Lantern
“What do you mean?” Bian Shengjian was a little puzzled, “Is there some kind of hidden meaning to it?”
Lu Shen didn’t say a word, he held on the window railing with his hand and said softly, “In a few days it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival right?”
“Hmm.” Bian Shengjian squinted his eyes and looked out. “Aren’t you going home?”
“My parents are both out of town,” Lu Shen said. “It doesn’t make sense to stay at home alone, so I simply stayed in school.”
“Oh?” Bian Shengjian was a little surprised. “Doesn’t look like it, poor little boy.”
“What about you?” Lu Shen asked back.
“Won’t go.” Bian Shengjian said simply and neatly.
“You and your dad…did you two have a conflict?” Lu Shen’s tone didn’t fluctuate, but Bian Shengjian could hear a hint of envy that was not easily discernible. “It’s so nice to have someone at home, why won’t you go back?”
“Me and him.” Bian Shengjian fell silent, knocked on the window edge with his fingers, and then slowly added. “Forget it, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then let’s not talk about it.” Lu Shen smiled, “Actually, I envy you.”
“What do you envy me for?” Bian Shengjian raised his eyebrows.
“Your parents should be very kind to you, otherwise, they won’t be able to raise such a lovely son as you.” Lu Shen said.
Bian Shengjian looked at him and didn’t speak for a while, and tossed the word “lovely” in the back of his mind. Lu Shen’s words in front of him were like a small needle that gently touched the tip of his heart. But before he could feel it, it dissipated.
“A long time ago, it was good.” Bian Shengjian said.
Lu Shen looked at his profile face gleaming under the sun. He had to say that this usually grumpy Third brother really had a good-looking face. The shadow casted from his nose, the slightly pursed lips that looked a little sexy, he was really a proper beauty from the bones to skin… Beauty?
Lu Shen laughed dumbfounded at the thought that popped into his mind for a moment. Even if he was a beauty, he would have to be the strongest kind. He didn’t know how many times more powerful someone would be just to manage him.
“Third brother.” Lu Shen hooked the corner of his mouth, “Actually, you look pretty good.”
“You just found out now?” Bian Shengjian said, “Shouldn’t you have concluded that at first sight?”
“Yes, you are the most beautiful person I have ever met.” Lu Shen laughed and coughed a few times.
“Eh, your mouth is quite sweet.” Bian Shengjian glanced at him, took out a candy in his pocket and threw it to him. “For you. “
“Thank you.” Lu Shen peeled off the candy wrapper, stuffed it into his mouth, and quietly felt the sweetness melt away from the tip of his tongue. “I heard that eating sugar can secrete dopamine.”
“Hey, you said it when school started.” Bian Shengjian also peeled a piece of candy and stuffed it into his mouth, looking at the sunshine outside the window and saying to himself, “The weather is nice today….”
Lu Shen silently clenched his hand on the railing.
He was just really a simple person. Although sometimes he had a bad temper and was foolish, many times the details revealed to him inadvertently made his heart moved.
For example, in the dormitory that day, he played and sang softly with his head down, caressed the strings with his fingertips, and made a lonely noise. In his arrogant face, a sweat glistened and glided down his Adam’s apple while looking at his fingertips with a frown. There were many handsome and flamboyant sophomores, however he himself does not know when Bian Shengjian’s many various images penetrated in his heart, and most of them were actually shining.
But his purpose at the beginning was obviously just to get close to him. Approach him, take advantage of him, and then what?
Why you? Why let me meet you? You are such a wonderful person. I feel afflicted.
Lu Shen retracted his gaze and lightly grabbed Bian Shengjian’s arm. “Third brother, let’s celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together.”
“Speak as you please, don’t grab me.” Bian Shengjian snorted, “Whatever. What would we do if we stayed in school?”
******
“Let’s release lanterns!” Zhou Li shouted excitedly, “The school’s new activity this year is still by the lake!”
“Are you sure?” Several girls in the class immediately echoed, “Flower lantern? What kind of lantern?”
“There are a lot of them, but you have to either make them yourself or buy them outside. There are a lot of them on the commercial street.” Zhou Li turned his head and continued to spit excitedly at Bian Shengjian. “Just tonight!”
“Tonight?” Bian Shengjian was stunned. Although it was not bad to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival today….. “What about the agreed school rules?
“I don’t know, the school made an exception this time, but this time the activities are divided into classes. At that time, it is estimated that there will be two circles of people guarding us for any accidents.” Zhou Li rambled. Bian Shengjian couldn’t help but interrupt. “Aren’t you afraid of… danger?”
Although it had been a few days since the 15th, Bian Shengjian was always brooding about what happened that night. The next day, he rushed to buy a small night light and put it by the bedside. When he slept, he could feel at ease. Now that such an event was suddenly organized and in the middle of the night, no matter how he looked at it, he felt a little creeped out.
“I’m not going.” Bian Shengjian said.
“Why won’t you go?!” Zhou Li was worried immediately. Since the monitor left, his mood had been low for a while, but after recovering, his energy was as strong as a calf. “It’s not easy to have a fun activity. If you don’t go, it’s useless!”
