Half in the river wind, half in the clouds

That day, the weather was getting hotter, and Jiang Fei invited a group of girls to play pot throwing at home. It happened that Shen Guxing said goodbye to Mrs. Jiang and Jiang's mother, and soon he set off to return to Chang'an.

The girls lost interest after hearing this. This young man from Chang'an brought a beautiful dream to the border girl. It turned out that there was such a good person in the world! At this time, the young man was about to leave, but the dream was unwilling to wake up.

Jiang You followed Guan Shanyun and brought a jar of wine. Jiang Feng immediately became interested: Why act like a little girl! Although Shen Guxing was going back to Chang'an, Guan Shanyun, the big brother of the "jianghu", came back. It seems that coming and going, separation and gathering are the true nature of life. When she first read "Dream of Red Mansions", she yearned for the scene of "the glass world with white snow and red plums, and the powdered girls eating fishy and smelly food". Xiangyun ate venison and drank wine with big mouthfuls, which made her, an unqualified foodie reader, envious.

Thinking of this, she said crisply, "There is a jar of wine at home, which is said to be the sweetest. It just so happens that my father brought back some venison the other day. How about we eat roasted venison and drink wine?"

Mrs. Jiang was about to refute the idea based on the principle that "everything Jiang Feng says should be opposed, and everything Jiang Feng does is wrong", but Jiang Zuo took the lead and made a rare statement: "Afeng's idea is good!"

When Old Lady Jiang heard this, her eyebrows immediately turned kind. Seeing that her mother-in-law had no objection, Jiang's mother asked Nanny Sun to lead the servants to start setting up. The girls also became excited and chattered to help. Jiang Lan's mother-in-law, Madam Liu, came to visit, so she asked someone to go back and get two cages of newly acquired crabs.

In order to let the young people have fun, several elders just responded and left the table.

Before leaving, Old Lady Jiang pulled Jiang Fei over and repeatedly warned her not to drink cold wine and to be careful of stomachache; Madam Liu and Aunt Gao also gave detailed instructions to Liu Yuzhi and Gao Yu; Mother Jiang glanced at Jiang Feng with a little embarrassment and found that she didn't care at all and was just picking up a large piece of venison and putting it into her mouth.

After everyone stood up and sent their elders off, the scene immediately became lively with singing and dancing. Jiang Fei's song "Hearing the Flute in Luocheng on a Spring Night" was melodious and graceful; Qin Ru's "Hua Xuan Dance" was whirling and stomping, galloping and joyful; Yu Zhi played the piano, Gao Hui and Jiang Erge's sword dance was magnificent and imposing, and suddenly a sense of grandeur arose, and Shan Yue and Jiang Fei were actually mesmerized.

Jiang Feng held a wine pot and sat next to Guan Shanyun like a kitten, pouring wine one cup after another and pestering him to tell him about his travels. Guan Shanyun picked out some interesting things to tell him, and seeing that Jiang Feng was still not satisfied, he said, "You are a kind-hearted little girl. Give me the same boots as last time tomorrow, and I will give you something good."

Jiang Feng said with a smile: "It has been prepared a long time ago, just waiting for big brother to come back."

Seeing that everyone was drinking, eating, and singing, and no one was paying attention to her, she leaned closer and flattered him, "I cut off a piece of the tiger skin that my father got a few years ago and made a pair of knee pads for my eldest brother."

Guan Shanyun saw her blinking her eyes like black grapes, and his heart warmed. He said, "Big brother, please accept my sister's love. I have great ambitions, and many people don't understand me. Even my father has repeatedly scolded me for being unfilial. Only my sister is a rare soulmate!"

After that, he also filled a glass for Jiang Feng. Jiang Feng picked it up and drank it all in one gulp. He also showed the bottom of the glass to Guan Shanyun and said with great pride: "Brother, you are unrestrained and love freedom, like an eagle in Tianshan Mountain. I am a swift under the eaves, and I envy you so much. These little things are presented to me, and I can count it as my traveling around the mountains and rivers with you!"

Guan Shanyun heard this and laughed out loud: "Little girl, that's interesting!"

Then he took out something from his bosom and handed it to Jiang Feng. Jiang Feng opened it and found a small black-sailed boat, which was exactly the same as the one Lin Jinran rode at her grandmother's house when she was a child. Guan Shanyun saw Jiang Feng couldn't let it go and knew that he had given the right gift, so he said, "This is a black-sailed boat. When I saw it in Suzhou, I found it was exactly the same as your description, so I asked the craftsmen to make one for you."

Jiang Feng thanked him again and again and poured wine. Guan Shanyun was a chivalrous man, conceited that he only did two things in his life, one was to indulge in mountains and rivers, to see the blue sea in the morning and Cangwu in the evening, and the other was to drink. At the moment, he was not restrained, and drank two cups in a row accompanied by the sound of stringed instruments. Taking advantage of the little bit of alcohol, he glanced at Shen Guxing and Gao Hui, and said meaningfully: "I think Gao Hui is a good guy, sister, don't be dazzled."

Jiang Feng was startled when he heard this, but he immediately nodded with a smile and said, "Gao Hui is really good after some cleaning." Then he leaned closer and laughed softly, "Grandmother has already taken a liking to him and is planning to make him a son-in-law for my second sister."

Guan Shanyun knew the girl’s awkward situation in the Jiang family, so he stopped talking and poured the girl half a glass of wine.

Jiang Feng held the wine cup and pecking at it like a hamster. Suddenly he raised his head and said to Guan Shanyun, "Brother Guan, what do you think of me?"

Guan Shanyun glanced at Jiang Feng and saw that the girl had bright eyes and looked childish, so he smiled and said, "You? You are just a little brat."

Jiang Feng listened, lowered his head and said: "Brother, can't you treat me as a woman?"

