Chapter 0——⑧Forget-me-not
The charcoal fire in the iron stove is burning at full strength, and the splashing sparks bloom at a certain moment like the red lotus in the painting. When they fall on the human skin, they will produce a tingling pain, which is fleeting, followed by smoke. It spreads all around, and the smell that stings the mouth and nose fills the elegant and exquisite private school here in just a short time.
In front of the stove, there was a young man sitting upright. He was holding a pair of iron chopsticks, shirtless and solemn. He didn't know what he wanted to do.
"Zhao Kuo!" A Confucian scholar with a solemn look beside him angrily shouted: "You have repeatedly violated family rules, did not understand your dignity, did not observe etiquette, and had many secret meetings with Miss Yao. Do you know your crime?"
"I...I admit my guilt." Zhao Kuo let out a long sigh, as if the burden he had been carrying for a long time was suddenly lifted, and his expression calmed down instantly. However, facing the stove, it was still midsummer, and he was inevitably sweating. It is rare for him, a high-ranking young man, to be so embarrassed.
The Confucian scholar then said: "Since the crime is known, it should be punished!" After that, he threw a "mung bean" as fine as gravel into the stove - this was a unique method used by the Yuyi Zhao family to punish unworthy descendants. Called "Xiaodou".
The punished must use chopsticks made of pure iron to pick out the mung beans from between the coals. The whole process greatly tests the "courage" and "self-denial" of the punished, because the mung beans may be burned by the flames in a short period of time. Being engulfed, you cannot hesitate, let alone follow your instincts to avoid the consequences of being burned by the fire.
"If you have the guts to challenge family rules, why not try to see if you have the guts to take out the mung beans before your hands are burnt?" The Confucian scholar sneered with a smile: "If you can take them out, forget it; if you can't, let it be. Absolutely Make you convinced.”
Zhao Kuo knew that opportunities were rare and that good fortune and misfortune depended on each other, so he quickly made up his mind to prove his will in front of his teacher and father, and then replied: "Mr. Fan, Caiwei and I admire each other and have the same interests. Why?" Are we not allowed to compose poems and paint together? Students don’t understand. Is it so important to respect the elders and the younger?”
After speaking, he gritted his teeth and put his chopsticks into the stove to search desperately. Although the charcoal fire is not as strong as the stove fire or the cast fire, it will give you a chance to hesitate. When you feel that you can stand on it and walk on flat ground. At that moment, the burning pain came as expected, especially since Zhao Kuo was still holding a pair of iron chopsticks. The chopsticks were extremely hot and he could not let go of them, because once he let go, he would give up everything.
"Yeah..." The young man couldn't help but murmur, enduring the severe discomfort while digging and exploring his own truth. This arrogance unique to a young man supported him in successfully completing the test.
So what's the cost?
One night passed, and Zhao Kuo's burned hand was wrapped in gauze. It was obvious that he would have to rest for a long time before he could recover as before. He also made a conscious decision and did not use the hand he was used to writing with to risk accepting punishment. At the moment, he was most concerned about life. The impact was that his mouth was still filled with the taste of ashes, and he still had lingering fears about that kind of punishment.
However, after this battle, Zhao Kuo's feelings for Yao Caiwei did not decrease but increased. He thought of the servants and princesses, slaves and generals' daughters in fairy tales. Although the Zhao family's background was not glorious, they would not fall into a worse situation. , he has the confidence to continue walking, and has already copied a beautiful picture of the future in his heart.
"I want the matchmaker to be married, be blessed by everyone, and make her my wife."
Zhao Kuo immediately wrote a letter and did everything required by the red tape. He first sent a letter to ask for an audience and then formally met. There would be servants on the left and right to serve him. In public, even though everyone had their own grudges, it was not a private meeting.
However, when he came to the door of Yao's house to submit the letter, he happened to encounter Yao Caiwei's absence. Zhao Kuo couldn't wait and immediately turned around to find someone. He thought he had to explain clearly to the other party his inner journey after being punished.
"In this case, doesn't it become a private meeting again?" Zhao Kuo joked in his heart.
Why did the two of them become connected? No matter who asks this question, they will not get a satisfactory result, because even they themselves cannot explain this question.
We get to know people in three ways: we get together because of related interests, we get together because it is reasonable, and we get together because we have similar interests.
Those who gather because of interests are mostly acquaintances, colleagues, or friends; those who gather because of common sense are mostly friends of gentlemen, classmates, or relatives; those who gather because of common interests are bound to be mutual friends. , just like the friendship between Boya Ziqi and Guan Bao, they may not like each other at all, or even be political enemies of each other, but they will definitely understand each other's talents and elegance very well, and appreciate each other, both themselves and others.
Zhao Kuo and Yao Caiwei both felt that each other was each other's bosom friend, and they knew what the other wanted to do next just by looking at each other's smiles. As they got along day and night, the two of them sometimes had a tacit understanding as if they were one person. It wasn't until many years later that they realized that there might be clear "confidential love" in this world, but it would never happen to the two of them.
In fact, Zhao Kuo also gradually discovered the fact that not only his father Zhao Wei, but also the harsh Mr. Fan Li and Wu Fan never stopped him from making friends with Yao Caiwei, but they repeatedly banned private meetings. At that time, this was a matter of a woman's innocence. reputation. In other words, Zhao Wei and Fan Liwu certainly hope that the Zhao family can ingratiate themselves with General Yao's daughter. If they can get closer in the future, whether they are doing business or entering politics, it will be much better than the current situation.
