Chapter 16 Chapter 16 I Love You
Today is a rare sunny day in winter.
At the end of the Shen period, the sun was about to set, and the sky appeared a quiet, clear, and azure color, with only a streak of orange afterglow remaining on the horizon.
The young man at the door was dressed in white clothes as white as snow. He stood upright under the sky. He had a tall figure and shoulders as straight as a pine tree. However, he held a wooden tray in his hands, on which was a blue and white porcelain bowl.
The rising hot air softened his cold brows and eyes.
Jiang Hexue opened her mouth, but it was a rare moment when she was speechless. She could only stare at him with wide eyes.
Watch him put the tray on the table and straighten the chopsticks.
Then he looked at the clear soup in the bowl, the thin and translucent beef, the juicy green cabbage, the smooth and round egg, and the curved and coiled longevity noodle.
A few drops of light yellow and translucent cooked butter floated on the surface of the soup, creating tiny oil droplets, and the rich aroma of oil penetrated straight into the nose.
Jiang Hexue touched her empty stomach and forced her eyes away from the bowl of longevity noodles that made her salivate, and moved them to the equally beautiful Shen Qingchen beside the bowl of noodles.
"I don't seem to be awake yet." She paused for a few seconds and reached out to twist her forearm. "Why did you see Shen Qingchen?"
She must be really dreaming, even the feel of her forearm had changed, it was no longer as soft as her skin, but hard and strong instead, and she couldn't twist it, nor did it hurt.
"It really was a dream, it doesn't hurt..." Jiang Hexue murmured.
"How painful it is when you twist me?" Shen Qingchen, who should have been in a dream, actually spoke.
Jiang Hexue blinked slowly, looked down, and saw that his hand was pinching his forearm.
She let go of his hand shyly: "You really came back."
"Really." Shen Qingchen responded and took her hand that was hanging by her side. "It's not a dream."
Jiang Hexue didn't come to her senses until he pulled her to sit at the table. "How did you know my birthday?"
"Did I tell you again?" she asked herself.
As expected, Shen Qingchen said "hmm": "Sorry, I should have returned earlier today. I was delayed because of the sacrifice to heaven and pray for clear weather."
Jiang Hexue refused to pursue the matter.
She was quite happy that he came back early on purpose.
"We haven't seen each other for ten days." She just whispered.
When she said this, Shen Qingchen realized how long it had been.
Maybe it was because he said "good morning" to her before leaving the house every day, and would come back to see her when he returned home at night.
"Sorry." Shen Qingchen admitted his mistake first, then asked tentatively. "Did you miss me?"
"A little bit." Jiang Hexue measured the length with two fingers, thought for a moment, and shortened it a little. "Half a bit."
Shen Qingchen was amused by her and laughed.
He placed two fingers against hers, measuring them to the same length as hers, and shook them four times.
Jiang Hexue was confused: "What does this mean?"
"I have two points." Shen Qingchen shook it twice more. "Three points."
When their eyes met, Jiang Hexue's heart began to beat wildly.
-
The warm and ambiguous gaze did not last long.
The little white lily on the beam flapped its wings and landed beside the tray, trying to peck at the beef slices in the bowl.
Jiang Hexue grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and threw it away. Xiao Qionghua persisted, and after a few repetitions, she couldn't stand it anymore: "Xiao Qionghua! You scoundrel!"
"Rascal!" Xiao Qionghua replied to her.
Jiang Hexue glanced at it angrily, then glanced at Shen Qingchen who was watching leisurely: "As a father, please take care of it."
"I?"
"Is there a third person?"
Shen Qingchen resigned himself to his fate and dragged the rebellious little Qionghua over.
Xiao Qionghua wanted to escape again, but she couldn't fly. He covered her with his hand, and she shrank her neck and dared not move.
Jiang Hexue sipped his noodles as he watched the confrontation between the man and the bird. Seeing that Little Qionghua was unusually obedient, he sighed, "Tsk!" "A scoundrel who bullies the weak and fears the strong."
