The crowd gathered around the incense case.

Several young girls dressed in kimonos of various colors walked into the middle of the crowd one by one, led by Masami Miyai. The girls stood in a row in front of the desk, and a middle-aged woman in her early fifties, dressed in a khaki kimono and with a kind face, walked up to the incense desk and lit a candle. Then he took out three sticks of incense sticks from the sachet on the desk and lit them with a candle. She retreated to the desk, put her hands together and put the incense stick between her fingers, bowed her head and silently chanted the blessing, then bowed three times and inserted the incense into the incense burner. At this time, many women in the crowd of onlookers joined the women in silent prayer.

The woman bowed, walked to the side of the desk, and nodded to the girls.

Masami Miyai was the first to walk to the desk, took the three incense sticks that had been lit from the woman's hand, prayed three times, and then also inserted the incense into the incense burner and stepped aside. One by one, the other girls stepped forward and burned incense and worshipped.

Fang Ming and Zheng Yuanji were also in the crowd watching this ceremony with interest. Dandan also folded his hands at this time, praying with those girls.

Fang Ming counted nine young women and asked Dandan, "Why are these only these people coming to worship?" ”

"Those who participate in the Qixi Festival worship of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are generally girls who have not yet married when they reach the marriageable age, and girls who are too young are not eligible to participate, and there are not many married women who come to participate. Also, if you have a little confidence in your craft, you will sign up for the competition, so there will not be too many people. ”

Fang Ming continued to ask, "Then what are you all praying for?" ”

"We worship the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and we will pray that the Weaver Girl will give us craftsmanship and wisdom, and those who are not married will hope that they will get happy love, some girls will beg for beauty, some girls will hope that they will achieve success in their work, and there are also married women who come to beg for children, anyway, it is all the girl's heart."

Zheng Yuanji said: "Well, then I know, you see that this girl is not tall, she must be praying that she will grow taller." The man who was so fat just now, with short and thick legs, must have prayed that he could meet a man who likes fat girls and marry him. ”

"Oh, you're a man! Is it okay to keep virtue under your mouth? How do you pick on the shortcomings of others? Not every girl looks like a model, so doesn't an ordinary girl live? And everyone has their own merits, learn to appreciate everyone. Dandan protested unevenly.

Fang Ming said: "Why is this girl so familiar? I think I've seen it. ”

Zheng Yuanji said: "Isn't it Miss Chiyo who I saw in the flower shop in the afternoon, and you don't recognize it when you wear a kimono?" Hmm, could she be begging the Weaver Girl to get rid of the freckles on her face? Oops! ”

It turned out that Zheng Yuanji's words had just fallen, and Dandan had knocked on the skull. "Let you hurt people again! In the afternoon, he said that he only had me in his eyes, but he didn't forget the other beauties? A crow never the whiter for washing herself often! ”

As he spoke, he finished worshipping. The women held hands, some laughed and walked to the corridor by the pavilion, each took out their own gadgets and hung them on a rope, some took out a string of wind chimes made of shells, some hung out a cute doll, a bunch of colorful silk folded into a fake flower that can be messed up, and a pair of embroidered gold-rimmed small cloth shoes that people can't put down. Some of the visitors in the garden came to the corridor to admire these exquisite crafts, some guessed lantern riddles under the lanterns, some frolicked by the pond, and several teenage girls gathered on the lawn to dance seriously, as if they were rehearsing a group of dances.

Dandan also pulled Zheng Yuanji to the corridor to appreciate these exquisite handiwork.

At this time, there were a few girls around a round table, each holding a white lotus root in their hands, Zheng Yuan asked curiously: "Hey! It's so interesting! Dandan, look, what is a new way to eat them holding lotus root so high? ”

Huang Dan looked at it and snorted, "You don't know this, they are in the game, there are seven embroidery needles inserted on the lotus root, see who can pass through the seven needle noses in the shortest time, who is the most ingenious!" ”

Zheng Yuanji took a closer look, and sure enough, he saw seven embroidery needles inserted in a row on each lotus root, and a red ribbon was wrapped around one end of the lotus root. "Ah, that's hard! Dandan, can you do it? ”

"Of course, it's not difficult for me at all, I always finish it first when I was in my hometown!"

