It’s a wonderful night on Lantern Festival.

It was early spring, winter was not far away, and the wind was still cold. Xie Lian was carrying a large bag and walking slowly on the side of the road, his face slightly flushed by the wind.

The bag contained a bunch of random things he had just collected, and he didn't know if they were useful or not. Anyway, whether they were useful or not, he would have to rely on them to make a living in the future.

After a while, he passed by a street stall.

The stall was called "He Ji Snacks", selling snacks. It seemed that the owner and his family of three were sitting at a small table in the back. A slim and pretty girl was busy walking among the tables. The owner called her to stop working and sit down, but she didn't listen. She just said "I'll be right there", her voice was like a yellow warbler. There were some customers sitting at the other tables, but it seemed that they were just there for the young girl. They just sat there and chatted, and then went home after a while. After all, today was the Lantern Festival.

There was a small pot in front of the stall. The white, round, steaming little creatures in the pot made him slow down.

Xie Lian thought to himself, “Lantern Festival.”

When he was a child, every Lantern Festival, the Lord and Queen of Xianle would eat Yuanxiao with him. Xie Lian was very picky about food and didn't like Yuanxiao. He didn't like Yuanxiao even when the famous chefs served him the finest small snacks in golden bowls and jade cups. He thought they were too sweet and made his teeth itch. He wouldn't eat the ones with this filling or that filling and would just eat them in two bites.

Later, when he grew up, he went to the Taicang Mountain to practice. He sometimes went back and sometimes didn't go back during the Lantern Festival, and he didn't eat many meals. Now that he thinks about it, he can't even remember what Lantern Festival tastes like.

Xie Lian carefully glanced at the stall for a few times, then carefully put the ugly big bag down from his shoulder, and finally, carefully stepped in.

He took off his bamboo hat, held it in his hand and said, "Boss, please give me a bowl of Yuanxiao. Do you have any?"

The boss looked quite old. He glanced at him, but before he could answer, the slim girl smiled and said, "Yes, please come in and sit down first!" Then she got up and started to prepare. Xie Lian sat down, but saw the boss shaking his head. He felt strange and thought that maybe he was dirty somewhere and the boss didn't like it. He looked down at his sleeves and confirmed that they were not dirty. He felt relieved and asked, "What's wrong?"

He thought if the boss didn't like him bringing the bag in, he could just put it outside. But the boss looked at him again, shook his head and said, "It's miserable. It's really miserable."

Xie Lian asked, “Ah? What did you say?”

The boss said, "It's too miserable for a person to eat Yuanxiao in a stall outside in the cold weather during the Yuanxiao Festival."

“…” Xie Lian said, “You can’t do this. Are you still going to do business…”

The boss didn't talk to him and went to get the bowl. After sitting for a while, Xie Lian felt that someone was looking at him. Or rather, looking at him and the unusually large bag next to him.

The boss's daughter also sneaked over, squatted on the ground and poked the bag with her fingers, seeming to be very curious about what was bulging inside. She went back after being called by her mother several times. At this time, Xie Lian had not yet cultivated the thick skin that would be invulnerable to swords and guns in the future. He couldn't help but kick the big bag under the table with his feet, trying to put it where no one could see it. Unfortunately, the stall was small, and the tables and chairs were also small, so there was no way to hide anything. Xie Lian had to cough lightly continuously, trying his best to ignore the gazes of others.

You'll get used to it. No big deal.

Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly reached into his chest to take a look. His face suddenly changed and he thought, "This is even worse! Not only is it the Lantern Festival, but I have to eat Lanterns alone in the cold weather at a stall outside. I still don't have enough money!!!"

He wanted to leave immediately, but at this moment, the boss came over with a large porcelain bowl, put it on the table, and said, "Five cents."

“…”

Xie Lian felt a little suffocated and said, “Uh… I…”

He coughed several times, put his fist in front of his mouth, and listened to the boss say: "Is it not available?"

