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MTL - His Marriage Partner is Scheming-Chapter 53
How Many Colors Are Hydrangeas?
Chi Xueyan sat in the early morning breakfast shop, looked up at the blooming wooden hydrangea outside the window, and wrote down the first color.
Clustered on the green branches, the clouds are as white as clouds.
It was still early in the day, and the air was filled with a faint cool gray blue. The old breakfast shop that had been open for many years was already full of customers, and there were lively conversations everywhere.
The tone of the local dialect is soft, even if Chi Xueyan can't understand it at all, he still thinks it sounds nice.
In the casual atmosphere full of smoke and fire, bowls of small wontons with special soup colors were served, and the local diners moved neatly and left after eating.
But the bowl of wontons in front of He Qiao was eaten very slowly.
Even Chi Xueyan deliberately slowed down the speed of eating breakfast.
But still not as slow as He Qiao.
In fact, he really wanted to laugh, so he managed to hold it back, and asked He Qiao seemingly unintentionally, "Do you want to eat buns? The bun shop opposite is open."
The buns should not be sweet.
Chi Xueyan knew before that the local cuisine in this area tasted sweet, but he didn't expect that when he randomly entered a very popular wonton shop in the morning, he actually ate sweet wontons.
It somewhat refreshes the world view.
While he was surprised, it wasn't that he couldn't accept it, so he took it as an early adopter.
For He Qiao, it was even more difficult to accept.
He didn't like sweets very much, and he didn't even eat things that were supposed to be sweet, let alone meat-filled wontons that were supposed to be salty.
Chi Xueyan thought about it for a while, it was as outrageous as sweet and sour squirrel fish made spicy.
Hearing his proposal, He Qiao paused with his fingers holding the spoon, glanced at the soup bowl in front of Chi Xueyan that had no more wontons, and shook his head slightly.
"No, do you want to eat? I'll go buy it."
Chi Xueyan also shook her head: "No, I'm already full."
He stopped talking, and quietly waited for He Qiao to have his breakfast.
The person sitting opposite who doesn't have a sweet tooth ended up eating every wonton in the bowl.
So Chi Xueyan withdrew her gaze from staring at the flowers outside the window, and walked into the long street with white wooden hydrangeas together.
Not far away is the hill in the urban area, the altitude is very low, and the hill is full of another variety of hydrangea, which is an endless summer with colorful colors.
Surrounded by Endless Summer is the temple that Chi Xueyan visited when he was in sixth grade.
The temple is quite famous and the incense is strong, so the two deliberately chose to go there very early in the morning on weekdays, trying to avoid crowded people.
The daylight became brighter little by little, the mountain path was still relatively quiet, and the air was fragrant and fresh. The two walked forward side by side, passing by the pious pilgrims.
According to Han Zhenzhen's idea, this trip is to let Chi Xueyan come to fulfill his wish, and it will be more complete if he brings He Qiao.
Firstly, it is to end the lottery that was signed when he was a child, and secondly, he is to thank Han Zhenzhen for the good marriage that he prayed for him not long ago.
Chi Xueyan is not familiar with these unique customs and ceremonies, nor does he know what true vow fulfillment is.
He felt that he, who was once predicted to have a doomed fate, was probably fulfilling his wish to be able to bring the people he loves to see the endless summer blooming all over the mountain.
Blue, pink, purple.
Now, he notes the colors of four hydrangeas.
"Which color of hydrangea do you think will taste better when made into ice cream?"
Beside the quaint courtyard wall of the Vatican Temple, Chi Xueyan looked up at the flowers in the spring, not in a daze, but asked questions to the people around him in a nonchalant manner.
He found the wall that was waiting for his mother when he was in elementary school. The scenery was as beautiful as in his memory, and the endless summer on the branches seemed to be the same as it was back then.
He Qiao could only rely on his imagination to answer this question: "Pink."
Because the flower that Chi Xueyan was looking at at the moment was pink.
Chi Xueyan thought for a while, and said in a rare and serious way: "Theoretically, pink and white should be more delicious, and cold colors affect appetite, so blue may be the most unpalatable."
Seeing his serious expression, He Qiao couldn't help laughing and said, "Do you want to try to make it when you get home? Make pink and white."
"Do you want to taste the petals first?" Chi Xueyan continued to imagine solemnly, "I tasted the petals of other flowers when I was a child. The taste is very strange, but it's not sweet anyway."
This is a quiet corner of the temple, few pilgrims pass by.
There was a little novice sweeping the floor next to him. Hearing their conversation, he couldn't help laughing, and said in a low voice, "If you have no taste, you can't make ice cream."
Chi Xueyan turned to look over.
The little novice monk holding a broom looks childish, about the same age as when he first came to this monastery.
