His eyes were no longer a deep emerald green, they were now pitch black and as dark as the night sky. At the same time, they were gentle, beautiful, and very warm.
He smiled as he called me a fool, but the tone of his voice was full of worry and concern. This reminded me of how in the past Bi Qingshen Jun would smile as he held my hand while he taught me how to write, and laughed while calling me stupid.
His and my hands were clasped together, his rough and my delicate fingers tightly intertwined. I heard that human fingers were linked to the heart, this must mean that Shifu’s and my heart are linked together.
I kept thinking, and couldn’t help but laugh. Laughing foolishly and laughing happily.
Because of my laughter, Xiang Qing appeared to have become flustered. He released his hands, and asked in confusion, “What are you laughing at?”
“Miao Miao is happy.” I joyfully replied, and then brought forth a handkerchief to wipe the blood off of his forehead. This was the first time I’ve ever felt thankful towards Wawa for forcing me to develop the habit of having a handkerchief on me.
Xiang Qing seemed a bit nervous and hesitant. His hands that reached forward wanting to push me away did not do so. His outstretched arms that seemingly wanted to embrace me did not hug me. He only stammered, “Miss Miao Miao…..I…..you…..”
I stared at him, puzzled.
Xiang Qing took in a deep breath, and then very earnestly asked, “Were the words you said to me last time true?”
“What words?” I’ve said many words, and my memory wasn’t too good so how was I suppose to know what those words were?
His speech stuttered, “You…..you, you said that you wanted to marry me.”
“That’s right! I want to marry you!” Hearing him mention this topic, I was suddenly very excited.
“Are you serious about that matter?” Xiang Qing seemed to want to confirm something.
“One hundred percent serious! So serious that I cannot be anymore serious!” These were my purest intentions from the heart.
The corners of Xiang Qing’s mouth slowly hooked into a big arc. His laughter was even more bright than sunlight passing through falling leaves. He said, “I like you too, I’ve liked you ever since I first saw you.”
Without warning, my surroundings were in full bloom as if it were spring time. Even if a hundred carts of fish were placed before me, it would not be able to produce this type of emotion. My mind was a little dizzy. Taking advantage of the current situation, I grasped his hands and led him towards the foot of the mountain, “Let’s get married.”
“Wait!” Xiang Qing seemed to be shaken by my anticipation. He slowed his paces and said in embarrassment, “I don’t want to conceal this from Miss Miao Miao, but my family is very poor.”
“Just call me Miao Miao!” I didn’t like being addressed miss in front of my name, it sounded very unfamiliar and distant.
“Miao Miao, I can’t marry you right now.” Xiang Qing sincerely said.
I took a hold of his hands and asked nervously, “Why not?”
“Because…..I don’t have money.” Xiang Qing lowered his head, his face turned pink.
I hurriedly expressed my feelings, “Miao Miao doesn’t care about money, Miao Miao doesn’t want money.”
“But I care.”
“Then how about I think of ways to earn money?” Could it be he doesn’t like Miao Miao because I don’t have money? Doesn’t matter, I could always break into Yin Zi’s treasury.
“It’s not like that,” Xiang Qing continue to explain, “I don’t want you to suffer hardships when you marry me, I want to righteously and extravagantly marry you. Do you understand what I mean?”
“I don’t care about that stuff. Miao Miao doesn’t need anything extravagant, I just want to be together with you.” Bi Qingshen Jun and I already had the most beautiful and gaudy wedding ceremony, but after it was over, everything was gone. There was no use in having another useless ceremony like that.
“I…..I’ve been at Maoshan Sect since I was seven years old, originally I was alone and old-fashioned and didn’t have much feelings towards the opposite sex. I believed that this would be the way I spent my entire life, until I met you.” Xiang Qing slowly said, “You were both beautiful and brave, loving and passionate, most definitely a good girl hard to come by. You deserve to be cherished and loved by a good man.”
“Maybe I can not give you a million in dowry, but I will use the most extravagant wedding ceremony to marry you.”
“Maybe I can not give you any fancy food, but I will work hard to make you live comfortably.”
“Maybe I can not give you any luxurious jewelry, but I will try my hardest to give you a happy and fulfilling life.”
“Maybe I can not give you an endless amount of servants, but I will single-heartedly love you forever.”
