Chapter13

  "Where is the beauty?!" Xīn Xī was so angry that he almost turned the sky and earth upside down on the dock, his face pale with rage, refusing to let go of ā Héng's sleeve. He had made up his mind to hate her until death did them part, and even as a ghost, he would not let the ancestors of the Wēn family off for eight generations.

  A Heng looked at the young man's eyes gleaming with cold light and rubbed his nose.

  She is innocent.

  There are indeed many "beauties" on the boat, but they are not real beauties, but a kind of small black fish, small and plump, extremely ugly, but very delicious in taste, and are jokingly called "beauty" by fishermen.

  So she doesn't count as lying.

  However, when Yan Xi saw the "beauty" on the dinner table, like an eggplant that had been struck by frost, she closed her mouth and stared at Wen Heng with her beautiful big eyes.

  "Little sister, let your brother taste the fish, I just caught it, it's fresh." The boatman was an old fisherman, with dark skin and smoking a dry tobacco pipe, sitting aside and speaking warmly.

  "Grandpa, I know." Ah Heng smiled and nodded, repeating the old man's words to Yan Xi.

  Xian Xi looked at the small black fish in the full aluminum basin, poked it with chopsticks, and had a gloomy expression, not feeling like eating much.

  He just got seasick and threw up for a while, his stomach is extremely uncomfortable.

  Ah Heng sighed and asked the old man, "Grandpa, did you put in any mint leaves?"

  She knew that fishermen had a habit of picking mint leaves and holding them in their mouths to refresh themselves.

  The old man walked towards the bow of the boat, holding a small jar, and handed it over to Xīn with a smile.

  The young man uncorked it, and the cool sweetness of peppermint hit his nostrils.

  In the jar were dark red plums that looked extremely enticing.

  "It's a bayberry." Ah Heng raised an eyebrow.

  "Make a tea with mint leaves, let your brother drink a few cups, that's all." The old man spoke in a thick water town accent, took a deep drag on his dry tobacco pipe, and the sparks in the pipe flickered on and off.

  Xian silently chewed a few, initially feeling the taste was extremely strange, both spicy and astringent, without any sweetness. But after eating several more, he felt that although the flavor on his tongue wasn't delicate enough, it had a unique charm. And the discomfort in his stomach also gradually subsided.

  A Heng picked up a piece of fish, removed the bones, and put it into Xian Xi's bowl.

  Northerners generally don't like eating fish and aren't quite used to it either.

  Yan Xi had always enjoyed the emperor's treatment at home, and Li Fuguan made him comfortable. He never worried about meals, and now Ah Heng had given him fish, carefully removing the bones. Out of habit, he ate it naturally, without realizing the inappropriateness of it all.

  But Ah Heng didn't think much of it, he just did what he wanted to do without any warning, and this behavior contained a deep meaning of pampering and intimacy.

  But when both of them treated it as a trivial matter, this thing really didn't amount to much. After finishing dinner, wiping their mouths, you do your Xi, I'll do my Heng, the bridge is the bridge, the road is the road.

  The little black fish was cooked by the old man with lake water and red pepper, absolutely natural, fresh and tender, Xī Hē ate to his heart's content, the gloom in his eyes gradually dissipated, he sweated from the spiciness, and his cold seemed to have improved a lot.

  The night grew darker, and the lake's surface reflected the moonlight, with ripples shimmering and silver waves undulating.

  The old fisherman helped the two of them gather up their bedding, and Xi'aheng sat at the bow of the boat, staring somewhat absent-mindedly at the mountains and water.

  The winter in the south has no chill of the north, but brings a faint coolness.

  The breeze blew gently, and the ripples moved slowly in one direction, round whirlpools, one after another, overlapping the passage of time, in a casual and warm way, yet easily getting people lost in it and unable to extricate themselves.

  Xi Xi crossed her long legs together, sitting comfortably with a hint of childishness.

  Suddenly, a smile appeared at the corner of the boy's mouth.

  He hummed a little tune softly.

  Ah Heng had never heard of it before. The song has a faint lazy and comfortable feel, completely in the style of Xin Xi.

  However, unexpectedly pleasant to listen to.

  It wasn't until later, by chance, that she found out this song was Eason Chan's classic love song "Heart Willing".

  Love is a willing heart.

  The lyrics were written with conviction, but the melody was hummed casually. It didn't match the scene at that time, but coincidentally, it matched her emotions many years later.

  Yan Xi got up, turned back to the cabin, and came out with a painting board and an oil lamp.

  "Do you want to draw?" Ah Heng asked him with a tilted head.

  The boy nodded, his black hair blowing in the wind, slightly lifting up, revealing a smooth forehead.

  "What shall I draw?" She smiled.

