all right? Chen Ping'an, where did you get that rotten habit of clinging to what you think is right? My grandpa said both your parents were easy to talk to, especially your mother. She spoke softly and loved to smile. You couldn't ask for a kinder temper. Grandpa also said Granny Ma used to curse practically everyone in the nearby lanes, but when she saw your mother, she never picked fault with her. She even smiled."

Chen Ping'an smiled so broadly he couldn't close his mouth.

Liu Xianyang waved him away. "Go make soup for your little wife."

Chen Ping'an rolled his eyes. "Why don't you say that in front of Miss Ning?"

Liu Xianyang laughed. "You might be stupid, but I'm not."

Before long, Chen Ping'an came out carrying a small clay pot. They locked the house and courtyard gates, then headed for Mud Bottle Alley together. Only when they reached Chen Ping'an's gate and Liu Xianyang saw him foolishly knocking did he realize Chen Ping'an had left all his house keys with the black-clothed girl. Liu Xianyang thought his friend was beyond saving.

The black-clothed girl didn't wear her Veiled Hat at home. When she opened the door, her face was clear and fresh. Liu Xianyang was a little afraid of this unsmiling girl, though the tall youth couldn't even say why. If it was her cool temperament, Zhi Gui next door was cooler still, yet he had the nerve to pester her shamelessly. And it wasn't the saber and sword hanging at the black-clothed girl's waist. Liu Xianyang had faced the pampered sons of Fulu Street before. Though they had chased and cornered him several times, sending him fleeing like a stray dog, deep down he had never feared them.

But this young outsider named Ning Yao frightened him a little.

The black-clothed girl sat at the table and opened the pot. Breathing in its aroma, she narrowed her long eyes slightly, nodded, and said softly, "Thanks."

Chen Ping'an was observant enough to know that, for this aloof girl, it meant she was in an excellent mood.

Chen Ping'an first put a pot of porridge on for her and told her to watch the heat. Then he said to Liu Xianyang, "Are you staying to wait for Zhi Gui to go out? I need to deliver letters."

Liu Xianyang was sitting on the threshold, ears pricked toward the house next door, terrified he might hear even the faintest sound of immortals battling. In a foul mood, the tall youth snapped, "Go do your own thing!"

Chen Ping'an left the courtyard. As he was about to run out of Mud Bottle Alley, his view ahead suddenly darkened. He looked up and saw a tall man in a snow-white robe. With one hand behind his back and the other resting on the white jade belt at his waist, the man gazed into the distance.

Perhaps realizing he was blocking the narrow lane, the man smiled faintly and turned sideways to let Chen Ping'an pass.

Full of questions, Chen Ping'an quickened his pace out of Mud Bottle Alley. He glanced back and saw the man walking slowly into it.

Though he had caught only a fleeting glimpse, Chen Ping'an had seen faint golden threads embroidered across the chest and back of that spotless white robe. They formed two indistinct designs, as though living creatures were moving through mountain mist and a sea of clouds. It was wondrous. Chen Ping'an gave it no further thought, assuming this was another outsider like Fu Nanhua, come to Mud Bottle Alley in search of opportunity. Ever since walking beneath the Old Scholar Tree with Mr. Qi that day, the straw-sandaled youth hadn't worried much. As long as Mr. Qi was in town, he felt that even if the worst came to pass, he could at least appeal for justice.

As Chen Ping'an jogged past Apricot Blossom Alley, he saw the green-clothed girl he had met the previous night. She was still sitting at the Wonton Shop, holding a chopstick in each hand and tapping them lightly against the table. Her round face, still carrying a trace of childish plumpness, shone with excitement. Her eyes were fixed entirely on the wontons boiling in the pot, and she didn't notice Chen Ping'an five or six paces away.

For the green-clothed girl, when delicious food was in front of her, even if the sky fell, she would finish eating before she ran!

Chen Ping'an admired the unfamiliar girl from the bottom of his heart. Not wanting to disturb her, he smiled and continued running toward the east side of town.

Some people and things—even roadside scenery—could make the world feel beautiful with just one glance.

When Chen Ping'an reached the eastern gate, the sloppy man was standing on a tree stump, rising onto his toes to gaze eastward, as though waiting for someone important.

Chen Ping'an had once heard the elders chatting beneath the Old Scholar Tree about the current Supervising Official's first arrival in town. He had made quite an entrance. The elders of the Four Clans and Ten Tribes had come out in force to "receive His Excellency" at the East Gate. They had waited under the blazing sun for hours, only for an official from the residence to rush over and announce that the Supervising Official had just woken from a nap in the rear courtyard. Everyone could go straight to the residence to meet him. Those wealthy lords had been so furious they could have seen one Buddha rise and another ascend. Yet word was that once they entered the residence, not one of them dared let out a peep. Each smiled more like an obedient grandson than the last.

Chen Ping'an had always found it strange how those elders spoke as though they'd seen everything with their own eyes. Whenever they shared gossip about Fulu Street or Taoye Lane, it sounded truer than truth. Take the tale of the Lu Family's second concubine having an affair with a guard instructor: when someone burst through the bedroom door, the elders could describe exactly how she scrambled to pull her clothes over her ample chest. Whoever told the story might as well have been the guard instructor himself.

Liu Xianyang swallowed hard every time he listened. Song Jixin came by now and then too, though he never brought Zhi Gui. His laughter was more restrained than Liu Xianyang's, but when everyone secretly joined in the teasing, he put his whole heart into it, louder than he was reading the sages' books morning or evening.

Chen Ping'an squatted beside the tree stump and patiently waited for the town's gatekeeper.

