When night falls, the city is full of carnivals, and the bright river in the sky echoes with the sea of lights on the ground, making the moonlight also eclipsed. Xue Qinglan's lantern has been changed into Wen Heng's hands at some point, but he himself is holding a small round drawer made of bamboo strips, which holds four Lantern Festivals of different colors, either wrapped in egg liquid and fried to golden brown, or steamed. Rolling another layer of plum powder, small and exquisite, with local characteristics, is a way of eating that he has never seen in Mingzhou.
Wen Heng slowed down his steps, blocked the flow of people beside him, and watched him eat with an old father-like kindness in his eyes: "Chew slowly, be careful, don't choke."
Xue Qinglan wanted to give him one, but Wen Heng smiled and let it go: "No, eat it yourself, I don't like sweet ones."
Xue Qinglan asked, "Then why are you so embarrassed to say I'm a picky eater every day?"
Wen Heng said calmly: "Adults only talk about hobbies, children are picky eaters, and I won't talk about you when you grow up."
Xue Qinglan angrily bit off half of the Lantern Festival: "Here's a heresy."
Wen Heng smiled but did not say anything.
From midnight to late at night, the two strolled from one end of the long street to the other, walking across half of Zhanchuan City, and they didn't even feel tired. Xue Qinglan was fed a lot of food by Wen Heng along the way, and all the flavors and colors that had never been seen in her short life of more than ten years were all fulfilled this night.
After passing the most prosperous high platform, the surrounding lights suddenly dimmed, and there are deep narrow alleys on both sides.
This place looked a little scary, but Wen Heng seemed to be unaware, and still led Xue Qinglan to the dark deep alley.
"Brother?"
Wen Heng held his hand again. Although the light of the lantern was not big, it could barely illuminate the road under his feet. He reassured: "Don't be afraid, I will take you somewhere."
The road in the middle of the alley is not smooth, they walked for a while, and finally the back door of a house stopped. Wen Heng stepped forward and knocked three times, not long after the sound of hurried footsteps came from the door of the house, the door squeaked, and the voice came first before anyone showed up, and the voice was a bit familiar: "Young master is having a good time, it's been fine recently. —”
The corner door slowly opened, and the thin candlelight of the palace lantern illuminated Xue Qinglan who was beside Wen Heng outside the door, and Fan Yang who had a short beard inside the door.
Xue Qinglan: "..."
Fan Yang, who was rushing towards the door, seemed to have run into a ghost while walking at night. His footsteps stopped abruptly, and he jumped back suddenly, his eyes staring like copper bells: "You, you, you..."
"What is the ghost roaring?" Wen Heng stepped over the threshold and greeted Xue Qinglan to recognize the person, "Come on, this is Mr. Fan Yangfan, the chief escort of the Luming Escort Bureau."
He said to Fan Yang again, "This is Xue Qinglan, the master disciple of the 'Sacred Hand of Immortals' in Yisu Mountain, Mingzhou."
Xue Qinglan said: "Hello Mr. Fan, I have long admired the name."
Knowing that "Long Yang" was just a polite remark, but coming out of his mouth made people tremble, Fan Yang said blankly, "Please... Please come in."
Wen Heng finally noticed his strangeness, and said curiously, "Why did you stutter suddenly today, did you burn your mouth while eating the dumplings?"
Fan Yang's left ear went in and his right ear came out, but he didn't hear what he said at all. He stared at Xue Qinglan with all his heart, but the young man's expression remained unchanged, he nodded slightly in greeting, his eyes swept away on him, and he didn't stop for a moment.
Like they don't know each other.
Wen Heng was too lazy to pay attention to him, and led Xue Qinglan into the inner house familiarly. Fan Yang was stunned for a moment at the door, and rubbed his eyes a few times in disbelief before he came to his senses and quickly turned around to catch up.
The two were invited to the main hall to serve tea, and when they reached the lamp, Fan Yang breathed out slowly. Just now, the light was dim and the outline was not very clear. When he met him suddenly, he almost thought that A Que, who had been dead for many years, had returned. Now the bright candlelight illuminates Xue Qinglan's whole body brightly and clearly, her face is cold, and the subtle details of her eyebrows and eyes are still familiar, but the palpitating look has disappeared.
