Chapter 21 Happy New Year's Eve

"Oh, right... it is a cat. Of course, this is a cat. It is a lovely little white cat. Yinzhu has done a good job.” It was difficult to tell what this small stuff was, and Yue held it while talking nonsense. His mature sharp eyes were smiling. The girl blushed and refused to make another one. She pouted her lips. Yue was staring at her with a smile. He couldn't help touching her small nose. There was still some flour on his fingertips, but her face had been covered with flour. The scene looked very harmonious. Yun Xi had no idea how she looked at this moment. She was annoyed. Yun Xi sniffed and turned around, which looked very cute. Yue hugged the girl tightly from behind. His chin touched her hair, and his voice sounded lovely. "Yinzhu, you are a good girl. Yue really wanted to eat the thing that Yinzhu made. Let's made it together, ok?" Yue had made dumplings enough for them to eat. Yun Xi was still angry in his arms, but Yue had started to stir flour. He hugged the girl from behind and held her small hands to make a dog companion for the “little white cat”. Big hands held small hands to knead the dough. Yue was very skillful. With his help, the dog companion looked like a real dog. After Yue and Yun Xi made the dog companion, they did not change their clothes and went to practice Paper-Cut Window Art. Yue was clean, and there was only a little flour on his clothes. In contrast, the girl was almost covered by white flour. Fortunately, she wore white clothes so it was not so noticeable. Her face was also covered with flour. She was messy, but Yue did not tell Yun Xi about it. He could rarely see the girl being so lovely and awkward. He didn't want to miss this opportunity. These two people knew nothing about Paper-Cut Window Art. They had spent lots of time on it. Yue almost cut himself and bled. Finally, some strange paper cuts were made. They were ugly enough to exorcise evil spirits. Yun Xi picked up one of the ugliest paper cuts. She smiled and put it next to Yue’s face for comparison. "This looks very similar to Yue." "So ugly." "Very similar!" The girl did it on purpose. She laughed and her pure eyes looked so naughty. "Well, then, this is Yinzhu." Yue picked up the most lovely paper cut the girl made. However, it still looked not much better. These two people did not mind how ugly the things they made looked. They laughed and put the two strange things "similar to them" on the window. This pair of strange things on the window might exorcise evil spirits with their scary appearance. Two people looked at the window and giggled. Yue decided to write a couplet to put it on the window. They both knew how to write a couplet, but Yun Xi wanted to write a wish couplet. Eventually, a Spring Festival couplet was made— The First Line: (Yun Xi) Yinzhu wants Yue to be with her The Second Line: (Yue) Yue will be with Yinzhu forever The Horizontal line: Yinzhu and Yue This couplet was also stuck on the window of Yun Xi’s room. The three lines encircled the strange paper cuts. Two people were happy and kept laughing. The girl accidentally saw her face in the bronze mirror. She realized Yue did not remind her of it on purpose. Yun Xi was so angry and picked up a brush to paint his face. Yue did not resist. He sat on the stool and allowed the girl to paint his face. However, after the girl finished painting, he rubbed his face directly against both sides of the girl's pink face. Now their faces were both more “beautiful”. Yue rubbed her face and then ran away immediately. The girl wanted to punch him so she chased after him. She was very close to him but she could never touch him. Two people kept running for a long time until Yue saw Yun Xi panting. He stopped. Yue laughed and hugged the girl in his arms. The girl now could punch him. Her punching could not hurt him, like tickling. Gradually, Yun Xi didn't attack him. She stayed in his arms quietly. Yun Xi was panting with fatigue and bumped on Yue’s chest with her head. Looking at the angry girl, Yue couldn't help laughing. She was bumping two cotton balls! After a good shower in the afternoon, they changed clean clothes. Yue deliberately wore white clothes similar to the girl’s dress. He casually wore his hair in a bun. If the two balls in front of his chest were ignored, he would look very masculine. The snow under the phoenix tree had melted, but it still looked so beautiful. Yue played a stringed instrument for the girl under the tree. The music was very beautiful. Yun Xi didn't know how to dance, but she still danced with his music. She was dancing freely. Her dancing was not professional but had natural beauty of a girl. Yue stared at the girl, and he had a bigger smile. His music also became cheerful. "Yinzhu, can you sing?" "I sang when I was a child. I only knew some nursery rhymes, but now I can't remember them all." "Sing it." "Well." The girl had a naturally good voice. Her voice was like a gurgling spring. After hearing it, Yue made his music in concord with her song. Yun Xi only knew a few lines of a nursery rhyme. Yue could soon sing it. They sang those lines with the music. "Shui baby... Shui baby... close your little eyes... you are not afraid of wolves and tigers... you will always be blessed with peace..." Yue's singing was not very beautiful. It's just not out of tune. However, it totally touched Yun Xi. "Yinzhu, let me teach you