The man cursed, jumped down from the stump, and spotted the straw-sandaled youth. Without a word, he went into the yellow-mud hut and brought out a stack of letters. Six letters from home, but only five copper coins, each worth one wen.

Chen Ping'an glanced through the addresses and said nothing. Two letters were for neighbors on Fulu Street, and he didn't want to take advantage. Of course, if the man had shown an unheard-of burst of generosity and given him six coins to begin with, Chen Ping'an certainly wouldn't have refused one.

After deciding what order to deliver the letters in, Chen Ping'an asked casually, "Waiting for someone?"

The man glanced toward the broad road to the east and snapped, "Waiting for some lord!"

Chen Ping'an had no wish to stay and be the man's punching bag, so he quickly ran off.

The man laughed despite his irritation. "Well, look at that. The kid knows how to read a room."

The man looked at the sky. The rolling thunder had long since stopped, and the low clouds that had seemed ready to press against the eaves were gradually breaking apart.

He dropped onto the tree stump with a sigh. "When immortals fight, mortals suffer."

Of the six letters, four were for the great Lu, Li, Zhao, and Song families on Fulu Street, one for each. The other two were for Taoye Lane. By coincidence, one of those was a letter from home for the kindly old man Chen Ping'an had met earlier. By an even greater coincidence, the old man himself opened the door to receive it. Recognizing the straw-sandaled youth, he joked, "Child, are you sure you won't come in for a drink of water?"

Chen Ping'an smiled shyly and shook his head.

The old man didn't seem surprised. He simply drew a handful of copper coins from his sleeve and offered them to Chen Ping'an. "Something good happened in the family today. This is a little lucky money—everyone who comes by gets some. Just for good fortune. It isn't much, only a dozen or so coins, so take it without worrying."

Only then did Chen Ping'an accept the coins. "Thank you, Grandpa Wei!"

The old man nodded, then suddenly said, "Child, when you have time lately, go sit beneath the Old Scholar Tree. If you find Sophora Leaves or Huai Branches on the ground, take them home and keep them there. They'll ward off ants, insects, and centipedes. Isn't that nice? And they won't cost you a thing."

Standing below the steps, Chen Ping'an bowed to thank him.

The old man smiled warmly. "Off you go. The whole year's plans begin in spring. It can only do a young fellow good to stretch his legs."

The youth ran off down Taoye Lane's bluestone-paved street.

The old man stood in his doorway for a long time, looking at the Peach Trees on either side. A graceful young maidservant came to his side and said softly, "Old Ancestor, what are you looking at? It's cold outside. Don't let yourself get chilled."

The maidservant had served him for years and knew his heart was as kind as a bodhisattva's. She respected him without fearing him, so she smiled brightly and teased, "Old Ancestor, did you remember a girl you met when you were young? Was she standing under a Peach Tree?"

The white-haired old man smiled. "Tao Ya, you're like that letter-delivering youth. You too have a mindful heart."

Pleased by the praise, the maidservant gave an innocent smile.

The old man suddenly said with a smile, "A distant relative will visit in the next couple of days. When the time comes, Tao Ya, you'll leave town with the children of this household."

The maidservant froze. Her eyes reddened at once, and she said through tears, "Old Ancestor, I don't want to leave."

The old man, usually so easygoing, waved a hand. "I want to look at the lane a little longer. Go back inside, Tao Ya. Be good, or I'll be angry."

The maidservant could only leave timidly, looking back again and again.

The Peach Leaves in Taoye Lane grew lush, but there were no Peach Blossoms yet.

The old man slowly let out a troubled breath, crossed the threshold, descended the steps, and walked to the nearest Peach Tree. Standing beneath it, he said sadly, "The peach tree, young and fair, its blossoms burning bright. I truly will never see them again."

The old man glanced back at his house and murmured, "The town's heaven-granted blessings were never in accord with the Great Dao. The Sages forcibly remade heaven and earth here, and the town enjoyed three thousand years of Great Destiny. Generation after generation, those who left town put down roots and spread their branches across East Treasure Bottle Continent. But heaven is shrewd. It's time for it to settle accounts after the harvest and collect what we owe. If you children don't hurry away, will you stay and wait to die with us old, shattered pieces of porcelain? You must understand: deaths can be small or great. If several thousand townspeople die together, that will be a great death. There won't even be another life."

"So while heaven is still turning a blind eye, we must get as many people out as we can."

The old man reached out a withered hand to steady a peach branch. "Those with mindful hearts, those with mindful hearts... I hope heaven truly won't fail them."

At some point, Zhao Yao's grandmother had approached on her cane. "You've one foot in the grave, old man, and you're still this naive. Like an old woman smearing on rouge—you're a particularly ugly sight. Do you think that kind heart of yours can change this calamity in the slightest?"

The old man's gaze grew distant. Looking at the equally white-haired woman, he said, for no apparent reason, "You came."

The old woman froze, then flushed with anger and swung her cane at him. "Shameless old scoundrel! At your age, you still dare flirt?"

The cane rained down on him, and the old man fled in disarray, laughing all the while.

The old woman stood beneath the Peach Tree, still fuming. She regretted going soft and letting some inexplicable impulse bring her to Taoye Lane.

At last, the old woman raised her head and looked at the tender new Peach Leaves.

Step by step, the old woman walked back to Fulu Street, her cane striking the bluestone again and again.

This peaceful little town, prosperous for a thousand years, had never imagined that, in the end, its people would become poor souls with no next life.

Was there truly not even a sliver of hope?

The stream grew shallower, the well water colder, the Old Scholar Tree older, the iron locks rusty, and the great clouds hung low.

This year, the Peach Leaves would see no Peach Blossoms.