I stared profoundly at Xiang Qing. Hearing his earnest and sincere words, my heart has become sweet like honey. Xiang Qing hesitated for a moment, but continued to firmly express, “I want to block all the storms for you, I want to give you a safe haven for you to live in, I want you to spend your days comfortably, and I want to be your strong backing. I don’t want you to ever regret choosing me.”
I looked at his beautiful eyes, and gently said, “What Miao Miao wants isn’t a safe haven nor is it a strong backing.”
“Then what is it?” Xiang Qing faltered.
“I want you to never be apart from me in this lifetime. There is something I’m very afraid of,” I stared into his eyes and said, “So don’t leave me all alone, alright?”
Even if my appearance was like that of humans, even if my body has become strong, my body still flowed the blood of domestic cats. My feelings towards Xiang Qing weren’t just love, but he meant the whole world to me. The fear of being thrown away, even if I wanted to forget, I would not be able to.
I have never told Yin Zi, how a person’s night all alone can be terribly cold. Everyday as I observed the stars from atop the trees, I would start imagining Shifu’s face. This brought to my heart a gut wrenching and excruciating pain. They would sometimes laugh and tell me that cats were lethargic animals, but I ignored them, because only when I slept was I able to clearly see Shifu’s appearance and forget all my troubles.
I didn’t understand the human behavior, but at the same time human beings could not understand my feelings.
The feeling of only recognizing a single person in their entire lifetime.
I looked for you, willing to swallow all the joy and pain, my feelings never-changing.
Xiang Qing looked at me, held my face with his hands, and softly gave me a kiss on the forehead. He quietly whispered as if making a promise, “I will never abandon you, I won’t…..”
With this sentence alone, I was satisfied. I happily laughed aloud.
Xiang Qing took my hands and talked about the future plans, “Wait a little longer for me, I have to work hard to complete my missions to earn money. In the following days, I’ll be very busy. When I’ve earned enough money, I’ll let my mother know of this matter and bring you home in a red sedan chair.”
“Your mother?” I had some doubts, because the Bi Qingshen Jun in the past was all alone and had no relatives.
“En, but don’t worry, she has a very good temperament. It’s just that she somewhat likes to nag and talk incessantly. Right now, she lives and helps my big brother, and from time to time, I would send money back.”
“It’s nothing, I’ll be very good to her.” I hurriedly replied, and then turned to ask Yin Zi what a mother (mother-in-law) was and how I could get along with one. From my memories, it seems that there use to be a mother-in-law down the mountains that was quite fierce and intolerable, I must think of countermeasures.
“You don’t need to worry too much. I am the second son, so mother naturally favors my elder brother over me and doesn’t interact with me often. As long as I visit her from time to time to pay my respects to her, everything would be okay.” I didn’t understand what Xiang Qing was explaining, “These things I will deal with so you won’t need to worry about them.”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Although I don’t understand, but I will strive to do my best!” I quickly patted my chest to reassure.
Xiang Qing smiled again, and continued, “Then you must wait for me, once I have earned enough money, I will come and propose marriage to you.”
“Okay!” I happily agreed.
After Xiang and I expressed our heartfelt emotions, we headed back to the Maoshan Sect’s courtyard. Along the way, we discussed about our wedding preparations, how we want to spend our days together, and also about our future residence and the subject of household chores.
I didn’t understand too much about this matter therefore I let him deal with all these tasks. As we arrived at the sect, there was unexpectedly quite a ruckus and lively scene in front of us. There were waves of girls screaming and shouting, “So cute! It’s really too cute!”
Curious, I walked over to take a look, but had found instead a beautiful black haired child with the same black colored eyes. His face was dewy and had a sweet smile imprinted on it. His adorable nature had won over many of the senior brothers and sisters, winning him a lot of snacks as well.
Hey? Isn’t that my son Bi Xiao Mao?
Seeing me, Xiao Mao immediately had an even bigger smile blossom on his face. He rushed over, and using a loud voice, he informed the whole of Maoshan Sect, “Mother! I really miss you! Did you find father yet?”
“I found him, I found him. He’s right here with me.” I speedily held him into my arms and gave him a big hug, also pointing to Xiang Qing who was next to me.
“Mother? Father?” I couldn’t figure out why Xiang Qing had a petrified expression.
Hm? Marrying a wife, doesn’t that include our child as well?