Chapter 19: Li County Pear Blossom Lantern Festival (1)
Having been in Li County for two years, what Wang Dongdong looked forward to most was the annual Li County Pear Blossom Lantern Festival.
In late spring, when the pear blossoms were at their most splendid, the pristine white pear blossoms covered the mountains and fields like a brocade of clouds, spreading across the sky. As the pear blossoms fell like snow, they piled up on the ground like jade and snow, decorating Li County like a wonderland.
To celebrate such a beautiful scene, Li County specially designated a “Pear Blossom Day” and held the “Li County Pear Blossom Lantern Festival” for three consecutive nights.
Of course, what Wang Dongdong liked most was that both the Li County Magistrate’s Office and the Weaving Institute were closed for three days.
Although Li County was just a small county town, this was Li County’s biggest event, and even people from outside would come to visit and admire it, so it could not be taken lightly.
The Li County Magistrate specially gathered skilled artisans to create ingenious lanterns, some shaped like pear blossom trees, some like a Dragon and Phoenix presenting auspiciousness, and others like magnificent palaces.
Nearby scholars even volunteered to paint and inscribe poems on them, adding to their elegance.
As night fell, Li County became bustling everywhere, with red gauze fluttering, pear blossoms like clouds, and lantern lights like a sea.
Wang Dongdong and her two young misses were all dressed in fitting pink and white pear blossom skirts, walking hand in hand into the brilliantly lit market.
The stalls along the street were dazzling, with various snacks and handicrafts that kept them busy. They were first tempted by the freshly baked, fragrant pear blossom pastries and bought a few, then they saw an old man selling sugar paintings surrounded by a group of children, so they joined the fun, and then each left satisfied with a sugar-painted little rabbit in hand.
Wang Dongdong and her friends were stopping at a small stall selling sachets, handkerchiefs, and hairpins, when they suddenly heard thunderous cheers and applause from behind them. They turned to look and saw that someone was performing a Dragon and Lion Dance. The long, colorful Dragon twisted and turned, its majestic Dragon head chasing the Dragon Pearl, while the accompanying Lion Dance complemented the Dragon Dance, leaping up and down with an endearing clumsiness, earning rounds of applause.
Further ahead, there were also people performing acrobatics and striking iron flowers, also surrounded by an impenetrable crowd.
Along the way, Wang Dongdong also bumped into many colleagues from the Weaving Institute. She felt that, except for Liu Sheng, who was obsessed with work, and Zhang Yuanzheng, who never enjoyed himself with the common people, and a few who were homesick, almost all dozen or so people from the entire Li County Weaving Institute were at this lantern festival.
“Look! These lanterns are so beautiful!”
Suddenly, Yue Shan, one of Wang Dongdong’s young misses, excitedly pointed ahead, pulling Wang Dongdong and another friend, Yi Chunxian, over.
Upon closer inspection, the lanterns hanging on the stall were indeed exquisite, including revolving lanterns, jade rabbit lanterns, cat lanterns, and gourd lanterns, all in various colors and vivid shapes. There were also slips of paper attached to them, which turned out to be lantern riddles.
“Young Miss, one coin for one guess. Come and try your luck. If you guess correctly, it’s yours,” the stall owner, a scholar-like man, said proactively when he saw Yue Shan’s interest.
Yue Shan’s eyes lit up. She had already set her eyes on the jade rabbit lantern. When she saw the riddle on it—“Surrounded by mountains on all four sides, with all mountains connected”—she couldn’t help but look distressed. The other two also gathered around to help her ponder.
It was Yi Chunxian, who usually spoke little and loved to read, who softly said, “It’s the character ‘field’ (field).”
“This Young Miss is so clever!” The stall owner clapped his hands in praise and smilingly took down the jade rabbit lantern for Yi Chunxian. Yi Chunxian then handed it to Yue Shan, but Yue Shan refused to take it.
“This is what you guessed, Chunxian, so it’s yours. I want to win one by myself!” Saying this, Yue Shan gave another coin and started looking for her next target.
Wang Dongdong was confident in her intelligence and felt it was better not to participate to avoid emptying her purse, but watching the excitement ignited a fire in her heart, and she finally couldn't resist joining in.
Then the two of them regretfully clutched their half-empty purses and retreated empty-handed.
“The riddles on this stall are a bit difficult. Let’s look at others,” Yue Shan said, a little embarrassed, eyeing the exquisite and lovely jade rabbit lantern in Yi Chunxian’s hand.
