Chapter 35
For a moment, Lin Xing stood there in a daze. People were coming and going around her, but she felt like she was the only one left in the world. Looking left and right, there were indeed no familiar faces. In desperation, Lin Xing came to where the three of them had started, and then slowly walked inside.
Everyone on the street was strolling leisurely, sharing their joy with people around them from time to time. Lin Xing seemed out of place among them, perhaps because she was alone or perhaps because she was in a hurry.
Lin Xing stopped in front of a bookstore. She remembered this store. The books she bought for Lin Huan and Xiao Mei came from here. The name of this store was also on the packaging of the books.
There was some mysterious feeling that drew Lin Xing into this store. She always felt that she could find the two of them here. With the mentality of giving it a try, Lin Xing walked through the crowd and stepped onto the stairs.
Before she could see the scene inside the store clearly, a green figure rushed over and hugged her, "Xiao Xing, I finally found you. You guys really scared me to death."
Feeling Lin Huan's trembling, Lin Xing raised her hand and gently patted her back to comfort her, but she was merciless in her words: "Didn't you scare me to death? You can't run around anymore, or I'll go back and complain to Sister Lian and tell her not to let you come again."
"No, Sister Xiao Xing, I was wrong."
Lin Huan increased the distance between them and kept shaking Lin Xing with his hands until he was shaking at the same frequency as her head.
"Okay, is Xiaomei here? Why can't I see her?" Holding down Lin Huan's rebellious hand, Lin Xing stood on tiptoes and tried to look into the depths of the bookstore.
"Sister Xiaomei came a little earlier than you. She said the books she bought last time were good, so she went to pick some more and asked me to wait for you at the door."
Lin Xing then stood still and asked, "Have you read the book I bought for you?"
The topic changed suddenly, and Lin Huan felt guilty. She pretended not to hear clearly, walked to the bookshelf as if nothing had happened, and selected books seriously.
She was still too young. Lin Xing could tell at a glance that she was avoiding him. At this time, Xiao Mei came back with a book, so she didn't pursue the matter any further. However, she still said earnestly, "Read more books."
Hearing that Lin Xing had let him go, Lin Huan happily took her arm and nodded repeatedly.
"Sister Xiaomei has finished buying books. Let's go out to the temple fair. I'm so anxious."
After paying the money, Xiaomei and Lin Xing stood there without moving. They just stared at Lin Huan with a smile, which made her feel cold on her back. Lin Huan couldn't bear it any longer and spoke hesitantly, "What's wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"What do you think?"
"We just wanted to ask why you snuck away from us?"
"I didn't, I just..." The second half of Lin Huan's words disappeared in Lin Xing's eyes, and she didn't dare to lie anymore.
"Okay, I'll tell you the truth. We just passed by a small stall that was selling earrings. I saw how exquisite they were so I took a few extra glances. Who knew that when I came back to my senses, you were gone."
Now that the matter was clear, the two stopped making things difficult for Lin Huan. After all, it was just the whim of a child. So forget it; it was a major holiday.
"Is there anyone I like?"
Facing Xiaomei's question, Lin Huan's eyes flickered, and then she shook her head silently. Lin Xing saw that she was hiding something, but did not expose her directly, but just smiled at her.
"Then let's continue shopping. If you see anything you like, tell Sister Xiaomei and I'll buy it for you."
"Thank you, Sister Xiaomei!"
Then Lin Huan rushed out like a rabbit, and Lin Xing and Xiao Mei hurriedly followed, fearing that the tragedy would repeat itself.
There was a wide variety of goods, and the three of them went from shop to shop, and in the end everyone had nothing left. Although it was late autumn, the three of them were sweating lightly. Seeing a teahouse in the distance, they wanted to sit down and rest.
There are no empty seats at the tables outside the teahouse, perhaps everyone likes this lively scene. The three of them could only squeeze into the museum with their things in their hands. After searching for a while, they finally sat down in an empty seat.
Soon after they sat down, a waiter came forward to greet them and Lin Xing ordered a pot of oolong tea and some snacks. Xiaomei sat at the table, Lin Huan looked around, and Lin Xing kept hammering her legs.
"I don't know how to take a break from my busy schedule, and I have wasted my time and grown old. Now that you are here, please listen to my story..."
A sound came from the open space in the center of the teahouse, and the attention of the three people was drawn over. Lin Huan said with emotion: "There is actually a storyteller here! I want to listen, I want to listen."
The other two also found it interesting and listened attentively to the story told by the storyteller.
"In the 28th year of Xuanle, the late emperor was seriously ill, and the ministers were very worried. It turned out that the late emperor had not yet appointed a crown prince. The four princes were all talented and outstanding. For the sake of their future, the ministers wrote to the late emperor to appoint the prince they liked as the crown prince. But there was one person who never expressed any opinion. Do you know who it was?"
"It's Prime Minister Song. The Prime Minister is devoted to the people and doesn't care who enters the East Palace. Among the princes, there is also such an indifferent person."
"The Third Prince, the current emperor, never participates in the open or secret struggles among the princes..."
It's a well-known story. Lin Xing guessed that the ending of the story would be that the third prince stood out and changed the reign title to Wanqing. So boring!
Lin Xing didn't want to listen any more, but Xiaomei and Lin Huan beside her were listening with great interest. Unable to bear disturbing the two, Lin Xing stood up and motioned to them to go out for some fresh air, then quietly left the teahouse.
As soon as she went out, the autumn wind blew in her face, blowing away Lin Xing's irritability. While she was thinking about where to kill time, a lantern stall caught her attention.
