When the pears are green

Chapter 251 Lantern Festival

On the Lantern Festival, the full moon rises.

Linhe County is bustling under the night sky. From Haiyan Street to Heqing Street, from Renshou Street to Nianfeng Street, lights and decorations are everywhere, and the sound of gongs and drums can be heard.

Jiang Qingzhou held Jiang Huan's hand and followed the crowd to Nianfeng Street. At the entrance of the street, there were several vendors selling clay masks and lanterns.

Jiang Huan was attracted by the masks on the vendor's stall. He stopped and pointed at the mask on the table and said to Jiang Qingzhou, "Dad, I want this."

Jiang Qingzhou looked back at the masks on the stall and let Jiang Huan, who was already as tall as his waist, pull him towards the stall.

The vendor picked up the monkey head mask and handed it to Jiang Huan, asking, "Young Master, do you want this?"

"Dad, is it okay?" Jiang Huan shook Jiang Qingzhou's hand and acted coquettishly, while looking at Song Li who was standing beside him with pleading eyes.

Song Li leaned over to take a look at the mask in the vendor's hand. The mask was not in the shape of a real monkey head. It looked a bit like an opera mask, but it was made to be very cute.

Jiang Qingzhou nodded in agreement, picked up the two-year-old girl from Song Li's arms and asked, "Is there anyone Yaoyao likes?"

Jiang Yao hugged Jiang Qingzhou's neck and looked at the masks on the stall. She pointed at the rabbit mask in the corner with her little hand and said, "Dad, rabbit."

The vendor quickly handed the rabbit mask to Jiang Qingzhou, who held the mask and gestured to Jiang Yao's little face.

The mask was quite large, revealing only the twin buns on Jiang Yao's head. The red silk ribbon tied on them swayed back and forth in the night wind as Jiang Yao moved.

Song Li, who was helping Jiang Huan put on a mask, saw this and said to Jiang Qingzhou with a smile, "Yaoyao is too small, there is nothing suitable for her to wear. Since she likes it, just buy it. When she is as old as Huan'er, she can wear it."

"Okay, then I'll listen to Xiaoli. Brother, how much is the mask?" Jiang Qingzhou asked the vendor with a smile.

The vendor replied as he sorted the masks: "Little brother, fifteen cents for each, two for twenty-five cents."

Song Li thought the price was acceptable, so she didn't bargain with the vendor. She took out fifteen copper coins from her purse and put them on the table.

The vendor smiled and counted the coins, then shouted to the four people who had already left: "Sir, please walk slowly. There are stilt walking and dragon dancing ahead. You can go and have a look."

Jiang Qingzhou turned around and smiled at the vendor, then walked into Nianfeng Street holding Jiang Yao in one hand and the rabbit mask in the other.

Jiang Huan, who was walking behind, whispered to Song Li, who was holding his hand, "Mom, does Dad dislike me?"

Song Li was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and frowned and asked Jiang Huan: "Huan'er, why do you say that? Your father is very good to you and Yaoyao."

"But dad always holds my sister in his arms. My sister looks like mom, and I look like my aunt, so dad doesn't like me." Jiang Huan turned his head away as if he was upset.

Song Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this, so she had to rub Jiang Huan's hair and explain, "Huan'er, when you were as old as Yaoyao, your father always held you in his arms. But you are six years old now, do you still want to be held like Yaoyao? Lingyi, Xuanhe and Chengyin are almost a year younger than you, and they don't let you hold them. If Xuanhe knew that you still want to be held, she would probably laugh at you."

Jiang Huan quickly hugged Song Li's arm and whispered, "Mom, I don't want to be hugged anymore. You can't tell Xuanhe."

Song Li nodded solemnly.

Jiang Huan rubbed Song Li's arm with his head, then pulled Song Li to quickly chase Jiang Qingzhou who was not far away.

Jiang Qingzhou held Jiang Yao and stood under the parasol tree, waiting for Song Li and her son, and told Jiang Huan not to fall behind because there was a snack vendor ahead.

Jiang Huan excitedly took Song Li's hand and continued to walk forward. Jiang Yao saw Song Li being pulled away by Jiang Huan, and she pursed her lips and kept shedding tears.

Jiang Qingzhou quickly took out a handkerchief and tried to wipe Jiang Yao's tears. Jiang Yao turned her head to the side and shouted, "Mom."

"Yaoyao, be good and wipe your tears quickly, otherwise your face will become chapped and look ugly. Your mother and your brother have gone to the front to buy you some delicious food. Let's go find them after we wipe our tears, okay?" Jiang Qingzhou patiently coaxed Jiang Yao with a handkerchief.

Jiang Yao turned her head and rubbed her handkerchief, urging Jiang Qingzhou: "I, I want to find my mother."

"Okay, let's go now." Jiang Qingzhou coaxed Jiang Yao while striding forward. Soon, he saw Song Li and Jiang Huan standing in front of a stall and waving at them.

Jiang Yao stretched out her arms for Song Li to hug her, and Song Li quickly pulled Jiang Huan, who was eating cakes, back.

