Chapter 74: Duanwu, why are you still being so petty?
After eating the noodles, everyone got back on the boat, and the boatman worked even harder.
Song Jin's stomach was full and he dared not move at the moment. He could only sit there obediently, waiting to enter the river to change to a bigger boat.
That evening, everyone changed boats so that they didn't have to dock at night and could just go down the river. Song Jin had been wandering around all day and was now dizzy. He went to bed as soon as he got on the boat and didn't even eat dinner.
By the next day, I was so dizzy that I couldn't get out of bed, let alone go out to eat.
Ji Shubai had no choice but to order people to knock on the door, force the man off the bed, drag him to eat, and then let him go back.
The third day is Dragon Boat Festival.
Song Jin was woken up early in the morning. When she went out, she found that the boat had stopped on the river. Qingshan explained to her enthusiastically.
"Today is the Dragon Boat Festival. There will be a dragon boat race on the Zijiang River. Let's not leave. Let's wait here and watch the race."
Song Jin was extremely excited and quickly ran to the deck to take a look. Sure enough, he saw several dragon boats parked on the shore not far away. Some figures could be vaguely seen on the shore. He thought that it would be even more lively when the race started.
"Master Ji - Master Ji -" Song Jin happily went to find Ji Shubai: "Are we going ashore today?"
Ji Shubai hadn't finished her breakfast yet when she saw Song Jin jumping in. When she asked her a question, she didn't rush to answer her. She just pointed to the seat next to her and asked her to sit down and eat.
"Let's eat first, then wait to watch the game. When the excitement on the lake is over, we'll go ashore."
"Will it be lively on the shore?" Song Jin asked while taking a bite of pancake.
“It’s going to be lively.”
"What are they?"
"There are people selling food, toys, and sightseeing. There are all kinds of people here."
Song Jin chewed a pancake while thinking: "I heard that people should bring a purse and a five-poison hat to ward off evil spirits during the Dragon Boat Festival. Why don't you bring them?"
"Eat your meal."
Ji Shubai was too lazy to explain, and Qingshan on the side couldn't sit still: "You have to put some Angelica dahurica and Gastrodia elata in the purse, it smells good when wrapped. Some girls are good at craftsmanship, and the purses they make are very beautiful. My master received one last year."
"Why is there only one?" Song Jin thought Ji Shubai was very popular.
"Ordinary girls can't be sent in."
"Oh, I see. It's a pity that we're not at the old house this year, otherwise there would definitely be more."
Song Jin's mind flashed with Miss Pei's image, and she couldn't help but wonder: If she could see Miss Pei again after that day, would she give her a purse during the Dragon Boat Festival this year?
"It doesn't matter if you're not here. It's the same if Miss Lu sends you."
Song Jin waved his hands repeatedly: "I can't do that. If I send it and someone sees it, how will I explain it to your master?"
"Well, what are you afraid of? You don't want to--"
"cough--"
Song Jin and Qing Shan chatted unrestrainedly in front of Ji Shubai, forcing Ji Shubai to speak up to stop them.
"That's almost it. Eat quickly and come to the deck after you finish eating."
Song Jin said "oh" and quickly started eating.
The sun was a little bit harsh during the Dragon Boat Festival. When Song Jin stood on the deck, the sun had already climbed high. The hot sunlight hit the river surface, breaking into thousands of pieces with the waves, and then folding into people's eyes bit by bit, which was very stinging.
Song Jin covered his head with his hands and looked at the shore. The crowd was gradually getting denser, and several kites were competing to climb into the sky. Several small boats set out from the shore, as if they wanted to occupy a good viewing position on the river like them.
As time passed, Song Jin saw the rowers boarding the boat one by one and rowing the dragon boat to the designated location.
Song Jin became more and more excited and moved towards the side of the boat.
"Be careful."
While giving instructions, Ji Shubai placed an open folding fan on Song Jin's head. A shadow fell for no reason, causing Song Jin to look up. He immediately saw a picture of green bamboo in the rain on the fan, and his hands involuntarily reached out to grab it.
"like?"
"Yeah, it looks good."
Ji Shubai chuckled and said, "I'll give you one some other day."
"Why don't you give me this? I like this."
Song Jin couldn't let it go, and seeing this, Ji Shubai pushed the fan towards her hand and said, "I'll give it to you."
"Thank you, Lord Ji." Song Jin took it without hesitation and held it in his hand to admire it.
In the center of the fan was a picture of bamboo and rocks, with a few lines of poetry written in running script on the right. Song Jin couldn't recognize them all at first, but he was impressed by the seal at the signature.
"Hey, is this your seal?"
Ji Shubai smiled meaningfully: "Impressive, right?"
Song Jin knew he was laughing, but pretended not to know. He held the fan above his head with one hand and used it to shield himself from the sun.
The spectators on the shore gathered and the sailors on the river were in position. There was a burst of drum sound rising into the sky and dozens of dragon boats set off together.
The river was surging with white waves and the shouts from the shore were shaking the earth. Song Jin grabbed the side of the boat with one hand, raised a fan with the other, and leaned his whole body into the river.
The boat was like a pig on the river, and the oars were like the fins of a flying fish. They chased each other to the sound of the drums, and were evenly matched. For a moment, pearls and snow were splashing, and white waves were rolling. If Ji Shubai hadn't pulled Song Jin's arm, she would have fallen.
Only when the first dragon boat crossed the finish line did Song Jin breathe a sigh of relief.
"Whose is the winner?"
Ji Shubai saw her withdraw her body and asked her with a smile.
Song Jin had no idea who was with whom, so he naturally shook his head: "I don't know."
