one
Heading southwest from the imperial capital, after passing Shunzhou, you will reach Jinluo City, which is built by the water.
Jinluo is famous for two things. One is the crystal clear Jinluo Lake with its endless blue sea and sky, and the other is its wine.
Just one cup of Jinluo's aged sake will leave a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth for ten days.
Thus, this pure fragrance wafts through the bluestone alleys of the city all year round, and mixed with the warm and moist air from the Jinluo Lake, it seems to be intertwined into a lingering aroma that lingers for a long time.
On the evening of the third day of March, Jinluo has the custom of releasing river lanterns and making wishes.
Zhaohong carefully placed the white lotus-like river lantern into the river. The river lantern swayed, circled in the water, stayed for a while, and then slowly drifted downstream.
The candle standing in the center of the white lotus in the lamp grew brighter and brighter in the March breeze, floating on the Jinshui River along with the river lanterns. From a distance, it looked like the twinkling Milky Way in the night sky.
Seeing the lantern begin to drift downstream, Zhaohong also trotted along the shore to catch up. Occasionally, she would blend in with other lanterns, but she could clearly distinguish her own river lantern with slightly pink petals.
Occasionally, the night wind would be stronger, blowing in gusts and almost making the candle flame fall out. Zhaohong's heart would be so nervous that it would rise to her throat, for fear that she would not be able to reach the river mouth and her wish would be aborted halfway.
Once you pass the Shuiyue Bridge, you can quickly drift to the center of the lake.
With a "splash", a stone the size of a goose egg was thrown over and fell into the river. The splashing water knocked over her lamp.
The children on the bridge clapped their hands and shouted, "Oh, San'er threw it accurately. Come on, come on."
Zhaohong watched the paper white lotus lantern sway a few times and then sink into the water. Her heart ached and she burst into tears.
The children laughed even more happily. They couldn't catch up with the rainbow in a few steps. They scratched their cheeks on the bridge and said, "Shame on you. A grown-up girl is crying here." One of the older boys shouted sarcastically, "Oh my god - I'm afraid you won't be able to find a good husband to marry you this year after the river lanterns turned on -"
The boy was talking halfway when he was replaced by his own screams. A woman in green clothes twisted his right ear and said, "Liu Saner, you are bullying people on the street again."
"Ouch - don't, don't. Sister Yue, my ears hurt, please be gentler."
“If you know it hurts, don’t act like a rascal on the street, otherwise I’ll twist you every time I see you.” The woman said as she increased her strength. The boy named Liu San cried out in pain. The friends around him were all younger than him and had seen how powerful this “Sister Yue” was before, so they didn’t dare to step forward to help.
"Go and apologize to them," said the woman.
"Okay, Sister Yue, let go first. I'll be there right away."
"You think I'm a fool? As soon as I let go of you, you ran away. Where can I chase you?" The woman said with a bright smile.
So Liu San had to be lifted up by the ear and walked down the bridge, and went to apologize to the crying Zhao Hong. When the hand on his ear loosened, Liu San quickly jumped away, and ran several feet away before he dared to turn around and shout to the woman: "Remember this, I will definitely take revenge next time."
The woman didn't take it seriously. She took out a handkerchief and handed it to Zhaohong to wipe her tears. She smiled and said, "They are just a bunch of kids. They are just joking. Don't be too sad."
Zhaohong took advantage of the light from the shop on the shore to carefully examine the woman. Her appearance was completely different from the fierce one just now. She had a slender figure, a pair of bright eyes under thick eyelashes, and her pink lips set off her extremely white skin. She was very beautiful.
She asked, "My name is Zhaohong, how should I address you Miss?"
"My last name is Min, you can just call me Xia Yue."
Zhaohong was stunned.
It turns out that she is Min Xiayue.
The Min family is not rich in Jinluo, but it is a family of scholars, with generations of scholars. Old Master Min, Min Xiayue's grandfather, passed the imperial examination at the age of thirty and worked as an editor in the Hanlin Academy. However, because of his upright character, he was ostracized by his colleagues and returned home to live a carefree life. Old Master Min originally had a wife and a concubine, and had no children for many years. Unexpectedly, when he was in his seventies, he suddenly announced in front of the world that he had found his only son, Min Yi, who had been separated for many years.
