On the night of the Lantern Festival, the weather was very good. There were a few shining stars in the sky, a few white clouds, and a full moon embedded in the blue canopy like a jade disk.

On that night, everyone worshipped God as usual, and quickly finished the prayer. Jueying took Juequn to the street to watch people burn dragon lanterns. Ruijue and Shuying sisters thought that Qin would go home the next day, and they all felt sorry for goodbye, although the two families were not far apart, they rarely had the opportunity to play with Qin for a few whole days. And once the Lantern Festival is over, the New Year's Festival is over, everyone has their own things, and they can no longer play as happily as in the New Year. So everyone got together and discussed how to spend the night in Juexin's room. Everyone agreed with Kyaw-sin's proposal to go boating in the garden.

Ruijue was going to go, but Haichen temporarily clamored for his mother to play with him, and she couldn't go away, so she stayed in the room. The three brothers who went were Juexin and Shuying, and there were seven Lianqin in total, plus Mingfeng. Ming Feng carried a small rattan basket with some wine and food in it.

A group of eight of them walked into the garden and walked along the corridor. Shuzhen was the most timid, so she pulled Mingfeng and walked against her. It's quiet in the garden. The electric lights were dim and lonely. A long strip of moonlight peeks out of the patio, and some dark shadows are painted in between. They walked slowly, talking as they walked, and were walking past the flower platform, when they suddenly heard an unusual wail, so a black shadow went to the top of the rockery, and then jumped to the tile of the corridor, so frightened that Shuzhen hurriedly leaned on Mingfeng's body, Shuhua asked in surprise one after another: "What is it?" ”

And they all stood still. But there was not a single movement around. Juehui paused, but did not hear a response. He stepped over the railing, stood on the flower stand, picked up some stones and threw them at the roof, and threw them twice in succession, when he heard the sound of the stones falling on the tiles and rolling. Immediately the cat barked, and then the sound of the cat running away was heard. "It's you," Jue Hui scolded with a smile. He jumped into the corridor again, and when he saw Shuzhen timidly snuggling Mingfeng, he laughed and said, "So cowardly, not shy!" ”

"Mom said there are ghosts in the garden," Shuzhen said in a trembling voice, holding Ming Feng's hand.

"Ghosts? Who has ever seen a ghost? Juehui smiled and asked, "Fifth Aunt lied to you, and you believed it." It's useless! And they all laughed.

"Fourth sister, since you are afraid of ghosts, why do you want to come in with us?" Juexin turned around and asked.

Shuzhen let go of Mingfeng's hand, glanced at everyone in fear, and replied hesitantly: "It's fun to be with you, I have to come with you." ”

"Well said, what a good sister of mine! Okay, let me protect you, I'm next to you, you don't have to be afraid. The ghost didn't dare to come," Jean said with a smile, and walked over to pull Shuzhen to her side, and took her hand and walked side by side with her.

"Jiang Taigong is here, and the gods avoid it," Shuhua sneered. The crowd burst out laughing.

They walked into the bamboo forest, and the lights were gone. The bamboo forest was not very dense, and there was a sheep intestine trail in the middle. The moonlight shone straight down from above. As soon as you look up, you can see the clear blue sky. The bamboo tips shook slightly, making a subtle sound, and at the same time people heard the water gurgling, but they didn't know where the water came from, and when they were about to finish walking through the bamboo forest, they saw a small stream in front of them.

Juehui deliberately said that he was bold and not afraid of ghosts, so he specially stayed behind and walked with Mingfeng. At this moment, he suddenly flashed to the side and ran towards the bamboo bushes. When everyone heard the voice, they all looked back, and Juemin asked, "Third brother, what are you going to do?" ”

Juehui didn't answer, silently chose a small Guanyin bamboo, pulled it hard, couldn't pull it up, so he broke it, and removed the bamboo tops, only one section was left, took it in his hand, and clicked it on the ground a few times, and said with satisfaction: "This is a good cane," and walked back to Mingfeng's side.

The crowd standing by and watching him laughed. Juemin smiled and said, "I said that you went crazy and wanted to dig up some treasure, so that's what happened." ”

"Treasure? You're thinking about treasure all the time! I see that you haven't finished the play "Treasure Island" yet, and people are fascinated," Juehui sneered.

