Still waiting for Zhaoyang

Chapter 2
一
After leaving the imperial capital, head southwest, and after passing Shunzhou, you will find Jinluo City, which was built by the water.

Jinluo is famous for two things, one is the clear and translucent Jinluo Lake with blue sea and sky, and the other is wine.

Jinluo aged sake, just a glass, can linger on the lips and teeth for ten days.

Therefore, in the bluestone alleys in the city, this mellow fragrance floats all year round, and together with the warm and humid air from Jinluo Lake, it seems to be intertwined into a lingering, long-lasting fragrance.

On the evening of the third day of March, Jinluo has the custom of setting out river lanterns to make wishes.

Zhaohong carefully put the white lotus-like river lantern into the river water. The river lantern wobbled in a circle in the water, stopped for a while, and then slowly drifted downstream.

The candles standing in the center of the white lotus in the lanterns are getting more and more prosperous under the breeze in March, and they float on the Jinshui River together with those river lanterns, looking from a distance like the Milky Way flickering in the night sky.

Seeing that the lamp started to drift downstream, Zhaohong also trotted and chased after him on the shore.Occasionally mixed with other lights, she can also unambiguously distinguish her own river lantern with slightly pink petals.

Occasionally, the night wind would be stronger, blowing in gusts, blowing the candle almost down, and Zhaohong's heart would rise to his throat nervously, for fear that if he couldn't reach the mouth of the river, the wish he made would die halfway.

After seeing the Shuiyue Bridge, you can quickly drift to the center of the lake.

With a "plop", a stone the size of a goose egg was thrown and fell into the river, and the splash of water knocked over her lamp.

The children on the bridge clapped their hands and yelled: "Oh, San'er threw it right, come again and again."

Zhaohong watched the white lotus lantern made of paper bouncing a few times before sinking into the water, feeling sore in his heart, and cried "Wow".

The children laughed even more happily, and they couldn't catch up with the rainbow. They scratched their cheeks on the bridge and said, "Shame, shame. A big girl is crying here." One of the older boys sarcastically said: " Oops—I'm afraid I won't be able to find a good husband-in-law who can marry you this year—”

Halfway through the conversation, the naughty boy was replaced by his own screams, and a woman in green clothes twisted his right ear: "Liu San'er, you are bullying people on the street again."

"Ouch—don't, don't. Sister Yue, your ears hurt, please take it easy."

"If you know it hurts, don't play naughty on the street, or I will twist it every time I see it." The woman said and tightened her hands, and the boy named Liu San yelled in pain. Several partners around him were younger than him. I have also seen how powerful this "Sister Yue" is, so I dare not step forward to help.

"Go and make amends," the woman said.

"Okay, sister Yue, let go first. I'll go right away."

"You think I'm a fool. As soon as I let you go, you run away. Where are you going to chase after me?" The woman smiled brightly after she finished speaking.

So Liu San had no choice but to get off the bridge by his ears, and went to apologize to the crying Zhaohong.When the hand on the ear was loosened, Liu San quickly jumped away, and after running a few feet away, he dared to turn around and shout to the woman: "Remember, 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, and said with a smile: "A group of children. They are also playing around, don't be too sad."

Zhaohong took advantage of the light in the shop on the shore to look at the woman carefully.The appearance is quite different from the pungent one just now, with a slender figure, a pair of translucent eyes under the thick eyelashes, and the pink lips on the face lined with an extremely white complexion, very beautiful.

She asked: "My name is Zhaohong, what do you call Miss?"

"My surname is Min, you can call me Xia Yue."

Zhaohong was startled.

It turned out that she was Min Xiayue.

The Min family is not considered rich in Jinluo, but they can be called a scholarly family, and they have been scholars for generations.Old Mrs. Min, that is, Min Xiayue's grandfather, was a Jinshi in the first year of his life, and he was an editor in the Imperial Academy, but because of his upright character, he was excluded by his colleagues. .This old man Min was originally married to one wife and one concubine, and had no heirs for many years. Unexpectedly, when he was very old, he suddenly said in front of the world that he had found his only son, Min Yi, whom he had lost for many years.

