Gateway to Happiness - Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Riverbank

Zhou Yuan, Lin Fang, Lu Qi and the others were sitting not far from the Lu sisters, and Zhou Yuan could not help looking over towards Xiao Xue. With the little light, he could see the girl’s slender figure and elegant neck, as well as the graceful silhouette of her face from the side. Since it was not too clear, it looked even more enchanting and charming, dazzling him into a trance.

Lu Xiao Shu caught a glimpse of him and she could not help laughing secretly, A foolish goose will always stay a fool. There’s nothing that could change it!

Soon, an interesting show began, and everyone’s attention was piqued. The claps and cheers never ceased.

While everyone else was looking at the show, Lu Xiao Shu was watching the commotion. However, the commotion had phases. After the initial excitement had passed, everyone would quietly watch the show. To Lu Xiao Shu, there would be nothing exciting to watch anymore.

It was just that her mother instructed her sister to keep an eye on her. She knew that if she left, her sister would definitely be too agitated to watch the show. So, she had no other choice than to sit down patiently and doze off beside her sister.

From time to time, Zhou Yuan would glance towards them. Although there were just a few people between them, it felt like a thousand miles away. He was upset because he never had a chance to speak to Xiao Xue.

When the moonlight started to incline to the west, the show finally ended even though the crowd requested it to continue. However, there would be two more shows, one tomorrow night and the other on the following night.

Everyone was chattering as they rose to return home, scattering away from the area. The sisters stayed where they were as they waited for their mother to pick them up.

Finally, Zhou Yuan had gotten his chance as he rubbed his hands and smiled, “Did the both of you like the show tonight?” He might have said “both of you” but he only had eyes for Xiao Xue.

Xiao Xue could not ignore him, so she nodded with a smile.

That made Zhou Yuan happy all of a sudden, and he said hastily, “It’s too bad there are so many people here. Perhaps we could watch the shows at the theatres in town. It’s cleaner and better there!”

Xiao Xue merely smiled in reserve, not making any sound.

At that moment, Lin Fang strolled over and asked, “Was it really good? How come I saw Xiao Shu dozed off?”

Lu Xiao Shu yawned and replied vaguely, “Why can’t I? Why haven’t you two left for home yet? It’s late already!”

“She’s right. You should get going! Your parents will be worried!” Xiao Xue added.

Xiao Xue is worried about me! Zhou Yuan suddenly felt like he could fly. He thought to himself: I’m glad I can hear that even if it’s this late at night. He smiled, “It’s fine. I’m staying with my cousin anyway. There’s no need to worry! Haha!”

All this while, he was able to leave the house using Lin Fang’s name as an excuse. They might not be real cousins but the Lin Family was a prominent family. Naturally, Master and Mistress Zhou would not stop their son from being friends with Lin Fang.

Their son had always listened to them obediently. They would never even dream of him lying to them. However, he had abandoned his principles all for a girl…

Lin Fang glanced at him and faked a smile, “That’s right—”

To be honest, he had sneaked out since no one would be checking his room at such a late hour. However, if this fat one could not climb over the walls, he would have to dig a tunnel into his house!

“Then, you should hurry back! It’s getting late!” Xiao Xue smiled again.

“Sure, we’ll leave first. You should go home earlier to rest. We’ll stop by again tomorrow!” Zhou Yuan smiled back in haste.

Lin Fang also smiled at Lu Xiao Shu and waved before dragging Zhou Yuan away.

The show entertained the people from Feng Ye Village as it went on for three nights. The second night was the most exciting as the performers sang till deep at night. Finally, the third night was the closing of the show where the audience was reluctant to have the show end.

“The night is still young. Why don’t we hang out at the riverbank? We could barbecue some things too.” Lin Fang suggested with a grin.

Lu Xiao Shu’s eyes lit up, clapping her hands and grinning, “Sounds great! It’s still early anyway! Lu Qi, Xiao Xue, let’s all go together!”

“That’s true!” Lin Fang beamed. He knew Lu Xiao Shu well enough to know that she would definitely agree to it.

However, Xiao Xue was a little hesitant, “But it’s already night time. We didn’t prepare anything…”

“I have them all ready! Haha! Don’t worry! They’re all in the carriage!” Lin Fang said hastily.

Lu Qi laughed, “In this case, we have no choice but to go! Let’s go! But we mustn’t stay too long, or Mother will get furious.”

“Of course, it will be a short hang out!” Lin Fang grinned. They walked towards the riverbank while Lin Fang ordered Cricket to grab their stuff from the carriage.

Zhou Yuan dragged Lin Fang to one side and demanded, “When did you prepare that? Why don’t I know about it?”

“Why should I tell you everything?” Lin Fang rolled his eyes.

The river bend at the entrance of the village had turned into a vast flat riverbank after years of erosion. On the riverbank, there were flat smooth pebbles everywhere, and beside it was the quietly flowing river, making it a perfect spot for a walk at night.

At that moment, the moon shone down through the clouds, and the river water glistened under the moon. The wind gently cradled the water as it flowed in tranquillity.

