Chapter 22: The Small Shop Opened for Rouge Girl
In the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Management Bureau, within the lounge.
Huasang lay flat on the carpet of the lounge, holding a black iron ruler in both hands placed on her chest.
Her eyes were tightly closed, her breathing steady and even, as if she were asleep.
…
In the midst of darkness, her body continued to sink, as if falling into a pool of stagnant water, quiet to the point of suffocation.
Then, the sound of flowing water came to her ears, accompanied by a gentle breeze brushing against her face, mixed with a faint fragrance of locust flowers.
Realizing she had arrived at that familiar street, Huasang took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and saw the stone archway standing at the entrance of the street.
It was a very small and dilapidated archway, with the blue tiles on top broken, and the towering pillars showing signs of decay, even the characters on the plaque had become blurry.
Below the archway, at the center of the street, a shallow and narrow clear canal wound from north to south, dividing the street paved with blue stone slabs.
The sky was overcast, as if a heavy rain was imminent, and white mist floated in the air, growing denser the farther it went.
Under the night sky, willows rustled in the wind, the fragrance of osmanthus wafted, and the deep alleys, gray tiles and white walls, wooden doors and old locks, all bathed in the gentle moonlight, while fallen leaves danced gracefully, searching for new places to settle.
The entire street was dark, seemingly uninhabited, exceptionally quiet, except for a flicker of candlelight around a corner a hundred meters away, accompanied by drifting smoke.
Following the direction of the candlelight, Huasang walked along the stone pavement, familiarized herself and stopped in front of a small restaurant that faced the street.
The restaurant was small, with almost no space to accommodate guests, other than the kitchen and counter.
Thus, the owner set up a shed along the front, placed tables under the shed, and hung paper lanterns at various corners of the shed, with wooden signs reading “Rouge” swaying in the wind below the lanterns.
The Lipstick Tavern.
This was the name of the little restaurant that the mysterious senior had told Huasang about.
Although this little restaurant fell far short of the standard of a tavern, the mysterious senior couldn’t remember why it was called that.
However, he confidently told Huasang, assuring her that, unless something unexpected happened, this little restaurant in the real world should have already become a well-known tavern.
Entering the shed, Huasang sat down at the table closest to the counter, lightly tapped on the table surface, and softly called out within the small restaurant, “Senior, I’m here to bother you again.”
As soon as her words fell, there was a slight clattering of kitchen utensils within the restaurant, and a man in his fifties quickly walked out.
The man was dressed in a rough cloth outfit, wearing an apron, looking like a chef, but without the typical “big head and thick neck” vibe that many chefs possess. His features were handsome, with an otherworldly demeanor, appearing like an immortal disguised as a chef.
Just as Zhang Hainan had told Huasang, a remnant soul resided within this ruler, belonging to a senior of the Dachunyang Palace.
The man carried a tray with two plates of exquisitely small dishes and a jar of yellow wine, sitting beside Huasang with a smile, saying, “Not bothering me? How could that be? I was just thinking, it’s been a long time since you came. No one has talked to me!”
His demeanor was as if sitting across from an old friend he hadn’t seen for years.
In fact, the two of them were indeed friends of different generations, almost having sworn brother-sister vows while drunk one time.
And all of this began twelve years ago…
————
Twelve years ago, when Huasang was eight years old, it had been merely half a year since that uncle, who claimed to be a good brother of her father, sent her to the Dachunyang Palace to “cure” her illness. It was her first encounter with the black iron ruler.
Hearing from her brothers that the ruler, seemingly forged from black iron, was always stuck in a giant rock beside the Cold Pond on the back mountain, its origins were unclear, but it was known to house the remnant soul of the sect’s predecessor.
Teachers never stopped their disciples from touching the ruler; in fact, they encouraged them to try, hoping their disciples could receive guidance from that senior.
Some fortunate disciples had even entered the illusion created by the ruler, meeting the legendary senior.
However, in nearly eighty years, there weren’t even a hundred disciples who entered the illusion, perhaps eighty, who met that senior but none received any guidance. Instead, the overwhelming majority ended up suffering tremendously, entering with smiles and coming out cursing.
After several times, within a year, all of them chose to give up.
Over time, a rumor emerged among the disciples, claiming that the senior could teach no one anything, and the illusions created by the ruler were merely to sharpen the disciples’ minds.
In fact, Huasang later learned from the Chief Priest that the initial purpose of placing the ruler by the Cold Pond was indeed to sharpen the disciples’ minds, and her ability to take the ruler away was just an accident.
Initially, Huasang only engaged with the ruler under her master’s encouragement, and by luck, she entered the illusion created by the ruler and met the mysterious senior, who was once discerned as an excellent talent by her instructors.
After all, in the past, those who could meet the senior achieved remarkable accomplishments.
However…
Although she did not suffer as her uncles and brothers did from the torture of the senior within the ruler to the point of giving up, she also did not learn anything.
