After drinking and shooting the breeze to their hearts' content, night fell over the Capital City.
The corpse stitchers and clerks from every shop had gone home to sleep.
With the Autumn Examination coming up tomorrow, the Bureau of Corpse Management had given every Corpse-Stitching Shop the night off. There would be no corpse stitching—it was a peaceful night.
Lin Shou was about to clear away the leftover wine when he heard an "Ouch!"
It came from the alley between the Corpse-Stitching Shop and the teahouse.
He carried his lantern over and shone it inside. An Yunli was sitting on the ground, rubbing her bottom. She had obviously tried to climb over the wall again and fallen. At least this time it hadn't been as bad; she hadn't sprained her ankle.
"Couldn't you use the front door?"
"My older sister... she won't let me out..."
An Yunli got up and dusted herself off.
Lin Shou glared at her, trying to scare her straight.
"Then why did you come out?! Running away from home again?!"
"D-don't be mad at me... please, don't be mad at me..."
An Yunli trembled with fright.
"I came to see you..."
As she spoke, An Yunli approached him cautiously, like a little rabbit creeping toward a great tiger. She placed a sachet, which she had been clutching tightly in her palm, into Lin Shou's hand.
Lin Shou was a little surprised and asked,
"What's this?"
"A s-sachet..."
"I know it's a sachet. Did you sew it?"
"Mm..."
Lin Shou grinned. Looking at the delicate sachet in his hand, he hadn't expected the frail little An Yunli to be so nimble-fingered.
"Why give me this? Have you taken a liking to me?"
"N-no!..."
An Yunli's face flushed bright red. A well-bred young lady who had spent her life tucked away in the inner chambers, and might not have even seen many men, had no idea how to respond to such shameless words from Lin Shou.
"The c-candy you gave me... made my medicine not taste so bitter."
So it was a thank-you gift. Lin Shou smiled. Fair enough.
"I-I have to go back."
Having delivered the sachet, An Yunli didn't dare stay alone with Lin Shou, the great demon king, any longer. She knew he was a good person—he had treated her illness and given her candy—but she still thought he was terrifying when he got angry, as if he might eat her alive.
An Yunli turned to go back, but even with both hands raised, she still couldn't reach the wall. Awkwardly, she turned to look at Lin Shou.
Lin Shou narrowed his eyes with a smile and held out both arms.
"Climb on."
"..."
An Yunli returned to her bedroom with her face burning red. As soon as she got back, she flopped onto the bed and buried her face in the pillow. Her cheeks were scorching as she thought, There won't be a next time. I'll never climb over a wall again.
Meanwhile,
Lin Shou cheerfully climbed back over the wall to the entrance of the Corpse-Stitching Shop. He looked at the sachet An Yunli had sewn herself and felt rather pleased.
Suddenly, he heard a door open and footsteps.
Lin Shou reacted in a flash. He whisked the sachet behind his back and tucked it into Three Immortals Return to the Cave.
When he looked up, Ning Luowei was holding a bowl of Hangover Soup. She blinked her lovely eyes and peered curiously behind him.
"What are you hiding?"
"Hiding what? What would I have to hide?"
There wasn't the slightest hint of a guilty look on Lin Shou's face. He even asked her, perfectly composed, "What brings you here?"
"I saw you drinking, so I brought you some Hangover Soup."
Ning Luowei eyed Lin Shou suspiciously and handed him the soup. When he drank it, its warmth spread through him, leaving him cozy from head to toe. He couldn't help showing a satisfied expression.
"Is it good?"
Ning Luowei's catlike eyes curved into little crescents as she smiled, like a newlywed bride fishing for praise.
Though Lin Shou thought it tasted good, he simply didn't want to answer her directly. After finishing the soup, he shooed her away.
"It's late. Hurry back to bed."
"Oh, all right. I'm going back."
Ning Luowei pouted and stuck out her tongue, but just as she was leaving, she suddenly turned around and said with a smile,
"Dear, if you ever really decide to run away, remember to come carry me off. I'll leave the door open for you."
Tsk, sharp ears.
Lin Shou thought she must have overheard Seventh Master talking just now.
After seeing Ning Luowei off, Lin Shou cleared away the leftover wine on the table. Seventh Master had gotten drunk and brought up his tragic love story again. He told it every time, and it had become a regular feature of their drinking sessions.
You'd never guess it from how Seventh Master was always alone now. He still kept telling Lin Shou that when he found a girl he liked, he should make the first move. He was just like a lovelorn sage, full of advice on how to court women, yet unable to court one himself.
