"Oh!" I don't know whether the voice inside was excitement or surprise, but at least the first voice of my father-in-law that I heard was definitely not the kind that could make my heart drop at once, so I heard the sound of thumping in my throat, which was quite urgent, but there was nothing I could do.
But then there was a long silence. I think the old man must have thought a lot. But when I mentioned this matter later, someone insisted that it didn't take a moment, just three or four moments. In this regard, I tried to convince this person and said something sarcastic when he showed his intention of never repenting. In the end, I was almost retaliated. So this matter was quickly buried in many unnecessary things, just like the snow that had drifted on Qianshan Mountain, it was no longer mentioned. Only occasionally a shadow would drift by, bringing out a smile, or a trace of melancholy.
“You… come in first!” This time, I could hear the joy and excitement in her voice, which made me relax a little, and my heart didn’t beat as fast as before.
"Yes." I responded to his invitation politely, then pushed the door open, took off my boots and entered the hall, then followed the etiquette. However, the surrounding area seemed to stink a bit when I just took off my boots. In fact, it should be very smelly, but I just wanted to make a big deal out of it, but in fact, I was annoyed and taught him to wash my feet well. But then another voice in my heart defended me, saying that I couldn't expect my feet to smell as good as peach flowers after running around for so many days. So another evil thought suddenly rose in my mind, that is, the flowers growing on the peach trees in the valley all smelled like stinky feet. I shuddered, quickly dispelled all the dirty thoughts, and pushed the door open to enter the main hall. As soon as I glanced at the man in front of me who looked like an old man with white beard and flowers sitting on the seat, flipping through a bamboo scroll in his hand, I could only look away and bow to the ground, and continue the etiquette.
Finally, I sat down about ten feet away from him and didn't move forward. Then, I looked up at the person in front of me. Suddenly, I found that the ventilation in the house was good. The wind was blowing towards me, so I felt relieved. If I had known to pay attention to the wind direction, I would have sat closer and talked more conveniently. But suddenly, I was a little worried. It would be bad if the neighbors behind me came out to see where the stench came from. But in the end, I thought about it. Sima Dechao's yard was more than a mile away from the main bamboo building community in the village. According to the rules, the smell should not be so serious.
"Come closer!" The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes but smiled, put down the bamboo slips and waved at me. This time I sat down less than three feet away from my father-in-law naturally and probably with a fearless mentality.
"You're already this old, you... 18, right? Well, this beard makes you look at least 25." He smiled and compared his white beard that occupied a large area, and I smiled too, thinking, if I saw him five days ago, he would be 35, and if I saw him three days ago, he would be 45. Since I could be so distracted, I felt a little relieved, because I really felt that my father-in-law seemed to be saying good things.
"My beard grows too fast. I've been so tired all the way that I really didn't think much about taking care of it." Suddenly I thought of the instructions he left with his nephews and a cousin. Why doesn't this old man's behavior seem like he's going to chase me away? He still feels that he's not sure he can chase me away, so he can only let me do what I want. Is he afraid of my beard? I quickly dismissed this ridiculous idea in my mind and continued to sit upright, but I didn't dare to raise my eyes.
"Oh, now that you're here, take a good rest!" After a pause, when I raised my eyes, he suddenly looked up and down, his eyes full of contradictions, and finally it was like this, and then his eyes continued to stay on the bamboo slips.
“Father-in-law…” I said this, not knowing whether it was a good idea or not. However, what happened later told me that this sentence and the next sentence he said would make things very interesting.
"Well, I'm not your father-in-law (Yue), although your father and I have a close relationship and you can call me father, but I'm not a Yue person, I'm actually a Han Chinese, so there's no need to call you that." He actually played word games with me, and his face was so serious, which made me a little unbearable.
"Yes." I stopped explaining immediately. An idea suddenly came to my mind. I said that since you said this, I would resign in front of everyone tomorrow.
At that moment, the ceremony was completed, and his face looked very relaxed. I think if he had seen my expression, he would have considered whether there was any problem in his own words.
This is getting interesting. I even began to suspect that Yinling had already fed my father-in-law some nonsense, saying that I am not good at word games and have a dull mind.
