Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Thirteen: Peach Branches
During the time when Guo Jia and Jia Xu were fooling around, it was common for them to get into fights. However, every time, Guo Jia would just go with the flow and fall to the ground, grabbing Jia Xu's clothes and acting like a rascal, demanding compensation.
Jia Xu was almost used to this, so when he really hurt Guo Jia, he stood still for a moment, not reacting immediately.
Guo Jia was hunched over, head down, and silent. It was only when Jia Xu hurriedly approached and grabbed Guo Jia's wrist, shaking his voice as he asked where he was hurt, that Guo Jia reacted. Guo Jia bit his lip, the pain making his vision darken, and he could hardly speak. Nevertheless, he reached back to hold Jia Xu's hand to signal that he shouldn't worry.
Just tiny beads of sweat dripping from his forehead onto his palm, but it was enough to make Jia Xu worry. Guo Jia lay on the medical bed, holding Jia Xu's hand tightly as the physician administered the needle to Guo Jia's wound. The doctor said it wasn't serious, but when Jia Xu saw the bruise, his face darkened.
Guo Jia pulled Jia Xu's hand and gestured for him to bend down. Jia Xu bent down, thinking Guo Jia wanted to say something, but his eyes were covered by a slightly cool, sweaty palm. As the needle fell, Guo Jia made a soft sound, still covering Jia Xu's eyes, saying it's okay not to look.
Jia Xu trembled and his eyelashes brushed against Guo Jia's palm as he held his hand and softly apologized.
Guo Jia couldn't sleep well due to the pain and had nightmares. He would wake up several times during the night. His already pale face was even clouded with two dark patches. He leaned on Jia Xu's arm, unwilling to move. Jia Xu pushed Guo Jia's head and said, "I'm going out for a while."
Jia Xu left in a hurry, and before Guo Jia could ask where he was going, the hem of his clothes had already disappeared outside the door. Guo Jia idly flipped through the scrolls left by Jia Xu, reading the small annotations and gently touching them.
Jia Xu came back and found Guo Jia almost falling asleep. He looked at the piece of peach branches in Jia Xu's hand and asked what it was for.
Jia Xu gently pushed Guo Jia a bit and placed a small section of peach branches under Guo Jia's pillow, saying, "Putting peach branches under the pillow will prevent nightmares. My mother used to do this for me when I had nightmares."
Guo Jia rested on the pillow that Jia Xu had patted, and asked with a smile, "So, Wenhe also believes in this?"
Jia Xu looked at Guo Jia strangely and replied, "You believe that inserting a head into a spring rice is a good omen for success. Why can't I believe that using peach branches to press down on a pillow can ward off evil spirits?"
Guo Jia hugged Jia Xu around the waist and chuckled softly, making Jia Xu feel ticklish but unable to push him away. He could only maintain a still posture and let Guo Jia laugh.
Chapter 14: Life is short like spring, all things are long like winter.
Guo Jia had a considerable accomplishment in calligraphy a long time ago, but this accomplishment was never used for legitimate purposes. Instead of imitating the Wang's handwriting to write love letters for The Li family.'s daughter, or imitating Academic supervisor's handwriting to write a notice of rest, deceiving everyone except Academic supervisor—because only Academic supervisor was working that day.
But even though he imitated the handwriting of many people, Guo Jia's writing still had its own unique style, different from his unrestrained and unruly personality. Guo Jia's writing was quite sharp, as if every stroke and line had the power to penetrate the paper.
First see Guo Jia's words, then see him, always feel a little lost, after all, in the eyes of the world, everyone should be like cold plum and snow, elegant and noble.
The snow on the mountain always comes earlier than the snow below. The snow piled up on the veranda brings a leisurely book. Guo Jia came treading through the snow with a hand warmer, his eyes shining with melted snow, and his reddened fingertips pulling on Jia Xu's wrist. Guo Jia's hand covered Jia Xu's rapidly beating pulse as he loudly exclaimed, "The snow is falling just right! Come to the mud stove to warm the wine and pass the flying flowers!"
The wind and snow howled in the cold morning light, tearing Guo Jia's words into pieces, but Jia Xu still heard clearly, following in Guo Jia's footsteps.
On the vast expanse of white snow, there were two pairs of almost identical footprints, intertwined with hands hidden under a fox fur coat.
Xun Yu When he saw the two return, he smiled with narrowed eyes. The charcoal fire in the pavilion was burning brightly, and as they stepped over the threshold, the snow melted on their shoulders and eyelashes.
One by one, several classmates who had gone to fetch wine also returned. They broke the seal on the clay bottle with the handle of a knife, gently unfolded the oiled paper, and the scent of peach blossoms immediately scattered, steamed by the hot air, making one feel tipsy before even taking a sip.
