Chapter 16 Hairpin "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
(sixteen)
The happiest moment in life is at the age of five. This sounds strangely pathetic.
Li Shanglu really couldn't remember what happened, she felt that every day of her childhood was very happy.
She was the only daughter in the family. Her parents were nearly 30 years old when they gave birth to her, so they loved her even more. They had a very good relationship and never quarreled or got angry with each other, nor did they lose their temper or say harsh words to Li Shanglu.
Their family was well-off. Her father had a caravan doing business abroad, traveling back and forth between cities to sell medicinal herbs. It seemed that it was because of the medicinal herbs that he got to know the Shen family, and they had received favors from each other, which led to the two families becoming friends.
With no shortage of money or love, Li Shanglu, like a little grass, grew wildly and unrestrainedly, and would play until he was covered in dirt every day before going home.
For example, right now.
The little girl wiped the mud off her face and ran past Li Shanglu. Not long after running, she suddenly stopped and looked at the puppy that was circling around Li Shanglu.
"Xiao Huang, what are you doing?"
Her eyes did not stay on Li Shanglu at all, as if she could not see their existence at all.
Li Shanglu frowned and looked at her. Shen Changyi's calm voice came to his ears, "People in the illusion can't see us."
It is true.
When Xiao Huang heard his owner calling him, he immediately turned around and ran towards the little girl, barking excitedly.
The little girl picked it up and glanced at the open space where Li Shanglu and the others were staying, as if she was feeling a little strange. She saw nothing, so she didn't take it seriously. She carried Xiao Huang into the house and said with a crisp voice,
"Dad, Mom, I'm back!"
Li Shanglu stood there, feeling a little timid as he was getting closer to home.
"Let's go in and take a look." Shen Changyi whispered.
This is what illusions are like. They allow people to adapt to these scenes that can make people addicted in advance, so that when they encounter similar methods of evil cultivators in the future, they will not be so caught off guard.
After a long silence, Li Shanglu moved his pace and slowly approached the door. A hearty man's laughter could be faintly heard from the room, and it seemed that they were talking about something interesting.
No, judging from the voice...why doesn't it sound like her father?
"It's my father."
A voice suddenly came from above his head. Li Shanglu was startled and looked up at Shen Changyi, only to see that the other party's eyes were slightly bright, revealing an unconcealable joy.
The two men leaned against the door stealthily. Li Shanglu pushed him away uncomfortably. "Why are you getting so close? They can't see you. Just go in."
After that, she no longer paid attention to Shen Changyi and stepped into the room.
This is the study in the east room. There is a Huanghuali desk next to the window, and on the desk is a purple gold square incense burner, which is emitting a faint fragrance. It is an incense made from fine herbs such as Atractylodes lancea, Artemisia annua and Nardostachys grandiflora, which are carefully ground.
Two men stood on chairs. One wore a moon-white straight-skirted gown, gently waving a folding fan in his hand. The other, in a bamboo-leaf green shirt, leaned over to listen, and at some point he heard something amusing that made him chuckle.
"Oh, Shanglu is back." The man in the moon-white shirt was Li Shanglu's father, Li Hanye. He picked up the little girl from the ground, carefully brushed the dust off her, and said with a smile, "Where have you been climbing trees again? If your mother knew, she would be worried about you again."
father……
It was such an ordinary scene, but Li Shanglu's eyes couldn't help but warm up again.
"Leave me alone, Li Hanye. Did you bring back the sweet-scented osmanthus cake I asked you to bring?" The little girl hugged his neck and said firmly, "If you dare forget again this time, I won't go to school tomorrow."
Li Shanglu's face flushed slightly.
Yes, she has been so unruly since she was a child.
I learned to call my parents when I was a teenager. Before that, I only called them by their first names.
However, the man did not seem annoyed at all when he heard her words. He could not help laughing and said, "I'm so sorry, I forgot again, but..."
"But what?" The little girl glared at him unhappily.
