Chapter 102 New Year Arrives, Golden City
The days passed slowly, and Jiang Ning and Liu Ming'an agreed to leave for the capital after the New Year in Qushui City.
The two had already inquired about it. There are two routes from Qushui City to the capital. One is a pure water route, which takes ten days to take a boat from the dock; the other is half water and half land, which takes two days to take a boat to Golden City, and then two days to take a carriage to enter the capital.
The two chose the second route without hesitation and planned to set off on the eighth day of the New Year, because all passenger ships were suspended before the eighth day.
The New Year was getting closer and closer, and Qushui City had several heavy snowfalls.
In modern times, Jiang Ning has always heard people say that the New Year's atmosphere is getting weaker and weaker, the New Year is getting less and less interesting, and the Spring Festival Gala is getting uglier and uglier. But at that time, she couldn't imagine what the New Year was like in ancient times.
Now that she can finally experience it in person, Jiang Ning is particularly interested in the New Year. Most importantly, she is now an ordinary person and has someone to spend the New Year with.
It was around the 20th day of the 11th lunar month when the entire Qushui City began to get lively.
Everywhere on the street, you can see people selling candied haws, playing shadow puppets, performing acrobatics, playing the erhu and singing songs... People crowded together, laughing and talking loudly in the snow, as if all the worries and troubles were far away.
"An Ning, the waiter said that there will be iron flowers on the shore on New Year's Eve. Let's go and see." Liu Mingan returned to the house excitedly, happily sharing the news he had just heard.
"Strike iron flowers? Great." Jiang Ning was infected by Liu Ming'an's emotions, and couldn't help but smile brightly.
The next moment, Liu Ming'an stretched out his finger and poked her right cheek as expected.
"You really are..." Jiang Ning laughed dumbly.
On New Year's Eve, the snow stopped after several days of snowing. The two ordered a copper pot mutton hot pot for dinner. The meal warmed them up from head to toe. After eating, they picked up their cloaks and walked to the coast.
The street was brightly lit, with lanterns lit everywhere, people coming and going, and it was bustling and noisy.
When Liu Ming'an led Jiang Ning to the shore, it was already full of people.
"A Ning, it seems we are late." Liu Ming'an looked at the dark head and was a little disappointed.
"It's okay. I'll take you somewhere."
Jiang Ning led Liu Ming'an to a place far away from the crowd, to a higher place. It was a certain distance from the coast, and there were no other people around, but it would definitely not hinder the viewing of the iron flower show.
It was about 3:45 in the evening, and the sky had completely darkened, but most of the people who came to watch the iron flower show were holding lanterns, lighting up the beach.
After a while, the crowd was in an uproar. Jiang Ning was far away and couldn't see the specific situation, but she estimated that the people who were making iron flowers had arrived.
Sure enough, after waiting for a while, the two saw a person in the crowd holding something like a shovel and swinging his arm.
"Bang!"
The next moment, thousands of burning iron filings flew like silver beads, and golden threads danced wildly, exploding in the air, gorgeous and dazzling.
"Good!" The cheers of the crowd floated in the wind, and Liu Ming'an smiled and hugged Jiang Ning in his arms.
The brilliant sparks only stayed in the air for a moment, just like a falling meteor, losing its luster and returning to dimness, but new sparks continued to rise in the sky, attracting cheers from the crowd.
Jiang Ning only looked for a while and then retracted his gaze, looking up at the person who was so close.
Liu Ming'an was still looking at the coast seriously, and the sparks that were clearly extinguished were flashing in his eyes, reflecting the eyes with a gentle smile like a sky full of stars.
"Liu Ming'an." Jiang Ning suddenly called softly.
"Aning, what's wrong--"
Liu Ming'an had just retracted his gaze and looked at the person in his arms, when Jiang Ning reached out her hand, put it around his neck, and kissed him with her eyes closed.
"Bang!"
There was another sound, but Liu Ming'an couldn't tell whether it was the sound of iron flowers or the sound of his heartbeat.
His Aning, with her arms tightly around his neck, her body pressed tightly against his, her soft lips falling on his lips...
Liu Ming'an felt like he was going crazy.
Jiang Ning could feel that Liu Ming'an was stunned for a moment when she kissed him, but within two seconds, one hand clasped behind her head, and the friction on their lips suddenly intensified.
The sound of iron flowers exploding and the shouting of the crowd continued to come, but they had long since stopped caring, and they were both immersed in the deep affection given by each other and couldn't extricate themselves.
"An Ning...An Ning..."
Liu Ming'an murmured incoherently, begging with his lips, but Jiang Ning gave in to his demands without any resistance.
After a long kiss, Liu Ming'an gently pressed his lips against Jiang Ning's, and said in a hoarse voice: "An Ning, marry me."
"Okay!" Jiang Ning responded with a smile, with a thin layer of mist in her eyes, which made Liu Ming'an's Adam's apple roll unconsciously.
"An Ning..." Liu Ming'an pecked Jiang Ning's lips twice again, called out, but didn't know what to say. Jiang
Ning reached out and touched Liu Ming'an's face, and said softly: "Let's go back."
Liu Ming'an nodded. No matter how beautiful the scenery was, he didn't want to look at it. Instead of blowing the cold wind here, it would be better to go back to the inn.