Min Yi was in his forties. When he returned to his ancestral home, he brought his wife and two children with him.
Now Min Yi is a widower living in the Min Mansion and doesn't often interact with others.
Jinluo is too small a place, and any slight disturbance will be spread into a storm.
Some people said that Min Yi was born to the concubine of the old man Min, and the old man had no choice but to recognize him because he was afraid that the Min family would be childless. Others said that he was not the biological son of the old man Min, but a charlatan who came for the Min family's property.
When these words reached Mr. Min's ears, he did not refute them, as if he had not heard them.
However, the daughter Xia Yue's reaction was very different from her father's. It was said that if she heard any rumors, she would definitely not give up. As a result, she was often pointed out and said that she did not look like a lady from a noble family. Fortunately, Mr. Min also had a gentle and well-behaved son.
"What wish did you make in the river lantern?" Xia Yue asked.
Zhaohong lowered her head, not knowing whether she should tell her.
"You don't have to tell me. It's said that it won't work if others know about it."
Zhaohong was not worried about this, so he said anxiously, "No, it's not what the young lady thinks. In fact... I will marry to the Southern Region in the fall, and I don't know what kind of person he is, and whether he will be good to me, so I secretly came out today to light lanterns and make a wish without telling my family." Zhaohong sighed and murmured, "I just hope he can be a good person."
The two men sat down on the stone steps by the shore, each with their own thoughts, and remained silent.
Xia Yue thought of herself, eighteen years old, and there were not many girls in Jinluo Mansion who were still unengaged at this age. In the first two years, matchmakers were almost everywhere, but now there are fewer and fewer. At first, her father was reluctant to let her go, and later, seeing that her father's health was getting worse, she was reluctant to let her go again.
The night wind began to cool. Xia Yue stood up and brushed off the dust on the back of her skirt. She smiled and said, "You are going home alone. It's so dark now. Are you afraid? Wait for the person who picked me up to come and I will take you home together."
"Someone is here to pick you up? Could it be... could it be..."
Xia Yue laughed: "You think too much, he is my brother."
Zhaohong lowered her head embarrassedly.
But Xia Yue suddenly became serious: "It's over, it's over, I shouldn't have let you see him."
Zhaohong was puzzled.
"You don't know, when Zijin smiles at people foolishly, the girls' souls will be attracted away. If you are also so obsessed, how can I be worthy of your future husband?"
"Puchi—" Zhaohong finally shook off the gloom on his face that had been there all night and laughed out loud, "This is the first time I've seen someone praise his family like this."
After a while, Xia Yue saw a figure on Shuiyue Bridge and said with a smile, "He's here."
But the young man in white didn't see them, he just came down from the bridge and looked for them. Xia Yue didn't call him, just let the young man look around.
Zhaohong was very surprised and thought Xia Yue was playing a trick on him.
Seeing that the boy was about to go down the bridge and turn downstream to the east, Xia Yue picked up a small stone at her feet, wiped it carefully and threw it gently. The stone hit the boy's back and he turned around.
The young man was handsome, standing out among the crowd in his white clothes and brocade belt.
Zhaohong knew that Xia Yue’s words just now did not come true to her, because even if the boy did not smile at her, she would have been infatuated.
When Zi Jin approached, he heard his sister introduce Zhao Hong's name, and he nodded slightly, then narrowed his eyes and smiled. When he smiled, his eyes curved into two arcs, just like the Shuiyue Bridge he had just walked down.
Zhaohong no longer dared to look at him. Her face turned red and she lowered her head.
Although Zhaohong politely refused, Xia Yue still took Zijin with her to send her back.
In fact, in her heart, she actually had some hidden expectations.
Along the way, Zhaohong was too shy to speak in front of the strange man. Xia Yue vividly described what she had seen when she went to see the lanterns. Zijin nodded from time to time, and sometimes said "hmm", seeming to be very quiet.
If her sister spoke too quickly, Zi Jin would say "Hmm?"
