nycdaug Chapter 986 Peony
Chapter 986 Peony
"Do you know Lin Jingshu?" she asked softly behind Lu Chengyu. That was my grandmother's name. The man paused, without looking back: "That's my grandmother's name." The dock shed was filled with all kinds of old parts. Lu Chengyu made her a cup of ginger tea. The enamel cup had a chipped corner on the rim, and the cup was printed with "1987 Ocean Shipping Commemoration". When Su Wan held the cup to warm her hands, she saw him squatting on the bottom of the "Wangchao" and polishing the cracks with sandpaper. Sawdust stuck to the ends of his hair like a layer of snow. "This ship was built by my grandfather." He suddenly spoke, and the sound of sandpaper rubbing against wood stopped. "It was built in 1946 as a dowry for his fiancée." Su Wan's fingers tightened. There was indeed a model of a ship in her grandmother's dowry. "The ship's doctor said I have scurvy and may not be able to go back. Don't wait for me." Su Wan's tears dripped onto the letter paper, blurring the ink from more than seventy years ago. Lu Chengyu held her in his arms, and she could hear his heartbeat and the sound of the waves overlapping, like an ancient ballad. The night before leaving the Cape of Good Hope, the albatross suddenly flew away. Su Wan stood on the deck, watching it disappear into the twilight, feeling a little lost. Lu Chengyu handed her a small box: "It will come back." Inside the box was a new anchor brooch, with a moonstone pattern on it compared to his old one. "I designed this," he pinned the brooch on her collar, "and from now on you will be the mistress of the 'Wave Chaser'." On the return voyage, Su Wan always saw the albatross in the early morning. It always circled near the side of the ship, as if escorting it. Lu Chengyu said that the albatross can remember every sea area it flies over, just like people can remember the ones they love deeply. On the day the ship entered the port, Su Wan saw an old lady in a blue cheongsam standing on the dock. Lu Chengyu said that she was his grandmother's sister, who had come to pick them up. The old lady held Su Wan's hand, tears welling in her eyes like the moonstone on the bow: "Jingshu would be so happy if she saw you." They donated the "Wangchao" to the Maritime Museum. As Su Wan signed the donation agreement, Lu Chengyu slipped the moonstone ring back onto her hand: "This ship has served its purpose. It's our turn to begin." The wedding took place on the deck of the "Zhulang." The old craftsman presented a new ship plate, engraved with "Su Wan & Lu Chengyu." An albatross alighted on Su Wan's veil, leaving its feathers in her pearly hair crown. Su Wan looked into Lu Chengyu's eyes and suddenly understood the secret her grandmother had spoken of—a safe return isn't about the ship itself, but about the person in her heart. Just like her grandfather's "Wangchao," which had sailed for seventy years carrying his longing for Grandma, finally finding its home with her. As dusk fell, the "Zhulang" slowly sailed away from the harbor. Su Wan leaned on Lu Chengyu's shoulder, watching the white waves trailing behind her stern. An albatross circled overhead, its wings slicing the sunset glow. "Where's next?" she asked softly. "Wherever you want to go." He took her ring-studded hand. "As long as you're here, anywhere is the destination." As the moonlight rose, Su Wan saw two blurry figures floating in the waves at the bow of the boat—a young man in a suit, and a girl in a blue cheongsam. They stood side by side on the crest of the waves, waving in their direction. The albatross suddenly let out a clear cry, as if responding to something on someone's behalf. Su Wan buried her face in Lu Chengyu's arms, listening to the waves crashing against the boat like a never-ending lullaby. It turns out that some love truly can transcend mountains and seas, through the years, and find its destination on a morning filled with waves. Next to it was a small anchor brooch sketched in red pencil. "I want to cultivate the wasteland at the east end of the village," Su Qingyuan said, placing his hoe in the corner. "If I grow enough food, I can pay off my debt to the landlord." "Wang looked as if she had heard a huge joke: "You? The sun has risen from the west to grow crops!" Although she was disdainful, she did not stop her - anyway, the land was wasteland, let her do it. For the next half month, Su Qingyuan went to the wasteland before dawn every day. She first dug a drainage ditch with a small hoe. When her palms were rubbed with blisters, she wrapped them with cloth and continued to work. Lin Yan came to help every day, sometimes bringing some herbs, sometimes carrying half a bucket of water. "Digging like this is too slow." Shen Zhiyi bought a half-new piece of fine cotton cloth and tore two feet of red silk. Aunt Zhang helped her make two new styles of buttons, one like a red plum bud and the other like a butterfly with spread wings. Half a month later, Shen Zhiyi set up a small stall in the market, spread a piece of blue printed cloth, and displayed the clothes she made on it. Gu Yunzhou came to buy a lilac skirt again, and said before leaving: "My mother said you have good craftsmanship, and asked you to make her a shawl for her birthday party. "Xiapei is a women's formal dress with complicated workmanship. The gold thread alone costs three taels of silver. Shen Zhiyi gritted her teeth, took out all the money she had saved, and bought some good materials on credit from the shopkeeper. Zhang Ma helped her draw the patterns, the clerk in the cloth shop helped to run errands to buy silk thread, and even Shen Laoshi came to the woodshed with a bucket of well water: "Don't hurt your eyes by working too hard at night." Li watched Shen Zhiyi busying in and out, and stopped mocking her. Sometimes she would leave a steamed bun in her sewing basket. When Shen Shitou came home from school, he would squat at the door of the woodshed to help her thread the needle - this child always snatched her food before, but now he would stuff the copper coins he had saved into her hands: "Sister, buy some candy. "Three days before the birthday banquet, the shawl was finally completed. On the bright red satin, peony branches were embroidered with gold thread, and pearls as big as rice grains were dotted. The pearls flowed when she walked, as if the whole spring was draped over her body. When Gu Yunzhou came to pick up the goods, he was followed by a graceful woman - Mrs. Gu, who was twisting peony petals. Once, her fingertips touched the tree trunk, and she heard a faint heartbeat from inside - it was Yuechen's, and it slowly became steady with the sound of her tides. A hundred years later, the laurel tree bloomed white flowers for the first time. Xiyao picked a flower and put it to her lips to sniff, suddenly remembering what Yuechen said, "praying sincerely." She whispered to the shadow of the tree: "I recorded the tides of the East China Sea in the shells. When you wake up, we will listen to it together. "Just as she finished speaking, the shell on the silver chain suddenly made a clear sound. She opened the shell, and sure enough, there was a recording of the sound of waves inside, and a very light flute sound, the one he taught her. Five hundred years later, the heaven suddenly punished her - saying that she had an affair with the ancient gods, disrupted the order of the three realms, and wanted to send her into reincarnation to repair the flute." She did not resist, but used the silver thread condensed by the tide to fill the gap in the tail of the flute little by little. When the heavenly soldier's spear stabbed over, the laurel tree suddenly shook violently. Millions of leaves glowed at the same time, forming a golden barrier to keep the heavenly soldiers out. Xiyao looked up and saw a familiar figure slowly walking out of the shadow of the tree - black wide sleeves, a silver crown to tie his hair, but his face was paler than before, and there were more strands of silver hair on his temples. "Who allowed you to touch my people?" Yue Chen's voice was hoarse with just waking up,