Xie Lian was just about to stand up and leave when he saw a large porcelain bowl being placed on the table in front of him with a thud.

He was stunned, and then he heard the boss say: "Forget it, seeing how miserable you are, I'll give you a bowl. After you finish eating, I will also close the stall, so hurry back. Today is Lantern Festival, we should be reunited!"

“…”

Xie Lian sat back down. Although he was thinking that he had nowhere to go after finishing this bowl of Yuanxiao, he still whispered, “Thank you.”

The boss put down his bowl and went back. He brought the remaining Yuanxiao in the small pot in front of the stall to the small table. The little girl tilted her head and bit the spoon and said, "When will my brother come back? I want to wait until he comes back before eating."

The boss also said: "It's too late. It's really outrageous to come back so late on the Lantern Festival!"

The woman said, "He's worked hard, too. He'll be back soon. Don't scold him later. Miao'er, Miao'er, don't be busy anymore. I really feel bad for always asking you to come and help. Come and eat with us."

The young girl said, "I'm not busy!" Finally, she cleared a table and sat down to share the Yuanxiao with them.

The four of them seemed to be waiting for someone else to come back home to reunite, talking and laughing. Xie Lian looked at them, picked up his own bowl, scooped a piece of it into his mouth, and drank a sip of the sweet soup.

But I still don’t know what it tastes like.

·

"Brother, brother?"

Xie Lian finally came to his senses. Hua Cheng was staring at him. The red dress made Hua Cheng's features even brighter, and the light gave his pale and lifeless face a soft hue. Xie Lian was slightly distracted by what he saw and asked, "What?"

Hua Cheng said: "Brother, are you tired? Or can't walk anymore?"

Xie Lian nodded casually, and Hua Cheng said, "I'm sorry. I went too far last night."

After a while, Xie Lian finally realized what he meant and quickly waved his hands, “…What are you talking about? It’s not like that at all! It’s totally irrelevant!”

Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow and said, "Really? If that's totally okay, then it means that I didn't go too far yesterday? So I can...?"

“…”

Xie Lian suddenly remembered that they were still on the main street of the ghost market. He looked around with surprise and saw that, as expected, a large number of odd-looking creatures had suddenly appeared in all directions. Those with long ears stood up, while those with short ears stretched their necks. Almost all of them stared at them with their eyes wide open. They were so shocked that they didn’t know what to say. Finally, they said, “Sanlang!”

Hua Cheng smiled slightly, and said with his hands behind his back: "Okay, okay. It's my fault, I won't say it anymore."

Xie Lian had already withdrawn his gaze from the Lantern Festival monster stalls on the street. Both sides of the ghost market street were hung with red lanterns, and the lanterns were full of riddles. The ghosts shouted: "Guess the riddles! Guess the riddles! Guess the prizes! Big prizes!!!"

Hua Cheng said to Xie Lian, "Brother, do you want to try? There are prizes for you."

Xie Lian walked up and said, “Try it?”

All the ghosts became excited and pushed each other: "Shh! Shh! Dabogong is going to guess the lantern riddles! Dabogong is going to guess the lantern riddles!!!"

“…” This overwhelming shouting sounded as if he was about to perform a shaman dance. Xie Lian was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Just as he was about to pick one at random, a tentacle stretched out from nowhere and enthusiastically presented a lantern to him, saying, “Please come in! Please come in!”

To Xie Lian, they were all the same. So he took the light and took a look. The riddle was four words: "Find the white head."

Xie Lian didn’t even think about it and said, “‘I’.”

Hua Cheng clapped his hands and praised, "Brother, you are awesome." The ghosts also applauded with him, with ghosts crying and wolves howling, and black unknown objects somersaulting in the air to cheer. It was too exaggerated. Xie Lian was embarrassed and said, "Actually, this... is really simple."

The tentacle brought over a second lamp and said, "Please come in! Please come in!"

Xie Lian took the lantern. This time, the riddle was "Spring Festival Day."

