Qinglian’S Heart Is Covered, Fate Meets Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Qinglian’s Heartfelt Words·Different Paths and Destiny (Re-continuation·Two Girls in Love)

17. The lotus platform is tied with blue silk, day and night together year after year.

Ever since Gu Baifei tied the lotus-patterned jade hairpin for me on the Double Ninth Festival, the days in the lotus pond courtyard have been filled with a different kind of tenderness. Even the wind blowing by the pond is wrapped in an inextricable tenderness.

When I got up in the morning, the sky was just bright, and the green lotus petals in the lotus pond were still covered with fine morning dew. Gu Baifei would hold my hand and walk on the wet bluestone to the lotus platform in the center of the pond.The hem of his white clothes swept over the dewdrops on the grass blades, splashing a few tiny drops of water, but he never forgot to hold my hand tighter, for fear that I would trip over the slippery morning.When he arrived at the lotus platform, he would first brush away the mist from my hair, and his fingertips would feel slightly cool as they brushed against my temples. Then he would bend down, carefully pick off the most abundant green lotus, and put it next to my hair tied with a hosta. He would whisper, “Today’s lotus is more suitable for you than yesterday.” I looked at the smile in his eyes and touched the lotus petals with my fingertips. I felt that the lotus fragrance in the morning was a bit sweeter than in the past.

After picking the lotus, when she returned to the small courtyard, Si Yi had set up a charcoal stove on the porch and was warming the lotus seed soup.The spiritual doctor was standing by, flipping through herbal medicine books in his hand, occasionally looking up at Si Yi, his brows and eyes full of doting.Nian Xia and Su Yan took the children to practice swordsmanship in the open space in the corner of the courtyard. Su Yan held her son’s wrist to correct the moves, while Nian Xia smiled and dodged the wooden sword handed to her by her daughter. Her crisp laughter startled the sparrows on the courtyard wall.Gu Baifei would go to the kitchen to get two white porcelain bowls, fill them with warm lotus seed soup, pass one bowl to me, and hold the other bowl, sit with me on the rocking chair, and watch the lively scene in the courtyard.

“I still remember that when I first transformed, I had only one green lotus in this lotus pond, and I didn’t even have a companion to talk to.” I scooped up a spoonful of lotus seed soup, blew in the hot air, and suddenly said.

Gu Baifei put down the bowl and reached out to tuck the scattered hair on my forehead behind my ears. The tenderness of memories flashed through his eyes: “You were timid at that time, and the hem of your transformed skirt was still stained with the mud at the bottom of the pool. When you saw me, you hid under the lotus leaves. It took a lot of effort for me to coax you to come out.”

“What’s more,” I glared at him, “you kept a straight face every day and always had a sword in your hand. I thought you were here to kill me.”

Gu Baifei laughed lowly, and the vibration in his chest came through the shoulders that were touching each other: “If I really wanted to kill you, how could I have stayed in the lotus pond for thousands of years, and trapped myself in this mundane fireworks.”

Before I finished speaking, I saw Nian Xia’s daughter running over with a freshly picked lotus pod. She raised her little face and said, “Grandma, try it. This lotus pod is so sweet!” I took it with a smile, peeled off a lotus seed and fed it to her mouth. The way she smiled with her eyes narrowed was very similar to Nian Xia’s when she was a child.Gu Baifei looked at the child’s smiling face and said softly: “Back then, I always wanted to protect you and the lotus pond. But now it seems that the most perfect thing is just the fireworks in this courtyard.”

After noon, when the sun is getting stronger, Gu Baifei will accompany me for a walk in the bamboo forest next to the lotus pond.The bamboo forest was planted by us with our own hands back then. Now it has grown to cover the sky and the sun. The sun shines through the gaps in the bamboo leaves and casts mottled light spots.He would brush aside the bamboo branches blocking my path for me. Occasionally, he would break off a section of green bamboo and weave a simple bamboo ring for me to put on my wrist.When passing by a stone bench deep in the bamboo forest, we would sit down and rest. He leaned on the bamboo trunk and I leaned on his shoulder, listening to the rustling of the bamboo leaves in the wind and smelling the fragrance of lotus floating in the distance. Even time seemed to slow down.

One time when I was resting, I suddenly touched the lotus-patterned hosta on my bun. Thinking of the way it looked when he gave it to me, I asked, “You have been polishing this hosta for three months. Didn’t you put a lot of thought into it?”

Gu Baifei turned his head and stroked the lotus heart on his hairpin with his fingertips. His eyes were full of seriousness: “Only with my spiritual power mixed with century-old lotus wood can I protect your spirit and soul. Let alone three months, it will be three or thirty years. I am also willing.”

My heart warmed, and I shrank into his arms. The tip of my nose touched the bamboo fragrance on his clothes: “With you here, it is more effective than any other magic weapon for self-protection.”

Afternoon time is often spent in the study.Gu Baifei would spread out the rice paper, grind the ink, and write about the scenery of the lotus pond. I would sit aside, flipping through ancient books, and occasionally add water to his ink grinding.His calligraphy is clear and powerful, just like his person. Every stroke is filled with calm tenderness, and the lotus pond, green bamboo, and small courtyard on the paper are exactly the same as the scene in front of him.Sometimes when he got tired of writing, he would put down his pen, hug me from behind, rest his chin on the top of my hair, and whisper my favorite words. The fragrance of lotus outside the window mixed with the fragrance of ink became the most comfortable companionship.

