Ye Xiaoxian had been lying on her belly for quite some time and at the very beginning she was only able to hear some of the noise of the actors, but as she listened for a while she began to understand something about the piece they were performing.
The name of the play was ‘Fairy Couple’, which was under the genre of Huangmei Opera (a form of rural folk song and dance) and it was about a fairy who was the seventh daughter of the Lord of Heaven, who traveled down from heaven to Earth for some fun and fell in love with a mortal, Dong Yong. They married against the Queen of Heaven’s wishes, so she separated the two lovers, with one ending up in heaven and the other remaining on Earth.
Later on, the seventh fairy was willing to become a mortal and wanted to live happily with Dong Yong forever and ever. This is where the story ended.
Ye Xiaoxian shook her head and sighed while she was listening.
Xiao Baoshan noticed this and felt curious so he asked Ye Xiaoxian, “Little Ye, why are you sighing? Is it because you don’t like the play?”
“Not that. I just think the seventh fairy is really stupid.”
“Why?” asked Xiao Baoshan.
Then the two of them started chattering back and forth. The performance down below was loud so they had to draw closer to one other in order to hear each other’s talking.
Ye Xiaoxian shook her head and said, “If I were the fairy, I’d live peacefully in my heaven as a fairy. I’d never go to the mortal world to undergo all that pain.”
“But this is what the seventh fairy chose.”
“The seventh fairy was too young to know the sufferings of the mortal world. The play ends where the seventh fairy was trying to be a mortal anyway and lived with Dong Yong, but what else happened when they were really together? Do they not also have to deal with the realities of married life? She used to be a fairy with her magic power and could maintain her beauty but if she became a mortal she’d end up being a common person, growing old, becoming ugly with flabby bottom, fat hips, saggy skin and white hair. Do you think Dong Yong would still love her as he used to?
Xiao Baoshan suddenly felt that Ye Xiaoxian’s comprehension of this story was interesting. He had watched ‘Fairy Couple’ several times himself and he felt a bit strange every time he watched it. Now as he listened to what Ye Xiaoxian said he finally realized the reason.
“Little Ye, please go on,” said Xiao Baoshan.
Ye Xiaoxian then went on. “When she was a fairy she had a sensation of superiority and, because of this, no matter what kind of life she led she found them all very curious, such as the first couple of years when she just gave birth to babies with Dong Yong. However, when she also became a mortal later on her sense of superiority was taken away, making her the same as her husband. Her parents in heaven would not help her or they would not degrade her into being mortal, right? When she was not being favored anymore, with time going by, they remained poor, and a man as poor as Dong Yong could not even afford a new bed for her, could he?”
“Maybe they could put up with everything because they were deeply in love,” Xiao Baoshan said.
Ye Xiaoxian still shook her head, “All love will expire after being together several years. I can’t imagine what their life would be like after a few years.”
Xiao Baoshan became silent. It was no wonder that Ye Xiaoxian was trying so hard to make money since she was not willing to remain ordinary.
As she was not willing to be an ordinary person she surely would not stay by the side of a mediocre husband. Xiao Baoshan thought that perhaps he should start being a bit more serious about making money or she might look down on him.
After having said all of that Ye Xiaoxian suddenly smiled to Xiao Baoshan. “It’s just my personal opinion. I can’t speak for others and maybe they really can live happily and grow old together, and maybe they find living a thrifty life very happy.”
After all, they did not have mortgage loans, school district houses or the pressures from education and medication in Dong Yong’s era, so he and the seventh fairy could bring up their children in the mountain areas.
Ye Xiaoxian really had no further interest in those traditional operas so after ‘Fairy Couple’ she felt bored.
Xiao Baoshan sensed this so he asked her, “Do you want to go home?”
“Do you want to watch more?” Ye Xiaoxian also asked him. “If you want to watch more I’ll stay here with you.”
Xiao Baoshan shook his head. “I’m good. If you want to go back I’ll take you home.”
Ye Xiaoxian tensed again.
If they were going back they had to get off the roof which required him to carry her.
She changed to a sitting position and dared not look him in the eye, saying, “Well…well, let’s get down then.”
She was not sure if she should stand or sit and wondered which way he would carry her.
She remained the same pose until he helped her to stand up. He asked her to stand on the roof first and then he suddenly gripped her waist and, meanwhile, her legs were in the air.
After a whooshing sound Ye Xiaoxian’s feet stepped on the ground stably.
He hadn’t loosened up his hands as he had to make sure she was standing sturdy. When their eyes met he removed his hands slowly from her waist which made Ye Xiaoxian feel a sense of loss. He should have held her a bit longer.
Still, as he had also loosened up his hands, Ye Xiaoxian felt that she should have more self-control.
‘Let’s go!” She said plainly.
He hurried to catch up with her and lit up the lantern when they reached a dark area. They walked towards the village with the help of the dim light of the lantern. They did not have much to talk about this time.
Ye Xiaoxian did not know what she should chat with him about, while Xiao Baoshan was pondering over what Ye Xiaoxian had said on the roof.
Um, I should take making money more seriously.
After a long wait Ye Xiaoxian finally could take over the restaurant in town. The previous manager had already moved out and Ye Xiaoxian brought Li Hongmei and Xiao Baozhu to tidy it up.
The restaurant had a backyard with three rooms in which people could live. There was also a well at the side of the yard, so they could fetch water directly from the well instead of going to the river.
Ye Xiaoxian originally planned to distribute the three rooms like back in the village. One for Li Hongmei and Xiao Baozhu, one for herself and the other one for Baoshan and Baofeng.
However, Xiao Baoshan said that he was going to take care of the dock and that he had got a place to live there, so they didn’t need to leave a bed for him.
Ye Xiaoxian was initially a little upset but she then figured out that perhaps Xiao Baoshan had his own pride and he thought that if he lived where Ye Xiaoxian was striving to make her career, he’d be considered a clingy idler.
Ye Xiaoxian somehow recalled the remark she had made randomly that night when they went to see the opera.
Did that stir up his feelings?
By no means did she despise Xiao Baoshan as firstly, she was not a fairy and secondly, Xiao Baoshan was not that cowardly Dong Yong.
Never mind, it’s fine if he doesn’t want to live here. He has to have his own career or others will say he’s a clingy idler depending on his wife and I don’t think he can take that.
It took some time to tidy up the restaurant with more chairs and tables being added as well as some new decorations and a new signboard – The Xiaos’ Cuisine. Ye Xiaoxian’s restaurant was going to open up.
However, just before they moved to the town, Ye Xiaoxian and others had suffered some setbacks. Old Mr. Xiao heard that they were going to move to the town and he was insisting on tagging along, saying that he hadn’t been to town all that much in his whole life, so he wanted to live for a while.
Woong Mudan and Chen Ju were willing to get rid of him even for a short while. This old man was such a pain and they’d rather he went to the town so that they would not be scolded by him all day long.
Therefore, Wong Mudan and Chen Ju had been talking over and over again about how great life in town would be; like the things they would wear and how they could eat fluffy pancakes all day.
