Chapter 30: Nanchun Part 2

But the child had Gou Nanchun’s authority; Nan He could neither control nor outargue her.

She was clearly the elder, yet after a trip out alone, she got scolded upon return.

If she went to the lotus pond, the child suspected her of playing in the mud.

If she went to the candy man stall, the child worried she would ruin her teeth with greed.

…

Nan He often wanted to quarrel with her, to make clear she was a spirit, much older than her, not her child, and she need not treat her like a three-year-old babe. But she could only think it; the child was like a stern schoolmaster, masterful at lecturing, her tongue sharper with age—Nan He could not win.

Unfortunately, her fate was not as good as her mouth; she had not outlived Gou Nanchun.

Gou Nanchun had at least lived to fifty; she died before forty.

The fortune-teller said she was too wise too soon, harming her vitality; living past forty was thanks to Nan He’s spirit blood protection.

She truly imitated Gou Nanchun perfectly.

Even entrusting the orphan at death was done the same, or even better.

With the child still in swaddling clothes, she passed away without naming her, but made sure to divorce her hated husband before dying.

After decades of being managed, Nan He rebelled.

She deliberately named the child exactly like her grandmother, then coaxed little Gou Nanchun to call her “grandma.”

Nan He felt that even if they knew in the underworld, they could not blame her—who made them all leave so early, leaving her alone? Then she could do as she pleased.

A swaddled child could not manage a family guardian spirit or make her obey.

Gou Nanchun’s granddaughter was quite different from both Gou Nanchun and her mother. She had probably grown up alongside Nan He during her rebellious phase, developing a devil-may-care personality from a young age. She disliked gloomy things and loved to play, but fortunately, she had inherited good genes. Her mind was exceptionally sharp, and at a young age, she had sorted out the granary that Nan He had mismanaged to the brink of collapse.

Strangely enough, despite her love for fun, her body was the healthiest among them.

She had been free from illness and disaster since childhood. The only flaw was that she seemed uninterested in marriage. Waves of suitors came, but she showed no reaction.

Nan He had always been averse to marriage herself. With little Gou Nanchun showing no interest, she also played ignorant.

But as they played ignorant, they faced the reality that the Gou family bloodline might truly come to an end. After much agonizing, she made a reluctant choice.

She decided to have little Gou Nanchun get married.

Nan He found Gou Nanchun at the lotus pond. She wore a hat made from a lotus leaf, barefoot with her pant legs rolled up and tucked into the mud, digging for lotus roots there.

Fine mud specks dotted her snow-white skin, and some dried mud clung to her fair face.

The mud was uneven, and it was easy to sink in if one wasn’t careful.

Nan He watched her wobble unsteadily through the muddy pond, afraid she might fall and end up with a mouthful of mud. She hurriedly floated over, grabbed her shoulder to pull her out of the mud, but the moment she touched it, her arm was gripped by Gou Nanchun’s mud-caked hand.

“Granny Xiao He, don’t fly around randomly. If the servants in the residence see you, they’ll think you’re a demon.”

Seeing her anxiously glancing left and right, Nan He couldn’t help but feel she had done something wrong.

She released her spiritual power and was easily dragged into the mud by Gou Nanchun.

Her skirt hem got soaked and caked with thin mud, becoming much heavier. Without spiritual power, it was indeed hard to move. Gou Nanchun held her hand and led her through the mud pond. When Nan He sank in with one foot, Gou Nanchun reached out to pull her up a bit. As they walked, she said, “Granny Xiao He, let’s see who catches more eels. Whoever catches the most gets to eat more!”

“You’re catching eels?”

“Yeah.” She casually pushed aside two lotus leaf stems, head lowered, seemingly seriously searching for traces of eels hidden in the mud.

Nan He followed her forward for a while.

She suddenly turned her head and grinned at Nan He. “Granny Xiao He, you can still catch up to me. After all, I haven’t caught a single one yet.”

Her playful expression looked rather proud.

“Can we go up first? I have something to tell you.”

“Is it important?”

“Yes.”

Gou Nanchun unceremoniously refused. “Then I don’t want to!”

“Then… then we can talk here too.”

“I’m not listening!”

Gou Nanchun covered her ears with her hands, mud and water smearing onto her earlobes and wetting her dark hair.

She didn’t mind the dirt and kept covering them.

Nan He worried the muddy water would flow into her ears. “Put your hands down.”

“Then Granny Xiao He has to take back what you said about having something important to tell me.”

At nearly forty years old, she still retained a childish innocence. Fine lines had crept to the corners of her eyes, but her heart remained that of a child.

Nan He was always helpless against the women of the Gou family. She couldn’t make decisions for Gou Nanchun, couldn’t control her daughter’s nagging, and couldn’t change little Gou Nanchun’s childlike nature.

Over a hundred years had passed since Nan He’s birth, and she had grown as well.

Moreover, no one had spent more time with the person before her than she had. She pulled down Gou Nanchun’s hand. “You… A’Chun, do you already know what I want to say?”

“How would I know? I…”

She tried to quip, but Nan He cut off her chance to continue. “You should get married. Otherwise, the Gou family bloodline will end.”

Little Gou Nanchun’s smile stiffened slightly. She averted her gaze and shrugged indifferently. “I’m not the emperor, and I have no empire to inherit. So what if the line ends?”

“A’Chun.” Nan He grew anxious. “Your family has the granary, and there’s me…”

Her voice weakened, her confidence fading as she spoke. “What will I do after you die?”