As soon as Xiao Qionghua opened her mouth, before she could make a sound, Shen Qingchen held her beak and forced her to swallow back the words.
Jiang Hexue couldn't help laughing: "Rogue, scoundrel, scoundrel."
Xiao Qionghua looked at her resentfully, then quickly and resentfully glanced at Shen Qingchen, jumped a few steps away, and buried her head in her wings.
"Angry." Jiang Hexue poked it, thought for a moment, and took out a piece of cabbage. "Zhaohua, comfort it."
Shen Qingchen was speechless.
"It holds a grudge, so don't ignore you again." Jiang Hexue pushed the cabbage in front of him and pulled the small Qionghua close to his hand. "Eat it, and don't get angry with Daddy."
Under the influence of her mother's pressure and the fragrance of the cabbage, Xiao Qionghua ate all the cabbage.
"You should teach it to talk. It's quite smart."
"Happy birthday?" Shen Qingchen thought for a moment.
The little Qionghua did not respond.
Shen Qingchen glanced at it.
"Happy birthday!" Little Qionghua cried out, flapping her wings and flying back to the beam. "Happy birthday, happy birthday!"
Jiang Hexue was soon filled with a flood of "Happy Birthday" music.
"Should I praise you for your good parenting skills?" She tilted her head and looked at Shen Qingchen with amusement. "I taught it several times, but it refused to learn."
The latter chuckled lightly and asked, "Does it taste good?"
Jiang Hexue nodded approvingly: "It's delicious!"
She didn't mean it. This bowl of noodles really suited her taste. The soup was fresh and delicious, the beef was tender and crispy, and the noodles were soft and chewy. She even drank up all the soup.
Shen Qingchen smiled silently.
"Could it be you who did it?" Jiang Hexue looked at him for a few seconds and had a guess in his mind.
"Yeah." Shen Qingchen said softly. "As long as you like it."
A strange feeling surged in his heart. Jiang Hexue moved his lips, but for the first time he didn't know what to say, so he just thanked him dryly.
Shen Qingchen didn't embarrass her: "Take you to celebrate your birthday."
-
After about three quarters of an hour, the carriage slowly stopped.
Jiang Hexue was helped out of the carriage by Shen Qingchen. Seeing the scene clearly, he gasped and turned away in disbelief: "Zhaohua, it's the end of the ugly month, and it's almost the evening hour now."
"Are you sure you want to take me climbing a mountain for my birthday?"
"Or climb Tianling Mountain, the highest mountain in Kyoto?"
"Even if all of the above are true—" Jiang Hexue saw that he didn't respond, and she was really helpless. "Zhaohua, shouldn't you have informed me in advance so that I could change into pants?"
"Instead of coming here in a silk dress with embroidered shoes and jingling hairpins and rings?"
"I'll carry you up there, you won't be cold." Shen Qingchen suppressed the smile on his lips.
There was a thin blanket in the carriage. He covered her tightly with it before carrying her horizontally.
Jiang Hexue skillfully put her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy: "Tianling Mountain is very high, is it possible? It's okay to come back another day..."
"I come here every day." Shen Qingchen comforted her, then held her and climbed up the marble steps step by step.
His embrace was warm, his steps were steady, and his heartbeat was strong in my ears.
Jiang Hexue felt an inexplicable strange feeling in her heart again. She clung to him a little tighter, looked up at him, and called softly, "Zhaohua."
Shen Qingchen responded, but she didn't know what to say, but she didn't want to remain silent. After about a cup of tea, she called him again.
This went on for three or four times, and Shen Qingchen responded patiently every time. But she couldn't stand it anymore: "I'm going to turn into a big Qionghua, and it will just repeat itself."
She is much cuter than Xiao Qionghua. Shen Qingchen thought silently.
We walked all the way to the top of the mountain, and the long night finally arrived.
Jiang Hexue had been clinging to Shen Qingchen's arms for warmth. As soon as he put her down, she subconsciously leaned back into his arms again: "It's really cold on the top of the mountain."
