Chapter 14 7. Uncle Ji keeps her first love in the deepest part of her heart

People near and far from Shitangpu said that Yang Zhuang, the young lady of the Yang family, was quite different from ordinary people.Girls who have reached the age of leaving the court, which one is not dressed in bright red and green, and flowers, but Miss Yang has always loved plain dresses, no powder, no flowers; other girls spend all day in the embroidery building In the rush to make wedding dresses, Miss Yang knew nothing about needlework, but she kept reading and studying poetry day and night; other girls became restless when they arrived at seventeen or eighteen and did not have a husband's family, and they tried different ways to hint to their mother to look for her for her.But Ms. Yang is twenty years old, and there are dozens or even hundreds of matchmakers who come to the door, but she refuses to agree to any of them, as if she is determined to be an old girl forever.This Miss Yang is really a weirdo!When the words reached Yang Zhuang's ears, she didn't mind too much.She knew very well in her heart that she was not to blame.

Ms. Yang, whose nickname is Uncle Ji, does not like heavy makeup very much, and she rarely wears colorful clothes, but it is by no means that she does not love beauty, but what she likes is elegant and clean beauty.Her clothes are not all plain, and she also likes several kinds of dresses made of small floral and check fabrics.She is indeed obsessed with poetry and prose, she has a very high self-esteem, and even fantasizes about being a contemporary Yi'an layman. As for saying that she knows nothing about female celebrities, that is a big mistake. Uncle Ji is skillful, needlework and tailoring, drawing dragons and embroidering phoenixes, she can afford everything and does it well.She also secretly made a mandarin duck purse and kept it at the bottom of the box, but there was no one to give it away.Uncle Ji declined all matchmakers, although it was because she had high vision and looked down on ordinary men, but there was another more important reason.That is the deepest secret in a girl's heart, it will only be buried forever, and it will never be revealed to the world.

More than three years ago, the seventeen-year-old Shu Ji and her elder brother visited her uncle's house in Guide Town.One day, a strange young man suddenly came to his uncle's house, saying that he made a special trip from Kaifeng Mansion to Guide Town to visit Yang Du.Yang Du was hospitable by nature, and when he saw this man coming from a long distance, he received him warmly and asked him to stay in the yamen of the General Army.It turned out that that person was Xia Shoutian.This time he roamed the Central Plains and stayed at the home of his father's friend, the prefect of Kaifeng, Mr. Chen.Master Chen told him that Yang Zhentai in Guide Town was also from Hunan, and his nephew was a talented man, so he came to visit him because of his reputation, and was willing to make friends.Xia Shoutian lived in Guide Town for half a month, and talked with Yang Du about knowledge, poetry, and state affairs every day, and his uncle did not avoid this fellow Xia Gongzi.For half a month, Xia Shoutian's handsome appearance, outstanding talent, and humble and sincere attitude have caused sweet ripples in the heart of a young girl who is just in love.She likes to be near him.When her brother talked with him, she always sat quietly and listened. As she listened, the corners of her eyes turned to Xia Shoutian unconsciously.

Uncle Ji will always remember that day. It was a ninety-nine sunny day.In the morning, Xia Shoutian said to Yang Du: "The weather is so nice, let's go for a walk outside the city!" Yang Du agreed. Uncle Ji said, "Brother, I'll go with you." Yang Du said: "The road outside the city is not easy to travel, you are a girl, so don't go." Uncle Ji felt wronged and pouted. Xia Shoutian said: "She is bored in the house every day, and it is rare to have the opportunity to go out of the city once. If you are an older brother, if you don't take her, who will she go with?" Then he said to his uncle, "Let's go, let's go together. !"

After hearing this, Uncle Ji went into the house and changed into a nice dress, combed her hair hastily, and followed her brother and Mr. Xia out of the city gate. Yo, how beautiful the outside of the city is!The weeds are turning green, the mountain flowers are blooming, the streams are cheerful, and the birds are spreading their wings. This spring is so charming.The seventeen-year-old girl in her boudoir is like an eight- or nine-year-old girl. She is happy and happy. She is no longer listening to her brother and Mr. Xia talking about the past and the present as usual. She leaves them and devotes herself to the world of nature. embrace.For a while, she went to the stream to wash her hands and face, watching the group of little tadpoles in the stream with ecstasy; It was clear and pleasant to the ear, and she felt that even the most beautiful stringed songs were not so beautiful.She picked a lot of wild flowers that can't be named: red, yellow, lavender, and snow-white, and she held a full embrace.Suddenly, she saw a huge butterfly approaching a flower stamen.The butterfly's wings were moving, and there were large and small azure blue circles scattered on the black texture.Under the sunlight, those blue circles emit a translucent brilliance.Uncle Ji had never seen such a beautiful butterfly. She wanted to catch it, so she dropped the flower, held her breath, and approached on tiptoe step by step.Seeing that she could catch it, but as soon as she stretched out her hand, the butterfly flew away.Uncle Ji was not reconciled, and ran after the butterfly. The butterfly was frightened and flew forward, never daring to stop.

