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I looked at the bronze door in front of me and said, “I once visited a mountain village in the south of Fujian. The feng shui of the village is very strange. It’s located on half of the slope of a valley, and water from six waterfalls falls on the village all year round as if it was raining. There was an old man in the village who said that monks had visited there before, and they wrote a poem saying that it hadn’t been dry for thousands of years."
“It’s beautiful there and the water is clean. There are a lot of big trees near the village, and the village itself is very simple. I’m going to stay there for a while. Xiaoge will be free if he comes out, and I don’t know where he’ll go.”
I grabbed Pangzi’s pig neck and said, “As your brother for many years, I’ll solemnly tell you that you should retire. Come to the village with me. The village secretary is perfect for you.” 1
⬥⬧⬥
After Wu Xie settled everything in Hangzhou, handed his business to Xiao Hua, and talked to his uncle and parents, the next thing was to make sure Xiaoge wanted to retire with him and Pangzi. After all, the man had spent a decade behind the Bronze gate and might as well have a lot of rest inside, all while guarding the ultimate secret. A part of him simply wanted to drag the man with them, but another part of him wanted to civilly ask. In the end, it was Pangzi who asked the question.
“Xiaoge!” Pangzi’s loud voice immediately pulled Xiaoge from his daze.
“Our comrade Tianzhen has bought a retirement village house for us. Now that you are back, let's retire together, how about that?”
The still quiet man looked at Pangzi, then Wu Xie before nodding his head as an answer. Because of that a laugh and smile bloomed in the backyard of Wu Shanju. And finally, the very next day, off they went to Rain Village in Fujian.
The first year, was spent in the quietness of the new environment, adapting with everything around them, leaving behind the previous boisterous life. That year especially, Wu Xie was obligated to take a full stop, after all those years of tossing around, it’s time for a full rest. So, Pangzi, and Xiaoge made sure that the man did. All while filling Xiaoge with 10 years of things he had missed—not including what Wu Xie did to bring down the Wang Family—Pangzi decided that it would be Wu Xie's job to tell the Zhang’s family patriarch about it. And he knew it would take time, or maybe Wu Xie would never tell Xiaoge, and the latter would never ask.
In the second year, they started to plan for a proper future life, buying a piece of land to build a farmhouse. Despite the past unsatisfactory experience in handling business, Wu Xie was convinced this time their farmhouse would turn out fine. Especially when he runs it together with Pangzi and Xiaoge, worst scenario he still has Xiao Hua as the emergency back up.
Regardless of some trivial problems here and there, their farmhouse proved to be quite successful. Good enough that they started building their own house in the same year. By the middle of the third year the house was completed. A two-floor house that matched each of their likes. A big kitchen for Pangzi to cook, a large living room and a study for him, also two trees which were transplanted in the yard. Before long, one of it became Xiaoge’s favorite place to lie on.
Just like this morning, Wu Xie just got up from a good night sleep. Opening his window afterwards his gaze immediately met with Xiaoge, who was leisurely sitting in one of the big branches facing Wu Xie’s room as usual. Wu Xie thought the man should have come back from his morning exercise a long time ago, then went up there to wait for him to wake up.
“Xiaoge, morning!” He threw a sleepy smile to the man, and in return got a nod as a reply.
Wu Xie proceeded to take a refreshing morning bath, all the while thinking about how to spend more quality time with each other. Going down to the first floor, the smell of breakfast spread in the dining room. The other man was standing in front of the coffee maker waiting for it to be done. The house was noiseless compared to the usual because Pangzi wasn’t in Rain village at the moment. The loud and cheerful guy had to go back to Beijing for an important task, thus leaving the two of them alone—for the first time since they moved here—for a whole 2 weeks. He has cooked enough meals for them to be reheated for the next few days, or they could just eat at the farmhouse or anywhere when they go down from the village.
Right after breakfast both men went to the farmhouse. The two helpers had already opened the place and were currently tidying up. They greeted each other and talked a bit before the first customer of the day appeared. The hours after went pretty much the same as usual, some people came to eat, some merely to buy mineral water, take selfies with various flower decorations then went away. But at least, the business was never deserted.
In the evening, just a couple hours before the closing time, Xue Dabao2 suddenly popped up in the small room which Wu Xie used as an office.
“Laoban, let us do the closing today, why don’t you and Zhang Laoban go back early,” he said while motioning with his thumb to where Xiaoge was sitting—or more likely napping—with his eyes closed.
