Chapter 12: One more day

I went to Kunming with Ru Xue, and we were accompanied by Fan Fan and Tuan Tuan. In the face of the imminent separation of Ru Xue and I, the Fan Fan duo was also very sad. Tuan Tuan repeatedly shed tears and said to Ru Xue, “Watching you, I feel that Fan Fan and I are very happy, but the more so, the more I feel sorry for you.”

Fanfan doesn’t say much, but this time he couldn’t help but say something honest: “Chengyi, why don’t you come to our village? I’m happy to research delicious food for Tuan Tuan every day and cook for her. What’s more important than happiness?

Yes, if you are an ordinary person living an ordinary life, what is more important than happiness?

But Ru Xue and I have too many things more important than happiness. I held Ru Xue’s hand and said to her, “If there is really a next life, I want to be an ordinary person, living a very ordinary life with you. I have too many regrets. I can’t be with my parents until a certain age, and I can’t grow old with you. In fact, being a Taoist is like falling into a strange circle. No one can be very happy, unless they decide not to seek Tao for the rest of their lives.

Ru Xue took my hand back and said, “Unfortunately, life is never something we can choose, is it? If there is a next life, no matter what I do, I still want to meet you again. Chengyi, I’m worried about Irene!”

Ru Xue suddenly brought up Irene. I found it strange that she would talk about this. This girl clearly had no lover, so why was she so obsessed with love? And my master didn’t seem to appreciate her attitude. This wasn’t like my style of not caring about the affairs of mortals and not interfering in other people’s thoughts.

“Are you worried about Irene’s future?” I asked.

“Yes, this girl has grown up with me since she was a child, and I know how fiery she is. If she meets someone who will not disappoint her in the future, that’s fine, but what if she meets someone who will disappoint her?” Ru Xue’s brows furrowed slightly.

In fact, she has never been indifferent, but she is not good at expressing her feelings.

“Ru Xue, everyone’s fate is predetermined, but what is not predetermined is the human heart. You should understand this.” I whispered.

“Yes, I understand. Some people become strong because of their tragic fate, and they can turn things around at the turning point of their fate. But some people fall into depravity and complain, making their misery even worse.” I told Ru Xue some of the Taoist principles. She is very smart, and she quickly understood what I meant.

“Therefore, we cannot worry about or interfere with other people’s futures. Just like Irene, she has decided on her attitude towards life. As her friend, the only thing you can do is to be her friend no matter what the circumstances are.”

“Mmm.”

Before we knew it, the car had arrived in Kunming. We went to see Liu Jie. This time, we were going to stay in Kunming for ten days. The master said that in early December, we would set off for the Black Rock Miao village.

Sixth Sister didn’t seem surprised by our arrival, perhaps because someone from the village had already told her something. She didn’t even sigh. Sixth Sister is smart, and she wouldn’t poke our wounds.

She just arranged everything for us wholeheartedly, sometimes even closing the flower shop and taking us out for a walk.

I finally got to take Ru Xue to see a movie, which was a small theater showing a movie that wasn’t broadcast in the mainland, but Ru Xue and I both wanted to see it.

So, we didn’t hesitate to choose a small screening room similar to a video hall, just for the movie called “Green Snake.”

We had all seen snake spirits, but had never seen a demon in human form. But that didn’t stop us from hearing vague things from the older generation. We were in a sentimental love, and we also wanted to see what kind of feelings there would be between humans and demons.

There is a big difference between watching a movie alone and watching it with someone you love.

When you watch a movie alone, you are alone with your emotions, and you feel even more lonely because you have no one to share them with.

But when two people who love each other watch a movie together, they can always see each other in the audience. Whether the movie is happy or sad, they always feel that even if they don’t say anything, there is someone who is feeling it with them, and that feeling is very warm.

When lovers are immersed in the cinema, they are actually immersed in a shared emotion, immersed in the experience and joys and sorrows of whoever they are with, and the feeling of having him or her by their side when they turn around.

