Jinting Han people

Chapter 6 The Colorful Years of Creek Stones

For Liu Xian, he actually had no impression of either the strange celestial phenomena when he was born or the butterflies at the audition.

Although his parents, uncles, and even many teachers repeatedly reminded him of these two events in his adult life, Liu Xian could only trace his childhood memories back to when he was three. Memories from the past were like a dream; they should exist, but no matter how hard one tried, the result was like trying to catch the moon in the water; nothing remained.

After all, memory isn't built in a day, and organizing past experiences into recollections isn't an innate ability. Why are flowers vibrant red? Why are flames blazing? Why is the night still? Children never actually ask these questions. They simply gaze at the world with wide eyes, memorizing these colorful objects, piling them up in their minds like building blocks, then randomly jostling them until a spark of "logic" emerges. Only then do children learn to remember.

The moment Liu Xian learned to remember was while he was running.

It was a clear, transparent morning, perhaps in spring. The three-year-old boy was running through the courtyard, trailing behind his two friends, Xi An and Zhang Gu, his own age. He had forgotten the reason for his run, how he had come to know his two friends, or why, in this courtyard, everything seemed destined. He only remembered that, in that moment, he was running. He remembered his breath as he ran, the tense muscles in his legs, the soft earth beneath his feet, and the grass dancing in the wind.

The sunlight was dazzling, filtering through the branches of the peach trees in the courtyard, casting halos of light among the leaves, swaying gently like ripples. The forsythia vines on the courtyard wall were also in bloom, their bright petals evoking the stars. There was a gentle breeze, and the chirping of insects from nowhere. In short, everything was quiet.

This silence made the three of them stop unconsciously.

Then it seemed that it was Zhang Gu who proposed that we play a game, hide-and-seek.

When calling the generals, Liu Xian lost, so it was Liu Xian who started the game, while Xi An and Zhang Gu hid. Liu Xian had no choice but to count aloud to 100 with his eyes closed in front of a mulberry tree, and then began to search the mansion.

He started from the front yard, passed through the inner yard with ease, and came to the back yard. The servants along the way greeted him with a smile, and he looked up and asked repeatedly: "Have you seen A Tian and Zhi Nu?" A Tian was Zhang Gu's nickname, and Zhi Nu was Xi An's nickname.

"Young Master, you have to find it yourself!"

Lai Fu, who was carrying water, said this, reached out and rubbed Liu Xian's head, and then gave him a secret look.

Liu Xian immediately ran to the water tank, climbed over the edge and looked inside. Sure enough, he saw Zhang Gu huddled inside with his knees hugged. The two stared at each other for a while, and Zhang Gu immediately shouted:
"It doesn't count, it doesn't count! Biji, you're talking to Lai Fu, you're cheating!"

Before Liu Xian could answer, Lai Fu picked up Zhang Gu and said with a smile:
"You're squatting here, and I don't even dare to drink water. Aren't you cheating?"

Zhang Gu didn't dare to argue with the adults, but he still stared at Liu Xian angrily. Liu Xian was unmoved, immersed in the simple joy of winning the game, and said:

"It's obviously you, Tian, who can't do it. I'm not cheating!"

"A person who is truly good at hiding is definitely someone no one can find. You are still far from that!"

This twisted logic convinced Zhang Gu. He lowered his head and thought about it, then nodded in agreement:

"Then I really can't do it, but don't be complacent, Biji, Zhinu has more ideas than me!"

So Liu Xian and Zhang Gu continued to look for Xi'an. Xi'an was indeed a clever fellow. Liu Xian remembered that he had searched for about two quarters of an hour, looking in his uncle's study, the rockery in the backyard, and the wardrobe in the inner courtyard, but he still couldn't find him.

When Liu Xian finally found Zuo Bieyuan, he still found nothing, which made him feel discouraged. Fortunately, children are easily happy because of other things. If they can't find it, then they can't find it! Thinking this, Liu Xian took out the candied dates from his purse and shared them with Zhang Gu.

Zhang Gu bit three of them in his mouth and said incoherently, "

"How to avoid the disease? I said you can't find Zhinu!"

"If I can't find it, then I won't find it. I'll admit defeat later..." Liu Xian leaned against the tree, chewing some candied dates, and emphasized with a child's unique anger, "But I'm angry. I originally wanted to give Zhinu half a bag of dates, but now I won't leave him any!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the golden straw pile in the corner immediately moved, and then someone shouted:
"I admit defeat, I admit defeat, Bi Ji, please leave some for me!"

