Chapter 94 – The Moon is Beautiful Tonight

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, a gorgeous fireworks display was held at the Cultural Square.

Asaba Li Xiang loves watching fireworks, so Shen Yu brought her along to see the lanterns before they started to go off.

The square was packed with people, with beautiful light displays all over the square and singing and dancing performances over the stage, and Mid-Autumn carols could be heard from afar.

Shen Yu It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the lanterns, and I felt a little excited to be in such a lively atmosphere.

” Shen Yu! Look at that! What a beautiful dragon!”

Asaba Li Xiang cheered as a colourful golden dragon fluttered in the direction of her finger, and the crowd cheered from time to time.

The cultural feast was an eye-opener for Li Xiang, who was so playful that he took the initiative to drag Shen Yu to the lively place.

Shen Yu couldn’t understand why she was suddenly so strong when she was pulling him, even though she looked so small.

Her hands were also small, holding his three fingers like a little child, and the warmth and softness could be felt through her skin.

The heart beats unconsciously faster.

Follow her quickly, then draw back your hand without leaving a trace.

The lantern viewing is certainly not without its riddles.

Many vendors who took advantage of the night to get ready set up a lantern stall and invited customers to come and guess a lantern riddle for two dollars a time, and if they won three lanterns in a row, they would get a small doll toy.

The girls were defiantly attracted to the plush dolls, and at one of the stalls with the largest selection of gifts, there were many people crowding in to guess the riddles.

Asaba Li Xiang pulled Shen Yu over and stood aside to watch others guess the lantern riddle and watch the fun.

” Shen Yu, did they have lantern fairs like this in ancient China?”

“It must have been much more interesting then than it is now, not only could you recite poems, guess lantern riddles and enjoy lanterns, but you could also drink flower wine.”

“What is flower wine? Is it a wine made from flowers?”

Spilling the beans.

Shen Yu then nodded and said, “Yes.”

“So now you can drink the flower wine too!”

Asaba Li Xiang wondered, “It should be very good, how come it’s only available in ancient times?”

Shen Yu says: “Flowers in ancient times were different from those of today.”

“So that’s it …… I was thinking of going for a drink with Shen Yu ……”

The two of them watched the stall for a while, but Shen Yu looked down and saw her eyes blinking as she watched the riddles, her little hands shoving popcorn into her mouth all the time, her eyes full of curiosity and eagerness to try.

“How much longer do you want to eat that bucket of popcorn?” Shen Yu asked her.

” Shen Yu do you want it?”

“Don’t.”

“I’m eating very slowly because I’m trying to lose weight so I can’t eat too fast, I have to eat one by one.”

Listening to Asaba Li Xiang’s explanation, Shen Yu felt his biological knowledge had been insulted and he asked, “What kind of logic is that?”

Asaba Li Xiang then explained to him scientifically, “Because obesity is when the energy eaten into the body is not consumed, it builds up and turns into fat, so I eat one by one, so little is eaten in, it is quickly consumed and does not turn into fat.”

“Let’s guess the lantern riddle.”

Shen Yu doesn’t want to discuss this topic with her, she must have gotten some hot grades in her science studies.

But that’s true, except that the time between eating and eating has to be stretched very far apart. After all, people aren’t shitheads who can eat and shit at the same time, and it takes a long time for food to be digested once it enters the gut.

“I sure couldn’t guess ……”

Asaba Li Xiang is very self-aware.

Chinese characters have a unique charm: one is pictorial and the other is metaphorical, and pictorial and metaphorical are harmoniously integrated into the structure of Chinese characters.

“I particularly like the Chinese characters and find them very interesting. I remember when we used to learn the character ‘Cong’, our Chinese teacher told us that it could be seen as ear, eye, mouth and heart ……”

As Li Xiang says the words, he also points his fingers at his ears, his eyes, his mouth and finally his chest.

