White Fence Dream

Chapter 139 Past
Meeting that child was an accident.

It was winter then, and there was no such beautiful sight of green grass like a carpet.

She had sprained her foot and couldn't walk, so Zhuang Feizi asked the old servant to go back and call for help, and they waited here.

Zhuang Feizi went to collect firewood to light a bonfire. She sat on a rock, wrapped her cloak tightly, and looked at the winter forest.

The winter forest looked like a rocky mountain, and the child suddenly emerged from among the rocks.

He was riding a black horse. The horse was thin and small, and the rider was also thin and small. At first glance, it looked like a rock suddenly growing out of the ground.

The thought flashed through her mind, and she felt that the thing in front of her was really a rock, not a child.

The rocks were carried by the horses.

This, this, this…
Is she dazzled?
Huang Ru couldn't catch her breath and started coughing violently.

The horse stopped and the girl on the horse snorted, "Ah Huang, let's go. There are people here, it's annoying."

As she spoke, the rocks in front of her eyes faded away, and on the horse's back was a girl, about eight or nine years old, wearing a green jacket and skirt, a felt hat, and a pair of bright eyes.

She couldn't help shouting "Fei Zi, Fei Zi——"

Zhuang Feizi, who was picking firewood not far away, hurriedly responded, "Aju, are you okay?" He ran over with the firewood, but saw that his wife did not fall to the ground, but stood up.

He seemed to be out of breath due to anxiety and kept coughing.

Zhuang Feizi hurriedly patted her, but his wife shook her head and refused.

"Look--" she coughed and pointed ahead.

Zhuang Feizi looked in the direction she pointed and was startled by the little girl who suddenly appeared.

The girl on horseback raised her chin high, and the black horse turned on the spot, as if urging its owner to leave.

"It's so unlucky that I can meet someone in such a remote forest." The girl muttered, and then raised her voice, "You should leave quickly, or the wolves will come when it gets dark."

Having said this he muttered again.

"If you die, blame me."

She didn't care what the girl said, she just asked Zhuang Feizi: "Did you see it?"

Zhuang Feizi supported her and looked behind the girl: "I can't see clearly, it seems there is a wolf."

A couple snuggled together in the woods, trembling, not sure if it was because of the cold or fear.

The girl snorted again and pointed to the left. "Hey, go that way and you can get out."

The couple didn't say anything or move, they just looked at her.

The girl exhaled and turned the horse's head.

"Don't go—" she shouted hurriedly, "Let me see you."

The girl turned around, her expression somewhat provocative: "What did you see? A mountain elf? A beast? A monster?"

She pushed away Zhuang Feizi's support and said softly, "I saw the greatest treasure in the world."

……

……

Zhuang Li stood beside Mrs. Zhuang, looking at the girl riding a horse as Mrs. Zhuang had imagined.

That familiar yet unfamiliar face.

The expression on his face...
He is indeed a very unpleasant child.

Unlike now, Zhuang Li reached out and touched her face, now she is well-behaved and cute.

He raised his hand again to indicate his height.

She is taller now.

She couldn't help but smile and looked at Zhuang Feizi who was standing behind Madam Zhuang.

It's been a long time since I saw you, sir.

The gentleman looked very young at this time.

In his wife's heart, her husband always remains young.

She looked at the girl again, and Mrs. Zhuang had already extended her hand to greet her.

That was the first time she heard someone say that she was a treasure in the world.

Actually, I didn’t understand what it meant at the time.

But this woman was not like the others. She did not go crazy, curse, hate and drive away. She even smiled and said words like "treasure".

She really wanted to hear more from the woman, such as how she treasured...

Which child doesn’t like to be praised and liked by others?
So she did not ride away.

But Madam Zhuang did not say those nice words anymore. Instead, she said with a bit of pity and seriousness, "But how can you not take care of yourself, kid? You have turned yourself into this weird appearance."

She was furious.

She doesn’t cherish herself? How can she cherish herself? She is pitiful in her father’s mouth, hateful in her sister’s mouth, terrible in the mouth of the nanny and maids, and hateful in the mouth of the neighbors…
It was others who said she was a monster!

It's not like she wanted to look this weird!
She was wrong. This woman was just like everyone else. Although she didn't scream, cry or make a fuss, she also hated her.

She was very angry and couldn't wait to scare them in her dreams at night, so she rode her horse towards the woman at this moment.

……

……

Zhuang Li covered her face a little embarrassedly. She did have a bad temper when she was a child.

But in Mrs. Zhuang's dream, the girl rode her horse towards her, but she did not look ferocious or ferocious as she passed by, raising dust and whipping her horse.

Mrs. Zhuang opened her arms to the girl.

The girl on the horse no longer had any hostility, and she threw herself into her arms, giggling.

Mr. Zhuang beside him was also twirling his beard and smiling.

Zhuang Li was stunned and then laughed too. In Mrs. Zhuang's eyes, she was cute even when she lost her temper, and she didn't remember her bad side at all.

She watched Madam Zhuang caressing the girl's face and combing her messy hair. The surroundings kept changing with Madam Zhuang's chaotic memories: by the river, in the wilderness, and in the academy.

Zhuang Li looked at the scenery around him with a bit of nostalgia.

When she met Mr. Zhuang and his wife in the wild, she deliberately rode away on horseback, but because she was worried about them, she secretly came back and watched from the side.

The bonfire was lit and the couple was baking a pancake.

How pitiful, there's not even any meat.

She drove a hare over and it crashed into the campfire and died.

