catch the rabbit

On July days in previous years, the capital was always so hot that people could not wait to hide in the house all day long.This year, there have been a few heavy rains first, the weather is refreshing, and the summer flowers are blooming, which is quite a bit of a cool summer.

The better the weather, the more the girls will spend their time dressing up. The pretty and thin summer shirts are changing in various colors, which are dazzling and colorful.

It is a good age, so naturally I can't live up to that rare beauty, not to mention, it will be the annual Qixi Festival soon.

Sister Jiyun from the next door has been talking about for a long time, what will be done for this year's "Saiqiao" to give to her close sisters.

Although Lin Wanke doesn't like to hear her talk about the trivial matters of these girls' homes, she really can't do without her help right now, because Ji Yun is dexterous and can make many kinds of clever fruits, such as flower balls, birds, and personalities. The top one is exquisite.

Lin Wanke is also an expert in making pastries, but if he really wants to make these delicate ones, he has to ask Jiyun to be his master.

It is said that Ji Yun is going to get married next year, and she naturally talked about Lin Wanke's lifelong events while chatting.

"Xiao Lin should be nineteen this year, right?"

"It's almost twenty." Lin Wanke replied without raising his head, busy sprinkling sesame seeds on the dough.

"That's really not young, do you have a sweetheart?" Ji Yun has always been a straightforward person, and when he asked this question, Lin Wanke's face turned red.

"Why are you blushing? It's human nature to marry a male college and a female college." Ji Yun said with a smile, "If not, I know a good girl who is a good match for you."

Lin Wanke hesitated: "Don't bother, I, I still have to take care of Baizhi..."

"Wouldn't it be better to marry a virtuous daughter-in-law to take care of him? Seeing that your family is making trouble like a cat every day, you have to take care of him and take care of the shop. Isn't it too hard? If you get sick like last time , who can take care of you?"

Ji Yun spoke these words very fast, and he couldn't stop the chatterbox once he started.

"I also want to be a matchmaker for you because I see you are down-to-earth and capable. You can't drag your brother for a lifetime alone."

Lin Wanke's movements slowed down, and he remained silent without answering.

"That girl is great. She looks pretty and has some education. Unlike me, she doesn't know a single word. She just turned seventeen this year..." Ji Yun said to himself, completely unaware of Lin Wanke The abnormality, "You see, you are guaranteed to be happy!"

Lin Wanke could only deal with it: "I really haven't thought about getting married, besides, people don't think much of me."

"How can you look down on me!" Ji Yun pretended to be angry, "I don't even think about it at the age of twenty, but all the good girls are married away by others!

Lin Wanke really wasn't worried about this, he had always only had Le Xin in his heart, and of course he never dared to say this.

When Ji Yun mentioned this, he suddenly thought of a question.

People like him from an average family background, mediocre appearance, who can barely support their families have someone to come to kiss him. Le Xin is two years older than him, he is knowledgeable and good-looking.

But he didn't know what the woman he chose would look like.

When Lin Wanke thought that Le Xin would get married and have children, and that there would be someone who would always be by his side, Lin Wanke felt lost and uneasy.

But Ji Yun was right, he really couldn't drag his younger brother along for the rest of his life, no matter how young Lin Baizhi was, he would grow up one day, get married and live his own life.

At that time, what should he do?

Lin Wanke has never thought about such a long-term. He has been living a peaceful and unchanging life, but he does not think that one day, he will become a lonely person.

***

On the night of Qixi Festival, Wan'an Street is brightly lit, and the street is filled with the fragrance of flowers.

The vegetarian restaurant set up a small stall selling Qiaoguo at the entrance, and Lin Wanke helped to watch, frying the fruit non-stop.

"Weigh me a catty."

"Hey." Lin Wanke packed a catty of Qiaoguo, and handed over a pair of dolls of General Fruit Eater from the side. He waited for a long time but no one picked him up. When he looked up, Sister Jiyun was smiling at him. with.

