Yang Fan was invited to the Dugu family, under the guise that a famous doctor of the Dugu family would treat his illness.
Yang Fan arrived at the Dugu Family's residence. However, there was no famous doctor to take his pulse. Nor was there anyone to prescribe a few decoctions for him to drink. Instead, he was eating the most exquisite dishes in the Dugu Family's residence. And, he was drinking fine wine.
After the banquet, the host even spread a long bamboo mat in the garden and chatted with him while drinking yogurt and eating cheese.
Although the Dugu family was large, not all the clansmen lived together. Each branch had their own residence in Chang 'an. Because Dugu Yu and his sister were the eldest lineal branch, they lived in the largest ancestral house with their mother. Of course, the eldest lineal branch was not the most important reason. If he was not the head of the Dugu family, he would still have to move out and arrange another residence, leaving this place to the real owner of the Dugu family.
Yang Fan also met the mother of Dugu Yu and his sister. Dugu Yu's mother looked very young, only three or four years older than Yang Fan, and this was because of her dress and the unique temperament and way of talking of elders. Ning Ke was actually four or five years older than Yang Fan, but she looked six or seven years younger. Probably because she inherited her mother's beauty and special constitution to slow down aging, Dugu Ning Ke did not eat with the guests. When Yang Fan and Dugu Yu sat in the garden after the banquet, she and her mother came together. Standing together, the mother and daughter looked like a pair of beautiful sisters. Madam Dugu sat with her daughter for a while, chatted with Yang Fan for a while, and then got up to leave.
As soon as Madam Dugu left, Ning Ke stuck out her tongue and said mischievously, "Fortunately, Erlang came to my house today and helped me out."
Yang Fan asked curiously, "What do you mean?"
Dugu Yu smiled knowingly, "Why? Is Mother in the mood for poetry, or do you want to paint? "
Ning Ke said with a bitter face, "Mother wants to play the zither today."
Dugu Yu laughed heartily, but stopped when he saw Yang Fan's blank face, "To tell you the truth, my mother is interested in the zither, chess, calligraphy and painting, as well as poetry and songs. Every time she recites poetry, paints, plays the zither, and plays the zither, she needs someone to listen, appreciate, and comment. Ha-ha, of course, this person is my sister. "
Ning Ke smiled and said, "But my mother only wants to hear my praise. It's impossible for me to criticize her. But I only want to criticize her when she paints or plays the zither, but I don't want to praise her."
Dugu Yu could not help but say, "But in order to make Mother happy, Ah Mei has no choice but to praise against her heart. Not a single word of her true feelings can be spoken. It's really bitter."
Ning Ke said, "Today my mother suddenly has the mood and wants to play the zither again. Fortunately, Erlang is here, so I hurriedly said that I have to accompany the guest, and then I got away."
Hearing this, Yang Fan couldn't help but laugh. Although Ning Ke's words were exaggerated, he just saw Ning Ke's mother's temperament, demeanor, behavior, and style of conversation. She was obviously a lady from a respectable family. Although her musical, chess, calligraphy, and poetry writing skills were not very brilliant, they were not unsightly. Ning Ke's words could only prove that … she was ten times better than her mother.
Yang Fan could not help laughing, "In this case, Miss Ning Ke must be very good at the zither. I wonder if I have the honor to listen to it?"
Dugu Yu was stunned. He glanced at Ning Ke and wanted to say something but stopped on second thought.
Ning Ke's pair of beautiful eyes stared at Yang Fan without blinking and suddenly said sweetly, "If Erlang doesn't mind my poor zither skills, I will show you my incompetence."
She looked back at the boat girl, who bowed and retreated. She thought as she walked, "Playing the zither requires all your attention. Playing the zither requires a lot of strength in both arms and fingers. Miss has not played the zither for a long time, but today she made an exception for that boy. I should have stopped her, but … "
She thought about how her mistress spent her days alone, sitting quietly, and rarely spoke. Her life was even more monotonous than that of a monk. It was rare for her to be in such a mood today. The boat lady sighed faintly and gave up on the idea.
After a while, the boat girl brought a zither, took down all the food on the table, and put the zither on the table. Miss Ning Ke sat in front of the zither and put her slender fingers on the strings.
"Clang ~!"
As soon as the sound of the zither started, a simple, elegant and desolate atmosphere came to their faces.
It was as if the autumn air was cool, the wind was calm, the sand was flat, the clouds were thousands of miles away, and wild geese were flying in the sky. The melody of the zither rose and fell continuously. There was movement in the silence, and it was beautiful and pleasant to listen to. It was as if wild geese were flying back and forth, flying up and down, gathering and flying again. All kinds of scenes were vivid in people's eyes.
Yang Fan had been to the great desert of the western region, suddenly hearing the sound of the zither, his heart sensed it and after listening for a moment, he closed his eyes. The sound of the zither started, like the swan geese arriving, extremely faintly discernible among the clouds, the wild geese were flying in harmony with their cries, faintly discernible, coming and going. Then, like a flock of geese about to land, they circled in the sky, and then quietly flew around the continent three times, flying and eating, getting what they wanted …
This song "Wild Geese Falling on the Sand" was played by Miss Ning Ke since she was a child. She didn't need to look at the strings at all. Her eyes were fixed on Yang Fan. When she saw Yang Fan close his eyes, Miss Ning Ke raised her eyebrows slightly. Yang Fan was sitting there. He didn't shake his head to reflect on the aftertaste, nor did he gently clap the zither. It was as if he was a bosom friend. He just sat there, but his mind seemed to have drifted to a very far place. He slightly frowned and then slowly relaxed. He listened to the zither, but completely forgot about the zither. Instead, he was fully immersed in the artistic conception created by the sound of the zither, and his eyes became more like a bosom friend.