The crowd went on again with a smile and a smile. They then walked into the pine forest, and the surroundings suddenly became dark. The moonlight was obscured by the pin-like pine leaves, and only a few bright spots were sprinkled, and they could hardly tell the way when they walked to the thickest part of the forest. But they are used to walking, and although the road is tortuous, they can still grope their way. Jue Hui walked to the front, and he used a bamboo pole to find his way. From time to time, a loud voice is sent to everyone's ears, bringing them a terrifying feeling, which is the horror of the incredible darkness and the pine waves of **. Everyone walked forward slowly with a nervous mood, and Jean let Shuzhen snuggle in her arms and protect her with her hands.

The front gradually lights up. They suddenly arrived at the lakeside. A bright white water lay in front of it, and the surface of the water was full of moonlight, becoming a sparkling patch. The full moon floats and sinks on the water, sometimes oval in shape by the slightly turbulent waves. From time to time, people can hear the chirping of fish. Not far to the right is the round arch bridge; On the left, the lake pavilion and the curved stone bridge are faintly visible.

The crowd stood at the water's edge, quietly looking at the water. Suddenly, a stone fell into the water, and the bright moon was scattered into a large circle. Although the moon soon returned to its original state, the circle of the water remained, and gradually expanded to the point of none.

Juemin turned his head, looked at Juehui who was standing behind and smiled, and said, "It's you again!" ”

"Why are you standing still here? What are you waiting for? Isn't that a ship? Juehui pointed to the boat moored not far from the bridge on the opposite shore and tethered to the trunk of a willow tree.

"We've seen it a long time ago, and we're waiting for you to say it," Shuhua hurriedly replied, then reached behind her back and pulled her braids over, while playing with it, while looking up at the bright moon in the sky, she sang Su Dongpo's "Water Tune Song Head" loudly.

Shuhua just sang two sentences: "When is the bright moon, ask the wine to the sky," and was picked up by Juemin's loud singing: "I don't know what year it is in the heavenly palace." Then Eum-e-young and Sook-young also sang. Juexin took a tube of hole flute he brought and blew it. When Shuying saw Juexin playing the flute, she snatched the flute from Juemin's hand and said, "The sound of the flute is too thin, so let me play the flute." The melodious sound of the flute overwhelmed the subtle sound of the flute, but the mournful cry of the flute had penetrated the air, and it still showed one or two sounds from time to time.

Jue Hui slowly walked along the lake towards the bridge, and he also called Ming Feng to go with him. He had a few words with Ming Feng. Ming Feng replied to him briefly, and then returned to Shuying. When Jue Hui was about to walk to the bridge, he realized that he was alone, and Ming Feng did not follow, so he turned around and went back. He was already irritable in this beautiful environment, and for some reason, he always felt that he was somewhat different from his brothers and sisters, and he always felt that there was something like a volcano waiting to erupt under the calm surface of this family.

After singing a song, the sound of the flute and flute also stopped. Shuying put the flute to her mouth again and prepared to blow it again, but was stopped by Juehui, he said, "When you get to the boat, you can blow it slowly, why be in such a hurry?" Everyone walked along the lakeside to the bridgehead, led by Juehui, and Mingfeng at the end. They quickly crossed the bridge.

When they reached the meadow, Juexin went to untie the boat tied to the trunk of the willow tree, and brought the boat close to the shore, and let everyone go down, and then sat down in the stern of the boat, and rowed slowly with the oars.

The boat slowly passed under the arched bridge, towards the width of the front. Mingfeng sat at the bow of the boat, she untied the small rattan basket she brought, took out the braised vegetables, melon seeds, peanuts, etc., and took out a bottle of rose wine and a few small wine glasses. She handed them to Shuying and Shuhua one by one, and they placed them on the small round table in the boat. Juemin pulled the cork from the wine bottle and poured it for everyone. The moonlight shone unobstructedly on the boat, and they drank with the young men.

The round arch bridge has been left behind. It was bathed in the moonlight like a veil, a little blurry, and a few electric lights by the bridge shone in the haze. The boat was slowly turning, and it was hard to feel it. They looked at the full moon in the sky for a long time, and suddenly they buried their heads, and then they saw that the scenery around them had changed. On one side is a steep stone wall, and on the other side is a row of water pavilions facing the lake. The Pavilion in the middle of the lake was already fully visible, and it was covered with moonlight and lights.

Juehui turned around and looked around, feeling that there was a full stomach full of words to spit out, so she screamed, and the sound was blocked by the stone wall, and then folded back and scattered into the ears of everyone.