"Uncle Ji, what are you chasing?" Yang Du yelled after seeing his sister running forward. "Butterfly, butterfly!" Shuji replied while running. "Forget it, a butterfly, what are you doing chasing after it?" Just when Yang Du was trying to stop his sister, Xia Shoutian came up from behind and shouted loudly: "Uncle Ji, don't run, stop!" Uncle Ji stopped in her tracks.Xia Shoutian approached her and said, "You are chasing so hard, how can it stop? You should stand here and wait until it stops before catching it. Stand still, and I will catch it for you."

"Are you catching it for me?" Uncle Ji looked at Xia Shoutian, then at her elder brother who was standing still far away, and was filled with gratitude for this eldest son in the governor's yamen. The butterfly finally stopped on a wild flower again, Xia Shoutian took off the black satin hat on his head, and stepped forward lightly.Seeing that it was approaching, he violently covered it with his hat, and accidentally fell down in the grass.Uncle Ji exclaimed: "Master Xia, have you fallen?" Unexpectedly, Xia Shoutian said excitedly: "It's covered, the butterfly is covered!"

Uncle Ji stepped forward, only to see Xia Shoutian lying on the ground, holding down the black satin hat firmly: "Be careful, don't let it escape!" Uncle Ji carefully took the hat out of Xia Shoutian's hand, and slowly opened it up a little.Sure enough, I caught it!The butterfly was flapping its two big wings, and she quickly caught it with her fingers. "It's so beautiful, it's really a rare butterfly!" Xia Shoutian got up from the ground and stood beside Uncle Ji, admiring the black butterfly covered with blue circles together with her. "Blood!" Uncle Ji suddenly saw that Xia Shoutian's arm was covered with blood, and then looked at the grass. It turned out that there were several sharp stones there, and one of them was also covered with blood.

"It doesn't matter!" Xia Shoutian smiled indifferently, and took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe it. "Does it hurt?" Uncle Ji asked distressedly. "It doesn't hurt!" Xia Shoutian shook his head and said, "What is this?" "Oh, put on the hat!" Shuji handed over the hat with guilt. Xia Shoutian took the hat and put it on his head.Uncle Ji glanced at it bewilderedly.She suddenly discovered that Mr. Xia's braids are particularly black and shiny, and he looks very manly! The days passed quickly.Xia Shoutian is about to leave Guide Town, so he and Yang Du meet again in the capital next spring.Yang Du bid farewell to him happily, but he didn't expect that Shu Ji who was standing aside was feeling a strong sense of loss.In the few days after Xia Shoutian left, my uncle seemed to have lost her soul, restless in sitting and sleeping, unable to think about food and drink, and the girl's heart, which was originally calm like a pool of autumn water, suddenly lost its balance.She often talked about Mr. Xia unconsciously to her elder brother, and Yang Du always praised Wu Yi for his good knowledge and good character, and he was a rare talent.After hearing these words, the girl seemed to have some kind of satisfaction in her heart.Two months passed, and Yang Du received Xia Shoutian's letter from Jiangxi. After reading it, he happily showed it to his sister, but after only reading two lines, his uncle's head began to dizzy and her heart beat wildly.It turned out that at the beginning of Xia Shoutian's letter, he told his good friend in an extremely excited tone that his beautiful and virtuous wife had recently given birth to a boy, and the Xia family had a grandson, and the whole family was full of joy.

That night, my uncle suffered from insomnia, and tears flowed quietly all night.Only now did she realize that she had fallen deeply in a love that she shouldn't have fallen into, and she had lived in a ridiculous dream for more than two months! The first love of a dignified and talented girl is so pure, obsessed, focused, and devoted: after more than three years, Uncle Ji still can't erase the half-month affection, and she secretly wrote hundreds of untitled poems.She can only use pen and paper, and a wonderful combination of words to express the deep feelings in her heart.It's a pity that none of these untitled poems survived, and she destroyed them as she wrote them, and she didn't want others to see them.

