Two days later, Ling Zhaowen departed for Shengzhou. Ling Zhang went out of the palace to see his uncle off.
After another two days, Ji Yin and Ji Yanlai also prepared themselves to leave the capital city, intending to return to the Sanguan Mountains.
People in the Ling Mansion started packing early in the morning. It was mainly Ji Yanlai’s and Ji Xiaocong’s bags that they were packing. The uncle and nephew seemed to have sharp curiosity about everything and wanted to include everything in sight as part of their baggage. Had there been any proper methods of preserving food for long, they would purchase all the delicacies for sale in the streets and alleys of the whole capital city and bring them back to the Millennium Pavilion.
Ling Maomao was running around helping Ji Xiaocong pack, his face drenched with sweat, Ji Xiaocong at his heels with laden arms. On entering the house, Ling Zhang was astonished by the two little boys rushed off their feet. At the sight of Ji Xiaocong quickly clattering around with a bag of things in his arms that almost blocked his view of his path, Ling Zhang was taken aback and hastened to his help.
When he had taken the bag from the boy, he found that the contents were just some sundry small items, all of which were doodads appealing to children.
“Do you want these packed as well?”
“Yeah!”
Ji Xiaocong made a reply excitedly, his eyes twinkling with merriment as he watched his bag grow fuller.
Ling Maomao walked over, took the bag from Ling Zhang’s hand and put it into a trunk, his forehead and cheeks sopping wet with sweat, a faintly sulky expression on his face, appearing to be a trifle unhappy. Ling Zhang, who could tell at a glance what it was about, didn’t say anything and just wiped the sweat off the boy’s face.
“Is there anything else, Cong?” Ling Maomao asked Ji Xiaocong.
Ji Xiaocong pivoted around and broke into a trot, clattering away to look for more, Ling Maomao following in his wake at a gentle pace. The two of them had been living in the same house. Originally this house had had only Ling Maomao’s things inside it, but afterward Ji Xiaocong had moved in, and then within only a couple of days, a lot of Ji Xiaocong’s things had been brought into the house. They were literally everywhere. Ling Zhang couldn’t find a single position in this house where he couldn’t find any knick-knacks within his reach.
Ji Xiaocong ran into the bedroom, pointed at a small case on the side and said, “This one.”
The contents of the case were also miscellaneous, including a kite, some glass beads from abroad, an exquisite pouch… Ling Maomao looked at the case, tentatively tried moving it but found that it was rather heavy. His face reddened from the effort but he still couldn’t budge it, so he gave up, appearing somewhat vexed.
Seeing this, Ling Zhang walked over and picked up the case for him. “Don’t worry. You’ll have enough strength for this when you grow a little taller.”
Ji Xiaocong watched Ling Zhang leave with the case, then climbed onto the bed, crawled to the depths of it and pulled out a pillow and a small-sized quilt. Ling Maomao was somewhat surprised at the sight of this. “Cong, you want to take this away as well?”
Ji Xiaocong nodded vigorously. “Yeah!”
He had slept with his head on this pillow and this quilt over his body, so of course these things belonged to him now. Although he had a pillow and a quilt at home which he had been using since birth and he liked them very much, this pillow and this quilt were also his favorites. The very thought of leaving them alone in this place saddened Ji Xiaocong.
On top of that… Ji Xiaocong stole a glance at the pillow and the quilt on the side, slightly inclined to take them too, though they were Ling Maomao’s.
Ling Maomao panicked a little. “But, if you take them, there won’t be anything of yours left in this house.”
Ling Zhang, who had just brought the case outside, returned just in time to see this scene. He paused, gave it some thought and decided not to interrupt them.
Holding the pillow and the quilt, Ji Xiaocong was unwilling to put them down and even greedily wanted to take Ling Maomao’s pillow and quilt away too. The artless little boy didn’t think much about this matter. He just wanted to take away all the good, familiar things and hide them. It was at the sight of Ling Maomao’s injured face that he looked somewhat astonished and slowly slackened his grip. “B–But I want to take them back home, because they’ll remind me of you whenever I see them.”
Ling Maomao was also astonished. Was that so? Should he let Ji Xiaocong take them away or should he not? But this little jerk Ji Xiaocong had ransacked this whole house and didn’t leave anything of his behind.
Eventually it was Ling Maomao who compromised. “Okay then, you may take them.”
As Ji Xiaocong saw Ling Maomao relent, smile reappeared on his face and he started crawling down the bed with the pillow and the quilt in his arms, but the two things were too large for his size and he lost his balance. Ling Maomao hurriedly flung out his arms to stop him from falling, scooped him up, put him down onto the ground and then took the quilt from his arms. “I’ll take it there for you.”
Holding a pillow and a quilt respectively, the two boys trotted outside and handed them to someone who was packing. The one packing Ji Xiaocong’s bags was one of Ji Yanlai’s men, a guard of the Millennium Pavilion, who was manifestly surprised to see that Ji Xiaocong wanted his pillow and quilt packed as well. “Young Master, you want these taken back too?”
“Yeah,” replied Ji Xiaocong seriously.
The guard didn’t make any remarks, took the pillow and the quilt from the boy and packed them, feeling that adding another couple of things to the baggage wasn’t any trouble at all, given how many things he had packed already. Since these things took his young master’s fancy, it was his duty to bring them back.
Ling Zhang, somewhat amused by this scene, called Ji Xiaocong over and asked him if there was anything else he wanted to buy.
Surprisingly enough, this time Ji Xiaocong shook his head and responded, “No. I’ll buy more the next time I come here.”
He’d come here again? Ling Maomao’s eyes lit up as he heard this on the side. Ling Zhang inwardly let out a sigh, feeling that it probably wouldn’t be easy for the boy to get another chance to visit this city again.