Someone clapped their hands and laughed three times, "Princess Wencheng's winemaking technique is truly superb!" Xun Yu smiled and scooped a cup for each person with a bamboo spoon, and after tasting it, there was another round of admiration.
At this time, the clay stove boiled water, and the fragrance of tea lingered. A path broke through the peach blossom wine fragrance, alone, mixed with a special cold and bitter scent.
Someone asked what kind of tea was brewed in the blister. It was neither as clear as a mountain spring, nor as deep as well water. Xun Yu fanned himself and pointed at Jia Xu's leg, who was drinking wine, and said, "Of course it's Fengxiao. He brought some rootless water to my room in the middle of the night, saying he's going to win against us in a game."
Upon hearing this, everyone remembered Guo Jia's record of single-handedly defeating many enemies in the summer, and their faces showed hesitation and reluctance to leave.
Guo Jia held the wine glass and chuckled, "Alright, alright, can we finally settle the competition this time? What do you say, fellow senior brothers?" Wenhe suggested, "It's best to reward the painting, and the most exquisite eye should be the judge between you and me. How about letting Wenhe be the arbiter?"
As soon as Guo Jia spoke, everyone's interest was piqued, and they all asked what the grand prize would be. Guo Jia looked around with bright eyes and fixed his gaze on a peach tree in the courtyard, then slammed the table, saying, "That peach tree has been hiding Teacher Cui's fine wine for ten years. Last time, Teacher Cui lost to me in a bet, so today, let's use it as the prize, shall we!"
Teacher Cui's fine wine is hard to come by. Everyone called for paper and pen, and people drew without restraint, some leaning on the table, some on the ground. Only Guo Jia remained leaning on the soft cushion, sipping the fine wine in his cup, his gaze falling on the snow outside the corridor reflecting the sunlight.
Meanwhile, Jia Xu sat with lowered eyes, helping Xun Yu tidy up the scattered items on the table. When he touched the jade buckle that Guo Jia had dropped at some point, Jia Xu's fingertips trembled. It wasn't until the warmth from his fingertips had warmed the jade that he made up his mind to slowly tuck the jade buckle into his sleeve.
The incense stick burned down, and the completed paintings were hung one by one. Everyone joked that Guo Jia was still not ready to start painting, as if he was ready to give up without a fight.
Guo Jia slowly got up, then poured the tea, with tea leaves floating, onto the snowy ground. The hot tea melted the snow into various shades of seams, with a few green leaves mixed in.
After that, Guo Jia lowered his eyes and suddenly made a stroke, freely and fluidly creating the image of a withered plum branch leaping onto the paper from Guo Jia's brush, with a hint of new buds, presenting a vivid picture of the arrival of spring.
Losing to a genius, one can only acknowledge it! Someone said, and everyone nodded, then they sat down, talked and drank for three rounds, and left on their own after a lively discussion.
After everyone dispersed, the pavilion was left with only three people, which seemed a bit desolate. The most adept at drinking, Guo Jia, was also quite drunk.
Xun Yu patted Guo Jia, asking him to go back and rest, but Guo Jia grabbed a cup of wine and suddenly stood up. The wine spilled out like an unopened white plum blossom. Guo Jia let out a belch and said, "①The affairs of the world are as short as spring, and human emotions are as fleeting as autumn clouds. Fortunately! Three cups of wine bring good words, and we obtain a perennial spring flower! I, Guo Fengxiao, offer a toast to both of you!"
After finishing speaking, he drank it all in one gulp and passed out completely drunk. Helplessly, Jia Xu had to carry Guo Jia back to the room to soothe him to sleep.
After tidying up the aftermath, Xun Yu handed Guo Jia's painting to Jia Xu. Jia Xu held the painting for a long time, unable to deny Guo Jia's genius. He covered his face, breathed heavily for a long time, and then wrote on the blank space of the painting: "The affairs of the world are as short-lived as the sudden arrival of spring."
Stamped with the least used private seal of Guo Jia, it is placed at the bottom of all the scrolls.
Many years later, Prince Guangling ascended the golden carriage on a snowy day, with frost on the withered branches shining like moonlight. Boiling snow to warm the wine, the scent of peach blossoms filled the air. Prince Guangling asked Jia Xu an irrelevant question.
Teacher, teacher, when will spring arrive? Jia Xu pointed to the new buds on the withered branches outside the window and said, "Your Highness, spring is coming."
This quote is from the Song Dynasty poet Zhu Dunru's "Xijiang Moon: Life is as short as a spring dream."
Comment 0 Comment Count