Lantern Festival

The lights were just coming on, and the exquisite colored lights were scattered all over the long street. It was like a dazzling haze as it reflected on people’s faces, and a layer of intoxicating blush sprinkled on the long street. It became a flowing light and shadow.

Walking in the bustling crowd, Lu Yuan looked around and saw the night sky filled with fireworks and silver flowers. He heard the lively hawking and faint string music. His nose was full of wine, food, and flowers. At the end of the New Year, people seemed to want to spend this night to let go of the regret of not having enough fun, so this Lantern Festival was more lively than New Year’s Eve.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, such a simple New Year’s flavor is easier to move people. This is not the most lively festival Lu Yuan has ever celebrated, but it is the most enjoyable festival he has ever celebrated.

 There were more and more people on the street, and it was difficult to walk shoulder to shoulder. Lu Yuan stumbled all the way and was almost squeezed down several times, but was pulled back by Su Huai. Later, the two simply walked hand in hand. Lu Yuan felt awkward at first and was not very happy, but he really couldn’t stand being squeezed all over the place, so he gave in.

Lu Yuan was dissatisfied with the crowd, so he chose to walk in deserted places. The street was noisy again, and he couldn’t hear what Su Huai said in his ear. When the two walked further and further away, Lu Yuan began to notice something wrong.

“Brother Su, how come there are no more people walking in groups of three or five on the street, but only in pairs?” After crossing a small bridge, you can vaguely see the moat on the other side of the bushes, and a layer of ice formed on the crystal clear river surface. Along the riverside, there are pairs of people walking slowly while holding pink lanterns.

 With no lantern in hand, the light and shadow were a little dim. Lu Yuan stumbled again while talking.

“Do you want to buy a lantern?” Su Huai put his arm around Lu Yuan’s waist and said with a sidelong glance.

“Buy? I just saw there was a lantern riddle guessing game over there, and if you guess it right, you’d get a lantern! Brother Su, you wait, I’ll go win a lantern! I’m not bragging, but I’ve never lost in the lantern riddle guessing game in our unit!” Lu Yuan smiled brightly while patting his chest, broke free of Su Huai’s arm and ran towards a lantern stall in the market.

“Slow down!” Seeing Lu Yuan running in a hurry, Su Huai frowned and hurried to catch up. The doubts in his heart about “what is a unit” were suppressed.

 “I say, little brother, if you want to guess the riddle, guess it. If you don’t want to guess, give the note to others to guess. If you are like this… how can I do business!”

When Su Huai followed, he saw Lu Yuan staring at the silk paper. The boss pinched the other side and pulled it back, but Lu Yuan held on tightly and refused to let go. The two of them pulled and tugged, and no one knew what they were doing.

“Xiao Yuan?” Su Huai went over and held Lu Yuan’s hand, frowning.

“Brother Su…” Lu Yuan pouted, still reluctant to let go: “I am actually really good at guessing lantern riddles!”

“Mm, I know.” Su Huai nodded, took out a copper coin and handed it to the boss: “I will buy this lantern riddle, together with the lantern that comes with it.”

“No need! No need! Brother Su, I can guess it!”

“Two copper coins, right!” Su Huai paid the money as if he hadn’t heard it. The boss brought a crimson peony lantern. Su Huai’s face darkened: “Can’t I change it?”

“This lantern is for the riddle that little brother drew. It’s not easy to change it!”

“Brother Su, you pick another lantern. You don’t have to pay for this one. I can guess it…”

“Mm, then this one.” Without waiting for Lu Yuan to finish, Su Huai took the lantern and dragged Lu Yuan away.

“Hey… Brother Su, I really know how to guess, but, can you… read the riddle to me?” Grabbing Su Huai’s sleeve, Lu Yuan looked bitter.

He really knew how to guess! If not… If not… Damn! Is it necessary to write a riddle in ancient Chinese? Are they bullying him because he didn’t know it?

 Su Huai paused, looked at the riddle, and his face suddenly darkened. He took the note, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it behind him: “Forget it, don’t guess it.”

“Brother Su?” Lu Yuan was stunned.

Su Huai didn’t say anything, and stuffed the lantern to Lu Yuan again: “You picked it yourself, take it yourself.”

Looking around, none of the lanterns in front of him could compare to the exquisiteness and magnificence in his hand. Lu Yuan frowned, and couldn’t figure out what Su Huai was dissatisfied with again, and turned his face.

Is it too expensive?

Lu Yuan raised his eyebrows and looked at the paralyzed face, and shook his head. What a weirdo!

The fewer people there were along the river, the more trees there were, and there was a faint scent of plum blossoms. Lu Yuan shook the lantern and saw a few branches of winter plum blossoms. The petals fell on the ice, and the reflections were in pairs. It was a very beautiful scene.

