“Grandfather,” called Ling Zhang who were packing Ji Yin’s bags in Ji Yin’s courtyard house. Ji Yin had just returned from Ling Xingzhong’s house where the two old men had finished a game of Chinese chess a short while before. Playing Chinese chess was a hobby they’d recently developed. Since Ji Yin would leave soon and the two of them enjoyed each other’s company as chess partners pretty much, they’d decided to have an extra game.
Ling Zhang could tell from the smile curling the corners of his maternal grandfather’s mouth that he had definitely won the game. It struck Ling Zhang as quite interesting that his two grandfathers both played Chinese chess in the same open and honest way that they conducted themselves, which was why the two old man were six of one and half a dozen of the other in terms of their prowess as chess players, and they valued each other very much as chess opponents. Therefore, for Ji Yin, this victory was something worth feeling happy about.
“You won another game against my paternal grandfather?”
Ji Yin smiled, “I’m in luck today. Just now when I left, your paternal grandfather was in a bad mood and said he wouldn’t play chess with me again. I bet he was just bluffing, given that it’ll be at least half a year before I come to this city again.”
Ling Zhang said, “I’m sure he’ll miss you. His frustration is just momentary. It won’t be long before his addiction to Chinese chess gets the better of him.”
As a result, right now his heart ached somewhat for his paternal grandfather. After Ji Yin, a match for Ling Xingzhong at Chinese chess left, the latter probably wouldn’t even be able to derive as much pleasure from playing Chinese chess as he used to do.
With this in mind, Ling Zhang thought of Mr. Mu. “Is Mr. Mu sure he doesn’t want to go back with you?”
“He’s staying. He has no family or relative in the Millennium Pavilion. His master has passed away, and his fellow apprentices have all got married. He’s been living on his own all these years, so he doesn’t really need to go back there to pack anything. It strikes me that he won’t go back there anytime soon. Lately that bodyguard of that Yuwen boy’s, Xie Shi, has been coming here to visit him on a daily basis. I think the two of them hit it off, because sometimes they stay indoors researching something all day long. For this reason alone, he’s definitely staying.”
Ji Yin talked about Mr. Mu as though the latter were a child who had found something interesting and thus refused to go home.
Naturally Ling Zhang also hoped Mr. Mu would stay, because his aunt was pregnant, and his paternal grandfather and his father needed medication to improve their health. With the help of Mr. Mu, a miracle-working physician, all these matters would be settled.
“Then I’ll get him all the medicinal herbs he needs, so that he might stay in this city for another few days.”
Ji Yin said, “That’s a good idea. Don’t worry. On the surface he seems to be gentle and somewhat stuffy, but deep down he’s actually rather abandoned. Previously when he was in the mountains, there were rules he had to follow, but now, he’s finally rid of those rules, and there are so many things fresh to him in the outside world, so by no means would he go back in a hurry.”
On hearing this, Ling Zhang smiled and exchanged a knowing glance with Ji Yin, and with that the grandfather and grandson grinned with the air of two smug old foxes whose trick had worked.
“Grandfather, this time around, after you go back there, you’ll definitely have to deal with a lot of things. Please don’t overwork yourself.”
“I know. Don’t worry. I’m a very robust man.”
While packing, the grandfather and grandson chatted away. Ji Yin didn’t have many things to pack. Unlike Ji Yanlai and his nephew Ji Xiaocong, Ji Yin always preferred to travel light, bringing only some necessities with him wherever his destination was, which was why on this occasion, inside his travel bag were only some books and changes of clothes.
“Have you talked with those stewards?” Ji Yin asked Ling Zhang.
He was referring to the stewards responsible for managing the stores and manors that had been transferred to Ling Zhang.
“No. I just ran an eye over those account books. I’ll put my father in charge of all those businesses. Some of the stewards were at the wedding that day, so I met them once.”
Now that Ling Zhang had decided to let Ling Zhaowu handle the matter of building a business network, he wouldn’t overtly interfere with any part of it.