When she went out, Yinling was not in a hurry, she was actually smiling.
"You know?" I smiled.
"I know." She nodded with a smile, and added something that ruined the atmosphere, "And your feet stink."
Half a mile back from the village is Yinling's bamboo house. But that night, someone pushed me out of the door very rudely and said, "Not today, go sleep in the next room. I've always kept that room for you. And remember to wash your feet well at night." This person always starts to do bad things at the critical moment, especially when I am just moved.
Seeing that all kinds of persuasion were ineffective, I even started to practice the coquettish skills I had mastered when I was young. As a result, Yinling, who was very helpless, sighed that she would have a hard life in the future. After all, she didn't let the bad guy in. In the end, she had to pull me into my room by my collar and said: Be good, don't make trouble, go to sleep, or your sister will spank you. Then she coaxed me for a long time, saying that after marriage, I can do whatever I want, etc. Finally, she closed the door and left.
But where could she go? Through two layers of bamboo walls, I could hear her breathing over there, and I think she could hear mine too. She and I were still stuck together, whispering all kinds of sweet words to each other.
She said I was tired and asked me to rest, but I couldn't sleep; she said she was sleepy and asked me to go to bed early, but she couldn't sleep. She said you still have to go to bed early. When my father falls asleep, I can forget about sleeping. I smiled and said it's not that scary. How can snoring be so scary? She said compared with my snoring, if his snoring is considered snoring, mine is just a lingering breath. I got goosebumps all over my body and felt that this was too unbelievable.
As a result, I actually forgot to do the thing that I was least likely to forget: I didn't have dinner. The same thing happened to me was my current next-door neighbor.
Suddenly I heard a thunder in the distance, and I asked in surprise if it was going to rain. She said: That was my father-in-law's snoring. So I heard thunder in the middle of the night, and even in my dreams I could still feel the lightning and thunder outside.
But the next morning, when I saw the sun shining outside again and the ground was dry, I felt a little uncomfortable. And the wind in May even blew the faint fragrance of peach flowers, so I felt that at least one of me and God had a problem, or both of us had a problem. I tend to choose the latter, so that at least I can drag something as bad as me or even worse into the water, which can be considered a good thing for the people.
"What are we going to do today?" During breakfast, I asked Mrs. Pingguo, whose face looked a little solemn.
"Father has been discussing various matters with the elders of the tribe during the day these days. He has already gone there, so we will go after we finish eating. Now it's up to you. Yesterday, the young men in the tribe must have informed the other elders of your arrival. Now we will see what they think." She thought about it carefully, and finally came up with as many things as I could think of, which made me feel that dying of fullness was better than dying of hunger. Originally, there was no connection between the two, but when breakfast was placed in front of me, the connection was immediately established and firmly squeezed out all other things in my mind.
“They… won’t… all live… the same business… as your father did?” I asked my wife uncertainly while gulping down my porridge like a glutton.
"Don't talk when your mouth is full while you're eating." She was very dissatisfied with my uncivilized behavior.
"Why? I choke on such thin porridge?" I just drank the whole bowl of porridge and was savoring it happily. But to be honest, God knows what it tasted like, it just felt warm, and I was just savoring the happiness of having something in my stomach.
"It seems like your appetite hasn't changed." She looked me up and down, looking at me helplessly but with ill intent.
"You still haven't changed your mind." After saying that, I did something evil to someone, which made that person blush and he wanted to find a hatchet to chop off my claws.
There was also clothes in my bag that I wore to meet my father-in-law. They were made for me by Guo Pei.
With this in mind, when I put it on, I couldn't hide my thoughts, and I could only sigh because I felt the pain in my heart. She asked me what was wrong, I shook my head, looked into her eyes, took a long breath, and then said very sadly: "Am I a bastard without credibility, am I a beast who is fickle, am I a beast with unlimited lust?"
This seemed to scare her. When I said that, she couldn't move at all. When I stopped, she suddenly realized it. She quickly came forward to cover my mouth, and immediately something flashed in her eyes as she stared at me: "What are you talking about? You are my kindest and most affectionate husband. You are the lover who values loyalty and loyalty the most in my heart. You are my most precious baby in this world."