Time flies, Uncle Ji is already twenty years old.It is very rare for a twenty-year-old girl to be married. Her mother, Li Shi, is worried, her brother is also paying attention to her sister, and her uncle has begun to face up to this matter.She sometimes thinks that it will be difficult to meet someone like Xia Lang in this life, so why not get married if she doesn't?Blossoms can be folded straight to be folded, don't wait for no flowers to break branches.A girl is like a flower, and now it is in full bloom, and it will wither into empty branches in a few years.Even if you met someone like Xia Lang at that time, if you fell in love with him, would he fall in love with you?Although she thought so in her heart, every time the matchmaker mentioned someone, she would subconsciously compare with Xia Lang, always feeling that the difference was too far.It's too much to ask for perfection in life's major event, and a proud girl is always reluctant. A few days ago, my brother sent a letter from home, and Wang Kaiyun also sent back the revised poem with his own handwriting.In the elder brother's letter, Mr. Wang's praise for the two poems was conveyed, and he also said that the old man extended a warm invitation and told his sister to come, and that Mr. Wang's kindness must not be disobeyed.Holding this letter, my uncle was very excited.Mr. Wang is famous all over the world for his poems, and it is truly a supreme honor to be praised by him. She thought of the good stories in the poetry world of the Tang Dynasty: Zhang Ji praised Zhu Qingyu, Lu Zhi praised Han Tuizhi; Mr. Wang is today's Zhang Ji and Lu Zhi.It would be a blessing if I could spread the name of the poem through Mr. Wang's bragging in the future.Miss Shuji, who wanted to be Yi'an Layman wholeheartedly, ignited a flame of fantasy in her heart.Look at the two poems revised by Mr. Wang, which not only broadens the artistic conception of the original poems, but also the skill of practicing calligraphy is far beyond my own.The title of master in the poetry world is indeed well-founded!Now the old gentleman actually invited him to Chuanshan Academy, what a rare opportunity to ask for advice in person! Shuji dug out all the poems she had stored in the past few years, recited them one by one, carefully selected ten poems that she thought were satisfactory, and then reviewed the ten poems line by line.Good work does not show others to be humble.The talented woman with strong self-esteem has repeatedly warned herself: Never make a fool of yourself in front of the poet.After the poems were selected, she found the articles and selected three of them.Such a good opportunity cannot be missed, and we must consult the old man in many ways.After everything was ready, she suddenly remembered, isn't Mr. Xia also in Chuanshan Academy?After being separated for more than three years, she really wanted to see him.Uncle Ji opened the closet, took out the yellow foreign cloth blouse with red flowers on the yellow background that her aunt had given her, and put it on the cotton padded jacket.She looked in the mirror and thought the girl in the mirror was very beautiful.After a while, she took out the red woolen shawl trimmed with peacock feathers that her brother had given her, and put it on the foreign cloth blouse.The girl in the mirror is even more dazzling. "Sister, will you be able to leave tomorrow?" Just as Shu Ji was admiring herself in the mirror, younger brother Yang Jun came in and asked. Yang Jun is seventeen years old this year, slightly shorter than his elder brother.He is as handsome and intelligent as his elder brothers and sisters, but his personality is more inherited from his mother. He is gentle and comfortable, does not like competition, and has little interest in state affairs. The good things are pure literati such as calligraphy, painting, gold and stone.A few years ago, his elder brother and sister went to Guide Town. He was still young, and his mother was worried about letting him go far away, so he had to stay at home.Yang Jun has never traveled far, and he has only been to the county seat twice. This trip to Hengzhou Mansion was the first time for him to travel far in his life.In the past few days after receiving his brother's letter, he has been in a state of excitement, urging his sister every day when to leave. "Leave tomorrow." Uncle Ji left the mirror and said to her younger brother, "You tell mother, we will leave early tomorrow morning to catch the noon steamer, and we will definitely be able to reach Hengzhou Mansion before it gets dark. Wrap the dried fish and loach. In addition, the two cured rabbit meat I gave to Mr. Wang are put in the cupboard, already wrapped, and you should also put them in the bag." "Are you sure to leave tomorrow?" Yang Jun was overjoyed, and asked another question worriedly. "Definitely go." Looking at her younger brother's innocent appearance, Uncle Ji smiled and nodded in affirmation. "Okay!" Yang Jun danced happily, and hurriedly ran to the kitchen behind.