Not far away, they could see the fireflies dancing with their blinking lights. With the water vapour breezing over their face, it improved their mood greatly.

“It felt like I haven’t come here for a long time! Gosh! It would be great if we had a little boat!” Lu Xiao Shu laughed and sighed.

“Look at you. You’re so stubborn especially when you would just ask for whatever you want!” Lu Qi chuckled with a hint of annoyance, “God, whoever marries you would definitely be very unlucky!”

“I don’t want to marry anyone! I don’t want to leave our parents and you both!” Lu Xiao Shu blinked her eyes, feeling like punching Lu Qi. She laughed shyly, “What if, Lu Qi, we get married? We’re not biological siblings anyway!”

“What?” Lu Qi snapped, choking on his saliva. He coughed loudly as he was at a complete loss, walking a few steps backwards, he waved his hands and said, “You, you, you better not bring me misfortune! I can’t endure your craziness!”

“Oh dear, I didn’t know that you resent me!” Lu Xiao Shu sighed faintly with hidden bitterness.

Lu Qi coughed harder and groaned, “I’ll go collect some firewood!” Then, he fled from the conversation.

Lu Xiao Shu doubled over in laughter.

Meanwhile, Lin Fang’s expression turned very dark. If it wasn’t for the darkness of the night, he would have been exposed. Each of her words stabbed him like a knife!

“Xiao Shu,” He stomped over and commented in annoyance, “How could you say something like that when you’re a girl? If anyone heard it, it would be terrible for your reputation!”

Lu Xiao Shu looked at him and blinked in confusion.

“You don’t really like your brother, do you?” Lin Fang was a little unhappy as he asked quickly, “He’s your brother!”

Lu Xiao Shu was just about to reply, but Xiao Xue came and added, “Xiao Shu, you’ve scared off our brother! Lin Fang is right. Never say anything like this in front of anyone ever again, understood?”

“I was just kidding!” Lu Xiao Shu stuck her tongue out, holding onto Xiao Xue’s arm and said, “He’s the one who made fun of me first. Of course, I’d tease him back! Hehe!”

Lin Fang suddenly relaxed and said happily, “Does that mean there’s nothing between you?”

“What do you mean nothing between us?” Lu Xiao Shu looked at him with a baffled expression, “You’ve gotta be kidding me! He’s my brother!”

But what is it that you’re so happy about? What an inexplicable smile!

Not only was Lu Qi awkward, she too felt awkward. It was merely a prank to satisfy herself and embarrass him.

“That’s good!” Lin Fang chuckled and said, “I’ll go check on Cricket to see if he’s done with the preparation! Do you wish to row a boat? We’ll get a boat here next time!”

“…” Xiao Xue could not endure it any longer. She felt that it would be better if she left them.

“Sounds great! It’s a pity that the river is too narrow for a boat to pass though!”

“We could just go to a wider river, right?” Lin Fang felt that if ‘the mountains will not come to me, I will go to the mountains’, he laughed, “Actually, this river is good enough. There could be lots of fish, shrimps, and crabs at night!”

Lu Xiao Shu suddenly cheered, “You’re right! It’s a pity that I forgot, but it would be great if we dropped by my house to bring some fish and shrimps here. Besides, there’s a lot of vegetables in the garden too! Hmm, we’ll just catch our own fish now.”

They reached the riverbank while they discussed. Leaning over the shallow waters, they could see quite a lot of fishes swimming. Lu Xiao Shu laughed as she called Xiao Xue over to catch the fish and shrimps.

Xiao Xue walked over chuckling, “You should be careful, don’t fall into the water!”

“I won’t!” Lu Xiao shu laughed. She wanted to take her shoes off and go into the water, but she knew that her sister would never allow it. So, she looked over to Lin Fang.

Lin Fang waved and called for Zhou Yuan. Then, both of them entered the river to catch some fish and shrimps.

At night, the fish and shrimps in the river were plentiful. Fishes of all sizes came out to look for food under the moonlight, swimming past their legs in groups. There was also the big fish with the width of three fingers and the length of over a foot long, and it was creeping at the bottom of the river bed, hiding behind the rocks and waiting for its prey to walk right into its trap.

To Lin Fang, it was a piece of cake when it came to catching agile little animals, but the case was the opposite for Zhou Yuan.

How could he have done something like this before? Watching the schools of fishes swimming freely between his legs, he happily grabbed at them. However, the fish simply wiggled out of his grasp while Lin Fang had already tossed a few big fishes, crabs and other sort of catch up the riverbank.

Zhou Yuan was getting anxious, and he was drenched in the water after a few flops. However, he could not even catch one fish.

Xiao Xue could not bear watching him anymore, so she called out, “Zheng Yuan, forget it! Just let Lin Fang do that. A few fishes will be enough. There’s no need for so many!”

“Give me a moment. I can catch one!” Zhou Yuan felt embarrassed, wanting to catch one for her.

Xiao Xue thought about it and said, “Stop trying to catch the fish. You can slowly turn the rocks over and see if there are any big prawns under them.”

“Oh, okay!” Zhou Yuan agreed to it and nodded. Following her instructions, he bent down and turned a rock over.