"It gets more and more frivolous towards the end." I was actually amused by her. To make her feel more relaxed, I pointed to the distant mountainside with one hand, sniffed the faint fragrance wafting over, looked at the flower petals occasionally falling into the mountain stream, and pinched a delicate part of her body with one hand: "The peach flowers have withered. Fortunately, we are here just in time to pick the peach flowers I want."
She closed her eyes and snorted at me: "Oh, don't do it when the peach flowers are in season, wait till they fall. Aren't you tired of rushing to do this? Tomorrow the juhua will wither, and the day after tomorrow the plum flowers will wither. Let's see what you will do?"
"You've been talking a lot lately, what exactly do you want to say?" I bent my waist and pursed my lips.
"Don't imitate your teacher again!" She immediately couldn't help laughing, pointed at me and sighed, as if something bad had happened to her family.
“I’m thinking… when I’m old… I’m older than you… women… age quickly… then, you won’t abandon me, will you?” She then whispered and rocked in my arms.
"How could that be?" I hugged her in my arms, "It hurts so much that I can't even bear it. Besides, am I that kind of person?"
"Are you angry?" After all, we grew up together, and she seemed a little afraid that my impatience and bad temper would explode again.
"No, don't think about it anymore. Besides, your father also said that I look like I am 25. Wouldn't I age faster?" I smiled.
"Why don't you pick them all off?" Her eyes were filled with a strange smile.
"This action is a bit scary. Can you use a milder word?"
"Then boil it in water. I'm not sure what the actual result will be. It might be a little hot. But I think..." She even pretended to think about it and nodded solemnly, "Cook it for a while longer and it will be cooked off."
"Do you think I'm a pig like you?" I pouted and pretended to be stupid.
"Who am I, the pig?"
“I don’t know which pig said: ‘I am already a pig, how should I know?’”
So that morning, Yinling and I walked to the center of the village to meet the group of old men who appeared out of nowhere. They might have gourds tied to their heads, but I thought at least they would not be covered in straw like the Mao leaders who were ambushing us; nor would they be dressed like Longxing, who I saw for the first time, that is, wearing basically nothing; nor would they be dressed in strange clothes like the Panlong Cave Master and his gang, and look weird.
When I really followed Yinling to ask for an audience with Dejin, I realized that the clothes these people wore were really something I had never imagined. These clothes, although somewhat different from the clothes of the common people of our Han Dynasty, seemed to be quite similar to the sacrificial robes, with tall hats and wide belts, but they still felt like Han clothes. Frankly speaking, I always felt that these people's clothes seemed to be dug out from somewhere, such as the ancient tombs in Changsha, where we brought Liao Hua back. However, these still looked like the clothes of our Han people. Could these barbarians be intimidated by the power of their father-in-law? I quickly dismissed this rather ridiculous idea in my heart. After thinking back and forth in my mind, I finally came up with the original idea: Why are these Yue people dressed like us Han people? Suddenly, I felt that I had no reasoning ability. I only understood the most superficial truth after thinking back and forth.
My father-in-law sat in the third seat on the left, and his status was relatively high among the dozens of old men. In the middle sat a middle-aged man with a black beard and some white hair. I called him: Yueren Uncle A. Yueren because they were Yue people; Uncle because I thought the rather imposing uncle in front of me looked very friendly, and I also planned to have a good relationship with him; and A because I really couldn't tell the difference between them, especially when they ordered me to come in, and when I walked into the center of the hall with my head held high and everyone turned to me at the same time, only my father-in-law could find it immediately - I just used the color of the beard - anyone could easily find a piece of unburned charcoal from a pile of charcoal - even if it seemed to be stained with some charcoal.
Walk forward fifteen steps, stop in the hall, and bow with both hands clasped.
"Xie Zhi from Xiangyang pays respects to the elders of the tribe." I thought to myself, this statement already counts me as a member of the tribe, which should be considered great. At that moment, I sat down first, bowed to the main hall, and then stood up, walked five steps forward, sat down ten feet in front of the elder in front of me, and bowed slightly. When I felt that the person in front of me also nodded, I looked up at the elder in front of me. He should be the leader of the entire mountain village.