"Your voice is so loud," Juexin said to Juehui with a smile, and then he sang Peking Opera aloud. At this time, the boat turned over the stone wall again, and was under the fishing platform. The person turned around and looked on the other side, and the water pavilion was already hidden behind the dwarf trees, and now all he saw was dense dwarf trees.

"Big brother, come over for a meal, don't shake it, let the boat flow on its own," Shuying said as she looked at Juexin.

"It's good to sit here, it's spacious to sit alone," Juexin replied. So he stopped rocking the boat, took a sip of wine from his glass, and grabbed a few peanuts and put them in his mouth and chewed them. The boat moved smoothly on the water. After chewing the peanuts, he said to himself, "I think it is better to lean the boat under the fishing platform, I want to go to the shore." As he spoke, without waiting for an answer, he leaned the boat inside, and though it was a little difficult, the boat finally approached the fishing platform. There were stone steps below to lead to the top, so he got off the boat and walked up the stone steps. In a few moments, his head appeared in front of the stone railing on the fishing platform, looking at them and smiling.

Shuying hurriedly grabbed a handful of melon seeds and threw them at Juexin. But as soon as he turned around, he disappeared, and only heard him singing Peking Opera on it, and his voice became quieter and quieter, and then he was no longer audible.

"It's a pity that there's one less person tonight," Jean said, as if feeling dissatisfied.

"Is it sister-in-law?" Shuhua hurriedly asked, while munching melon seeds.

Jean shook her head.

"I know it's Mei ......" Jue Hui was interrupted by Juemin before she could finish speaking. Juemin glanced at him and said angrily, "Be quiet, you are so talkative, you almost let the eldest brother hear it again." ”

What does it matter if he hears it? He'd seen her before," Jue Hui argued unconvinced.

"Big brother has already seen Cousin Mei? ......" Shuhua asked in surprise.

"Young Master," Ming Feng called out at the bow of the boat with a smile. Everyone looked up and saw Juexin sticking his head out to listen attentively to their conversation, so they fell silent.

Juexin slowly walked down, walked from the stone steps to the boat, and still sat down at the stern. He asked the people, "Why don't you say anything when you see me coming?" There was a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"We forgot what we're talking about, it's none of your business," Kyawmin disguised.

"I obviously heard you talking about Cousin Mei, talking about me," Juexin said with a wry smile. He dialed the boat and let it flow slowly towards the center of the lake.

"Really. Sister Qin meant: It would be better if Cousin Mei was here tonight," but Jue Hui was straightforward, and he finally said it, and at this time the boat was already flowing in the middle of the lake, and it was slowly flowing forward.

"Cousin Mei will not come here in this life!" Juexin looked at the sky and sighed, one accidentally pushed the boat to the right side, and even splashed on the boat. But he immediately steadied the ship again.

A few gray clouds appeared in the sky, and the full moon gradually walked towards the clouds. Everyone looked at Juexin.

"In fact, there are few people not only Cousin Mei, but also Cousin Hui and Cousin Yun of Grandma Zhou's family. In the past, when they came to play, the eldest sister was still there, and we were so lively. Later, the eldest sister passed away. It has been three years since they left the provincial capital. Time flies! Shuying said to Juexin with half nostalgia and half emotion.

"Don't be upset. I heard my mother say that Grandma Zhou had a letter and that Cousin Hui and her sisters would be back to the provincial capital in a year or two," Shuhua interjected.

"Really? You're not lying to me? Sookyoung asked with a smile. After that, she turned her head to Qin and said, "Sister Qin, you have to go back tomorrow." We'll row here again tomorrow night, and it'll be much quieter. Everyone has to disperse. It is really the so-called 'there is no feast in the world that will not be dispersed'. ”

"It's better to disperse early, like this, frightened, lest it disperse, and the result is still inevitably scattered, which is uncomfortable!" Juehui said angrily.

"You have to know that 'the tree has fallen and scattered', and now the tree has not fallen!" Juexin answered.

"In the end, one day it will fall, so it will be dispersed early, so that everyone can go their own way." Jue Hui said these words, as if many times of resentment had been vented.

"Sister Qin, I don't want to disperse, how lonely it is to be alone!" Shuzhen, who was sitting between Qin and Shuying, suddenly raised her head and looked at Qin's face, and said anxiously as if asking for help; Although it was a girl's crisp voice, it already contained the seeds of sorrow. At this time, Juehui's eyes appeared in front of her little feet covered with red satin embroidered shoes, and painful sorrows sounded in her ears. The sorrow of the little girl's whole existence is so oppressive that it makes people naturally sympathize. But this sympathy was only temporary, for for in front of each of them lay the unknown future, the gloomy future, and each of them thought about his own thoughts, and was full of doubts about his future.

