Chapter 5 New Life

  Now we officially call the protagonist Mu Ya Ping, a person whose body has not changed but his "soul" has been reborn. As Mu Ya Ping's physical condition gradually recovers, coupled with his rapid recovery of "memory", the Mu family is overjoyed as if celebrating a festival. Within half a month, relatives and friends, including the Hou couple, the Liu couple, Mu Tianyi's colleagues, friends, and superiors, all came to the Mu residence to offer congratulations, praising that the young master had survived a great calamity and would surely become rich and noble, and the Mu family would definitely prosper even more.

  Mu Ya Ping was quite unfamiliar with this era, so he tried to control himself and speak less, listen more, and ask more questions, trying to make himself recover slowly like a real patient. On the one hand, he learned about the Mu family's affairs through his wife Wan Qiu's mouth. On the other hand, he came into contact with visiting guests, observing and understanding external things directly. For now, what he needed to do first was to integrate into this family, and then integrate into this society. As for how to position himself, what to do, what could be done, and what should be done, it was still an unknown number, and he would settle down first before thinking about it.

  Talking about his wife, Late Autumn, after experiencing great sorrow and joy, walking through two extremes, for an 18-year-old young woman, that kind of taste is indescribable in language. At the age of 18, modern girls are innocent and playful, but compared to them, Late Autumn, although youthful and beautiful, has already become mature and terrifying from her appearance, speech, and behavior. This is Mu Ya Ping's conclusion. He even suspected that even if this hadn't happened, women in this era would still mature too early, take on the heavy responsibilities of being a wife and daughter-in-law too early, and lose their innocent and lovely feminine aura too early.

  During Mu Ya Ping's convalescence, his wife Wan Qiu stayed by his side every day, serving him with devotion and sincerity, giving him a sense of maternal love. In just a few short days, Mu Ya Ping was amazed! The traditional virtues of Chinese women were fully embodied in this era, for a married woman, her husband is everything. Mu Ya Ping was deeply moved, from Wan Qiu he saw the true world of men.

  Unconsciously, Late Autumn had developed a habit of telling him about the Mu estate's affairs every day, and then the topics of conversation gradually expanded to include relatives, friends, rumors, and the various lives of people in the capital. Moreover, Late Autumn also found that her husband seemed to have changed into a different person, becoming more easy-going and somewhat unfamiliar. In the past, her brother-in-law was proud and had an air of a young master, but now he could communicate with her warmly and listen to her innermost thoughts without getting tired of them.

  Late autumn felt very happy, feeling that God was blessing her and pitying her! In these days, she saw her husband walking on the ground, getting better and better in spirit. Seeing her husband chatting with his parents-in-law and siblings, especially when interacting with elders and friends who came to visit, her husband seemed like a different person, although he didn't say much, but Late Autumn felt that her husband suddenly became mature and scary. Two days ago, Rong Baozai's manager came to visit Mu Yaping privately and told Late Autumn: The young master is not the same as before.

  Since Mu Ya got out of bed and started moving around, he went to his parents every day to pay his respects, showing the demeanor of an eldest son everywhere. Although Mu Tianyi and Mrs. Mu had a refreshing feeling, they couldn't help but worry, because Wang Yu said that after the young master recovered, his personality might change, and what it would change into was exactly what they were worried about.

  On this day, Mu Ya Ping suggested visiting San Di's house because he heard from Wan Qiu that Xiang Yun was married to He Ping to rush the young master, and for many days Mu Ya Ping had not seen San Di's shadow. What story was there inside? Wan Qiu didn't know, and Mu Ya Ping couldn't understand either. He vaguely felt that Xiang Yun's eyes were different from others when she looked at him, and her expression was always a bit unusual. How many questions were hidden in this?

  Walking into San Di's room, Liu Xiangyun was writing with a brush. Looking at the line of calligraphy, Mu Yaping said: "What beautiful characters, they have the standard of a great master, truly a woman is not inferior to a man!" Turning around to face Liu Xiangyun who was still writing, she discovered it was Mu Yaping and his wife walking in, suddenly becoming somewhat flustered and blushing, saying: "Big brother you're teasing me, my characters can't compare with yours! Since big brother has come here, please bestow some instruction on a couplet, I haven't seen big brother write for a long time."

  Mu Ya Ping thought to himself that it was no wonder he had a good hand for writing, given the inkstone, pen holder and rice paper on his desk. Seeing Liu Xiangyun's ink and brush, Mu Ya Ping tensed up thinking of a plan. At this time, Wan Qiu chimed in from the side, "Brother, why don't you write a couplet?" Mu Ya Ping had an idea and began to think quickly. He reached out his hand to grab the brush, but before he could even grasp it, it fell to the ground.

  Mu Ya Ping's thumb began to tremble, and Wan Qiu exclaimed: "Brother, what's wrong with your hand?" Xiang Yun also asked urgently: "Big brother, does your hand have no strength?" Mu Ya Ping looked calmly at his fingers and sighed.

  Xiangyun said, "Big brother, your hand can't hold the pen, are you still not fully recovered?" Mu Yaping pretended to be distressed and said, "Maybe! It's just that I feel like my thumb and index finger don't have any strength." Liu Xiangyun blamed herself, saying, "Big brother, it's all because of me, I've caused you trouble." Wan Qiu's eyes suddenly became moist as she said, "Older cousin, your hand..."