"I didn't expect that the world-famous Marquis Ping'an Fengyun would come to our village. Please forgive me for not taking good care of him." Although he didn't speak according to the rules of our dynasty, he was very polite. It's just that he had an accent. Fortunately, he didn't speak too fast and I could still understand him.
"I am young and rude. I was not able to see you when you visited me last night. I hope the elders will forgive me." After saying this, he bowed again.
There was a chorus of "no problem, no problem" in the hall. It seemed that the Yue people did not have many rules in the court, but I wonder if my father-in-law ever said such a thing.
"I wonder why Ping An Fengyun Hou came here?"
"Uncle, please don't mention the Marquis of Ping'an Fengyun anymore. I was stripped of all my titles and salaries this spring, and now I'm just a commoner." I answered calmly and nodded in greeting. However, I didn't hear any sighs or complaints from the people around me, only some discussions. I thought they must have known about this as well.
"Yeah." He nodded, and there was no contempt in his eyes, but rather some approval.
"I have come here to marry the daughter of your uncle Sima Dechao." This time there was no sound at all.
"But you have already married Pei'er." The elder leader knew it clearly, and then he explained: "I know that you Han people can have three wives and four concubines, but there is no such rule among us Yue people." But his voice was definitely not against me, and I couldn't guess why. Especially his last sentence was a little ambiguous. Could it be that he was also very fond of the happiness of having many wives, and even yearned for it, but the family management was too strict, so there was no chance. I was very disgusted and hit it in my heart, and then I came to my senses.
"Yinling and I have lived together since we were young," I paused to show the seriousness of the question, but unfortunately no one responded. It seemed that everyone was used to it. I thought these barbarians were quite open-minded, so I changed my words to be much more straightforward: "For more than ten years, we have lived together almost all day long, facing each other day and night, and taking care of each other. Since we are not siblings, how can we not fall in love? However, Zhi has already been engaged, and as a son, filial piety must be the first priority. However, I am not a beast after all, how can I forget the love of eighteen years? Pei, I will marry her, and Ling, I will also marry her. I came here only to marry Uncle Sima's daughter."
At that moment, everyone turned their eyes to Mr. Shui Jing. They seemed to agree with me and were just waiting for this person's head.
"Didn't you marry my daughter?" He replied quickly with a calm expression.
"The one I married...how many daughters do you have?" I suddenly felt that this man was about to leave a flaw in his words, so I asked anxiously, deliberately making such and such remarks, because he had gone too far with my father-in-law last night.
"One (adopted) daughter." He thought for a while before speaking out. Just like on the chessboard, he probably also realized that there were some problems with the previous move. The first move was already on my side. If it was two daughters, I would have proposed to marry him. But he didn't understand that if it was one daughter, he would have no chance at all. I didn't stand up immediately, but turned around and faced the person in the upper seat again: "I want to ask the elder, is Yinling the daughter of Uncle Sima."
"Of course." I turned around and asked other people, and they all nodded in agreement.
"Since this is the case, my dear father-in-law, please accept my greetings." He must have been a little annoyed. I skipped him and used other people to put pressure on him, which seemed like I was being clever.
"Nonsense, I mean you married my adopted daughter. My words were adopted daughter." He didn't get angry but laughed, picking out this word. How could he know that my "cleverness" was to lure him into playing this "big cleverness"? He did it yesterday, and he did it in public today. I already had this intention, so how could I let him go this time? I played him, and he couldn't blame me in front of others, and he couldn't blame me behind others' backs either.
"No, my surname is not Hu. My original surname was Fan, but I changed it to Xie according to my father's will. Besides, I didn't say the word "Badao" just now." This is what is called "it's impolite not to reciprocate."
This time he seemed to be really angry, a hint of anger was visible between his brows, but he returned to normal immediately, as if he was going to make a decision, but I knew it was definitely not a good decision, at least for me: "You and Yinling are incompatible with each other in terms of the law of nature, how can I agree to it." He spoke very slowly, and tried to make everyone understand what he was saying, obviously afraid that I would take advantage of him again. How could he know that he might have played one more game, but now he was going to be defeated immediately.