Min Yi was in his forties. When he recognized his ancestor and returned to his clan, he took his wife and a pair of children with him.

Now Min Yi lives in Min Mansion as a widower, and doesn't often communicate with others.

Jinluo's place is too small, and even the slightest disturbance will turn into wind and rain.

Some people say that Min Yi was born in the ecclesiastical chamber of old Mr. Min back then. The old man hadn't seen him for a few days. He was afraid that the Min family would have no heirs, so he had no choice but to recognize him.Some people also said that he was not the real old man Min, but a charlatan who came here for the Min family's business.

These words reached Master Min's ears, but he didn't refute them, as if he had never heard of them.

However, daughter Xia Yue's reaction is very different from her father's. It is said that if there are rumors in her ears, she will definitely not let her go.So much so that people always pointed at her, saying that she didn't look like a lady.Fortunately, Master Min also has a son who is gentle, refined and well-behaved.

"What wish did you make in the river lantern?" Xia Yue asked.

Zhaohong lowered her head, not knowing whether to tell her or not.

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to say it, it's said that letting others know it won't work."

This is not what Zhaohong was worried about, so he said anxiously: "No, it's not what Miss thinks. Actually... I will marry to the Southern Region in autumn, and I don't know what kind of person the other party is. He will treat me well, so today I secretly came out to light the lamp and make a wish without telling my family." After Zhaohong sighed, he murmured, "I just hope he can be a good person."

The two sat down on the stone steps by the bank, each with their own thoughts, and fell silent.

Xia Yue thought of herself. At eighteen, there are not many girls in Jinluo Mansion who are not married at this age.In the first two years, matchmakers almost broke through the threshold, but now there are fewer and fewer matchmakers.At first, her father was reluctant to part with her, and later, when she saw that her father's body was getting worse day by day, she couldn't part with her anymore.

The night wind started to get cold, Xia Yue got up and patted the dust on the back of her skirt, and said with a smile, "You are going home alone, it's getting dark, don't worry, when the person who picks me up comes, we will take you back together. "

"Someone is coming to pick you up? Could it be...is..."

Xia Yue laughed: "You think too much, it's my younger brother."

Zhaohong lowered her head in embarrassment.

But Xia Yue suddenly became serious: "It's over, it's over, I shouldn't let you see him."

Zhaohong wondered.

"You don't know, but if Fan Zijin smiles foolishly at people, the souls of the girls will be recruited away. If you are also so obsessed, how can I be worthy of your future husband-in-law."

"Puchi——" Zhaohong finally swept away the gloom on his face and laughed, "It's the first time I've seen someone praise my family members like that."

After a while, Xia Yue saw the figure on the Shuiyue Bridge, and smiled sweetly, "He's here."

But the boy in white didn't see them, he just got off the bridge and searched all the way.Xia Yue didn't call him either, and let the young man look around.

Zhaohong was very surprised, thinking that Xia Yue was playing tricks on him.

Seeing that the young man was about to go down the bridge to the east and downstream, Xia Yue picked up a small stone at his feet, wiped it carefully, and then threw it lightly. The stone hit the young man's back, and he turned around. .

The young man was described as handsome, standing in the crowd in white clothes.

Zhaohong knew that Xia Yue's words just now hadn't come true to her, because even if the boy didn't smile at her, she was already insane.

After Zijin approached, when she heard her sister introduce Zhaohong's name, she nodded slightly in salute, then narrowed her eyes and smiled.When he laughed, his eyes were bent into two circular arcs, like the Shuiyue bridge he walked down just now.

Zhaohong didn't dare to look at him anymore, his face turned red, and he lowered his head.

Although Zhaohong politely refused, Xia Yue still took Zijin to send her back together.

In fact, in her heart, she actually had some vague expectations.

Along the way, Zhaohong didn't dare to speak because of his thin face in front of strange men.Xia Yue vividly talked about what she saw when she went to see the lamp just now, Zijin nodded sometimes, and sometimes gave a faint "hmm", as if she was extremely quiet.

If my sister said something too quickly, Zijin would say "Huh?"