Guan Shanyun put down his cup and chopsticks and looked at Jiang Feng, only to hear the girl say again: "Brother, please think carefully about marrying me."

Guan Shanyun had a mouthful of venison stuck in his throat, unable to spit it out or swallow it, and started coughing violently. Jiang Feng hurriedly got up to help him pat his throat to relieve his breath, and Guan Shanyun finally stopped coughing. He showed his signature smirk, patted Jiang Feng's head and said with a smile: "How can a good girl like you marry me?"

Jiang Feng said unhappily: "If you don't want to marry me, then don't marry me. Why are you playing the nice guy card?"

Guan Shanyun whispered again: "Parents who love their children will always have long-term plans for them. Your mother only has you as her daughter. Although she is a little strict with you, she will not be vague about your lifelong affairs."

Looking at the unhappy Jiang Feng, he teased: "How old are you? You're always thinking about getting married!"

Jiang Feng murmured, "It doesn't matter whether I marry or not, but this courtyard will suffocate me to death."

Guan Shanyun laughed and said, "I was wondering! Why are you bringing up this matter again? It turns out you are trying to find a way out of this."

Jiang Feng was accidentally tricked. He stuck out his tongue and went to pour wine with a smile.

As the two were talking, they looked up and saw Shen Guxing approaching them, looking at Jiang Feng with a smile.

The young man might have been drunk, his eyes were blurry and affectionate, Jiang Feng felt like he was instantly sucked in, his cheeks suddenly felt hot.

Guan Shanyun looked at the two men's eyes coldly, then looked at Gao Hui. The boy was arguing heatedly with Jiang You about whether a knife or a spear was better for killing enemies on the battlefield.

Guan Shanyun shook his head helplessly.

Shen Guxing opened his mouth with affection: "A Feng..."

Jiang Feng's body's protective mechanism reacted instantly, and he suppressed his emotions and said, "Mr. Shen, do you also want to hear about my brother's travels? Please take a seat."

As she gave up her seat, she saw Gao Yu, who was drunk, pestering Guan Shanyue for wine. She looked at Gao Yu calmly, muttering to herself, "Yu'er is drunk again, be careful that your aunt will spank you."

Seeing that the girl was still avoiding him, Shen Guxing smiled bitterly, but he sat down naturally on the low couch that Jiang Feng had just pointed at. Guan Shanyun pretended not to know, and the two of them started to chat. After a while, they got along better and better, and they even felt that they had met too late.

Guan Shanyun originally thought that Shen Guxing was just a talented and good-looking rich young man, but he didn't expect that he was not only well-mannered and polite, but also had great talents and broad knowledge! No wonder the little girl who was just beginning to fall in love was tempted.

At this time, the little girl and Guan Shanyue were playing with the drunk Gao Yu. Gao Yu leaned on Jiang Feng's shoulder and murmured, "Sister only pesters Brother Guan. She ignored me even after I called her several times."

Jiang Feng looked down and saw Gao Yu with a red face and closed eyes, not sober. After all, he was young and could not handle the alcohol.

Guan Shanyue laughed and said, "Ah Feng is looking forward to Big Brother's return like the moon, and he will never let him go easily."

Gao Yu pouted and said, "My brother knows about this and will be sulking again."

At this point, Guan Shanyue and Jiang Feng were silent.

Gao Yu rubbed Jiang Feng's shoulder again and said, "Sister, I have a headache."

Guan Shanyue hurriedly said, "Ahui, come here and take Yu'er home. She is drunk."

Gao Hui drank a glass of wine and ran over. Jiang Feng pushed the drunkard onto Gao Hui's back with great effort. From the corner of his eye, he saw that everyone had started to toast Shen Guxing. The bright and cheerful Shen Guxing was already drunk, his eyes were wandering, and he was obviously not in the right state.

Jiang Feng helped the Gao brothers and sisters out the door. When they were leaving the corner door, the threshold was too high. Gao Hui had drunk a lot of wine, so he stumbled and was about to fall. Jiang Feng hurriedly tried to pull him back, but Gao Hui freed one arm and put it around Jiang Feng's neck, saying with a smile, "See how powerful my sword is!"

The girl's face was very close to him. Her cheeks were rosy from drinking wine, more charming than the sunset glow in the desert. Her red lips were slightly parted, her eyes were big and round, and she looked at him in astonishment, as if the wine was all in her two shallow dimples.

He actually wanted to kiss her and make love to her.

Amidst the lightning and thunder, this thought suddenly rushed through his mind, and he gradually stopped smiling. The venison he had just eaten seemed to come alive, hitting his heart again and again, fiercely.

His ignorant boyhood was over.

At this moment, he understood: why he loved to tease her, pull her hair, and throw geckos to scare her; why he would beat Dou Laoer until he cried all night when he bullied her; he understood why he wanted to make her cry, but was also very paradoxically afraid of her crying; why he unconsciously had to find an excuse to visit Jiang's house; he understood why the red coral bracelet on her hand was so dazzling...

He fully understood his own heart.

Then, he hugged the girl's delicate neck, smelled her faint fragrance, and said firmly under the influence of intoxication: "I want you to be my wife!"

……

Watching Gao Hui's fleeing back, Jiang Feng thought she must be drunk, otherwise she wouldn't have waited so long to kick him hard, nor would she have been so slow to curse him fiercely: "I'm going to tell my uncle that you bullied me!"

Jiang Feng was walking and thinking on his own. He was a little drunk and a little irritable, and unexpectedly bumped into the young man's arms.

An ice-blue straight-collared robe with auspicious cloud patterns embroidered on the lapels and cuffs with royal blue silk thread, and black trousers tucked into brocade boots.

Who else could it be if not Shen Guxing!

……