As soon as he stepped into the door of East Market, Xie Wangzhi was stunned.
The Lantern Festival lasts for three days, with no curfew at night. The huge East Market is hung with lanterns, and in the distance there are lantern wheels and lantern trees several stories high, making the East Market as bright as day. The shops along the street are all open, with stalls set up in the gaps, and the hawking sounds are endless. Lanterns are hung above the stalls, illuminating the brows of passers-by with warm yellow light.
The East Market was crowded with people. People who came out to take advantage of the Lantern Festival were dressed in different clothes. There were porters walking through the streets in linen clothes, noble ladies wearing long and luxurious skirts, and even Hu people with high noses and deep eyes. Parents held their children and bought a piece of roasted rice on the roadside; lovers leaned on each other and held lanterns; people who traveled alone did whatever they wanted and wandered aimlessly along the street.
The lights are as bright as day, and carriages and horses are traveling at night.
Xie Wangzhi opened his eyes wide in surprise, the lanterns all over the street reflected in his pupils: "Lantern Festival... Is it like this outside?"
"You've never been here before?" It looked grand, but in fact it was the same every year. Changsheng was not surprised. "It's the same every year, with lantern festivals, fireworks, and singing and dancing performances."
"I haven't seen it." Xie Wangzhi was reluctant to look away. "Before I entered the palace, my father-in-law kept me at home and I couldn't go out casually. After I entered the palace, I seldom went out."
Changsheng turned his head and looked at her. Seeing that she was both excited and panicked, he couldn't help but leaned close to her ear and smiled: "Then I'll show you around. Let's go and watch the trick I told you about before."
As the distance shortened, Xie Wangzhi turned her head and was able to meet Changsheng's eyes. She nodded solemnly: "Okay, thank you for your help then."
"What's the trouble?" Changsheng felt that Xie Wangzhi was sometimes too polite, so he straightened up and wiped his nose with his hand, "Follow me, don't get lost."
"No, I'm not a child." Xie Wangzhi hurriedly caught up and walked side by side with him.
"You're not?" Changsheng thought it was funny and raised his legs slowly. "I remember the year turned over. You're only thirteen years old, right?"
"What's wrong with thirteen? You're only fifteen." Xie Wangzhi was unconvinced and puffed up one cheek, "If they were children, then we are all."
"I'm different from you." Changsheng raised his head slightly, looking at the indigo sky, with dots of light from the lanterns falling on his eyelashes. "At the age of fifteen, I had to..."
He suddenly realized that something was wrong, and swallowed back the words "become a king and build a palace". He rolled his tongue and said vaguely, "... I have to make plans for the future."
This is the truth, but Xie Wangzhi felt that Changsheng seemed to be hiding something. However, she couldn't figure out the hidden meaning for the time being, so she could only stare at him blankly, forgetting to relax her puffy cheeks.
She hadn't grown up yet, and her face still had some of the softness that only children have. Her cheeks bulged out, making her face look round, like a little squirrel with its mouth full of pine cones. Changsheng turned his head to take a look, then suddenly reached out and poked the bulge accurately.
Xie Wang was shocked: "How come you..."
"You poked me last time, too." Changsheng said quickly, with a smile in his voice, "Let's call it even."
What else could Xie Wangzhi do? He could only endure it and continue to follow Changsheng.
Somehow, she always felt that the place on her face where she was poked was a little strange. It was actually very light, and Changsheng didn't grow nails, so the poking on her face was just the feeling of skin touching skin. But she felt a slight itch and numbness on her cheek, as if there was a touch that should have been fleeting.
Xie Wangzhi didn't understand why this happened, but she didn't know to ask, so she just kept walking. After walking a few more steps, Changsheng's arm suddenly crossed in front of her. She was startled and instinctively took a step back. Then she saw a large cluster of fire, very close to her, almost in front of her. The heat rushed towards her face, burning her breath.
"It's a magic trick." Changsheng explained, leading her around. "It seems that if you put wine in your mouth and spit it out towards the torch, fire will come out."