Ji Yin inclined his head. “Anyway I’ve handed all of them over to you already, so I’ll leave it up to you and your father to use your discretion. I’m a geriatric now, and I’m glad to be extricated from these things.”
Ling Zhang flicked him a glance and observed disapprovingly, “You should stop saying that, Grandfather. You’re not a geriatric.”
Ji Yin kept saying that he was at his advanced age, but in fact he looked even younger than Ling Zhang’s father, which would be even more obvious if he trimmed his mustache. On top of that, Ling Zhang privately wished Ji Yin would stay this way and never age.
Ji Yin chuckled, probably because he found his grandson’s words rather childish. He didn’t need to do much thinking to guess what his grandson was thinking, but he was not really worried that he wouldn’t be able to live long enough to see Ling Zhang grow old. Before he found Ling Zhang, he’d taken an unconcerned attitude towards the cultivation of internal energy, but recently he’d started considering how to take the next rung up, because only powerful internal energy could help him live longer, allowing him more time to spend with his grandson.
…
After packing, the grandfather and grandson went to the dinning room together to have lunch. The whole family was there. This was intended as a farewell meal for Ji Yin and the others who were going to depart soon.
During the past few days, the Ling family had regarded both Ji Yanlai, who appeared taciturn but was actually very easy to get along with, and his adorable nephew Ji Xiaocong as family. They were all loath to part with the group of them. Ling Xingzhong, who had jumped and complained in annoyance after losing a game of Chinese chess to Ji Yin in the morning, was now quite upset about the fact that this in-law of his had to leave. The two little boys, Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong, were sitting side by side, nibbling with glum faces instead of wolfing food down as they would have been doing at ordinary times. Ji Xiaocong had that casket behind his butt, refusing to let anybody touch it. Ji Yanlai was barely drinking. He was always a man of few words, and on this occasion he had even less to say. A very intelligent person, Ji Yanlai wouldn’t even cast a second glance at any of those that he believed were not worth having dealings with. The Ling family saw him as family, and he could sense it. Though not very enthusiastic about cultivating personal relationships, deep down he was still somewhat upset about the approaching moment of parting.
The atmosphere at the lunch table was not as lively as usual. Several times Ling Zhang opened his mouth to speak but held back the words on the tip of his tongue, for some of those usual formalities were not suitable for Ji Yanlai’s and the other’s case. In all likelihood, it would be a very long time before Ji Yanlai visited this city again. Apart from anything else, it was as inappropriate for the Millennium Pavilion to be exposed as it was inadvisable for them to disturb the tranquility of the lives of the clan there. Therefore, Ling Zhang found it difficult to say anything like “Stay in touch” or “Visit us more often”, because it was very likely that they would really never see each other again.
“If you’re ever in Haizhou, please go to our island to look us up,” Ji Yanlai suddenly said.
Ling Zhang looked at him, a quizzical expression on his face. The Ling family were all somewhat surprised, but then their faces creased into delighted smiles. “Sure. We definitely will!”
This open invitation from Ji Yanlai suggested that he sincerely hoped they would visit him more often, so they could dismiss all those misgivings.
Ji Xiaocong happily let out a cheer and gobbled down several mouthfuls of rice in a row, polishing off in one breath the food Ling Maomao had put in his bowl. Startled, Ling Maomao hurriedly put down his chopsticks to pat Ji Xiaocong’s back, fearing that he might choke on the food. “Slow down a bit, Cong.”
“Um, um,” replied Ji Xiaocong thickly, crunching on the food and swallowing it, casting Ling Maomao a smile, a few grains of rice sticking to the corners of his mouth. Ling Maomao reached out a hand and wiped the rice off. The two boys’ high spirits instantly infected the others, clearing the melancholy atmosphere from the room. Everybody genuinely relaxed. Ling Xingzhong was so happy that he wanted to drink some wine, and the others had a hard job to talk him out of it. At the banquet in the palace that night, he had drunk too much, so Mr. Mu had expressly forbidden him from drinking any more wine in the next few days.