He was dressed in simple clothes, with bright eyes, filled with the unique clarity and cleanliness at the beginning of his life.
Chi Xueyan looked at him and asked curiously, "Have you tried it?"
The sound of sweeping the floor stopped, and the little novice nodded a little embarrassedly: "Seeing that it looks good, I secretly picked a petal and tasted it, and was told by the master."
Chi Xueyan bent his eyes, and said: "When I tasted the petals, my dad saw me. He saw that I had just eaten a piece. He didn't know whether to come up and beat me first, or take my hand away first. The remaining flowers in the garden, instead, froze in place for a long time."
The little novice was amused by this description for a while, and chatted with him: "Are the two benefactors here to enjoy the flowers?"
They don't look like pilgrims.
"I'm here to fulfill my wish." The stranger who had eaten flower petals as a child answered him, "When I was the same age as you, my mother brought me here to pray for blessings, but she helped me draw a lottery."
"Later, she looked everywhere for a solution to the catastrophe, and she worried about me for more than ten years."
He glanced at the man beside him who was quietly listening to him: "Until now, it seems that the bleak fate predicted in the lottery has really disappeared."
After listening, the little novice sighed: "The donor's mother is really kind to the donor."
"Yes." The red-haired young man smiled and asked suddenly, "Do you believe in fate?"
Pilgrims often ask similar questions to the monks in the temple, but this is the first time the young novice monk has been asked.
Fortunately, he had already prepared the answer, and quickly replied crisply: "All conditioned dharmas are like dreams and bubbles, like dew or electricity, and should be viewed in this way."
While he was talking, he continued to sweep the ground, the branches and leaves in the sky were blown by the wind, and the bamboo sticks on the ground moved with his heart, making a similar rustling sound.
"This is the Liuru verse in the Diamond Sutra." The little novice said, "Master told me, don't ask yourself whether you believe it or not, but dispel falsehood."
After he finished speaking the long-meaning Po Wang, his original calm and calm tone gradually disappeared, and his voice became quieter, showing a hint of embarrassment for admitting that he had eaten flower petals.
"I like this Buddhist saying the most, actually because it is beautiful." The young child's eyes were clear, "What does the benefactor think?"
Hearing this, the stranger standing by the courtyard wall nodded slightly, then raised his head to look at the drooping flowers on the tree, and answered the child's question softly.
The person who answered seemed to be a child of a similar age.
"Well, as beautiful as a flower."
The endless summer like a dream was in full bloom at the same time more than ten years ago and this spring day.
People came together, and the mountain became more and more lively, but only a trace of restrained tranquility remained in the monastery.
In the antique pavilion in the mountains, the elderly couple sat down to rest. The old lady took out the peeled apples from the bag, slowly peeled off the plastic bag, and handed half to the wife next to her.
My wife waved his hand: "I won't eat, I won't eat."
She held it stubbornly, and after a while, he sighed and took it.
Chi Xueyan sat opposite and watched them for a long time, until they ate half of each person's apple, rested enough, and walked to the next scenery.
Then, he turned his head and asked the people around him, "Why do you have to finish that bowl of wontons?"
"Because you finished eating." He Qiao said, "I think you like to eat sweets, maybe you like this kind of wonton very much, and you can have it for breakfast in the future."
He cooks breakfast for each other every day.
So he has to adapt in advance.
After Chi Xueyan listened, she quietly lowered her eyes.
He guessed it.
This was the reason why he suddenly felt a little sad.
In fact, Chi Xueyan didn't want this, he hoped to go with He Qiao to buy buns that were more palatable.
But he thought, every time He Qiao fell in love with him, it might be like this.
Unconditional tolerance and compliance, never rejecting him, always thinking more than him.
On her birthday on New Year's Eve, Chi Xueyan closed her eyes in front of the cake candles, but she didn't have any wishes to make.
But during this journey, he finally had his wish again.
Traveling out tests each other's emotions more than daily life, because there are more choices and possibilities along the way, and more unpredictable unexpected situations will fully expose each other's different preferences and potential shortcomings.
There are even special words in foreign languages to describe newlyweds breaking up at the airport after returning from their honeymoon.
Before setting off, most lovers or partners expect to get along well with the other half in addition to looking forward to the scenery along the way. The other half can accommodate their preferences as much as possible, as if this proves a more sincere and more love.
Chi Xueyan's wish was just the opposite.
Because along the way, He Qiao treated him too well and was too tolerant.
Chi Xueyan didn't want to follow the rules of the travel plan, so He Qiao, who originally wanted to make a plan, didn't do it, and let God's will guide the way forward.
Chi Xueyan didn't seem interested in the couples quarreling in the service station, so He Qiao, who wanted to watch, took the initiative to look away and asked him if he wanted to leave now.