“Say it again.” Bian Shengjian was so annoyed and pulled his ears, “Do you want to eat moon cakes?”
“Eat!” Zhou Li immediately looked at him with bright eyes, “Did you buy it from outside? Five kernel lotus seed paste or salted egg yolk?”
“Neither.” Bian Shengjian took several moon cakes from under the table and threw them into his arms. “New taste, try it. “
“This is… crayfish?” Zhou Li looked over one by one in disbelief. “Chocolate spicy beef, Lao Ganma’s Louzhi snail powder… non-vegetable flavor? What the hell are these!”
“Anyway, I didn’t spend money on those,” Bian Shengjian tried his best to hold back a smile on the corner of his mouth, “have a try.”
“Damn it, where did you get all these dark dishes?” Zhou Li stared at the packaging for a long time and didn’t dare to open it. “Won’t you be poisoned after eating them?”
“What kind of poison? There’s no arsenic in there. “Bian Shengjian couldn’t help but be happy, “It won’t kill you. “
In fact, these strange moon cakes were sent by Li Fei and the others. Because something happened to Xiao Liping’s family, they couldn’t come over to celebrate with him this time. As compensation, they sent him such a box of things with a big wave of their hands. ·Bian Shengjian still took a long time to find out a few normal flavors from the bottom of the box. As for the others… Well, he’ll give them during the big festival.
“This crayfish tastes pretty good, would you like to try it?” Lu Shen swallowed a mouthful of mooncake and said.
“No.” Bian Shengjian glanced at him, “I still have it there.”
“Forget it, eating more moon cakes will make you fat.” Lu Shen rubbed his stomach.
“Impossible.” Bian Shengjian glanced at his lower abdomen, “You’re quite sturdy yourself, do you exercise?”
“Guess.” Lu Shen smiled and went to tear off another packaging bag. A smell suddenly rose as the bag was torn open. Bian Shengjian remembered it clearly in his brain as he was assaulted by the odor. “Fuck. Get out and eat it over there!”
“Give it to Zhou Li, he might like it.” Lu Shen looked at the words on the package and realized that he had made a mistake. He quickly took out a few pieces of paper and wrapped it up to prevent the smell from leaking out. “He usually likes steamed buns with non vegetable fillings for breakfast, but he also eats this. When he does, he doesn’t dare eat them in front of you, and hides in the restroom several times.”
“…Damn.” Bian Shengjian twitched the corners of his mouth and said to Zhou Li, who was still studying the taste of mooncakes, with a bitter look on his face, “You are so disgusting.”
“Ah?” Zhou Li looked at him with a confused expression.
“Are you a leek essence reincarnate?” Bian Shengjian said.
“What’s wrong with leeks?” Zhou Li snorted, “I had a dream when I was a child, that the person who hates leeks the most in the world will grow leeks all over the world..”
“Really mighty.” Bian Shengjian gave him a thumbs up. “I have a dream too, that is to pull out all the leeks in the world. “
“Brother Jian, you are so childish.” Zhou Li couldn’t help laughing.
At the class meeting in the afternoon, Old Tan stressed the safety importance of releasing the lanterns. Although the activities were carried out in turn by grades and classes, he expressed his incomprehension for the activities with anxiety, as if people in the school would jump down one by one when they reached the lake.
“Students must pay attention to safety! Leave as soon as you finish, don’t linger at will!”
There were not many people in the audience who responded, and most of them had already started to discuss the types and styles of lanterns, as well as discussing where to buy them after school. Bian Shengjian didn’t want to get involved in these matters, but after school, Zhou Li said excitedly that he wanted to buy lanterns together. He was just like a sticky candy, difficult to get rid off.
“Together?” Bian Shengjian flicked on Lu Shen’s shoulder when he was about to go out. “To buy.”
“Okay.” Lu Shen stood up but when he saw Zhou Li next to Bian Shengjian, he hesitantly said, “How about you two just go.”
“Things like this don’t happen every day.” Bian Shengjian snorted. “Now, would you like to go?”
“I’ll come.” Lu Shen paused and quickly followed.
Although there were many styles of lanterns in the store, including round and square lotus flowers and various strange styles, Bian Shengjian frowned for a long time and chose the most common red lotus flower. In his opinion, the activity of releasing lanterns was originally intended for children to play, but now that he was a grown man, doing these childish things, simply damages his image as the third brother.
“How about this?” Zhou Li excitedly ran over with a large lantern, “Doesn’t it look very imposing? It will definitely sweep the lights tonight.”
“…it’s really great.” Bian Shengjian glanced at the lantern. “Well, it fits your temperament very well.”
“What temperament?” Zhou Li asked curiously.
Middle-aged and elderly temperament. Bian Shengjian said, “The kind that can be successfully integrated into the crowd of loving people with the help of emoticons. “
“Damn it.” Zhou Li was stunned for a while before he laughed. “You’re really bad.”
Lu Shen’s style was similar to his, but pink, which looked quite cute.
