bamboo sticks
The breeze blew away the withered leaves.
Cang Yi's hair brushed against her cheeks. She had round eyes, not particularly spirited, but always bright. She was always optimistic, yet also timid. Cang Yi turned to look at the man beside her, a tall, sturdy man who could stand tall and proud. She uttered the words "no regrets" with great solemnity.
She said, "Da Lang, I'm actually very grateful to you for giving me a home."
Even though Cui Zhijian was always careless and clumsy, and even though many people in the Bo Mansion looked down on her, Cang Yi always loved this place and her life. Because even though life may not be as expected, the warmth we encounter can always soothe the wounds.
The peanut shells crackled as they were squeezed. Tai Shi Zheng held her little face with a smile on her face, and Song Mingyue kept stuffing peanuts into her mouth.
The two people watched intently.
Unexpectedly, after hearing Cang Yi's words, Cui Zhijian took her cheek without saying a word and kissed her in front of everyone. This frightened everyone present.
Cang Yi was so embarrassed that he couldn't speak, and punched Cui Zhijian hard on the strong chest.
I didn’t expect it, I really didn’t expect it…
It's still an old couple, they are just more unrestrained than these young people...
Zheng swallowed her saliva in surprise.
The Ginkgo Pavilion fell into a dead silence. Song Mingyue shuddered suddenly. To ease the awkwardness, she quickly cleared her throat and interrupted, "Ah, um, um, whose turn is it? Draw the lots, draw the lots. Cui Laosan? Do you want to draw?"
Cui Zhichou was still shaking his head, and Song Mingyue scolded him, "You're the one who's always bothering me. Then... Second brother, you take the beating—"
Song Mingyue narrowed her eyes and looked at Cui Zhijun, but Cui Zhijun was in a daze, looking at the palm that had been touched by Tai Shi Zheng.
Zheng turned around and asked softly, "Erlang? Mingyue is calling you?"
"Hmm?" As if only Taishi Zheng's voice could make him look up, Cui Zhijun looked at everyone blankly and said, "What's the matter?"
Zheng pouted and looked at him, "It's your turn to draw the lot."
Cui Zhijun didn't say anything. He subconsciously avoided Taishi Zheng's gaze and silently walked forward to pick up a bamboo stick. Zheng curiously leaned over, but Cui Zhijun moved away. Zheng didn't care. She asked, "Whose? Whose? Is it mine?"
Cui Zhijun looked at the crescent moon on the bamboo stick and guessed something, "No, it should be Zhichou's wife's."
Tai Shi Zheng was deflated again.
Other couples can slap each other, why can't they?
Zheng sat there with a pout, feeling sulky.
Some were happy while others were worried. Song Mingyue exclaimed in surprise, "What? The one Second Brother drew was mine?"
Cui Zhijun handed her the bamboo stick and asked her to confirm it. Song Mingyue slowly took the bamboo stick from his hand, extremely happy. "It really is my stick. My second brother and I are really destined to be together. Then I have to think about it carefully..."
After saying this, Song Mingyue began to feel embarrassed.
Seeing his wife like this, Cui Zhichou glared at Song Mingyue, trying to give her some sense of oppression as a husband. But Song Mingyue ignored him. At this point, Taishi Zheng also noticed something was amiss. She quickly moved in front of Cui Zhijun, completely blocking Song Mingyue's view and preventing her from doing anything bad to her husband!
Cui Zhijun looked at the person who suddenly appeared in front of him, moved his eyes left and right, and finally could only look at the top of her head.
"Song Laoliu, have you made up your mind?" Zheng urged.
Song Mingyue, holding the bamboo stick, said awkwardly, "Um... Second brother, can I keep this stick and bring it up when I remember it..."
"No!" Cui Zhichou stopped him immediately, "Song Laoliu, you're just cheating!"
When Song Mingyue heard that she was being criticized by Cui Laosan, her face changed and she immediately said to Cui Zhijun, "Second brother, I want you to draw a picture of what you think is the ugliest picture of Cui Laosan when he was a child. I want to hang it outside the door of the uncle's house so that everyone can see Cui Laosan's ugliness."
Cui Zhichou immediately retorted loudly, "Song Mingyue, be careful not to fall into my hands again! Second brother, don't draw for her!"