Beside her is a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, wearing a lake blue dress, with delicate features, holding a lot of purses, pendants and other gadgets in her hand, it should be a gift from her sisters just by coincidence .

"Xiao Lin, this is the Jinxiu I mentioned to you. I told you that the Qiaoguo you make is delicious, so she must come and buy some to try."

Ji Yun, the kind-hearted sister who did what she said, really brought the girl here without even saying hello, Lin Wanke was immediately stunned.

In contrast, the girl named Jinxiu was much calmer. She paid the money generously and took the fruit, picked up one and took a bite, and said with a smile: "It is indeed better than ours. .”

Seeing this, Ji Yun also beamed, stretched out his hand to grab a handful of fruit, and left after making an obvious excuse.

Fortunately, there are a lot of people who come to buy Qiaoguo, Lin Wanke can keep his head silent because he is busy, otherwise he really doesn't know how to face this strange girl, but it didn't take long, Mrs. Zhang came out from the vegetarian restaurant to deliver the dough , saw Jinxiu at a glance, immediately overjoyed, called Lin Wan that he was ignorant, pushed him out, said that he should go to the street after working for a long time, and winked at him while talking.

Lin Wanke knew that she had misunderstood, but he couldn't explain it.

Jinxiu didn't mind at all, and bought several packs of Qiaoguo, saying that she would distribute them to the sisters who were begging for Qiaoguo together.

How could a girl like her hold so much, Lin Wanke held it for her, Jinxiu talked to him along the way, although he answered, he was not very warm after all.

There are huge crowds of people on Wan'an Street, and there is also a hall made of colorful brocades, where melons, fruits and wine are displayed, and there is a table underneath, with nine-hole needles and five-color threads.

The girls in costumes went to thread the needle together to see who could put the silk thread through the needle hole first, and all of them had a great time.

Lin Wanke looked all the way, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a person wearing a crimson shirt, who seemed to be a lively rouge.

Beside him was a handsome man, who was giving him a pair of extremely exquisite Mohele, tugging at his sleeves for a while, chatting and laughing, and poking his cheeks with his fingers.

Lin Wanke thought that Roupu must have been bullied, and was about to go up to ask, when suddenly a crisp girl's voice came.

"Come and see, who is that beside Jinxiu?"

A group of beautiful girls gathered around, and several of them covered their mouths and laughed when they saw them.

The girl who shouted happily said: "I just said where you went, could it be to meet your lover? Look, you really brought one back!"

Jin Xiu's face also turned red, but she said: "Don't talk nonsense, Brother Lin sent me Qiaoguo out of kindness."

She was talking about distributing the Qiaoguo to those girls, and looking at Lin Wanke, an honest man like him could not stand the jokes of these girls, and wished he could bury his head in the Qiaoguo.

Fortunately, someone passed by at this time and relieved him.

"Xiao Lin?"

The person who came was Jiang Tiaotiao, holding a big bag of Qiaoguo in his hand, and his mouth was full of sugar residue.

"What are you doing here?"

Feeling relieved, Lin Wanke quickly found a reason and dragged him away together.

Before leaving, Jinxiu seemed to have something to say, but she didn't say it after all, she just said thank you.

Lin Wanke was already sweating profusely from the heat, so he pulled Jiang Tiaotiao straight to a place where there were few people. When he got to a secluded place, he remembered that he saw Yanpu just now, and hurriedly told him about the handsome young man listen.

Jiang Tiaotiao said "Oh", and said, "I know that person, it's all right."

Seeing that he was so relieved, Lin Wan must have been worrying too much, so he didn't ask any more questions.

He turned his gaze away and couldn't help laughing when he saw Jiang Tiaotiao's mouth.He ate so much that his mouth was full of sugar, and his cheeks were stained yellow.

He is obviously only one year younger than him, so he doesn't know how he looks like a child and eats like this.

"Look at you, your face is full of sugar."

Lin Wanke said to use his sleeve to wipe it for him, but the sugar turned sticky, and he couldn't wipe it off for a while, so he had to wipe it with his fingers again, and it took a while to help him clean it.