“Let’s go buy some lighter, candles and so on.” Zhou Li said and glanced at the lanterns of the two of them. “Hey, these two look quite alike. Who’s the person you’re with, Brother Jian?”
“This is Lu Shen from our class,” Bian Shengjian couldn’t help sighing, “Zhou Li, your middle-aged and elderly amnesia is really serious. Is it already time for you to pack up and be buried in the ground?”
“Ah, er sorry, yeah he looks a little familiar.” Zhou Li glanced at Lu Shen’s face and smiled. “Go, go, go. Go back to school and have dinner.”
When they got back to the school, it was already a little dark, and the moon broke through the clouds to show its shape in the sky. Zhou Li looked up at the sky and said, “It’s strange, isn’t it supposed to be a full moon tonight?”
“Fifteenth moon has sixteen rounds.” Bian Shengjian also looked up.”Maybe tomorrow it will be round. “
(t/n The fifteenth moon and sixteenth round is an astronomical phenomenon. The reason is that the standard of the lunar calendar is that the new moon must fall on the first day of the new year.)
“It makes sense.” Zhou Li nodded.
Bian Shengjian was walking forward with the bag, but his footsteps suddenly slowed down a lot. When Lu Shen slowly caught up from behind, he lowered his voice and said, “What’s wrong with you? I didn’t see you talking much along the way.”
“I’m not used to it.” Lu Shen smiled, “I just want to be with you.”
“Go away.” Bian Shengjian shook his hand, “If you say something like this, be careful or else I’ll slap you.”
“Is it heavy? Why don’t I take some?”
Lu Shen glanced at the bag in his hand.
“It’s not heavy.” Bian Shengjian snorted twice, “Uncle, please go faster.”
Lu Shen smiled and pulled a bag of food from his arm and put it in his hand. “Well, let’s go.”
In fact, the moon tonight looked quite round.
Bian Shengjian looked up at the big glowing disc, and inexplicably floated over the words Lu Shen said: Be careful of the moon. What to be careful about? Lu Shen said something similar last time, then he experienced the sleep paralysis that night.
Bian Shengjian frowned. He really had too many questions about Lu Shen, but now…
“Brother Jian!” A shout came from not far away.
Let’s release the lanterns for now. Bian Shengjian sighed.
The lake in the school was still quite big. Moreover, the juniors did not participate in this activity, so they still had a lot of spare space when they arrived at the scene along with the fourth class of the senior year, but the lake was already full of many lanterns. Their lights flickered on and off, and the lake surface seemed to be lit in flames. At first glance, it was full of beating orange-red light.
“Don’t linger! Leave when you’re done!” There was a supervisor staring at them by the lake, and his tone was a little harsh. “Don’t get too close to the water.”
“Fuck, Only state officials are allowed to set fires, and people are not allowed to light lamps.”
Zhou Li cursed in a low voice.
“… Only state officials are allowed to set fires, and people are not allowed to light lamps.” Bian Shengjian twitched the corners of his mouth.
(t/n Only state officials are allowed to set fires, and people are not allowed to light lamps-zhǐ xǔ zhōuguān fàng huǒ, bù xǔ bǎixìng diǎn dēng, rulers can do whatever they want, but the people’s legitimate words and deeds are subject to various restrictions. It also generally refers to one’s own arbitrary actions, but strictly requires others or does not allow others to have legitimate rights.)
“Is it?” Zhou Li thought for a few seconds and then waved his hand. “Forget it, let’s go down and light the lanterns. “
Light the candle in the lantern, put the lantern into the water, make a wish, and then get up and leave.
A series of simple operations seemed to have pressed the pause button in Zhou Li. Bian Shengjian watched him crouching by the water, frowning, looking constipated and tangled with eyes closed, and folded his hands to make a wish towards the gradually drifting lantern. His mouth was still muttering words, and he thought it was a little funny. Just as he was about to say a few words, his forearm was suddenly touched.
“Young Bian.”
“What’s the matter?” Bian Shengjian just turned his head and saw Lu Shen pointing not far away. “Look at our lanterns.”
“Not bad, they should be picked up after a while.” Bian Shengjian narrowed his eyes and looked at the two little lotus lanterns slowly drifting forward side by side, “Being so close, won’t they burn each other?”
“Don’t you want to make a wish?” Lu Shen felt helpless at his unstyled remarks, “Look at how serious Zhou Lixu is, he looks like he’s holding his fart in.”
“Fuck.” Bian Shengjian couldn’t help laughing, “I can’t tell. Lu Shen, you’re a very bad person.”
Lu Shen raised his eyebrows, stared at the water for a long time and said, “Do you think I’m a very strange person?”
“Can you be more confident?” Bian Shengjian glanced at him, “Remove that kind of feeling.”
Lu Shen hooked the corners of his mouth, his voice was very soft. “Actually, I didn’t tell you a lot of things because I was afraid.”
“What?” Bian Shengjian tilted his head.
“Third brother.” Lu Shen swiped lightly on the water, and the swaying ripples smashed into the shore with the reflected candlelight.
“What will you do if I disappear one day?”