“Clan Leader, you should come to the capital city more often too, if you could find the time. We’ll be living in that suburban manor, the one Zhang’er’s maternal grandfather purchased. That place is quite secluded. You may stay there for as long as you want,” said Ling Xingzhong. The joyous mood loosened the old man’s tongue.
The others also looked at Ji Yanlai, their eyes glinting expectantly, especially Ji Xiaocong’s and Ling Maomao’s. The expectation gleaming in the two boys’ eyes were almost palpable.
Ji Yanlai chuckled, “I will.”
Everybody else couldn’t take their eyes off Ji Yanlai as he smiled, because his smile was so pretty! Ji Yanlai’s appearance was, without doubt, very attractive, that scarlet mole in the middle of his forehead being the highlight of his charm, making him seem both otherworldly and bewitching, but most of the time his face was fairly impassive, making him appear rather distant, so others didn’t dare look him in the eye too often. Even when he was in a good mood, he merely relaxed the corners of his mouth and softened his face with a twinkle in his eyes. This was the first time that the Ling family had seen him actually smile.
Even Ling Zhang was stupefied for an instant, feeling that this smile of Ji Yanlai’s was so enchanting that anybody beholding it would be enthralled.
The last bit of emotional upset in the others dissolved at the sight of Ji Yanlai’s smile. They’d felt sad because they’d believed that they might not be able to see these people again, but now it’d come to their knowledge that they’d have a lot of chances to meet, so the mood of melancholy naturally ebbed considerably.
Ji Yanlai, who himself also hadn’t thought that his smile would cause such dramatic reaction, appeared a trifle embarrassed, which made him seem much less distant and more like a common person.
…
They had a few moments’ rest after lunch, and then it was time for Ji Yin and the others to depart.
Knowing that these people who had stayed with him for such a long time were about to leave, Ling Zhang felt quite upset.
“Grandfather, you’ll have to deal with the matter of the transfer after you go back there. Be careful not to push yourself too hard.”
“I know.”
“And don’t think that just because you have internal energy you could drink as much wine as you want.”
“I know.”
No matter what Ling Zhang reminded Ji Yin to or not to do, the latter always answered “I know” immediately.
“Take care of yourself, Father-in-law,” said Ling Zhaowu.
Ji Yin gave a bob of the head, clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Heed Mr. Mu’s advice and nurse yourself back to health. I hope you’ll be as good as new by the time I come to this city again.”
“I will,” Ling Zhaowu replied and then personally walked the old man to the horse-drawn carriage.
On the other side, Ling Maomao was grudgingly bidding Ji Xiaocong farewell. Holding the casket in his arms, head down, Ji Xiaocong gave a nod with every sentence Ling Maomao said. After a while, the boy looked up at Ling Maomao and reminded him, “Brother Maomao, you promised me you’d call on me. Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t forget,” said Ling Maomao earnestly.
“Cong, it’s time to go,” called Ji Yanlai inside the carriage.
Ling Maomao looked at the fleet of carriages and then said to Ji Xiaocong, “Go. Get aboard the carriage.”
“Okay,” Ji Xiaocong said with a nod, stroked Ling Maomao’s bracelet and hand one last time and then begrudgingly let a guard carry him into the carriage. Before entering the carriage, he sadly looked over his shoulder at Ling Maomao, who raised his hand and gave him a wave in response.
“Get in here,” urged Ji Yanlai and with that Ji Xiaocong walked into the carriage, stepped to the window, lifted the curtain and said to Ling Maomao, “Brother Maomao, remember to look me up!”
“I will!” responded Ling Maomao aloud.
Ling Zhang and Ling Zhaowu, after walking Ji Yin to the carriage, saw the two little boys bidding each other farewell with reluctance.
The fleet of carriages slowly started progressing. Ling Zhang on horseback accompanied them for a certain distance and halted only when he saw them get through the city gates, a sudden twinge of sorrow rising in him.
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