Little Gou Nanchun’s face changed dramatically. She exaggeratedly stepped back a few paces and looked at Nan He with heartbroken anguish. “Granny Xiao He, are you cursing me?”

“No, I’m not… I just…”

She wanted to explain but didn’t know what else to say.

It seemed everything had become her fault, yet she was clearly thinking of the Gou family. “Your grandmother didn’t want to marry either, but for the sake of the Gou family…”

Nan He tried to persuade Gou Nanchun, but before she could finish, little Gou Nanchun grabbed her wrist and squeezed hard. “Does Granny Xiao He want to say I’m selfish?”

Nan He was yanked forward, her upper body nearly falling into her embrace. “I’m not…”

Little Gou Nanchun lifted the lotus leaf hat from her head, her entire face meeting the sunlight.

The scorching light brought a smile back to her face, a bright and unrestrained smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Granny, you always think about what Grandmother wants. Have you ever asked what I want?”

“You… what do you want?”

“I want…” Little Gou Nanchun turned around and led her toward solid ground. “I don’t want to get married. Don’t worry, Granny, I’ll arrange everything. Before I die, I’ll sell the granary, leave half the money for you, and give the other half to the poor. The Gou ancestors were all benevolent people who helped the world. This would be inheriting their legacy. Um… if Granny Xiao He fears loneliness, I’ll reincarnate. Come find me after reincarnation. You’ll surely recognize my soul aura. Then I’ll keep playing with you, take you sightseeing, take…”

Her voice abruptly stopped, suddenly growing dejected, softer and softer. “If it’s reincarnation… Granny Xiao He would probably want to find Grandmother instead.”

Nan He didn’t catch her words and couldn’t help asking, “What did you say?”

Little Gou Nanchun didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “Granny Xiao He, which is more important: me getting married, or me being happy?”

Nan He had only one answer.

She had been reluctant even to urge little Gou Nanchun.

“Being happy is more important.”

“I won’t be happy if I get married.”

“How could that be?” Nan He earnestly recalled. “Your grandmother and your mother were both happy when they married. Your grandmother was a trickster, but your mother wouldn’t lie. You…”

Little Gou Nanchun led her out of the mud pond. With her not-so-clean hand, she rubbed Nan He’s face—a mix of mischief and revenge.

She said nothing, and Nan He tried in vain to read her expression.

Nan He had no choice but to grab her wrist, stopping her from further ruining her face. “You haven’t answered me yet.”

“Because you’d only be happy marrying someone you like. I don’t have a man I like right now, but I do like you, Granny Xiao He. Why don’t you marry me instead?”

She was always smiling, in her usual unserious way.

Nan He couldn’t tell which words were true and which were false, so she answered each one seriously. “Your grandmother said women can’t marry women.”

“Is Grandmother always right?”

Little Gou Nanchun’s face darkened, all trace of smile vanishing.

Nan He had never seen her like this and was momentarily startled.

Little Gou Nanchun noticed and quickly smiled again, coquettishly pleading with Nan He. “Granny Xiao He, Grandmother isn’t a saint. How could she be right about everything? I don’t care. I’m not getting married, and don’t nag me, or I’ll be so sad I’ll weep endlessly and die…”

“Don’t…” Nan He was somewhat scared. She had bid farewell to too many people; even thinking about it frightened her now. “Don’t die.”

They reached a kind of tacit understanding.

Nan He stopped urging her to marry, and little Gou Nanchun worked hard to preserve her health and live as long as possible.

Of course, they occasionally quarreled. For instance, when people on the street gave them increasingly odd looks, Nan He wanted little Gou Nanchun to treat her as a niece and stop calling her Granny. The fifty-something Nan He would stamp her foot, hands on hips, arguing with her. “No way! You’re so much older than me. I want to call you Granny. Don’t even think about pretending to be my niece! The Gou family line has already ended. I have no niece!”

Nan He was somewhat bewildered. “A’Chun, doesn’t it feel strange to always call me Granny?”

“Of course not. Who else has such a young and beautiful granny?”

“But your grandmother said… people outside will think it’s strange.”

Nan He already had white hair in her temples, but her temperament hadn’t changed. She would cling to her, pinching her cheeks one moment, her waist the next, freely venting her displeasure. “Granny Xiao He, you’re my guardian spirit, not theirs. Why care what they think or do? Just care about what I think!”

This answer was completely different from what she had once heard, but Gou Nanchun and little Gou Nanchun were entirely different people to begin with.

The only similarity was that they were both human, and humans all had short lifespans.

Little Gou Nanchun kept her word and strove to extend her life, but she grew old. Her body reminded her it was time to leave.

Her lifespan of a century exceeded that of her mother and grandmother combined.

But for a spirit, it was still too short.

“No! Don’t die!” Nan He never knew she could be so forceful. She kept feeding spiritual blood into the decaying body, heedless of her choking or her completely ashen face. “A’Chun, don’t die! You’re still young. You won’t die!”

“Granny Xiao… He… cough cough…”

Her once fair and tender skin had turned to withered bark, riddled with wrinkles, not a smooth patch left.

She truly wasn’t young anymore.

“Grand… Grandmother is that great? Cough cough… You’ll definitely say she is. You’re always like that… cough… always mentioning Grandmother on your lips. Go… find her.”

She really couldn’t hold on much longer; even speaking was an effort.

She strained to reach up, her lips pressing tightly to Nan He’s ear to ensure she heard her faint voice.

“Nan…chun… go find Gou Nanchun. Be happy… You said happiness matters. I… I want you to be happy.”