Chapter 265: Beauty Like a Flower (Part Two)
Suddenly, Jiang Caibin felt a bone-piercing pain deep in his head.
Because of the pain, he had to squat down against the wall, clutching his head and groaning in agony.
The rain stopped, and people began to move about in the alley.
But those who passed by, seeing him struggling in pain, acted as if they didn't see him at all; no one came forward to help.
Only a few whispers could be vaguely heard.
"Heaven have mercy."
"Perhaps he's having a fit."
"Isn't that Old Third's...?"
"Shh, don't say anything, be careful Old Third comes looking for you tonight..."
"If you ask me, it's because you touched his A-niang that you attracted Old Third, right?"
"Tch, don't scare people randomly."
Jiang Caibin listened to these words but was powerless to refute them; some jumbled memory fragments appeared in his mind, making him feel dizzy.
It was a long while before he recovered.
His memories were also sorted out.
He seemed to have, somehow, arrived in this strange place and turned into a seven-year-old child called En Zai.
His father, whom everyone referred to as "Old Third," was a dockworker who was crushed by cargo due to overwork while moving goods at the dock. When he was carried home, his lower body was almost a thin sheet, and he died that very night.
His A-niang had no special skills and could only barely raise him by doing laundry for others.
Full of doubts, he limped along, heading towards the house from his memories.
This alley looked very dirty, messy, and dark, and his feet were covered in mud as he walked.
The houses on both sides were low and dilapidated, their walls covered in moss from long exposure to sunlight, and the ground was not flat bluestone slabs but uneven gravel and dirt, which was even muddier after the rain, with sewage forming several dirty small gutters meandering by the roadside.
Ironically, this area was named "Qingshui Li" (Clear Water Lane).
Jiang Caibin took a few more steps forward and saw a wide ditch into which various sewage flowed, with filth, residue, and vegetable scraps floating in it, emitting a pungent stench, and mosquitoes breeding and flying about.
There were still many people moving in the alley, dressed in ragged clothes, walking hurriedly, their faces as sallow and malnourished as the little girl's from before, their expressions numb, and their eyes filled with deep fatigue.
For Jiang Caibin, this was simply another world; such a place would never be seen in Chang'an.
Where exactly was this?
Jiang Caibin still couldn't figure it out.
Not far from the stinking ditch was where he lived.
He limped back home to find En Zai's A-niang already grooming herself in front of a crude bronze mirror. Her makeup was a bit rough, and her clothes were rather gaudy, but there probably weren't better conditions available.
Jiang Caibin was not En Zai, a seven-year-old child who understood nothing; of course, he knew what those fragments in his memory meant.
When A-niang saw Jiang Caibin return in such a state, she was startled. She quickly put down the charcoal she was using to draw her eyebrows and rushed to pick Jiang Caibin up.
"How did you get into this state?" A-niang was heartbroken. "Were those children bullying you again?"
She knew that because of their family situation, especially her actions, the surrounding people looked down on their orphaned mother and son, and naturally, they would bully En Zai.
Jiang Caibin looked up and saw tears welling in A-niang's eyes, filled with anxiety.
This could not be faked; it was genuine concern.
How long had it been since he had seen such an expression?
Jiang Caibin suddenly felt a pang in his heart, as if he had truly become En Zai. He buried his face in A-niang's embrace, saying nothing, just quietly feeling his mother's warmth.
At night, he still inevitably developed a high fever.
After all, his body was just that of a small child, coupled with long-term malnutrition, such a toll was naturally unbearable.
A-niang could only grit her teeth, spending her already meager savings to hire a doctor who prescribed several doses of medicine for him to drink, bowl after bowl.
He drank it day after day; for the first few days, there was no effect, and several times she thought he wouldn't make it, almost crying all her tears dry.
But perhaps her prayers to heaven were answered, for after a few days, En Zai actually began to slowly recover.
Soon, he could even get out of bed.
En Zai also tried to help A-niang with tasks according to his memories. Although he was clumsy, either breaking bowls, tearing clothes while washing, or cooking food that was half-cooked, he gradually got the hang of it when he applied himself.
He washed the handkerchief clean and kept it hidden in his embrace, waiting for the day he would see the little girl again to return it to her.
However, he paced back and forth daily near where he had been injured that day but never saw her.
His heart also sank day by day, only occasionally taking out the handkerchief to look at it, recalling that fleeting glimpse.
...
Until one day, A-niang, seeing that he had recovered almost completely, asked him to go to Doufu Xishi (Tofu Beauty)'s stall at the East Alley entrance to buy some tofu and tofu skin.
The East Alley entrance was at the other end of their Clear Water Lane, and En Zai hadn't walked that far since his injury.
Upon reaching the alley entrance, he spotted the tofu stall and, looking closely, saw a figure etched into his heart.
En Zai was shocked and walked closer.
Indeed, the one sitting at the stall was precisely the little girl he had been thinking about all day, currently bowing her head, diligently weaving something with colorful strings.
The stall owner was a beautiful woman, with a striking resemblance to the little girl's captivating beauty, but with more traces of time and the fatigue of toiling for a living.
She was the "Doufu Xishi (Tofu Beauty)" A-niang had mentioned.
En Zai didn't know her specific name, but seeing her like this, it seemed fitting. En Zai remembered that Xishi was a great beauty in the storytellers' tales.
"En Zai, what's up? Buying tofu for your A-niang?" The woman recognized him; everyone in the alley was a neighbor, so it was normal to recognize him.
It was just that this En Zai seemed not very smart and didn't remember things well.
"Yes, please give me one liang of tofu and half a liang of dried tofu," En Zai said articulately.
"Oh, En Zai, you seem to have grown up!" The woman patted his head, seemingly noticing some changes in him.
"Hehe," En Zai scratched the back of his head and laughed shyly.
The little girl, hearing the woman's words, looked up from her hands, gave En Zai a fleeting glance, then lowered her head emotionlessly, focusing on her work.
En Zai had hoped the little girl would recognize him, but to his disappointment, she didn't at all.
He thought that he must have been bruised and swollen at the time, so no one would recognize him...
But En Zai didn't get discouraged. He took out the handkerchief and walked up to the little girl.
"That day... thank you!" En Zai felt his face flush.
It was strange for him, a young man, to be shy around a little girl.
The little girl looked at the handkerchief, momentarily stunned.
Her gaze then fixed on his hand.
En Zai didn't notice, only feeling uneasy in front of the little girl.
"Xiaoxiao, isn't this your handkerchief?" The woman recognized it first, taking it from En Zai's hand to look.
"Yes, there's a small orchid embroidered in the corner, that's your handiwork," the woman said loudly. "How did it end up with En Zai?"
The little girl took the handkerchief from her A-niang's hand, remaining silent.
"Aunt, that day I was injured, and little sister Xiaoxiao helped me wipe my wounds. I really wanted to thank her properly, but I couldn't walk for the past few days, so I didn't come to find little sister Xiaoxiao," En Zai explained proactively.
"Oh, so that's how it is." The woman showed a look of pity. "Heaven have mercy, thankfully heaven protected him, he looks much better now."
En Zai scratched his head, unsure what to say.
He didn't know why, but he felt like he had so much to say in his heart and shouldn't be so clumsy with words.