Tang Style

We met after dusk, when the moon rose above the willow branches.

Regardless of the poem as a whole, these two lines alone from Ouyang Xiu's "Sheng Chazi: Lantern Festival" can evoke one's own ambiguous Heartbeat.

"Today" indicates that it is not "tomorrow," nor is it some future day that she cannot fathom; "evening" indicates a more specific time; "I" refers to Liu Chang'an; "go" is a specific action; "you" refers to Qin Yanan; and "there" indicates a specific location.

Tonight, Liu Chang'an is going to Qin Yanan's residence at the top of Mount Lu.

It just so happens that there's a moon to admire tonight, and willow branches sway on the mountaintop. As a mature woman, Qin Yanan was sensitive to the ambiguity in the invitation from a man who at least appeared mature. However, considering his real age and his usual behavior, Qin Yanan figured he probably wanted a late-night snack, since Zhou Dongdong had basically devoured all the pufferfish she brought today.

In other words, he greatly appreciated and was tempted by her cooking skills, which gave Qin Yanan a great sense of accomplishment, and even a hint of emotion appeared in her eyes... Most men who met Qin Yanan were attracted by her beauty and figure, Qin Yanan had become accustomed to and even disgusted by, finding it extremely annoying. Liu Chang'an was the first man who truly recognized her talent, instead of being like others who saw her beauty and figure and then offered perfunctory and indifferent praise for her other abilities.

This is also one of the reasons why Qin Yanan was willing to cook and share with Liu Chang'an, implicitly feeling that they were kindred spirits.

"We definitely need to have a late-night snack, and I'll show you your video too." Liu Chang'an hadn't actually thought about having a late-night snack, but since Qin Yanan brought it up, he couldn't miss it.

Qin Yanan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Today's in-depth exchange had established trust based on honesty, and she no longer feared having others see the things she had been hiding.

Qin Yanan didn't dare show it to Zhu Juntang. It wasn't a matter of trust; she didn't want others to look at her like she was a monster. But Qin Yanan believed that Liu Chang'an wouldn't see her that way.

It seems that nothing is surprising to him, and he rarely feels contempt, fear, or apprehension towards anyone or anything.

It seemed only natural that such a person would be trusted. Qin Yanan recalled why she felt relaxed when she was in his presence.

She didn't need to be wary, nor did she need to be afraid of the piercing, astonished look in his eyes.

Qin Yanan was still a little hesitant, but this hesitation had nothing to do with whether or not she could be shown the video.

Zhou Dongdong had finished eating. She leaned back in her chair, her belly protruding, her legs stretched out, and her hands swaying at her sides.

"Other children eat one bowl of rice at a time and it takes them a very long time to grow up, but I eat three bowls of rice at a time and I grow up much faster than other children."

How much faster?

Zhou Dongdong touched her belly with one hand and stretched out the other, looking at her chubby fingers.

As Zhou Dongdong continued calculating, she frowned.

"You can divide three by one to get several times that!" Qin Yanan wasn't sure if the kindergarten taught addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but seeing Zhou Dongdong struggling so much, she couldn't help but remind him.

"Anyway, it's much, much faster!" Zhou Dongdong couldn't figure it out, so she rolled off the chair, jumped up and down as much as she could to prove that she could jump higher than before, which meant she had grown up.

"Look, this is a stupid child. He jumps around here after eating, as if he's afraid his intestines won't break." Liu Chang'an reached out and pressed down on Zhou Dongdong's head.

Zhou Dongdong's attempt to push Liu Chang'an's hand away with her head stopped abruptly. She quickly touched her stomach and exclaimed in shock, "My stomach hurts! My intestines are ruptured!"

"You just need to poop."

"His intestines are ruptured!"

Liu Chang'an carried Zhou Dongdong back and made her sit on the toilet before going downstairs.

I ran into Zhou Shuling when I went downstairs. She was talking to Qin Yanan. It was clear that Zhou Shuling was very enthusiastic about this kind of woman with excellent temperament, appearance and figure. She always looked at her with the eyes of someone who was looking at a fairy.

"I'll make some late-night snacks and bring them down tonight," Zhou Shuling warmly invited Qin Yanan, "Try my cooking."

"I'll go eat at her place." Liu Chang'an shook his head. "Zhou Dongdong is already full."

"Okay, then I'll just make some fried rice." Zhou Shuling glanced at Qin Yanan again, then muttered to herself as she went upstairs.

"What if she misunderstands?" Qin Yanan felt that Zhou Shuling's last look at her was somewhat ambiguous, and she couldn't help but worry.

What's the misunderstanding?

"You said you want to come to my place for a late-night snack?"

"You misunderstood that your late-night snacks are tastier? That's true, she just makes the same crayfish over and over again, and it's almost always chilled."

"Oh well, never mind, I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Let's go, let's pack up."

Liu Chang'an put away the food box, picked it up, and walked out of the residential area with Qin Yanan.

"Want to rub your hands together a few times tonight?"

"I'm busy."

"You won thirty yuan from me last time, and you haven't played for a week!"

"You still want to win back?"

"I'm on a winning streak, are you scared?"

I ran into Old Man Qian at the entrance of the residential area. We chatted for a bit, and as I was leaving, Old Man Qian glanced at Qin Yanan a few times and said with a smile, "This girl is just like Xue Baochai."

"Thank you." Qin Yanan said shyly, taking it as a compliment.

After Liu Chang'an and Qin Yanan got into her car, Liu Chang'an said to Qin Yanan, "He said you look like Xue Baochai, and you actually said thank you?"

Qin Yanan was puzzled. This wasn't a bad thing at all. The old man must have watched the TV series version of "Dream of the Red Chamber." In his eyes, the women in "Dream of the Dream of the Red Chamber" were naturally beauties.

"In Chapter Twenty-Eight, it is written that Baochai's face was like a silver basin, and her eyes were like water apricots. Cao Xueqin also described other girls with various face shapes, such as oval faces and melon-seed faces. So, a silver basin face is a face as big as a washbasin, with water apricot-like eyes, mostly single eyelids. Do you think it's pretty?"

Qin Yanan imagined it for a moment, then involuntarily glanced at herself in the makeup mirror.

"The apricot is oval-shaped," Liu Chang'an added.

With a face as big as a basin and a pair of oval-shaped cheeks, Qin Yanan felt that she could never accept such praise again.

"Actually, he meant to praise your fertility, because Xue Baochai had a full figure, which, in the eyes of older people, was a sign of being able to bear children."

"Pah!" Qin Yanan naturally scoffed at this kind of look that focused on a girl's reproductive characteristics.

"Speaking of fuller figures, I'm reminded of a physics student I used to know. He told me that when he was experiencing uncontrollable sexual desires during puberty, he would pick up the Book of Songs."

"Huh?" Qin Yanan found it hard to understand. Although there were many bold and unrestrained lines in the Book of Songs, Liu Chang'an clearly meant that this person was using the Book of Book of Songs as a kind of erotic novel.

"The fruit of the pepper tree is abundant and overflowing. Its offspring are large and unparalleled. The pepper tree is luxuriant and its branches are far-reaching. The fruit of the pepper tree is abundant and overflowing. Its offspring are large and steadfast. The pepper tree is luxuriant and its branches are far-reaching." Liu Chang'an read it once, then looked at Qin Yanan.

"You pervert!" Qin Yanan's cheeks flushed slightly. "How do you know such a sleazy person?!"

Qin Yanan couldn't help but worry whether she had trusted Liu Chang'an too much. After all, he was in his adolescence, full of energy and hormones like a teddy bear.

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