flamboyant

Chapitre 24

Lu Ziqi smiled and slowly stood up, walking towards the escalator. He gently left behind a sentence: "Regardless of whether that incident back then was related to Tong'er's death, you have already paid back three years. That's enough."

Something seemed to flicker in Huo Nan's eyes: "This place is not where you can stay for long. Judging from the current situation, things may change soon. How will you deal with it then?"

"There's no way to avoid it, we have to face it." Lu Ziqi's slightly tired voice carried a hint of a smile: "I learned this lesson from that dog."

“Song, Wu, Que…” Huo Nan laughed loudly and stood up, shaking his robe: “What a good name! But if one truly lacks nothing, what is the point of life? Yesterday’s drinking party was first to congratulate you on your marriage, second to welcome me home, and third… to see me off.”

Lu Ziqi paused, then turned to face him directly: "Have you decided?"

"It's decided, I'll leave today."

"Today? Why the rush?"

"The sooner you join the army, the sooner you can contribute and the sooner you can plan ahead."

Lu Ziqi frowned: "Don't do this for my sake..."

Huo Nan waved his hand dismissively: "You don't need to worry about that! Anyway, whether I'm striving for personal fame or serving my country loyally, it won't interfere with anything."

“You…” Lu Ziqi sighed deeply, then laughed heartily: “Take care of yourself!”

"You can rest assured that I'm single, but you are..." Huo Nan leaned closer and deliberately lowered his voice, "Don't blame me for not warning you, your sister-in-law is not an easy woman to deal with! If you upset her, she might chop you up with a kitchen knife!"

"A kitchen knife?" Lu Ziqi was greatly surprised: "What do you mean?"

Huo Nan scratched his beard vigorously, then raised his index finger and shook it from side to side: "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed!"

"Hey! Are you two done being all lovey-dovey? I'm going to buy breakfast now, you two hurry up and come down to wash up! Isn't Dongqing supposed to leave early this morning?"

Sweet nothings...

Huo Nan and Lu Ziqi exchanged a strange glance.

This idiom is really not used very appropriately...

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Song Xiaohua was surprised that Huo Nan was leaving again so soon after returning: "What's the rush? He should at least rest for a few days!"

Huo Nan, who was using his beard to make Lu Ling dodge everywhere, casually replied, "If we go too late, there might not be any battles left to fight."

"War?" Song Xiaohua's eyes immediately lit up. As a happy child born in the new China and raised under the red flag, war was something she only saw in movies and TV dramas, where galloping on horseback across the battlefield was so cool, stylish, and exciting. "Are you going to war? Who are you going to fight? Where are you going to fight?"

Huo Nan finally let Lu Ling, who was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe, run away, and turned around to look at Song Xiaohua, who was beaming with excitement: "Sister-in-law, why do you get so excited as soon as you hear about war..."

"Uh... I'm just nervous!"

"Oh?" Huo Nan touched his nose noncommittally. "Don't worry, it's still quite safe here for now. Anyway, even if enemies invade, I'm sure you, sister-in-law, can hold off a thousand men single-handedly, right?"

His face was mostly covered by his beard, which made his eyes appear even brighter. Under such a cunning gaze, Song Xiaohua suddenly had a strong urge to extinguish them completely with a two-finger punch.

He was faking being drunk last night!

In "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", there is a scene where Yang Guo wants to kill Guo Jing. He pretends to be asleep by snoring. He keeps snoring, even when he turns over. As a result, Guo Jing, a simple and honest man, thinks that he has gone into qi deviation and even tries to help him regulate his qi, because people don't snore when they change their position!

In her heart, Song Xiaohua cursed herself, calling herself a complete idiot! All that moving around and all that commotion, and Huo Nan's snoring hadn't stopped for a moment! That damned guy, deliberately messing with her! Why didn't she just kill him with a single blow…

Are you a crab?

Song Xiaohua's sudden, seemingly unrelated remark left Huo Nan completely dumbfounded: "No, I was born in the Year of the Tiger..."

"Then how come you're all flesh inside your bones?"

"...Huh?"

Song Xiaohua touched her forehead, which no longer hurt, then rubbed her hands together, a wicked grin on her face as she approached Huo Nan: "Isn't that right? Then, sir, can you let me pinch it again and take a look?"

Huo Nan was completely stunned, instinctively taking two large steps back, her expression utterly innocent and pure, her trembling voice already starting to change tone: "You...you...sister-in-law, what are you doing...?"

"Oh ho ho ho... Shout all you want, shout all you want, no one will pay any attention to you!"

This classic line is truly timely and fitting, proving that Stephen Chow's works are timeless and applicable!

