probably been too focused composing this epitaph, to the extent that he had forgotten about Old Senior Long.
Zhou Zishu had started wandering the jianghu at a young age, and had always been built tough, able to withstand a beating. After two days of being weak and frail, he resumed his liveliness, and tortured Zhang Chengling by making him train along the tops of walls in the small courtyard of this manor in the mountains. The hardship was beyond words, but the little youth, for fear that his shifu declared his injury healed and that they leave, dared not to gripe one bit.
But it was most likely that this winter was too cold. Even Shuzhong had frozen over, its humans and critters alike a little too lazy to move, and Zhou Zishu had really forgotten about the matter of leaving.
They celebrated the Laba as it passed, then the Lesser New Year. Even though there were only three people in this massive manor, every day was still abound with noise and tumultuous commotion.
When Zhou Zishu had curled up in Wen Kexing's embrace for half the other night, he had scared Wen Kexing into over-cautiousness on the second day--Wen Kexing knew that Zhou Zishu had to be tormented by his injuries, but he had not known that he was tormented this severely. Now, as this heart of Wen Kexing's started to ache on his behalf, he treated Zhou Zishu like a porcelain doll, and didn't dare to tussle nonsensically with him any more.
Yet, after two days of frightfully cautious observation, he discovered that this "Porcelain Doll Zhou" was remorseless to a degree, and was someone who did not keep these instances of agony in mind at all. At the break of dawn every day, once the pain had passed, he seemed to have forgotten it like a critter with a memory span of however short it took to set its paw down--he made fun of others when he should, and cursed when he should. It was as if washing his face could too wash away the exhaustion on it; at breakfast, he was brimming with energy as usual, and his chopsticks continued to fly. He was not the slightest bit stingy in taking food, and was completely operating as per normal.
At that moment, Wen Kexing understood that some people were not fated to lead a pampered life. Coddle him, and he might as well go coddle a pig; what a waste of his feelings.
When Long Xiao had been alive, there had been villagers at the foot of the mountain delivering supplies to the manor every month. Greatly suspicious of others, Long Xiao would work the puppets to retrieve the items and pay, but did not personally meet the villagers.
In a flash, the new year was around the corner. Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing spent most of the day studying the puppet, during which the both of them had battled numerous rounds with their words. After they had each garnered about five different appellations based around the main subject of "good-for-nothing", they finally discovered that the puppet did not listen to just anybody's instructions. Thus, Valley Master Wen had to condescend to find his way around with a map in order to collect the festive goods.
Every single time they had come, the simple and honest villagers had seen only artificial puppets. This time round, upon suddenly witnessing a being of flesh and blood descend from the sky before their eyes, they thought that a deity had finally descended to the mortal world. They even prayed repeatedly after his figure, which, within the blink of an eye, vanished without a trace with his peerless qinggong.
The three of them tidied up with joy, and awaited the new year and its celebrations.
What did it mean to celebrate the new year? For a whole year, commoners laboured and toiled, reluctant to eat and wear their best. They yearned for the heavens to spare them a bit of food, yearned for the world to be peaceful in the coming year, yearned for the whole family, old and young, to return and reunite--living was not easy, and as they yearned, it wasn't as though they did not feel forlorn. It was just that after thousands of years of such a way of life, this bit of forlornness had sunken and settled deep into their bones, and was no longer as easily apparent.
Only on New Year's day, could they let themselves wholly indulge at once--they would hang a few crackling firecrackers to stir up a bustle, and take out all the foodstuffs that they were usually reluctant to devour in order to properly reward themselves.
Even if they had to tighten their belts immediately following the arrival of spring. All year round, they looked forward to this brief chance at indulgence; even if they were utterly penniless, as long as there was still a family, this New Year's Eve had to be celebrated.
Valley Master Wen had never thought that the day where he had to personally cook the New Year's Eve dinner would come during his lifetime. Zhang Chengling used to be a young master, and even though he strongly wished to exhibit his filial piety, he was unfortunately clumsy, and was unable to fulfill these duties even as he wished to. As for Zhou Zishu--he used to be a lord, and still continued loafing around like one now.