Li Hanye put the little girl on the ground and pointed at the man sitting opposite and teased, "Go ask that man, maybe he has it. I just saw a few pieces hidden in his arms." The little girl looked at the man sitting opposite suspiciously. It was not until now that she realized that there were outsiders in the house, and there was more than one.
The tall and thin man in a blue shirt stood with a book in his hand, and beside him, huddled a child on crutches.
In stark contrast to the man, he was chubby and round, but his face was pale, as if he was sick.
Noticing the little girl's gaze, the child's face suddenly turned red and he shyly hid behind the man.
The man smiled gently and looked at Li Shanglu with a loving look. He took out a bag of sugar cakes from his arms and leaned over to hand it to him, "Come here, Shanglu."
The little girl blinked and didn't take the candy cake. "Who are you?"
"Me?" The man coughed lightly and introduced himself seriously, "I'm your father's friend, Shen Kangnian."
"Chen Kangnian... this name is so ugly." The little girl frowned, "Don't you have a nickname?"
Shen Kangnian thought for a moment and murmured, "Then Shang Lu can call me uncle."
"Uncle, that nickname is so ugly." The little girl took the candy cake from him without any hesitation, untied the bamboo rope that wrapped it, and handed him a piece. "This candy cake is what Li Hanye owes you. I'll eat it first, and he'll give it back to you next time he buys it."
Hearing this, Shen Kangnian and Li Hanye looked at each other, and both couldn't help but laugh softly.
Li Hanye looked at him proudly and raised his eyebrows, "I told you, my girl is amazing."
Shen Kangnian looked at the little girl with a deep smile and agreed in a low voice, “Yes.”
As soon as she entered the room, the whole room seemed to brighten up, sweeping away all the dullness and coldness, making it so lively and vibrant.
In contrast...
Shen Kangnian lowered his eyes to look at the shy child hiding behind him and sighed inwardly. If it weren't for that strange disease, his child might have been this lively and lively.
"Changyi, come out and see sister Shanglu." Shen Kangnian patted the child's shoulder gently with his large hand and said softly, "Didn't you keep talking about wanting to see your sister on the way here? Go play with her."
With his gentle encouragement, the child walked out cautiously and looked at the little girl, "Sister Shang Lu... My name is Shen Changyi."
With a puff.
Li Shanglu couldn't help laughing after all. She remembered that this was the day when she first met Shen Changyi.
At that time, the Shen family had just moved to this small town and came to visit her home.
Looking at it now, the little fat boy doesn't look like the current Shen Changyi at all. He looked much cuter when he was a child, with a chubby face and a pair of beautiful watery eyes, like a girl.
Beside her, Shen Changyi lowered his eyes somewhat embarrassedly. He didn't like the way he looked. He looked sickly and fat. Compared with Xiao Shanglu, who had been a beauty since childhood, he was really ugly. When the two of them stood together, he even looked a little funny.
Two children walked out of the room. Little Shanglu looked at the little fat boy in front of her, glancing him up and down for a moment. The other party lowered his head nervously and didn't dare to look at her.
"Can you fight crickets?"
"Won't."
"Where's the cat's tangle?"
“I won’t…”
"Climb a tree?"
"I can't climb..."
Little Shanglu kicked away the pebbles under his feet, speaking with a disdainful tone.
"It's so boring."
As soon as he finished speaking, the little fat man stiffened all over, and even Shen Changyi in the illusion paused for a moment.
Neither of the two children spoke again. Little Shang Lu would rather play with the dog in the yard than talk to Shen Changyi.
Children are so straightforward. If they like someone, they will want to play with him. If they don’t like someone, they will ignore him.
The young Chang Yi stood in a corner of the courtyard, silently shedding tears.
Looking pitiful, like a abandoned puppy.
Li Shanglu really didn't think this was the happiest memory. At least Shen Changyi's aggrieved and pitiful look didn't seem like there was anything to be happy about.