Xie Wangzhi thought that this trick was too scary, so he looked up and saw the fire-breathing artist spit out another breath. The air was full of the smell of burning wine, and the people around him applauded. Only a woman nearby walked over quickly with the child in her arms. The boy was obviously very scared and stuck to his mother's chest, not daring to raise his head.
Xie Wangzhi inexplicably felt that Changsheng's way of protecting her was somewhat like this woman, and she was the timid child. She was a little annoyed, and deliberately looked back at the fire-breathing trick, and said stubbornly: "You don't have to block it for me, I'm not afraid of it."
"Okay, okay, you're not afraid." Changsheng said casually, "We Wangzhi are the bravest."
"you… "
Changsheng didn't care how embarrassed Xie Wangzhi was. He led her through the crowd, around different magic stalls, and finally stopped in front of one of them: "Here, this is it."
There were quite a lot of people here, but much less than the fire-breathing and knife-swallowing stalls I had passed by before. There were men, women, old and young in those stalls, but this stall was mostly filled with young men and women, and there were also several couples. The magic tricks on the stall were also simple, nothing more than changing a cage into a bird, and Xie Wangzhi noticed the lanterns on the side.
This lantern is different from the hanging ones. I don’t know what mechanism is inside it. It can rotate by itself without a candle, and it reflects the things inside in a dim way.
"Like this?" Changsheng guessed what Xie Wangzhi meant.
Xie Wangzhi was too embarrassed to nod directly, and hesitantly said "hmm": "I think it looks good. But there doesn't seem to be room for candles inside."
"There's no need to put it there in the first place." Changsheng smiled and turned to look at the stall owner, "This."
The stall owner was originally watching the artist at the same stall transform into a cage, and didn't notice this. He was slightly startled, and then smiled: "Is it that the young lady likes this?"
Xie Wangzhi understood and tugged at Changsheng's sleeve: "I didn't mean that, you don't have to..."
"Oh, young master, it's all your fault. Why would you refuse?" The stall owner looked at Changsheng's appearance. It was obvious that the two of them couldn't be siblings, so he started to guess. "It's not expensive. It's only a few dozen Tongbao coins. You should just take it. Otherwise, I can give you a discount so you don't feel bad."
Xie Wangzhi vaguely felt that there was something else behind these words, but she didn't know how to explain it. Her face turned red, and she could only pull at Changsheng's sleeve: "I really don't mean anything else..."
"I understand." Changsheng took out a handful of Tongbao from his sleeve and handed it over. He picked up the one that Xie Wangzhi had taken a fancy to earlier and mentioned it in front of her. "I don't have any other intentions. It's just a lamp."
The money had been paid, so Xie Wangzhi couldn't refuse anymore. He nodded hesitantly: "Thank you, I'll make you some snacks next time."
"Okay." Changsheng responded, "Do you want anything else?"
Xie Wangzhi didn't dare to say anything else, fearing that Changsheng would buy something again, and hurriedly shook his head: "No more."
"Really gone?"
"It's gone. It's true."
Hearing this, the stall owner who had just put away the Tongbao suddenly laughed, but this time he was not talking to Xie Wangzhi: "Young Master, this is not good enough. How come you are still so shy even though you are out playing?"
"Where did the rule come from? Do you have to spend money to go out and have fun?" Changsheng said with a smile, and ignored him. He moved his sleeves to signal and led Xie Wangzhi out the same way. When they left the stall, he said, "Don't think too much. A lamp costs less than 20 cents. The stall owner was deliberately provoking me to buy more lamps."
"Yeah?"
"I'm not spending the money anyway. There's no point in buying something you don't like." Changsheng casually handed the lamp to Xie Wangzhi.
"Thank you." Xie Wangzhi took the lamp and pursed his lips. "How about I give you the money? I have a monthly allowance, and I don't spend much normally... The music school shouldn't give much, right?"
"The music hall has reward money." Changsheng didn't like luxury, but he had never known what it meant to be short of money. He said nonsense, "This is my gift to you. Tell me yourself, how can you give money to the person who gave the gift?"
In a few words, the lantern became a gift. Xie Wangzhi was helpless and looked down at the lantern in his hand: "This lantern is beautiful, but it's a pity that it won't light up."