Chi Xueyan might want to travel to the desert, so He Qiao, who was afraid of cacti, said it was okay, he could go, and seriously agreed to his joke that he wanted to grow cacti on the balcony.
Chi Xueyan is used to going to bed at noon every day, so He Qiao, who has no habit of taking a lunch break, will accompany him to rest, and when he suddenly can't sleep, sit with him at the window and watch the scenery lost in thought.
It seems that He Qiao's love is more than his, and the obsession is deeper. It's always like this between them. Even the agreed marriage that was just a joke at the beginning naturally followed this way.
Although the way he loves is so clear and straightforward, he never really said love to Chi Xueyan.
It seems that as long as you don't say that sentence, you won't be discovered.
Chi Xueyan, who was considered to be dispensable for love, or was discovered by "Chi Xueyan" who still seemed to love someone else.
He knew that He Qiao must have many memories of "He Qiao" and "Chi Xueyan" getting along in his mind, so some patterns were naturally formed from the first day they met.
No one noticed the problem at the time.
But now, he is gradually aware of it, and hopes that He Qiao will not be dominated by memory.
Although this is a difficult thing to do.
Because in addition to memory, there are conditioned reflex-like instincts.
When the prickly cocklebur falls into the palm of the hand, the instinct of withdrawing the hand is because of the fear of the cactus.
Chi Xueyan is a person with both good and evil temperament, who will recklessly disrupt the peaceful life.
He Qiao is a person holding an umbrella, standing silently beside him, watching and waiting, fulfilling all wishes for him.
These vivid impressions are clearly written in He Qiao's memory and instinct.
But the past should be like a dream bubble, like dew like electricity, just passing by, don't be persistent, you should let it go gently.
Chi Xueyan, who is wearing black snowflake earrings at the moment, does not want a love in which whoever pays more and who is at the top of the balance.
In this pure white story of restarting, he wants the same love.
There was only wind in the mountains and forests, and in the long silence, He Qiao seemed to be aware of the problem.
"You don't like it, do you?" he asked.
"I don't like it." Chi Xueyan repeated, "Salty wontons are better."
He looked at the crooked figures of the old couple drifting away, and said softly, "Even if I like it, I won't force you to eat together."
Compared with the love that insists on sharing the same apple, he prefers the love that can give each other freedom.
Because he grew up in such a love.
He spoke of that impressive love.
"It's been almost thirty years, and my dad hasn't given up on his habit of putting on a suit before shaving. Although he has never stained his clothes, my mother doesn't like it. Every time I see him, I always talk about him, but he just likes it. , do not want to change."
"Although one person thinks that it will stain the clothes, one must always say that one person thinks that is cool, and they will never change it, but they have never quarreled about this matter, they only bickered occasionally, and they seemed quite happy. "
"It's a trivial matter, so it doesn't matter what it is, because we are different individuals, and we often think differently, but we can still go on together. We can love each other for thirty years or more. Love should be like this Relationship."
Chi Xueyan is always very frank.
After he finished speaking frankly, he frankly looked into the eyes of the people around him.
There are layers of sounds echoing in the mountains, the sound of wind, birdsong, footsteps, and the sound of chanting from afar.
There is also a very soft and serious voice that is close at hand.
"He Qiao, you should be more free. Especially in front of me."
"Don't lie to me, and to yourself, just because you care about what I think."
Chi Xueyan knew he had lied.
At noon when the RV was repeatedly identified as an ice cream van.
Chi Xueyan, who had already guessed, would rather the truth not be revealed, so he said he didn't want to see the bridge, and asked He Qiao if he wanted to go, and he said no.
But the moment he replied that he didn't want to, he didn't look into Chi Xueyan's eyes.
— “When I lie, I look down to avoid your gaze.”
Chi Xueyan was given this key of the most transparent and sincere long ago.
He used it to open the lock between himself and He Qiao, and he no longer had to doubt the intentions of all the actions of the mysterious book walker.
Now, it is placed in front of another lock.
The lock between Heqiao and "Heqiao".
He Qiao was silent for a long time before whispering, "I want to find that bridge."
On this matter, he and Chi Xueyan have different perspectives and ideas.
He wanted an answer, even if it was just a free guess.
People with no provenance want to determine their own coordinates.
The hydrangeas among the bushes swayed gently in the wind, shedding colorful light and shadows, and flowing through the differences that appeared for the first time between them.
It also flows through the brilliant hair of the people around me.
All the sunlight fell into those beautiful bright eyes, shining on the answer that was always given by another person in the past.
When He Qiao saw Chi Xueyan laugh, his smile was extraordinarily pure, as if he had finally found the precious treasure he wanted the most, and one couldn't help but want to kiss his brilliant eyes.
The voice is also serious and gentle.
"Okay." He said with a smile, "Let's go tomorrow."