  Mu Ya Ping Man said, "Nothing, maybe it's just that my body hasn't recovered yet. To take a step back, even if my hands are no longer agile and I can't write anymore. But my brain is still healthy, to be able to reach this point now is already a miracle, you should be happy for me, you should congratulate me."

  The two sisters-in-law smiled, and Mu Ya Ping said, "Don't tell your parents about this, or they'll worry." The two sisters-in-law nodded, and Mu Ya Ping changed the subject: "Younger sister, where's He Ping? I haven't seen him for days." Xiang Yun's face darkened for a moment before returning to normal as she said, "Big brother, He Ping is busy outside. Men always have their own things to do; men who stay at home are useless." Mu Ya Ping noticed the subtle change in Xiang Yun's expression, but she didn't want to say more, and he couldn't ask again. However, he sensed that there must be a problem between them.

  Coming out of the He Ping's house, Mu Ya Ping asked: "How are He Ping and Xiang Yun usually?" Wan Qiu replied: "Good! They are polite to each other, respectful like guests, I even envy them." Mu Ya Ping saw Xiang Yun's gentle eyes and melancholy face again in her mind, thinking to herself: The problem won't be that simple, this can only explain that Wan Qiu is a simple person, her naivety makes her not discerning. Mu Ya Ping decided that Xiang Yun and He Ping's marriage was caused by herself, so she had the responsibility to help them with their happiness.

  Xiangyun saw off Mu Ya and Wan Qiu, a thread of melancholy surged up in her heart again. Looking at the loving figures of the couple, tears couldn't help but flow out. Her relationship with He Ping was now like two different people in front of others and behind their backs, almost playing two roles. Xiangyun was a strong-willed woman, trying to maintain a loving couple image in front of her parents-in-law and everyone else, but behind closed doors, the two were as cold as ice. She still remembered that on their wedding night, Mu He Ping stumbled into the room drunk and said: "Xiangyun, I didn't agree to this marriage, it was my parents who forced me to get married. As for what happens next, I hope you won't interfere with me."

  Xiangyun had already resigned herself to her fate and was prepared to accept He Ping's decision, but when she heard his heartless words, she should have been sad and angry. However, Xiangyun seemed very calm and composed, as if she could accept He Ping's unreasonable behavior. This was because they were too familiar with each other, so much so that there were no secrets between them. She thought back to the times when she would often tease and mock He Ping's pride, making fun of his incompetence, which always left him feeling frustrated.

  Looking at He Ping's sleeping face, Xiangyun suddenly felt a sense of sympathy for him. It was clear that the person in front of her was also a victim. On the night of his brother's wedding, he had suddenly died and then miraculously come back to life. Afterwards, He Ping solemnly told Xiangyun: "Brother is better now, we have completed our task. You can choose to divorce."

  As for divorce, Xiangyun had considered it. But such things are easy to say but hard to hear, especially when it comes to the families of both parties, which would be a fatal blow. The result of this intense conflict between feudal etiquette and modern thought was that Xiangyun was still bound by traditional moral norms, and she decided to just go on with her life like this. Originally, He Ping was already unruly, and now he was even more so, coming and going as he pleased, doing his own thing. Xiangyun tolerated his behavior, and the couple got along peacefully enough.

  Mu Ya Ping walked into the house, looked at the pen holder and inkstone on the table, and instructed: "Wan Qiu, from today on, put all these things away." Wan Qiu said anxiously: "Brother, I'll go invite Doctor Wang to take a look at your hand, what's wrong with it?" Mu Ya Ping looked at Wan Qiu's worried expression, stretched out his hand and pulled her into his arms, saying: "Forget it! Let's talk about it after some time has passed."

  Wan Qiu said: "In the past, you wrote every day. If your hand has a problem, it would be a waste of your good handwriting." Mu Ya Ping stroked Wan Qiu's hair and said: "There is nothing to regret. Perhaps heaven wants me to be reborn once, to do greater things, rather than wasting time writing every day." Wan Qiu asked in surprise: "Isn't one antique shop enough for you to worry about?"

  Mu Ya Ping smiled and said, "After this great disaster, I want to think carefully. A man of honor cannot be idle and live a dull life, a good son should have a grand ambition, I want to achieve something." Wan Qiu doubted and said, "Brother, your change is really big, I don't know how you became like this."

  Mu Ya Ping smiled and said: "Then don't think about anything else, be my virtuous assistant! Time flies so fast, it's already been a month. Now that my body is no longer in great discomfort, I'm planning to go to the antique shop to take care of business. Tomorrow you can accompany me to Xiangshan to clear my mind and feel the fresh air in nature, I want to get rid of the old and bring in the new, repositioning my life."

  Late autumn had no objection, and that night at dinner, Mu Ya Ping announced his decision to go to Xiangshan. Xiaofei, who was idle at home, heard the news and said he also wanted to go. Mrs. Mu said: "Late Autumn will accompany your elder brother to relax, what are you doing by going? You're not allowed to go." Anxiang pouted unhappily, looking up at her elder brother for help, but Mu Ya Ping pretended not to see.

  According to his original intention, he didn't even want to bring Wan Qiu in the late autumn, but not bringing Wan Qiu was unreasonable. Mu Ya Ping wanted to be at the top of Xiangshan Mountain, while appreciating the natural scenery and clearing his mind, to carefully plan what to do next.