"?"
Cui Zhijun was stunned and speechless, then turned around and poured himself three cups of wine. Song Mingyue then realized that she had been messed up by Cui Zhichou and missed such a good opportunity. She was so angry that she threw the stick into Cui Zhichou's arms and turned away without looking at him.
This matter was concluded, and Cui Zhijian volunteered to be the next one. But when he saw the lot, he complained, "Why is it still the third brother's wife's?"
When Song Mingyue heard this, she looked at Cui Zhijian and asked, "Why, brother, is it unlucky that I got the one?"
Cui Zhijian shook his head, "Let it be."
"Hey, brother!" Song Mingyue became dissatisfied.
Cang Yi saw Cui Zhijian's words without thinking, turned around and nudged him with his elbow as a reminder. Cui Zhijian then responded angrily: "Okay, okay, Third Wife, tell me what you want me to do——"
Song Mingyue pursed her lips after hearing this, with a malicious intent in her heart, "I don't have anything to say, so Big Brother, just wrestle with Cui Zhichou."
After these words were spoken, Cui Zhichou's small body couldn't help but tremble in the corridor.
He stared blankly at Cui Zhijian's imposing figure. Seeing that the person sitting there was taller than him, he immediately shouted, "I don't agree."
"I agree." Cui Zhijian became excited.
Seeing this, Cui Zhichou tried to escape, but Cui Zhijian grabbed his wrist and dragged him onto the table like a chicken.
Cui Zhichou was like a chicken on a shelf, with nowhere to escape. He could only beg for mercy again and again: "Big brother, I was wrong. You won, okay? Please let me go... I still need to rely on these skillful hands to make a living! You know, this is the government office that Dad finally agreed to let me go to. If I am kicked out, I will be finished-"
"Since you've been kicked out, then come and learn martial arts from me." Cui Zhijian ignored Cui Zhichou's show of weakness and insisted on fighting him.
Seeing that soft tactics didn't work, Cui Zhichou resorted to hard tactics and tried every possible method.
He then shouted: "Cui Dalang, if you do this again, I will tell my mother——"
Unexpectedly, Cui Zhijian was a young fool who refused to be persuaded or persuaded, and was determined to compete with him. "Third brother, go ahead and sue me. If I blink, I will no longer be surnamed Cui. But you have to finish your quarrel with me first."
But the difference is obvious, is there any need to compare?
Song Mingyue started to make noises from the side, "Cui Laosan, you're a coward. You don't even dare to do this? I look down on you!"
Unfortunately, Cui Zhichou wasn't the type to be easily provoked. He threatened, tearfully, "Song Laoliu, how dare you criticize me? You're the one who caused this mess. Just wait, if my arm breaks here today, we'll both be starving for the rest of our lives."
But Song Mingyue wouldn't buy it.
She immediately pretended to be heartbroken and touched Cui Zhichou's head, saying delicately, "Sanlang, don't worry. If you become disabled, I would rather sell everything I have for the rest of my life than let you starve."
"Mingyue, I know you treat me the best~"
Cui Zhichou was deeply moved when he heard this.
But only Cui Zhichou would fall for such a fake trick. Song Mingyue pursed her lips and nodded, "So, are you willing to arm wrestle with Big Brother for me now?"
Cui Zhichou was about to nod his head and say no, but Song Mingyue pushed him into the tiger's mouth, "Come on, big brother, break it. Don't be polite——"
"Song Mingyue, you——"
Before Cui Zhichou could resist, Cui Zhijian grabbed his hand.
He stared in astonishment at his arm, which had been gripped so tightly that blood flowed to it. Within three seconds, he heard a crackling sound from his bones, and then saw Cui Zhichou half-collapse onto the table. His soul was instantly withdrawn.
He is the one who is truly powerless.
Cui Zhijian's victory was not fair, but he was still proud of "bullying" his younger brother.
This time, the bright smile shifted to Song Mingyue's face, and she laughed out loud. Taishi Zheng sat at the table, tilting his head and reaching out to poke Sanlang, who was lying on the table like a puddle of mud and had no reaction. He turned to look at Cui Zhijun, "My dear, is he okay like this?"
Cui Zhijun shook his head as if he was not surprised.
