Chapter 14 Section VIII

On the first day of August, by the Phoenix Pond in Nanhuai City. "This tank is really big, how did you make it?" "It is made by melting broken crystals with fire in a stone and pouring them into molds." "I said, there would not be such a big crystal, it turned out to be cast." "The crystals cast are also crystals. The crystals cast by our craftsmen in Heluo are pure. You have never seen it before, little girl. It is exactly the same as the ones dug out. Huangyangling in Wanzhou says it is a crystal, but it is the largest crystal. It's no bigger than the mouth of a bowl, the crystals of our river network..."

"The bragging of the little thing is really big, if you want it, take it out and see!" "Who is the little thing? I... I didn't bring it with me..." "It's still bragging, you'll be seen out. Don't blush if you're seen out, be shy..." "I'm angry, not shy!" Lu Guichen was fascinated.In the huge crystal fish tank, the little crucian carp with red hibiscus head is swinging its body, coming and going briskly.This fish tank is really too big and too transparent. The fish probably don't realize that they are in the fish tank and think it is a crystal clear lake.They rushed over dully, and swung their bodies vigorously against the tank wall, but they couldn't swim anymore. The fish couldn't figure out why the transparent water became so hard all of a sudden, so they turned around and swam to the other side.Yu Ran was standing next to Lu Guichen, staring at the fish with wide eyes, and at the same time bickering with the boy from Heluo who sold fish tanks.The little He Luo was wearing a beautiful squirrel fur cloak, and he was very proud to see so many people paying attention to his fish tank, but this weird girl squeezed in from nowhere and kept bickering with him, throwing He flushed with anger.

"Yu Ran," Lu Guichen took her hand, "Stop making trouble." Yu Ran broke free from him, put his finger on the tip of his nose, made a funny face with that He Luo, and was dragged out of the crowd by Lu Guichen. On the other side is the sparkling Phoenix Pond. There are countless stalls along the lake, colorfully lined up to an invisible distance. Some of them used a three-foot-high bamboo pole to raise a flag, and some were full of breath To attract customers in front of the stalls, there are also dozens of copper coins thrown out from time to time in some stalls, and there are children waiting to pick them up, so the flow of people is blocked there.According to the rules in Nanhuai City, every year on the first day of August, the Chamber of Commerce sets up a market in Phoenix Pond. Merchants from all over the world come here to set up stalls with their goods. There are Yuren from Ningzhou and Beiman Mountain. In the river network, you can find a lot of novelties every year.

"Yu Ran, do you want fish?" Lu Guichen asked her. Yu Ran shook her head, and she stretched her hands behind her back: "It's just teasing that little river, it's really boring, there's nothing new and interesting this year." "Look, that tightrope walking kitten over there!" Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she squeezed into the crowd again. As soon as Lu Guichen lost his mind, Yu Ran's back had disappeared into the crowd.He tried his best to look up, only to see a kitten walking tremblingly on the steel wire above everyone's head, and there was applause from below.At the last foot, the kitten didn't go away, and jumped onto the opposite platform with four legs. It seemed to meow aggrievedly, and jumped off the platform and ran away.

The class leader was not in a hurry to find the cat, and quickly saluted the people around him with a smile. There was a silver penny in the copper tin, and they all threw it on the plate on the ground. Lu Guichen looked left and right, but there was no sign of Yuran. So he was left alone. He wandered along the small street by the lake. Along the way, he had seen the tame Kuafu, the Jade Cauldron Furnace that was as tall as a person, and the famous sword that could cut through jade. The most interesting thing is the one that can only stir-fry?Son, although this poor guy cooks dishes decently, but his arms are too short, and he is always jumping up and down by the heat of the flames. The shopkeeper enthusiastically invites customers to eat the monkey-fried dishes.

As Lu Guichen walked, he thought about the grassland in his hometown.He feels that he has fallen in love with Nanhuai City, and he will be nostalgic when he leaves. He will miss the big jujube tree. They always go over the wall to steal dates. The jujube tree in Nanhuai City is really it Knots are the best, and he will also miss the Tanggu Pavilion, which makes good rice wine. Ever since Xi Yan told them the location of that wine shop, Lu Guichen has lost count of how many times he has been there, and he will miss that restaurant. His wife's boss will make them pay when they forget to bring money, and he will miss his little daughter who always asks them for money in a tender voice.

He stopped, surrounded by bustling people coming and going. He couldn't find Yuran. He bowed his head silently. "Meow!" A thin meow came from under his feet. A kitten squatted under a bamboo plaque filled with hot chestnuts, staring at Lu Guichen with wide-eyed eyes.He felt that the cat looked familiar, so he squatted down and reached out his hand. The cat froze for a moment, turned around and tried to escape, but he still caught it.He picked up the cat, pinched its little white claws, and found that the claws inside had been cut and rounded.He remembered that it was the cat walking on the tightrope. Its owner cut its claws short for fear of rubbing against the wire.The cat lay docilely in his arms, wiped its face with its paws, as if it was going to sleep.Looking back, Lu Guichen saw that the tightrope-walking jugglers were already far away, and he didn't know how the kitten ran so far.He hugged the cat and nodded its head, stepped back from the bamboo plaque, thinking whether to carry it back, when someone bumped into his back from behind.

