'Till Death Do Us Apart 長相守

Chapter 25

XXV

That year, Japan launched campaigns to strengthen security throughout northern China under the slogan, "liberate East Asia, eliminate Communism in self-defence, and work industriously to increase production." Consequently, the tension in Tientsin heightened as well.

A massive raid was conducted in spring and once again in late summer. Although Lao -Wu's cover had not been revealed, the
administration arranged for him to retreat from Tientsin in fear for his safety. In the last two years, Shen Liangsheng had transferred several sums of money in support of logistics through Lao -Wu's connections. The latter appreciated his contributions, but it proved too risky to say aloud during their farewell. He later asked Ch'in Ching to pass on the message: "I don't know when I will be able to return. You must be very careful in the future. Don't interact with anybody else. I thank you on behalf of the Party, and Vice Chairman Chou also asked me to thank you personally."

Ch'in Ching delivered the entire message word for word before adding, "Come to think of it, Vice Chairman Chou is half a Tientsiner."

"Oh, a fellow Tientsiner."

"I should be saying that, not you."

Shen K'echen had moved to Tientsin after the Peiyang government fell and the Shen ancestry traced back to the Northeast , so Shen Liangsheng was not a true Tientsiner. But upon hearing this, Shen Liangsheng only turned over a page of the newspaper and retorted, "But I married into a Tientsin family. Why can't I call myself a Tientsiner?"
Amused at how the man had become cheekier as he aged, Ch'in Ching shook his head smilingly and sat down beside the man. He skimmed through the page that Shen Liangsheng had just finished reading but did not find the column he wanted. Then he realized it was in the man's hands and proceeded to hold out his hand in demand.

"I'm still reading. Wait your turn ."

Ch'in Ching simply looked at him with a smile on his face. Very soon, Shen Liangsheng could only wave the white flag and toss the papers over to him. He asked a question to which he didn't expect an answer, "Are you the most obnoxious or what?"

The paper that Shen Liangsheng was reading was New Tientsin Gazette, which was previously known as Tienfungpao . The specific page that they were fighting over was the literature section in which the newest chapters of The Legend of the Shu Shan Swordsmen were being released. Ch'in Ching was a devout fan of Huan Chu Lou Chu and thus would not miss even one chapter.

Originally, Shen Liangsheng did not read for leisure, but since he had settled down with Ch'in Ching and become used to domestic life, his tastes began to change. With time to spare, the two men tended to a few plants here and there, and on idle days, they would make a pot of tea and sit across from one another each with a book in hand for hours at a time.

Perhaps all men had a secret love for wu-hsia in their bones. Seeing Ch'in Ching following every single release of The Legend of Shu Shan Swordsmen and praising its story, Shen Liangsheng thought he might as well buy the printed books from Lili Press and read the story from the start. After catching up, he followed the new releases with Ch'in Ching and even engaged the man in discussion afterwards.

The Legend was a hsien-hsia novel with an extensively elaborate world. There were characters both good and evil, and each had
wukung more powerful than the last. They could soar the skies and burrow through the earth. They could travel on their swords. Their abilities were strange and fascinating, never failing to surprise the reader. Regardless of how much his tastes had changed, Shen Liangsheng did not lose his fastidious and methodical nature. Even though it was a novel, he had Ch'in Ching accompany him in sorting the relationships between the always increasing character set, debating who had the better wukung and more useful magic items and whether good would prevail against evil or vice versa. In this, Ch'in Ching lacked the studious attitude of the other man but nonetheless found this serious way of reading fiction rather interesting. He gladly joined in the discussions, and before he knew it, he, too, had become quite serious. Occasionally the two men had opposing opinions and neither could persuade the other. At times like these, Ch'in Ching would threaten menacingly, "You disagree with me one more time and you're washing the dishes this week!" While saying so, it didn't occur to him that it was rather immature for two grown men to fall out over a fictional novel.