I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 69 - 58: Swallows Bring Spring Mud

Twenty li south of Jinmen Prefecture, there is a place called Wanshou Village.

In the village, there lived a young couple. The husband, Wang Qiao, was strong and skilled in fishing, hunting, and farming. The wife, Li Shi, was virtuous and managed the household, working the loom and doing needlework.

The two were a match made in heaven; he for the jade wall, I for the bright pearl; you for the soil, I for the mantis.

On a cold moonlit night, Wang Qiao followed the fishing party for hunting, and upon returning, he caught a fine pomfret.

This was not an ordinary pomfret, but a silver pomfret, with tender flesh and extremely delicious taste.

Some rural gentry and wealthy households were willing to pay a high price for a taste of its delicacy.

Wang Qiao didn’t care about that. He thought of his pregnant wife at home, who often lost her appetite. Hearing that pomfret was delicious and could stimulate one’s appetite, he specifically joined the fishing hunt to bring back this rare delicacy, and thus he couldn’t part with it.

Apart from the husband’s meticulous care, the wife, Li Shi, was also extremely virtuous. One day, Wang Qiao went up the mountain to chop wood, while Li Shi stayed home, threading needles and stitching winter clothes for her husband and children. In the middle of sewing, she pricked her finger, causing unbearable pain. frёewebηovel.cѳm

She felt uneasy, sensing that something might have happened to her husband, who hadn’t returned after being out for a long time. She put down her work, entrusted the children to her sister-in-law, and went out to ask neighbors for help, eventually persuading them to search.

The villagers couldn’t resist her crying plea, though they grumbled, but when it came to searching, they still put in genuine effort.

Upon searching until dusk, someone found Wang Qiao, who had fallen and lost consciousness in a mountain ravine.

It was late autumn, and early winter, daytime was bearable even in light clothes, but the night was different, truly cold enough to freeze someone to death!

If it wasn’t for Li Shi persuading everyone to search, Wang Qiao’s fate would have been uncertain.

In the Funeral Shop, Xu Qing, a lifelong bachelor, felt quite bored.

Especially since Wang Qiao differed from the usual bodies he sent off. Others were preoccupied with fame, wealth, grudges, and pleasures.

But Wang Qiao only remembered the loving daily life shared with his wife.

Xu Qing skipped the overly sentimental parts, and the scene shifted to years later.

By then, Li Shi had given birth to children for Wang Qiao, their family was complete, even gods would envy them.

We don’t know if some jealous gods were involved.

Li Shi, who usually managed the household well, suddenly contracted a dire lung infection. This illness bewildered even the physicians in the county.

Wang Qiao deeply loved his wife and didn’t care about others’ judgments.

His mother-in-law visited, casually mentioned: "When my daughter was young, a fortune teller said that her lifespan line was short, destined for early death, so it’s Heaven reclaiming her."

Wang Qiao felt suffocated inside, but couldn’t argue with his mother-in-law. Deep at night, in the stillness, he secretly bit his finger and added a crimson lifeline to Li Shi’s hand.

Li Shi awoke in pain, saw this and asked what he was doing.

Wang Qiao replied: "The fortune teller said you have a short life, and mine is long, so I’m extending yours. From now on, my life is your life. No matter what makes you smile, I’ll smile with you. No matter what makes you cry, I’ll wipe your tears."

Perhaps Heaven heard, for one day, a passing peddler told Wang Qiao: "At Baisha River Wharf, there’s a Wandering Daoist, who can cure even those summoned by King Yama!"

"But this Daoist travels everywhere, appearing only once or twice a year at the wharf. Last time I saw him was around this time. If you keep an eye out, you might save your wife."

Wang Qiao felt he had grasped at straws and disregarded the uncertainty, instructed his mother on household matters, then packed and headed to Baisha River Wharf.

There, he worked by day handling packages, and at night, he rested by the docks, watching for boats and travelers.

Day and night, his mind and body strained, longing for her, until one day, while loading goods, he didn’t notice impending danger and was struck by a wooden crate from above, severely injured.

Fishermen witnessed this, called for help, but it was too late.

In his dying moments, Wang Qiao looked towards the wharf, murmuring about the divine healer Daoist...

Xu Qing snapped back to reality, speechless for a long time.

He saw from Wang Qiao’s blurred vision, a Daoist holding a flag had appeared at the wharf.

But he couldn’t tell whether it was Wang Qiao’s hallucination or if the rumored healer had truly arrived at the last moment.

Even if he had arrived, Wang Qiao wouldn’t have the strength to beseech him to save his wife...

Grieves by Wuding River’s bones, still dreaming of spring chamber.

Years ago, Wang Qiao fell in the ravine; his wife, Li Shi, sensed it. Now he dies in a foreign land, we wonder how Li Shi mourns for him.

"Jinmen Prefecture, Wanshou Village..."

Xu Qing murmured and then began to prepare for the deceased laborer Wang Qiao.

...

March, the golden oriole flies, the spring swallow carries mud.

One day, just outside the Funeral Shop, a new swallow flew from the south and built a nest under Xu Qing’s eaves.

Initially, Xu Qing didn’t mind, until another swallow joined it, he realized that swallows always come in pairs.

There was a poem: Affectionate are the paired swallows, indifferent to the poor.

Also: Longing to be paired swallows, carrying mud to nest in your house.

And another: Wish to entrust paired swallows, to fly northwest for me.

Xu Qing watched the two chirping swallows, carrying mud and twigs for their nest, loving and harmonious.

Watching them momentarily, he thought again of the deceased laborer Wang Qiao.

"When will the paired swallows return? On both banks, peach blossoms touch the water..."

Xu Qing took out his crane bone flute, and with contemplation, he felt enlightened.

...

On the ninth of March, the Wu brothers next door rented a carriage to go to the prefecture city for exams.

Linhe District is the most prosperous hub of water and land transport in the Yong Dynasty; a hundred li north lies Jinmen Prefecture City, and twenty li south is Baisha County’s governance seat.

Invited by the Wu brothers, Xu Qing thought, finally decided to head alone to the prefecture city.

Before leaving, he specifically went to the street coffin shop to get a coffin from Hu Baosong.

Old Hu, as spirited as ever, saw Xu Qing enter and immediately asked: "Who died now?"

Xu Qing replied: "Can’t it be good news?"

"No one brings good news to my coffin shop. Especially you, there’s no way you’d think to come here without death involved, right?"

Xu Qing fell silent.

The old man was indeed a mood killer.

"An outsider died. I’m going to the prefecture city, so I plan to deliver him there, allowing him to rest in peace."

"Rest in peace..."

Hu Baosong muttered, raising his eyelids.

"Xu boy, if one day I ask you to bury me, being neighbors, you mustn’t refuse."