Wang Dongdong nodded, “Let’s go, let’s go. This stall owner is doing it on purpose; it definitely has nothing to do with our ability!”
The two quickly moved to the next lantern riddle stall. The lanterns on that stall were not as exquisite as the previous one, but the two were already caught up in the guessing game; the lanterns were secondary, and they only wanted to prove themselves.
Yi Chunxian shook her head helplessly, seeing how engrossed the two were, and followed closely behind, holding the jade rabbit lantern.
She and Yue Shan were good sisters who had grown up together, and now they were helping out at Yue Shan’s family’s tailor shop.
Wang Dongdong met them because one time several hooligans were harassing and causing trouble in the shop. She, seeing injustice, drew her sword to help and drove away the hooligans for them. Later, the three became close, and thus Wang Dongdong, who was working alone in Li County, gained these two local best friends.
Since they had agreed to be good sisters and visit the lantern festival together, they naturally had to stick together.
...
The three of them strolled through the market, guessed lantern riddles, and when they were tired, they sat down to drink tea and eat snacks. Unconsciously, the night grew deeper.
Unnoticed by anyone, the Supreme God’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Yue Shan, wanting to look good, was only wearing a thin dress and no padded jacket. As the night deepened, she began to feel the chill, hugging her arms and trembling from the cold.
Yi Chunxian’s jade rabbit lantern had also gone out, and her hand holding the lantern was turning blue from the cold.
“The night wind is cold; it’s time to go home,” Wang Dongdong said proactively when she saw their condition.
Although she also felt it had suddenly gotten much colder, she had cultivation and was better at resisting cold than ordinary people. However, Yue Shan and Yi Chunxian couldn’t endure it, and staying out like this would make them sick.
The three walked back along the street, planning to send Yue Shan home first.
The street was still bustling with people, and the sounds of music and singing continued without pause. Pear blossoms fluttered down, turning the entire street a desolate white.
“Young Miss, would you like to guess a lantern riddle?”
Just as they turned a corner, a stall owner enthusiastically greeted them.
His stall was hung with colorful lanterns, but they looked crudely made and overly bright. For example, the goldfish lantern had one eye bigger than the other, and its scales were mottled and greenish, looking like it was sick; and the doll lantern had snow-white skin, two bright red blushes on its face, blood-red lips, and wide, paint black eyes that seemed to stare straight ahead, making it appear somewhat eerie.
All three young misses were repulsed by these lanterns, and Yue Shan quickly refused, “No, no, thank you.”
Then they hurried on, not seeing the stall owner behind them looking at them with a malevolent expression.
They had only walked a few steps when another voice emerged from the side: “Young Miss, want to play a lantern riddle?”
The voice was sinister. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw a pale-faced old woman. The lanterns on her stall were even uglier than the previous one.
There was a chicken-bodied lantern with a pig’s head, a head lantern with only a bob cut, a peeled monkey lantern… each one distorted and terrifying.
Wang Dongdong felt something was wrong, but before she could say anything, Yue Shan impatiently said, “No need.”
The old woman’s face grew even paler, and her eyes stared fixedly at Yue Shan, the whites of her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
Wang Dongdong felt like she should be remembering something, but her mind seemed to be covered by a thin film, and she could only be pulled forward by Yue Shan.
Yi Chunxian also felt uneasy, silently clutching the jade rabbit lantern in her hand.
The street’s commotion became somewhat distant, and an eerie silence seemed to be mixed with screams and wails.
The Dragon Dance, moving up and down in the distance, kept its Dragon head fixed on them, its body twisting by itself, bulging inside. The thin fabric on the Dragon’s body vaguely revealed some swollen flesh, and they could even see some people’s heads squeezed inside, with dense legs below the body.
On the other side, the iron-flower craftsman tirelessly struck molten iron into the sky. The golden sparks were like fireworks, but he seemed to have forgotten all taboos; the sparks fell directly onto his own body, burning his skin black and blistering, yet he seemed oblivious, continuing to take molten iron and strike it, his entire body covered in bloody, mangled flesh, almost revealing bone.
No, no, everything was wrong, but Wang Dongdong couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was wrong.
Just then, another lantern riddle stall appeared before them.
This time, all the lanterns on the stall were bright red: a bright red rabbit, a bright red moon, a bright red monkey, and a bright red doll.
“Want to guess a lantern riddle?”
The stall owner, with his bright red face devoid of skin, asked with two round eyes without eyelids staring and two rows of snow-white teeth bared.
Finally signed! One more chapter to celebrate!