The two held hands and returned to the inn along the way they came.
At a certain moment, the sound of firecrackers rang out on the street, announcing the end of the old year and the arrival of the new year.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, it was time to set off for the Golden City.
After arriving in Qushui City, the two bought a lot of winter clothes. The winter clothes were thick and heavy, and the luggage was much more than when they just set out from Lingshan Town.
"You go check out, I'll pack the rest."
The two had already stacked their clothes neatly. Jiang Ning was counting their remaining silver. Estimating that they had spent a lot in this inn, she took out fifty taels and handed them to Liu Mingan.
Liu Mingan took the silver to the lobby on the first floor and found the shopkeeper to say that he wanted to check out.
The shopkeeper said "OK", took the account book, and after a few "clacking" sounds on the abacus, he smiled and said, "Sir, the total is 45 taels, 700 wen. I'll round off the deduction for you, so just give me 45 taels."
This price was about the same as what Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning had estimated. After all, they had been here for more than two months, and they had not been treated badly in terms of food.
Liu Ming'an paid the money, turned around and wanted to go upstairs. He glanced at the teapot on the counter and suddenly remembered the cup of calming tea.
"Boss, the calming tea in your store is very effective. Can you sell me some?" Liu Ming'an asked the shopkeeper.
Liu Ming'an was deeply impressed by the tea. He felt sleepy after drinking it and slept soundly all night. It was a good thing. Although he couldn't use it now, it was better to have this kind of thing in case of emergency.
Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper looked confused: "What calming tea? We don't have this thing in our store."
Liu Ming'an was stunned: "How could it be? I've drunk it before. It is said to be water boiled with herbs with calming effects. It tastes a bit bitter..."
The shopkeeper waved his hands and said firmly: "Sir, you must have remembered it wrong. Our store has never provided this kind of tea."
"This..."
Liu Ming'an wanted to say something, but the shopkeeper smiled and said: "Besides, how dare an innkeeper sell this kind of tea to customers? What if a customer drinks this tea and falls asleep too deeply, causing valuables to be lost, then we will have nothing to explain?"
His heart sank, Liu Ming'an nodded, said nothing more, turned around and walked upstairs.
On the night he came back from Yang's house, Jiang Ning brought him the so-called calming tea!
Liu Ming'an should have thought of it earlier. He and Jiang Ning had come all the way from Lingshan Town to find out her life story. They finally found Blind Yang in Qushui City. With Jiang Ning's personality, how could she give up so easily?
Jiang Ning parted ways with Blind Yang that day, and brought him "calming tea" at night to make him fall asleep. She must have gone to Yang's house again at night!
Liu Mingan returned to the room with a heavy heart. Jiang Ning had packed her things and handed him a bag with a faint smile on her lips: "Let's go and take the boat."
"An Ning, are we going to the capital now? If it's not urgent, we can actually stay in Qushui City for a while." Liu Mingan pretended to be nonchalant and spoke. He had some guesses in his mind.
Jiang Ning's eyes flashed. If it was just for Liu Mingan's imperial examination, there was no need to rush. She was in a hurry to go to the capital, of course, she wanted to get to the capital as soon as possible to solve the problem.
"Didn't we agree on it? Go to the capital and settle down as soon as possible, so that you can concentrate on preparing for the imperial examination." Jiang Ning still said the same thing.
Liu Mingan knew that he guessed right. Jiang Ning went to find Blind Yang privately, and the clue given by Blind Yang was in the capital!
"Okay, let's go."
Liu Ming'an said after a moment. Although he didn't know why Jiang Ning wanted to exclude him from this matter and no longer let him interfere, but... let's take it one step at a time.
An Ning is a smart girl, she won't do stupid things.
Liu Ming'an told himself in his heart.
Jinzhi City, as the name suggests, is also an independent city, but it is under the jurisdiction of the capital. If Qushui City is the hinterland fortress of Daliang, then Jinzhi City is the last line of defense of Daliang.
When Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning arrived here, this place was also immersed in the atmosphere of the New Year like Qushui City.
The two originally planned to stay in Jinzhi City for one night and then go to the capital, but something unexpected happened.
Liu Ming'an was seasick.
Liu Ming'an, who had never been on a boat before, vomited on the day he boarded the passenger ship. After that, he could not eat or sleep well. He looked listless and visibly haggard. Even if Jiang Ning secretly fed him spiritual spring water, it could only relieve his symptoms for a while. As long as he was on the boat, Liu Ming'an was dizzy and uncomfortable.
Fortunately, there were only two days on the boat. After getting off the boat, Jiang Ning quickly found an inn to stay in so that Liu Ming'an could have a good rest.
The two entered the Golden City in the afternoon. Liu Ming'an slept until noon the next day. After waking up from hunger and eating, he was back to normal.
Jiang Ning fed Liu Ming'an some spiritual spring water again. Seeing that he was alive and well and nothing happened, she felt relieved.
"A Ning, I'm in good spirits now. We don't need to delay our trip. Let's go to Beijing tomorrow." Liu Ming'an said to Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning carefully checked Liu Ming'an's condition and found that he was indeed in high spirits, so she nodded.