I snorted at him. “Why do I feel that you are so eager to kick both of us out?”
“I don’t dare, I don’t dare, hehe.” Xue Dabao answered, shaking his left hand repeatedly. “It’s just Pang-ye said before he left, to make sure you go back early,” He said this with such an unusual smile plastered on his face, and how come Wu Xie didn’t understand the meaning behind it.
“Si Pangzi!” Wu Xie cursed heatedly, habitually his eyes shifted to where Xiaoge was, the man was already awake and at the same time was looking back at him. Wu Xie, eyeing the files about Zhang family he was reading, let out a soft sigh, then started to organize the scattered papers. Let’s call it a day. He thought.
When Wu Xie came out from the office Xiaoge was already standing beside the door, gazing at the relatively empty road.
“Let’s go back early.” He said to the man, and as always got a single nod as a reply.
They started to walk back, side by side to the village. The evening breeze was a constant accompany to their silent steps. It’s nothing new for Wu Xie to walk together with Xiaoge without exchanging any words. But since Pangzi wasn’t around, there was always this prickling feeling that they—or more likely him—needed to talk. There were things he hadn't told Xiaoge since years ago, and Wu Xie knew the other deserved an explanation.
When they almost reached the village entrance, all of sudden, Wu Xie stopped walking then turned to the side where Xiaoge was, but before he managed to say anything Xiaoge had already spoken.
“Follow me,” the man muttered, without waiting for Wu Xie’s reaction, walking to the left side of the main path. It took a minute for Wu Xie to follow him. Wondering where the other man was taking him to. They walked past the stream in another village, where they usually went fishing. For a second Wu Xie thought that Xiaoge wanted to do night fishing, but then they didn’t bring any pole for it, so the thought was soon diminished.
They walked up to the mountain, the sky was already dark by then, though it seemed like Xiaoge was already prepared for him now holding a small torch to light up their path. Wu Xie recognized this track, it was leading to another fishing spot upstream. However instead of taking the exact sidewalk to the said place, Xiaoge took the other turn which minutes later brought them to a small open space in the middle of the forest. What made Wu Xie fall silent in surprise was the state of the place, the forest was not completely dark. It was illuminated by many small lights scattered around them.
Fireflies.
“Saw several of them this morning, guess there will be more in the night.” came the unexpected explanation, which was also the longest sentence Xiaoge ever said since it was just the two of them.
“It’s beautiful,” he uttered softly. It’s been a while since he saw this kind of scenery. One of the fireflies was apparently daring enough to fly closer to him. Wu Xie opened his palm to let the light creature land on it. Never once did he think that he was able to feel this kind of emotion again. Not that he was never happy since they started living in Rain Village, not since he was able to run the farmhouse and build their own house, based on his own design even. But all these small bright creatures, a nice one, just made him feel, well, giddy.
“Wu Xie,” the said man turned around at the sound of his name.
“Xiaoge, I⸺”
“No need to tell me everything.” Once again Wu Xie was out-talked. He should have known that despite the silence, Xiaoge was still able to pinpoint his thoughts. The man has been sensing his uneasiness for the past few days.
Wu Xie shook his head at that. “I do want to tell you, I must.” He let the firefly off from his palm, then walked closer to the other man until they stood face to face. “Damn I just, I’m not sure what to tell.” He looked at the sky, took a breath, then looked back to the dark, serene eyes in front of him.
“I was so angry at you for leaving me just like that. But, what I did all those years, everything was not solely for you. A part of it was for my grandfather, a part of it for myself, and even though I hate it, it’s also for the Nine families,” Wu Xie said all of these while fixing his gaze at the expressionless one, “and then it's for your freedom.”
“Now everything has come to an end, I’m just relieved that you are here, with us.” he added in the end. Everything has ended, so Wu Xie wanted to let the memory settle by itself. Slowly become a mist, a scented mist that linger but not forgotten.
Xiaoge then reached out to enlace his left hand with Wu Xie’s right one, his other hand went to caress Wu Xie’s cheek, then slowly moved down to his neck. Even in the darkness, Xiaoge was able to right away find the long deep scar on his neck. The exceptionally long finger gently strokes it. The movement said how regretful he was for being one of the reasons the scar existed, but also, thankful for it. Even more grateful that Wu Xie survived it.
Looking back at the warm big eyes, still with all the fireflies light up around them, Xiaoge declared, “From now on I’ll stay, as long as I can.”