Wen Kexing felt that this event was worth commemoration, and so invested great effort in this, scurrying to and fro busily. First of all, he pointed at Zhang Chengling and instructed, "Little tyke, go slaughter the chicken."
Freezing, Zhang Chengling looked at the chicken clucking wildly off to the side, then pointed at himself and asked, "Senior, me? ...Slaughter...it?"
Humoured, Wen Kexing said, "Can it slaughter you? Hurry, the chicken has to go on the stove early, the taste will only sink in after a long simmer."
Nervously, Zhang Chengling picked up the knife, and tiptoed over. Summoning his courage, he raised his arms, clenched his teeth as he closed his eyes, and swung the knife down. That chicken hopped to the side, wings flapping, and avoided the blow. It straightened its neck and shrieked once, like it had the intention to battle him to the death.
Zhang Chengling took a cautious step forward, steeled himself, and reached out to grab it. The chicken, able to tell that he only looked tough on the outside, jumped up ferociously, and pecked at his hand. Frightened, Zhang Chengling jerked his hand back and retreated. Given an inch, the chicken took a mile, and chased close behind. Between the human and the chicken, it was unclear which one was trying to slaughter the other; they started flailing about in the small courtyard, clucking and wailing.
Zhou Zishu squatted at the kitchen door with a stalk of dried grass sticking out of his mouth, watching him with much enjoyment. Seeing that he was idling, Wen Kexing stuck his foot out and poked him with the tip of his shoe, instructing, "Cattle knife, go slaughter the chicken."
Zhou Zishu cocked an eyebrow and glanced at him. To the side, Zhang Chengling yowled, "Shifu, save me!"
And so in the end, Lord Zhou did not say anything, and obediently went to slaughter the chicken. He was efficient at killing people, and was similarly efficient at slaughtering animals - the brave rooster warrior finally wilted in his hands, and did not even have the chance to leave any last words before it perished. Zhou Zishu's skill at de-gutting was unparalleled; not a while later, he had cleaned the chicken, washed his hands, and returned with nothing else to do yet again.
Wen Kexing looked at his finished product, and silently quipped to himself that this person was of such utmost virtue. Then, as he chopped the vegetables, he ordered, "Light a fire under the stove."
There was a motionless puppet standing next to the stove with its head lowered; evidently, these chores in this place were usually not completed by humans. As he picked the puppet up and set it aside, Zhou Zishu heard Wen Kexing spare a moment from his hustling and bustling about to tease, "That unfilial child Long really doesn't know how to enjoy things. When one eats, one should eat something handmade by a human being. It has soul and flavour to it, and it might even have love…"
He cast a flirtatious look at Zhou Zishu, and said, "When you taste it later tonight, you'll be able to tell."
Zhou Zishu ignored him. He squatted on the ground to examine the stove as though he was facing a great enemy, and picked up the fire tongs in a clumsy hold. Yet, no matter how he held it, he found it awkward, and changed his grip again, examining it a few times over.
After waiting for a long while only to receive no response, Wen Kexing tilted his head to take a look, and couldn't restrain himself from saying, "That's enough, what're you getting from gazing at it lovingly? Hurry up and light the fire."
Since when had Zhou Zishu ever done something like this? He naturally assumed that he should bring in a bundle of firewood and stuff it into the base of the stove. Then he tilted his head, and saw that the base was not completely filled. Thinking that it would be troublesome to add more firewood later on, and desiring to do all the work now so that he would not have to later, he came up with the brilliant idea to carry another bundle over, stuffed all of it into the base of the stove, and lit it.
This was disastrous. Even before the sparks appeared, black smoke emerged first. However, he dodged quickly enough, raising the tongs and taking a huge step backwards as he stared at the stove uncomprehendingly. Hurrying over to salvage the situation, Wen Kexing scraped out more than half of the firewood, turned his head aside to cough twice, and said, "Hell, are you trying to burn the house down?"
Zhou Zishu fell silent for a beat, then, acting as though he knew what he was saying, persisted in casting his judgement with a justified air, "This firewood is of poor quality. The smoke's so heavy, the wood's probably too wet."