At this time, an older woman next to her shouted, "Begin." All the women started to thread the needle together, the needle nose of the embroidery needle was originally small, and it was more difficult to wear seven pieces at once, only to see that all the women were engrossed in holding the cotton thread in one hand, holding the lotus root in the other hand, some facing the moonlight, some facing the light, looking at the needle nose, and trying to wear it one by one. Some people first put the cotton thread in their mouths to moisten the thread, some twist the thread into a thin and sharp point by hand, and some simply bite off the rough thread with their teeth. Some people are anxious, and they obviously pass through the nose of the needle but retreat without paying attention; Some people don't have good hand-eye coordination and can't always wear the needle nose, but the cotton thread is bent, and they can't wear it. Some of the onlookers couldn't help but enjoy themselves, some patiently guided, and some cheered on the sidelines, which was so lively. In the end, it was the chubby girl who was the first to finish it, and I saw that on the lotus root in her hand, seven silver needles were high in the middle and low at both ends, and under the string of a red cotton thread, they formed the shape of a bridge. Everyone applauded her. The other girls gave her their own intricate objects as gifts.

Dandan took Zheng Yuanji's hand and said, "You see, she won the coincidence, and this bridge is meant to be a magpie bridge built for the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, so that they can meet." You made fun of others just now, but now you see that she is actually ingenious, right? Don't judge people by their looks in the future. ”

Zheng Yuanji hehe, "I'm just talking about being funny, don't take it seriously, will I really look down on her?" In fact, I respect every girl very much. ”

Wang Lang and Xiaoma followed near Zheng Yuanji and Dandan, and since their identities were their entourage, they naturally acted without leaving them.

Fang Ming was absentmindedly strolling around on the side, and he couldn't understand a few riddles and lanterns at random. He has always been preoccupied, because he has not seen Li Qiutong until now, and he thinks in his heart, Li Qiutong should have arrived in Japan the day before yesterday, where is he now? While thinking about it, he walked out of the corridor to find a place to sit down and rest, and when he looked up, he saw that not far in front of him, there were two young men talking around Masami Miyai, both of whom were obviously fanatical suitors of Masami, vying to talk in front of Masami to attract her attention, and the frothing and exaggerated movements made Masami laugh. Fang Ming was just about to turn around and walk away, Yami had already seen him, she nodded to Fang Ming and beckoned, Fang Ming couldn't avoid it anymore. Yami nodded and summoned a maid who was shuttling among the tourists to come to her side, picked up two cups of juice in the tray in the maid's hand and handed them to the two suitors, bowed slightly to apologize, and walked towards Fang Ming.

Masami Miyai came to Fang Ming, with her hands behind her back, her eyes widened mischievously and she tilted her head to look at Fang Ming. Fang Ming smiled and asked, "What do you mean by looking at me like this?" ”

"Hmph, I was just about to ask what Fang Mingjun meant?" Masami pursed her lips and said, "Did Masami upset you?" Why do you want to avoid me? ”

"Well, no, how could I avoid you?" Fang Ming coughed dryly to hide his embarrassment. "I just...... Just saw that you were busy and didn't want to bother you. As he spoke, he glanced at the two men. They were still standing in place, not speaking since Yamei left, drinking their drinks, staring at themselves indignantly, if their eyes could breathe fire, they would have cooked Fang Ming a long time ago. The two were obviously dissatisfied because Yami favored one over the other, and it seemed that they had temporarily put aside their prejudices and regarded Fang Ming as their rivals.

Yami glanced back, as if she understood the reason, covered her mouth and smiled, "So that's the case, it seems that I am wrong to blame Fang Mingjun." Those two people have been pestering me tonight, or I would have come to you a long time ago! One of their fathers is the county's inspector of justice, and the other's mother is a county senator. I don't have any ability at all, I only rely on the power of my parents to show off everywhere, and every time I see me, I am annoyed to death but I have to perfunctory them. I'm glad to have you tonight, otherwise my good mood would have been ruined. Hey? Is Fang Mingjun jealous? Hehe. ”

Fang Ming secretly thought that it was a good thing that someone strongly pursued Yami, just to hide that he belonged to something else in his heart, so that he could take the opportunity to back down to avoid Miko's entanglement. However, in the face of the charming and cute woman in front of me, I felt a little sorry because I had such a thought in my heart.