On New Year's Eve, Bai Yu'an took A Tao and Wei Ruyi to Wen Changqing's home to spend New Year's Eve together.
It is somewhat comforting for two strangers who cannot return to their hometown to get together.
Wen Changqing's courtyard is located in a busy city, with constant noise coming and going. Bai Yu'an, who usually likes peace and quiet, fell in love with the noise at this moment.
The two of them were sitting opposite each other in the teahouse in the backyard of the courtyard. Opposite the teahouse was a rockery pool with several plum blossom trees planted on both sides. You could admire the snowy scenery in the courtyard when you turned your head.
There were candles standing around the tea room, braziers on both sides, and a small stove on the small table, which was steaming and cooking venison.
There was no one else in the tea room except Bai Yu'an and Wen Changqing. Since it was New Year's Eve, Wen Changqing asked the girl who couldn't go home to gather in front for a reunion dinner.
A Tao and Wei Ruyi naturally followed.
Wen Changqing picked up a pot of warm wine from the table, poured a glass into Bai Yu'an's cup and said with a smile, "This is fruit wine made from plums. It's not intoxicating. Yu'an, try it."
Bai Yu'an looked at the cup in front of him, picked it up and smelled it. There was a refreshing fragrance, so he took a sip on his lips.
The light bitterness also contained a hint of sweetness and sourness, but Bai Yu'an didn't think it tasted good.
However, the wine is warm when it passes down the throat, and it is not as strong as before. It doesn't hurt to have a few drinks to warm up on this winter day.
She drank another half of the glass, looked at Wen Changqing and said, "It does have a fruity aroma."
Wen Changqing smiled, filled Bai Yuan's cup again, and said, "I plan to go to Chizhou the day after tomorrow."
Bai Yu'an looked at Wen Changqing and asked, "Brother Wen, what are you doing in Chizhou?"
After drinking all the wine in the glass, Wen Changqing turned his head and looked at the snowy scene outside and said, "I received a letter from home a few days ago. My family had arranged a marriage for me. I am the eldest daughter of the Chen family in Chizhou Zhizhong."
"Now I can't delay it any longer. If I don't go back this time, my family will ask me to come over and visit."
Bai Yu'an looked at Wen Changqing with some surprise: "Brother Wen is getting married?"
Wen Changqing smiled and nodded: "I'm ashamed to say that I'm already over twenty-five. I kept putting off getting married before I got the merit exam. Now I can't hold them back anymore."
Looking at the clear wine in the glass, Bai Yu'an looked at Wen Changqing again.
She saw that although he was smiling, there was a rare look of helplessness on his eyebrows, and she couldn't help but blurt out: "It seems that Brother Wen is not satisfied with this marriage."
Wen Changqing smiled bitterly: "I'm not afraid of Yu'an's jokes. I have never seen my unmarried wife look like."
Bai Yuan paused and looked at Wen Changqing: "Then how was the marriage decided?"
Wen Changqing said: "Chizhou Zhizhong made a marriage agreement with my family when he was still the county magistrate in Junan."
"My family is from a large merchant family in Junnan, so we have frequent contacts with the Chen family, so the marriage was naturally settled."
"It's just that I'm on a study tour, and the Chen family's daughter is frail, so I've never seen her."
Bai Yu'an didn't know where to sympathize, and asked: "Then Brother Wen has been dragging it out for so many years, and the other party doesn't have any objections."
Wen Changqing took a sip of wine and said calmly: "Before, the Chen family also said that it would not be too late to get married after I passed the imperial examination. I guess she doesn't want to marry me either..."
Bai Yu'an silently took a sip of wine and calmed down his emotions before saying, "Now that the marriage has been decided, why should Brother Wen think about this anymore?"
"Brother Wen will have someone by his side from now on. It should be that love lasts forever, and they don't trust each other."
"Yu An first congratulates Brother Wen."
As he spoke, Bai Yu'an raised his wine glass with a smile in his eyes.
Wen Changqing was stunned for a moment, and then he also laughed. The two of them clashed with each other, both touching their heartstrings, each with their own thoughts.