The water suddenly became dark, and the surroundings were gray. The full moon burrowed into the clouds, and for a moment there was no light. The water was silent, only the regular sound of rowing broke the silence of the night.

"Shake it down," Juexin instructed Ming Feng, who was sitting at the bow of the boat.

Shuzhen hurriedly leaned into Qin's body, and Qin hugged her tightly. The sky was bright again, and suddenly the surroundings lit up, and the moon broke out of the cloud encirclement, leaving the clouds behind, and walking straight into the vast blue sky. The pavilion in the middle of the lake and the curved stone bridge are clearly in front, and the moonlight casts their shadows on the water as if in a drawing. On the left is the Merlin, the flowers have gone, and the withered branches stand proudly under the cold moon with their lingering fragrance, and some oblique shadows cast on the water. On the right side is a slope with a few willow trees sparsely planted, and a small embankment has been built on the outside, and a small pond has been made into the lake, and there is a small hole like a bridge hole in the embankment, so that the water from the lake outside can flow in.

"Don't be afraid, sit down, you see how beautiful the moon is now!" Eum-chan patted Sook-jeong on the shoulder and said.

Sookjeong sat upright. She looked at the sky, then at the surroundings, at the crowd, and finally at Qin, and said as if she didn't understand, "Sister Qin, why did you disperse?" Isn't it good for everyone to get together every day? ”

Everyone laughed, and Qin lovingly patted Shuzhen's shoulder and said with a smile: "Crazy child, everyone has their own affairs, how can they play together every day?" ”

"In the future, everyone will disperse, and so will you. You will also marry when you grow up in the future, and follow your aunt and young master. You will be with him all day long, and you will forget about us," Juexin said half-mockingly, half-emotionally.

Why should a woman marry into someone else's family and abandon the person she loves to accompany others? - This is a question that Sook-jeong has asked her mother secretly several times, but has never received an answer that she can understand. However, when she heard someone talk about Young Master Gu, she instinctively blushed and felt a shame that she couldn't explain herself.

"I don't marry, and I will never marry in the future," she replied bluntly.

"Then are you going to stay at home and be an old lady?" Juemin, who was sitting diagonally across from her, smiled.

Then Juehui hurriedly asked: "Since you will never marry, then why did you let the fifth aunt bind your feet?" ”

Sook-jeong couldn't find the words to answer. She pouted, buried her head, and silently pinched her slightly sore little feet with her hand, and her mother's words suddenly came to her heart. Indeed, her mother once told her that her sister-in-law was ridiculed because of her natural feet, and on the day she got married, as soon as her sister-in-law entered the new house and sat on the edge of the bed, someone deliberately lifted her skirt to look at her big feet. Thus she learned of the misfortune of Bigfoot from her mother's words, and experienced the happiness of Littlefoot from under her mother's board, and was whipped many times, suffered for a long time, shed a lot of tears, and had some sleepless long nights, and she actually caused such a deformed thing on her feet. But what did she get? She became something for her mother to boast about, and at the same time she became a source of ridicule for her brothers and sisters. The praise and glory promised by the mother did not come, but the ridicule and pity that the mother did not expect. Now that she had just reached the age of thirteen, she was still a victim at such a young age. With these crippled feet, I feel sore all the time, compared to my sisters, I can't catch up with anything, and people have become more cowardly because of the disability of the body. The only hope of avenging oneself was only at that moment of marriage. Now stroking these scarred little feet, can she say that she doesn't want to marry? However, the hope for the future is also very slim and empty. Everything seems to be changing now, and there are clearly four pairs of naturally developing heavenly feet in this small boat alone. So how could she say that at that moment her hope of revenge would be satisfied?

Thinking of this, she actually fell on Qin's body and cried in a low voice.

Everyone didn't know what the reason was, and they thought that Shuzhen was reluctant to disperse, so they comforted her with a smile. She just buried her head and cried, and she cried even harder. When the people saw that the persuasion was ineffective, they stopped persuading her. Juemin even said, "Look at you stained Sister Qin's clothes," but she couldn't raise her head. Shuying then picked up the flute and blew the tune of "Sad Autumn" horizontally to her mouth. The sound of the flute seemed to be crying about a sad past, the sound rippled on the water, fell and floated, scattered and condensed.

