Chapter 106.2 – Lantern Festival
Huai Zi River. Lantern Festival.
Large and small, all kinds of lanterns were hanging in the streets. They looked like little red suns. Lanterns bearing the wishes of people floated along the river, one after another. Men and women stood at the riverside admiring the sight, occasionally letting out exclamations of surprise.
Asides from being a traditional festival of Da Ya, the Lantern Festival had another meaning.
Men and women were paired up. Those without a partner could try for a fated encounter at the Lantern Festival and find their other half. And the Huai Zi River was like an experienced red string of fate, bringing young women’s lanterns from one side of the river to the other side, where the young men of the city were.
In addition to the Lantern Festival every year, people with lofty ideals in the capital and elegant scholars would also hold various parties or competitions on the other side of the Huai Zi River to show off their talents.
In addition, young scholars would fish up the young women’s lanterns beneath the public eye.
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Only one lantern per person.
If you felt that you have fate on your side, then you could take the lantern to the opposite side of the river to find the young woman. If you didn’t have that in mind, then you must put the lantern back in the Huai Zi River.
Although not everyone had a fated meeting, each season of the Lantern Festival did promote a lot of lovers, so the Huai Zi River was also known as the Matchmaking River, specializing in building bridges and tying red strings between men and women.
An Zi Ran entered the Lantern Festival, accompanied by Fu Wu Tian. There were two big red lanterns hanging at the front door of every household. The lanterns glowed a festive red. The whole street, including the Huai Zi River, was immersed in laughter and hazy red light.
As someone accustomed to the neon lights of modern times, seeing a similar scene again, An Zi Ran’s expression could not help but become distracted.
“What happened?”
Fu Wu Tian immediately noticed that there was something wrong with his expression.
An Zi Ran shook his head. “It’s nothing. It just feels like I haven’t been out shopping for a long time. Almost a year has passed, so quickly.” A few months more and he would be seventeen years old.
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“If wang fei likes, we can come out more often in the future and walk around.” Fu Wu Tian held his hand. Under the hazy red lights of the lanterns, Fu Wu Tian’s handsome features were not as ostentatious as usual, and instead, gained a gentler edge. He liked the feeling of spending time with his wang fei. Even without words, there was a tacit understanding that belonged only to them.
An Zi Ran looked down at their intertwined hands and suddenly said in a low voice, “Okay.”
Surprise flashed through Fu Wu Tian’s eyes. He never thought that An Zi Ran would reply so frankly. The teenager’s handsome face was suffused with red light, and his complexion softened. Fu Wu Tian never regretted marrying him, and he even rejoiced at his foresight of the time.
“What? It is very unexpected?” An Zi Ran raised an eyebrow at him.
Fu Wu Tian’s mouth twitched slightly. His wang fei seemed to carry a different bearing tonight; even the arch of an eyebrow was more stirring than usual.
The two holding hands actually did not attract much attention.
At this moment, everyone’s attention was on the roadside stalls, because stalls from the four markets were all concentrated here tonight. What used to be seen in various marketplaces could now all be seen here at the Lantern Festival. This was one of the reasons why the festival was always so lively.
Usually, it was impossible to run around and go to all four markets, so with this opportunity, almost every family would come out as a unit to the Lantern Festival.
The two stopped in front of a stall selling all kinds of beautiful lanterns. The lanterns were not the traditional cylindrical shape, but of various strange animal shapes, as well as flower and fruit type lanterns. They came in reds, blues, lavenders, and so on. They were all very beautiful.
Translations by Vanilla Muse.
“What kind of lantern does these two sirs like? I have everything here. The price is not too expensive. The cheapest goes down to as low as ten yuan and the most expensive is only thirty yuan.” The hawker said with a smile.
An Zi Ran randomly picked up a lantern in the shape of a duck.
The animal shaped lanterns were not the most expensive. They only cost twenty yuan. The fruit ones were the cheapest. Most ordinary people would buy this type. The last type were the flower shaped ones. These were the most expensive. Because the manufacturing process was complex, it was the most time-consuming type to make. Its beautiful style was especially attractive to young and beautiful ladies.
Fu Wu Tian handed the hawker twenty yuan.
For this outing, Fu Yi gave them a pouch filled to the brim with little silver pieces.
After buying the lantern, the two of them then went to the banks of Huai Zi River and came upon a stall that specifically offered card stock for people to write inscriptions or wishes.
The owner of the stall seemed to be absent. There was only a small box on the table, a stack of card stock, and a brush and ink stone. There was a piece of paper stuck on the front of the box, declaring that a sheet of card stock cost one yuan.
Fu Wu Tian threw a yuan into the box.
An Zi Ran selected a sheet of light blue card stock, took up the brush, and wrote a sentence on the paper. Then he placed it on the lantern. After doing all this, the two came to the riverside of the Huai Zi River. There was already a huge crowd of pretty young ladies gathered by the river. In sharp contrast, the two of them looked lofty and towering.