Title: Silent Lover
Author: Qiang Tang
Translated by Condz
Edited by Nata
It was the time of year when winter was transitioning into spring. The winters in the Northern city lasted longer than usual, and the snow on the ground was just beginning to melt.
Shen Yu’s clothes were quickly soaked by the melting snow. His knees and fingers were stained with mud. The cold of the snow chilled him to the bone, and Shen Yu’s hands felt like they were being stabbed with daggers. After a while, they stopped hurting and turned stiff with numbness instead.
“Where is it? It clearly landed around here.”
Shen Yu sniffled and wiped away a bead of sweat from the tip of his nose. He used to be able to chop wood and fetch water with ease, but now any movement caused his limbs to go weak.
“I’m so useless, I can’t even sign properly. If it was me, I also wouldn’t have the patience to watch a mute wave his hands around. I should have written it down first, and then the Lord would be able to understand.” Shen Yu blamed himself, and felt like he couldn’t do anything right.
Shen Yu’s eyes suddenly lit up. He saw something red nearby, the same color as the red bean. He reached out in a hurry to grab it, but only ended up holding a clump of snow. There was a drop of red on it which wasn’t the red bean. At some point Shen Yu’s fingers had been cut by the ice and his blood had dripped onto the ground.
Shen Yu tossed away the snow in dismay, and continued to search elsewhere.
Zhenbei Wang leaned against the fence and looked down at the frantic way that Shen Yu was searching. The expanse of white snow was filled with the imprints of his feet and knees.
Calmly, he returned to the terrain model and stuck a flag to one side of the mountain pass.
A quarter of an hour later, as Zhenbei Wang was about to leave, Shen Yu came running in a hurry to stop him.
Shen Yu held out the red bean dice that he had found, and carefully presented it to Zhenbei Wang.
Bits of ice and mud clung to it, as well as bloody imprints from Shen Yu’s fingers. It looked dirty.
Shen Yu’s fingers were frozen purple, though the various cuts were now numb to the pain. His entire body was sullied with muddy water. Even his hair and face were dirty.
Under the layer of grime was Shen Yu’s smiling face, the same expression he had whenever he asked for something.
“This isn’t some child’s toy. I spent many days and nights, and only managed to carve it after a hundred and fifty-two other red beans. Please take a look. You were the one who taught me the words ‘Jun Xuan Xiao’.”
Shen Yu had more to explain, but he couldn’t say it out loud. He was so frantic that his mouth was making “yi-ya” sounds. Normally he tried to stay silent. When he was young he tried to speak, and ended up being laughed at. Right now, however, Shen Yu was in a difficult position, so he stopped caring whether Zhenbei Wang would laugh at him.
“Enough.”
Zhenbei Wang brushed away Shen Yu’s hand, the red bean dice falling on the ground. Shen Yu immediately crouched down to pick it up, only for Zhenbei Wang to step on it first. With a twist of his boot, crunch.
Shen Yu’s heart made the same sound as the red bean dice, both shattering into pieces.
“Do not make these things in the future!” After saying those cold words, Zhenbei Wang stode out of the Bingxin Pavilion. The red bean dice that he had stepped on was left broken on the ground.
Shen Yu knelt on the ground and gathered the pieces. Since it was shattered so finely, Shen Yu couldn’t pick them up. He put his sleeve on the ground and swept them together with his hands.
He opened his mouth wide but could not make a sound. His features were stretched and twisted, and a low whimper came from his mouth.
Zhenebei Wang stopped walking. Although he had seen Shen Yu shed tears, he never heard the sound of his crying. Even when his hand was broken, and when the Princess Consort’s poison made him roll on the ground in pain, he still did not make a sound.
It turns out a mute could cry, and it sounded horrible.
Title: Silent Lover
Author: Qiang Tang
Translated by Condz
Edited by Nata
It was the time of year when winter was transitioning into spring. The winters in the Northern city lasted longer than usual, and the snow on the ground was just beginning to melt.
Shen Yu’s clothes were quickly soaked by the melting snow. His knees and fingers were stained with mud. The cold of the snow chilled him to the bone, and Shen Yu’s hands felt like they were being stabbed with daggers. After a while, they stopped hurting and turned stiff with numbness instead.
“Where is it? It clearly landed around here.”
Shen Yu sniffled and wiped away a bead of sweat from the tip of his nose. He used to be able to chop wood and fetch water with ease, but now any movement caused his limbs to go weak.
“I’m so useless, I can’t even sign properly. If it was me, I also wouldn’t have the patience to watch a mute wave his hands around. I should have written it down first, and then the Lord would be able to understand.” Shen Yu blamed himself, and felt like he couldn’t do anything right.
Shen Yu’s eyes suddenly lit up. He saw something red nearby, the same color as the red bean. He reached out in a hurry to grab it, but only ended up holding a clump of snow. There was a drop of red on it which wasn’t the red bean. At some point Shen Yu’s fingers had been cut by the ice and his blood had dripped onto the ground.
Shen Yu tossed away the snow in dismay, and continued to search elsewhere.
Zhenbei Wang leaned against the fence and looked down at the frantic way that Shen Yu was searching. The expanse of white snow was filled with the imprints of his feet and knees.
Calmly, he returned to the terrain model and stuck a flag to one side of the mountain pass.
A quarter of an hour later, as Zhenbei Wang was about to leave, Shen Yu came running in a hurry to stop him.
Shen Yu held out the red bean dice that he had found, and carefully presented it to Zhenbei Wang.
Bits of ice and mud clung to it, as well as bloody imprints from Shen Yu’s fingers. It looked dirty.
Shen Yu’s fingers were frozen purple, though the various cuts were now numb to the pain. His entire body was sullied with muddy water. Even his hair and face were dirty.
Under the layer of grime was Shen Yu’s smiling face, the same expression he had whenever he asked for something.
“This isn’t some child’s toy. I spent many days and nights, and only managed to carve it after a hundred and fifty-two other red beans. Please take a look. You were the one who taught me the words ‘Jun Xuan Xiao’.”
Shen Yu had more to explain, but he couldn’t say it out loud. He was so frantic that his mouth was making “yi-ya” sounds. Normally he tried to stay silent. When he was young he tried to speak, and ended up being laughed at. Right now, however, Shen Yu was in a difficult position, so he stopped caring whether Zhenbei Wang would laugh at him.
“Enough.”
Zhenbei Wang brushed away Shen Yu’s hand, the red bean dice falling on the ground. Shen Yu immediately crouched down to pick it up, only for Zhenbei Wang to step on it first. With a twist of his boot, crunch.
Shen Yu’s heart made the same sound as the red bean dice, both shattering into pieces.
“Do not make these things in the future!” After saying those cold words, Zhenbei Wang stode out of the Bingxin Pavilion. The red bean dice that he had stepped on was left broken on the ground.
Shen Yu knelt on the ground and gathered the pieces. Since it was shattered so finely, Shen Yu couldn’t pick them up. He put his sleeve on the ground and swept them together with his hands.
He opened his mouth wide but could not make a sound. His features were stretched and twisted, and a low whimper came from his mouth.
Zhenebei Wang stopped walking. Although he had seen Shen Yu shed tears, he never heard the sound of his crying. Even when his hand was broken, and when the Princess Consort’s poison made him roll on the ground in pain, he still did not make a sound.
It turns out a mute could cry, and it sounded horrible.