He stretched out his arms and hugged her: "Look up."
The moment he saw it clearly, Jiang Hexue exclaimed, "The top of Tianling Mountain is actually like this?"
On a cold winter night, the top of the mountain is covered with colorful flowers, and the bright colors are reflected against the white snow. Although it is not as bright as the pink peach blossoms and green willows in spring, it is still amazing and delightful.
I don’t know what method Shen Qingchen used, but in a corner of the mountaintop, there is a world of peach and forsythia in spring, hydrangea and nightshade in summer, chrysanthemum and hibiscus in autumn, winter plum and snow lotus in winter... all kinds of flowers are in full bloom, and the fragrance is everywhere.
"Zhaohua!" Jiang Hexue carefully looked him over, then tilted her head back in delight. "Are you truly a deity descended to earth? How did you do it?"
Shen Qingchen just smiled but didn't answer: "Like?"
Jiang Hexue nodded vigorously and kissed his chin as if to show her sincerity: "I like it!"
"We've seen enough, let's go into the pavilion and sit down." Shen Qingchen led her to the pavilion in the center.
The pavilion was surrounded by thick moon-white curtains. He lifted a corner and led her in.
Three or four charcoal braziers had been lit in the pavilion in advance, and there were curtains to block the wind, so it was so warm that it didn't feel like being on the top of a mountain in the dead of winter at all.
In the center stands a white jade star plate.
"You come here often... to watch the stars?" Jiang Hexue stopped in front of the star map, reached out to touch it, and asked.
Shen Qingchen said “hmm”: “It’s a clear night tonight, do you want to take a look?”
Seeing her nod, he wrapped the thin blanket around her tighter, hung up a curtain, and sat down with her on the bench at the edge of the building.
The night is like splashed ink, and the stars are visible in the clear night sky.
"The brightest one in the southwest is Chang Geng, the dimmer one is Zhen Xing, the red one in the northeast is Ying Huo, and the other one is Jupiter." He introduced them to her one by one. "Chen Xing is too close to the sun and is usually invisible."
"Why did you bring me here to stargaze?" Jiang Hexue looked at each star in the direction of his finger, finding it fresh and interesting. She asked casually, then turned back to look, unable to hide her smile. "I've never seen... Zhaohua, look!"
A cluster of silver-white beams of light suddenly rushed into the night sky and exploded with a bang.
Cluster after cluster, in an instant, the sky was filled with fireworks, shining brightly.
"It's not New Year's Day, but there are such grand fireworks!" Jiang Hexue's eyes were completely bent with laughter.
Shen Qingchen chuckled and looked down at her.
In the brilliant fireworks, her eyes were smiling, and her bright purple eyes reflected the colorful fireworks, making her look even brighter and more charming.
He didn't know how long he looked at her like this.
Until the last cluster of fireworks fell, Jiang Hexue turned and met his gaze.
In the young man's amber pupils, his own figure was reflected clearly and uniquely.
Her heartbeat suddenly became irregular.
"Qiong Qiong," Shen Qingchen said softly. "Happy birthday."
Jiang Hexue stared at him without blinking.
Whether they looked alike or not, she didn't want to be a couple in a marriage of convenience with him.
She wanted only her in his beautiful eyes.
Forever. Not for anything else, just treat it as an exchange.
Jiang Hexue held his hand and pressed it against her chest.
The girl's heartbeat was rapid, beating against her eardrums.
Shen Qingchen's ears were stained red. She wanted to struggle, but was afraid of bumping into someone else, so she could only look at her like this.
"Husband." Jiang Hexue curved her lips and gave him a very charming smile. "You said that my heartbeat is so fast because I have a heart disease-"
"Or, I'm in love with you?"
The author has something to say:
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1. Changgeng Star: Venus, which is Taibai Star during the day
Jupiter
Mercury
Yinghuo: Mars
Town Star: Saturn, also known as "filling star" in ancient language
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