Notes on Longevity

Chapter 28 River Lanterns Send a Reply, Just Like Nian Wenren

As night fell, a full moon, accompanied by a few stars, floated into the sky. Its bright light scattered across the earth as it rolled upwards.

As night falls, the city of Fuyang is illuminated by lanterns, and the bustling streets are decorated with colorful lights. Everywhere you look, you can see vendors pushing carts or sitting on the ground, as well as fortune tellers.

They called out to the cheerful crowd, hoping someone would come.

"Come and see, freshly made sugar figurines. Would this young master like one?"

"If your fortune is wrong, you don't have to pay."

As the shouts continued, many pedestrians gathered together, inquiring about the prices of sugar figurines and fortune telling.

They all spoke with smiles on their faces or in a pretentious manner.

Yang Youan stood with his feet together, looking at the scene before him, and recalled what Li Chengru had said to him earlier:

"The long street is brightly lit, and the people live in peace and contentment, enjoying happiness and prosperity. All of this is just one of the myriad methods of Taoism."

At first, he didn't realize it, but after his conflict with Li Chengru and his meeting with Zhang Ze'an, he seemed to suddenly understand something, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He held a wooden box in one hand and an unlit lantern in the other. He smiled and continued walking forward.

He walked through the street, then turned into a hutong (alleyway), where there were several alleyways leading in all directions. But instead of looking at where the other alleyways led, he walked straight ahead, gazing into the deepest part of the alleyway.

The lights were also on in the alley, and children were chasing each other while adults followed closely behind. As he passed an alley entrance, an old man sitting on the doorstep immediately caught his eye.

The old man stood with his back to the open wooden door, the light from inside illuminating him. He was wearing a short shirt and carrying a lantern that was glowing. The lantern was nothing special; it was just an ordinary palace-shaped lantern.

What attracted Yang Youan was a phrase the old man kept repeating:

"The lantern revolves, its flame never extinguished; how much sorrow and joy has humankind experienced?"

"The revolving lantern turns endlessly, carrying countless longings here."

As Yang Youan listened to the words, the light from the lantern shone on the old man's slightly worried face, and he thought of Li Chengru.

Although he had only known Li Chengru for a short time, he found Li Chengru to be a very interesting person after spending time with him. He felt that Li Chengru was sometimes eccentric and sometimes refined, but there was one thing he just couldn't understand about him.

What came out of his mouth was very different from what others said. Even though it was the same idea, it seemed like he had endless thoughts to express.

Yang Youan wanted to go forward and ask the old man what the lantern in his hand was called, and whether it had any special meaning. But just as he took his first step, a voice called out from behind him: "Grandpa, look!"

Yang Youan turned around and saw a five or six-year-old boy holding a sugar figurine. He quickly walked past him and ran to the old man's side, as if he hadn't seen him at all.

When the old man saw the child run up to him and hand him a sugar figurine, the worry on his face instantly disappeared, replaced by a smile made up of his wrinkles.

He took the sugar figurine, slowly stood up, bent over, tilted his head, and smiled at the boy. He gently placed the hand holding the sugar figurine on the boy's shoulder, and walked into the house chatting and laughing, closing the door behind him.

Yang Youan found this scene very heartwarming, but it was also very short-lived. He continued walking forward with some disappointment.

On the way, he kept recalling the scene before him, and he also remembered how his parents had spoiled him when he was young.

However, life is unpredictable. After his parents passed away, he lived with his uncle and aunt. Although they treated him like their own daughter, he couldn't find that warm feeling he had just experienced. Instead, he felt quite guilty.

Time passed slowly, and the alleyway was nearing its end.

At the end of the alley stood a sparse crowd, men and women, adults and children. At the end of the alley was the moat of Fuyang City, and people standing on the riverbank or on the river steps all held a river lantern of different colors and shapes.

Yang Youan walked into the crowd, using the gaps between them to approach the riverbank step by step, then slowly walked down the river steps and squatted on the last step.

He placed the river lantern on the steps, and then removed the lampshade and placed it on the steps as well.

He opened the wooden box again, took out his reply, lifted the candle in the lamp, and placed the reply underneath.

Yang Youan then took out a tinderbox from his bosom, blew it to light it, lit the candle, and then covered the tinderbox and the river lantern with it.

He breathed a sigh of relief after doing all this, but there were tears in his eyes and a hint of sorrow on his face.

He lifted the river lantern with both hands and slowly placed it into the river, letting it drift downstream with the current.

The river lantern looked like a blooming lotus flower, floating quietly on the water.

"Upon arriving in Fuyang City, I unexpectedly encountered you within a hundred days."

"On the day I failed the exam, you and your companions had already left."

"My feelings are so genuine, yet there is no one to whom I can express them."

"My hastily written thoughts of longing are entrusted to this river lantern."

As the river lanterns drifted away, Yang Youan stood upright, gazing at their reflections, and softly recited the five-character poem he had composed on the spot.

As his voice faded, groups of people approached him, placing their already lit river lanterns into the river, muttering something along with Yang You'an.

May the River God bless me and Zhou Lang so that we may never be separated and that our good match may not be in vain.

May the river god bless my wife and me to grow old together, and may I never fail you.

May the river god bless my son so that he may return from his military service soon.

"May the river god bless my father so that he may be free from illness and recover soon."

Looking at everything around him, Yang Youan was deeply moved. Today was neither the Ghost Festival nor the first or fifteenth of the lunar month.

He never expected that there would be so many other people releasing river lanterns here to express their longing for their loved ones and to pray for their families.

He watched as more and more lanterns floated on the river, like countless twinkling stars in the night sky. He listened to the prayers offered around him, a bittersweet smile on his face.

Standing in the same place, holding river lanterns of different colors and shapes, they circled around themselves and made wishes for their families.

In this situation, a sentence popped into his mind, and Li Chengru's voice slowly followed:
"But along this journey of prosperity, there are always people who, like burning torches, pay the price to illuminate this carefree and beautiful scene."

"The methods of the world may differ, but the source of the Way is the same."

When he heard what the people around him said, he seemed to suddenly understand those two sentences.

He smiled, and looking at his own lantern, which had been swallowed up by the other lanterns, he said softly, "The journey through life is long and arduous, but we'll meet again someday."

After saying that, he turned and left, walking back into the alley and heading towards the main road. He wanted to take advantage of the early night and the remaining time to properly explore Fuyang City. After all, since arriving in the capital, he had spent his days either reading or with Brother Li, and hadn't had a proper chance to see this capital of the world.

(End of this chapter)