Meng Xu called out from the donkey cart, saying that the hands-on experience at the study center was about to begin, with activities including writing on Han Dynasty bamboo slips and making rubbings of inscriptions. The finished products could be taken home.
Several guests responded and said they would be right there.
Qiguan Yuan was indeed more interested in these more refined things.
Pei Yubai walked over together.
The study tour center is located further inside the scenic area. The door is a Han-style wooden door that makes a sound when pushed open.
Inside, there were several rows of long tables, covered with felt, and containing blank bamboo slips, carving knives, ink, rubbing pads, and several replicas of frontier inscription stone slabs.
The finished products were hanging on the wall, each with different handwriting and varying skill levels.
Qiguan Yuan sat down at an empty table.
He took off Pei Yubai's outer robe and draped it over the back of the chair, revealing the crimson armband and gold waist chain underneath.
The study center was quiet, and light streamed in through the windows, illuminating his silver hair. Sitting there, he looked more like a figure from an ancient painting than the calligraphy and paintings on the walls.
The staff came and handed out the materials.
A blank bamboo slip, twelve pieces, strung together with hemp rope, is half a meter long when laid out.
A small inkstone, half an ink stick, and a writing brush.
Qiguan Yuan picked up the bamboo slip and looked at it. The bamboo strips were thin, polished, and had a smooth surface. They also had a faint bamboo scent.
In the Heavenly Realm, he often came into contact with the Marriage Record.
Every arranged marriage had to be recorded on bamboo slips, including the man's name, the woman's name, which finger the red thread was tied to, how many times it was tied, and the time it was tied—all of this had to be clearly written down.
However, after he discovered that by persuading Yun Yin, he could get Yun Yin to write Marriage Record for him, he stopped doing it himself most of the time.
Qiguan Yuan picked up a brush and dipped it in the inkwell.
He writes very quietly.
With his wrist suspended, the pen tip moved across the bamboo strip at a moderate pace.
Qiguan Yuan is usually very lazy and doesn't practice calligraphy much.
But if he were to actually write, his handwriting would be quite stunning.
After finishing writing, he placed the brush on the brush holder, blew on the ink on the bamboo strip, and showed it to Pei Yubai.
Pei Yubai was sitting next to him, grinding ink with his head down. When he heard Qiguan Yuan call him, he turned his head to look over.
A single encounter in the golden autumn breeze and dewy moonlight surpasses countless encounters in the mortal world.
He looked at the words on the bamboo slip, and after a moment he suddenly remembered the time when he first met Yuanyuan.
Yuanyuan suddenly appeared in the Fated Marriage Village and took away the marriage fortune slip he had just found.
Finally, thanks to Yuanyuan's intervention, the fortune slip he received had this inscription.
From the moment she recognized him, Yuanyuan had been moving closer to him.
He had come to her side before she even remembered him.
Pei Yubai put down the ink stick, picked up the carving knife on the table, and then picked up a blank bamboo slip.
He used a carving knife to carve characters on bamboo strips, one stroke at a time, very slowly.
After finishing the carving, he blew away the bamboo shavings and handed it to Qiguan Yuan.
Qiguan Yuan took it and looked at it.
The bamboo slip was engraved with the following line: "I searched for him a thousand times in the crowd, but suddenly when I turned around, I found him where the lights were dim."
Qiguan Yuan smiled.
Roll up this bamboo slip together with the one you just wrote on, and tie them together with red thread.
After writing on the bamboo slips, the next step was to make rubbings.
The staff gave each person a replica of a frontier inscription stone slab, engraved with Han Dynasty clerical script.
Qiguan Yuan placed the Xuan paper on the stone slab, sprayed it with water, and when the paper was half dry, he picked up the rubbing pad, dipped it in ink, and dabbed it onto the paper one stroke at a time.
With even pressure and ink that gradually deepens in color, the characters of the inscription slowly emerge on the paper.
Pei Yubai watched him work from the side.
Qiguan Yuan pressed his fingers on the Xuan paper, applying slight pressure with his fingertips to flatten the surface and ensure that even the characters on the edges could be traced. His hands were long, slender, and fair; they were truly beautiful.
The rough stone slabs with inscriptions and the jet-black ink create a striking contrast.
It's as if these hands were meant to make rubbings on ancient stone tablets and to write about marriage on old bamboo slips.
Someone in the live stream captured this part.
In the picture, Qiguan Yuan is dressed in a crimson ancient costume, with his silver hair cascading over his shoulders. He is holding a rubbing pad and carefully applying ink to the inscription inch by inch.
[This rubbing image is so evocative! A deity in red robes is sitting there making rubbings of inscriptions.]
[His handling of the rubbing pad is so skillful, he must have practiced.]
Pei Yubai kept staring at Qiguan Yuan's hand.
What's missing?
Missing a ring.
He wanted to marry Yuanyuan, so he wanted to go through all the formalities first.
Then Yuanyuan will personally write their names into the Marriage Register.
When should I propose?
Yuanyuan seems to prefer a more Chinese style.
We need to buy an island and then renovate it to look like Yuanyuan likes.
The entire island is their home, so Yuanyuan won't get lost outside of her home.
If Yuanyuan prefers Cloud-Hidden Town, then he will buy the entire mountain where she lives and use it as their marital home.
By the way, you should hand over your property when you get married.
Pei Yubai pondered the wealth he currently possessed.
Even excluding the assets he hasn't yet inherited, his total assets should be in the tens of billions.
The entire amount will be given to Yuanyuan as betrothal gifts.
I still feel it's not enough. Should I retire from the entertainment industry and take over the family business sooner? That way, I can get a higher dowry to marry Yuanyuan.
Qiguan Yuan naturally had no idea what Pei Yubai was planning.
After making the rubbings, Qiguan Yuan rolled up the rubbings of Xuan paper, tied them with hemp rope, and put them into his sleeve along with the bamboo slips.
As he stood up, the small bell on his waist chain bumped against the edge of the table, making a soft tinkling sound.
When we came out of the study center, the sun was already much lower in the sky, and the light had turned orange-red.
Qiguan Yuan and Pei Yubai went to the Beacon Tower Ancient Road.
There are camels over there.
The camel caravan was lined up in a row, with red cloths and copper bells hanging around their necks, lying on the sand, chewing on something.
As Qiguan Yuan walked over, the lead camel turned its head and nudged his arm with its nose.
Qiguan Yuan looked down at it.
It's the camel that we found for Wang Shoumo yesterday.
The camel nudged him again, making a gurgling sound in its throat.
Qiguan Yuan reached out and touched its nose, his fingertip sliding up the curve of the bridge of the nose and stopping between its eyes.
The camel squinted and quieted down.
"You do recognize me," Qiguan Yuan said.
The uncle leading the camel next to us laughed and said that this camel usually has a bad temper and doesn't let strangers touch it, but it's been well-behaved today.
Qiguan Yuan simply patted the camel's neck again.
The two rode camels, slowly making their way along the Beacon Tower Ancient Road. Qiguan Yuan rode on the camel in front, his crimson armbands and gold waist chain seemingly gleaming in the setting sun.
Pei Yubai rode on another peak behind him, his black inner robe clinging to his body in the wind, revealing the lines of his waist and abdomen.
Qiguan Yuan pondered the things he needed to do.
Pei Yubai now knows that he is Yun Yin and has seen their past memories.
However, his divine status has not yet been restored.
He was always just an ordinary person.
I promised Lu Zhao that I would help him enhance his Power of Marriage in the Northwest, and I should indeed speed things up.
Qiguan Yuan decided to deal with this matter tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Pei Yubai was secretly starting to contact people to customize rings.