At this point, if I really want to ask why we are so incompatible, then I am really stupid, and I am afraid I will never be able to marry Yinling in this life. But I am Xie Zhi, so this matter is a little interesting.
"I... what if I can make water and fire compatible?" I tried my best to suppress my excitement and asked calmly.
"As long as we have a moment, Yinling will marry you." The old man's childish nature was aroused, and he spoke to me in a huff.
"Okay, Uncle Sima, I will be able to tolerate both water and fire with Silver Bell, not just for a moment, even for a day and a night." When he said this, while others were still mumbling, he had already realized it and his desire began to explode.
However, he finally held back and said to me again in a very calm tone: "If you can really do this for a day and a night, I will let her marry you, but I want to hear how you plan to act."
Now, it’s my turn to return to my child’s habits, and perhaps I haven’t gotten out of my child’s habits at all until now.
"There is a quiet pool in the valley. If Yinling and I can stay there for a day and a night, then the water can accommodate us." I was a little puzzled afterwards. Why didn't I realize that there was something wrong with my brain at that time? I was so hot that I didn't even realize it. "Let's build a fire around the house. If Yinling and I can stay there for a day and a night, then the fire can accommodate us."
"Okay! I'll do as you say. I'll have someone monitor her, and if you violate this, you'll never be able to marry her." He made his final conclusion, almost gritting his teeth. The other elders had no objections, so I bowed and left, and then I heard the sound of the chief elder and my father-in-law discussing behind me.
As soon as I came out, I saw Yinling, who had been waiting for me at the door. But when she saw me this time, she had a helpless smile on her face.
"What's wrong?" I saw her expression and felt that something might have gone wrong.
"My father only lasted a moment, so you should set up the trap according to that moment. It doesn't have to take a day and a night, even an hour would be much better." She leaned against me, holding my head, but didn't blame me: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to endure these two days, but that's okay, as long as I can be with you, that's enough."
I just smiled and responded to her movements with my hands. In fact, at that time, I still felt that there was nothing to be afraid of. I thought to myself, it would be over very easily. More than a month passed in the blink of an eye.
The rest of the day, nothing else happened, except that Yinling asked me to try the Yue people's costume she made for me. Everything else was fine, except that tying my legs took too much time, and my hands were better off with Yinling. But this made Yinling angry, but she had no choice but to tie them for me first and then open my evil hands. As for the straw sandals, Yinling even made a pair of soft cloth sandals for me. Just for these sandals, my hands found an excuse to be moved and started to make a comeback.
After getting dressed, we went out to wander among the mountains and rivers, playing around, until it was dark and we returned under the faint light of the waning moon. The clothes of the Yue people are indeed better than our Han people's. At least in the mountains and forests in summer, with the mountain breeze blowing from time to time, it is very comfortable and cozy. So much so that when I returned to my room and looked at the set of clothes I had brought from head to toe, I actually felt a chill.
The next day, I woke up early, but Yinling woke up earlier. But she, her father, woke up even earlier, because she only heard my snoring when she woke up. So, after only two days here, I have become accustomed to the lightning and thunder at night, even though there were no clouds in the sky last night and the stars were clear.
I could hear something rumbling on the green barrier from the bamboo wall. I asked her loudly what it was. She only prepared something for us to go into the water. I asked what it was, and she called it a water cuff. I had heard of it before. Xiangzi had told me more than once that there was a kind of water cuff that "they pirates" often used, especially when they stayed in the water for a long time. It was usually made of crocodile or rhino skin. However, I still had doubts in my heart: "Yinling, you are making it now, is it too late for you?"
"I've been working on it before you came. I've already made yours. Didn't your teacher want you to be the leader of the navy? I thought that you would be in the water more often during training in the future, so I prepared it early. I'm working on mine now. Fortunately, I've made one of yours, and I've been working on mine for a few days... Maybe God told me to prepare these. Okay, you eat first, and let me work quietly and slowly."