In the final analysis, only this pair of childhood sweethearts care about so-called soulmates.
Zhao Kuo failed to find Yao Caiwei and went home depressed for several days. It was not until the "Qiao Qiao Festival" came that all the daughters of every household tied up their hair, put on flowers, and put on bright clothes to go out. Only then did the childhood sweethearts have a chance to see each other again. one time.
In this borderland outside the Great Wall, the festive atmosphere is not strong. Only when the Women's Day comes, the young people in the town are all excited. If they ask a girl to dance with them, they will definitely envy others. It is a pity that Zhao Kuo will not do this this year. He didn't have this blessing anymore. He looked at his injured hand, hid in the corner and sighed.
"How should I go to see her? I can't have a private meeting, and I can't send a letter to ask for a meeting. Now, I don't even have the ability to ask her to dance..."
After a while, a young girl came over and asked, "Brother, why are you here? I just saw Sister Caiwei."
"Where is it?" Zhao Kuo stood up excitedly, but he soon calmed down, handed the letter to his sister, and said, "Little sister, send this letter over for me."
"Is that it? I thought you really wanted to see her." Zhao Xiaomei was only eight years old at the time. She had a pair of innocent big eyes, which often made others feel shy. This simple desire for knowledge also made others feel shy. It makes people feel distressed. After all, it is useless to talk to an inexperienced child.
Zhao Kuo thought for a long time about how to explain, and finally sighed and said: "I can't see her here."
The younger sister shook her head. Obviously, she still didn’t understand why she couldn’t see him.
"Let's do this. You call her here. There is a wall at the side door of the teahouse, and there is a tree planted. I will wait for you behind the wall." Zhao Kuo pointed to the teahouse not far away, where the boss and Zhao Kuo They are familiar with each other, so they are definitely willing to hide it, as long as Zhao Kuo will not be exposed in front of everyone.
"Okay." Zhao Xiaomei agreed, and Zhao Kuo came to the back of the wall as invited.
Zhao Kuo was so happy listening to the flirting and flirting of the young girls who went there, that Zhao Kuo was asking for trouble and even wanted to laugh at himself, but he knew that he had to do this in order to live up to the suffering he had suffered.
Soon, Yao Caiwei arrived at the invitation. She pretended to be sitting under a tree to enjoy the shade, but in fact she kept secretly calling: "Mr. Zhao? Mr. Zhao?"
"I'm here!" Zhao Kuo put his ear against the corner of the wall, and tall grass piles surrounded him. This was a wasteland that had been in disrepair for a long time, and a desolate and dilapidated atmosphere lingered, completely different from the world inside the wall.
"How is your hand?" Yao Caiwei's first sentence was so concerned that Zhao Kuo couldn't help but secretly rejoice and said: "It's okay, I'm willing to be punished, just so that I can continue to see you in the future."
"What?" Yao Caiwei's voice slowly approached the wall and continued: "Can Mr. Zhao show up for a visit?"
Zhao Kuo said: "No, I can no longer have private meetings with Miss Yao. Please pass that letter to General Yao. I will definitely visit you one day to thank General Yao for his kindness to my Zhao family."
"Brother..." Zhao Xiaomei murmured while hiding under the tree, feeling inexplicably sad.
"Mr. Zhao, what happened to you today?"
Zhao Kuo continued: "I can't hold your arm to dance with you today. Please forgive me for not showing up to meet you. If you show up and are caught by a gangster, you will definitely be criticized and I fear your reputation will be ruined."
Yao Caiwei was also very sensible and suddenly joked: "You idiot, I didn't dance with anyone else!"
"Me!" Zhao Kuo was embarrassed and secretly happy at the same time. It was hard to tell for a moment: "I mean, I want to see you every day in the future. I, alas..." He still didn't have the guts to propose marriage in person.
Yao Caiwei said: "Okay, I will give the letter to father. As for Mr. Zhao... little sister, come here and give this thing to your brother."
"Okay." Zhao Xiaomei walked over obediently, picked up the things and walked around to the outside of the teahouse, intending to hand the things to her brother Zhao Kuo outside the wall.
On this occasion, Yao Caiwei confided to Zhao Kuo privately: "I went to the flower market today and found a few 'forget-me-nots' that were very elegant and unique, so I chose a vase to decorate it. Next time we meet, you should put it in Take it with you and take good care of it.”
"Forget-me-not?" Zhao Kuo was in a daze for a while before he came back to his senses. He was not familiar with flowers and plants, and even though he racked his brains, he had no memory of forget-me-not, so he called out repeatedly: "Pick Wei, pick Wei!"
There is no trace of anyone inside the wall.
For a while, the little girl was searching hard in the weedy area with her short legs, and her face was covered with dirt. Fortunately, she kept the vase well.
"Brother, this is what Sister Caiwei gave me."
Zhao Kuo took a closer look and saw that the vase had no patterns and was green in color. Several "forget-me-nots" were inserted at the mouth of the vase, all of which had small light blue flowers, which complemented the cyan vase.
"It's really elegant and unique!" Zhao Kuo was overjoyed and couldn't let go of the vase for a long time.
Zhao Xiaomei took credit for herself and said: "Brother, I won't tell dad and Mr. Fan, please praise me!"
"Of course I know you won't. You are my most beloved sister..."
The two rested for a while and went back together.