Although it is very common to "look like", it is impossible not to think about the appearance of the look-alike still appearing beside Wen Heng. Fan Yang knew that A Que's death was a deep scar in Wen Heng's heart, but he didn't expect that three years later, the pain did not fade away, but intensified and became an obsession.
A Que went early, and when he left, he was empty-handed and left nothing. Wen Heng had nowhere to see things and think about people, so he actually found a young man and placed him beside him just like A Que.
Whether it is practice or thinking, it is a bit too much, almost crazy.
The servant poured hot tea and Xue Qinglan just took a sip, when he heard Fan Yang say casually, "Young Master Xue looks quite kind, and he always feels as if he has seen it somewhere before."
He said these words to Xue Qinglan, but his eyes glanced at Wen Heng. Xue Qinglan put the tea cup aside and replied slowly, "I lived in Yisu Mountain since I was a child, and this is the first time I have come to Zhanchuan City, but I have never met Mr. Fan."
Fan Yang smirked: "Oh, so that's the case. Could it be that I forgot? What does the son think?"
Wen Heng couldn't listen to his questioning like a prodigal son approaching a girl, and frowned, "I think you are offending people for me. If you have anything to say, just say it directly and don't go around the corner."
Fan Yang scratched his heart, but Xue Qinglan was still sitting there. It was inconvenient for him to tell the truth in front of others, so he could only smile dryly: "Haha, it's nothing, nothing, it's my bad memory that made Young Master Xue laugh. "
Xue Qinglan held up the tea cup expressionlessly, covering the corners of her slightly raised lips.
Wen Heng glanced at Fan Yang inexplicably, and prepared to settle accounts with him later, turned his head and instructed Xue Qinglan: "It's getting late, drink less tea, be careful that you won't be able to sleep at night." Then he asked Fan Yang, "Have the main room been cleaned up? I'm staying here tonight, and I'm going back to the mountain tomorrow."
Fan Yang hurriedly said: "The main room and the wing room have been prepared, and the things that the son asked to beat last time have also been sent to you later?"
"Okay." Wen Heng, "I'll take him there first."
Fan Yang watched helplessly as he skillfully called Xue Qinglan over and walked away together. The two figures were shoulder to shoulder under the moonlight. There was no intimacy, but it gave an inexplicable sense of intimacy.
Except for A Que, he has never heard of anyone Heng Ken let him be so close to him in these years.
Fan Yang thought about it, and became more and more certain that Wen Heng was suffering from longing and lost his mind. That little son Xue lived in the mountains since he was a child. He was so young that he didn't know that people's hearts were unpredictable. At this moment, he was probably unaware and foolishly immersed in the pity and consideration that belonged to others.
He was full of sighs and ordered his servants to add more charcoal to the wing so as not to freeze the distinguished guests, and he turned around to get something for Wen Heng. On the other side, "stupid little son Xue" didn't even touch the shadow of the wing room, and was directly stuffed into the main room by Wen Heng.
The small courtyard is connected to the Luming Escort Bureau next door. Wen Heng occasionally goes down the mountain to rest here, and he can come here three or four times a year. There were not many furnishings in his house, but today he added a half-person-high smoked cage, which made the room warm as spring. Xue Qinglan had finished washing and dressing, and was yawning while lying in the quilt. There were faint voices and noises coming from outside the window, but the daytime lanterns were far away from him.
Tonight is like a beautiful dream, rising for no reason and ending for no reason. He knew he couldn't ask for too much, and the momentary pleasure was a godsend, so he was content to wake up from his dream.
Seeing that his eyes were slightly closed, Wen Heng seemed sleepy, walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, and asked softly, "Sleepy? Is it cold?"
Xue Qinglan shook her head and whispered, "It's not cold." Thinking of something, she suddenly forced her sleepy eyes to look at Wen Heng: "Are you..."
"what?"
