Slender fingers set down a smooth and round chess piece on the chessboard. No movement was detected from the person in front of them. Mu Yao raised her head, the young man had his head lowered and was looking at the chessboard, appearing to be deep in thought about his next move.
But deep down, she knew that his mind had wandered off.
She crooked a finger and knocked on the chessboard, "A'Sheng?"
Mu Sheng silently came back to the present. He sounded a little lost as he responded.
"..." Mu Yao looked down and tossed the chess piece which had already been picked up back into its container.
"A'Sheng," She calmly looked at him, "If you're just going to let me win, is there any point in playing?"
In a split second, a sliver of panic appeared in Mu Sheng's eyes: He had always been surreptitious about letting her win and merely went into a daze for a second when he was suddenly called out. It was clear that he had gone off in a daze too obviously that sis had managed to catch some clues.
Through the window, it could already be seen that night had already fallen. The low table lamp dimly lit the chessboard. The booth of the Chang'an tavern was elegant and refined but in the end, it was not home. It was somewhat lacking in character and even the dust floating in the air smelled different.
The chess pieces provided by the tavern were of high quality yunzi! and cool to the touch.
When he pinched the smooth and round white chess piece between his fingers, what came to mind was the sight of Ling Miaomiao's curved smiling eyes, "This is yunzi, it's color is like light ivory. It's as fair as Young Master Mu."
There were over ten standing lamps of varying heights in her boudoir which were all shone on her, it exaggerated the lively romantic atmosphere.
She sat in the center of those lights, content to be in her little territory and having the time of her life.
He composed himself, placing his hands on the chessboard.
Black eyes looked up from the board with a bit of pleading in them, "Let's go for another round, I'll play properly this time."
Mu Yao hesitated and barely managed to bring up the corners of her lips.
In the past few days, her jaw slimmed greatly and her collar bones protruded so much that they were almost visible from her collar. He knew that because of Liu Fuyi's absence, Mo Yao was unbearably sad inside despite looking fine on the outside.
His sister had been pampered by both parents since she was young. He had been so careful in protecting her but she still suffered so much, all because of a certain man called Liu Fuyi... A hint of coldness filled his eyes.
"A'Sheng, how are we playing?" Mu Yao looked over at him distrustfully.
"Sister, let's change it up, okay?"
He pumped himself up, "Whoever first lines up five of their pieces in a row, wins."
"..." Mu Yao frowned as she looked at the chessboard for a while. It seemed she wasn't favorable to his childish suggestion, "What kind of playing method is this?"
He paused, then immediately began patiently setting up the chessboard, "It's Five-In-A-Row."
The chess piece remained between her fingers. She smiled helplessly then pinched the space between her brows, her waning interest evident, "A'Sheng, if you had this kind of mindset while practicing techniques, our Mu family wouldn't have fallen to this point."
"..." Mu Sheng's actions came to a freeze.
When he walked out of Mu Yao's room, there was still a trace of confusion left on his face as well as the exhaustion which came from his disappointed heart.
The silhouette of Mu Yao's slender figure, which seemed frail and lonely, could be seen through the door. The gaping hole left by Liu Fuyi's absence could not be filled with any amount of his company, it would only be like playing house.
Her world was one he had never been able to enter. And for that same reason, he had always been alone.
As he walked, he was unable to restrain himself and walked to the neighboring room, knocking on the door.
It took a long time for her to open the door, revealing Ling Miaomiao's face framed by messy hair. Upon recognizing him, she immediately widened her eyes, "Didn't I tell you to go comfort Sister Mu? Why are you here?"
She had only cracked the door and had her head stuck out, looking around. It was an obvious attitude of rejection. He couldn't help himself from pressing on the doors, the look in his eyes dark, "Can you please let me in?"
"..." Ling Miaomiao backed up a step, and let him in with an innocent look on her face. He looked around the room, the inside was simple like standard rooms of the future generation.
She had gotten cold from the wind blowing outside and rubbed her arms as she followed behind Mu Sheng. " It's the same as your room, what's there to look at?"
Mu Sheng shot a look at her, walked over and closed the door, "Were you sleeping?"
The girl had already walked to the dressing table and was bent over in front of it while fixing her hair. After hearing his words, she froze momentarily before replying back hesitatingly, "...No. I...I was just reading on the bed."
"Reading?"
She raised the canopy and pulled out a thin book from beneath the messy quilt. She blinked at him with her large eyes and explained embarrassedly, "It's too cold outside, so I... so I read it under the covers."
When she reached the climax, she also... rolled around a few times on the bed.
Mu Sheng glanced at her, then back at the book with the blank cover in her hands.
