(twenty four)
Once a story begins, it will end one day. Perhaps for more people, they have reached the end of their lives before they have even begun to explore forward. Then their stories will be like domesticated chicks who are content with the status quo and will never get the chance to spread their wings and fly. It is not until the moment they step onto people's dining tables that they realize that their lives have come to an end.
For Zhao Xiaomei, a young lady from an aristocratic family who could have lived a well-behaved life with plenty of food and warm clothes, the "leaving a book and running away" dozens of days ago was the first step she took to move forward because she was unsatisfied with the status quo. Even though her life hung in the balance several times during the journey, she never regretted it. Because she took this opportunity to experience many things that she could only know and hear about in books and through the mouths of travelers. Strange people in the world, graceful young heroes, wonderful legends and stories...all these can make people feel a lot and feel fresh.
After returning to the inn where she stayed before, the younger sister has been hiding in the room with the ventilation window open so that she can clearly see the people entering and leaving the inn. Watching the eaves and rubble outside gradually darken as the sky darkens, the laughter and scoldings of the diners coming and going gradually fade away. For some reason, a feeling of longing arose spontaneously. There were some things that she couldn't figure out no matter how hard she thought about it, but she always felt that as long as she could meet "that boy", she would be able to suddenly understand them. Therefore, she has been standing by the window, using the cover of the high eaves in front of the window to secretly observe the travelers coming and going, hoping to see the figure of her beloved as soon as possible.
When she was still young, it was inevitable that her thoughts would be wild and unconstrained. What's more, the quiet night in Yanzi Town is really suitable for meditation. The younger sister looked at the starry sky and began to think about it randomly: She thought of her former purdah life, and compared it with her current free life, she found that her former life was extremely boring. Nowadays, she can't understand why anyone would be willing to be a young lady waiting to be married. They don't even know who the person they want to marry is, so they want to hand over their lives to others at will. This is really too hasty and casual!
The more the young girl thought about it, the more she felt that her original choice was correct: her heart did not belong to the purdah compound, but she had a soft spot for the rivers and lakes.
"The person I like must not be a playboy like Su Qing!" The younger sister said to herself to the stars in the sky: "At least, he must be like Mr. Bai, single-minded, humble, willing to fight against injustice, and always like Mr. Bai. A chivalrous heart..." She held her chin again and thought carefully: "Is there really another person like this in the world?"
"Dong, dong, dong..." Suddenly there was a knock on the door, interrupting the little girl's innocent imagination.
"Who's knocking on the door?" The little girl followed the sound. After opening the door, she found that the person knocking was her brother Zhao Kuo, and asked again, "What's the matter?"
Zhao Kuo was seen holding a bowl of soup in his left hand, scratching his gray hair with his right hand, and said suspiciously: "Brother is here to bring you sweet soup!" After that, he rushed into the room beside his little sister and looked for a place. Sat down.
Zhao Xiaomei squinted her eyes slightly, as if she wanted to see through the other person's heart. She also sat next to him and said, "If you show courtesy for nothing, you are either committing adultery or stealing!"
"You are a traitor and a thief!" Zhao Kuo argued: "Quiet your anger, first try the soup I specially asked someone to make?"
The little girl hummed, took a scoop of porcelain soup, tasted the taste, and immediately asked, "Tell me! What's going on?"
"Um... Well, the new carriage will take at least one day to complete. In other words, our return home will be delayed again..." Zhao Kuo looked at the younger sister's angry face, fearing that there was something wrong in his words. A certain sentence would make her unhappy again, so she replied with extreme caution.
"Tsk! How can a grown man talk like a mother-in-law!" The little girl seemed to know that this was not what the other party was going to say, and said angrily: "If you don't say anything, get out of here quickly, I need to change clothes and go to bed. !”
"Okay, okay! I'm not afraid that you will be angry!" Zhao Kuo replied: "That Mr. Su, he is a talent. Moreover, when we were in danger on the road this time, it was thanks to his timely arrival that the danger would not worsen... So, as for this favor, it’s better to make some friends..."
The younger sister's face suddenly showed anger, and she replied: "So, you want me to repair the relationship between you two?"