Then Xia Yue would stop, slowly stare at the other party and repeat it word by word.

This move seemed normal to the siblings, but in Zhaohong's view, it was a little more confusing.

At the fork of Minglun Lane, which is the bustling street section of Jinluo, the lights brightened up again.

Zhaohong raised his head inadvertently, and while Zijin was looking at Xia Yue and listening to her, he quickly glanced at the soft-eyed boy.Judging from his age, he should be no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, but he is extremely stable and reserved.

"Zijin!" At this moment, someone shouted from behind.

Zijin acted as if he hadn't heard it, but Xia Yue heard it, reached out and patted Zijin's shoulder lightly, made a gesture of looking back, and he suddenly turned around.

The man was dressed as a Confucian scholar, in his 30s and [-]s, and his whole body was full of an elegant and scholarly atmosphere.

"Mr. Qi." Zijin bowed to the man from afar.

This person is the teacher of Juexian Private School, Qi An.

This Qi An is skilled in astronomy, geography, history research and world governance. He is quite talented. Zijin also respects him very much. Even Xia Yue changed from being playful, and blessed him in a well-behaved way: "Mr. Qi is good."

"Miss Min is so polite. Are you going to set off the river lanterns too?" Qi An asked.

Xia Yue lowered her eyes and did not deny it.As soon as the lighting was said, it was originally a private matter for the girls in the boudoir, and what they were praying for was a wish for a good husband and a good home, so it became a topic of jokes for young and old.So this kind of thing was done secretly on the night of March [-]rd.

Zijin smiled: "Disciple and Yue'er went to the riverside to watch the fun, happened to meet Miss Qin, and sent her back together."

This is the longest sentence that Zhaohong has heard from Zijin since meeting Zijin, but what surprised her was the word "Yue'er". How could a younger brother call her sister that way?

After saying goodbye to Qi An, Zhaohong suddenly boldly said: "Mr. Qi and Mr. Min are really similar." He tilted his head and thought for a while before adding, "It's not about the appearance, but the temperament and feeling of the body are very similar. resemblance."

She originally didn't talk because she was introverted, but she was afraid that people would think she was indifferent to others, so she racked her brains to come up with such a topic. It was obvious that both siblings had a good impression of Qi'an, so she hesitated for a while before saying it. own this feeling.

Unexpectedly, the siblings were slightly taken aback when they heard this.

Zhaohong was puzzled and stopped talking.

After a while, Xia Yue smiled and said: "The apprentice was taught by the master, so there is no difference. It is rare that Mr. Qi took so much trouble to teach our family Zijin to be such an obedient and good boy." Then she patted her younger brother on the head .

Zijin was taller than her, so she had to stand on tiptoe to pat his head.

Although he didn't dodge, he turned his head away, apparently not agreeing with Xia Yue's explanation.By the moonlight, Zhaohong saw Zijin frowning.It's rare to see someone with such a smiling face flashing such a melancholy and helpless expression, his lips slightly opened and closed, and he said a word softly, in a very low voice, if Zhaohong hadn't read his lip shape, he would have been like Xia Yue You will never hear these five words.

Zhaohong's family is a small businessman who sells wine at the end of Minglun Lane.

The one who came out to answer the door was Zhaohong's sister-in-law. She planned to scold her sister-in-law severely when she opened the door, but when she saw the two siblings following behind, she just reprimanded her softly: "You don't even say hello to your family when you go out. Brother thought what happened to you."

Zhao Hong gave a general introduction to his sister-in-law, and then introduced: "This is the eldest lady and son of Master Min's family in the east of the city."

After the woman heard about it, she looked at the two of them and said "oh".The voice stretched a lot, and it was quite meaningful.

The siblings didn't stop there either, they rejected Zhaohong's offer to stay, took their leave and left.

Zhaohong stood at the door of the shop and looked at their backs as they went away. The moon shrank back at some point, and the night became more hazy.She suddenly recalled the words that boy said with stubbornness just now under the moon.

"I'm not a child," he said.