Not long after, Shen Kangnian came out of the room, opened the door, and saw Xiao Changyi sitting alone on the steps wiping his tears.
He was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and stroked Xiao Changyi's head, "What's wrong?"
Little Changyi looked up at him, choked up and whispered, "Can you do a cat's tangle?"
Shen Kangnian: “No.”
Xiao Changyi cried sadly again, "You are so boring."
Shen Kangnian: “…?”
The man found it funny. He pinched his cheek, took out a handkerchief and wiped away his tears bit by bit. He said gently, "Didn't Dad teach you the secret when you came here?"
Xiao Changyi was stunned. "What's the secret?"
Seeing that he had really forgotten about it, Shen Kangnian couldn't help but hold his forehead, "Where is the hairpin we bought? Take it out and give it to Shang Lu, and remember to praise her beauty."
Hearing this, hope seemed to ignite in Xiao Changyi's eyes. He took out the orchid hairpin he had carefully selected from his clothes, mustered up the courage to walk up to Xiao Shanglu, and stammered, "Sister Shanglu... I, I bought you a hairpin."
Xiao Shanglu glanced at him, took it, frowned, and said, "It's ugly."
Xiao Changyi was stunned. Shen Kangnian didn't teach him how to respond, so he could only bite the bullet and whisper, "Why don't you try it on and see?"
"No."
How could he praise her for being beautiful without wearing it? Xiao Changyi was trembling all over and looked like he was about to break.
Seeing that he was about to cry again, Xiao Shanglu curled his lips and said, "You are useless."
Her eyes rolled and she suddenly had a bad idea. She held his head and gently inserted the hairpin into his hair.
"puff."
Xiao Changyi was stunned. Looking at her smile, he even forgot to cry.
"What an ugly hairpin, it really suits you." Little Shanglu couldn't help laughing, holding onto little Changyi's shoulders and laughing so hard that he couldn't straighten his back.
Although he was clearly being laughed at by her, Xiao Changyi started laughing too. He reached out to adjust the hairpin on his head, but the hairpin became even more crooked.
When Xiao Shanglu saw the top of the little fat boy's head, it looked like a pickle jar with an orchid hairpin stuck on it. She laughed even more wildly and couldn't even breathe.
…
Soon, the mother of Li Shanglu and Shen Changyi also arrived. The two families sat around the table and ate dinner cooked by Li Hanye, talking and laughing, having a great time, just like a family.
Little Changyi never took off the hairpin that day. Whenever little Shanglu saw him, he couldn't help but spit out his food, and his parents were also amused by them.
It turns out this is the happiest thing.
Li Shanglu chuckled softly. With her family by her side, every day was the happiest day, but... she was just laughing especially happily that day.
"It's time to go." Shen Changyi looked towards the horizon. The sun was setting in the west and a hazy mist was already appearing around him. This was a sign that the illusion was about to end.
Li Shanglu frowned and said dissatisfiedly, "Wait a little longer."
She hadn't seen enough of their faces.
Shen Changyi turned to look at her and whispered, "Shang Lu, they are no longer here."
Hearing his words, Li Shanglu's heart suddenly turned cold. She said calmly, "Do I need you to remind me?"
A dark light flickered in his eyes, and Shen Changyi's voice became softer, "Shang Lu, this is an illusion, it's all fake."
"I told you, you don't need to remind me!" Li Shanglu said to him distractedly, angrily, "So what if you don't go out? There's nothing good out there anyway. If you want to leave, go by yourself. Don't bother me."
Shen Changyi suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, ignoring her struggles and brought her into his arms.
"Let me go, Shen Changyi... I told you to let me go!"
The white mist piled up and gradually engulfed the two of them.
Shen Changyi hugged her tightly, his voice trembling,
"Shanglu..."
"It will be fine."
"Everything will be fine."
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
As soon as he finished speaking, the struggling of the person in his arms suddenly stopped, and for a long while, only a faint and inaudible sob remained.
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