Chapter 130: Lanterns Reflecting Snow
Chapter 130: Lanterns Reflecting Snow
Cheng Bing left with his hands full, carrying a cake, a roasted sweet potato wrapped in a bag, and a handful of candy that Fang Yuenian liked in his pocket. They would keep the tradition of giving each other candy on New Year's Eve. They had also agreed to build a snowman, and he was carrying a wooden lantern.
Cheng's father-in-law loves collecting these old objects. The lanterns and bamboo trays in the house are all things he made in his spare time. He doesn't usually take them out, but he does them for fun during the New Year holidays. Today, he made a few new lanterns and hung them at the gate of the courtyard. He liked them, and Cheng Bing asked for one, wanting to give it to Fang Yuenian.
When they arrived at the carpenter's shop, Fang Yuenian was already inside. As soon as she heard the door open, she rushed out, "Brother Cheng!"
Cheng Bing first handed him the lantern, saying, "Hold it carefully."
Fang Yuenian looked at the small wooden lantern. Normally, his inner carpenter would have been awakened, and his heart would have melted. But now, he couldn't smile. He could only force a smile and say, "Is this a new one made by Grandpa Cheng? I saw him take out the same one when we had a lion dance in the village two years ago."
“You can take it home, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to keep it,” Cheng Bing said to him.
The two entered the small room, and Cheng Bing saw the bowl of longevity noodles on the table. She noticed that there were many more varieties than last year, including vegetables, ham sausage, and a poached egg.
"You've improved at making longevity noodles," Cheng Bing said with a gentle smile.
"Hmm," Fang Yuenian placed the lantern on the table, "Don't give it to me, keep it at your house, it'll last longer. Okay, hurry up and eat your noodles. Just so you know, these noodles weren't clumpy at all before they came out of the pot, if they're clumpy now it's because you're late."
Cheng Bing smiled, opened the cake, and placed it in front of him. "Here you go."
They shared birthday wishes as before, but Fang Yuenian couldn't chatter away like she used to. The two of them stood side by side, silently eating each other's birthday wishes, and for a moment, there was complete silence.
After a long pause, Fang Yuenian said, "Li Peixiang invited us to go to the city in a few days," she said, "either the 11th or the 12th, it's before we go back to school, what do you think?"
Cheng Bing nodded, "Okay."
“Okay,” Fang Yuenian scooped up a large piece of cake, some cream getting on his lips. Cheng Bing wiped it off for him, and he smiled and said, “Thank you.”
Cheng Bing looked at him for a while and asked, "Haven't you recovered yet?"
Fang Yuenian shook her head with difficulty, then nodded, "I can't believe it."
“My sister supports us,” Cheng Bing said. “We can’t expect her to be clapping and giving her blessings right now.”
Fang Yuenian chuckled, "I didn't think that way."
Cheng Bing smiled and said softly, "But what you said is right, we should indeed restrain ourselves a bit at home."
"Okay," Fang Yuenian nodded, "I understand."
He was silent for a moment, then suddenly said in a low voice, "Xiaoxiao's reaction today was much better than I had imagined, it was the best I could have imagined, but I feel so ashamed. I don't know why, but after saying those words, I suddenly felt so heavy. Since starting university, I've been so happy, laughing like an idiot every day, so happy that I've become a little confused. I never thought about the future. Actually, we've never even discussed coming out."
Cheng Bing paused for a moment, then patted his shoulder. "I've thought about it."
Fang Yuenian looked at him, "For example?"
“For example,” Cheng Bing slowly put her arm around his shoulder, “you have to be prepared to be scolded and beaten, to be kicked out of the house, and to be prepared to see your family members sad and heartbroken, feeling like the worst son in the world. Besides that, the most likely outcome is that we will each be…” He paused, refraining from saying those cruel realities, “but there is also a very, very small chance that we can eventually gain recognition after going through many things, but at that time, there will be other difficulties.”
Fang Yuenian's eyes reddened as she stared at him blankly.
“Our home is in the village. Even if we can go out to live in the future, your mother, my parents, grandparents and grandparents will still be in the village. This is Shuibiwan, not some enlightened metropolis. We all know very well that the people in this village will not easily accept someone else’s special treatment. Once the news spreads, will the villagers still praise us like this? They will say all sorts of nasty things.”
Cheng Bing spoke slowly and directly.
“Our two families have been the subject of enough gossip since my sisters were little. If our story gets out, there will only be more hurtful things said. At that point, how will our elders hold their heads high?”
Fang Yuenian smiled bitterly, "So Sister Xiaoxiao told us to hide it well."
He emphasized the words "hide well," uttering them through gritted teeth, a truly helpless and pathetic expression.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Cheng Bing said. “I was thinking that we could keep it private, at least in the village. We could never talk about it. Even if people gossip behind our backs in the future, they’ll just talk about why we’re not married and have children. We can just pretend we don’t hear it, or we can lie and say that we’ve already been married outside… Whether outsiders approve or not isn’t that important to me. I just hope that your mother, my parents, my grandparents and my mother-in-law, and of course my two older sisters can accept us. I don’t care about anyone else.”
Fang Yuenian gave him a helpless smile and repeated those words: "Just these people?"
Cheng Bing gripped his shoulder tightly. "Of course I know it won't be easy."
Fang Yuenian then grasped his hand that was gripping her shoulder and said, "However, before that, I want to cherish every day we're 'hiding' right now. More importantly, we need to prove one thing: that you and I aren't fooling around, that we're not young and impetuous, and that we won't give up easily."