“…… And then the person is smart, so it’s ‘Cong’, am I right?”

“Hmm.”

“That’s why I think it’s particularly difficult to guess lantern riddles, you have to be very familiar with Chinese characters to do it.”

“Just try it and see.”

Shen Yu can see that she wants to play, so let’s play a couple of games. I’m sure I’ll be nagged again for coming home so early anyway, not for any reason to make her happy or anything like that.

“Boss, here’s ten dollars.”

“Okay. There are five times for ten dollars, three lights each time, if you win all of them you can choose a doll, if you make one mistake you fail, come on young man, win a couple of dolls back for your girlfriend.”

The owner smiled brightly. All the people guessing lantern riddles over here were couples, and seeing how well matched this pair was, they were naturally couples too.

Shen Yu didn’t explain, but Asaba Li Xiang was blushing, looking pink and delicate, not sure if it was the red lanterns that reflected her face.

After paying, the owner took a box of small lanterns from the shelf behind him, all made of red paper, about the size of a duck’s egg, with a small note inside each one.

“Split one at a time, answer one riddle a minute, you can talk, but no checking your phone oh.”

“OK.”

Shen Yu gave the task of unwrapping the lanterns to Asaba Li Xiang, who was the lucky dog, and it was up to her to make a good or hard guess.

“So let’s guess this first!”

Asaba Li Xiang twirls his fingers around the pile of lanterns, then twists up a small lantern and when he tears it open, a small note falls out.

“Ten plus eight (type a word)”

“Ah, so hard!”

Asaba Li Xiang looked at the puzzle on the slip of paper and said bitterly, “Isn’t ten plus eight equal to eighteen, but which word is it exactly ……”

“You’re in good hands.”

“That’s not bad. ……”

Shen Yu, after a moment’s reflection, replied, “It’s ‘rack'”

“Good, go on.”

The boss smiled, there were many people who could guess one, but three in a row was too few to worry about.

“Then we’ll guess this again!”

Asaba Li Xiang picked another small lantern and tore it open, holding the note close to Shen Yu and showing it to him.

“A few encounters on a small bridge (one word)”

This one is really a bit difficult.

Shen Yu frowned, with only a minute to spare, his mind whirling quickly.

From the elements of the puzzle, small bridge and flowing water, which should be the constituent structure of the character, meet should mean merge.

The water is three points of water, but how should the word ‘little bridge’ be interpreted?

“Could it be a stroke like 小橋? I know there are many pictograms in Chinese characters, and Xiao Qiao should look like this ……” Asaba Li Xiang said what she thought, but she had no idea about the puzzle, she just heard Shen Yu keep mumbling about Xiao Qiao and used her hand to draw a curved bridge shape.

Hearing Asaba Li Xiang’s words, Shen Yu’s eyes lit up and his mind immediately turned around. At the end of the minute, he thought of a word and immediately replied, “It’s ‘sink'”

The word “bridge” can be likened to the word “冖” and then combined with the words “water” and “several” to create the word The character for “sink” can then be combined with “water” and “few” to create the character for “sink”.

The boss was also slightly surprised and praised, “Excellent, you two, this riddle has been difficult for many people.”

Asaba Li Xiang hadn’t yet figured out how to solve the word ‘sink’, but when he saw that Shen Yu had succeeded, he clapped happily and looked super excited.

“One more hit on the light and you’ll win a prize.” The boss said, “If you guess wrong, this chance will be used up!”

“We’ll be able to guess it! Shen Yu is superb!” Asaba Li Xiang proudly told his boss, amusing him with his childishness.

Asaba Li Xiang then chose another lamp and took out a small note: “The star came on the second day of January (playing a domestic animal)”.

This time it’s not a crossword, and there aren’t many livestock to choose from, so it’s not a very difficult question.

The quickest way is to eliminate, and Shen Yu, thinking much faster than the average person, just happens to be the first domestic animal that comes to mind that matches the riddle.