Xue Qinglan wanted to ask him if he would sleep with her tonight, but this was really hard to say, and it seemed that it was not very good to be straightforward and subtle. Wen Heng got up and said, "Wait a minute, Fan Yang is here."
He walked around the screen to the outside, pushed open the door, Fan Yang was stunned by the warmth inside the door, and wondered why Wen Heng was suddenly afraid of the cold, while handing over the box, he said loudly, "Sir, let's This is at the foot of the mountain, and the charcoal is burned well. It's not that cold at night, so be careful to wake up in the middle of the night. On the side of Young Master Xue..."
Wen Heng raised his hand and made a silent gesture to him, indicating that there was someone in the room, Fan Yang suddenly realized who was in the bedroom, his eyes almost popped out: "He, he..."
Wen Heng didn't care and took the box: "I'll talk about it later, wait for me in the East Hall."
The door closed mercilessly in front of Fan Yang. He was stunned by the fact that "Wen Heng's room was hiding a person", and he didn't have time to leave in time. After a while, a few small whispers suddenly leaked from the cracks in the window. Martial arts practitioners have excellent ears. He heard Xue Qinglan's clear voice with sleepiness and a lazy ending, making it difficult for people to associate this voice with that cold-hearted teenager.
"what is this?"
Wen Heng put the wooden box in his hand and said, "Open it and have a look."
The delicate copper lock snaps open, revealing a pair of inlaid silver bracelets on the red silk in the box. The silver bracelet is divided into three strands, the main ring is chiseled with grass pattern, the upper and lower rings are made of thin bamboo joints, and the middle inlay is made of suet white jade and red coral to form a wishful flower knot. Xue Qinglan picked up one of them, and saw that the inside was chiseled with four small characters of "Hundred Diseases Not Invaded", while the other one was chiseled with "Longevity and Kangning".
He held the pair of silver bracelets in a daze, puzzled, and looked at Wen Heng blankly.
Wen Heng took his left hand, took out the bracelet with the word "Hundred Diseases Invincible" and put it on him. His right hand, "Wan Shou Kang Ning", followed the same method. went in.
This bracelet looks delicate, but it is actually a wide bracelet. It is of the right size and weight. It weighs heavily on Xue Qinglan's wrist. Not only is it not feminine, but it makes the wrist slender and clean.
"The custom here in Jiuqu is that every family must save money, make silver locks and silver bracelets for their children, wear them from the New Year to Shangyuan, and bless the coming year with a safe, disease-free and disaster-free place." Wen Heng put his hands together. , looked at the gleaming bracelet in the light with satisfaction, shook it lightly, and said, "Since it's a festival, other children have lanterns and silver bracelets, and of course you have them too. Silver locks are enough, I'm afraid I hit you too. I don't like it."
His tone was flat and his expression was gentle, as if he was talking about something that was natural, but Xue Qinglan's eyes suddenly became hot, and the countless emotions in his chest rose like a torrent of waves.
At this moment, he almost wanted to throw himself into Wen Heng's arms and cry bitterly, but at the same time, the wound on the side of his neck that had already healed suddenly became hot and stinged without warning.
The ice-like coolness climbed into the fiery heart, and the slight pain forcibly suppressed his emotions, and it also made him suddenly awake - tonight is not a dream, but which of the sweet dreams he once had could be more complete than now
"I… "
He thought about the words for a long time, and finally laughed with red eyes, like a child who was ashamed of a generous gift, and said at a loss and sincerely, "Thank you, Senior Brother."
"Yeah." Wen Heng reached out to touch his hair, and said solemnly, "Wear it well tonight, don't take it off, and it will be safe and sound in the future."
Xue Qinglan nodded and agreed: "Okay."
Wen Heng got up and put down the curtain, stared at Xue Qinglan lying on the bed and covered the quilt before saying, "I'll go to Fan Yang to say a few words, you go to bed first, don't wait for me."
Xue Qinglan opened his eyes and looked at him without blinking.
Wen Heng laughed at him, but helplessly raised his hand to cover his eyes, leaned down slightly and said, "Go to sleep, you will grow taller when you sleep. I'll be back in a while."
The author has something to say: It's brotherhood! (Unconscious.jpg