Cheng Bing leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "You're right."
“Alright,” Fang Yuenian smiled, “Let’s go, shall we go build a snowman?”
Many children were playing in the snow by the roadside at the village entrance. When the two of them passed by, they played with them for a while. Fang Yuenian was protecting the lantern in her hand and couldn't dodge in time. She was hit on the leg twice by snowballs, and Cheng Bing couldn't block them either.
When they reached the old sycamore tree, Fang Yuenian saw a large patch of thick snow and exclaimed in surprise, "This is so rare! It hasn't been stepped on by any children."
Cheng Bing helped him hang the wooden lantern on one side of the old sycamore tree trunk. "It's a bit late now, but it's good to have a lantern."
“It’s okay, the fireworks will keep going from now on, you can see them,” Fang Yuenian said, helping him from the side. “It’s just that the photos won’t be clear. I’ll turn on the camera later to record the process of building a snowman with you today.”
Cheng Bing looked at him and said, "It's not like it's the first time you've piled them up."
“That’s different,” Fang Yuenian said in a low voice. “Do you know that when Li Peixiang took Meng Xiaoyang to his grandmother’s house in another town, he also built a snowman and sent it to me to show. People live for their pride, and I can’t be worse than him.”
Cheng Bing hung up the lantern, clapped her hands, and asked, "Why do you always like to argue with him?"
"He's the one who keeps provoking me!" Fang Yuenian said unhappily, leaning close to Cheng Bing's face. "I have something to tell you."
"What?"
Fang Yuenian whispered a few words into his ear.
Cheng Bing's eyes widened involuntarily.
“I think I can’t beat him anyway,” Fang Yuenian sighed and turned around. “Hurry up and build me a snowman to make up for it.”
Cheng Bing breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay."
Fireworks burst in the night sky, this is probably the joy of the New Year in the countryside, amidst the sound of firecrackers, the lights of thousands of homes, and the laughter of children.
Fang Yuenian set up his phone and took a picture of the night, showing him and Cheng Bing frolicking in the snow.
The scarf was covered in snow, and my hands were frozen red, numb, and insensitive, but the snowman was finally built. It stood under a small lantern, with a pair of blue-gray pebble eyes, a black brick nose, and round, carefree brown tile lips.
Cheng Bing was meticulous in building his snowman, and they even found him a ring of dry branches to use as a scarf.
Then the two stood side by side and looked at the snowman. Fang Yuenian leaned on Cheng Bing's arm and said, "It should be able to stand until next year, right?"
"Yes," Cheng Bing said. "Are you satisfied?"
Fang Yuenian smiled, turned around to find the position of her phone camera, found the right angle, leaned over and kissed Cheng Bing on the cheek, "Extremely satisfied."
A dazzling firework burst open in the night sky above them.
As the night sky was lit up, Cheng Bing leaned down and kissed Fang Yuenian on the corner of her eye, saying, "Happy New Year, year after year."
I hope we have a bright future.
When Cheng Bing got home, his family was watching TV; the Spring Festival Gala was about to begin.
The lights were still on tonight, and the courtyard was no exception. Cheng Bing was standing at the back door brushing the snow off his body when Lin Guohui heard the sound and went to open the door for him.
"How did you get covered in snow?" Lin Guohui, who was carrying a hot water bottle, handed it to his son. "You'll get frostbite if you keep this up. Come in quickly, come in quickly, and change your cotton shoes. Your feet are going to freeze off."
Grandma Cheng was boiling spiced eggs in the kitchen, and the aroma filled the air. Grandpa Cheng brought in the coal stove from his and his wife's side and started making egg dumplings with a round copper spoon while tending the stove.
Egg dumplings are a local specialty. The dumpling wrappers are made by frying egg liquid mixed with starch. The filling is made by mincing lean meat and dried tofu and mixing them together. A layer of egg liquid is poured into a copper spoon heated over a fire. After it is semi-dry, chopsticks are used to help wrap the filling. It is a delicate task.
Cheng's father-in-law loves to make this because Cheng Xiaoxiao and Cheng Junjun like to eat it.
Since the new house was tiled, it's been difficult to bring the coal stove inside; it's been kept under the eaves in the yard. But it's fine to bring it in today. With his granddaughters waiting to eat, he's happy to do anything.
However, the two Sun girls were not beside him at this time.
Cheng Bing watched the egg dumpling being made for a while, then asked, "Where's my sister?"
"The two of them just got back and went upstairs. I wonder what they were discussing," Cheng's father-in-law said, as he finished wrapping an egg dumpling and placed it on the plate next to him. "Why don't you have two while they're still hot?"
Cheng Bing smiled and said, "Wait a minute, I'll call my sister down to eat."
Cheng Qiuyan was just bringing out the spiced eggs when she heard this and said, "Then go and call them. The eggs are ready. You guys can try the first batch."
Lin Guohui moved some space on the coffee table to put the spiced eggs, saying, "Dad, let me peel an egg for you?"
Cheng Jiagong stared intently at the copper spoon, carefully rotating it to ensure even heating. "Don't peel it, I don't have time to eat, you guys eat first."
As they talked, Cheng Bing went upstairs. Author's Note: Thank you to my mentor 9492239 (9492239) for your support! For more exciting content, please leave a message for this book on Liancheng Reading.
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