Chapter 72: Lanterns
They all got ready and left for the village main market where, just as Yan Mei had said, it was filled with lanterns and decorations.
People were moving, kids playing around as different market sellers shouted and patronized their businesses.
Sweet sellers also passed as Lin Xu had no other choice but to get some red ball sticks for the kids.
"Look... people have started placing their lanterns... we should do it too and make a wish." Yan Mei nudged Lin Xu as she smiled.
"I’ll go get it..." Fuhan volunteered, but Mo Ying tapped him on the shoulder.
"You stay with Yan Mei and the kids. I and Lin Xu will go get it." Before anyone could say anything, he took hold of Lin Xu’s hand and dragged her away.
"Sigh! Now they are probably gonna take hours!" Yan Mei said before she suddenly smiled. "Good thing I came prepared." She brought out some taels. "C’mon... let’s go get the lanterns before your parents get here."
She smiled at the kids, and they all nodded. "Alright!"
Mo Ying dragged Lin Xu towards the main market. They bought enough lanterns for everyone and started heading back.
When they reached the bridge, they stopped. The night sky was filled with glowing lanterns drifting higher, painting the air with soft light.
Lin Xu looked up, eyes wide with quiet awe. "It’s so beautiful..." she whispered.
Beside her, Mo Ying didn’t look at the sky. He was looking at her instead.
After a moment, Lin Xu turned and caught him staring. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked softly.
Mo Ying’s lips curved slightly. "Because the only beautiful lanterns I see... are the ones reflecting in your eyes."
Lin Xu blinked, caught off guard. She was surprised for a second but quickly waved it off as she rolled her eyes.
"You are back at your nonsense teasing again, huh?"
"How are you sure I’m just teasing and not telling you the truth?" he asked, his tone a little serious.
"Why won’t it be teasing... or do you like me or something? Is that why you tease me and annoy me every single chance you get?" Lin Xu questioned as they both looked at each other for a while before Mo Ying removed his eyes.
Sighing, Lin Xu whispered to herself, "Men..."
Some time later, Mo Ying broke the silence as he asked a question that had been living rent-free in his head for a while now.
"Lin Xu... why don’t you like men? Ever since I’ve met you, you have repeatedly said that you hate men in one way or the other... why is that?"
"Isn’t it obvious? They’re scumbags, that’s why." She frowned.
"Scumbags? Well... I guess some men could be categorized as ’scumbags,’ but your hate seems to be directed to ’all’ men in general, and I’m curious. I want to know why you hate my gender so much. I get it, your husband left you for eight good years... that’s enough to get any woman to hate men, but you don’t even seem bothered with him, so there’s no way he’s the reason why."
Facing Mo Ying, Lin Xu’s eyes met his for a second before turning away, her expression becoming rather swollen.
"Well..." she said slowly, "let’s say my hatred for men came slowly from reading a book."
"A book?" He raised his brows.
Lin Xu nodded. "It’s a book about a young girl. An orphan to be precise. Her parents were dead, and she was left in an orphanage."
"What’s an orphanage?" Mo Ying asked, confused, as Lin Xu sighed and rolled her eyes. "It’s a home for orphaned kids!"
"Oh! Haha... continue!"
"Sigh! As I was saying before you annoyingly interrupted. She lived in an orphanage, hoping and praying every day that one day she could be adopted and taken by a new family. A family, that’s all she ever wanted, but even that the gods didn’t give to her. She was different from other children. She was too smart for her age, you see..." she looked at Mo Ying.
"Society prefers and only accepts those who are normal. When they see someone different, they become scared. The little girl grew and grew till she one day left the orphanage and started her own life."
Mo Ying leaned on the bridge blocks as he listened attentively to Lin Xu.
"She had her own luck, I guess. At just age 18, she had started her own business and started making good money. At 23, she was a rich woman who could get herself everything she wanted. She even had a man who she loved, but he was a medical student and spent most of his time studying. She funded him, took care of him, paid his bills, got him a school apartment, took him abroad. For five good years, she took good care of him."
"But one day, she decided to surprise him. She went all the way to a new country just for him, located the house she got for him with her own money, went in, but... but all she was greeted with were the laughters of him with another woman, and in their arms was a six-month-old baby."
Lin Xu narrated as silent tears started falling from her eyes, but she cleaned them immediately.
Frowning, Mo Ying asked, "What did she do next? Did she beat him up or disgrace him all over the village?"
But Lin Xu just laughed slightly, shaking her head. "She could have... but what would have been the outcome? That woman he was with was his wife, and that baby was his child. He was a married man with a wife and child. If anyone was the other woman, it would be her. And that’s all society would say. They wouldn’t think about all the years and money she had spent on him. They would only call her a fool and whore for falling for a married man."
"I feel bad for her," Mo Ying said, his voice soft.
"Don’t feel too bad... she did get her revenge though. Thankfully, he still had one more year in med school, and she didn’t give him a single dime. She took his cars and house... everything she had ever given him, but no matter what, she couldn’t get back all the years she had spent on a scumbag like that. He couldn’t continue school and later dropped out. His wife left him, seeing he couldn’t fend for her and her child any longer... and he came begging back, but she gave him a restraining order so they could never meet again."
Scratching his head slightly, Mo Ying coughed. "That’s good for her, but I have so many questions. For one, what the heck is a med school and restraining order with a car? What the hell are all that?"
He asked as Lin Xu burst out laughing. She laughed so much that Mo Ying just stood there. Embarrassed? Yes, but he was pleased to see her laughing and smiling.
The happiest he had seen her in a while.
"Well... I’m happy she got her happy ending."
"Well, at some point, she did find out that she couldn’t bear children, and so she ended up drinking till she killed herself. But either way... she did find happiness... in a place she never even thought she would."
Mo Ying stared at her in complete confusion. "Okay, now you’re just creeping me out."
Lin Xu smiled faintly and said, "Yeah... I creep myself out too sometimes."
Mo Ying folded his arms. "You tell stories like they’re real."
She looked away toward the river. "That’s because they are—at least to me."
For a moment, silence settled between them.
Mo Ying finally said, "You know... not all men are like that."
Lin Xu gave a dry chuckle. "That’s what every man says before proving me right."
He didn’t argue. Instead, he moved closer, his tone calm. "Maybe you just met the wrong ones."
"Maybe," she muttered, not meeting his eyes.
Then, unexpectedly, Mo Ying said, "What about me? Do you think I’m a scumbag too?"
Lin Xu froze a bit, then looked up at him. "You?" She let out a soft laugh. "You’re too annoying to even be one."
Mo Ying smirked. "So I’m not that bad then."
She rolled her eyes. "Don’t get carried away."
Still, the corners of her lips curved slightly, just a little.
They stayed like that for a while, standing by the bridge, the faint breeze carrying the scent of sweet rice and smoke from the lanterns.
After a moment, Mo Ying spoke again, quieter this time.
"Whatever that woman in your story went through... she was strong."
Lin Xu turned her head. "Strong?"
He nodded. "It takes strength to survive betrayal and still be able to tell the story."
Her eyes softened, and for once, she didn’t reply with sarcasm. She just looked at him quietly.
Then she whispered, "Let’s go back. The kids are probably waiting."
Mo Ying nodded, pushing off the bridge railing. "Alright."
As they started walking back, Mo Ying glanced at her once more. She noticed.
"What?" she asked, half-smiling.
He shrugged. "Just making sure you’re not crying again."
Lin Xu sighed. "You talk too much."
He grinned. "And yet you enjoy it."
She didn’t answer, but the tiny smile that tugged at her lips said enough.