In truth, when Seventh Master was young, he had once had a love so poignant it made the heart ache.
In his youth, Seventh Master had been a water carrier. There were no advanced water systems back then, so people relied mainly on wells. But not every household had a well, and every household still needed water. That was how the water-carrying trade came about.
Once arrangements had been made with a household, a water carrier would deliver water door to door each morning, and the family would pay him for each trip.
Back when Seventh Master worked as a water carrier, he delivered water to one household whose daughter was of marriageable age. She was fair and pretty, and Seventh Master was young and not bad-looking either. As time went by, the two fell for each other. Every day, Seventh Master charged her family for one bucket less, and the young woman knitted him a woolen scarf. They were deeply in love, just like the couple in one of those storybooks: a poor boy and a rich girl.
In storybooks, the heroes and heroines overcame every obstacle and ended up together, blessed with a happy ending. But that was just a story. Reality was often full of regrets.
Would a wealthy family let their daughter marry a water carrier?
Even in Lin Shou's previous life, people cared about matching social status. How much more so in this era, when marriages were arranged by parents and matchmakers?
Her family arranged a match and promised her to the son of a deputy commander. When Seventh Master heard the news, he was utterly heartbroken for a long time.
But on the night before the wedding, the young woman actually went to Seventh Master's home on her own. She asked whether he truly loved her. If he did, then he should take her away—they could elope.
She was willing to give up her fine dowry and her promising groom to elope with Seventh Master, a mere water carrier. Her feelings were truly sincere.
What more could a man ask for in a partner? He should have left the Capital City with her that very night. By the time her family realized she was gone at daybreak, they wouldn't have been able to catch up, even on horseback. But at the time, Seventh Master lost his nerve.
He had made his living carrying water in the Capital City since he was a boy. He had never left it or seen the wider world. How would they get by after eloping? He didn't mind suffering himself. He'd gone hungry when there was no work before. But how could he support her? She'd always lived in comfort. If she eloped with him, she'd suffer every day, never knowing where the next meal was coming from. How could that possibly work?
Poverty made him timid; a horse grown lean let its coat grow long.
The young woman was willing to elope with Seventh Master, but he simply didn't dare say yes.
That night, she went home in tears.
Seventh Master clutched the scarf she had given him and lay awake all night. The thought of the woman he loved marrying another man the next day cut him like a knife. But when he looked at his bare walls and utter poverty, he truly couldn't find the courage to accept her offer.
The next day, the wedding feast was held, and the guests were entertained. Seventh Master claimed to be ill and stopped delivering water for several days, asking someone else to fill in for him. After that, he never went back. He was afraid he might see her again.
Unexpectedly, more than half a month later, while Seventh Master was drinking on the street in a wretched state, he ran into a beautiful married woman out for a stroll with a maid. Who else could it be but that young woman?
The two stared at each other in silence. Seventh Master hid his disheveled face behind the scarf, too ashamed to let her see him. But the young woman marched over, kicked him hard, snatched the scarf away, and threw it into the oven beside a roasted-sweet-potato vendor. Before leaving, she said only one thing.
"You spineless coward."
The words seemed to stab Seventh Master straight through the heart.
In the middle of a busy street, in broad daylight, a grown man sat on the ground and burst into heart-wrenching sobs.
A man doesn't shed tears lightly; he simply hasn't yet reached the point of heartbreak.
He regretted it! He regretted it so much!
People only cherish what they've lost.
You might have a bowl you adore sitting there, but you don't know just how much you love it. You think, I pamper it and keep it safe—surely that means I love it enough. Not at all. You have to wait until the bowl shatters, then see how much your heart aches and how loudly you cry. That's how you know how much you loved it.
That young woman was like the bowl in Seventh Master's heart. While he held her carefully and treasured her, he thought, I can't give her a good life. He figured that if the time came to let her go, he could grit his teeth and endure it.
But when the day came and he truly let her go, when the bowl shattered, Seventh Master realized this wasn't something he could grit his teeth and bear. It felt as if someone had cut a little opening in his heart, then stirred it with a thorny stick while pouring boiling iron into the wound.
No matter how much he cried, no matter how hoarse his voice became, the person he had lost would never return. For the rest of their lives in the Capital City, she would be the wife of a deputy commander, and he would be a water carrier.
The Capital City was neither large nor small.
Yet they never saw each other again.
Or perhaps they did, but no longer recognized each other.
Before you continue