In fact, this sentence is extremely childish.Thinking about it, a smile appeared on Zhaohong's face.No matter how old and solemn he looks out of proportion to his age, he can even call his sister by her nickname, but he is still a child in front of Xia Yue.

When the sister-in-law was closing the door and tidying up the shop, she suddenly sighed: "So that's the young master of the Min family, what a pity..."

Zhaohong paid special attention to the young man's affairs, put down the stool in his hand and asked, "Sister-in-law, what's the pity?"

"That Young Master Min, I heard people say that he is deaf. But I didn't realize it just now. He seems to be able to hear what others are saying. He asks and answers..."

As for what the sister-in-law was talking to herself later on, Zhao Hong 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 when he called his name.

No wonder he doesn't like to talk too much.

No wonder she repeated words for him to "listen" in that peculiar way.

It's not because he is slow-witted about voices, nor is he indifferent, but because he can't hear at all, and can only infer the content of speech by reading other people's lips.

Zhaohong put down the stool in his hand in a daze, and stayed where he was.

two

Xia Yue walked to the end of the alley, was about to push open the small door in the backyard of the Min Mansion, and sneaked in, when she stretched out her hand, she turned her head to the young man beside her and said, "Zijin, you have to help me. Otherwise, Daddy will punish you again." I copy books."

Zijin narrowed her eyes and nodded with a smile.

At this moment, someone inside opened the door before Xia Yue, and after hearing Xia Yue's words, he muttered, "Miss, anyway, the young master wrote for you, so there is nothing to worry about."

Xia Yue was startled at first, seeing that it was the maid He Xiang who came to open the door, so she nervously looked behind her.

He Xiang knew what she meant, and said, "Miss, don't worry, the master hasn't come back yet after leaving the house."

Xia Yue blinked, "Oh—" heaved a sigh of relief.

"Did Daddy say when he's coming back?"

"I don't know that."

As a result, when it was almost midnight, Master Min did not return home.

Who would have thought that Jinluo's weather would change at any time, there was only a little cool breeze in the evening, and suddenly a thunder fell from the sky at night, and the wind was loud.

Although it did not rain, the strong wind creaked and shook the windows desperately.

Xia Yue got up by herself and fastened the window bolt.Her eyesight is also very good at night, and she can see clearly without holding a lamp. She had just walked a few steps when she heard a "clang" from the next door.

The voice came from Zijin's room. The two rooms were next to each other. She paid close attention to any movement, as if he had knocked something over.

So she hurried out of the house to have a look.

When he walked outside the door of his house, he saw that it was pitch black and there was no light.There is a rope at the door, which is connected to a rocker inside. As long as it is pulled outside, the wings on the desk will creak and creak.This was originally a small gadget made by Xia Yue on a whim for his deafness.Now Xia Yue hesitated in front of the rope and pushed the door open.

After standing for a while, his eyes began to adapt to the darkness in the room, and when he looked around, he found that Zijin was standing in front of the window that kept flapping, looking outside with a dazed look in his eyes.

She had only walked a few steps before she heard Zijin call out, "Yue'er?"

Xia Yue was surprised that he had found herself.From a young age, I knew that it was difficult for him to see anything without a light, so even if he fell asleep, the light in the room should be on all night to prevent him from bumping into something when he got out of bed.

"Yue'er?" He seemed a little unsure, and called out again.

Xia Yue walked up to her younger brother with a smile, bit her lower lip with a smile, trying to tease him.It's a pity that when I stretched out my hand and touched his nose, I was caught.

Xia Yue smiled, and immediately found Huozhezi to light the lamp.

"I heard movement, have you fallen?"

He shook his head.

Xia Yue suddenly frowned, held his face with both hands, leaned in front of him, and said slightly angrily: "From now on, don't just nod and shake your head, 'hmmmm', if you want to talk, even if you feel it is very hard and you don't want to You have to talk too. Otherwise, my mother and I will be in vain? If you know it, your mother will be angry, understand?"

He still began to nod habitually, and just as soon as he lowered his head, he knew that he was wrong again, and he raised his eyes guiltily, just in time to meet Xia Yue's helpless eyes.

Looking at each other, the two laughed together.

(End of this chapter)