Next, I said I wanted to watch her work, but she refused. She obviously understood what this person would do when she was busy, especially after yesterday; then, I wanted to see the water bank, but she also said she would see it later; then I reiterated that I would not disturb her two hands from working, but it was obvious that she was not moved by my words that obviously left a loophole for her to do something bad. I asked her again why those Yue people dressed similarly to us Han people. She said that they were descendants of the Yue nobles during the Zhou Dynasty, so their clothes were naturally a bit particular. Then when I proposed to thank her in person for her advice, she politely said no, and she was very satisfied to accept it after I thanked her across the way. So I asked again, the bamboo sticks in the hands of those children - I mean the group of nephews and a cousin who were dressed like leaves - were much harder than the bamboo sticks in our Xiangyang. They poured oil on them and then burned them with fire, and they became very hard, so I hoped that she would demonstrate it to me again, and she sighed again and said that she would do it tonight, and there was no rush. So after I asked her many times with various reasons, she asked in a coquettish way, "Who will be the boss of our family from now on?"
Then I naturally went to eat obediently. Actually, I don’t know the answer to this question, but I personally think it definitely wasn’t me.
As soon as we finished eating, I was determined not to change my mind and said that I would heat up the meal and bring it to her so that she could have breakfast. However, she obviously understood the other possible behaviors that this would bring: "Can you leave now that you have come in? Since I cooked this meal, I have already eaten it. I am just waiting for you to get up. Go walk around by yourself, even if it is just to build up your strength, and don't bother me like this."
I tried it, and sure enough, the door was bolted tight, complaining in my heart that I hadn't even had a chance to do anything. But this noise only brought on another round of breathless laughter and scolding.
So I had to go out and let her have some safe and secure time, especially since her time like this was obviously very short. If she already had her own water and was doing my thing, I would have tried to get through the window - in short, I just wanted to go in. But now she was doing her thing, and I was really afraid that she didn't have enough time. In fact, I just wanted to go in and do something bad for a moment... a moment would be fine... but not longer... but maybe an hour at most would be fine. But in the end, I could only think about coming back and doing something bad, and then leaving with a proud look on my face. When I came out, I thought that since I was going to look around by myself, I would go to those places that Yinling didn't let me see yesterday because they were a little dangerous. The teacher said that usually the most dangerous places have the most beautiful scenery, but I couldn't tell Yinling, especially not to get hurt.
I am still wearing the Yue people's costume that I wore yesterday. Compared with yesterday, the only thing missing is the bindings on the two legs. I do find that thing very troublesome to wear. After walking for a long time, it is also quite hot and cumbersome.
But I understood something that day, that is, this pair of tied legs. I finally understood that the thing was not for the purpose of appearing majestic or for any other function, such as covering up sweat odor and prickly heat, but for another reason that sounded strange: to prevent weeds.
This grass is not very eye-catching. It is all along the wild path on the mountain. Most of them are more than one foot long. They just hang their heads and form arches, filling the middle of the narrow path in a listless manner. When I first encountered these things, the liquid beads on them wet my legs and feet. It was soft and cool and quite comfortable. But I didn't expect that in less than half a minute, I felt a little hot and tingling in my legs. When I looked at my legs again, I found some tiny blood cuts on both sides. The blood beads that oozed out were washed away by the liquid. A wisp of light red seemed to be drawn out from my legs and slowly flowed down, which made me shiver.
My first thought at that time was that there was a hidden weapon hidden in the grass, and it was probably waiting to harm me or someone else. I looked around, and there was only the morning mist. I was brave, but I wanted to see what could have hurt such a tough person like me, so I quickly turned back and bent over to push aside the soft grass with my hands to look for the hard and sharp "weapons".
If my hand had not been scratched by the grass, I would not have paid attention to these things, because it was this roadside grass that left several red marks on my hand. Looking closely, there was a row of tiny and neat raised teeth on each edge of the leaf, which was quite similar to the saw invented by Gongshu Ban (Lu Ban, whose original surname was Gongshu, and was called Lu Ban because he was from Lu). Perhaps he had suffered such a loss before, so he came up with the idea of sawing. My hand touched the grass again, which was still soft, but they could cut my legs, and I couldn't help but sigh in my heart.
