She responded excitedly, shouting: "I won't drink, if you want to drink I'll watch you drink."
I smiled and shook my head because I was not interested in these foreign things.
We shuttled through the crowd like two swimming fish, occasionally stopping to exchange a knowing smile with strangers passing by.
On the stage, foreign resident singers took turns to perform. They performed popular songs with their unique voices. Their songs penetrated the noise and hit the soul directly, bringing the atmosphere of the entire nightclub to a boiling point.
People sang along with the melody, immersed in the ocean of music, and enjoyed this rare release and freedom.
I pulled Qingwan along and joined the dancing crowd without hesitation...
Back at the hotel, Qingwan and I were still immersed in excitement.
She said tiredly, "It's fun, but I'm sweating all over. I have to take a shower quickly."
After that, he went into the bathroom. Then, the sound of gurgling water came from the bathroom.
This voice, like a key, opened the gate of my memory. My thoughts drifted back to that rainy night in Beidaihe, the night when I first tasted the forbidden fruit.
An inexplicable feeling of heat welled up in my heart, so I took off my clothes and quietly walked into the misty bathroom.
She suddenly turned around, and her surprised face could be vaguely seen through the mist. She whispered in surprise: "Guan Hongjun, what's wrong with you? You are sneaking around like this, are you trying to scare me to death?"
I smiled and picked up the shower gel, squeezed out fine bubbles, gently applied it on her back, and began to scrub her. My fingers slid over her delicate skin, like playing a silent movement.
She smiled, with a hint of teasing in her voice: "If you are so attentive without any reason, you are either a traitor or a thief. Tell me, what are you planning?"
I pretended to be wronged and said, "I love my wife and I swear to God. I am just trying to help you relax."
She said sarcastically, "The weasel is paying New Year's greetings to the chicken, and it has no good intentions. You must be up to something bad."
I smiled and replied, "The world is wide open to those who are selfless. I am meeting you with all my sincerity."
She laughed and said, "You are naked."
I was speechless, and from behind her...
We had so much fun yesterday that even an ordinary person like me could not handle it, not to mention Qingwan who is suffering from illness.
In the morning, or to be more exact, it was around noon when we both got up. I noticed that Qingwan's feet were slightly swollen, and I became alert because Yang Ruining had said privately that if Qingwan had this disease, she would be afraid of edema. I regretted it bitterly and made up my mind not to play these exciting things with her anymore.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she showed an unusual sense of relief and joy. She looked at the air-conditioning grille that was torn yesterday and smiled slightly: "This hotel is really efficient. It was fixed so quickly."
I smiled and said, "How can it be slow? Before leaving yesterday, I specifically greeted the front desk and took the initiative to bear the compensation."
She smiled and said, "It's great that I don't have to worry about anything when I'm with you."
I scratched her nose lightly and joked: "This time the fence is worthless, don't destroy valuable things next time, I can't afford it."
Qingwan pretended to be angry, pointed at my nose and said angrily: "Guan Hongjun, you have to bring up the issue."
I hurriedly sat down beside her and gently comforted her: "Okay, okay, even if you break the Night Pearl of the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea, I will still compensate you, is that okay?"
She snorted softly, snuggled into my arms, and said in a slightly reproachful tone: "My legs are still numb now. You are such a bad boy. You don't care about anything when you play."
I quickly massaged her slightly swollen feet, but I was worried: "How about we rest here for another day?"
She shook her head and said firmly, "It's okay. I'm not driving. We have to hurry up. I miss Xixi a little bit."
Speaking of my daughter, my heart moved and I began to miss that lovely little girl.
So, we started planning the next trip. Originally, I planned to take the route of Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Guilin, Hainan, and Hainan, but Qingwan said that she had been to Hubei, Hunan, and Guangxi before when her school organized a tour. So, I replanned a route: Jinan, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, and then cross the Qiongzhou Strait to Hainan. If you feel tired on the way, you can always find a place to rest, and on the way back, you can choose not to take a detour and go directly home.
Qingwan agreed with my arrangement, but I had other plans in mind. After all, I had boasted to Wang Yanshu about my journey to the sea, and if I returned empty-handed, it would be a disappointment.
Qingwan and I walked and played as we traveled. The scenery outside the car window changed quietly, from a winter wonderland covered in snow to a spring painting full of flowers, and then to a hot summer scene.
During this journey, Qingwan's mood seemed to have returned to the gentleness and tranquility she had before she became ill. She was like a shadow following me everywhere, caring for me in every detail and accompanying me.
On the West Lake in Hangzhou, we were boating to Xiaoying Island. Qingwan pointed at the Moon Reflected in the Pool and said with a smile, "Isn't this the scenery behind a banknote?"
I smiled and replied, "Yes, and there is a touching legend behind this beautiful scenery."
She urged excitedly: "Tell me quickly."
I said, "Legend has it that in order to save her beloved Xu Xian, White Snake flooded the Golden Temple, which angered the Heavenly Court, causing her to be imprisoned under the Leifeng Pagoda by the old monk Fahai."
I pointed to the Leifeng Pagoda standing tall in the distance and said, "That's the pagoda."
I spoke vividly and she listened attentively.
I continued, "This loving couple was ruthlessly separated. White Snake wept at the bottom of the pagoda all night long, and her tears turned into a stream of clear springs in the West Lake, which gathered into the 'Pond'. In order to quell his resentment, Fahai built a stone pagoda in the pond. On every full moon night, the moonlight shines through the holes in the pagoda and reflects on the water, forming a beautiful scene of 'a pagoda reflecting the pond, and the pond reflecting the moon'. This is the origin of 'The Moon Reflected in the Pond'."
After hearing this, Qing Wan was amazed: "This story is so sad and touching. Love stories are often centered on women, which shows that in the face of love, women are often more willing to give their all."
I shook my head lightly and said with a smile: "Zhu Qingwan, you just stopped for two days, why did you start again?"
She chuckled: "Guan Hongjun, why are you so hard to take a joke? You can't even take a joke."
She then asked curiously, "The Su Causeway and the Bai Causeway in the West Lake, were they built with funds from the Su and Bai families?"
I laughed dumbly when I heard that. "You have a rich imagination. In fact, each of the dikes in West Lake has its own story behind it. The most famous one is Su Dike. When Su Dongpo was the mayor of Hangzhou, he personally dredged the West Lake and used the excavated silt to build this dike, connecting the north and south of West Lake. It not only solved the flood problem, but also created the classic landscape of "Su Dike Chunxiao". Su Shi wrote for this dike, "If I want to compare West Lake to Xi Shi, light makeup or heavy makeup is always suitable", which has been famous for thousands of years. The six bridges on the dike each have their own historical allusions, attracting countless literati and poets to compete for poems."
She laughed when she heard this and said, "Don't think I don't know. There was no such title as 'Mayor' at that time."
I said, "The prefect is just the modern mayor."