couplet

The boy in the center of the crowd was writing with his head down. His wrist moved freely, and the ink flowed across the paper as if carved by a knife. The hidden strokes resembled a dragon lurking in the abyss, showing his amazing wrist strength.

The onlookers nodded repeatedly and exclaimed, "What beautiful calligraphy!"

The morning light streamed through the gaps in the crowd, landing perfectly on the boy's shoulder. He finished the last stroke, then placed the brush beside the inkstone and said to the customer at the front, "These are the characters you wanted. I'll leave the couplet to dry over there; you can take it after the ink dries. One yuan."

Upon hearing the price, some people nearby muttered, "One yuan? That's too expensive! Other places only charge a few cents."

The buyer immediately retorted, "What do you know! It's a bit pricey, but the calligraphy is worth it. This is what you have to put up for Chinese New Year—it's festive and impressive!"

He handed over the money with satisfaction, carefully taking the couplet with both hands, afraid of smudging the ink. He even held it up high for the people behind him to see: "Look, once these characters are pasted on the door, the whole courtyard becomes bright!"

"Hey young man, I'd like a pair too!" someone in the crowd immediately spoke up, their voice urgent, as if afraid they'd run out.

Write me another "Abundant Harvest"! This year's harvest will definitely be good.

Write "Harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things!"

In no time, the stall was surrounded by a crowd. Some people complained that the price was too high, saying, "You can buy three pounds of radishes for one yuan."

Despite saying that, people not only didn't leave, but instead pushed forward, craning their necks.

The crowd was shouting that they wanted to buy couplets. Wen Sheng originally just wanted to look around from the outside, but because of her small size, she was pushed to the front.

Caught off guard, she was bumped on the shoulder and stumbled, nearly hitting the table in front of the stall. Luckily, someone nearby caught her in time.

Just as Wen Sheng was about to thank him, she looked up and met the gaze of the young man who had sat down at the table.

The brush was still suspended between his fingers, the ink on the tip about to drip. Time seemed to stand still, but their eyes met silently in that instant, shutting out the noise of the crowd.

"What would this young lady like to write?"

Wen Sheng was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly whispered, "Anything...any word is fine."

Xu Jianing handed over the brush: "Since that's the case, why don't you try writing something, young lady? I'll give you the paper for free."

Upon hearing this, the people around burst into laughter: "Oh my, a little girl wants to write too? That's novel!"

"My eyes have been opened! My eyes have been opened!"

"A calligraphy brush isn't something to be trifled with. With arms and legs this thin, you probably can't even hold a brush properly," an old man said, scoffing at the scene.

The laughter of the crowd carried a hint of teasing and amusement; they clearly didn't really think she could write well.

Xu Jianing glanced at the crowd, and the noise subsided somewhat. He said calmly, "This one is on me, no charge."

He handed the brush to Wen Sheng and said gently, "Write whatever you want."

Wen Sheng took the pen, took a deep breath, and finally made the first stroke.

Her initial stroke was a little stiff, and her wrist trembled slightly as she put the pen down. The ink spread in a small circle on the red paper, and someone next to her immediately laughed, seemingly convinced that she hadn't written well.

But she quickly regained her composure, held her breath, and slowly wrote the second stroke. Although the vertical stroke was slightly crooked, the brush tip was still visible, and the handwriting was neat.

With the final stroke, a "福" (fortune/blessing) character finally appeared on the red paper.

The old man who had just been making sarcastic remarks glanced at it, clicked his tongue, and said, "It's not bad for the first time to write something like this."

Xu Jianing glanced coldly at the old man: "Definitely."

He picked up his brush again, dipped it in ink, and the ink flowed steadily across the red paper, flowing smoothly and gracefully. His strokes were decisive and powerful, without any hesitation. In less than a minute, the character "福" (fortune/blessing) was complete, its strokes vigorous and upright.

The crowd exclaimed in admiration, "What beautiful calligraphy!" "This skill could fetch a high price in the city!"

Xu Jianing ignored the comments of others, left the "Fu" (福, meaning good fortune) she had written aside, and placed the one written by Wen Sheng next to it, the two "Fu" side by side.

"Hey, this girl is a newbie, but they make a pretty good match together."

"Good fortune truly looks better when it comes in pairs."

"What a perfect couple!"

After the ink on the two "Fu" cards dried completely, Xu Jianing handed the one he had written to Wen Sheng and said, "This one is for you."

Wen Sheng quickly shook her head and refused: "No need, my own one is fine."

Xu Jianing smiled, looked at the slightly awkward "Fu" character on the table, and said in a low voice, "But I like this one."

"So, did I make a profit? After all, your calligraphy costs several yuan, and I wouldn't even accept this as a gift," Wen Sheng joked with a smile.

"Wen Sheng," Xu Jianing suddenly called out to her.

"Um?"

He glanced at the slightly awkward "福" (good fortune) character on the card, his eyes deep and thoughtful, and leaned down to whisper in her ear:

"This is the blessing I want; it's priceless."

——

After leaving the couplet stall, the noise around her faded away, but Wen Sheng felt her heart pounding louder and louder, as if it were about to jump out of her chest.

She had felt tightness in her chest that morning and felt dizzy and nauseous after walking a few steps, but now she didn't feel uncomfortable or cold at all.

"Er Ya!" Someone suddenly called her name from afar.