 The noise faded away, and the rustling sound of leaves filled his ears. Even though the two people lowered their voices, their conversation was still clear.

“Don’t eat too much of this, or your stomach will feel uncomfortable at night.”

Lu Yuan held a bowl of noodle tea in his left hand and a bowl of glutinous rice balls in his right hand, with a lantern stick stuck under his armpit. After hearing Su Huai’s words, he quickly swallowed the half glutinous rice ball in his mouth.

 “Mm, I know. This sesame-filled glutinous rice ball is delicious. Brother Su, try one!”

Glancing at the smiling man beside him, Su Huai simply took the glutinous rice balls and noodle tea and said, “Hold the lantern well.” He stopped and finished the remaining food, then instructed, “Also, don’t be greedy for coolness, and don’t be tired. Your body hasn’t recovered yet, I don’t want to treat you again.”

Looking at the two bowls of food being swept away by Su Huai with a little reluctance, Lu Yuan nodded tactfully. He also knew his own body. He could get weak at any time and often vomited after eating the wrong food. What Su Huai said was actually quite reasonable.

 “Remember to take the medicine I gave you on time.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t hang out with the guys in the pharmacy. Learn more, and don’t run around all the time. Your body can’t take it.”

“Okay.”

“Take a rest when you are tired from working, and don’t force yourself. The shopkeeper knows me well and won’t make things difficult for you.”

“Okay.”

“Lock the doors and windows when you go to bed at night, and don’t kick the quilt. Also, don’t drink!”

“…”

Seeing Lu Yuan suddenly stop and lower his head without speaking, Su Huai also stopped and looked at him with his eyes down: “What’s wrong?”

“That, Brother Su…” Lu Yuan said very slowly with his head down, and it seemed that there was a little reluctance in his tone. It was this little reluctance that made Su Huai slightly startled, and his heart was a little soft.

Raising his hand, he suddenly wanted to touch the furry head.

 Lu Yuan raised his head suddenly. Su Huai’s arm froze, and then his eyes reflected the guy’s smug smile: “Hehe… Brother Su, you can’t bear to leave me, right? You are so talkative today!”

If the sky was not so dark, Lu Yuan would have seen Su Huai’s blue face at this time. If the night wind was not so cold, Lu Yuan would have felt the chill all over Su Huai’s body. If he was not distracted by the noise of the downtown from afar, Lu Yuan would have heard the sound of Su Huai’s teeth clenching…

Unfortunately, there is no if.

“Hm? Brother Su, why do I hear it is so lively in front? Do you see the lights that flicker over there? There seems to be something there… Could it be a Kongming lantern? Let’s go and take a look!”

The scarlet lantern was shaking in Lu Yuan’s hand, and he rushed to the lively place with him. Su Huai suddenly felt that even the arc of the lantern seemed so heartless?

 Suddenly, there was a snapping sound of branches behind him. Su Huai came back to his senses and turned around. Everything returned to silence.

“Brother Su?” Lu Yuan urged.

Su Huai responded, and walked to him quickly. He took the lantern from Lu Yuan’s hand, and patted him on the back: “Why don’t we also go and light a lantern to make a wish.”

The most lively place turned out to be the source of the river, facing the theater in the city. From afar, you can see the shadows of people in the theater, and the sound of music is also faint. From here, after passing a memorial archway, it is the central long street of the town. In front of the memorial archway and on the side of the pier, there are all kinds of small stalls.

There were stalls selling small toys, fortune-telling, snacks, and selling wishing lanterns.

 Lu Yuan and Su Huai squeezed over. The vendor spread out the folded paper lanterns on the ground for sale. He was dazzled by the variety of colors and shapes. Next to the blanket was a small table with brushes and ink on it. People who bought lanterns went there to write their wishes on the lanterns. Then they got a candle and a fire starter and took them to the river to release the lanterns. It is said that the higher the lanterns are raised, the clearer the wishes will be for the gods in the sky, so they will help people fulfill their wishes.

Originally, Su Huai only bought one lantern for Lu Yuan, but Lu Yuan forced him to make a lantern, saying that “there is no one without a wish”, and forced him to make one. Su Huai was too lazy to argue with him, so he bought another one. Lu Yuan said that he would put it on his account. It was he who gave it to Su Huai at that time, so Su Huai naturally didn’t take it to heart.

 Su Huai really didn’t know what to write with the brush in hand, while Lu Yuan wrote swiftly, although… he had never seen anyone holding the pen tightly with thumb and index finger to write, and the writing is so ugly…

“Don’t look at it! It won’t work if you look at it!” Lu Yuan warned Su Huai while writing. Finally, he wrote the wish in a mysterious way, and then he happily took the lantern to the river to release it. A piece of candle was placed on the bracket at the bottom of the lantern, and the deflated lantern immediately swelled up. Lu Yuan was about to let go of the lantern when he saw someone in the crowd struggling to squeeze over here.

