Chapter 64 Mid-Autumn Festival
In a blink of an eye, it is Mid-Autumn Festival in August.
Early in the morning, Jiang Yuyan approached Chen Yi and said, "Today is Mid-Autumn Festival. I will be the chef tonight. Can you please give me some face and have dinner with me?"
After saying that, he blinked his eyes, looking expectant like a little fox, gently wagging his tail.
Shen Yi paused, and his heart seemed to be lightly tickled.
I never thought that she, who was so delicate before, could actually cook.
Seeing her excited look, Shen Yi wanted to agree, but...
"I'm sorry, there is a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in the clan today, and I need to host it. How about I leave Ah Fu to accompany you?"
"Master..." Shen Fu also looked aggrieved, "My father is waiting for me at home!"
Jiang Yuyan's bright eyes dimmed for a moment. She wanted to thank Chen Yi for his careful teaching during these days, but she forgot that he had a family.
We are not related, and it is already a shame for him to take care of us so much. Jiang Yuyan waved her hands again and again, "It's okay, I was negligent. You all go back, I can do it alone, I will never let myself down!"
After saying that, he smiled at Shen Yi sincerely.
Shen Yi stared into her eyes, "I...will be back early tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, okay." Jiang Yuyan urged them to go out. "Come back soon."
Shen Yi left Jimin Hall and looked back again with feeling.
The woman leaning against the door looked as if she had lost all her strength and lowered her eyes silently, her black hair hanging down, barely covering half of her face. The autumn breeze blew through the hall, making her figure look even thinner and lonelier.
Noticing him looking back, Jiang Yuyan immediately stood up straight with alertness and smiled faintly.
The fair face was covered with old scars, but the almond-shaped eyes were unusually bright, and they looked like sparse stars, fireflies, frosty moon and spring snow.
In an instant, Shen Yi felt that his breath was blocked and he dared not look anymore. This heart that had been calm for more than 30 years seemed to be thrown into a huge rock, rumbling and shaking his heart.
When we first met, I just admired her and was curious about her. When we met again, she had fallen into the dust, but she was still strong and never complained about herself.
He thought he brought her along and taught her carefully just out of admiration, sympathy, and curiosity about how she would deal with misfortune.
But now... I'm afraid some things are out of my control.
Shen Yi returned to Lingshan with a lot on his mind.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is the most important festival in the tribe besides the Chinese New Year.
At night, the full moon was high in the sky and the bonfires were bright. The usually quiet Lingshu Valley was decorated with lights and people were singing and dancing everywhere.
Shen Yi sat at the head of the banquet table, supporting his chin with one hand and idly turning a white jade cup with the other.
There was a lot of noise and bustle in front of him, but he was in a trance.
"cousin……"
A pretty and bright girl walked up to him with a wine glass in hand, interrupting his thoughts.
"Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, I wish you a happy holiday~"
After saying that, she smiled sweetly, revealing two cute dimples.
The person who came was Shen Jiaorou, the adopted daughter of Shen Yi’s biological aunt.
The Lingshu clan has never intermarried with outsiders, so everyone in the clan has the surname Shen.
Shen Yi's father was the former clan leader and the holy son of the clan, but by chance he fell in love with a woman from another clan and was eventually expelled from the valley.
After Shen Yi was born, he was sent back to the clan to take over as clan leader and holy son.
He was raised by his aunt, the second elder of the Lingshu clan.
The second elder never married and raised a girl from the clan, who was Shen Jiaorou.
Shen Yi was 20 years older than her, and had raised her from childhood. Therefore, he was very kind to his cousin, and raised his glass to clink with her, "Jiaojiao has become even more beautiful."
Shen Jiaorou twisted her body, a blush spread across her cheeks, and she said angrily: "My cousin is making fun of me again!"
Shen Yi glanced at her. The shy and amorous feelings of the girl were clearly written on her face, but he didn't have the heart to respond at the moment.
Then he smiled and said to the second elder beside him: "Jiao Rou is sixteen this year, right? It's time for her to find a husband. Does Aunt have any favorite candidate?"
"cousin……"
Shen Jiaorou didn’t expect him to speak like this, and the color on her face instantly faded away.
Shen Yi had always been close to her. Only a few people in the clan knew what kind of fairy-like beauty Shen Yi had under his ordinary face. She had looked up to him since she was a child and hoped to marry him.
Seeing that her cousin had never found a woman he liked, Shen Jiaorou thought that he always treated her differently…
The second elder beside them looked at the expressions of the two people and felt a little depressed. She had long seen what her daughter was thinking, but it was a pity that the goddess was interested but the king was not.
Looking at his beautiful adopted daughter, the second elder sighed secretly, "Jiaojiao is still young, I always want to find her a reliable one~ But you, you should also pay attention to your lifelong affairs!"
The Second Elder has always been fond of this nephew, but Shen Yi is over thirty years old and has never thought about this.
The clan leader's marriage and the continuation of his offspring are both important matters within the clan, and she has an obligation to remind him. If Shen Yi doesn't have a favorite candidate in mind, Jiao Rou still has a chance.
Chen Yi was not in a hurry to hear this, and joked: "Aunt, why are you following the example of those people outside the mountain and urging your children to get married? Don't worry, I can still let my wife give birth to a nephew for you in another 20 years.
My delicate cousin, women’s blooming period is short, so you should not miss it…”
The second elder over there was stunned. She raised Shen Yi as her own son and hoped to strengthen the relationship between them, but she didn't expect Shen Yi to reject her idea so straightforwardly.
At the moment, he was a little unhappy. He snorted coldly: "I see you are always traveling, but your mind is wandering around! Don't learn from your father..."
"aunt!"
Shen Yi's expression suddenly changed.
