A Dream of Five Hundred Years (Part 2)

  Cao Cao had finished his breakfast, Shen He first tidied up the household items and then carried a ceramic basin to under the bed, instructing: "If you need to relieve yourself, do it in this basin. Father is going out for a walk." Then he hastily closed the door and went downstairs, fleeing as if escaping.

  He walked away, and the small attic became quiet again. The noise from outside gradually came in.

  Through the slightly ajar window, Shen saw the azure sky with pure white clouds floating on it, and the color was so pure. This little kid who was used to seeing gray skies couldn't help but be stunned, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses, perking up his ears to listen to the sounds outside the window... He heard the rumbling sound of boats passing through the water, the soft and gentle laughter of Wu dialect, and some children's playful laughter.

  Lying for a while, he still couldn't sleep. Shen Mo made an effort to prop himself up with his arm, wanting to sit up and look outside, but his body felt as if it had been filled with lead, heavy and crashing back onto the hard bed board, hurting him so much that he hissed and gasped for cold air.

  He was a stubborn man, the more he couldn't get up, the more he tried again and again. Before long, he had exhausted himself, lying flat on his back in bed, panting heavily.

  At this time, the door was roughly pushed open, and the fat woman appeared in front of Shen again, with a thin man carrying a large trunk behind her.

  That woman had seen Shen He leave early and walked in with a big stride, plopping herself down on the long bench. Without even giving Shen Mo a glance, she pointed at the man and said, "Put it in the corner, and bring those baskets over here too."

  That man looked at Shen Mo who was sweating profusely and said with a tinge of sympathy, "This young fellow is ill, let's not disturb him."

  "Let the little girl's family die." The fat woman looked at Shen Mo with disdain and said angrily, "Our family can't even put our feet down, where else can we go?"

  "Can it be placed on the ground floor?" The man asked cautiously.

  "Let it go." The fat woman scolded, "It's pouring rain, my household items are growing mushrooms, what am I supposed to do? You poor devil, buy me new ones again!" As she spoke, her anger shifted to the man, pointing at his nose and cursing him for being penniless, worthless, and bringing bad luck to their family for generations.

  Silently standing on the side, muttering: 'If there really is someone having an affair with you, that would be a green smoke rising from your ancestors' graves.'

  The man was scolded by his wife until he was extremely embarrassed, and he hastily put down the trunk on the ground, dropped a sentence: "I'll go down to get it again." and fled in a hurry.

  That fat woman gave a loud snort towards his back, and feeling that it was not enough, she prepared to find Shen Mo's weakness again.

  He fell into a violent fit of coughing, his face turning alternately pale and red. With the addition of the large drops of sweat on his forehead, he looked like a man suffering from a serious illness.

  Seeing him coughing non-stop, the woman asked tentatively: "What's wrong with you?"

  "Old..." he whispered, before bursting into another fit of coughing.

  "What's wrong? Leprosy... leprosy?" The fat woman's face suddenly turned pale, as if she had sat on a nail, and jumped up three feet high. She let out a sharp cry, then scrambled to the door and rushed out. As she left, she didn't notice the threshold and tripped, tumbling out into the street. Just at that moment, she collided with a man carrying a bundle on his shoulder, and the two of them rolled down like balls, bouncing and bumping along the way.

  The only sound was a faint rumbling noise, followed by the woman's shrill cry, like a pig being slaughtered: "You won't catch me, will you..."

  "I can't catch up..." A man's wronged voice came from downstairs.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  After a while, the short-haired man with a bruised face came up again, not daring to look at Shen Mo, and hastily picked up his box and left.

  "Actually, cough, I wanted to say is Lao..."

  The man quickened his pace and vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye, as if staying a moment longer in this house would put his life in danger.

  "My father is fine," Shen Mo rolled his eyes and said, "Why don't you all wait for me to finish speaking?" Dealing with these foolish men and women was really too easy.

  Silently farted for a while, felt a wave of drowsiness in silence, then closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

  He dozed off for a while, and Shen Mo was woken up by the sound of someone going upstairs. He didn't open his eyes, and coughed irritably: "I really am sick, are you satisfied now?"

  But then a string of silvery, pleasant laughter was heard, which made one's spirit shake. Shen Mo opened his left eye and saw a small woman with fair skin and smiling eyebrows, holding a food box in one hand and covering her mouth with the other, standing at the door.

  The girl was petite, looking no more than thirteen or fourteen years old. She had two buns on her head and wore a pale green long dress with a seven-color water-embroidered jacket over it. Although she wasn't particularly beautiful, she made up for it with her youthful charm, which caught Shen Mo's eye.

  But it only flashed for a moment, and the two eyes returned to normal. Shen Mo, who had seen countless people, knew that this little girl was the most troublesome, so it's better not to provoke her.

  As expected, the girl saw him staring at her without any reserve, and she glared at him with her almond-shaped eyes, just about to speak sarcastically... but then Shen Mo suddenly returned to normal. A string of words got stuck in her throat, it was neither possible to say them nor not to say them, and she ended up getting so flustered that her small face turned bright red, taking a long time to recover.

  She shot him a fierce glance, then stepped inside and put the food box on the table, saying angrily: "Hey..."

  "My name isn't Feed." Shen Mo said with a silent smile teasing her.

  "Hey!" She sized up the boy, who was about her age, and found that he looked quite good. The little girl decided not to be angry with him and stared at him, saying: "You're Young Master Shen's son, aren't you?"

  "Yes." Shen silently nodded and said: "Who are you?"

  The little girl's black and white eyes rolled around, and she giggled: "I won't tell you."

  "Alright," Shen Mo also smiled and said: "Then I won't ask."

  The little girl suddenly felt frustrated and pouted: "Actually, if you ask me again, I'll tell you."

  "Alright," Shen Mo smiled and asked: "May I ask your surname and given name?"

  "Remember, her surname is Yin and she's called Huaping." The little girl said very seriously.

  "Silver Flower Vase? What a nice name." Shen Mo couldn't help but smile to himself. He thought for a moment, then suddenly understood and asked seriously: "May I ask, Miss, what is your relationship with the young lady of the Yin family?"

  "That's my family's young lady." The little maid proudly raised her head and said, "I'm the young lady's personal maid, a very prestigious position."

  "Sorry, sorry." Shen Mo struggled to get up, but his body was too weak, and he could only smile wryly: "I really can't get up, I'm really being rude."

  Seeing his sudden change in attitude, Huasheng said strangely: "You changed your face so quickly?"

  Shen Mo said seriously, "My father has already said that if Miss Yin hadn't lent a hand, my life would have belonged to Yan Wangye by now." He bowed his head and continued, "I dare not express gratitude for saving my life. Since you are representing Miss Yin, I naturally must show respect."

  A few grand words of consolation immediately delighted the young girl who had not yet experienced much of the world. Not only did her initial displeasure disappear, but she also felt that he was a kind-hearted and well-mannered young man.

  Under the silent and traceless guidance, the atmosphere in the attic became harmonious, the screen opened the food box, and a ceramic pot was taken out from it. When the lid was lifted, a tempting fragrance accompanied by steaming hot air came out, making someone's hungry stomach growl with hunger.

  Division line

  Cough cough, those brothers who are reading books at his station, can't you come out and give a vote?...