"Um... there are some things that are more suitable for women to do, right?" When he said this, the seven-foot-tall man did not dare to look directly at the other person at all: "Of course! Brother, I am not asking you to commit yourself to him! I usually treat him with It would be nice if he spoke less sarcastically, at least he is our savior now..."
"That's it?" the younger sister asked doubtfully, "I thought you hadn't changed your mind yet!"
"At least now we know that Su Qing is not a treacherous person in nature. As a friend, he is still worth making friends... Sister, don't you think so?"
"Well! For the first time, I think what my brother said makes sense!" After the younger sister said that, she scooped up another spoonful of sweet soup, put it to Zhao Kuo's mouth, and said: "Eat this sweet soup, it will be ours." Let the grudges be wiped out?"
The two brothers and sisters exchanged pleasantries for a while and then said goodbye to each other. The little girl was still standing in front of the window, but she had an extra bowl of sweet soup in her hand. If it were the former eldest lady Zhao Xiaomei, she would never have imagined that she would be able to make connections with famous people in the world. Although he was a character she didn't like very much, he was far more interesting than those young men of high status.
"'Big Thief'?" The little girl took a sip of the sweet soup and murmured to the cool air drifting into the window from the outside: "Or 'Big Thief'?" As soon as she finished speaking, a strange wind suddenly passed by her eyes, making her Close your eyes for a little while.
When he opened his eyes again, a tall young man carrying a silk gauze lamp suddenly appeared. He had one foot on the window sill and one foot on the eaves outside. At first glance, he looked very cool. I just heard him jokingly say: "Miss Zhao, are you calling me by my name?"
"Su Qing?" The younger sister was so frightened that she took a step back, "Why are you outside?"
After hearing this, Su Qing stretched out her right hand to the younger sister and invited her: "This is the young lady's boudoir. I and other idle people are not worthy to talk here. Can Miss Zhao go outside to talk in detail? The beautiful scenery here is one of a kind." oh!"
The younger sister thought about repaying the other person's favor, so she answered. He immediately put the sweet soup on the table aside, stretched out his hand for the other party to take it, and the next moment he was on the eaves outside the house.
Taking advantage of the cool night, the shadow of the moon follows. One is a "robber" who robs the rich and helps the poor, and the other is a child of a wealthy family. The two enemies who had never interacted with each other miraculously sat together. Su Qing deliberately placed his silk lantern in his direction so that the younger sister could see all his actions clearly. The two of them were leaning against the wall and sitting on the tiles. One of them rested his hands on his hands and gazed at the stars, while the other put his hands on his knees and looked at each other shyly.
"How's it going? On such a hot day, there can be such a cool night! Looking at the moonlight, I don't even want to go back to my room and sleep on the bed." Su Qing closed her eyes slightly, looking like she was enjoying herself very much.
The little girl followed the question just now and continued: "Why did Mr. Su suddenly appear outside?"
"Mr. Su? Did I hear you correctly?" Su Qing smiled slightly, looked at the other party sideways, and replied: "My room is just above Miss Zhao's room. I was just leaning on the railing to admire the moon, and suddenly I heard Miss Zhao, you The voice was still calling my name. So, it appeared at the right time."
"I see……"
"Miss Zhao, look!" Su Qing pointed to the red lantern hanging under the eaves of the upper room and said, "What do you think this lantern looks like?"
The younger sister shook her head in confusion.
Su Qing replied: "Let me see, it looks like Miss Zhao's cheeks that turned purple when she looked at Mr. Bai!"
"Ah!" the younger sister exclaimed in surprise, "Don't talk nonsense!"
"Yes, that's how it is now! Hahaha..." Su Qing smiled maliciously.
The younger sister buried her face between her knees for a moment, then replied: "So... you know everything, right?"
"I've known it for a long time..." After saying that, Su Qing suddenly caught a glimpse of two figures walking on the road to the inn, and said, "Look, as soon as I mentioned him, he appeared!"
When the little sister saw that Bai Feng and Murong Yan were about to return, she told them not to tell the secret to others, then climbed over the window sill and returned to the room to rest, leaving Su Qing alone there smiling stupidly. Somehow. In that smile, you can vaguely see some traces of tears, looming under the cover of the moonlight and lights.