"Uh, I found a very interesting book." Excitement was written all over Ling Miaomiao's face. "The waiter downstairs lent it to me."
The young man came closer and quickly flipped through the pages. His face contorted, "You..."
An unceasing torrent of words came out of Ling Miaomiao's mouth, "This book is about a young man who is secretly in love with his teacher. However, his teacher was totally unaccepting of homosexuals. Then, the young man used the carrot and stick method, cajoling and pestering. After failing to take his life twice, the teacher begins to realize his feelings towards the young man. Then they go through various hardships before finally ending up together..."
Mu Sheng's black eyes flashed, but he had all his attention focused on her face which was flushed from excitement, "And then?"
"That's it, I only read up to there." Ling Miaomiao couldn't stop smiling, "Do you like it? I can lend it to you after I finish."
"...Sure." He was still staring at her face.
"..." Ling Miaomiao froze, nearly biting her tongue.
Just now, she was making things up on the spot. What kind of straight guy would read this kind of book? She thought he'd walk away in disgust but why was the black lotus not playing by the rules.
For a while, she was at a loss for words. After recomposing herself, she bent over and pulled out a pomelo from under the table then struggled to get it on the table. Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, "Okay, let's eat fruit."
It just so happened that she wouldn't be able to finish it alone and was wondering about how to resolve this issue.
Mu Sheng's tone had turned a little strange, "Did the waiter downstairs also give this to you?
"Yeah." She sliced it open with a dagger. Her cheeks puffed out as she struggled to peel the pomelo.
"A book, fruit..." His tone cooled, "How come he didn't give me any?" The young man's cold eyes fell on her face, seemingly emitting an ominous sense of pressure.
Sweat covered her forehead, evidence of the exhaustiveness of the task. She was completely ignorant of the look on his face and only thought his question was a little strange. Annoyed, she answered him, "I forked out my own money for it, if you fork out some, he'll buy fruit for you as well." She shook her hands in frustration, then placed the pomelo on the table, rolling it over to him. While massaging her aching wrist, she complained, "This is too tiring, peel it for a bit."
Mu Sheng silently accepted the half-peeled pomelo, and pulled out a dagger from the inside of his clothes. He sliced the skin, then peeled it off with his right hand, effortlessly taking the flesh of the fruit out. Before the pomelo could even react, it's skin and pith were gone.
Ling Miaomiao was stunned by this sight but his movements did not cease. He broke the pomelo into individual sections, removing the pith on every side, rolling it up and delivering the orderly plump flesh to her mouth.
When fragrance suddenly hit her, Ling Miaomiao lowered her head, surprised.
"Didn't you want me to peel it?" The young man's voice was low and dull with a patient tone.
Feeling her little face heat up, she lowered her head in embarrassment and after hesitating for a while, she reached out and took it with her hands. She stuttered a bit, saying, "It's, it's good enough if you just peel the outer layer."
She had a vague feeling that lately, he had become somewhat strange.
Reasonably, this period was a key juncture where Liu Fuyi had flicked his sleeves and cast away Mu Yao without a care, leaving his sister broken-hearted and fragile. In the original work, Mu Sheng had already begun taking the initiative to win over his sister... but before her, her capture target was still peeling the pomelo carpels one by one...
"Hey...okay, it's fine." Ling Miaomiao grabbed his wrist, "Stop peeling it, careful that you don't overdo it or your hands will hurt."
He didn't move, allowing her to hold his wrist. His eyes fell on a fair hand, "I didn't use my hand, I used a dagger."
Ling Miaomiao pulled her hand away in embarrassment, quickly stuffing a piece of pomelo in her mouth.
The pomelo was sweet and juicy, brightening up people's spirits. Every pore of her body opened up and relaxed. She asked in a vague manner, "Is Sister Mu doing alright?"
Mu Sheng's fine and long lashes lowered and the edges of his lips turned up, revealing a self-deprecating smile, "Sister has never listened to my advice."
"Then...comfort me." Sympathy was written all over her face and she had a very sincere look on her face, "I'll listen to your comforting."
Mu Sheng stood there blankly for a moment, then asked, "Comfort you about what?"
"I won't be happy either way, no matter if Brother Liu married Sister Mu or the princess." She curled her lips and hatefully said, "I'm extremely unhappy."
"....."
"Comfort me." She blinked at him.
The look on the young man's face changed several times and after a while, he dryly replied, "Then you should like someone else instead."
Ling Miaomiao looked at him intently, "Who should I like?"
"....."
He found this conversation to be familiar. At the time, she was sitting on his bed in the Li Residence located in Jingyang Slope with a drunken look in her eyes. He had calmly asked, "Who should I like?"
