Mid-April is the Green Picking Festival.
The mountain flowers are brilliant, the fallen flowers are colorful, the peach blossom forest is full of peach blossoms, and the pink mist permeates the entire peach blossom forest, just like a fairyland.
I don’t know if the Peach Blossom Fairy has appeared in the past two years. The scope of the Peach Blossom Forest has obviously expanded several times, and the peach trees have gradually spread along the edge of the Peach Blossom Forest towards the deep mountains and old forests in the east and south.
The peach trees and peach blossoms in the peach blossom forest also feel more and more fairy-like. Even the mountain people who eat ordinary peach fruits in the peach blossom forest feel that their bodies are healthier.
The more this is the case, the more people come to the Peach Blossom Temple to offer incense and pray, regardless of whether it is effective or not, as long as their intentions are in place. Anyway, the incense in the Peach Blossom Temple is not expensive, and it is not too late to come back when the prayers are fulfilled.
In the northeast corner of Taolin, there is a place shrouded in a mystery formation and blinding method, which can only be hidden from the eyes of ordinary mortals...
The wild grass is soft and lush, the peach trees are in various shapes, and the peach blossoms are swaying in the wind.
There are continuous mountain shadows in the distance, and gurgling water nearby.
In the peach grove, by the stream, there are round tables and benches arranged in the pavilion, stone tables and benches arranged under the peach trees, and tables and futons scattered on the grass.
The overall scope is not large, but the layout is well-proportioned and consistent with nature.
On the table or counter, there are wooden plates and porcelain bottles.
Various fruits are placed on wooden trays, all of which are apples, sweet oranges, bananas, cherries, strawberries, watermelons, grapes and other fresh fruits.
In the porcelain bottle are Huadiao, green plum wine, wine and other low-alcohol rice wine or fruit wine, which can make people slightly tipsy, but difficult to get drunk.
In addition to fruits and drinks, there are also several pairs of mahjong and Go for guests' entertainment. Not far away, there are musical instruments such as Yaoqin, Dongxiao and Pipa, as well as rice paper, a long table, calligraphy brushes, ink and paint.
"Brother Lu, you are so well prepared, and it is exactly what I want!"
"The environment is also comfortable. I feel like this party is much more interesting than my father gathering aquatic tribes to drink, listen to music and dance together!"
The first ones to arrive were Zhu Yushan and Li Hanyu. When they arrived at Peach Blossom Manor, they were attracted to the venue by a peach blossom goddess. They saw Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan playing chess while Lu Zheng was sitting on the side of the stone table. It seemed quite pleasant to deliver tea to Shen Ying and fruit to Liu Qingyan later.
In addition, Liu Qingquan, accompanied by Xiao Cui, was playing checkers that Lu Zhengxin had brought out. The two of them were playing the game and had a great time.
"Hello brother! Hello sister-in-law!"
Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan stopped, and Lu Zheng and the two women stood up to greet the guests and welcomed them to a stone table under the tree.
"It's very good. Yushan has recently started to study in seclusion again. We haven't come out for a long time. This time it was Brother Lu who invited me, so I brought him over to the banquet to relax." Li Hanyu said.
Lu Zheng blinked, nodded, and said to Zhu Yushan, "Brother Zhu, you still need to combine work and rest when studying. Studying hard in seclusion is not good for your body..."
Zhu Yushan nodded, "I know, but the exam is coming soon, so I'll take the time to review again to avoid any omissions during the exam."
"Ah, yes, yes!" Lu Zheng nodded seriously, then took an orange from the wooden plate and handed it to Zhu Yushan, "Brother Zhu, please try a sweet orange. It tastes good."
"Thank you." Zhu Yushan took the orange, then peeled it open and put it into his mouth. Then with a trembling hand, he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Lu Zheng, "This is the latest policy I just wrote, Brother Lu Look, help me straighten it out."
Lu Zheng, "..."
God knows whether you can make it to the exam this year. What’s the point of this policy paper?
But it can't be said that way. Lu Zheng had stayed in the Jing Dynasty for more than three years. Not only could he take exams in Confucianism, he could also talk to ordinary people.
Therefore, Lu Zheng can completely handle Zhu Yushan's request.
So Lu Zheng took over the strategy, went through it for a while, and then started a perhaps meaningless discussion with Zhu Yushan.
After the discussion was over, the five girls from Wuxiuzhuang Huayixing also arrived.
"Master Lu! Congratulations, Master!"
"I've met Sister Li! Hello, Miss Shen! Qingyan, we're late!"
As soon as the five women came, they first confessed, and then Yu Mingxin fluttered her sleeves, and dozens of birds of various colors flew out from her sleeves, then either circled and danced in the air, or landed on the branches to rest, all of them were gone. The scattered chirping and crisp birdsong make the peach forest more vibrant.
Another bird flew onto Liu Qingquan's shoulder, tilting its head to look at the chessboard, wondering what it was looking at.
As expected of an oriole, not only does her singing sound outstanding, but she also has the ability to control birds.
Lin Jing'er and Hu Cainiang took down the bamboo baskets behind them and opened them, then waved them casually. Hundreds of colorful wild flowers flew out of the baskets, then fell everywhere on the ground and took root in the soil, making the venue even more beautiful.
"You guys are interested!"
Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan laughed heartily, and then invited the five girls to sit down together.
Hua Yixing, the girls, and Zhu Yushan and his wife had all met before, so they said hello. After finding that there were enough people, they immediately gathered a table of mahjong.
Li Hanyu, Hua Yixing, Lin Jinger and Hu Cainiang, let the fight begin!
The women played cards and the men walked away. As for Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan, as hosts, they still had to welcome guests.
Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting'er's IQs were not enough to allow them to compete at the table, so they soon saw the checkers played by Liu Qingquan and Xiao Cui.
"What is this?" Bai Ting'er asked curiously.
"This is checkers!" Liu Qingquan, who was thinking hard, saw Bai Ting'er asking, and then turned her eyes, "Come on, let's play together. This checkers can also be played by four people."
"Really?" Yu Mingxin interrupted, then looked at the chessboard, "Could it be possible that up to six people can play together?"
"Exactly, there are too few changes for two people to play, let's play together as four people!"
After Liu Qingquan finished speaking, he took Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting'er to sit down, and then rearranged the chessboard.
Xiaocui said angrily, "You little clever guy, I'm almost winning!"
"Where!" Liu Qingquan argued, "The situation is unclear and the chess pieces are still messed up. How can we tell the winner or loser?"
Xiao Cui curled her lips helplessly, but it was hard to argue with a child, and the most important thing was that the person in front of her was the sister-in-law of the master's husband!
So she took Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting'er and sat down on both sides. Xiaocui took out the blue and yellow wooden beads from the chess box, placed them in the corresponding positions one by one, and then began to explain to the two women. These are the rules of checkers.
The rules of checkers should not be too simple. It is probably slightly more difficult than backgammon, so Yu Mingxin and Bai Ting'er quickly learned it, and then they happily started a four-person melee with Liu Qingquan and Xiao Cui.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Thanks to fellow Taoist 08a for the hundred rewards, and thanks to fellow Taoist Qianyue for the five hundred rewards.