  The young man pointed to the green hills surrounding both sides of the lake shore.

  He sat on the board of the boat, bent his knees and put the painting board on his legs.

  Next to the young man's pale hand was a whole box of oil paints. In the cabin, Ah Heng helped find a black ceramic plate, and Yan Xi washed it with lake water. Then, like a magician, under the dark yellow lamp light, he drew out a few tubes of paint and slowly mixed a shade of ink color with his hands.

  He picked up a brush, Ah Heng looked at it, somewhat like a writing brush, but the handle was not cylindrical in shape, rather it was conical.

  He raised his hand, not with his usual careless expression, but with focus, all his attention concentrated on the painting paper in front of him.

  The young man's index and middle fingers held a paintbrush, his pale hand lightly measuring the position of the brush, his lips pursed, his dark eyes without a hint of emotion, looking cold and serious.

  Ah Heng watched as his hands flowed smoothly and skillfully, printing the scenery of the lake and mountains onto the pure white paper with a slow and firm touch. Besides being amazed, he was more moved to tears.

  Nature has created too many beautiful things, and these beauties are often overlooked, existing in a lonely and thin state. People may gaze at them with admiration and appreciation, but they are powerless to do anything about it, leaving the longing to possess them a torment to the soul. However, when she saw its life extension and expansion - just a thin sheet of paper, all the lonely years measured by it were just an instant of time, the thirst for beauty in her heart was completely quenched. What surprised her was the young man's talent, but what moved her was the resonance between the landscape and herself.

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second, he couldn't stop his pen, she couldn't move her gaze, with a reckless madness.

  The night is getting deeper.

  After a long time, the young man finally used his thumb to wipe off the last stroke and threw away the brush.

  "It's beautiful." Ah Heng gazed at the painting, although he knew his description was clumsy, but still furrowed his brow and chuckled.

  Xian Xi also smiled, took out a painting paper with mountains and water from the drawing board, held one corner with one hand, and slowly dried it in the wind.

  "Give it to you." The young man gently handed the painting to her, with his elegant eyebrows flying high and a sly look in his bright eyes.

  "But you have to help me with something."

  Ah Heng cherished and treasured the land with both hands holding the painting paper, nodded seriously, but when he looked up, he found that there was an abnormal flush on the young man's face.

  A Heng's heart tightened, and he reached out to touch the boy's forehead, but found it scorching hot.

  Oh no, I have a fever!

  The boy pushed away her hand that was on his forehead, with a hint of displeasure in his eyes, and said calmly, "I'm fine."

  Then he got up and went into the cabin.

  Ah Heng followed him into the cabin, where Yan Xi was already covered with a quilt, lying on his side, motionless and curled up on the bed.

  Ah Heng held up an oil lamp and stood beside the young man's bed, still feeling uneasy. He moved a small bamboo stool over and sat down at the foot of the bed, blowing out the lamp.

  Outside the cabin, it's the sound of waves, gurgling, flowing, slapping, and then, stillness, flowing.

  Under the moonlight, she gazed at the huddled figure on the bed, and the silhouette outlined a vague, unreal feeling that grew stronger.

  Ah Heng's heart was empty and hollow, she knew that Yan Xi knew she was here.

  She knew that with her around, the young man wouldn't let his guard down and get a good rest.

  But she held onto the oil lamp that had been smoked, refusing to let go, her hands full of the scorching temperature that had just touched her fingertips.

  She wanted to do something, but found her existence was utterly meaningless.

  Yan Xi insisted on maintaining his own dignity stubbornly, he would rather have a fever than let a stranger approach him casually.

  Ah Heng always thought he was stupid, but this young man's thoughts, she could see clearly at a glance.

  She sighed and walked out quietly.

  At this time, the young man suddenly let out a low groan.

  A Heng's heart was racing, he quickly turned around and hastily wanted to leave the cabin to call out to the fishermen.

  "Wait a minute." A hoarse and slightly suppressed voice.

  Ah Heng turned around, and the young man propped himself up with both hands, sat up, under the moonlight, his lips were pale white, reflecting on his face, making it even more rosy.

  "You're sick." Ah Heng said softly.

  Xian Xi lowered his head somewhat irritably, his tone slightly uneasy - "I don't like strangers getting close to me."

  He grasped her soft hand again and after a while, he weakly opened his mouth to say, "Wen Heng, stay with me and chat for a bit."

  "You need rest." Ah Heng shook his head.

  Xian Xi smiled faintly and ignored Ah Heng, opening his mouth instead - "Wen Heng, how old were you when you learned to speak?"

  Ah Heng quietly looked at him, speechless.