He, too, was invited out of the kitchen without explanation by Wen Kexing, who had tears streaming down his face. He and Zhang Chengling stared at each other, and sat around waiting for food.
The sky had darkened completely by the time Wen Kexing finally finished preparing a whole table's worth of a New Year's Eve feast. It was growing colder outside; the northwestern wind rattled the window lattices non-stop, but the room was toasty from the few small stoves inside the house. A fragrance was rising gradually from the wine warming on the stove. Zhang Chengling rapturously carried the dishes one by one to the table; when he sat down, he felt like he had been hypnotised by the steam.
He had thought that he would never have a home again, that he was destined to be a penniless vagrant for life. Yet, who would have known that he still had the chance to celebrate the New Year so properly? He felt most of the forlornness in his heart scatter; gazing at Zhou Zishu, then at Wen Kexing eagerly, he reflected that the heavens had probably smiled down on him.
Zhou Zishu had always been a wine-lover, and was tempted by the smell of the wine at this moment. He first poured a cup for himself, dropped his gaze, brought it to his nose and smelled it for a long while, before finally taking a mouthful of it. He felt that though this farmer's homebrew was no top brand, it had a pure fragrance that was indescribable, and when it melted on the tongue, it warmed him on the inside the whole way down.
He recalled that at this time in the past years, the capital was the liveliest. There was the night market, the Lunar Maiden performing her song on the Moon-Gazing River, and with the evening curfew on the city lifted for New Year's--it was most bustling. But even the high-grade wine in that cup, aged for decades, seemed to have been stained with the scent of rouge; while he tasted it on his tongue, he always had other things on his mind, and the wine would lose its taste. That wine had never been as fragrant as this.
Out of the blue, a pair of chopsticks reached into his bowl, and dropped some food into it. Taken aback, Zhou Zishu raised his head, and saw Wen Kexing--who usually took pleasure in snatching things from people--looking at him with a gentle and warm smile on his face, saying, "Eat something, drunkard."
At this, he felt like someone had lightly plucked at a heartstring of his.
Suddenly, Wen Kexing sighed, and mused, "This is the most proper New Year's I've celebrated in my life."
Zhang Chengling did not know about the origins of this mysterious figure, and listened in confusion, only to hear Wen Kexing continue, "In previous years, on this day, I did no more than deal with a bunch of people who either wanted to get on my good side or who had nefarious intentions, then drink a few cups of wine with Gu Xiang as an observance, the two of us. We don't have anything to talk about either, and we muddle through another New Year's just like that."
He shook his head. "If you don't have a family, what are you celebrating New Year's for? You're only looking to make yourself upset."
In Zhang Chengling's eyes, this Senior Wen instantly turned into a pitiful person with a tragic background, and he started to sympathise with him. However, Zhou Zishu looked at him with a slight trace of a smirk and said, "What about your femal...male intimates?"
Wen Kexing said, "One pays money to get drunk, the other sells his smiles and body--how can that be any kind of celebration? A-Xu, we're celebrating the new year nicely, don't get jealous."
Zhou Zishu very much wanted to splash him with the wine, but ultimately could not bear to do so. After much hesitation, he still splashed it into his own mouth.
After a feisty reunion dinner, Zhang Chengling found a string of firecrackers from somewhere and lit it in the courtyard. Red and blazing, the firecrackers marked the passing of a year; he started to laugh aloud like an untroubled youth.
Zhou Zishu sat on the steps, downing one cup after another. Wen Kexing sat down too, abruptly reached out a hand, and snatched his wine cup. Slanting his gaze at him, he smiled, purposely located the place where his lips had just touched, and downed the remaining half of the wine. Once he was done, he even lapped at the rim of the cup, as though it had not been enough to sate him.
Zhou Zishu turned his head aside to look away from him, feeling his earlobes heat up. Smiling cheerily, Wen Kexing took his hand, and pulled it into his own embrace to warm it.
In his heart, he felt that this was the happiest New Year's celebration that he had ever had in his life.