Chapter 164: A Trip to West Lake! (Part 1)
The chill of early winter does not even reach the West Lake. Today, willows are swaying in the wind, birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and tourists are flocking in. It is very lively and seems like a bright spring day .
Jiang Chengfeng and Shen Ruoyan walked along the Su Causeway, one in front and one behind. The warm sun shone obliquely on the lake, creating layers of golden waves. A breeze blew by, bringing a slight coolness to the warmth, which was very refreshing.
Shen Ruoyan was worried and was not in a good mood for sightseeing. Jiang Chengfeng rolled his eyes and asked with a smile, "Miss, do you know why this place is called Su Di?"
Shen Ruoyan smiled brightly, thinking that you know more, and said with a smile: "Su Causeway is named after the great writer Dongpo of the previous dynasty. It is because Dongpo once worked in Huazhou and managed the West Lake. In order to commemorate him, the people of Huazhou named the bridge Su Causeway. Now, Su Causeway is the first of the ten major scenic spots in Huazhou!"
As they talked, the two had already reached the lakeside. Shen Ruoyan was inspired and chanted: "Where is the oriole breaking through the mist of dusk, singing over the Su Causeway at dawn!"
Jiang Chengfeng quickly gave her a thumbs up and praised: "Young Miss, your writing is brilliant. I admire you!"
Shen Ruoyan rolled her eyes at him and said angrily, "You are just a person who talks nonsense! This is not because of my good writing skills, this is someone else's poem, I just wrote it based on my feelings!"
Jiang Chengfeng chuckled and said, "Reciting poems is actually very simple. I can do it too! Saying goodbye on the first bridge of Su Causeway, the lonely old man feels sad. It's late when I return from the mountains, only the green lamp is lonely!"
Shen Ruoyan was slightly surprised, and then she covered her mouth with her hands and laughed, "Can you write poetry? You can't even write calligraphy well, how can you write poetry? You must have copied someone else's!"
Jiang Chengfeng touched his nose and thought that this young lady was really accurate! However, he refused to admit it and laughed and said, "Although I don't like writing, I am very talented in reciting poems. I can recite them at will. Others can't learn it!"
Shen Ruoyan thought he was just bragging and didn't investigate further. She just smiled and said, "You just like to brag!"
After talking to Jiang Chengfeng for a few words, Shen Ruoyan's depressed mood suddenly improved a lot. In joy, she lifted the hem of her skirt lightly and ran on tiptoe along the lakeside, like a little girl of thirteen or fourteen years old.
Shen Ruoyan was in a good mood, and everything she saw was lively and interesting. The West Lake was very lively, not only with tourists, but also with many jugglers, people blowing sugar figurines, selling candied haws, and even performing the chest-breaking stone performance.
"Jiang Dazhu, why are there so many people gathered over there?" Shen Ruoyan glanced at Jiang Chengfeng who was jogging after them.
As she said that, she leaned over to check, but after just one look, she screamed in fright, took a few steps back, and her little face turned pale.
Jiang Chengfeng was curious, so he took a closer look and couldn't help but grin.
It turned out that there was a snake trainer inside, with a thick python wrapped around his body. There was a big bowl next to him, and tourists were throwing money into it!
Although Shen Ruoyan is usually carefree, she is a woman after all and is also afraid of snakes. In her nervousness, she actually held Jiang Chengfeng's hand tightly and refused to let go, as if only in this way could she relieve her inner fear.
Jiang Chengfeng grinned and said, "This snake player is too ridiculous! How can he play with such a big python? Learn from the Indians and play with cobras while playing with recorders!"
"What Indians?" Shen Ruoyan had never been to India, nor had she ever heard of India. When she first heard this, she couldn't help but feel curious.
However, just after she finished speaking, she realized that her little hand was being pulled by a pervert. Her pretty face immediately turned red and she said angrily, "Hey! You bad guy, let me go!"
"Let you go?" Jiang Chengfeng asked pretending to be confused.
"Let go of my hand!" Shen Ruoyan was embarrassed and anxious because someone nearby was giving her a questioning look.
"So that's what you were talking about!" Jiang Chengfeng suddenly realized something, quickly let go, and said with an awkward smile: "Why didn't you say it earlier! It was just a beautiful misunderstanding!"
Shen Ruoyan snorted coldly, "Big bad guy!"
After saying that, she turned around and walked straight ahead without paying any attention to Jiang Chengfeng. This time, she did not run around, but strolled around to watch puppet shows, shadow plays, etc., and even bought a candy man.
Shen Ruoyan's childhood memories were mostly about learning to read and write, and learning how to do business . She seldom played like an ordinary child. Today, she had some time to relive her childhood memories, so she naturally had a lot of fun. Everything she saw was interesting, and she wanted to try out every little gadget.
Jiang Chengfeng searched for a long time in the crowded crowd before he saw Shen Ruoyan standing hesitantly in front of the candied haws stall on the corner of the street. One look at the girl's face revealed that she wanted to eat candied haws.
Jiang Chengfeng came over with a smile and shouted, "Brother, how much are these candied haws?"
"Three cents a string!"
"Three strings for ten cents!"
The candied haws boy was stunned for a moment, then quickly pulled off three strings of candied haws and stuffed them into Jiang Chengfeng's hands, "Here are your candied haws, take them!"
Jiang Chengfeng paid the money and gave Shen Ruoyan a string of candied haws. However, Shen Ruoyan blushed and said angrily, "You're wasting money!"
Jiang Chengfeng knew that this girl was the type who wanted to save face, so he didn't care. He took a bite of the sweet and sour candied haws and said, "So sweet!"
Shen Ruoyan couldn't resist the temptation of delicious food after all. She took a bite of the candied haws. The sweet and sour feeling stimulated her taste buds and made her smile. Then she started to eat it in big mouthfuls.
Seeing Shen Ruoyan eating with relish, Jiang Chengfeng smiled slyly and asked, "Isn't it delicious ?"
Shen Ruoyan's cheeks flushed, she glared at him and said, "What do you care!"
However, he said this in a guilty and low voice.
Seeing Jiang Chengfeng's sly smile, Shen Ruoyan rolled her eyes in annoyance and said, "Just now a bad guy turned into a fool!"
Jiang Chengfeng was stunned, but he quickly figured it out. He slapped his forehead and cursed himself for being so stupid. Empiricism is really deadly!
Shen Ruoyan was laughing so hard that her body was shaking. Jiang Dazhu always liked to take advantage of others, but today he was taken advantage of and he didn't even realize it. He deserved it!
The two continued to move forward, and saw a gray-haired but energetic uncle in front of them, who was looking at the lake and painting, and he was already in the final stage. This painting depicted the misty West Lake, and the artistic conception was profound, with a unique hazy beauty, which made Jiang Chengfeng's eyes light up.
Jiang Chengfeng stood aside and watched quietly, but after the uncle finished painting, he saw that he actually wrote a couplet at the end of the painting - long, long, long, long, long!
Jiang Chengfeng shook his head and smiled bitterly. He didn't expect that this old man liked to play word games. Shen Ruoyan was puzzled and asked, "All seven words are the same. Could this be the first couplet?"
In fact, those who viewed the paintings were not only Jiang Chengfeng and Shen Ruoyan, but also seven or eight young men dressed as scholars.