After having the quilt and the pillow packed, Ji Xiaocong double-checked the house and confirmed that everything he wanted to take away and could take away had been packed. There were some items which were too large to fit in a carriage and he had to give up, such as the bed, the table et cetera, at which he stared for quite a while.
Ling Maomao was horrified by the look on Ji Xiaocong’s face, fearing that he would have the whole house taken apart and transported away.
Ling Zhang quietly watched this, secretly amused, a warm glow flaring inside him, knowing that it was not the whole house but the memories of it that Ji Xiaocong wanted to take with him, that it was probably Ling Maomao, his playmate, that the little boy wanted to take away the most.
“Brother Maomao, I want you to have this,” said Ji Xiaocong, pulling a jade pendant on a string out of his clothes and removing it from his neck.
Ling Zhang was startled at the sight of this. During that visit to the Millennium Pavilion, he had come to know what this jade pendant represented. Every member of the Millennium Pavilion owned a jade pendant of this kind. Every pendant was unique and of great significance to its wearer. Besides, Ji Xiaocong was probably the successor to the clan leader of the Millennium Pavilion. If this pendant was gifted to someone else, Ji Xiaocong might have to face unimaginable consequences.
“Wait, Cong.” Ling Zhang had no choice but to walk up to the two boys, interrupting their conversation.
Holding the jade pendant, Ji Xiaocong looked at him in bemusement.
Ling Zhang crouched down and explained, “This pendant is very important to you. You can’t give it to Maomao just like this.”
Eyes on him, Ji Xiaocong said calmly, “I know. My uncle said everybody in our clan could only have one pendant of this kind in their whole life. This is why I want Brother Maomao to have it.”
Children’s thoughts are simple and clear, and their words are usually so plain that they tend to serve only one purpose. Moreover, Ji Xiaocong had some kind of air about him when he was calm, making his remarks very convincing.
Ling Zhang raised his head and gently stroked Ji Xiaocong’s. “I know you understand, and I also know why you want Brother Maomao to have it, but this pendant might be a lifesaver for you, and it works on nobody but you. If you give it to Brother Maomao, what would you do if some day you’re in need of it?”
A young boy as Ling Maomao was, the meaning of the word “lifesaver” was within his grasp. On hearing this, he hastily said, “You need to put this pendant away, Cong, and you should never take it out again unless you have to.”
Ji Xiaocong looked from Ling Zhang to Ling Maomao and hung his head, silently holding the pendant, a somewhat injured look on his face.
Ling Maomao circled around him in anxiety. “Cong, Cong, don’t be upset. How about you give me something else?”
“Cong.”
A voice was suddenly heard. None of them knew when, but Ji Yanlai had shown up in the doorway, watching.
“Some day you may give it to someone else, but not now,” said Ji Yanlai, walking up to them. “You’ll have to wait until you’re fourteen at the earliest.”
Ji Xiaocong looked up at him. The uncle and nephew stared at each other for a long moment. Eventually, Ji Xiaocong lowered his head and put the pendant back into his clothes.
Looking at him, Ji Yanlai took out a bracelet made of Chinese parasol wood, which seemed fairly ancient. The sculpted reliefs on it had worn quite smooth. Ling Zhang instantly recalled that gigantic Chinese parasol tree in the Millennium Pavilion, which had seemed to have become sentient.
“This is your bracelet. If you want to give Maomao something, you may give him this.”
Ji Xiaocong’s eyes brightened again, smile reappearing on his face. He took the bracelet and handed it to Ling Maomao. “Brother Maomao, take this.”
Ling Maomao, who could tell that this thing was very precious as well, looked at Ling Zhang first, who inclined his head. Ling Maomao beamed, happily took the bracelet from Ji Xiaocong’s hand and said, “Thank you, Cong.”
After that, something occurred to him and he added, “I’ll be back in a moment.”
With that he turned around and ran into the bedroom. Ji Xiaocong immediately took to his heels and followed, clattering into the bedroom as well.
Ling Zhang, “…”
It was a casket that Ling Maomao fished out, which contained all the possessions he’d cherished the most since he could remember. He opened it and showed Ji Xiaocong the contents, telling him the stories behind each and every one of them. When he had finished, he closed the casket.
Watching this from outside, Ling Zhang was thrown into perplexity. He had thought that Ling Maomao would pick one of those things and gift it to Ji Xiaocong. What was Ling Maomao doing?
The next moment, he saw Ling Maomao pressed the whole casket into Ji Xiaocong’s hands and said, “I want you to have them all.”
Ling Zhang’s mouth instantaneously fell open. He had once attempted to check what was inside the casket but Ling Maomao wouldn’t even let him touch it, and now he was giving the whole casket of them to Ji Xiaocong?!
Even Ji Yanlai lifted his eyebrows.
Holding the casket, Ji Xiaocong was stupefied at first, but then he gave a jump for happiness. “Brother Maomao, are you seriously giving me all these?”
“Yeah,” replied Ling Maomao firmly, though secretly somewhat reluctant.
Ji Xiaocong kept jumping happily, cuddling the casket close as though it were some kind of treasure. Seeing Ji Xiaocong scampering around, Ling Maomao grinned in delight, Ji Xiaocong’s bracelet around his wrist.
Watching this scene, Ling Zhang didn’t know what to say. These two kids really hit it off. Pity it probably wouldn’t be easy for them to see each other again. He felt somewhat sorry for Ling Maomao, because after all, it’s not every day that you could find a kindred spirit. He wished that the two of them would have more chances to see each other, that the pure friendship between them would endure.
Holding the casket in his arms, Ji Xiaocong refused to let the guard put it into the trunk, insisting on carrying it personally. It was at noon that they departed, and before that, Ji Xiaocong had carried the casket with him wherever he went.