"Here, this is the mung bean cake that mother bought for Yaoyao and your father. Come, mother will feed you." Song Li picked up a piece of mung bean cake and put it to Jiang Yao's mouth.

Jiang Yao opened her mouth, took a light bite, and smiled with her eyes narrowed.

The red silk ribbon fluttered to Jiang Yao's face, making her look even whiter.

After finishing a small piece of mung bean cake, Song Li handed the remaining mung bean cake in a paper bag to Jiang Qingzhou. After stuffing the two masks into her shoulder bag, she reached out to take Jiang Yao.

Jiang Qingzhou took the paper bag and continued walking forward with Jiang Huan in hand.

There was a crowd of people in front, and cheers and the sound of gongs and drums could be heard from the crowd.

Jiang Huan pulled Jiang Qingzhou's arm, raised his little face to look at the red-faced Guan Gong on the stilts, and cheered happily.

Jiang Qingzhou first wiped off the mung bean cake residue from the corner of Jiang Huan's mouth with his fingers, then squatted down and let Jiang Huan sit on his shoulders.

Jiang Huan glanced at Song Li hesitantly.

Song Li smiled and said to Jiang Huan: "Huan'er, if we delay any longer, the stilt walking will be over. I just heard someone say that the dragon dance will be the next step after the stilt walking!"

After Jiang Huan heard what Song Li said, he quickly climbed onto Jiang Qingzhou's shoulders and sat down. Jiang Qingzhou slowly stood up, holding Jiang Huan's legs with both hands and asked, "Can Huan'er see it?"

"Dad, yes. The dragon dancer is indeed behind us. The dragon's body is red, its scales are brown, its beard is yellow, and its eyes are very big. There is also someone playing with a wooden stick with a yellow ball on it." Jiang Huan hugged Jiang Qingzhou's head and loudly described to Jiang Qingzhou what he saw.

In order to allow Jiang Huan to see more clearly, Jiang Qingzhou squeezed into the crowd.

Song Li smiled and asked Jiang Yao who was touching the silver hairpin in her hair: "Yaoyao, do you want to see it? If you want to see it, you can sit on your mother's shoulders like your brother."

Jiang Yao shook her head and replied, "No, I want my mother to hug me."

"Okay, Mommy will hold Yaoyao. There are people selling lanterns up ahead. Let's go take a look." Song Li said as she squeezed into the crowd and greeted Jiang Qingzhou. Then she held Jiang Yao and walked through the long crowd to the stall where lanterns of various shapes and colors were hung.

The vendor held up his graying beard and asked Song Li, who was standing in front of the stall examining the lanterns carefully, "Madam, what kind of lantern do you want?"

"We want something that children like." Song Li put Jiang Yao down and answered while holding Jiang Yao's hand tightly.

The vendor first smiled and praised Jiang Yao for being a lovely girl, then took out a butterfly-shaped lantern and handed it to Jiang Yao.

Jiang Yao clapped her hands as she took it, stroking the butterfly wings painted with blue, yellow and red dyes with her right hand, and looked at Song Li with anticipation.

Song Li's eyes were full of tenderness. She gently said to Jiang Yao who was picking the wings of a butterfly, "Yaoyao, wait a moment. Let's choose one for our brother, Yuanlang, Lingze, and the three sisters Lingyi, Xuanhe, and Yanyin respectively."

Jiang Yao looked up at Song Li, smiled and nodded at her.

Song Li leaned over and tightened Jiang Yao's peach-red embroidered cloak with rabbit fur trim, then looked at the lantern in front of her.

Seeing that Song Li was a big customer, the vendor quickly introduced his lanterns to Song Li: "Madam, this is a fish lantern, which is very suitable for little boys. Older girls can carry flower lanterns. I have lotus lanterns, peony lanterns, and hibiscus lanterns."

Song Li looked at the fish lantern the vendor was pointing at, and then at the butterfly lantern in Jiang Yao's hand. In order to avoid conflicts between the children, she decided to buy a fish lantern for the boy and a butterfly lantern for the girl.

"Uncle, I want three fish lanterns and four butterfly lanterns." Song Li squatted down and picked up Jiang Yao and said.

The vendor first took up a fish lantern to show Song Li how to prop it up, then took out a sufficient number of lanterns and told Song Li with a smile: "One lantern is 20 wen, madam, you want more, I will charge you 130 wen for seven lanterns, and give you seven candles as a gift."

Song Li couldn't bargain anymore.

After paying the bill, the vendor saw Song Li holding the child, and took out a cloth bag from behind the stall and put the lanterns and candles into it.

Song Li thanked the vendor while holding the cotton rope tied to the mouth of the cloth bag. Then she carried Jiang Yao to the wonton shop across the street and ordered a large bowl of wontons. The mother and daughter ate while waiting for Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Huan to come over.

The crowd slowly dispersed as the dragon dancing and stilt-walking teams walked away. Some followed the teams and continued walking towards Renshou Street, some went to nearby stalls to buy things or have supper, and some went home in groups of three or five.

Song Li looked at the crowd boredly and accidentally caught a glimpse of Wu Minghui and a young man.