Ink Burns

Chapter 72 The Meaning of Annual Fleece

Wei Ruchun was laughing and jogging as she trotted forward with Wu Xiaohei. On the wide and busy avenue, the girl in a red jacket was smiling like a flower, running and jumping like an ignorant little rabbit. From time to time, she turned around and waved to Shanyue and Cheng Xingyu with her arms stretched out. Even this simple action took all her strength.

Shan Yue slowly loosened his clenched hands.

"Ruchun is very likable."

Cheng Xing walked to Shanyue's side and watched the red lanterns swaying in the distance. She was wearing a dark brown fur of an unknown animal over a white linen coat. She looked better tonight. "Her adoptive parents are also kind-hearted people. Originally, their family provided my uncle with Xanthium strumarium and mountain products. The first time I saw Ruchun, she helped her father carry two large bundles of dry firewood. Her father was thin, and she was tall and round, with great strength. She was not shy like the mountain girls. Instead, she loved to laugh and make noises, but was very polite. When she was invited to dinner, she only took the dishes in front of her. When the host brought water, she got up and said goodbye--"

Shanyue liked to listen to others talking about Wei Ruchun, and went to the charity hall every day just to see her more.

Now that Cheng Xingyu was talking, she walked and listened quietly.

"All these things show that her adoptive parents taught her very well. The villagers initially said that her adoptive parents treated her as a child bride."

Shan Yue clenched his fingers.

Cheng Xingyu bent his lips and smiled lightly: "Don't worry, she has never suffered. Her mother said that even sour fruits can make her teeth ache."

"Her adoptive father said that when she is two years older, he will help her find a butcher or hunter so that she can have meat to eat for the rest of her life."

Shan Yue turned his face away: he was not used to having his mood swings seen by others.

The epidemic is about to pass, and it coincides with the Winter Festival. The whole city takes this as an excuse to come back to life and celebrate the solar term. The hot and energetic vitality grows from the cracks in the bricks, at the base of the walls, between the eaves and tiles, and from the eaves that reach up to the sky.

The night is more lively than the day. During the day, people are busy making a living, but when night falls, they can truly be themselves.

Therefore, on both sides of the street, vendors hang banners and open their doors, and they set up their stalls and shout their wares. The vulgar, vivid, warm, and ordinary fireworks in this world can only appear vaguely and erratically like the white mist rising above the steamer.

Cheng Xingyu saw Shan Yue's avoidance, but he said nothing. Instead, he took a few quick steps and asked, "Have you ever tried Yexie Soft Cake?"

Shan Yue was stunned: "Ah?"

Cheng Xingyu smiled and said, "I guess you haven't eaten it. It's made from pounded white glutinous rice and glutinous rice flour. There's no sweet osmanthus at this time of year..." Cheng Xingyu took out a few copper coins from his sleeve pocket and handed them to the shopkeeper behind the steamer: "Buy two Yexie soft cakes with red bean paste filling."

Then he turned around and told Shanyue: "It's filled with red bean paste. It's sweet and delicious."

The boss quickly took two from the steamer with a wooden clip, wrapped them in a dry lotus leaf, and handed them to Cheng Xingyu with a smile: "Give them to Dr. Cheng to eat. I'll pay you. The mistress of the house won't let me into the house tonight!"

It would be awkward to refuse when so many people were coming and going, so Cheng Xingyu bowed and thanked him, then turned around and handed one to Shanyue, saying with a smile, "You eat it."

The dried lotus leaves were hot, so Shanyue held them in both hands, looked down, and after a long time, he took a bite of the lotus leaf.

"Is it sweet?" Cheng Xingyu's eyes were bright.

Shan Yue pursed her lips and smiled, then nodded slightly: "Sweet."

Cheng Xingyu then handed the other soft cake in his hand to Shanyue: "You have one too." He was afraid that Shanyue would not take it: "I have a bad spleen and stomach, so I don't eat at night. I asked for two because I was afraid that you would feel embarrassed to eat it alone."

Shan Yue lowered his eyes and took it.

It felt like chewing wax in my mouth, but at least my palms were warm.

Cheng Xingyu continued, "Where were we talking about? Oh, Ruchun, everyone says that Ruchun is silly and always in a daze, but I think she is wise but appears foolish."

The same was true of the water when I was a child.

He is very small, in poor health, with yellow hair, but he can understand everything.

If you weren't smart, you wouldn't have survived the fire.

Shan Yue had a smile on his face and listened quietly.

"She heard that I could write, so she gathered some little girls in the village to learn from her. The gift for becoming a teacher was two dead rabbits - both of which she hunted herself. My uncle welcomed me. There were no books or pens for beginners in the mountains, but my uncle had a set of 'History of the Han Dynasty' with incomplete handwriting and missing pages and volumes, so I taught her according to the book. One day, Ah Hua from the village said in idle chat that there were animals in the mountains that would throw their young to another place when they were in danger, so that they could escape easily. Everyone was guessing what kind of animal it was."