"Why are you like my brother?" Lin Wanke laughed as he said that.

Jiang Tiaotiao touched his cheek and said nothing, as if he was a little embarrassed.

At this moment, exclamations erupted from the crowd in the distance, and the two looked around, only to see a man in black standing up, with his wide sleeves stretched out like a bird, and with a single wave, a building that was about to topple over The Caijin Building turned around, and the melons, fruits and wine utensils on the top fell down one after another, but fortunately, there was no one underneath.

The few women who were standing under the brocade tower were still in shock, and all of them turned pale with fright.

Although the brocade tower is light, if it were to fall down, they would still be injured.

The man in black who saved the life turned around and left without waiting for them to thank him. He wore a mask on his face, covering most of his eyebrows and eyes.

"It's Xi Baiqing!" Lin Wanke excitedly said, "It's Xi Baiqing who saved people!"

Seeing that Jiang Tiaotiao was unmoved, he explained: "Xi Baiqing is a retainer of the prime minister's mansion. He is a magician personally recommended by the prime minister to the palace. He is very capable and kind-hearted. Many people have been helped by him. He never asks for anything in return, he is such a rare good man!"

Jiang Tiaotiao said: "But isn't the number one magician in the capital, Cheng Ju?"

Lin Wanke said: "I think Xi Baiqing is much better than Cheng Ju. Cheng Ju gained his reputation because he is a disciple of Master Xu. In my opinion, Xi Baiqing is more worthy of this title."

He had heard many stories of Xi Baiqing's good deeds and helping others, and he had long admired him. When he saw him today, he couldn't help being excited, but he didn't notice that Jiang Tiaotiao's expression was a little uneasy.

It was late at night, the pedestrians on the street gradually dispersed, Lin Wanke also said goodbye to Jiang Tiaotiao and prepared to go home.

When he passed by the stall where he was buying sundries, he saw a pair of Mohele with extremely beautiful colors. Although they couldn't compare with the rouge gifted by the handsome man, they were still small and dainty, with an adorable naive look.

For some reason, he suddenly wanted to buy it for Le Xin.

In fact, most of these mills and drinks are used by children to play with, or by women begging for cleverness, but he just wants to buy them.

I went up to ask the price, and the peddler said that it would cost at least two hundred yuan, but now that the stall is about to close, he only charged him one hundred yuan.

Lin Wanke bought it, held it in his hand and looked at it carefully, the more he looked at it, the more he liked it, but it was too late and he couldn't go to the academy anymore.

The next day, it was pouring rain again.

There were no classes in the academy, so Lin Baizhi lay on the bed with a pen to scribble and scribble a few limericks from time to time, which was very pleasant.

Lin Wanke looked at the heavy rain outside the door, then looked at the Mohele in his hand, and finally decided to go out in the rain.

Before leaving, Lin Baizhi asked him what he was going to do, but he answered vaguely, took an umbrella and rushed into the rain curtain.

The rain seemed to wash away the entire capital, and when Lin Wanke arrived at Qingyan Academy, there was no dry part of his body.

When Wen Jin led him into the house, Le Xin was slightly surprised.

"It's raining so hard today, are you here to learn calligraphy?"

He ordered Wen Jin to fetch a piece of his own clothes for him to change, and poured hot tea to drive him away from the cold.

Lin Wanke was wearing Le Xin's clothes, and he could feel his breath all over his body, warm and harmonious.

Seeing him sitting upright holding a teacup, Le Xin said with a smile, "Sit down first, and I'll teach you the first poem about rain later, it's also appropriate for the occasion."

Lin Wanke responded, touching his pocket with his palm, remembering the purpose of coming to the academy today.

He took out the exquisite pair of Mohele, hesitated for a moment, and said hesitantly: "Mr. Le, I saw this on the street yesterday, so I bought it."

Seeing it, Le Xin took it over, looked it over carefully for a while, and said, "It's really exquisite, that kid Wen Jin might not be able to put it down after seeing it."

After he finished speaking, he handed it back, obviously not realizing that it was Lin Wanke's gift to him.

