Wine in the Moonlight

The door opened abruptly and Suzhen came out onto the verandah, her face pale in the failing light.

Xuxian had not returned yet. He had left early in the morning for a neighbouring town to buy some herbs, and would be back late at night. She had offered to go with him but he refused, saying the rushed journey would be tiring for her, and told her not to keep dinner or stay up for him. Even with Granny Hong dropping by, and seeing familiar faces in the market, it had seemed unusually quiet and lonely today.

She smiled wistfully to herself. How fast she had gotten used to having him with her. Barely a year, and already she was missing having him around, though she had spent all of eight thousand years on her own.

Since Xuxian was not around, she had not bothered to cook, since spirits did not need to eat every day like humans and animals did. Instead, she paced about the hut restlessly, without really knowing why.

She sat down on the stairs and unwound the piece of cloth she had taken to wearing around her hair as she worked, like the other village women. Leaning against the post, Suzhen watched the first faint glimpse of the stars starting to appear in the darkening twilight. All around she could see the lights in the other homes as the villagers settled down for the last meal of the day.

Xuxian had been rather distant and preoccupied the last two days, she thought to herself soberly. He had been as kind as always, but several times she had caught him gazing into the distance with his brows unconsciously furrowed, and once or twice she fancied there had been a certain thoughtfulness in his eyes when he looked at her. She knew better than to ask him what was wrong, since he clearly did not want her to know, and she waited patiently for him to tell her. Was he worried about the coming winter, whether they had enough to survive on, now that there were two of them? Was it a patient who wasn't responding to his treatment? Or--was it something to do with her?

She ran her fingers deftly through her hair, combing out the tangles, with a frown. Song Gongzi had indeed come to the village again, but she had avoided him just in time, and waited till he had left before she reappeared, so it couldn't be that...

"A fine night, isn't it, Madame Xu."

A voice rang through the air and she looked up to see Gong Yezi on his verandah, comfortably enjoying the cool air with a flask of wine. He waved his cup to her.

She smiled. "Certainly. But a lonely one, if you have no one to enjoy it with."

He chuckled. "You're the lonely one. I have wine, which is a better companion than most of the people I know."

Eyeing her keenly over the edge of his cup, he beckoned to her. "Physician Xu's not back yet, is he? Come and have a cup of wine with an old man while you wait for him. It's less lonesome waiting when you have wine with you." He gazed up at the moon, just emerging from behind the clouds. "The moon is so bright today, it makes me want to compose a poem. However, I never get further than the first line, so you'll have to help me with the rest of it."

When Xuxian appeared, laden with parcels, he saw the door of their hut stood open, and next door two figures sitting on the verandah of Gong Yezi's home, toasting the moon with wine.

By this time, there were several flasks of wine lined up on the floor, where Gong Yezi had fetched them to help him compose his poem. Clutching one, he was waving his other hand at the moon.

"The beauty of the moon awakens memories of the past." he chanted formally.

Suzhen nodded her head meditatively. "How about 'Luminous beauty of the moon, awakens my heart, To memories of the past?' " she suggested.

Gong Yezi shook his finger. "That's it. A toast to you, Madame Xu. Now for the fourth line."

He drank deeply, and then lowered his cup as he caught sight of Xuxian. "Ah, Physician Xu, you've finally returned! I took the liberty of inviting Madame over to join me in drinking and admiring the moon while she waited for you. She looked too lonely sitting on your steps by herself."

Suzhen put down the flask and jumped up. "Xuxian! You're back."

She sprang down and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck, and gave him a kiss. Gong Yezi raised his eyebrows and averted his eyes with a cough. Xuxian hurriedly undid her arms from around his neck, smiling despite himself. "Susu, not in public, remember?" he whispered.

She fell back a little, slightly crestfallen. "Oh."

He handed her one of the parcels. "I got you some sweetmeats. Why don't you share some with Gong Yezi?"

Gong Yezi's sharp eyes and ears were too fast for him. "Do I see preserved plums? My favourite! Physician Xu, put down your parcels and join us for a while. The moon is too beautiful to bother with mundane things. Have a drink with us."

Unexpectedly Xuxian smiled and shrugged. "And I have yet to hear the rest of the poem."

The three of them sat comfortably on the verandah, and raised their cups in a silent toast. The moonlight touched everything with a silvery gleam, giving it a dream-like quality, and the wine sparkled as if it were a heavenly nectar. Xuxian felt himself relaxing after the tiring journey, and for once the worries that had been clouding his mind for the past few days seemed to fade away.

Suzhen inched closer to him. "I'm glad you're back," she whispered, glancing shyly at him.

"You're good at composing poems," he replied. "I never knew. Next time you must compose one about our wisteria tree for me."

She glowed happily, and refilled his cup.

"Have we reached the fox fairy stage yet?" he murmured as Gong Yezi took another swig directly from the flask--forgetting to use his cup--and gnawed on a sour plum like an ancient squirrel as he thought of the fourth line for his poem.

Suzhen stifled a laugh. "Not yet. Don't be mean, Xuxian."