While Asaba Li Xiang was still pondering what kind of livestock it was, Shen Yu had already given the answer: “It’s a ‘cow'”.

“Why a cow?”

“The word for cow, add the word ‘moon’ and two more ‘suns’ and you have just the right two words for star.”

“Si pot to!!!”

Asaba Li Xiang wanted to jump up and kiss Shen Yu, thinking that he was so good that she would not have been able to guess any of them if she had been allowed to.

The owner was convinced and let Shen Yu and Asaba Li Xiang pick a gift first, they still had four more chances to play with it.

Shen Yu then left Li Xiang to pick it out, which was the happiest time of the year for a girl.

Li Xiang picked a little penguin doll first, why did she use first, because she thought Shen Yu would win a few more.

Sure enough, after five chances to play, the pair earned a total of three figurines, a little penguin, a little bunny and a little cat.

Asaba Li Xiang’s luck was good, as the riddles he drew were all traceable and could be solved with a quick mind.

Shen Yu was more interested in the riddle than wandering around the square, and wanted to continue guessing when the owner apologetically told him, “Young man, we have a maximum of five chances each, sorry about that ……”

“Then Shen Yu, let’s move on to the next one!”

Shen Yu and Asaba Li Xiang then went to another house to jerk off.

By the time the fireworks were about to start at half past nine in the evening, the two men were already fully loaded.

Asaba Li Xiang had nine adorable stuffed animals in her arms, her face flushed with joy, and she had never been so awesome as she was tonight, with Shen Yu in front of her killing the lantern monsters and her picking up the fallen animals right behind him.

“I can’t fit in my bag, if only I had brought a sack ……”

Asaba Li Xiang slightly regretted that she had five stuffed in her small bag and four still in her hand.

Shen Yu’s face twitched at her words, this riddle is a brain-teasing task, she was having fun picking up the doll.

It was a beautiful night, with the full moon high in the sky and a few stars in the distance, and a feast for the eyes as the first fireworks burst into the night sky.

“Wha-! So beautiful!”

The square was filled with excited gasps, and Asaba Li Xiang was mesmerised by the blossoming fireworks.

Fireworks, starry sky, lanterns, teenagers around ……

None of them is a plot that would make a young girl swoon.

The multicoloured fireworks burst into each other at wonderful intervals, shining with a brilliant light.

Asaba Li Xiang quietly looked at Shen Yu beside her, he was looking at the sky at a forty-five degree angle, quietly without speaking, the light of the fireworks shone on his side face, the young girl only felt that this scene was like a movie film, fixed in the memory ……

” Shen Yu, Happy Mid-Autumn!”

” Happy Mid-Autumn.”

……

This visual feast of fireworks lasted for twenty minutes, and when the splendour faded, the crowds in the square began to disperse quickly.

Asaba Li Xiang followed Shen Yu up a flight of steps, holding the doll in her arms.

A pedestrian walking down the steps against the traffic accidentally touched her and knocked the bunny doll out of her arms.

The man didn’t pick it up for her either and disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.

“Dolls ……!”

The bunny doll stumbled and rolled down the steps, and she subconsciously went after it, stumbling violently as her left foot missed the last step, and then, with a tight frown, she limped after the doll and picked it up.

She patted the dust off the plush and tried to go after Shen Yu when her left foot hit the step and she was about to push, when she felt a sharp pain sweep through her.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Shen Yu seemed to feel something and turned around but did not see her. He took two steps back and found her sitting on the steps with a painful expression covering her ankle and immediately ran towards her through the crowd.

When he saw Shen Yu coming, his grievances immediately came to his mind and Asaba Li Xiang said with a sobbing voice: ” Shen Yu …… sorry …… just dropped the doll …… I went after it …… and twisted my foot by accident ……”

Shen Yu pulled away her small hand covering her ankle and found that her ankle was visibly red and swollen and looked quite serious, which made his heart clench.