Then Xia Yue would stop, slowly stare at the other person and repeat it word by word.
This action seemed normal to the brother and sister, but it was a bit confusing to Zhaohong.
When we reached the fork in Minglun Lane, we came to the bustling street section of Jinluo, and the lights became brighter again.
Zhaohong looked up casually, and while Zijin was looking at Xia Yue and listening to her, she quickly glanced at the gentle boy. Judging from his age, he should be only seventeen or eighteen years old, but he was unusually steady and reserved.
"Zi Jin!" At this moment, someone called from behind.
Zi Jin pretended not to hear anything, but Xia Yue heard it. She reached out and gently patted Zi Jin's shoulder, making a gesture to look back, and he suddenly turned around.
The man was dressed like a scholar, probably in his twenties or thirties, and exuded an elegant bookish air.
"Mr. Qi." Zi Jin bowed to the man from a distance.
This person is Qi An, the teacher of Juexian Private School.
Qi An was an expert in astronomy, geography, history and governance, and he was quite talented. Zi Jin respected him very much, and even Xia Yue stopped playing around and bowed politely, "Hello, Mr. Qi."
"Miss Min, you are so polite. Are you going to release river lanterns too?" Qi An asked.
Xia Yue lowered her eyes, but did not deny it. The idea of lighting lanterns was originally a private matter for girls waiting to be married, and they only prayed for a good husband and a good home, so it became a topic of jokes among young and old men. Therefore, this kind of thing was done secretly on the night of March 3rd.
Zi Jin smiled and said, "My disciple and Yue Er went to the river to watch the fun, and we happened to run into Miss Qin, so we sent her back together."
This was the longest sentence Zhaohong had ever heard Zijin say since she met him, but what surprised her was the word "Yue'er". How could a brother call his sister like this
After saying goodbye to Qi An, Zhao Hong suddenly plucked up the courage to say, "This Mr. Qi and Mr. Min are really alike." He tilted his head and thought for a moment before adding, "It's not about looks, but the temperament and feeling are very similar."
She originally didn't speak because she was introverted, but she was afraid that people would think she was cold, so she racked her brains to come up with this topic. It was obvious that both the siblings had a good impression of Qi An, so she hesitated for a long time before expressing her feelings.
Unexpectedly, both the brother and sister were slightly stunned after hearing this.
Zhaohong was confused and stopped talking.
After a moment, Xia Yue smiled and said, "The apprentice is taught by the master, so how can he not be like the master. It's rare that Mr. Qi has taken so much effort to teach our Zi Jin to be such an obedient child." As she said that, she patted her brother's head.
Zi Jin was taller than her, so she had to stop and stand on tiptoe to pat his head.
Although he did not dodge, he turned his head away, obviously not agreeing with Xia Yue's explanation. In the moonlight, Zhao Hong saw Zi Jin frowning. It was rare to see someone with such a smile flashing such a melancholy and helpless expression. His lips opened and closed slightly, and he whispered a sentence. The voice was very low. If Zhao Hong had not read his lip shape, he would not have heard these five words just like Xia Yue.
Zhaohong's family runs a small liquor business at the end of Minglun Lane.
The one who came out to answer the door was Zhaohong's sister-in-law. She was going to scold her sister-in-law harshly as soon as she opened the door, but when she saw the two siblings following behind her, she just gently scolded them: "You didn't even say hello when you left. Your brother thought I did something to you again."
Zhaohong gave her sister-in-law a brief account and then introduced them, "This is the eldest daughter and son of Mr. Min's family in the east of the city."
After hearing this, the woman looked at the two of them and said "Oh". The sound was prolonged and quite meaningful.
The brother and sister did not stay, declined Zhaohong's attempt to keep them, and said goodbye.
Zhaohong stood at the door of the shop and watched their backs go away. The moon had shrunk back without her knowing when, and the night became even more hazy. She suddenly recalled the words that the boy had said stubbornly just now under the moon.
“I’m not a child,” he said.
In fact, this sentence is extremely childish. Thinking about it, Zhaohong smiled. No matter how serious and dignified he looked, and even called his sister by her nickname, he was still a child in front of Xia Yue.
