Zhu Mingyang stayed with Yan Zhanjin for ten days. The past ten days he stayed here he felt relief. Tonight, when he sat there, staring at the dark night, there was no star in the night sky. He heard the thunder roar loudly across the startles sky, and then the rain began to fall. He leaned against the bamboo wall, watching the rain. He was in deep thinking reminiscing about his past, when he heard Yan Zhanjin called him.
Yan Zhanjin stood at the door and said, "Mingyang, come inside."
Zhu Mingyang ran to the door and walked into Yan Zhanjin's bedroom. He saw a bed and a table.
Yan Zhanjin said, "It will rain for a while." He handed Zhu Mingyang a towel. "Do you have any plans?"
Zhu Mingyang, "I don't."
Yan Zhanjin, "Anywhere you want to go?"
Zhu Mingyang shook his head.
Yan Zhanjin, "If you don't have a place to go, you are welcome to live here with me. I do not mind."
Zhu Mingyang, "Am I troubling you by staying here?"
Yan Zhanjin, "No, not at all." He looked at the corner by the window. "You are welcome to stay as long as you like." He smiled at Zhu Mingyang. "You may have to sleep on the floor tonight."
Zhu Mingyang said, "My back has not healed yet. I will lean on the wall. You continue to sleep."
Yan Zhanjin yawned, "That's right. I forgot about that." He sat on his bed and looked at Zhu Mingyang who had closed his eyes. There was a moment of silence. "Mingyang, Yin shushu will take you to chop wood tomorrow."
Zhu Mingyang, "Okay."
Early the next morning Yin shushu and his grandson showed up with some bamboo. Yin shushu and Zhu Mingyang went out to find firewood, while the grandson stayed with Yan Zhanjin. Later in the afternoon, Zhu Mingyang and Uncle Yin returned. Grandson and Yin shushu left. Zhu Mingyang began to cut the long into smaller pieces.
After cutting the logs, Yan Zhanjin has not left his room yet. Two hours after cutting firewood, Yan Zhanjin came out of his bedroom.
Yan Zhanjin looked at Zhu Mingyang and said, "Let's go to the market to buy something."
Yan Zhanjin stood outside the quilt shop. He looked at Zhu Miyang and said, "I want to buy quilts and pillows."
Zhu Mingyang, "I will stay here and wait for you."
Yan Zhanjin, "Nonsenses." He grabbed Zhu Mingyang's left wrist and dragged him inside the quilt shop.
This is the first time that Zhu Mingyang visit such store. The store are full of handmade quilts, that was neatly folded and display inside the shop.
Yan Zhanjin asked, "Which color do you like?"
Zhu Mingyang, You choose."
Yan Zhanjin, "No, you choose."
Zhu Mingyang didn't want to spend too much time in the quilt shop, so he grabbed the first quilt in front of him. He said, "This one."
Yan Zhanjin, "Are you sure?"
Zhu Mingyang, "Yes."
Yan Zhanjin took the quilt and the pillow up to the front register and paid for it. Then, the two walked to a small inn in the middle of the market.
When the two men sat inside Zhu Mingyang realized, this was the first time he had a quiet meal in the inn. This place reminded him of when his mother was still alive. At that time, his mother started to get sick, and he was about eight or nine years old. He often goes to the back of the inn, where the waiter throws away uneaten food. He will try to pick up the food on top and carefully select the food that has not touched the the ground. He will put the leftover food in a broken bowl and take it back to his mother.
Yan Zhanjin asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Zhu Mingyang, "Reminiscing about the past."
Yan Zhanjin, "About?"
Zhu Mingyang, "When I was young, I used to go to the back of inns like this to grab uneaten food from the garbage."
Yan Zhanjin, "Where are your parents at that time?"
Zhu Mingyang, "There is only me and my mother. She used to work in a inn, but she was sick and therefore unable to work. I was only seven or eight years old. I can't work either, so we survive from other people's rubbish."
Sitting on the table next to Zhu Mingyang and Yan Zhanjin, two martial artists were eating and chatting.