I just can’t remember clearly what I sighed about at that time. I only know that I have used these methods of herbs before, but I could never remember where I had used them.
Later, I just kept running and nothing happened. So, I gradually forgot about these things.
That day, when I returned, Yinling told me that I had to go into the water tomorrow to let the water flow. I just said "Oh" and didn't think much of it at the time, because it was not something that would pass without me noticing. But when I saw Yinling's sad face, I thought that she might not be able to hold on, so I felt sorry and held my lover in my arms for a long time.
But that night, Yinling let me try it out while she was still able to struggle. After trying it, I could only... Yinling was so familiar with my figure that it made me blush, but when I mustered up the courage to ask her how she knew the measurements of certain parts, she blushed.
However, Yinling suddenly got angry. She asked me what happened to my legs. I didn't tie my legs and they were cut by grass. It was okay. But she was anxious. The crocodile skin had not been tanned yet and the wound could not be touched. I said, then I won't wear it. She will do it tomorrow. It's not that she said so much, it's because I sealed her mouth with my mouth. In the end, she could only shake her head helplessly, indicating that there was no other way, and asked me to just wear it on my upper body. I said that it would be very awkward, so let's forget it this time. In the end, she could only shake her head helplessly again, indicating that there was no other way. She wouldn't wear it, and I wouldn't let her. If she didn't wear it, I would wear it. She had no choice but to obey her big bad guy.
So, on the morning of the third full day among the Yue people, just after we finished breakfast, we were called out by several people in the pavilion that day. They called us cousin, brother-in-law, etc. and greeted us politely. They asked me to exchange some formalities with them, and then, under their guidance, we embarked on this self-inflicted "dire and hot" road.
It was a very hot day, and the cicadas outside started chirping non-stop as soon as the sun rose. Even so, it was a good day to do this.
About two and a half miles later, we came to a pool of water in front of a cliff surrounded by a large group of people. Facing the eyes of the crowd, compared with the silent and expressionless Yinling, her husband was obviously much more excited. I was thinking that it was so hot, it was just right to cool down in it for a day, and it was the kind that everyone would take for granted, isn't it a good thing.
Yin Ling, with beads of sweat on her head, kept taking deep breaths, as if she was very afraid of the water. I knew she was wearing a water jacket inside, and this leather thing was not very comfortable. But in my opinion, the water was clear and the bottom was visible, and the fish were swimming freely back and forth. The water surface near and far reflected different blues, which was very cute. The blue color became darker as it got farther away, perhaps reflecting the color of the moss on the cliff, but for some reason it changed from green to blue. (Zi Rui has no scientific knowledge, please refer to "Optics" for the actual reason, many universities have special textbooks on this) But no matter what color it is, it is very attractive to me, because after walking these miles of mountain roads, I was also a little wet, and I just wanted to jump in and take a good bath.
"You... go ahead." The world-famous Mr. Shuijing walked out of the crowd and pointed at the water towards us.
I didn't say much, just bowed deeply, pointed to the place where the sun was shining closest to the lake and said, "If we come out at this time tomorrow, it will be our..."
His head.
So, I took my beloved and walked into the water in front of hundreds of people. The water slowly came up, and I felt a cool breeze going up through my heart, which was an indescribable joy. But when I turned around and saw Yinling was a little out of breath, I became very nervous.
"Yinling, what's wrong with you?" I held her in the water and let her get closer to me.
"It's nothing, the water is too cold, my body is too hot, I can't stand it, it's okay, it will be fine soon." She gradually couldn't reach the bottom of the water, and could only lean on me at first, and then she simply leaned on my shoulders to prevent herself from sinking. And I simply put my arms around her waist and lifted her up to the same height as me. Seeing her smile, I also smiled and slowly walked to the depths of the water. In the end, we chose to lean on a protruding stone in the pool, and she was able to sit on a protruding place on the stone under the water and lean on me. So, we started the first step of making "water and fire compatible".
At that time, I felt that perhaps such a day would really be as difficult as Yinling's, especially when they did not have lunch and dinner delivered to them on the shore.