From a distance, there were a lot of people gathered there, all of them with rosy faces, and the stall owner was surrounded in the middle, and it was unclear what they were saying. This made Lin Xing even more curious. She walked towards the crowd, and the stall owner's voice became clearer and clearer.
"Dear guests, in order to welcome the temple fair, I have prepared many lanterns to give to you for free."
The crowd cheered, and the stall owner interrupted them and continued, "However, you need to guess the riddle under the lantern to take the corresponding lantern home."
This did not dampen everyone's enthusiasm. Everyone was eager to try and hope to take away their own lantern. Answers were given one after another, but only a few were correct. The number of onlookers decreased, but the number of lanterns did not change much.
The dispersal of the crowd gave Lin Xing the opportunity to squeeze to the front row. She glanced at the lanterns in front of her one by one. They were all very tacky styles. Cheap products are not good, not to mention that they were free.
Not far from Lin Xing there hangs a peach blossom lantern, which looks so beautiful and out of place there. Lin Xing raised her hand to check the riddle, but was shocked before she could see the words clearly.
"Oh, this customer has good taste. This is the most beautiful lantern I have, and the riddle is naturally the most difficult."
Everyone's eyes were on Lin Xing. The riddles were like a hot potato, neither could she throw them away nor read them. Finally, Lin Xing gritted her teeth and went to check, and the people behind her also stretched their necks.
This was naturally noticed by the stall owner, who took down the riddle and read out loud what was written on it, "The silk bridge pulls the string as if it were flying, and the red thread connects them without fail."
Sure enough, the whole audience fell silent. What kind of riddle was this? It's a mess. If you look closely, the peach blossom lantern is also ugly. Some people left in disappointment, while others were still waiting for Lin Xing's answer.
Seeing that Lin Xing remained silent for a long time, the stall owner came to the rescue: "This riddle is indeed difficult. It is normal that the girl cannot answer it. I think the girl must be smart and quick-witted. Why don't you look at other riddles?"
"No, I want this one." This sentence was loud and clear, and the crowd had different expressions.
The stall owner wanted to hang the lantern back to its original position, but was stopped by Lin Xing's words. He may have seen many people who were shameless, and his expression was not strange at all. "The girl must answer the lantern riddle. My peach blossom lantern is worth a thousand gold."
"Of course." Lin Xing already had the answer in her heart. She smiled confidently, "Fate."
Perhaps because she was afraid that the crowd might not hear clearly, Lin Xing repeated loudly: "The answer is fate."
"You are really smart, girl. This lantern is yours."
Everyone was shocked. This girl looked young, but she was so smart. Lin Xing took the lantern and calmly left the crowd with a smile.
There is a custom of lighting lanterns at night, so such stalls are not uncommon. After walking a few steps, Lin Xing came across another identical lantern stall, with the same routine.
The opportunity should be left to everyone. Since a lantern has been taken, Lin Xing decided not to guess the riddle anymore and just join in the fun. It just so happened that someone here was also guessing.
"A thousand miles of love bring a perfect couple together. Sir, have you guessed the answer?"
A tall man was standing in front of the store. Coincidentally, he was also wearing blue clothes and had an extraordinary temperament. However, he was wearing a fox mask, so his face could not be seen clearly.
Lin Xing figured out the answer to the riddle and wanted to see if he could answer it, so she decided to stand still and pay attention to the situation here. After a while, the man seemed to say something, but I couldn't hear it clearly, but then the crowd cheered, so he must have answered correctly.
Watching the man take the lantern and leave, Lin Xing felt that his back looked familiar, but when she thought about it carefully, she felt that it was unlikely. The distance from Nanru to the capital is long and the mountains are high, so it is not easy to make the trip.
Thinking that the storyteller was about to finish, Lin Xing walked slowly into the teahouse holding a lantern. Xiao Mei and Lin Huan were sipping tea, and the story was coming to an end.
Huan'er saw Lin Xing as soon as she entered the room. When she walked to the table, Huan'er couldn't wait to speak: "Xiao Xing is really disloyal. She bought the lanterns secretly without waiting for us."
"I won this lantern by guessing riddles. It's not easy for me to guess three riddles by myself. Besides, this is the only good-looking one in the stall." Lin Xing looked at Xiao Mei, hoping she could help to smooth things over, but found that she was staring at the peach blossom lantern in a daze.
Lin Xing continued: "I'll take you to buy it now, okay?"
"Great!" Huan'er cheered and stood up. She accidentally bumped into Xiaomei, and Xiaomei came to her senses and put on a gentle smile again.
"Xiaomei, go pick some too. I'll pay the bill."
Lin Huan was even happier now. He pulled Xiao Mei out without caring whether she agreed or not, and thought of ten thousand styles of lanterns in his mind.
"This rabbit lantern is beautiful, this lotus lantern is also beautiful, and that moon lantern is even more beautiful."
It has to be said that expensive lamps are exquisite. In just a short while, Lin Huan has praised countless lamps, and in her eyes, none of them are ugly.
"Since they look good, I'll buy them all."
"Why buy so many lights? There's no room for them in the house."
"Hmph." Lin Xing was rarely generous, but was rejected miserably. She threw a tantrum like a child and ignored Lin Huan. Lin Huan didn't realize it at all and just kept lighting the lamp on his own, which was really embarrassing.
Lin Xing decided to admire her own peach blossom lantern. The lantern was so beautiful, and the petals were so beautiful. She also didn't notice that Xiaomei was laughing secretly beside her.
"Girl, your hairpin fell off."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
