Verdant Green Maiden walked in the direction the proprietor had pointed.
The evening breeze lifted the veil draped from her hat. Out of the corner of his eye, the proprietor caught a glimpse of a head full of gray hair.
He froze where he stood, watching Verdant Green Maiden walk away. "Green clothes, gray hair?"
"Could it be..."
Was she that Goddess?
"No..."
"How could that be?"
The proprietor thought it over, then shook his head.
The Goddess was hardly someone one could meet so easily. Perhaps he had wanted to see her so badly that his eyes had played tricks on him?
As he pondered this, he noticed that the silver Verdant Green Maiden had left far exceeded the cost of the tea and refreshments!
"Ah-"
"Miss! Miss!"
"You've paid too much!"
The proprietor hurried out of the teahouse, calling as he ran.
But lamplight swayed along the street, and Verdant Green Maiden was nowhere to be seen.
The proprietor stood there, momentarily stunned.
"Surely not?"
That night.
Su Shi drank alone in his courtyard.
Moonlight shone down, his shadow faint beneath it.
Several years had passed since he had been posted away from Bianjing. He wondered how his younger brother was doing, and how the rest of his family fared.
"When will the bright moon appear? Wine cup in hand, I ask the azure sky..."
Su Shi's eyes were already hazy with drink as he slowly recited the verse.
Yet just as he spoke those words, a clear voice rang out from atop the courtyard wall. "The bright moon appears right now! The azure sky isn't here, but green clothes are. Prefect, getting drunk isn't a good habit, you know."
Su Shi startled and quickly turned toward the voice.
There stood Verdant Green Maiden atop the courtyard