In the evening, the golden glow of the setting sun spreads over the lotus pond, dyeing the green lotus petals into a warm golden color.Gu Baifei would hold my hand and go to the pond to watch the koi.The koi in the pond were raised by Si Yi and Nian Xia when they were young. Now there are dozens of them. When they see us, they will swim over in groups, wagging their tails to beg for food.I scattered the fish food and watched the koi fish fight for it. I suddenly remembered the time when Si Yi and Nian Xia squatted by the pond to feed the fish. They were still young at that time and always quarreled over who scattered the most fish food. But now they are parents and have their own concerns.

“The children have grown up, but we are still the same.” I said softly, looking at the golden pool surface.

Gu Baifei held my hand tightly, and the warmth in his palm came through his fingertips: “With the essence of the lotus heart protecting me, and you accompanying me, I would rather stay the same forever, guarding you and this lotus pond.”

At dinner, the family sat around a round table under the bamboo corridor. On the table were vegetables grown by the spiritual doctor, lotus root and ribs soup cooked by Si Yi, lotus seed cake made by Nian Xia, and osmanthus sugar bought by Su Yan from the market.The grandchildren were sitting on small stools, chattering about interesting things during the day. Si Yi and the spiritual doctor occasionally served each other food, while Nian Xia and Su Yan were busy picking fish bones for their children. The laughter in the courtyard mixed with the aroma of the food made people feel warmer than the delicacies of the mountains and seas.Gu Baifei would serve me a bowl of pork rib soup, carefully pick out the lotus root pieces inside, and whisper: “Eat more, this lotus root was newly dug by the spiritual doctor, and it is the most nourishing thing.” I nodded with a smile, drank the warm soup, and felt that this was the most complete taste in the world.

After night falls, the moonlight climbs up the courtyard wall and shines on the blue waves of the lotus pond, glowing with fine silver light.Gu Baifei would sit with me on the lotus platform, watching the reflection of the moon on the surface of the pond, and listening to the chirping of cicadas and frogs.He would take out a jade flute from his sleeve and play the tune I loved most back then. The sound of the flute would be clear and clear, mixed with the fragrance of lotus, and float into the distance.I leaned in his arms, listened to the sound of the flute, looked at the moonlight, and felt that I had no regrets in this life.

One night when the moon was full, when the flute stopped playing, I suddenly said: “If there is an afterlife, I would still like to be the green lotus in this lotus pond, and I would also like to meet you.”

Gu Baifei stopped the jade flute, turned around and hugged me tightly. His voice was a little hoarse, but extremely firm: “Whether you are Qinglian or a mortal girl, no matter where you are, I will find you, protect you, and watch the fireworks in the lotus pond with you.”

The days went by like this day by day, watching the new buds sprouting from the lotus pond in spring, admiring the green lotus flowers in the pond in summer, picking up lotus leaves to brew sake in autumn, and listening to the falling snow by the heater in winter.Si Yi’s children gradually became able to take care of their own business and learned to take care of the spiritual veins and medicine gardens; Nian Xia’s son took over the responsibility of Lian Xin Zhai and continued to teach and educate people, and her daughter also had her own family; the grandchildren grew up to be teenagers, some followed spiritual medicine doctors, some studied with Su Yan, and some guarded the lotus pond, continuing the inheritance of Lian Xin.

But Gu Baifei and I still have the same appearance. We spend every day together in the lotus pond, watching the morning dew condense on the lotus, admiring the sunset dyeing the pond, watching the fireworks all over the courtyard, and watching each other.The lotus-patterned hosta on the bun is always as bright as new, just like our friendship, which has become more mellow after passing through the years.

On that day, Liancheng held a grand festival of lotus culture. Every household hung up lotus lanterns, and the lotus pond was crowded with people who came to pray.Gu Baifei and I held each other’s hands and stood on the lotus platform, looking at the crowds of people below, watching Si Yi and the spiritual doctor doing free clinics for the people, watching Nian Xia and Su Yan distributing lotus pattern bookmarks to the children, watching the grandchildren playing with lotus lanterns, and suddenly felt that the obsession to protect the lotus pond and keep the origin had finally turned into the most stable perfection in the world.

At night during the event, lotus lanterns lit up the entire Lotus City and the blue waves of the lotus pond.Gu Baifei held my hand, intertwined his fingertips with mine, looked at the lotus lanterns in the pond, and said softly: “Qinglian, you, this lotus pond, and this family are enough in this life.”

I looked up at him, and the moonlight shone on his handsome brows, reflecting the caress in his eyes. I nodded with a smile, and held his hand back: “Well, you are enough.”

The evening breeze blew, and the green lotus petals fell down, covering our bodies. The lotus-patterned jade hairpins on our buns glowed with clear light, reflecting the lotus lanterns in the pond and the moonlight in the sky.The lotus fragrance is wrapped in the smoke of fireworks, lingering in every corner of the lotus pond and lingering in our hearts.Year after year, day and night, he and I guard the lotus pond, guard each other, and guard the most perfect days and nights in the world.