Cheng Xingyu thought of this incident and found it funny. He couldn't help but curl his lips: "Who would have thought that Ruchun would say something dull and gloomy. Isn't that Liu Bang?"

Shanyue was stunned for a moment, then he raised his brows and smiled.

During the Battle of Pengcheng, Liu Bang kicked Liu Ying and Princess Lu Yuan off the carriage.

Cheng Xingyu looked at Shanyue's sincere eyes, and felt that her eyes sparkled on her cold white porcelain cheeks, like precious mineral pendants: "I just finished talking about the Battle of Pengcheng the day before, and everyone else has forgotten it, but Ruchun has chewed it over and understood it thoroughly." Shanyue thanked him sincerely: "Thank you too."

As a sister, she thanked him for helping her sister when she couldn't see him.

Cheng Xingyu walked while shaking his head: "I am weak, so I started to learn medicine hoping to live two more years. Later, I realized that learning medicine is not for myself to live two more years, but to help others live two more days. In this way, even if I die early, I will have left some traces in this world."

The voice was open-minded, but it suddenly stabbed Shanyue's heart.

"They said you wouldn't live past the age of twenty." Shan Yue said, "Is that true?"

"Yes, it's a heart problem that can't be cured. He's short of breath, and his pulse is weak. If he lives past twenty, it's considered a long life."

Shan Yue was silent for a long time before he said, "It was also a happy twenty years."

Cheng Xingyu smiled, his eyes twinkling: "Yes, but it was also a happy twenty years - so you must live a happy one hundred and twenty years."

Shan Yue laughed: "No, if he becomes a demon after a hundred years, he will have already become a monster."

Cheng Xingyu readily agreed: "That is also a happy monster."

Shanyue smiled and turned to look to the right. They had unknowingly reached the bank of the Wusong River. There were crowds of people coming and going, and the river lanterns on the river were shining brightly, reflecting the glittering water color and scenery.

Cheng Xingyu went to the boat captain's place and bought two river lanterns and borrowed two pens, emphasizing: "I spent money. Only when you spend money to release river lanterns can your wishes come true."

The mountain moon smiles again.

Cheng Xingyu wrote very quickly, but when he looked up, he saw that Shanyue had already finished writing. He couldn't help but smack his lips: "You are a girl with a tough heart and quick hands. You are more decisive than ordinary people in writing a prayer."

Shanyue smiled and turned the river lantern to the other side, so that Cheng Xingyu could help light the lamp oil. She was afraid of fire, but she refused Cheng Xingyu's offer to help: "It will be more effective if you light it yourself, right?"

Cheng Xingyu thought about it and realized that this was the truth, so he lit a lantern and followed the mountain moon and the flowing water.

The two river lanterns were like two released carps. They entered the water and disappeared in an instant under the push of the waves and the noise of the crowd.

The river lanterns flowed along the water, colliding with the sincere and strong wishes of hundreds of people, and were pushed closer to the edge by the crowded waves. Just as they were about to run aground, they were saved by a slender, bony hand.

The side with the prayer written on it was exposed to the night.

"I only wish the streets would be filled with flowers, and I would be like a strong grass that grows in a single year."

Fourteen words, written in wild and sharp handwriting.

The prefect, Bai Yusi, looked over and said, "It's well done. The name of the land of fish and rice is indeed well-deserved. A commoner from the small Wusong River can also write a few lines and write such beautiful calligraphy."

I understand everything else, but what is “Annual Fleece”?
"Annua?" Boyce repeated. "It doesn't sound edible."

"Annual grass is a kind of grass that usually grows on mountain tops. A single grass has deep and strong roots and can strangle the roots of trees that are larger than it."

The person beside him said calmly, "But, for annua to sprout, grow young, flourish, turn green, and wither, it only takes one year. It survives vigorously, but also dies violently."

As Xue Xiao spoke, he looked up at the two people not far away.

He was the owner of those eyes that day.

Her face, like her eyes, was like morning frost tinged with the blue color of a human figure, and she climbed up the steps coldly but laboriously.

She is laughing.

He was talking and laughing with Doctor Cheng, who had made great contributions in fighting the epidemic.

Show your white teeth and express your unfamiliar happiness.

Xue Xiao lowered his eyes slightly and suddenly exerted force with his fingers.

The river lantern immediately formed a bud and burned even more vigorously. Following this force, it pushed away the crowd around it and floated straight into the distance.

　Originally, I wanted to call this book "Annual Fleece".

　　
　
(End of this chapter)