"You should like me, someone who'll raise you to be tender and round..."
......
He looked at her, going over her question a thousand times before coldly answering, "In any case, just not Liu Fuyi."
"Ziqi, this can't be how you comfort people, can it?" Ling Miaomiao's face was covered in despair as she continued, "No wonder you can't comfort Sister Mu one bit, this is too direct. To comfort someone, you need to place importance in the art of speaking...
He smiled imperceptibly.
Little did she know, he was especially eloquent when speaking to Sister, but in front of her, he couldn't do it at all. His heart would feel so dry and sour and the more he spoke, the more mistakes he made.
Ling Miaomiao ate as she talked. After having her fill, she handed him a piece of pomelo, "How come you aren't eating?" Seeing that he hadn't moved, she placed it before his lips, "Come on, try some."
He froze for a moment, then obediently opened his mouth and ate the pomelo. The fruit was cool and sweet and after finishing it, she patiently fed him another piece.
He deliberately decided to not reach out.
Ling Miaomiao was completely unaware of this and continued to feed him. At the same time, she took this opportunity to educate him, "Look how pitiful Sister Mu is, Brother Liu isn't there and she only has a younger brother. If you're not the one to accompany her, who will?'
"Don't you and Sister also get along well? How come you aren't comforting her?"
"How...How could I be like you, I don't know what Sister Mu likes and I'm not sure of how to cheer her up either."
She said these words with a guilty conscience.
When the original work had reached the part about the main character group returning to Chang'an, Liu Fuyi was absent, Mu Yao was sad and depressed, and the blackened Mu Sheng desired to take Liu Fuyi's place. Consequently, he revealed a secret of his identity on a windy moonless night and confessed his feelings.
Could the confession of an admirer cheer a person up? Mu Yao was unable to accept the brother who tore off his mask. She even felt disgusted and unable to take the reality of the deeply hidden person, knowing that someone by her side was a vile character in disguise. She broke into a great argument with him and from then on, the two siblings' completely cut off all relations. The black lotus fully blackened, taking on a new lease of life and completely elevating in status to the villain in the later part of the story.
But if we were to follow the current plot development, he wouldn't necessarily blacken for certain. However, it seemed that breaking off relations and having a big fight would be unavoidable.
To one who has secretly been in love for many years, as long as they are not rejected directly, they would never end this desire and would hide their feelings in their heart, thinking that there was still hope.
And so, for the past few days, she had not only done nothing to thwart Mu Sheng and Mu Yao's opportunities of being alone together, but had painstakingly facilitated it. She hoped from the bottom of her heart that he would be able to get past this key moment. She would only be able to bravely face this new him after he decisively walked past this stretch of history he had with Mu Yao.
But, looking at the black lotus eating the fruit she fed like a kitten and the disappointment and exhaustion which could not be hidden in his eyes, she felt a little guilty. It was as if she had done something harmful to him just for the sake of her selfish motives.
"To be honest, even I don't know how to cheer up Sister."
The young man's voice gradually lowered, "No matter what I do, she won't cheer up."
"Then you can keep trying..."
"Just because that person is me."
Ling Miaomiao frowned slightly, a piece of pomelo was stuffed into his mouth, blocking the words which would come next.
"Great, not one bit wasted." She wiped off the leftover fruit juice on her hands, pleased as she could be. Then she slowly gathered the pomelo skins in one place.
"..." Feeling his unblinking gaze on her face, she casually spoke, "Don't be so self-deprecating all the time. There's nothing wrong with you..."
She gestured with her fingers, a smile in her round eyes, "You are a little inferior compared to Brother Liu but it's not as bad as you're making it out to be. Sister Mu likes you very much, I can tell."
"Really?" He lowered his eyes then raised them again, looking at her and repeating her words in a quieter voice, "There...is nothing wrong with me..."
Ling Miaomiao smiled foolishly: "How come you're speaking like a child?"
"...."
The faint sound of the watchman's clapper could be heard, Ling Miaomiao walked over to the window and looked out. The hook-like moon hung on the tree-tops.
She stretched her aching waist, "It's already this late, hurry and go to sleep."
Was it late? He stood up and looked at her figure from behind. feeling emptiness and disappointment inside converging into a sea.
Ling Miaomiao had already pushed him out without the slightest regret, "You're right next door so I won't see you off. Hurry and go, hurry and go..."
The night lights were weak and dim, appearing like beans.
The young man stood alone in the room, looking around. A bed with its canopy rolled up, a round-backed armchair, a dark brown table, and the vase with a dried flower arrangement...Just like she'd said, all the rooms looked one and the same.
But at the same time, it was completely different... Without her presence, it was as bleak as winter.