When my sister-in-law closed the shop and packed up, she suddenly sighed: "So that person is the young master of the Min family, what a pity..."
Zhaohong was particularly attentive to the boy's affairs, and put down the stool in his hand and asked, "What a pity, sister-in-law?"
"That Master Min, I heard people say he's deaf. But I didn't notice it just now. He seemed to be able to hear what others were saying, answering questions..."
As for what his sister-in-law was talking to herself later, Zhaohong no longer had the heart to listen.
No wonder Miss Min didn't call him in the crowd.
No wonder he didn't hear Mr. Qi calling his name.
No wonder he doesn't like to talk much.
No wonder she would repeat herself to him in that strange way.
It's not because he is slow to notice sounds or because he has an indifferent personality, but because he can't hear at all and can only rely on reading other people's lip shapes to infer what they are saying.
Zhaohong put down the stool in his hand in a daze and stood there.
two
Xia Yue walked to the end of the alley and was about to push open the small door in the backyard of the Min Mansion and sneak in. As she reached out her hand, she turned back and said to the boy beside her: "Zi Jin, you have to help me. Otherwise, my father will punish me to copy books again."
Zi Jin narrowed his eyes, smiled and nodded.
At this moment, someone inside opened the door before Xia Yue. After hearing what Xia Yue said, he muttered, "Miss, the young master wrote the book for you anyway, so there is nothing to worry about."
Xia Yue was startled at first, but when she saw that it was her personal maid He Xiang who opened the door, she looked behind her nervously.
He Xiang knew what she meant and said, "Don't worry, Miss. The master has gone out and hasn't come back yet."
Xia Yue blinked and breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh—"
"Did Daddy say when he would be back?"
"I don't know that."
As a result, it was almost midnight and Mr. Min had not returned home.
But the weather in Jinluo changed suddenly. There was only a slight cool breeze in the evening, and suddenly a thunder struck from the sky at night, and the wind blew violently.
Although it didn't rain, the strong wind made the windows creak and shake violently.
Xia Yue got up and fastened the window bolt. She had excellent eyesight at night and could see clearly without a lamp. She had just taken a few steps when she heard a "clang" sound from next door.
The sound came from Zi Jin's room. The two rooms were next to each other, so she was very attentive to any movement. It seemed that he had knocked something over.
So she hurried out of the house to see.
Walking to the door of his room, I saw that it was pitch black inside, without any light. There was a rope at the door, and the rope was connected to a rocker inside. As long as it was pulled from the outside, a pair of wings on the desk would creak and move. Even if the owner turned his back and couldn't see, he could still feel the breeze. This was originally a little gadget that Xia Yue made on a whim for him because he couldn't hear. Now Xia Yue hesitated in front of the rope and pushed the door open.
After standing there for a while, my eyes began to adjust to the darkness in the room. I looked around and found Zi Jin standing in front of the window that was flapping constantly, looking outside with a blank look in his eyes.
She had only taken a few steps when she heard Zi Jin calling, "Yue'er?"
Xia Yue was surprised that he had discovered her. She knew from a young age that it was difficult for him to see anything without a light, so even if he fell asleep, the light in the room had to be on all night to prevent him from bumping into anything when he got out of bed.
"Yue'er?" He seemed a little unsure and called out again.
Xia Yue walked up to her brother with a smile, biting her lower lip with a sly smile, trying to tease him. Unfortunately, her hand was caught as soon as it touched his nose.
Xia Yue smiled, then found a tinder and lit the lamp.
"I heard some noise. Did you fall?"
He shook his head.
Xia Yue suddenly frowned, held his face with both hands, moved closer to him, and said angrily: "In the future, you are not allowed to just nod and shake your head, or say 'hmm, ah, hmm'. You have to speak, even if you feel it is very hard and you are extremely reluctant. Otherwise, wouldn't my and my efforts be in vain? My mother would be angry if she knew, understand?"
He began to nod out of habit, but as soon as he lowered his head, he realized he was wrong again. He raised his eyes guiltily and met Xia Yue's helpless gaze.
The four looked at each other and laughed together.