Where would Lin Wanke answer? He was thinking about how to speak when he heard Le Xin say, "Speaking of which, Wen Jin and I went to buy books in Wan'an Street yesterday, and I saw you."

He smiled lightly, and said in a very calm tone: "There is a girl beside you, is it your sweetheart?"

Lin Wanke stood up with a "shua", almost knocking over the chair.

"no!"

Seeing him so excited, Le Xin was a little surprised: "I was picking out books at the time, but I didn't see who it was. I heard what Wen Jin said. Maybe he read it wrong. Don't mind."

Seeing that Lin Wanke's face was flushed, he smiled and said, "Even if it is, that's okay. At Xiao Lin's age, it's time for him to marry a wife."

Lin Wanke lost his temper just now, because he really didn't want to let Le Xin misunderstand. Hearing what Le Xin said now, his heart was overwhelmed. Thinking about Ji Yun's words a few days ago, it was even more clumsy, and all kinds of thoughts were entangled. clear.

Does he really want to bury his heart for a lifetime, and then watch the person he likes marry a wife and have children, and only treat him as a dispensable friend forever?

He didn't want to, but so what.

Lin Wanke felt wetness in his eyes, and he heard his own voice, which was slightly indistinguishable, as if it came from a distant mountain.

"In fact... I already have a sweetheart."

Le Xin let out an "oh" when she heard the words, and then put down the pen in her hand: "Really, that's really good."

"He...he is very good. I liked him very much from the first time I saw him."

Lin Wanke murmured to himself like in a dream, knowing that these words should not be said, but he had suppressed them for too long, and if he didn't use this rare courage to say them, he might really hide them for a lifetime.

"I know he doesn't like sweets, but I still can't help but give him pastries, because I can't do anything else for him... Later, he said that he would teach me to write. I was very happy, but worried , I'm afraid that I won't learn well and let him down..."

Lin Wanke spoke very slowly, clenched Mohele's hand into a fist, and his nails almost dug into the flesh.

"When he fell into the water to save people, I have never been so scared in my life. I was afraid that I would never see him again... If something happened to him, I would definitely not be able to live..."

Lin Wanke held back tears, and said word by word in a hoarse voice:

"Mr. Le, the person I'm talking about...is you. I know this is beyond my control, but I... like you, I have always liked you. "

After saying these words, he had exhausted all his strength, his clenched hands loosened in vain, and Mohele fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

After the sound, only the sound of rain remained in the study.

Le Xin didn't know when he looked away, Lin Wanke couldn't see the look on his face, but he knew that he must look down on him, so he couldn't help feeling sad.

In this way, they can't even be friends.

Lin Wanke didn't regret it, although he felt uncomfortable, but the rock in his heart finally fell, and it was just a matter of his mind.

"Mr. Le, I... I'm leaving, and I won't bother you again in the future."

He took off the clothes on his body and folded them carefully. Tears fell on the clothes and smeared. He stretched out his hand to wipe it, but it got deeper and deeper.

"I bought this pair of Mohele as a gift for you. If you don't want it, just throw it away."

He put on his wet clothes, couldn't help but look back, Le Xin still turned his back to him without saying a word, the thin back seemed to tell him that he didn't want to see each other again.

"Mr. Le...you take care."

Lin Wanke's last courage turned into these words, and then he opened the door and rushed out.

The torrential rain was pouring on him, but he didn't notice it, he just kept running forward until he reached Lianxin Lake.

Thinking of the lotus viewing festival, Le Xin dipped his fingers in water and wrote poems on his lotus lantern. The two of them set off the lantern together and watched the fireworks side by side.

Next year's Lotus Viewing Festival, who will accompany him to set off lotus lanterns and watch the fireworks?

Lin Wanke couldn't bear the severe pain in his heart any longer, and wept loudly in the rain.

It seemed as if the whole year's rain was about to fall that day, the heavy rain poured down like a river of heaven, hitting the lotus leaves and stirring up countless drops of water, washing everything away and covering up his cries.