She merely took advantage of the ruler’s notoriety to evade morning classes, morning exercises, evening classes, and other training activities.
After all, in the illusion, she could completely avoid the pain caused by the uncontrolled spirit patterns.
Once in the illusion, the senior was busy in the little restaurant at the end of the clear canal, while she rested at the other end of the canal, not disturbing each other, and both were well.
She stayed there for an entire day!
In this way, it took a year before she spoke her first sentence to the senior.
The senior called out to her, “Hey, girl, come over here and help me taste this new dish. How does it taste?”
Huasang nodded, somewhat unwillingly saying, “Okay…”
After that, they simply drank together, tried dishes, and exchanged casual banter.
It wasn’t until four years later that the senior started to offer her guidance, intentionally or unintentionally.
For five years, if it had been other disciples of the Dachunyang Palace, under relentless torture, they would have long lost patience serving this elder!
Not to mention the disciples, even her master, who had once held high hopes for Huasang, had shifted attention to Fu Xinyi, guided by Huasang’s deliberate misdirection.
Thus, Fu Xinyi fell into deep water and fiery heat…
As for carrying the ruler with her, Huasang only barely managed to do so a year ago, by that time, almost no one in the Dachunyang Palace paid attention to her.
The entire experience was akin to a genius falling to waste, only to rise again years later.
The difference was that Huasang lacked a brash junior or peer trying to cause her downfall.
The simpleton Fu Xinyi, just striving to be worthy of the title genius, had expended all her energy on that…
————
“The Chief Priest recently assigned me a task, so I haven’t had time to visit you…”
Huasang said, glancing at the man with a somewhat unusual look in her eyes.
“Oh, that’s fine, just come back when you have time,” the man said, pouring two glasses of wine and handing one to Huasang.
Huasang took the wine glass, gazed at the amber-clear liquid within, and then looked at the man, hesitating to drink or eat, as if wary of something.
Noticing Huasang’s hesitation, the man frowned and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? The dishes and wine prepared by this old man aren’t to your taste?”
“…” Huasang stared at the man, pondering for a few seconds, as if making a certain decision, a hint of determination flickering in her eyes, then lifting the wine glass and downing it in one go.
With a “thud,” she set down the glass, let out a long sigh, and candidly said, “Senior, you’ve changed, so I was a bit scared earlier and didn’t dare to drink your wine.”
“Changed? What do you mean, my young friend?” the man asked, surprised.
“Didn’t you notice?” Huasang tilted her head, “Though I don’t know what happened, it seems to me, you have become younger.”
Indeed, he had changed to be younger; the last time she met this senior, he appeared very old, with a full head of white hair, at a rough estimate, he was at least seventy years old.
Yet today, he looked only around fifty, the white hair on his head had darkened significantly, suddenly transforming from elderly to middle-aged.
“Ha ha!” The man laughed heartily, “After a few days, you’ve become quite clever! However, saying that someone looks young is nice for a girl, but strange for this old man!”
As he joked, seeing Huasang silent, her expression serious while looking at him, his smile froze, and he asked, “Really? I’ve become younger?”
“Hmm.” Huasang nodded.
Seeing this, the man frowned, stood up, and quickly walked towards the nearby water channel, leaning forward to look down.
By the light of the lantern, seeing his reflection in the water, his pupils slightly contracted, and then, as if he endured some kind of pain, his brows suddenly furrowed, and his body staggered, supporting his forehead and letting out a “hiss” of inhalation.
After a long time, he stabilized himself, turned to Huasang, and spoke with a serious tone, “My young friend, I… remembered some things…”
Hearing this, Huasang’s expression also grew solemn, straightening her back and sitting up attentively, gazing fervently at the man.
Her demeanor was like waiting for examination results, tense yet earnest.
Who was this senior? He had always been a mystery within the Dachunyang Palace; he even did not know his own surname or name.
Huasang speculated that the Chief Priest certainly knew but wouldn’t tell, and others had no way to approach him.
After all, within the sect, whether in fist fights or seniority, he was the strongest!
“What have you remembered?” Huasang asked, somewhat excited.
In the past, this friend of hers always became melancholic whenever recalling his past, then drowned his sorrows in wine.
Now, seeing him remember some past events, Huasang felt genuinely happy.
“I remembered my name, and I also remembered…” The man turned to look at the little restaurant behind him, smiling slightly, “I remembered who this shop was opened for.”
“A happy occasion, worth celebrating!” Huasang raised her glass.
The man stepped over to the table, toasted Huasang back with a grin, saying, “Aren’t you going to ask me what my name is and for whom this shop was opened?”
Huasang shrugged, “If you want to tell me, you would say it even if I didn’t ask.”
“Ha ha, I like this about you!” the man laughed, “However, today I’m happy, so I want to tell you!”
“I have no surname, my name is Qing Ji, and this shop was opened for a girl named Yan Zhi…”
Yan Zhi? A beloved one? This old man still has such a romantic side; he must have been quite the charmer in his youth. Huasang nodded contemplatively.