No matter how many years have passed, Liu Xian still remembers this scene: under the wall with distinct light and shadow, a face covered with straw debris emerged from the golden-like straw pile, with a scent of golden straw like the warm sun, while Zhang Gu was startled and almost choked on the candied dates. His square face turned red and he coughed up saliva and snot, but he couldn't help laughing while holding the purse embroidered by his mother Zhang Ximiao.

But this day wasn't special. Childhood was always filled with days of fun and games. This simply marked the beginning of Liu Xian's memories, and for some time to come, this scene would continue. It was like a stream a traveler stumbles upon in the mountains. They didn't know where it came from, nor where it would flow to, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that the water was crystal clear, the splashing water like pearls, yet it didn't obstruct the view of the pebbles at the bottom. The sunlight was also bright and clear, casting a myriad of ever-changing patterns of light on the rocks. This scene wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime wonder, but it inevitably brought a warmth to one's heart, and many unforgettable memories were instantly released.

Three-year-old Liu Xian drifted along quietly, unaware of his future or where he came from. He simply followed his natural instincts, carefree and playful. Even long afterward, Liu Xian would look back and wonder why the Anle Mansion, a place of extreme stress and hardship, had given him such a comfortable impression. But upon closer reflection, Liu Xian found this to be reasonable, for attitudes toward life are determined by one's own actions. Children don't remember sorrow, and their elders also cared for them.

Therefore, in this environment, Liu Xian, who was still a child, was full of courage and occasionally did some amazing things.

I remember it was around summertime, and Liu Xian was also playing hide-and-seek with his friends, only this time there were more people. Besides Zhang Gu and Xi'an, there were also his cousins, Liu Xuan and Liu Ke. This time, Liu Xuan was the one to catch the prey, while the other four hid. Zhang Gu chose to hide in a large box by the pond, Liu Ke hid in the crack behind the study door, and Xi'an and Liu Xian both had their eyes on the closet in the right wing, which was just big enough for a three-year-old to squeeze into.

But Xi'an was one step faster. After he climbed in, he shouted to Liu Xian, "Biji, this place is full." Then with a "bang", the cabinet door closed.

Liu Xian glared at the wardrobe, but there was no time to get angry. After all, time was running out.

But after walking out of the room, the choice of location troubled him. Where else could he go?
He looked up at the sky and thought, if only I could fly.

But what he saw wasn't the sky, but the overlapping branches of a mulberry tree. Its endless leaves resembled thousands of luminous green hands, gently waving at Liu Xian in the breeze. Liu Xian suddenly realized that the mulberry tree, like a canopy covering the entire courtyard, perfectly overlapped the southwest corner of the eaves. If he hid here, no one would notice.

Three-year-old Liu Xian thought so and did so, and then he started climbing the tree.

There was a large fork in the middle of the mulberry tree, just the right size for Liu Xian to step on. Then, two knots appeared before his eyes, like wide-open eyes. Liu Xian took a deep breath, grabbed one with his hand, stepped on another with his small foot, and with a sudden push, he climbed up to a new fork.

Using the same method to climb to the top of the tree, the mulberry tree creaked and groaned, and the trunk began to shake, making it difficult for Liu Xian to maintain his footing. A child, just over three feet tall, swaying up and down on a nine-foot branch as big as a bowl—anyone who saw this would be worried. But Liu Xian's heart was filled with excitement. He was immersed in the joy of impending success. He raised his hands into the air, and then, as if divinely inspired, he trotted a few steps on the branch and then leaped up.

Liu Xian felt a strange sensation at that moment. The sounds in his ears vanished, or perhaps silence enveloped his ears, leaving him only aware of the breath in his nose. The sense of ease, unburdened by anything in front of or behind him, made him think a breeze was piercing through him, dissolving him into the world. Finally, the boundless blue sky appeared before his eyes, clouds scattered like scratches across the vast horizon. The glaring sunlight only made the sky seem even deeper.

When he stood firmly on his feet and his eyes fell on the rows of roofs around him and the ancient Luoyang city wall in the distance, an indescribable joy filled Liu Xian's body and mind, making him, who was still a child, want to let out a loud roar.

Unfortunately, he was still playing hide-and-seek, and his competitive spirit urged him: he should hide, he couldn't howl.

So Liu Xian quickly lay down on the eaves and pulled up a bunch of mulberry leaves to cover himself, but Liu Xuan happened to pass by below and did not see it.