Suddenly, a long sigh rose from behind. Everyone looked at the stern of the boat, and Juexin hugged his knees and looked up at the sky. The boat was quietly fluttering slightly on the water, and the pavilion in the center of the lake was in front, which seemed very big and very **, as if there was a secret inside.

"Why are you still here after all this time?" Juehui asked in surprise.

No one answered him. Juexin dialed the boat in the back and let it flow to the right and under the bridge. The bridge was almost close to their heads. Instinctively, everyone turned to the side, and the hull of the ship moved greatly. By the time everyone stabilized their bodies, the clear light of the sky washed their faces, and the bridge was already behind.

"What's wrong?" Shuzhen sat down and asked Qin in horror, but Qin didn't answer, but Shuhua sneered.

The water is wider. A white and bright water, without a single ripple, just flowing slowly forward, looks very smooth and lovely in the moonlight. The boat flowed on the water, stable and natural, without stirring up a little turmoil.

"You see, the lake is like satin!" Juemin looked at the water and exclaimed.

"The moon is so nice tonight, but it's a pity that it's not autumn, so it's a little colder," Jean said.

"People are not always satisfied. With this, I want to be like that. You see the fog is coming," Juexin said, and then instructed Mingfeng: "Mingfeng, shake it quickly, I'm afraid it's not too early." ”

Gradually, the lake turned and the water narrowed, and then the trees and houses were no longer visible. On both sides are man-made rocks, and on the top of the hill on the right is a hut overlooking from above. The water in this area is relatively fast. The boat quickly flowed past. Juexin carefully rocked the oars and made the boat turn a big turn and turn to the back. The water is still very narrow. On one side is a low wall, and on the other side is a rockery. Here the sky is high and the moon is smaller. There was already a faint fog on the water, and everything was in a haze. When the cold began to hit, some people drank the rest of the wine in their cups, or leaned close to each other. The sound of gongs and drums was sent outside, faintly, as if a world was separated. Juexin and Mingfeng rowed hard.

"Fourth cousin, have you really decided to go to school? I heard that your husband is coming tomorrow," Eumum, softly asked Sook-jeong. It turned out that in the past few days, the two sisters, Shuhua and Shuzhen, were inspired by Qin and made up their minds to continue studying, and after several requests, they actually got their mother's permission. Tomorrow, Mr. Long, who teaches reading, is here, and they will go to school with Jueying.

"It's decided, I've got everything ready," Shuzhen replied without hesitation.

"I didn't think it would be so easy to succeed this time," Jean said happily.

"What's so surprising about that!" Juehui hurriedly said, "I don't want her to spend an extra penny." And she saw that other people's girls had read, and her own daughter didn't know a few words, so how could she be proud? Fifth Dad has never cared about this kind of thing, Grandpa is only afraid that you will lose his face, and he will not object to studying at home. And what I read is the 'Book of the Sages'! ......" When he said the words of the Book of Sages, he felt numb for a while, and he couldn't help laughing. After he said this, the matter was as clear as day, and there was no need to explain it. The ship has turned to the front. The water was covered with fog and white, but the sides of the arch bridge were faintly peeking out of the fog. The electric lamps by the bridge stood dimly in the moonlight, and covered with a veil of fog, turning a vague reddish yellow. They have already come full circle around the lake.

The boat slowly moved through the fog. This time looking at the moon in the fog, there is no other kind of fun. Everyone looked around silently, and after a while, the boat returned to the evening incense building. Juexin asked everyone if they wanted to go back.

"It's not early, let's go back and eat dumplings," Juehui replied hurriedly. No one objected to this proposal. So Juexin brought the boat closer to the shore, still moored under the willow tree, let everyone go ashore one by one, tied the cable to the tree, and then followed everyone to the bridge.

On the way, Juemin couldn't stop admiring: "I've never had such a good time as tonight." And there were those who agreed with that. It's just that Juexin secretly thought in his heart: "It would be nice if Mei was there." Jean also felt that "it's a pity that there is one less Mei", and she thought, "It would be nice to let Mei come here to play!" ”

As soon as they walked out of the garden, they met Jueying and Juequn running in from outside. When Jueying saw Juexin, she asked excitedly:

"Big brother, do you see the other way? It's time to fight! ”

"What's the extra? Which one fought? Juexin said inexplicably.

"See for yourself," Jueying said triumphantly, handing over a piece of paper in her hand.

It was the "emergency extra" of the National Gazette.

"The Overseers have ordered a crusade against Commander Zhang, and the front line has been fired," Juexin said nervously.