In Search of Love Chapter 4
Rescue?
The young man saw the situation Su Xiaopei was in, nodded his head, then turned back towards the bonfire with an implacable calm to open his bag and extract an article of clothing.
Su Xiaopei was beginning to doubt what he was doing when the man suddenly leapt up and gave the tree limb a hard kick, causing the tall tree to shake violently. Su Xiaopei could not hold on any longer and so with that single kick, she fell from her perch.
“Ah!” Su Xiaopei screamed, thinking that she would at least lose half her lifespan with this fall. But everything passed in a flash as she felt a tug and a pull, and when she finally processed what had happened, she found herself safely on the ground swathed in the garment.
Su Xiaopei’s legs were unsteady and she soon plopped herself on the floor.
The man didn’t step forward to assist her, nor did he ask for his clothing back and merely looked at her quietly from two paces away.
Su Xiaopei remembered her thin nightclothes then, as well as the even more embarrassing lack of undergarments and hurriedly wrapped the large garment tighter around her.
She stood up and couldn’t help but hiss a breath. Standing barefoot on the soily ground was not only cold, but painful with the pebbles digging into the bottoms of her feet.
Su Xiaopei finally steadied herself and offered a word of thanks. When the man saw that she seemed fine, he smiled, nodded, and then returned first to the bonfire.
Su Xiaopei followed him and found a spot to sit. Across from her sat the troubled woman while to her left was the warrior who had reached out to help her.
Su Xiaopei observed the two people and decided in her heart to act when the opportunity arises.
“How did Miss come to such misfortune?” The one who asked was the man. His tone of voice was neutral, sounding neither cold nor curious, as if finding two women stranded in the middle of the mountain woods was not a strange happenstance.
Su Xiaopei looked at him. She still hadn’t come up with a good answer to his question.
It wasn’t as if she could cry for help again, so what should she even say?
[TL/N: She thought that her needing help would divert/delay answering the question. Maybe she thought he’d forget she didn’t answer it?]
“I don’t remember.”
The two became obviously startled.
Su xiaopei observed them, finding it hard to determine whether they were astonished by her amnesia or her way of speech. She curled into herself and softened her tone, imitating the way that troubled woman spoke, “When I regained awareness, I found myself on top of the tree….. I also don’t know how this happened….. I don’t remember anything.”
If she had to come up with a farfetched lie, then she might as well blame it all on memory.
What she said could be considered truth as she truly didn’t know what happened.
The man gave her an appraising look, not saying a word.
The other young lady remained stunned for a good while before she asked carefully, “Miss is saying that Miss has no recollection and does not know why one was thus so?”
Su Xiaopei dipped her head and nodded.
“Then Miss’ fullname… has also been forgotten?”
Su Xiaopei nodded again.
The young lady sighed and didn’t ask anymore.
The man spoke up then, “In that case, have Miss any plans?”
Su Xiaopei was in a daze; what plans could she possibly make? She sure had none. Her mind was completely blank, entirely unable to figure what to do.
The three remained silent for a moment before it was Su Xiaopei who asked a question. “Excuse me, what place is this?”
“What place?” The man raised an eyebrow.
Su Xiaopei was taken aback and frowned; was he asking her back?
“Whereabouts?” He continued, with clear inquiry.
Su Xiaopei reacted then and hurriedly nodded, “ Yes, yes, I meant to say, this place is whereabouts? Ah, I meant hereabouts is whereabouts?”
[TL/N: She is is unused to asking about locations using ‘何处’ which is equivalent to using the word ‘whereabout’ used in older/formal language, versus the more modern way of speech ‘哪里’ as in ‘what place’.]
Both the young lady and the man looked at her with a bizarre expression, and Su Xiaopei held her tongue in shame.
“Tianlian Mountain.” The warrior replied, his countenance quickly reverting to normal. “The mountain range is seemingly connected continuously, hence the name. Upon descending the mountains, the first town along the road is Shi’tou Town. At dawn, this one will send Miss Tang back to Shi’tou Town where her home is.” The man pointed at the troubled woman, then asked Su Xiaopei, “From whence did Miss come, whereabouts is the hometown?”
Su Xiaopei shook her head. She clearly said she had amnesia and yet he asked? She could only play dumb again, “I truly…. remember nothing at all.”
Miss Tang spoke up, “Miss’ hometown must be quite far indeed.” She paused for a moment before quietly explaining the reason behind her speculation. “Miss’ accent is different from ours.”
Su Xiaopei nodded. Not only was the accent, but there were too many dissimilarities.
That warrior didn’t utter a word, neither seeming alarmed over nothing nor making any wild conjectures but merely stirred the bonfire to strengthen the flames.
Seeing as Su Xiaopei agreed with her hypotheses, Miss Tang continued speculating, “Perhaps Miss was a nun of a Buddhist convent but has now remitted those customs and left, only to meet with misfortune?”
