Chapter 33: So Why Is Zhuang Qingchun Called Zhuang Qingchun?
Page (1/3)
Yan Ye had not gone far with Zhuang Qingchun when the woman beside her was drawn to the snack stalls outside the school gate.
One-yuan cold noodles, two-yuan sushi, grilled sausages, hot milk buns, spicy skewered chicken... She sampled every last one.
Yan Ye even found herself weaving through a crowd of children while an old, battered loudspeaker blared, “Spicy skewered chicken, spicy skewered chicken, one yuan a skewer!”
“Would you like to try this?” The voice was still floating from behind her when the food was already being pushed to Yan Ye’s lips.
She had watched the entire preparation process from beginning to end and was not particularly eager to accept it on principle.
“You eat it yourself!”
“Just try it! So many people want some and never get the chance. I only get to indulge this once.” Her hands were already laden with food, yet she was still eyeing the egg-wrapped potatoes at the neighboring stall.
Yan Ye was someone who could withstand temptation.
But once this particular temptation reached her lips—
that was another matter entirely.
Along the narrow lane connecting the school to the main road stood all kinds of snack vendors, each calling out their wares.
After Yan Ye had sampled everything on one side, she crossed over to the other.
Amid the sunset streets and the crowded tide of students pouring out of school, two graceful figures drifted down like butterflies settling among a sea of flowers.
After eating and drinking their fill, the two sat quietly on the riverbank, admiring the beautiful sunset.
Zhuang Qingchun took the initiative to tell her everything.
“Why didn’t you ask me anything? You didn’t ask me a single thing.”
“I’m a principled shopkeeper. I never pry into my customers’ private affairs.”
“The money was given to me by Ruyin.”
“From the moment I first stepped into your shop, I was deceiving you. There was no mistress, no fiancé. From beginning to end, there was only Zhuang Ruyin. I wanted to save her. It was as simple as that. Unfortunately, I’m too powerless. I couldn’t go to the Ability Bureau, let alone dream of having anything to do with the Time Grocery Store.”
Even Zhuang Qingchun herself could no longer remember when she had first developed consciousness. Time had no meaning in her mind.
She only knew that she had been with Zhuang Ruyin for a very, very long time.
She had watched her change little by little.
She had watched her struggle until that struggle split her into two personalities. Trapped within that tiny space, she could do nothing to help.
Until that one time, when the shattered fragments of her lay scattered across the ground and she awoke with a humanlike clarity.
Perhaps her obsession with saving her had grown too deep. The address of the Time Grocery Store appeared in her mind—
the legendary place said to be capable of fulfilling every regret.
...
Yan Ye was not surprised in the slightest. She had known the moment she saw Feng Zheng.
After all, with that ghastly appearance of his, who would dare lay a hand on him? Marry him? Be with him? Become his wife?
And there was one more important point.
“Do you know that your acting is truly terrible?”
Zhuang Qingchun smiled and gazed at the sky with deep affection. “I watched her grow up from childhood. Don’t I know what kind of person she is? I’m about to disappear! Can I tell you my final wish now?”
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
“What is it?”
“Please help her return to a normal life, like an ordinary person.”
“Won’t you ask for something for yourself?”
“No need.” Zhuang Qingchun gently declined. She was only an accessory; none of these things had ever belonged to her. To have briefly touched the world at all had already been a beautiful enough gift.
The last trace of sunset sank into the clouds, and the sky darkened several shades at once.
Yan Ye kept her eyes fixed ahead from beginning to end, until a clear, delicate chime rang out behind her ear.
She turned and looked at the ornament hanging from a tree branch. The evening wind off the riverbank had set it swaying.
The journey home became a solitary one.
Yan Ye saw Zhuang Ruyin at the police station. The woman seated across from her had a clearer light in her eyes, and her entire condition was visibly improving by the minute.
She seemed to be searching for something. When she saw that Yan Ye was alone, the disappointment in her eyes was unmistakable.
“She won’t be coming, but she’ll always be watching over you.”
When Yan Ye returned home, she found a brocade box and placed the ornament inside. Then she put the box in a cubby.
After thinking it over, she decided that was not right. She took it back out, walked to the door, hammered a nail into the wall beside it, and hung the ornament there.
Zhuang Ruyin never understood what Yan Ye had meant by those words.
Until one day, as she washed her face before a mirror, the reflection inside froze in place. No matter what movement she made, the image did not react at all. After a moment, everything returned to normal—but the faint smile in the final instant of the reflection looked strangely familiar.
She was frightened, yet also relieved.
Some kind of shackle had vanished from her body.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”
...
Zhuang Ruyin repeated those words again and again.
The ornament hanging outside the shop, which had remained silent all this time, suddenly began to chime once, then again and again.
It seemed to be answering from afar.
Yan Ye sat in a chair beside the pond, feeding the fish while seriously pondering a problem.
Pearl lay at her feet, basking in the sun, while Gold Ingot blew on her scalding tea to cool it.
Everything looked so peaceful and tranquil.
The next second, that calm was shattered. Yan Ye sprang to her feet, spilling more than half the handful of fish food she held into the pond.
“Oh no! I forgot something very important.”
Pearl stared at her with wide eyes.
Of everyone present, only Gold Ingot could answer her.
“What could possibly be so exciting?”
“I forgot to ask Zhuang Qingchun why she’s called Zhuang Qingchun! Aaaaaah!”
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
“Wow, that’s quite the question. If you never find the answer, you’ll probably spend the rest of your life unable to sleep peacefully alone at night.”
...
There was, however, another way to solve the mystery.
That day, Xu Zhiting walked out of the building, and Yan Ye appeared directly in front of him.
“Surprise! I came to see you.”
Xu Zhiting stood where he was, watching her take credit for her little surprise with a proud, expectant expression.
There was one thing he did not say: did she know why he had happened to walk out of the building just then? Because he had been watching a certain furtive figure downstairs from the window for half an hour.
“It really is... quite a surprise.”
Whenever Yan Ye needed someone’s help, she became exceptionally enthusiastic. She moved to the man’s side and walked shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Xu Zhiting, can I ask you a question? If I don’t get an answer, I might lose my appetite, lose sleep, and be unable to think of anything else.”
Xu Zhiting’s gaze suddenly darkened, countless emotions gathering in his eyes.
Had she finally realized her feelings?
Could it be that she was about to tell him she had fallen for someone but did not know how to confess? If that someone was not him, then the sharpening of his blades could begin.
“What is it?”
“Why is Zhuang Qingchun called Zhuang Qingchun? What an offensive name!”
...
“Hey, Xu Zhiting, where are you going? You came back! You still haven’t answered my question!”
...
Xu Zhiting did not want to deal with her and silently withdrew all the tenderness he had just felt.
Furious, Yan Ye shook two fists at his retreating back, then kicked twice.
A Wei happened to be passing by with a food basin in his hands.
He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
“Your Ladyship, haven’t you been coming to the Ability Bureau a little too often lately? Did something major happen here? Some incredible secret? You can’t tell me? Then give me the slightest hint so I can at least be mentally prepared!”
“Do you know why Zhuang Qingchun is called Zhuang Qingchun?”
“What?” A Wei was bewildered too.
“Forget it. With your intelligence, asking you would only be a waste of time.”
Poor A Wei, struck by a stray bullet for no reason, quietly fell to pieces.
So, why exactly was Zhuang Qingchun called Zhuang Qingchun?
Page (3/3)