Ji Shubai chuckled and said, "Fortunately, the dragon boat stopped. If it hadn't stopped, I'm afraid you would have jumped into the river to row."
Song Jin knew that he was making fun of her behavior just now. If it were any other time, she would definitely tease him and say that there was no point in watching someone who could swim, as it was more interesting to watch a landlubber struggling.
But she is in a good mood today.
"Thank you, Lord Ji." Song Jin smiled.
Ji Shubai stopped teasing, turned around and said to Qingshan, "Dock."
The big ship was approaching the shore. As it was still early, Ji Shubai took the lead in strolling along the shore, and Song Jin naturally followed.
The shore was bustling with people selling rice dumplings, salted duck eggs, colorful ropes, and garlands. Song Jin was wandering among them, overwhelmed and almost lost them several times.
Seeing her like that, Ji Shubai simply asked someone to make arrangements in advance, and he accompanied Song Jin on a leisurely stroll.
"Master Ji, shouldn't we join in the fun?"
Song Jin muttered, and Ji Shubai followed slowly: "We will stay at the post station tonight, and we can drink realgar wine."
"Ah?" Song Jin's eyes widened when he heard about realgar wine. That stuff is not something he likes to drink.
"You what?"
"I'm allergic to realgar."
"What?"
"It means that you will get seriously ill if you drink it." Song Jin found a reason to refuse the realgar wine, but he was quite interested in the colorful ropes on the roadside stall.
"Master Ji, if you don't have a purse, I'll give you a colorful rope."
Song Jin grabbed a colorful rope and tried it on himself, then put it on Ji Shubai's body.
Ji Shubai stood there and looked at her coldly: "That's what the child brought."
"Ah? Can't adults bring it?"
The grandmother who was selling silk thread was busy promoting her product: "It can be worn by anyone, by anyone. Children can wear it on their wrists and ankles, and adults can wear it..."
"Wear it around your waist." Song Jin grabbed the belt around Ji Shubai's waist and said, "It fits perfectly here."
"Yes, yes, this is the right place."
"It's not long enough." Ji Shubai pulled back his emerald ribbon, his eyes unable to hide his disgust for the five-colored silk thread.
However, Song Jin was completely unaware and turned to ask the old lady selling silk thread, "Do you have any longer ones?"
"Yes, yes. I'll edit it for you right away."
Song Jin was waiting happily, but Ji Shubai frowned, and Song Jin couldn't stand it anymore.
"Master Ji, it's not a sin to be happy."
"What did you say?"
Ji Shubai's face suddenly changed color, but Song Jin was not afraid: "I said, be happy. Look at the people on the street, and then look at yourself."
As soon as Song Jin finished speaking, the old lady who was braiding the ropes also smiled and said, "This young master is too strict. Fortunately, my grandson didn't come today, otherwise it would be scary."
After hearing this, Ji Shubai's face became even uglier. He pulled the ribbon that Song Jin was holding with one hand and took a step back, looking unhappy.
Song Jin ignored her and watched her mother-in-law quickly braid the rope, then called Ji Shubai over to try the length.
Unexpectedly, Ji Shubai turned his body aside and refused to come over.
"Why are you still being petty?"
"Who's being petty?"
Song Jin sighed, he is such a grown-up and still needs to be coaxed.
She walked quickly to Ji Shubai's back and pushed him over, "People gave you gifts out of kindness, just like when adults took me to see the dragon boat race, it was out of kindness. I remember it."
"Who asked you to remember?"
"I, can I remember it myself?"
Ji Shubai was pushed to the side of the stall, and two people helped him try the length. It was just right, so Song Jin took the rope and tied a knot in the same way as the ribbon.
"alright."
Song Jin went to ask the price and pay the money. Ji Shubai lowered his head and looked at the colorful streak on his waist. He bit his lip and endured the word "ugly".
"Come on, let's go shopping."
Ji Shubai was pushed away, and the bright colors on his waist made him feel that everyone was looking at him, making him feel uncomfortable.
"You could give me a purse." At least it wouldn't be so weird.
"A purse is a gift from a girl to a man she likes. Is it appropriate for me to give it to you?"
Ji Shubai said nothing and just covered his waist with one hand.
As Song Jin was strolling around, he was attracted by a fragrance and followed it to a stall selling jasmine flower strings.
"Sir, please buy a bunch of flowers. They were picked this morning and are very fresh."
"How do you sell it?"
"Two skewers for one copper coin."
Song Jin put one hand on his thigh, touched the non-existent pocket, and firmly pulled Ji Shubai away.
“Why don’t you buy it?”
"Forty skewers are enough for me to buy a chicken."
"Your chickens sold for more than forty bunches of jasmine."
"That's my ability."
Song Jin dragged Ji Shubai around until noon. They felt hungry, so they stopped in front of a rice dumpling stall and bought a few white rice dumplings to eat.
During this time, a minor official came to speak: "Sir, the sedan chair is ready and can go to the post station at any time. Do you want to send someone to inform the county magistrate?"
"No, let's take a break during the Dragon Boat Festival. We'll go to the county government office tomorrow."
The clerk walked away and went to another small table to eat rice dumplings.
Song Jin took a bite of the rice dumpling dipped in sugar and asked, "Are you going to the fields again this time?"
"This is a matter of people's livelihood, and we must go."
"I want to ride a horse, too."
Ji Shubai chuckled, then he understood what Song Jin was trying to say.
"I'm not free these days. When we get to the county government office, I'll arrange for Qingshan to teach you. Don't run around alone. I'm not very familiar with this place."
Song Jin smiled and said ok.
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