Chapter Thirty-One: Night Reconnaissance of the Flower House, Part Two

The night stretched long, and moonlight flowed like water.

Under the pale glow, the Flower House of Yiruo shone with a faint yellow light, becoming all the more enchanting.

Chen Tianyu tried to climb up through the gaps between the round timber beams, only to discover that theory and reality were still somewhat apart. His left leg was already inconvenient, and the slickness of the natural logs was more than he had expected.

There seemed to be nowhere suitable to set his foot. Was he going to make a fool of himself again tonight?

Unwilling to give up, he studied the distance between the main door and the window more carefully, and then a trace of a smile appeared on his face. So the front door was not merely for coming and going; it could also aid in climbing. Thus he deftly clambered up from beside the door to the window. When his hands caught the sill, a faint rustling sounded from within, and he could not help feeling a little flustered.

He tapped lightly on the wooden window, but after quite a while it remained still. Only then did he suddenly remember the secret code given by Yiruo’s Ai Mi. It seemed that only by using the code would he have a chance of opening the window.

What embarrassed him was that he had forgotten parts of the code, because of the language barrier.

Relying on memory, he blurted out a random line. Fortunately, his hearing was keen, and he had already caught the light, catlike sound of footsteps approaching the window. He waited patiently.

After he repeated the code once more, the girl inside gave a soft laugh, and the wooden window opened halfway upward. In the white moonlight, Chen Tianyu could dimly make out a fair, jade-like arm and the pink lace on her clothes.

He did not hesitate. He quickly slipped through the window, so fast that even the beauty inside was startled, and the window naturally fell shut with the sound. The room was plunged into darkness. A faint, maidenly fragrance brushed past his nostrils, and Chen Tianyu could not help feeling his heart stir.

He knew that the fresh and lovely Yiruo was right before him, so near that even her breathing could be distinctly heard.

Yet he did not dare move recklessly. His feet seemed nailed to the spot.

The two of them stood there in silence for a while. In the end, it was Yiruo who took the initiative to reach out and hold his arm, leading him farther inside. Soon they were seated together somewhere. Chen Tianyu felt something soft beneath him, very comfortable; it turned out to be a bed in a fragrant boudoir. He instinctively reached around in the dark and groped until he found a hard chair, then hurriedly shifted to it.

If this went on, he did not know whether he could still restrain his desire. He was a man.

Yiruo laughed softly again, and then silence fell once more in the room. Chen Tianyu was still considering how to begin when a rustling sound came again from the bed. His heart tightened. What was Yiruo doing? Could it be... taking off her clothes?

Suddenly—

A fragrant breeze swept toward him. Chen Tianyu instinctively reached out and caught it, and in his hand it was as soft as though it had no bones at all. Instantly, a blazing fire rose in his heart!

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Even softer than Yiruo’s hand was a white silk handkerchief.

Chen Tianyu immediately calmed down. Yiruo was handing him an object. He took out his phone at once, carefully shielding it with his hand before switching on the flashlight, revealing only a tiny circle and a faint halo of light, just enough to make out the characters on the silk.

"You should have words to say, yet amid the boundless clouds and distant layers, and a thousand mountains buried in dusk snow, to whom does your lone shadow go?"

The handwriting was graceful, clearly written by a woman. While Chen Tianyu was still puzzled, Yiruo said softly from not far away, "This is a letter he wrote me. When I have nothing to do, I copy it out again..."

At once, Chen Tianyu’s mind became clear, and all desire vanished like smoke.

"Do you know where these lines come from?"

Yiruo seemed to shake her head. "When I was in school, I did not much like classical poetry, but I really like this sentence. It makes one feel very sorrowful."

"Was that the only line in his letter?" Chen Tianyu pressed.

Yiruo did not quite understand what he meant, but she replied, "He wrote a lot, but there was only this one poetic line... I especially like it."

"Oh." Chen Tianyu answered lightly, thinking.

After a moment, he said, "This is from a famous poem, 'Fishing for the Moon: The Goose Mound Lyrics.' Let me recite the whole piece to you. Then perhaps you will understand what he meant."

"What is love in this world, that it should bind life and death so?
Travelers winging together far south and north, through many a winter and summer on old wings.
Joy has its delight, parting its pain, and within them dwell the foolish hearts of youth.
You should have words to say: amid the boundless clouds and distant layers, and a thousand mountains buried in dusk snow, to whom does your lone shadow go?
Along the Fen River road, the lonely pipes and drums of that year, the wild mist still lies over the level plain.
How can one summon the soul with songs of Chu? The mountain spirit weeps in secret through wind and rain.
Even heaven must be jealous; yet who would believe that the orioles and swallows too must return to yellow earth?
For all eternity, it is left for poets to come, to drink wildly and sing aloud, and visit the place of the Goose Mound."

Still young and in the bloom of her years, Yiruo’s eyes reddened slightly as she followed along: "What is love in this world, that it should bind life and death so? ... So that is what it means."

"Sigh." Chen Tianyu silently sighed in his heart. He knew Yiruo’s focus was entirely different from his own. What she saw was only the deep affection of youth; what she could not see was the parting of life and death.

He faintly sensed that the poem contained an ominous implication. If Xiao Su truly had not been ignorant and young, then he must have left behind something meant as a final farewell. Recalling their few interactions along the way, and his strange behavior, everything seemed to confirm this warning.

Could it be that Xiao Su meant to prove something through death?

His expression grew grave. After quietly returning the white silk to Yiruo, he asked again, "Besides the letter, did he ever give you anything else?"

Yiruo shook her head sadly. "No."

"Not even a gift?" Chen Tianyu reminded her.

"Our relationship was very simple, and every time he came he was dusty from travel, carrying very little baggage. Usually it was I who gave him gifts... I did not mind that at all. Sometimes he would also pick me a bouquet of flowers from the mountains, or a few strange grasses and the like; those I kept as well."

"Mm." Chen Tianyu could not bear to reveal the truth. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "How many letters did he write to you in all?"

"Eighteen... He would always write me one letter at the beginning of each month." Yiruo said without hesitation. "This was the last one I received. After that, he never wrote again."

"Then when was this letter written? Do you remember the exact date?" Chen Tianyu asked.

Yiruo thought for a moment. "On the eighth of last month. The postmark showed the fifth, and the content was also especially brief."

Chen Tianyu’s heart stirred. "Didn’t you say he came by last month as well?"

"Your memory is really good. Yes." Yiruo nodded. "He came on the third and left on the fourth."

Chen Tianyu muttered to himself, "He wrote the letter on the fifth? That’s quite troublesome..."

Then he asked with some doubt, "I’m curious—why do you two use such an old-fashioned way of keeping in touch? Not even a phone number? And you don’t use messaging apps either?"

"People here don’t really like using phones." Yiruo paused. "So I never asked... By the time I wanted to ask, I could no longer find him."

Chen Tianyu thought of another question. "It’s only the twentieth today. Maybe his letter hasn’t been mailed yet, or something went wrong with the post. Either is entirely possible."

Yiruo suddenly choked up. "Impossible. For eighteen months, not once has a letter arrived later than the tenth. Besides, I go to the post office every day to ask, and they all say it couldn’t have been lost unless it had never been sent at all."

"That may not be so." Chen Tianyu did not want to speak ill of the postal service, so he could only reply vaguely.

"If..." He broke off abruptly. He had originally wanted to say, "If he has changed his heart, what would you do?" but after thinking it over, he could not bear to say it.

Yiruo asked in confusion, "If what?"

Chen Tianyu changed his words. "If I knew where he was, would you want to go see him?"