Su Xiaopei was trying to understand what a ‘convent nun’* was when the words ‘remitting customs’ were mentioned; she understood then. She touched her short hair, feeling helpless.
[TL/N: 庵里姑子 Is how Buddhist nuns were referred to back then while 庵 refers to the convent. Nowadays, it’s just worded differently as 尼姑庵, referring to the nunnery, where nuns are called 尼姑.]
A nun?
Well fine, at least she’d be one who remitted customs.
Could a nun who remitted customs have as fashionable a hairstyle as her? Su Xiaopei looked at Miss Tang’s hairstyle then and felt helplessness in her heart. It wasn’t impossible that perhaps in others’ eyes, her appearance was unsightly.
Su Xiaopei tightened her hold on the coarse-clothed garment around her body. The clothing was large and thick, wrapping around her quite well. She hoped that the lighting back there wasn’t very clear, that the man hadn’t seen her manner of sleepwear nor the picture on it. Otherwise, even if she were a nun from a faraway land, forget about her wearing strange clothing, but what would they say about the cartoon little bear plastered on the front of her nightshirt?
Thankfully, neither of the two spoke up after that. Miss Tang’s speculations were the most reasonable explanation for the current situation. Su Xiaopei was not stupid enought to refute them. She pondered for a while, then asked in her awkward accent to find out that it was currently the 13th year of Jingfeng*, sixth day of the third lunar month**.
[TL/N: *During imperial times, years are marked according to the reign of a particular emperor or dynastic reign. Japan, which still runs on a constitutional monarchy, continues this tradition alongside using the conventional method.
**The Chinese calendar is based on the phases of the moon, unlike the universal calendar and thus the days of the lunar months will always shift differently; taking this year (2021) for example, the lunar-based date mentioned here would actually be April 17, 2021.]
Su Xiaopei thought carefully. She had fallen asleep on August twenty-sixth and so at daybreak, it would be August twenty-seventh, which was a far cry from the sixth day of the third lunar month. And Jingfeng, what year indicator was Jingfeng? She quickly gave up thinking about this altogether as her expertise was not in history; if there were things to think about, then she’d be better off considering what to do next.
First, she had no money- this was a realistic issue. In fact, she wasn’t sure of the currency type used here or how it looked. Was it copper coins, silvers, gold? Or was it the kind seen in movies, the banknotes*?
[TL/N: 银票, also called ‘silver notes/slips’ were issued in the imperial days (earliest during the Northern Song Dynasty) based on the amount of silver taels being stored at the local ‘bank’. This slip is stamped according to the silvers exchanged and can be converted anywhere as long as the paper could be verified. This helped relieve the weight of carrying heavy coins and the possibility of being robbed on the street.]
Thinking further ahead, without money, she would have no place to stay and she would starve. And in thinking about the immediate, she was currently without any suitable clothing and was even barefoot.
In addition, her way of speech as well as outward appearance were different from everyone. She had yet to see their script but they should be similar to the one she knows, right? She sighed in her heart; if she cannot blend in with the masses, then her livelihood would also become a problem.
And the most damnable thing was, she had no idea where to go.
Su Xiaopei stared into the fire in a daze.
Miss Tang, who sat across from her, hadn’t said a word for some time. Su Xiaopei thought she had fallen asleep given her curled posture. For a person who had been abducted by mountain bandits and had then escaped, her behavior showed extreme fortitude. Su Xiaopei looked at the crown of her head, lit by the flame’s glow, and remembered the cases that she had been in contact with in the past. Needless to say, the situation that befell this woman where she narrowly escaped death- it would more or less cause some sort of psychological issue for just about anyone who experienced this.
Su Xiaopei suddenly came back to her senses. She was still pondering over someone else’s psychological problems at a time like this when her own situation was the most troublesome of all?
But perhaps she was overthinking. Maybe after a night’s sleep, she would find herself waking in her own bedroom, that this was all merely a dream. Su Xiaopei had just set her heart to simply getting a good night’s sleep when she turned her head to find the warrior was staring at her feet. In his hand were a pair of scissors he’d taken out sometime ago and was in the midst of cutting an article of clothing.
Su Xiaopei looked back at her own bare feet and unconsciously tucked them in before turning again to look at the warrior.
The warrior saw her looking at him and said, “Excuse my discourtesy.” He then sped up the task at hand and all too soon, he passed over several pieces of rough cloth, and a needle and some thread.
When Su Xiaopei looked blankly at him, the warrior explained, “If Miss has no shoes upon her feet, how will one descend the mountain?”
“Oh, yes.” Su Xiaopei understood his meaning.
While making shoes was impossible, putting together a pair of socks from rough cloth for temporary use was much better than bare feet.