  "I was one year old. Lieutenant Li held me and let me touch his throat to listen to his pronunciation. The first sentence he taught me was 'mom', I learned it, and then shouted 'mom' excitedly at him, but unfortunately, he didn't praise me for being clever." Xian spoke with a faint smile, her breathing slightly heavy "Really, shouldn't you be encouraging such a small child?"

  His voice, feigning lightness, yet sounded like a sponge soaked in water, slowly sinking.

  "When I was one and a half years old, learning to walk, it was my family's old man squatting on the ground, waiting for me to approach. At that time, I was too small, feeling the road was too long, walking was very tiring. But I really wanted to get the candy in his hand, American candy that Si Yun and... didn't have, sent back by those two people... sorry, I'm not used to calling them dad and mom. I thought, if I got it, I could show off to Si Yun." Xin spoke quickly, after finishing, she buried her face in the quilt, laughing out loud.

  Her lips were a bit dry, she leaned in close to the young man, raised her hand, and then weakly dropped it back down, softly laughing - "And then?"

  Xian Xi laughed uncontrollably for half a day, and only then did she lift her head, with a thin layer of sweat already seeping from her forehead - "I made a fuss to get Vice Officer Li to carry me to Si Yun's house, holding sugar in my hand, feeling pleased with myself, ready to show it off. Then, Zhang Shu told me that Uncle Wen and Auntie took Si Yun to the children's park and wouldn't be back until evening."

  She gazed into his eyes, where a soft, slow-moving light flowed like the tide, lapping over and flowing away.

  "Ah, it's really infuriating, I waited till evening to see Si Gwang, but that little brat still dared to smile at me, so I beat him until he cried......" The youth slightly closed his eyes, his eyelashes trembling lightly.

  Her mouth was dry and she didn't know what to say. At that time, she was still in swaddling clothes, every day just hiding in her mother's arms, holding her hand and sleeping.

  Although she is not a biological mother, she is the source of all hope and love.

  "Yan Xi..." She hesitated and called out to him, her tone apologetic.

  Although I don't know, sorry about something.

  The boy did not respond.

  He leaned against the bed and fell asleep, with his hands still clenched into fists, in a fetal position.

  Ah Heng sighed and took the quilt from his own bed over to cover Xian Xi's body.

  She confirmed that he was fast asleep before quietly and gently laying him down on the bed, watching as his head slowly sank into the soft pillow, in a peaceful sleeping posture.

  In the middle of the night, he boiled some hot water, applied a towel to his forehead several times, and fortunately, it was only a low fever. After sweating for a while, by dawn, the young man's body temperature had returned to normal.

  She was thinking deeply, and Xin said these words to her, with a few more willing to let her know.

  Because the sick person is too fragile, so fragile that they can't hide themselves. But the unadorned person is not within the range that she should see, even if it's just a familiar her.

  She was uncertain whether Xī Qīng would still expect her to know this fact when he woke up.

  Years later, when the dust had settled and someone asked him about it, Xi smiled and said, "I was just feverish, not drunk."

  Those words were indeed sincerely meant to be told to her.

  A-Heng shook her head, she didn't think that Yan Xi was the kind of person who liked to pour out his heart. In fact, many times, because he buried it too deeply, it made her think a lot.

  Xian hesitated, and after a long while, he finally spoke up - "Ah Heng, although I've never said it before, at that time, I indeed regarded you as my future wife, even if you didn't know the inside story. Because, I always thought that between husband and wife, one should be frank."

  A Heng smiled bitterly. She and Yan Xi were destined to be entangled with each other for a lifetime.

  When Xīn recovered consciousness, it was already dawn. Through the window, a thin layer of misty color had formed on the surface of the lake.

  He slightly moved his fingers, wanting to get up, but felt very heavy on his body.

  One quilt, two quilts, and... one person.

  Xian Xi raised an eyebrow, mischievously wanting to push the girl away, but found that the girl's hand was tightly grasping her own left hand, and in an instant, they stood silently in place.

  He furrowed his brow for a moment, then smoothed out the displeasure between his eyebrows, smiled slightly, gently pushed away the girl's hand, and carefully got out of bed.

  He stretched his waist and felt that he had a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, his body was sticky and wet, full of sweat.

  He sniffed his undershirt with disgust, his nose wishing it were eight feet away from himself, but unfortunately that was not possible. He strode out of the cabin and shouted towards the bow, "Hey, I'm going ashore! Young master wants to take a bath!"

  The old fisherman with a straw hat smiled and beckoned him over.

  Ah Heng also laughed.

  She had just woken up, but fearing an awkward conversation with Xīn, she pretended to be asleep.

  But now, I'm really sleepy.

  Finally, landed.

  The misty color in the lake also gradually dispersed. 14