Only then did Liu Xian, having recovered, realize that his back was soaking wet and his hands and feet were a bit unresponsive. He had used up all his strength to climb up, and he hadn't felt anything.

But this didn't stop little Liu Xian from feeling happy. After Liu Xuan reached the courtyard, he couldn't help but recall the feeling just now, and soon immersed himself in some fantasy he couldn't even describe. It was as if if he closed his eyes and took another leap, he could reach the vague mountains on the skyline.

However, fatigue soon crept into the corners of Liu Xian's eyes. When the gentle cool breeze from the eaves penetrated his collar, the mulberry leaves in front of him emitted a deep and melodious fragrance. The sunlight disappeared through the star-like gaps between the mulberry leaves, and Liu Xian naturally fell asleep on the eaves.

In his dream, he stepped on the wind on the treetops and flew from one end of the dream to the other.

When Liu Xian returned from one end to the other, it was already getting dark. The sun was hanging on the mountains in the west. After losing its dazzling edge, it was as red as his mother's cinnabar and looked very lovely. Liu Xian stared at it unconsciously for a while, and then he was awakened by his own name.

It was not the calls of one or two people, but the calls of a group of people. Some were calling "Young Master", some were calling "Bi Ji", and some were calling "Liu Xian", but there was no doubt that these calls were filled with anxiety and worry.

It turned out that Liu Xian had slept on the eaves for a full three hours. Three hours is enough to turn a game of hide-and-seek into a disappearance. When Liu Xuan spent an hour trying to find Liu Xian, even admitting defeat, and still couldn't find him, Zhang Ximiao thought something had happened and took the servants with him to search. The situation then escalated, and his eldest aunt Fei Xiu, his second uncle Liu Yao, his twelfth uncle Liu Chen, as well as Zhang Gu's father Zhang Tong and Xi An's mother Kou Zhen all joined the search, but unsurprisingly, none of them could find him. After all, no one could connect the child to the eaves.

Just when Xi Miao could no longer bear the anxiety and was about to send someone to inform the Luoyang magistrate, Liu Xian stood up on the eaves. In the afterglow of the setting sun, he waved happily to Zhang Gu on the ground and said:
"Here I am, Tian, I win again!"

When Cangtou Zongliu saw the young master standing at such a high place, he was frightened and quickly told Liu Xian not to move. Then he brought a ladder over and carefully carried Liu Xian down.

Before Wang Qi put Liu Xian down, Xi Miao picked him up, raised his hand high, and then lowered it gently, smiling with tears in his eyes, and asked:

"Evil! You're going to scare me to death!"

But Liu Xian's answer was irrelevant:

"Mom, I won! No one can find me!"

Xi Miao pretended to be angry and asked, "That place is so high, how did you get up there?"

Liu Xian glanced at Zhang Gu standing beside him, pointed at the mulberry tree, and said proudly, "I climbed up the tree."

"Then why don't you agree when I call you?"

"I was so tired from climbing the tree that I fell asleep."

Seeing the child's smug expression, Xi Miao finally lost her motherly authority and slapped Liu Xian twice. But Liu Xian was still smiling because Zhang Gu, Xi An and the others had arrived and were all showing admiration, secretly giving him a thumbs-up.

This incident became a hot topic in Anle Mansion. Even after Liu Xian became an adult, Cangtou Laifu still joked with him, saying, "Sir, if you want to go up to the roof, you can ask for a ladder, but you are not allowed to climb trees anymore!"

But for Liu Xian, despite his mother's warnings, his childhood remained lively and active. Just like a stream, no matter what obstacles it faces, no matter how they are shaped, it can always easily pass through them. Furthermore, Liu Xian lived in the care and love of those around him, so he remained free from worries and concerns.

But such clear years ultimately come from the children's ignorance. Whether children like it or not, they are bound to grow up and experience doubts and confusion, just as streams will eventually carry mud and sand and flow into rivers and seas.

This isn't something that happens overnight; it's something that happens unconsciously as people grow older. Once people become accustomed to the coexistence of doubt and mystery, they suddenly look back and realize that those years of colorful streams and rocks were a universal yet irreversible journey. Then they realize that their childhood has truly ended.

The beginning of the end of Liu Xian's life was caused by a stranger he met by chance when he was five years old.

　There will be a big chapter in the evening. I hope everyone will read it and vote for it. Thank you all. Your support is my motivation to update.

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(End of this chapter)