Ah Chang

Chapter 10 Winter Solstice

The winter festival night is the longest, and it is difficult to get daylight.

It didn't take long before the winter solstice, the daylight became very short, and the night became very long. The moon just climbed the eaves and the village fell into a deep sleep, except for a candle in A Chang's house.

A Chang doesn't seem to be used to the daily life of the villagers. She always goes to bed later, and when she wakes up, she can already hear the singing in the field.

I thought it would be difficult to lose my memory and be in an unfamiliar environment, but the villagers here are very kind to A-Shang. In addition to constant visits during the day, they will also send her all kinds of daily necessities.A-shang has never had any inconvenience in spending food and clothing. She doesn't seem to even need to ask, and there are always sharp-eyed villagers who can detect what she needs.

Because of this, Ah Chang was grateful, but also felt a little embarrassed. She always thought about what she could do for the villagers to show her gratitude, and even tried to help the villagers do some farm work, but they were all rejected one by one. They always said that Ah Chang You don't have to do anything, just rest in peace.

"Are you recuperating..."

In fact, Ah Chang didn't suffer any serious injuries. Those scratches on the body surface caused by unknown reasons have already healed. For her, the most serious injury may be the loss of memory.

The villagers once found a doctor for A-Shang. The doctor said that A-Shang's head had no signs of serious injuries. The memory loss may be caused by other reasons, it may be psychological, or it may be suffering from some kind of complicated disease. .

"It could come back suddenly, or it could be forever."

The doctor's words were ambiguous, and Ah Chang was inevitably lost. Although the villagers treated her very well, she still felt lonely even in the crowd. Arriving here, there is no root, no place to return to, no origin, no end.

"drift......"

For some reason, A Chang thought of this word, she always felt that this word should be beyond her cognition.

The night after winter was extremely cold, A Chang closed the doors and windows and took a last look at the moon. There might be frost in the fields tomorrow, she thought.

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After the busy farming season, the villagers had a lot of leisure time, and A-Shang's house was more lively than ever. Early this morning, Aunt Qing came in excitedly with a bamboo basket, saying that she was going there early in the morning. I went to the town and brought back some good things for A-Shang.

"Woman, come and see!"

Aunt Qing carefully took the "good things" out of the bamboo basket with her frozen red hands, Ah Chang's eyes lit up, she knew what it was, it was a set of embroidery tools, together with some Nice thread.

"Aunt Qing, this is..."

"I went to the town market early this morning and saw many girls gathered around to buy this. They said it was a new batch of high-quality silk thread for embroidery!" Aunt Qing stroked the silk thread in her hand. There was a bright light in her eyes, her eyes also flickered, and she carefully put it down again: "Wan Niang, you also know that rough people like us don't understand these delicate things, I think you are gentle and quiet." Quietly thinking that you may understand that you are bored in the house on weekdays, so I bought some for you. I heard that the girls in the city also use these to relieve their boredom. Come on, look Do you still like the colors I picked?"

"..."

Ah Shang seemed a bit embarrassed, not because she didn't like the color Aunt Qing chose, but because she thought the silk threads looked too expensive.

"Aunt Qing, thank you for your kindness... But these silk threads must be very expensive, I really can't bear it, why don't I take them to the town for you and ask if they can be returned..." Ah Changxin Nianqing's Aunt Qing's man is not at home all year round, and the family's life depends entirely on her doing farm work alone. She doesn't know how much these things have cost her. Although it is a good intention, she dare not accept it.Aunt Qing felt a little anxious when she saw that A-Shang kept pushing her back, she quickly grabbed something and stuffed it into her arms: "Oh! How can I afford it! These things cost less than a few dollars! It’s my heart! If you don’t want it, Wan Niang, wouldn’t it hurt my heart?”

"Can......"

"That's it! At worst, you accept it first, and later, embroider a pouch for me, and treat it as a return gift for me! I see that all the women in the town have purses on them. They look good! How about it?"

Aunt Qing retreated as she spoke, and when she lost her voice, the person disappeared. A Chang looked at the silk thread stuffed into her arms and pursed her lips. Would it be too deliberate if she chased it out and returned it? It really hurt her. A good heart...

Thinking about this, she finally decided to keep the things, and began to think about what kind of purse Aunt Qing would like.

"Miss! Remember to come to our house for dinner at noon!"

Aunt Qing's voice came from outside the house again, A-Shang opened the window to respond, and found that today's sky was exceptionally clear, with faint white clouds floating leisurely under the soft warm sun, A-Shang watched those floating white clouds come out. God, she suddenly had an inspiration and decided to embroider some clouds on her purse.

Although it was just a relatively simple cloud, Ah Chang embroidered for half a day, from the sun hanging in the sky to the top of the moon, until the house was so dark that it was almost invisible, Ah Chang realized that it was night.

After lighting a candle, A Chang was just about to sit down when there was a knock on the door outside the courtyard. It was a scholar who had met by chance at the edge of the field that day.

The scholar's name is Ruan Siyuan, and he is the only one in the village who has studied.Since we met that day, I would come to talk to A-Shang every now and then, because I knew that A-Shang could read some words, so I would always bring some books with me. A-Shang thought that he might have discovered some interesting books , Busy to open the door for him.

"I just passed by and saw the lights on inside." Ruan Siyuan walked into the house and glanced at the embroidery on the table: "The girl is embroidering."

"It was sent by Aunt Qing this morning..." A Chang put away the semi-finished products on the table in embarrassment, but Ruan Siyuan took the half-embroidered purse from her hand: "This is a good one." The silk thread and satin..." He stopped in the middle of his sentence, looked at A Shang and changed the subject: "Miss, is this embroidered cloud?"

"Mr. Ruan can see it." A Chang nodded shyly, and Ruan Siyuan's eyes were full of approval: "A piece of silk is as light as water, and the flowers are filled with jade fingers. Girl, this lifelike cloud is not only for seeing The colors are elegant, the stitches are delicate, and the girl's embroidery is truly a masterpiece!"

Ah Shang was made even more shy by Ruan Siyuan's half-subtle and half-blunt praise, she lowered her eyelashes to hide the blush on her cheeks, Ruan Siyuan knew that she was ashamed and hurriedly returned her purse, and took out a book from her arms.

"I came today to give a book of poems to the girl."

"Poems?"

"Um."

Ruan Siyuan handed the book to A-Shang, and A-Shang carefully opened it under the candlelight. The fragrance of books and ink coming to her face made her heart settle down.

"Young lady, if you see a word you don't know, just ask me."

Ruan Siyuan accompanied the reader tenderly, and Ah Chang carefully flipped through the pages, when his fingertips suddenly stopped on a page. Ruan Siyuan thought she didn't know her, so he took a closer look:

"Yunxiang Clothes..."

"Hua Xiangrong."

Ruan Siyuan had just finished reading halfway, and Ah Shang took it up. She knew this poem long before she knew Ruan Siyuan.

when is it...

The night of the winter solstice was chilly very quickly. A Chang shrank her shoulders and looked at the poem in the book blankly. Her cold fingertips lingered on the leading "cloud". She always felt that this word was a bit special to her. memories, but she couldn't remember them.