"Who said no?"
Xie Wang was stunned: "Ah?"
Changsheng touched the base of the lantern and touched some mechanism. The lantern slowly stopped turning and a hole opened in the base, from which a small oil-paper bag rolled out. He carefully took out the bag and opened it to show Xie Wangzhi: "Here."
Xie Wangzhi took a look and saw that the paper bag contained fine glitter powder. The lanterns hanging on all sides were too bright. These powders were not like what she saw in Changsheng's palm at that time, which would only flash occasionally. She was a little surprised: "Is this what you said last time?"
"Yes." Changsheng nodded, took the lamp from her hand, raised it to almost level with her face, and handed the paper bag to her, "Blow into this lamp, a little harder."
"Are you just going to do it like that?" Xie Wangzhi took the paper bag, feeling a little nervous.
"Yeah. Just blow like this and the light will light up."
The place where he was standing now was at a street corner, which was quite remote, and people who were out at night would not come over. Xie Wangzhi made sure that there was no one around, raised his hand carefully, put the paper bag in his palm close to his face, and exhaled sharply.
The glitter in the paper bag was very light, and when it was blown, most of it flew out and headed straight for the lantern. The lantern was transparent on all sides, and the glitter floated into the lantern and stuck to the wooden pattern in the center, and the inside immediately lit up, like the Milky Way flowing into the lantern, reflecting the stars in the sky.
Changsheng tapped the mechanism with his fingertips, the base closed, and the lantern began to spin again. As he said, the lantern really lit up, with stars or fireflies stuck on the wood carvings, flickering as it turned. Xie Wangzhi stared at the lantern and saw a silhouette in it, which happened to be two people holding lanterns for a night tour.
She stared at the light: "It's amazing..."
"It's nothing, actually. I just put some adhesive on the wood carving. When I blow on the glitter, it sticks to it, and it looks bright at night." Changsheng handed the lamp back, "Come on, I'll take you to see something else."
"What are you looking at?"
"Singing and dancing shows." Changsheng said, "But that one is under the lantern tower, a little far away, and there are many people. Come, hold my hand, otherwise you will be easily dispersed."
With a smile on his face, under the warm yellow light, he stretched out his hand towards Xie Wangzhi. His hand had well-proportioned bones and flesh, and the skin was as white as jade.
The author has something to say: Changsheng, he is really my fantasy of a "young man". This was the best time in his life. I am filled with emotion when I think back on it.
Because of the clamp, time and fate, I won't struggle anymore. I will update early today. The expected update time tomorrow will be after 11pm. The update time in the future will still be fixed, and it won't fluctuate so much like these few days_(:3)∠)_
Then, here's a preview of a modern fantasy novel, "Are You Human?"↓. If you're interested, you can click on the preview and the closing. I kowtow to the readers (哐x_(:3)∠)_
He Hanchui, who conquers demons and monsters and kills all around, has won the title of the Contemporary Outstanding Heavenly Master for three consecutive years.
Cen Xing is a man of first-rate looks and gentle personality. He is capable of both being a lady in the living room and cooking in the kitchen. When he has nothing to do, he can even make some felt to give to others.
He Hanchui felt that Cen Xing was a truly excellent roommate, his only flaw being that as an ordinary person, his physique could attract ghosts and monsters.
She racked her brains to beat up her enemy without telling Cen Xing, and afterwards she had to hug him in her arms and comfort him carefully.
He Hanchui: My heart is tired, it is my sin :)
Until Cen Xing transformed into a white fox in front of her, with golden eyes and a nine-tail, using the city as his throne. Anyone who saw him had to respectfully call him "Fox Lord".
He Hanchui was so shocked that he was incoherent: "You, you, you... are you a human?!"
Cen Xing cooperated very well: "I, I, I... I'm not."
He Hanchui: "Then what is the felt you gave me!!!"
Cen Xing was silent for a moment: "... Well, I used my own hair to poke it."
1v1 modern fiction, the male protagonist often forgets that he is not a human, and the female protagonist often forgets that she is a human.
Fake gentle and considerate good man, really cruel snail guy x violent and bright hardworking little Taoist priest