Only then did Tai Shi Zheng feel relieved.
Then, it was Cui Zhichou's turn to draw lots. Seeing his helpless appearance, Song Mingyue said, "Let's skip this idiot. We'll draw first. The rest are his. This time, let's go by seating order. Second brother, you go first—"
Cui Zhijun remained calm, and he pulled out the bamboo sticks neatly and quickly.
Zheng no longer held out any hope. She lowered her eyes and stopped looking. Cui Zhijun wouldn't be able to draw her anyway. But Cui Zhijun looked at the pattern on the bamboo stick, then gently held it out to Taishi Zheng and asked, "Did you draw this mushroom?"
Zheng's dejected eyes gradually brightened up, and she happily responded, "Ahaha, my dear finally picked me!"
Upon hearing this, Cui Zhijun put away the bamboo stick and looked at it carefully. He asked, "Madam, what do you want me to do?"
Zheng seemed to have already imagined what she would say when Cui Zhijun picked her. She turned to Cui Zhijun and said solemnly, "Cui Zhijun, do you think it's okay for you to marry me?"
Expectant eyes came from all directions, and the melon finally made it to their home.
Cui Zhijun's slowly blinking eyes froze time. The wind blew from the sunny side. He shifted his gaze from Taishi Zheng's bamboo sticks and stared at the person before him, a stranger yet familiar.
The conclusion of marriage penetrates the cracks of time until it fills hope in each other's eyes.
Cui Zhijun finally responded, "Not bad."
Why isn't there a definitive answer like "good or bad"? No one understands...
However, the wine jug on the fire was still warm, and Cui Zhijun didn't choose to escape. He picked it up resolutely, which was already a great courage. Dang Zheng looked at the leaves that were assimilated by the withered yellow and swirled up in the wind, and she narrowed her bright eyes unconsciously.
She told Choi Shik-kyung, "The same goes for me."
-
Later, the fire dimmed,
This small gathering at the beginning of winter ended just before the fire went out.
Everyone waved goodbye and left.
At that time, bamboo sticks scattered everywhere.
Song Mingyue didn't bother Cui Zhichou, who was lying sleepily beside her legs. She personally put the twenty-four sticks he had painstakingly carved into the stick holder one by one. "Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three... No, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three..."
She fiddled with it gently with her fingers, but found that there was always one missing.
Song Mingyue looked up and down for a long time, but she couldn't find the mushroom. She began to look at the missing mushroom on the table, and she became puzzled...
Whose is this...?
-
Outside the Ginkgo Pavilion, Taishi Zheng and Cui Zhijun, having separated from their eldest brother and his wife, walked side by side on the path home, keeping a distance between them. Cui Zhijun's hands, hidden beneath his long sleeves, were fiddling with something.
They walked slowly, slowly welcoming the arrival of dusk.
Until, reaching the door of Yinzhu Yatang, the sunset glow turned a romantic pink. Taishi Zheng raised her eyes and stopped, smiling and looking west before Cui Zhijun stepped through the door. Cui Zhijun also seemed to notice the pause behind him and gradually slowed down his pace.
At this time, Zheng's eyes were dyed pink. She looked at the sunset and sighed, "Erlang, thank you for letting me meet such a group of good people."
“Days like this are so nice…”
The curve of Cui Zhijun's mouth disappeared in an instant in the quiet light and shadow. He calmly replied, "No need to thank me." Then he walked away.
Tai Shi Zheng decided to stay here and see when the sunset would fade away.
On the other side, Cui Zhijun returned to the yard and quietly opened the door of the study.
The next moment, light alternated with darkness. The dim room was lit only by a few faint beams of light falling on the wooden floor. Silently, Cui Zhijun approached the quaint antique display case. With one hand, he removed the dusty wooden box, opened it, and placed it on the table. Glancing down, he saw the scroll with crooked handwriting lying safely in its original place.
He finally stretched out his palm from his sleeve, revealing the lost bamboo stick.
Cui Zhijun didn't know why he brought back this insignificant thing, but he did it anyway, and then gently placed the bamboo stick on the scriptures.
Cui Zhijun stared intently, thinking...
Taishi Zheng,
Why bother thanking me? Perhaps... I should be the one thanking you...
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