Without even thinking, Xie Lian gave the answer, "Husband."

Hua Cheng was about to raise his hand to clap again, but Xie Lian said, “No need, this is also very simple.”

Hua Cheng smiled and said, "Really? But, I really think brother is amazing."

Xie Lian thought to himself, “No way. If you had written the riddle on the lantern yourself and I had solved it, that would have been amazing…”

At this time, the tentacle sent a third lamp and sang: "Please come! Please come!"

When Xie Lian saw the result, his brows knitted slightly. People around him also said, "Wow! This is going to be difficult!"

Xie Lian nodded. As expected, the answer to this riddle could not be seen at a glance: "Bow your head shyly to show your love."

But it wasn’t too difficult. After a while, Xie Lian said, “‘Hanxiu’ means mimosa, so we take the grass part; ‘dipping’ means the top of the word ‘low’; ‘showing infatuation’ means the center of the word ‘infatuation’. Putting these three parts together, we get… ‘flower’. The answer is ‘flower’.”

He covered his ears after saying that. Sure enough, as soon as he announced the answer, the demons around him started to dance wildly again, praising him without any bottom line, exaggerating to the extreme, making people feel sick. Hua Cheng looked at him with a smile and said, "Brother, this time, you are really amazing."

The tentacle held the lamp and quietly reached over again. Xie Lian smiled and said, “There are even more powerful ones. This time, I can guess the answer without even looking at the riddle. Do you believe it?”

Hua Cheng opened his eyes wide and said, "Oh, really? Brother actually has this special skill?"

Xie Lian took the light and said, “Of course, I guess the answer this time is ‘city’. The city in Huacheng, right?”

He raised the lantern and saw that, as expected, “When war breaks out, the south will be settled.” Xie Lian said, “When war breaks out, the word ‘fight’ is reversed, and ‘earth’ is changed; ‘spear’ is retained; ‘the south will be settled’, taking the south from the word ‘square’, and settling at the center of ‘earth’ and ‘spear’, which is ‘city’. This should be the most difficult puzzle to solve, but unfortunately…”

Unfortunately, he guessed the pattern first. What is the answer to the four puzzles put together?

The ghosts were exposed and didn't dare to cheer. Instead, they started to cough and looked up at the sky. Hua Cheng's eyes slowly swept over them. The ghosts were frightened. Some hid in the lights, some hid in the ground, and they all held their heads and said, "City Lord, calm down!!! It wasn't my idea!!!" "It wasn't me either!" "Bullshit! You agreed the loudest!!!"

Hua Cheng said calmly: "Go away."

Instantly, the people and ghosts on this street were gone like a whirlwind, leaving only a few. Xie Lian hung the lamp back on the shelf and smiled, "Go back."

The two walked side by side towards Qiandeng Temple. On the way, Hua Cheng said seriously: "Brother, don't look at me like that. It's really not me who asked them to do this."

Xie Lian smiled and said, “I know. If it were you, you would definitely not set up a riddle like this.”

Hua Cheng said: "Oh? Then how do you think I would set up a riddle?"

Xie Lian said without any defense: “Of course, ‘my husband Sanlang’…”

At this point, he realized that "the mouth is the source of trouble" and quickly stopped talking. However, it was too late. Hua Cheng laughed and said, "Brother, you've been fooled! Beautiful!"

"... cunning, cunning..."

At this time, the two returned to Qiandeng Temple. As soon as he entered the main hall, Xie Lian found that there was a table of things on the jade platform. He was startled and went up to take a look. It turned out to be two bowls of Yuanxiao.

He turned around and Hua Cheng also came up and said, "This is what you saw on the road just now, right?"

Xie Lian nodded.

Hua Cheng said: "Sit down and eat together, brother."

“…”

Xie Lian did not sit down, but suddenly rushed into his arms, buried his face in his chest, hugged Hua Cheng tightly, and did not let go.

Huacheng also hugged him back.

After who knows how many years, he finally remembered what Yuanxiao tasted like.