She accepted the proffered cloth, needle, and thread, her heart filled with gratitude towards the warrior. He gave her his own garment to put on, then ruined another one so she could make socks- such a nice person.
Not only was he a warrior, but also a gentleman.
“What is your name called?” She casually asked, but felt something wasn’t right the moment she spoke. So she changed her wording, “Warrior’s honourable full name?”
She sighed in her heart after speaking, as it was quite awkward to speak this way.
“This one is Ran Feize.” His response was quite politely formal.
Su Xiaopei nodded and returned her attention to the pieces of cloth as she waved it back and forth, unsure of where to even start. For as old as she was, she had only sewn a button just once.
No matter; she’ll think about it after sewing.
She began setting to work while simultaneously calculating her next steps. If things really didn’t work out, then she’ll follow Ran Feize first. He didn’t seem like a bad person so he was unlikely to heartlessly leave behind a troubled woman who was without clothing, without support, and without all her memories, right? Or maybe she should go along with him to return Miss Tang home and take a look at places to settle down before making further decisions?
“Miss.” Ran Feize spoke up at this time.
“Ah?” Su Xiaopei looked over in his direction.
“Allow me after all.”
Allow what? Su Xiaopei watched as he extended his hand, then came to a realization, and rushed to hand the materials back to him.
Ran Feize didn’t say much and peaceably took out the threads that Su Xiaopei had sewn into a tangled mess, readjusted the pieces of cloth and then, sewed them together with surprising speed. Su Xiaopei couldn’t help feeling deeply ashamed as she watched his skilled movements.
Not long after, the thick cloth socks were ready.
Ran Feize handed them over and Su Xiaopei quickly thanked him before putting them on her feet. He had even deliberately stitched in another layer under the soles of the socks so it was extra sturdy. This made Su Xiaopei decide all the more firmly that she must follow after this wonderful warrior until she had a better plan.
Ran Feize spoke up once again, “Miss, I will be sending Miss Tang back to Shi’tou Town tomorrow, will Miss be coming along?”
“Of course, of course.” Su Xiaopei nodded vigorously. She noticed that this person had switched from modestly referring to himself as ‘this one’ to ‘I’, and had also taken the initiative to shorten the sense of distance between them. This was a good start for her.
“Upon reaching Shi’tou Town, have Miss any plans?”
Unable to come up with any plans, Su Xiaopei needn’t purposefully wear a pitiful expression to show that she was at a loss for what to do.
Ran Feize kept his composure as he made use of curbing the fire to look at Su Xiaopei and said, “I originally ought to render help to Miss, only I have the wish to but not the ability, I hope Miss does not find fault. I carry no precious items, only bare necessities, thus, am ill-equipped to look after Miss.”
Su Xiaopei froze, was this his tactful way of asking her not to harry him?
She asked directly, “Warrior is conveying that you have no money on you and therefore, no means to aid me- to that effect?”
Ran Feize paused. Su Xiaopei surmised that he hadn’t expected her to be this straightforward; she became more circumspect as she imagined that women in ancient times were more reserved and so quietly reminded herself to be more careful with her words and actions. But then, she immediately saw Ran Feize’s expression lighten with realization and with a smile in his eyes, he replied, “It is as Miss suggests.” Not even the slightest embarrassment and as calm as ever.
This time, it was Su Xiaopei who became startled before she, too, grasped the situation. They were both alike, each needed time to process the other’s words in their head before understanding. It was not complete discommunication, rather it was just unfamiliar.
For a moment, Su Xiaopei was unsure of what response would be appropriate so she simply nodded without a word; it would be better to speak less. But this Warrior Ran was truly…… Divulging poverty while exuding propriety with such calmness and refusing with such decisiveness. He was truly….
She couldn’t think of an apt adjective nor could she think of what to do. So she decided to sleep. Perhaps upon waking from sleep, she would once again be in her bedroom.
Su Xiaopei hugged her knees, curling into herself and closed her eyes.
She truly did fall asleep in the end.
And in opening her eyes, she was still greeted with the same stretch of forest scenery.
The bonfire before her had since extinguished and the light of early dawn penetrated through the treetops to scatter itself onto the ground like broken pieces of gold flakes. The grass and wildflowers were covered in morning dew, sparkling and translucent; the scenery was quite pleasant and refreshing to Su Xiaopei. She had never sojourned in an old forest deep within the mountains before.
Both Miss Tang and Ran Feize had already risen and were walking about. Su Xiaopei stretched out her numb legs, stood up and carefully examined the weird, large, men’s clothing she was wearing. When she saw that nothing was exposed or seemed revealing, she also stretched out her arms and began moving about.
Alright, let’s take things as they come. She was a professional after all and very much capable of overcoming unhealthy emotions and psychological barriers.