“It’s not worth anything, if you drop it, you don’t want it, and you’ve hurt yourself, you ……”

“Sorry ……”

Asaba Li Xiang’s nose got sore and she still cried, she wiped her tears and said, “I don’t want to lose it ……”

When he saw her crying, Shen Yu felt panicky and quickly squatted down to comfort her, and helped her stuff several dolls into his trouser pockets that didn’t fit.

“Don’t you cry.”

“Sorry ……”

“Can you try to stand up and walk?”

Shen Yu supported her, and Asaba Li Xiang sucked in his nose and used the strength of his arm to stand up, but when his left foot stuck to the ground, it hurt, but he was afraid of dragging Shen Yu down, so he gritted his teeth and held on.

“I …… I can walk slowly ……”

“Don’t go away.”

Shen Yu could see the twisted expression on her face. He had twisted his foot before when he was playing basketball, and it wasn’t a matter of bravado to say he could walk; the more he walked around recklessly, the more damage he did.

He carefully held her up, came around to her face, crouched down –

“Come up here, I’ll take you to the hospital!”

” Shen Yu ……”

“Come on!”

Shen Yu was angry that she was still dawdling, but he didn’t have a car at this time of day, so he took her to the roadside to get a taxi to the hospital to check on her injuries.

Looking at his broad, sturdy shoulders, Asaba Li Xiang’s head was spinning and she gently leaned over, resting her two small hands on his shoulders.

As they touched, each other’s bodies stiffened with electricity ……

The night breeze was cool and crisp, but only for a moment did she feel the warmth from him, the rolling heat baking her little face scarlet, and for a moment she could not even feel the pain in her ankles, and all the pedestrians around her disappeared, as if the whole world had instantly gone silent.

Shen Yu took her by the knee, she was as light as a kitten and carried her almost effortlessly, then without another word, walked quickly out of the square.

He walked fast, faster than he would have walked normally alone.

Asaba Li Xiang could clearly hear his breathing and feel the pounding of his heart in his chest, while her own heart was beating so hard it was about to pop out of her throat.

The square was crowded and chaotic, but at that moment Li Xiang, who felt surrounded by an indescribable sense of security, seemed to want to hold on to that feeling forever.

Both men were silent and did not speak.

It wasn’t until the crowd had dwindled that Shen Yu asked her in a low voice, “Does it still hurt?”

As he spoke, Li Xiang could easily feel the vibrations resonating in his chest, and she shook her head gently and said, “No, it doesn’t hurt anymore ……”

“And can you walk on your own?”

“It hurts. ……”

“?”

The two men were quiet again.

” Shen Yu …… Am I heavy …… ”

“Pig-like.”

It was quiet once again.

When we arrived outside the square, there were so many people crowding in and out of the square that taxis were not available, so Shen Yu had to carry her to the next place to wait for an online taxi.

The moonlight falls on both of them, soft and cool.

It was the first time Li Xiang had been so close to him, and even the outline behind his ears was so clear.

She sniffed at Shen Yu, her mind wandering, and suddenly looked up at the moon and asked him in her ear.

” Shen Yu .”

“Hmm?”

“You say, have we ever seen the moon together before? I was in Yokohama, you were in Sunan, I didn’t know you and you didn’t know me. But at one point, we looked at the moon together. And then now, we’re so close, so close that I can easily touch you!”

Shen Yu froze, his heart pounding with some kind of warm emotion.

“I think …… has it.”

“That’s great! How nice!”

Li Xiang was so happy and felt that this must be the most romantic of destinies.

The evening breeze ruffled her hair as she quietly, gently and gently, little by little, pressed her whole body against Shen Yu’s.

“The moon is beautiful ……”

She murmured softly as she closed her eyes and felt his breath and warmth with abandon.

Where Shen Yu could not see, the young girl’s face was already flushed with shame –

More moving than the moon.