This is how it was with Ruoxue and I. We held hands in the dark, watching this tragedy of love. I could hear her breathing in my ear, and she could feel my heartbeat on her left side.

After leaving the theater, I asked Ru Xue, “Was the movie good?”

Ru Xue nodded gently, then looked up at the sky and said in a low voice, “If we could watch a movie like this every year, how happy would we be?”

“Then we’ll watch it every year. Even if we’re no longer lovers and become like my master and your grandmother, we can still make a pact to watch a movie together every year.” I said to Ru Xue seriously.

“Really?” Ru Xue’s eyes were full of surprise, so much so that she was a little frightened.

“Yes, from now on, every winter, I will come to Kunming to watch a movie with you.” I didn’t swear, but my words were more solemn than an oath in my heart.

I didn’t want to give up on Ru Xue, even though the way I did it was to give up on her, and all that was left was a movie.

On our last day in Kunming, we just wandered aimlessly around this city of eternal spring and blooming flowers. In many places in the city, there were vendors selling photos.

Tuan-tuan and Fan-fan were holding hands, and Ru-xue was holding my hand. Suddenly, Ru-xue said to us, “Let’s take a photo together, so that we won’t forget how happy we are now.”

Actually, I personally am quite resistant to taking pictures, and the reason for this is my master. My master is a Taoist priest, but he is not superstitious. He believes in rational analysis more than anyone else, rather than superstition.

However, he was very persistent about one thing, and that was that he didn’t like to take pictures. He told me that the spirit of a person is like a lake of water, and every time you take a picture, it feels like a layer of spiritual energy is captured and sealed in the photo. Taking too many pictures is like taking too much water from the lake, and the spirit will become weak.

I only know that Taoist ritual objects that have been properly cared for cannot be photographed, and if they are photographed, they will become ineffective for unknown reasons. As for people, I don’t know, and my master has no way of proving this.

But under the influence of my master, I myself am very resistant to taking pictures, but I am too shy to say so, and I always feel superstitious.

But how could I refuse when Ru Xue asked me to?

In the end, we took three photos: one group photo, one of Feifei and Tuan, and one of me and Ruoxue.

In the photos, I was a bit stiff and nervous, but I was tightly holding Ru Xue. Ru Xue was still as calm and quiet as ever, but she had a faint smile on her face. She was snuggling up to me, looking very sweet.

Holding the photo, I thought it was a proof that we were once so in love, and that we were in our prime at that time.

Ten days passed in this way, and we returned to the village.

This time, I always felt a kind of oppressive tension when I returned to the village. Everyone knew that we were finally going to deal with the Heiyan Miao village, and this time it was a complete solution.

The Yueyan Miao village has been oppressed by the Heiyan Miao village for hundreds of years. This time, the people in the village are both looking forward to and unable to believe that they will succeed, so this tense atmosphere is normal.

The master was waiting for us at the entrance to the village. When he saw me and Ru Xue holding hands as we returned, he sighed and said to me, “Rest well for one night. We’re leaving tomorrow.”

For the first time, Ru Xue looked at my master’s back and shouted, “Grandpa Jiang, can I have one more day? Just one more day. I want to be with Cheng Yi for one more day.”

The master turned around, looked deeply at me and Ru Xue, and then suddenly said to me, “Chengyi, you can actually choose again.”

I held Ru Xue’s hand tightly and said to the master, “Master, from the moment I was named Chen Chengyi, do I still have a choice in this life? There is no need to choose anymore.”

And Ru Xue also said, “Grandpa Jiang, only Chen Chengyi, the person I like, would make this choice. If he had chosen differently, he wouldn’t be Chen Chengyi. Just like me, if I had chosen differently, I wouldn’t be Ling Ru Xue.”

The master turned and sighed, then left. Only one sentence echoed in our ears, “Just one more day.”