a song." "Good." He offered to teach her how to sing, and she learned quickly. Yun Xi sang much better than he did. "Wind and sand blocked my view... I didn't see the person... but I heard the voice... I felt delighted in the beginning... but soon I heard the hidden sadness... it had always been difficult to find a soulmate... how many people had broken their hearts... how many people had found their soulmates... I wished it was nothing but a dream... I wished when I woke up... I would still hear the voice under the moon..." This was a song that Yue’s mother sang to him. At that time, he liked his mother singing this song to lull him to sleep. Yun Xi's singing mixed with Yue’s music. Her singing was not as gentle as his mother’s whispering. It was more lively, full of emotions. The two people were both intoxicated. They were both dressed in white, flawless and beautiful. The image was so pure. Two people were tired of singing, dancing, and playing the stringed instrument. After a long time, Yue took Yun Xi to the study room for painting a portrait. Looking at the pure girl in front of him, Yue picked up a brush and painted her beauty bit by bit. The girl he painted was charming and flawless, but Yue still thought it was not as good as her. Yun Xi also picked up the brush to paint Yue. Since she was nine years old, she had never practiced lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She could use the brush to write, but painting was still too difficult for her. However, the girl still tried her best to paint. She painted only a little better than a child did. It could be seen that the portrait was about a person, but it's hard to tell the person was a man or a woman. It was an abstract masterpiece. When she saw Yue, she hid it behind her. Yue grabbed the painting. He held it so high that the girl couldn't reach it and then open it up. "What is it?" "It's you!" The girl stood tiptoe and tried to take back the painting. She blushed. "Oh." "Give it to me." "It's my portrait, so the painting was mine." "I'll paint another one." "No, this is the first portrait of me that Yinzhu painted. It will be my family heirloom." "No, It's so ugly." "Who said that! You have done a good job. The man in the painting is so me." Yue was talking nonsense. The girl's face was now so red. She wanted to take back the portrait and then tore it into pieces so much. Yue put away the portrait as a treasure. He carefully hid it in his clothes, unwilling to give it back to the girl. Two people ran over for a while. Finally, Yue begged for mercy. Yun Xi's weak small fists punched him, but he still didn't want to give the portrait back to her. It was something she had given him, and it was his treasure. In the evening, the sun was setting. It was kind of cold. However, the two people had been playing for a whole day and they felt hot rather than cold. Their body and their hearts both felt warm. They ate dumplings Yue made and special "cat and dog" around the table. The dumplings tasted better, but they both felt that the two animals with the original flavor of flour were more delicious. After dinner, two white figures leaned against each other. They sat on the ground under the phoenix tree. Looking at the brilliant fireworks in the sky, they felt the fireworks were more beautiful than any other fireworks they had seen. Yun Xi sat in the arms of Yue, waiting for the new year. "Yue, fireworks are so beautiful." "Well, Yinzhu is more beautiful." "Hey... Yue, I feel so happy today." "We will always be so happy in the future." "Well. Can we celebrate every New Year's Eve in this way?" "Of course." When they were tired, they lay down under the phoenix tree and fell asleep. Actually, Yue did not sleep. He looked at the girl in his arms and felt so satisfied. He kissed the girl’s white and soft face gently. Yue was afraid that Yun Xi would notice it, so he closed his eyes hastily. He hoped that such a good moment would slow down. It was winter, so it was still very cold. The two fools slept on the ground in the yard for a night. The next day, they both had a high fever. However, the fever had not affected their good mood. Imperial physicians soon sent medicine here and they drank it without disturbing too many people or asking others to take care of them. Lying on the bed, they slept next to each other to bring down the fever by sweating. The two people in bed stared at the two strange paper cuts and the special couplet. They continued to giggle like two idiots. On the first, second, third, and fourth day of the New Year, two fools lay in bed while everyone was hanging out happily. Yun Xi still hated to take medicine, but Yue forced her to take it. Of course, she would be rewarded with sweet dessert after taking the medicine. They completely recovered on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Yue put away the two paper cuts and couplet to avoid unnecessary trouble. Early in the morning on the sixth day of the New Year, Yuer was back to the palace. Yun Zhi and Yun Su mostly spent these days in the palace with King Yun. They were both afraid of causing the attention of King Yun so they did not visit Yun Xi. Finally, the spring festival was over. On the sixth day, they could come to visit the girl. No one knew what happened between Yue and Yun Xi during these six days which were the happiest days of celebrating the new year in the girl's life.