Mrs. Zhuang was a little surprised, Mr. Zhuang smiled, winked at her and pointed to the rock where she was hiding. The two did not call her again, let alone drive her away. They took out the pen, ink, paper, inkstone and other items from their bag, as well as a wooden board. Mr. Zhuang spread the paper on it and started painting. Mrs. Zhuang roasted the rabbit while watching Mr. Zhuang paint, and occasionally took the pen and painted a few strokes.

She was very curious at the time, but was too embarrassed to go forward, so she kept hiding behind the rocks. She also picked up branches and scratched the ground like Mr. Zhuang.

When it was getting dark, many people came over from the foot of the mountain, leading horses and carrying sedan chairs.

"Sir, Madam." They shouted in a mess.

Then they packed up their things, put out the bonfire, Mr. Zhuang got on the horse, and Mrs. Zhuang sat in the sedan chair.

They are leaving.

She couldn't bear it any longer and stood out from behind the rock.

"Hey!" she called out.

Those people looked over, and as expected, there was a commotion mixed with strange shouts of "What is that?" "Wild fox!" "Bandit!"

Madam Zhuang waved her hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then she smiled and shouted loudly: "We will go back first, you should go home soon too."

Is this a farewell to her?

Just like the kids on the street playing together, and then saying goodbye to each other before going home when it gets dark, saying they will play together again tomorrow.

No one ever played with her, and no one ever said goodbye to her.

She couldn't help but take another step forward.

"What's your name?" she asked.

She actually didn't know why she had to ask people's names, and she didn't know that it was impolite for a child to speak like that.

She just watched the man leave and couldn't help but want to remember him longer.

The woman turned around while sitting in the sedan chair and smiled: "My name is Huang Ru."

Huang Ru.

She pondered silently for a moment and watched the group of people leave.

The woman named Huang Ru did not ask her name.

She was a little sad at the time, but that was okay, no one cared about her name.

She thought it was just a chance encounter in the mountains and they would never see each other again, but she didn't expect that a few days later her father would return from the military camp with two people.

"Hello, young lady." The woman named Huang Ru smiled at her.

She was a little shocked and a little wary at the time.

Are they also here to complain to their father?

She couldn't help but step back.

At that time, her second sister had already married, and she could no longer hide behind her.

"We are here to give you a present." Huang Ru said, "Thank you for giving us rabbits to eat that day."

Mr. Zhuang took out a scroll and opened it. It was a painting, a colorful painting.

At first glance, it looks messy and dazzling.

But you can also see that there is a girl riding a horse in the painting.

It was her that day.

It was her and not her, because the face was also strange, it seemed blurry, but from different angles, and even with blinking, it changed into different appearances.

"Oh, this is my Ah Li." said the father, pointing.

But one brother said it didn't look like the character and the painting was ugly, while another brother said it was exaggerated and too beautiful. The sisters-in-law also came over to see it and had different opinions.

She couldn't help but laugh and looked at the portrait. Yes, that's right, this is her, a different her in everyone's eyes.

It was the first time she saw a portrait of herself, someone could paint her.

My father wanted to buy the portrait, but they said they didn't charge and would give it to her.

She took the portrait and looked at Huang Ru and Zhuang Feizi.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" she asked them. "I'm very bad..."

"You are not bad." Huang Ru interrupted her, squatted down and held her hand, "You are the most precious treasure in the world."

Said that again.

Since she is said to be a treasure, then...
"Then buy me," she said.

This was a sudden thought, but it was actually well thought out.

She had wanted to leave home a long time ago, to prevent her family from being implicated by her and always having bad luck.

Of course her father disagreed, but after her repeated insistence, and the banker couple telling her father that they were not really buying the company but were taking it as an apprentice.

"You don't want her to be despised for her whole life, do you?" Mr. Zhuang said, "She is a good child, so she needs to be carefully cared for."

The father agreed: "Go ahead, go out and see the scenery outside."

She traveled around with Mr. and Mrs. Zhuang, visiting many places for three years and seeing things she had never seen before.

Mr. Zhuang taught her to read, and Mrs. Zhuang taught her to write, paint, compose music, burn incense, and control her thoughts.

Mr. Zhuang took a book and asked her to read it and explain it to her.

"Nan Guo Zi Qi sat in seclusion, looked up at the sky and sighed, as if he had lost his partner. Yan Cheng Zi You stood in front of him and asked, "Where are you staying? Can the body be made like a dead tree, and the heart like dead ash? The secluded people today are not the same as those in the past?" Zi Qi said, "Yan, isn't it good to ask this? Now I have lost myself, do you know that? You hear the sounds of people but not the sounds of the earth, and you hear the sounds of the earth but not the sounds of heaven!" (Note)
"And you are born with a body like a withered tree and a heart like dead ash."

"You follow your heart's desire, and everything is one with you. Others see you, but they also don't see you. What they see is your own desire."

"I have lost myself. This is the state that those of us who seek the truth dream of. You were born to achieve it."

"Ah Li, you are not an unlucky person, you are the most precious treasure in the world."

……

……

Everything is one with her, so what is happening to her now?
Are others one with her?

Zhuang Li looked at the dream before him, and Mrs. Zhuang gave a new dress to the girl to try on...
She raised her hand and pulled, and the new clothes disappeared, and the girl and Mr. Zhuang who was writing beside her also disappeared.

She turned around and faced Mrs. Zhuang.

"What about me? What happened to me?" she asked, "Huang Ru, am I still myself in your eyes?"

Mrs. Zhuang looked at her in a daze and moved her lips with difficulty.

Do not ask.

But it was too late. The dream shook her and she was back on the street.

(Note: Zhuangzi's "On the Equality of Things")
In two more chapters, the cause and effect will be explained clearly, and the heroine will take action.