There were so many people, and the crowd caused a big commotion at the time. Lu Yuan wanted to lean over to see what was going on, but his waist was stopped by someone, and then Su Huai’s voice rang in his ears.

“Don’t join in this kind of excitement in the future! You almost fell again!”

Even if he was weak and his legs were often weak, he didn’t have to control himself so strictly!

 Lu Yuan was upset and turned his head to refute, but he didn’t expect Su Huai to be holding his waist. There were so many people here and the space was small. The two of them were very close. When he turned his head, Su Huai didn’t have time to react, and the two of them were touching each other’s skin…

“Wu…”

“Mmm…”

Snap——

Lu Yuan panicked. The lantern slipped out of his hand, then the candle also flipped over and fell to the ground and ignited.

“Ngh… It hurts! Brother Su, why is your nose so hard!” Lu Yuan complained while covering his nose. His eyes were a little teary from the pain.

 “Xiao Yuan! You seem to… take your hand down so I can see it.” Su Huai also wrinkled his nose and spoke in a muffled voice, but he didn’t care about the pain at this time. He reached out to grab Lu Yuan’s arm and moved the hand that was blocking his nose. Su Huai was stunned: “You are bleeding from the nose.”

“Don’t touch it… It hurts so much!”

“Don’t move, let me wipe it for you!”

“Hey, wait a minute! My lantern seems to be on… You… Don’t step on my lantern!”

“Raise your head, stop making noise! ​​You are so excited that the bleeding will not stop, be quiet!”

“But…ah, Brother Su, I can wipe it myself…It’s weird that you hold my face like this…No! Pulling hair will hurt! I said, don’t hold my waist…”

…

The riverside was still lively. Lu Yuan found a relatively quiet place and squatted under the roots of a tree. There were two pieces of linen in his nose, which Su Huai had pulled off his clothes.

“I found a place to wet my handkerchief, you wipe your face.” At this time, Su Huai squeezed through the crowd and handed Lu Yuan a wet handkerchief: “Don’t sit here, the ground is cold.”

“Hmph.” Lu Yuan snorted in a muffled voice. He took the handkerchief, and touched his blood-stained face randomly.

“…” With a sigh, Su Huai pulled Lu Yuan up. He snatched the handkerchief, held up his face and wiped it carefully again for him. Lu Yuan, on the other hand, was quite obedient this time, and let him do whatever he wanted.

 Although he never believed in making wishes, Lu Yuan was really infected by the festive atmosphere just now. He wrote his wishes seriously and hoped that they would come true with all his heart… But he was so unlucky that he accidentally burned all his wishes…

This Su-faced paralysis, what’s the point of having such a straight nose! It’s just a hindrance!

“I haven’t put out my lantern yet.” Wiping his face, Su Huai whispered.

“That’s your lantern, what does it have to do with me! Anyway, the wish has been burned, can I write it again with yours?” Lu Yuan said unhappily.

“You can’t write it either, I just finished writing it.”

“Then you still…”

“Okay, come with me to put out the lantern.” Putting away the handkerchief, Su Huai dragged Lu Yuan to a place with few people and began to prepare to put out the lantern.

“You are really… You don’t have any sympathy at all!” Lu Yuan muttered. He stared at the lantern, and didn’t go to help. Seeing Su Huai put the candle in place, he raised his hand, and the lights slowly rose into the air. It rose higher and higher, slowly turning into stars of fire. Lu Yuan felt as if there was something blocking his heart, and he couldn’t be happy.

Who can’t make their own wishes come true, but can still laugh when watching others make wishes!

With a snort, Lu Yuan said gloomily: “Okay, the lanterns are all gone, can we go back?”

“Do you want to know what I wished for?” Su Huai approached and grabbed Lu Yuan. His tone was gentle. But the softer the voice, the angrier Lu Yuan got.

Su Huai, you are deliberately provoking me, right!

He glared back fiercely, but Su Huai looked ignorant: “I just wrote ‘Let your wish come true’.”

The faint expression, the faint tone, the faint words, Lu Yuan was stunned.

“Okay, let’s go.” This time, it was Su Huai who pulled him.

 Dead face, who taught you to do these boring things! And… it’s fucking touching!

As the night deepened, a peony swayed, and the reddish lights reflected two slender figures. Passing through the bustling crowd, through the lively streets, and turning into the alley. The noise faded away, leaving only the sound of two people’s footsteps in the same rhythm, but it didn’t seem lonely.

Lu Yuan really felt that this festival seemed to be the most ridiculous festival he had ever spent, but it also seemed… the happiest one.

“Brother Su?”

“Mm.”

Just as he was about to say “thank you”, Lu Yuan seemed to remember something, and suddenly said “ah”, which scared Su Huai.

“Brother Su! I remembered a very important question! It seems… the wish won’t work if you say it out loud!”