The second elder paused, as if realizing his mistake, and stopped talking.
Shen Jiaorou's eyes were already red, and she didn't know whether she was angry or embarrassed. She bit her lips tightly and twisted her handkerchief.
Seeing this, the second elder hurriedly stood up and pulled her. Shen Jiaorou looked at Shen Yi with resentment in her eyes, and saw that the other party's eyes were not on her at all. She felt wronged and wanted to cry, and sat down tremblingly beside her mother.
Because of the Second Elder's words, Shen Yi lost his mood. He looked up at the full moon in the sky, his thoughts drifting far away.
The Lingshu clan is ancient and mysterious. Their clan rules prohibit intermarriage with outsiders, let alone sharing wives. The epidemic hundreds of years ago did not affect the clan, so the clan has always been monogamous. If anyone violates the clan rules, they will be expelled from the clan.
His father abandoned his people without caring about anything and left. When he heard about his father again ten years later, he had turned into a pile of dirt. It was said that he did not live a very happy life.
His nominal mother was hugging his father and him, and perhaps she had long forgotten about him and his father.
Thinking of this, Shen Yi's eyes became deeply gloomy and he drank glass after glass of wine.
He held his forehead and chuckled, how could he make the same mistake again?
But why, she is in my eyes and heart...
The banquet was lively and joyful, but he kept thinking about her. Even though she had lost half of her beauty, he was still attracted to her. He even stayed at the foot of the mountain for several months to accompany her, teach her carefully, and give her the sacred objects of the tribe.
It can be seen that love is indeed disturbing, and it is no wonder that his father did what he did back then...
Shen Yi left the table early.
When everyone found out, they were all surprised. The clan leader was not in the clan all year round, but he never left early for the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.
Shen Jiaorou was sharp-eyed, and when she saw Shen Yi standing up, she wanted to chase him. She wanted to hold him back to ask for clarification, but after a while, she couldn't catch up.
I saw Shen Yi's ethereal figure heading towards the exit of the valley.
Her mind was in turmoil, and she was in a state of confusion. It seemed as if something had been pulling her back these days...
Inside Jimin Hall.
After Chen Yi left in the early morning, Jiang Yuyan went to the town to buy meat, vegetables and wine.
After all, it is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Even if she is alone, she will celebrate this day seriously.
Jiang Yuyan took great pains to prepare sweet and sour spareribs, boiled carp, steamed scallops, seasonal vegetables in soup, and sweet osmanthus candied lotus root...
She set up a table in the yard and placed several sets of bowls and chopsticks. Hers, Xiao Yuanyan's, Xie Jingyu's, Qin Shangyu's... Jiang Yuyan recited silently, feeling bitter.
"Let's also give Shen Yi one. Although he must have used it in the clan, it is definitely not as delicious as what I make."
Jiang Yuyan muttered something and couldn't help laughing at her own narcissism.
Raising his glasses and clinking them one by one, Jiang Yuyan whispered to herself: "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everything goes well..."
Her eyes turned red and she drank the wine in the glass.
At this time, in the deep courtyard, a osmanthus tree was blown by the evening breeze, and the ground was covered with golden color. The fragrance of osmanthus was dense and long-lasting.
Jiang Yuyan thought this scene was very good, and drank one glass of Nv'erhong after another. This wine was like modern sake, with a low alcohol content, like a beverage.
But the aftereffects were obviously strong, and soon Jiang Yuyan's face turned red.
She tapped the edge of the bowl with her bamboo chopsticks and hummed loudly.
"The candlelight on the mica screen is deep, the morning stars are sinking in the long river..."
"The stars are not the same as last night. For whom am I standing in the wind and dew in the middle of the night..."
"I will never regret even though my clothes are getting looser and looser, I will become haggard because of her..."
"I have never felt lovesickness in my life, but now I feel lovesickness and suffer from it......"
This was the scene that Shen Yi saw when he flew into the courtyard. He hid in the shadows of the corridor and listened to her singing loudly, all of which were good poems he had never heard of, tender and lingering.
Shen Yi's heart was in a mess, and he felt more conflicted than ever before.
The man who was drinking by himself started to cry as he was reciting the poem. He covered his face with one hand and felt very aggrieved. "…I…came here alone and helpless, and never thought of hurting anyone…Why…do I have to suffer this retribution…"
After saying this, his body seemed to be unable to support itself and he trembled and fell onto the table.
She had become much thinner these days, and Shen Yi felt sad as he watched her from afar.
The crying stopped after a long time. Shen Yi was silent for a moment, picked up the drunk person, and gently carried him back into the house.
"If I didn't come back, would you sleep in the yard?" Shen Yi sat beside the bed and asked in a low voice.
The moonlight shone through the soft curtains covered with gold and flowery patterns, making her face look much brighter.
Chen Yi felt that he had gotten used to it after looking at them for a while. Those crisscrossing scars didn’t seem so ugly anymore. Instead, they were… so stubborn that it made people feel distressed.
He tucked in the quilt for her.
Jiang Yuyan might have felt comfortable in her sleep, and murmured softly, "Chen Yi..."
Shen Yi's hand froze in place, but the drunk showed no signs of waking up.
The drunkard said again: "…The dinner I made was delicious…you are unlucky…"
I couldn't help but curl my lips.
Back in the yard, Shen Yi tasted the dishes that had already cooled down one by one. Although the taste was a little off, he felt that it was more to his taste buds than any meal he had eaten before.
But when he looked at the sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table, he thought of something and his heart sank to the bottom again.
"I have never felt lovesickness in my life, but now I feel lovesickness and suffer from it..."
Shen Yi murmured and repeated the poem she had just recited. He sighed that he had indeed drunk too much wine today.
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