“Do I need to submit an application and get your signature and seal before I can laugh?” I still wanted to laugh but didn’t want to look too unseemly, so I held back the risk of internal injury and didn’t clutch my stomach while laughing.
“Talking nonsense again.” He always liked to casually explain my 21st-century language as nonsense.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop laughing. I’m hungry. What is there to eat?” I asked.
I saw Shui Ruohan again on the day Suo Mulang and his son Xiao Cheng were to be executed. The people of Night Mountain crowded around densely, and a few young attendants with difficulty cleared a path for me, eagerly letting me walk in. Actually, I didn’t really want to come, but my feet seemed to react faster than my brain.
In the sea of people, I saw Shui Ruohan with somewhat scattered spirits, his eyes wandering through the crowd, seemingly searching for something. After just four days, he looked even more frail and thin, as if he might collapse at any moment. I pushed through the crowded people, quickly stepped behind him, stood on tiptoe, and covered his eyes from behind with both hands, trying to sound relaxed: “Guess who’s behind you? I’ll give you three options: one, a beautiful woman; two, a very beautiful woman; three, an extremely beautiful woman… choose!”
He trembled deeply, and after a long time, a long-missed smile spread across his face. He removed my hands, gazed at me for a moment, and then said, “You are the fairy in my heart.”
“I know you’re trying to cheer me up, and I know you’re not feeling well inside. I understand that today is the day Suo Mulang will be executed.” He spoke softly, with the same gentle breeze-like smile, but looking even more fragile.
“Are you really okay?” I asked, having seen his melancholic and distracted appearance and wanting to cheer him up. He had come to Night Mountain bearing such a heavy task, and for my sake, he had hesitated to act.
“I’m fine,” he said with a faint smile.
Under the blazing sun, a man behind me suddenly raised