The autumn air was cool, the wind was calm, the sand was flat, the clouds were thousands of miles away, and the birds were singing in the sky.
Young people are ambitious, but who can understand the heart of vicissitudes?
The sound of the zither lingered in the air. At the end of the clear autumn, wild geese disappeared in the sky, and only the vast desert, the clear blue sky, and the same color could be seen!
Yang Fan breathed a sigh of relief, slowly opened his eyes, and gently clapped his hands, saying, "This is the most beautiful zither sound I have ever heard in my life."
Ning Ke was panting after playing the song. The boat girl handed her a wet towel. She gently pressed it on her forehead, and then said with a smile, "Erlang, you flatter me. It seems that you are also an expert in this field? Can you play a song for Ning Ke to hear the good news? "
Yang Fan hurriedly waved his hand and said, "I dare not make a fool of myself, I dare not make a fool of myself. I only learned zither for a few days when I was a child, and then … "
Speaking of this, Yang Fan seemed to think of something, and his face became slightly gloomy.
Dugu Yu and Ning Ke looked at each other in surprise.
Yang Fan came to his senses and said, "I'm sorry, I suddenly thought of my late father. When I was a child, my family was in a difficult situation, but there was a zither at home at that time. My father always taught me how to play the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, poetry, and songs. Zither was also a compulsory subject for me. Later, because I was too naughty, I accidentally fell down while climbing a tree and broke my leg. In order to buy medicine, my father sold that zither … "
Speaking of this, Yang Fan's eyes were faintly filled with tears. Dugu Yu was solemn, and Ning Ke softly persuaded, "Erlang, you have such achievements today, and you have not let down uncle's painstaking teachings. Uncle will also be happy in the underworld."
Yang Fan raised his sleeves and gently wiped the corners of his eyes, and bowed to her to thank her. But he was sad and couldn't say anything for a moment. At this time, a maidservant in cyan came slowly to Ning Ke with a small porcelain bowl in her hands. The boat lady bent down and reminded her, "Miss, it's time to take the medicine."
Ning Ke nodded and asked the maidservant to bring the bowl to him, and then he sipped the medicine soup. Dugu Yu took the opportunity to change the topic and talked with Yang Fan about other things. After a while of talking and laughing, he finally got rid of the sadness caused by thinking of his late father.
After Ning Ke took the medicine, the maidservant took the empty bowl and quietly left. Yang Fan couldn't help saying, "All the medicine is bitter. Although I am an adult, I still feel unbearable pain when I am occasionally sick and have to take the medicine. But just now I saw that you were willing to take it. Your endurance is really amazing."
Ning Ke took out a handkerchief and gently touched the corner of his mouth, and said with a tranquil smile, "It's not endurance. I'm just used to it."
Used to it? How much bitterness was hidden in this simple sentence?
Seeing Yang Fan showing sympathy and pity, Ning Ke said with a smile, "I heard from my mother that I was fed a small spoonful of coptis when I was born. She said it could get rid of fetal toxins. She also said that newborn babies haven't tasted all kinds of things in the human world. At that time, it was easy for them to endure some hardships, and then they would be able to endure more hardships in the future. Hehe, for me, maybe it's for today. "
Dugu Yu wanted to say, "I was born on the same year, the same month, and the same day as you, and I also ate coptis. Why can't I endure hardships now?" When the words were on the tip of his tongue, he thought of the pain his little sister had suffered for many years, and his heart ached. He couldn't say this joke to lighten the atmosphere.
It was a custom passed down from ancient times that newborn babies should be fed a mouthful of coptis. It was probably nonsense to say that it could get rid of fetal toxins. But this was the tradition, and future generations naturally followed it. Yang Fan didn't know whether he ate coptis when he was born or not. His parents didn't tell him about it.
But after hearing Ning Ke's words, he also felt endless bitterness in his heart. He looked up and saw many ripe pears on the branches, which were yellow and bent. Yang Fan said, "Medicine is always bitter. I'll pick a pear to moisten Miss Ning Ke's throat."
The pears on the tree could be reached as long as one stood up. But Yang Fan just wanted to make Miss Ning Ke laugh, so how could he do that? He slapped the ground with both hands, and his whole body soared into the air. When he was more than a person's height, he used his waist strength to jump straight to the top of the big pear tree. He stretched out his hand and grabbed a pear. His toes bounced on the branches, and he did a somersault in the air, landing in front of Miss Ning Ke.
Although this movement skill was brilliant, Miss Ning Ke wasn't a martial artist, so she wasn't very interested in it. Besides, there were many martial arts masters in the Dugu family, and Miss Ning Ke had seen similar lightness kungfu before. But Yang Fan took advantage of the momentum to step on the tree trunk, and many ripe pears fell.
Yang Fan and Dugu Yu's table was under the pear tree. Pears fell one after another like hail, and two pears hit Dugu Yu's head. Dugu Yu cried out and hurriedly covered his head. Seeing this, Ning Ke couldn't help laughing.
Her laughter was as innocent as a child's, but it was clear and slightly hoarse. Because it was rare for her to laugh out loud, she couldn't help coughing a few times. Her little face was flushed, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face.
She had always been a gentle, virtuous, elegant and noble young lady in front of others, but she was a strong woman who endured loneliness and illness alone when no one was around. But at this moment, she was just a happy girl who loved to laugh.
Pears hit on the head was very painful. Dugu Yu rubbed his head and was about to say a few words with a bitter face. Suddenly he saw his sister's bright smile, and a kind of emotion welled up in his heart.
He hadn't seen his twin sister smile so happily for a long time. If he could make her so happy often, he wouldn't care even if two iron lumps fell on his head.
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