The first man said, "I wonder what exactly is Leader Cao thinking? He announced that when he opened the Mu Treasure cave, he would welcome anyone who wanted to enter."
The second man, "Do you think he is lying?"
The first man, "I believe he only say that because he want the treasure map. The last time I heard it, Yueguang Sect had all the five maps."
The second man, "They are both from famous household, and their words should not be taken seriously."
The first man, "If Leader Cao really does what he says, many martial artists will join him."
The second man said, "There are only three House leaders left in the martial arts world. Which family do you think will be extinct next?"
The first man said, "I think it's the Gu Household."
The second man, "Why do you think so?"
The first man said, "If the Cao and the Wang household join forces, then the Gu will be annihilated like the Mu and the Rao."
The second man, "I heard that people from Beixing Sect are looking for a doctor. Do you think Leader Cao is sick? ''
The first man, "Who knows what those famous household leaders are practicing."
Yan Zhanjin looked at Zhu Mingyang, and he noticed that Zhu Mingyang paid close attention to the conversation between the two man. He wanted to know whether Zhu Mingyang had contact with any sectors that was mentioned in the conversation between the two men.
Yan Zhanjin asked, "Mingyang, are you disciples of any of those Sectors?"
Zhu Mingyang said, "No, I'm just an ordinary bodyguard." He put the bowl and chopsticks on the table. "I'm stuffed."
After the two had finished their meal, they returned home. Zhu Mingyang tried to suppress the words of the two men and keep his head clear. He knew he had only three months of life, so he could no longer do anything to help Gu Yingjie. He looked at Yan Zhanjin's right hand and saw the pink quilt embroidery with white flower embroidery. Then he looked at Yan Zhanjin and asked, "Why do you buy this quilt? Do you like pink?"
Yan Zhanjin, "I think you like it."
Zhu Mingyang, "No, I don't."
Yan Zhanjin, "If you don't like it, why choose it."
Then, Zhu Mingyang realized that in the quilt shop, he did not pay attention when grabbing the quilt.
When the two people reached the main entrance of Yan Zhanjin's house, a basket of persimmons hung on the fence.
Zhu Mingyang asked, "Do you often get free food?"
Yan Zhanjin, "Yes, I help them when they need my help and they just returning my kindness back to me by given me free item like this." He looked at Zhu Mingyang. "You can take that basket and wash the persimmons." He walked into his room with the blanket and the pillow."
Zhu Mingyang washed the persimmons and put them on the kitchen table. Then Yan Zhanjin walked out of the bedroom and walked towards Zhu Mingyang.
Yan Zhanjin said, "Come with me."
Zhu Mingyang followed Yan Zhanjin into the bedroom. He saw that there was another bamboo bed beside the window opposite Yan Zhanjin's bed, and the pink quilt Yan Zhanjin just brought earlier lay on the bed.
Zhu Migyang, "What is this?"
Yan Zhanjin said, "You have no place to go, you will stay here for a while, so I don't think you are suitable for sleeping outside. I don't mind sharing this room with you, as long as you want to."
That night, Zhu Mingyang was lying on the bed, and he stared at Yan Zhanjin. Yan Zhanjin and he has never met before, but Yan Zhanjin has some sympathy for him. Except for his mother and Gu Yingjie, this was the first time someone gave him something, and they wanted nothing return.
Zhu Mingyang looked at the pink flowers on the quilt, which reminded him of when Gu Yingjie gave him a flower embroidery money bag.
Gu Ying handed Zhu Mingyang a money bag and said, "This is for you."
Zhu Mingyang, "I already have one."
Gu Yingjie said, "This one is special."
Zhu Mingyang asked, "How?"
Gu Yingjie replied shyly, "I made it."
Zhu Mingyang smiled and said, "You made it? Really?"
Gu Yingjie, "I ask Chaomei to teach me how to make it. Mingyang, I hope you don't mind that the stitching is not very good, but next time when I made you a outfit, I promise that the stitches will be equal."
Zhu Mingyang closed his eyes and sighed. He murmured softly, "Yingjie, do you miss me?"