He turned around and saw a pair of deep red eyes. "Yu Ran?" His heart skipped a beat. "Ah, little cat, little cat!" Yu Ran ignored him, and saw the cat in his arms for the first time. She hugged the kitten and scratched its chin. The cat started to itch, and began to move restlessly left and right. Yuran held its two hind legs, and the cat had to use its front legs. It is propped on the ground, so that even if it wants to scratch Yuran, it can't scratch it. When Yuran pushes it, it has to step forward a few steps, and when it is pulled back, it retreats in panic. It's like a small cart.Lu Guichen couldn't help laughing when he saw it, and he didn't know where Yu Ran learned how to torment this kitten. He knew that there were actually very few cats in the forests of Ningzhou.

Finally the kitten couldn't take it anymore, kicked its hind legs, broke free from Yuran's grasp, and ran to the back of the small street.When Yu Ran wanted to chase her, Lu Guichen took her hand: "Stop chasing, it's back to walk the tightrope." Yuran stomped her feet, but still didn't chase after it. The kitten ran further and further away, leaving only a small white back.Lu Guichen felt that the palm of his hand was warm, so Yuran didn't let go of his hand.He suddenly had an idea, let Yuran just look at the cat like this, and he held Yuran's hand to look at her from behind... The cat was running, but it would never reach the end of the small street, and the surroundings were bustling He is here looking at Yuran.

The cat's back disappeared into the crowd, and Yuran withdrew her hand. The small street was not long, and the two of them finally reached the end. There were few stalls and few people here.The rays of the setting sun hit Lu Guichen's face directly, he covered the sun with his hands, and stopped at the intersection of the street. "I'm leaving, I'm going back to read." Yu Ran was also quiet for a while, and then said. "Reading?" Lu Guichen was stunned for a moment. He knew that Yuran knew a lot, but it was unimaginable to think of Yuran sitting there quietly reading a book.

"En!" Yu Ran nodded, "Asule, where are you going?" "Tomorrow, I have an appointment with Young Master Yu. I will go out of the city to visit Nangong. I am riding a horse. Let me take you back." "No more," Yu Ran shook his head, "I'll take a cart to the south of the city." Nanhuai City is a big place, merchants have horse-drawn carriages from the north to the south of the city, and two copper coins can be used to ride them, just like the carts going to other places, a cart can hold more than a dozen people, stop it at the street corner, and let the coachman stop at the place Just download it. "Well. Be careful then." Lu Guichen watched Yuran's back disappear into the crowd. His horse was stored at the other side of the street, and he wanted to go the opposite way. The autumn wind was already cold, Yu Ran pushed open the door of the Tanggu Pavilion, a stream of fresh fish steam gushed out, the steam was as thick as fish soup, with a bit of fishy smell.Yu Ran twitched her nose and sniffed vigorously, feeling warm all over her body.She rubbed her hands and looked around.Himeno was sitting at the table by the window, and five or six white porcelain cups were placed in a mess on the table.He still had a glass in his hand, and the plate on the table was empty. "I'm here, I'm here!" Yu Ran ran to the table and sat down, shouting at the shopkeeper, "What are you cooking today?" "It's herrings, give me a couple of them." "Well, we need herring." Yu Ran turned to look at Ji Ye who was silent, "My face is so long, I'm only a little late." "I'm fine, what did you do?" Ji Ye tried hard to pretend to be careless. "I told you to go shopping at the Phoenix Pond with Asule, but you can't say it yourself." "I don't want to go." Ji Ye knew that he was being angry, but his heart moved slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Stingy!" Yu Ran wrinkled her nose fiercely, and stuck out her tongue at him. "I'm not!" Ji Ye felt his face turn red.He was beating drums in his heart, wondering if he could suppress the blood color after being tanned these days. "You're stingy, you're stingy, you're stingy!" Yu Ran said in one voice, "Asule's father passed away, and he's been very sad these past few months! I won't accompany him, Do you accompany him? He is not like you, he just puts on his face, as if everyone owes you money, he just told me once, but I know he has been very sad in his heart!" Himeno finally fell silent.The shopkeeper brought up herrings and looked at the angry girl and the silent boy. Yu Ran gave Ji Ye a hard look, picked up a herring threaded on a bamboo stick and put it on the plate in front of him, reached out and pinched his nose hard.Ji Ye was unprepared, the pain was so painful that tears came out, but he didn't dare to pinch back, so he had to lower his head to eat the fish. The cold wind came in, and the shopkeeper went up and closed the window. The window was closed, and Lu Guichen could no longer hear anything. He was standing in the alley, with his back against the wall, and inside was his best friend and the girl who was destined to ruin the peace of his life. He thought it would be fine if he didn't know Yu Ran, and it would be best if he didn't know Ji Ye either.In this way, he is a little barbarian in Nanhuai City. He wears barbarian-style sleeves and proudly wears his small saber on his chest, although everyone looks down on him.Although he also looks at the wild geese coming from the north when the autumn wind comes, and thinks of his father, mother, Suma and Dahesa, he can't help but feel sad, but he will not feel as uncomfortable as he does now. What was in his heart made him want to take a big breath and let it all out.But it was useless, his heart was filled with viscous discomfort, without a single gap. What would his world be like if there were no Yuran and Himeno? He couldn't figure it out, he was really tired, and he sat down slowly against the wall, in an empty corner. The autumn wind swept across the street. He felt that the wind came from the grassland and brought a familiar smell.