The candied haws were wrapped in brown sugar coating, each one was crystal clear and gave off a sweet and sour aroma, which made her mouth water and she swallowed unconsciously.
Jun Haoyue pushed the candied haws towards her lips again, uttering a "Hmm?" through his nose, with an expression that said, "Try it quickly."
Anyone who doesn't eat something that's already in his mouth is a fool. Xu Xingchen swallowed the largest candied haws on the top with an "ah-wu" sound. The candied haws tasted sweet at first, and after he bit it open, the sour taste of hawthorn mixed with caramel. The sour and sweet taste spread from his mouth to his heart. Xu Xingchen squinted his eyes in satisfaction, like a cat that had stolen some fish.
Women are really born unable to resist sweets.
She puffed her cheeks, chewed a candied haws, and spoke unclearly, and replied proudly, "It tastes just like that."
If it weren't for her expression, Jun Haoyue would have believed what she said and shook his head lovingly.
The two continued walking and looking for things to eat for the New Year. There was only a bamboo stick left of the candied haws in Xu Xingchen's hand, which she played with with great interest.
Jun Haoyue turned his head and was about to say something, but saw Xu Xingchen's red lips that were licked, with candied haws sugar crumbs on the corners of his mouth, which had a playful and innocent meaning. He called out softly: Xingchen.
When Xu Xingchen heard the call, she looked up with innocent confusion. Jun Haoyue's heart suddenly tightened, and her white and slender hand with distinct finger bones slowly stretched out towards her uncontrollably.
When he was about to touch Xu Xingchen's cheek, he leaned back, wrinkled his nose and bared his teeth: "What do you want me to do?"
He changed the direction of his hand, clenched his fist to his lips, coughed lightly and replied, "Your mouth is stained with candy."
Xu Xingchen touched the corner of his mouth, took the candy crumbs and put them into his mouth, saying nonchalantly, "Just tell me."
'Boom boom boom, clang clang clang—'
The sound of gongs and drums drew the two men's attention. A group that looked like a troupe of opera performers were parading in the streets with lion dances. The lions, one red and one yellow, were shaking their heads and tails, which was very lively and vivid.
Not only the two of them were attracted, but many passers-by were also gathering towards the lion dance team, and the flow of people separated the two of them.
Xu Xingchen was small and was squeezed around in the crowd. When she got out of the crowd, she saw so many people around her that she couldn't tell who Jun Haoyue was.
"Jun Haoyue—Jun Haoyue—" she called anxiously.
But the lion dance music was too loud, and her voice was drowned out by the music and the cheers of the crowd.
She looked around aimlessly for twice, and suddenly she felt lost in the vast crowd. A feeling of grievance filled her heart. She continued to call Jun Haoyue's name without giving up, and there was a hint of tears in her voice.
Suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist. She screamed and looked over. It was Jun Haoyue.
Xu Xingchen hit him with a punch, feeling angry and aggrieved. "You scared me to death!"
Jun Haoyue listened to her trembling voice with tears in his eyes, feeling guilty and distressed. He had promised not to leave her alone.
He coaxed softly, "It's my fault, it's my fault."
To prevent the two from getting lost again, Jun Haoyue directly held her hand, and Xu Xingchen also obediently let him hold her hand.
Jun Haoyue led people out of the crowded and bustling crowd and came to another street. When they came to a stall selling candy figures, Jun Haoyue stopped.
The vendor's nose was red from the cold, but when he saw the customer, he smiled warmly, "Sir, would you like to buy some candy figurines? Writing or drawing is fine."
Jun Haoyue moved Xu Xingchen's hand, indicating that she should choose one.
Xu Xingchen's thoughts wandered off to somewhere else, and he came back to his senses when he was signaled, "Ah? Write."
"Okay, what words do you want?" the vendor responded enthusiastically, skillfully scooping a spoonful of caramel from the hot pot.
"...An, let's call it An."
The vendor quickly finished it, and after the caramel solidified, he handed the bamboo skewers to Xu Xingchen.
Xu Xingchen habitually wanted to take it with her left hand, but found that her hand was still being held, so she switched to her right hand and said thank you.
Jun Haoyue took her to continue shopping. A familiar "chirp" sound was heard. It was the white-bearded old man with the mechanical bird that Xu Xingchen had seen before. This old man was still setting up a stall.
She pulled Jun Haoyue to the stall. There were more types of wooden carvings on the stall. Xu Xingchen looked around and found a simple hairpin with carved patterns.
Although it is a wooden hairpin, the patterns carved on it have smooth lines and no breaks in between, and it was actually completed in one stroke.
Xu Xingchen asked the old man how much it cost. The old man half-closed his eyes while carving the wood carving in his hands, and without looking up, he replied, "Two hundred coins."
Xu Xingchen's expression froze as he quickly calculated in his mind: two hundred wen. Each candy figurine cost one wen, so that meant two hundred. And a piece of maltose was only two wen, so that meant one hundred yuan. So expensive?!
She couldn't help but say "it's so expensive". The old man raised his eyelids and glanced at her. "I personally selected the wood and carved it myself."
Xu Xingchen was silent. She understood the labor cost, but it was still a bit expensive for her.
She reluctantly put down the hairpin in her hand and said, "Let's take a look again." After saying that, she was about to pull Jun Haoyue away, but she couldn't move him.
Jun Haoyue squatted down and picked up the hairpin that she had just been reluctant to part with, and said lightly: "I want it." She took out two strings of copper coins worth one hundred wen from her sleeve and placed them on the empty space of the hairpin.
Xu Xingchen was a little anxious, "You, oh, it's too expensive, put it down quickly."
Jun Haoyue smiled at her and shook his head. The old man with white beard looked at the money on the stall, seemed to realize something, and said "Hey", took a pair of masks from the stall and handed them to him.
"I, an old man, make a living by my craft. Young people are formidable. I'll give you this mask."
Jun Haoyue took it without hesitation and said, "Thank you."
Then he pulled Xu Xingchen away.
After they walked away, the two of them took a closer look at the mask. The mask was silver-white and did not feel like metal, but it was not wood either. It had a very strange feel.
It was engraved with patterns similar to those on the wooden hairpin in gold thread, all done in one stroke, but the patterns on the two masks were on the left and right.
However, Xu Xingchen was also very satisfied with the mask because it had the same pattern as the wooden hairpin. The expensiveness of the wooden hairpin was divided equally between the mask and she gradually accepted it.
As it was getting dark, the two decided to go out for a meal before going back. They came to a wonton shop. While waiting for the wontons, Xu Xingchen looked at the pedestrians on the street. The number of pedestrians on the street did not decrease as it got darker, but instead tended to increase.
She curiously asked the wonton shop owner, "Boss, it's getting late, why are there more and more people on the street?"
The wonton shop owner scooped up some wontons and replied, "Young Madam, you don't come to town very often, right? There's a lantern festival going on tonight, it's going to be very lively, you two can enjoy it."
Xu Xingchen was choked by his words about husband and wife, and opened his mouth to explain that they were not, but Jun Haoyue replied first: "Thank you, boss, we will go and take a look."
Jun Haoyue felt a pain in his foot under the table, but he still had a gentle smile on his face.
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