On this New Year's Eve, the two of them drank in front of Xue Yue and talked about various things in the past year. They actually said a lot of things.
The spirit of climbing upstairs last year was still high, and the two of them had never drank so freely.
Even if they drank a few glasses of fruit wine, they would still be tipsy. By the end of the drink, the two of them started to fight over poems.
I felt unsatisfied later on, so I wore only white socks and went to the snow to recite poems in the snow.
A Tao finished his meal in the front and chatted with the girls of Wen Mansion for a while. He thought of coming back to take a look, but instead he saw two drunken lunatics sitting by the pond, saying they wanted to catch two fish to get married. .
A Tao was dumbfounded, watching the two of them roll up their sleeves and fish in the water with great interest, it was like watching two fools.
It's strange that fish can come out in this cold weather. These two people are not cold.
He quickly went over and lifted Bai Yu'an up. Seeing that Bai Yu'an's cheeks were red and her eyes were already showing signs of drunkenness, A Tao couldn't help but sigh, and with her other hand, she also lifted up Wen Changqing, who was still fishing in the pond.
Even at such an age, he still behaves like a child.
He went out and called two girls over. They each helped Bai Yu'an and Wen Changqing stand up. Looking at them again, they were both drunk.
Fortunately, the two of them knew that they were already drunk, so they said goodbye unsteadily. In the end, Wen Changqing was supported by the girl and staggered to send Bai Yu'an to the carriage outside the door.
Bai Yu'an in the carriage leaned on A Tao's shoulder, still smelling of alcohol in his mouth, and murmured: "Fruit wine tastes bad, how can I drink one glass but want to drink again."
A Tao ignored Bai Yu'an's drunken words and asked Wei Ruyi to come over and help Bai Yu'an's figure to prevent him from falling later.
There were sounds of fireworks on the street from time to time, and A Tao felt Bai Yu'an on her shoulder suddenly sit up, and then he saw her lying on the carriage window, shouting: "Stop."
A Tao didn't understand what Bai Yu'an meant, thinking that Bai Yu'an was still drunk, so he whispered: "Sir, it's time to go back."
Bai Yu'an lay on the car window, squinting at the fireworks that lit up the sky outside, and at the ten-mile-long lights on the shore. She couldn't help but stretch out her fingers to catch the white snow outside.
With her eyes half drunk, she opened her lips and murmured: "The ground is white with flying snow, silver flowers are blooming ten miles away, the night is joyful with music and singing, and the lanterns are burning at the same time as the day."
When A Tao heard Bai Yu's poem written by An Linxing, he couldn't help but open the curtain and look out.
Fireworks fill the night sky, and the bustling capital city is indeed much livelier than that of Zhou County.
It's like being in a dreamland of ecstasy.
She was also stunned by the scene in front of her, and couldn't help but turn around and said to Bai Yu'an: "Sir, let's go down and take a look."
Bai Yu'an was a little bit drunk by the cool breeze, and jumped out of the carriage with a hum.
The carriage stopped on the street, and Bai Yu'an walked in the busy city with a slight stagger. When he reached the shore, the fireworks became visible in front of him.
The shore was full of people, all watching the fireworks set off from the flower boats. Every time one of them lit up, there was a long exclamation of exclamation.
Bai Yu'an hardly went out during the New Year's Eve days last year. He only hid in the yard and read a book, and the yard was on the outskirts of the city, so naturally he didn't see such scenery.
Next to him, A Tao pulled Bai Yu'an and pointed to the night sky excitedly: "Master, look quickly."
Bai Yu'an raised her head and looked up at the night sky. The heavy snow that was flying all over the sky melted on her slightly warm cheeks. What was reflected in her black eyes was the fireworks, one after another.
This nightless scene was like a dream, and Bai Yu'an's eyes were slightly wet and red due to her drunkenness.
In the restaurant opposite, Shen Jue silently looked at the figure in white among the crowd, then came back to his senses and drank all the wine in the glass.