Wen Sheng suddenly came to her senses and turned around to see Wen Chunhua carrying a cloth bag of New Year's goods, striding towards her.

"Where did you go? I looked for you for ages and couldn't find you. I thought you weren't feeling well again," Wen Chunhua complained as she lifted the heavy object in her hand.

Seeing the "福" (good fortune) character in Wen Sheng's hand, he suddenly realized and laughed, "Oh, so you went to buy couplets. The calligraphy is really good. How much did it cost?"

"It's not expensive, it didn't cost much," Wen Sheng said truthfully, taking some New Year's goods from Wen Chunhua as she spoke.

"Not expensive? How much is it then?"

"One point." Wen Sheng casually lied.

In fact, she didn't spend a single penny.

Wen Chunhua didn't doubt it and clicked her tongue, saying, "So cheap? To be able to buy such good calligraphy at this price, your parents will definitely be happy."

"Where did you buy it? Let's go check, and if they still have any, I'll buy another one."

Wen Sheng quickly took Wen Chunhua's arm and walked forward, "He just closed up shop. Since it was the last piece of paper, I got it at a low price."

"No wonder it's so cheap, our Er Ya is just lucky," Wen Chunhua said with a smile.

Wen Sheng quickly changed the subject, pointing to the bustling stalls ahead and saying, "Chunhua, look! There are people selling candied hawthorns over there, shall we go buy a skewer and have some?"

Wen Chunhua's attention was indeed drawn, and she said with a smile, "Okay, I'm craving it too."

The two walked up to the stall selling candied hawthorns. The candied hawthorns were crystal clear. The stall owner shouted as he skewered the hawthorns with bamboo sticks, rolled them in syrup, and the bright red hawthorns were immediately coated with a shiny coat.

Wen Chunhua bought two skewers and handed one to Wen Sheng: "Here you go, Er Ya."

The two sisters walked back while munching on candied hawthorns. They passed the stall where they had written couplets earlier, which was still surrounded by a crowd. Someone was taking out money to pay and said readily, "One yuan? Okay, here you go."

Upon hearing the price, Wen Chunhua's eyes widened immediately: "One yuan a pair? That's too expensive!"

She turned to look at Wen Sheng and sighed, "Luckily, Er Ya, you bought it early, otherwise it would have been bad to run into this store."

Wen Sheng subconsciously retorted, "This family has pretty good handwriting."

Wen Chunhua took a bite of a candied hawthorn, the sugar coating crunching between her teeth. "I don't know anything about these things. I feel like all the characters in couplets are the same, just a few strokes, they're all pretty much the same."

After saying that, her gaze was drawn to a stall selling New Year pictures not far away. "Oh my, these pictures are beautiful! Er Ya, wait for me here for a moment, I'll be right back."

Just as Wen Sheng was about to follow, she suddenly heard someone softly call her from behind: "Wen Sheng".

She froze, watching as Xu Jianing emerged from behind the stall during a break while they were changing paper. He looked perfectly normal, and as he approached, he gently touched her elbow and whispered, "Come with me for a moment."

Before Wen Sheng could react, he led her to a secluded spot at the entrance of the alley.

He looked around to make sure no one was watching, then took out a small glass bottle from his pocket. The bottle was covered with a little white powder, and the opening was tightly sealed with a cotton plug.

"This is used to treat red spots on the hands and relieve itching."

Wen Sheng stared blankly at the bottle, her face full of confusion.

Xu Jianing's gaze fell on her hands, and he added, "I saw you writing when you were writing. There's a pharmacy right next to the stall. Don't worry, I traded it for a couplet."

He said it so casually, as if it were something he could do easily.

"You..." She paused, but couldn't help asking, "How did you know it was this?"

Xu Jianing lowered her eyes and said in a low voice, "I also had this on my hands last winter. It would turn very red as soon as it came into contact with cold water. This was the product that was recommended to me back then, but your situation is a bit more serious than mine."

"How do you know I'll definitely pass by your stall again?"

“I don’t know.” Xu Jianing looked up at her, a smile playing on her lips. “That’s why I moved my stall to the market exit.”

"Xu Jianing".

Wen Sheng called out his name almost without thinking. After she did, she froze, her heart pounding.

"Do you want some rice cakes? You must be hungry after writing so many couplets, right? My sister just bought some, I'll go get them for you!" She said this quickly and then ran off.

"I'll be right there! Wait for me here!" Wen Sheng shouted as she ran, her voice gradually blending into the hustle and bustle of the market outside.

Xu Jianing stood there, watching her flee, a smile slowly creeping onto his lips.

He muttered to himself, "Two and a half years left."

Two and a half years is neither a long nor a short time, but there will be a year in between when it will be difficult to see each other, since he will leave a year earlier than her to go to university in another city.

Thinking of this, Xu Jianing lowered his head and chuckled, as if laughing at himself for being too eager. But even after a year, he had plenty of ways to come back and find her.

He calculated that a couplet costs one yuan, and if he writes dozens of them, he can earn enough for a train ticket back home during the holiday.

"Xu Jianing!"

It was Wen Sheng's voice.

Xu Jianing looked up and saw her running towards him, panting, carrying a paper-wrapped bag of rice cakes in her arms, her cheeks red from the cold wind.

At that moment, all he could see was her running towards him; he no longer cared about the train ticket or the distance.

He suddenly realized that he didn't need to wait for a train ticket; all his waiting had actually been for this moment.

The person he likes will call his name and run towards him.