"What are you two doing?" As soon as Lu Ziqi came out of the room, he saw the strange scene of the two people in the courtyard: "Yaoyao...you...bullying him?" Although he knew that this sounded very outrageous and absurd, it was hard not to ask this question when he saw the scene in front of him.

"Bullying you?" Song Xiaohua shrugged and chuckled mischievously. "Hey, tell me, did I bully you or not?"

Huo Nan had already dashed behind Lu Ziqi and hidden himself, revealing the upper half of his face without a beard: "No, no, no...no..." His panicked, deer-like eyes were so aggrieved, so pitiful, so charming and endearing.

He was slightly taller than Lu Ziqi by a head's width; both were equally tall and upright, with remarkably good figures. If you ignored the bushy beard and only looked at their eyes and eyebrows, they were actually quite handsome…

Song Xiaohua's hands couldn't help but itch again: "You're going to join the army to fight, not to become a bandit. Why keep this bandit-like beard? Why don't you just shave it off? I'll do the shaving, how about that?"

"No, no, no... I wouldn't dare trouble you, sister-in-law!"

Upon hearing this, Huo Nan immediately jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Grabbing her luggage with one hand and hugging Lu Ling tightly with the other, she gave him a big kiss, then clasped her hands in a fist salute to Lu Ziqi and Song Xiaohua: "I have to continue my journey, so I'll take my leave now. Until we meet again!"

Before the words were even finished, the person had already darted out the door and disappeared.

Song Xiaohua was stunned by his sudden and unexpected action. After a long while, she murmured, "Your lives used to be managed by him?"

Lu Ziqi, who was also somewhat stunned, finally came to his senses: "He just seems a bit impulsive, but he's actually very meticulous. These past three years, we've been so grateful to him..."

"Have you known each other for a long time?"

"It hasn't been that long, just four years."

"Oh... he seems like a rather interesting person."

"Yes..." A soft sigh escaped his lips, tinged with melancholy.

Song Xiaohua couldn't help but be somewhat lost in thought as well.

Although she only met Huo Nan briefly and their few words were all playful banter, she still had a good impression of him.

Because he could make Lu Ziqi drink and sing heartily, a Lu Ziqi who was unrestrained and carefree, a Lu Ziqi who perhaps only appeared when he was with his closest brothers, a Lu Ziqi who was intoxicating...

"By the way, why does he cherish his beard so much?"

“Because…” Lu Ziqi suddenly burst out laughing: “This guy thinks he’s too handsome.”

"……ah?"

At this moment, Lu Ling, who had finally come to her senses, burst into tears: "Daddy, has Uncle Huo left? Does he not want Ling'er anymore?"

Lu Ziqi smiled silently and sighed.

Huo Nan, oh Huo Nan, to avoid adding to our sorrow of parting, you ran faster than a rabbit struck by an arrow. On the battlefield, where swords have no eyes, you must run just as fast—no, you must run a hundred times, a thousand times faster…

Brother, until we meet again.

Song Xiaohua quickly knelt down to wipe away the tears of the sobbing child, saying, "Ling'er, have you forgotten what I told you? A real man doesn't cry! Always crying like a little girl is so embarrassing!" Seeing Lu Ling's pouting lips and his desperate attempts to hold back his sobs, she felt a pang of pity and hugged him tightly, comforting him softly, "Ling'er, be good. No one will abandon you. Your Uncle Huo has gone to the battlefield to become a great hero. When victory comes, he will return in triumph riding a tall horse! You also hope to have a hero uncle, don't you?"

"Hmm~" Lu Ling sniffed hard, puffing out his tender little chest: "Then when Ling'er grows up, Ling'er will also be a great hero!"

"Well done, that's spirited!"

Song Xiaohua ruffled his hair, and when she looked up, she saw Lu Ziqi staring at the two empty, open doors, his expression solemn.

My heart skipped a beat.

My impression of the Song Dynasty was that it was an era of constant warfare, and militarily weak, constantly being suppressed by foreign tribes. However, from my two previous conversations with Yuan Hao, I learned that this was only a few decades after the founding of the Song Dynasty, meaning that we should be roughly in the early Northern Song period.

So, there was still some time before the infamous 'Jingkang Incident', and more than two hundred years before the Southern Song Dynasty collapsed and the Song Dynasty was completely finished.

Song Xiaohua and Lu Ziqi certainly won't live long enough to witness these two important historical moments. However, Lu Ling is still young. Will he experience the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty?

In fact, isn't the process of rising to decline truly cruel? During this period, there will inevitably be countless struggles, countless failures, and countless futile efforts. Is it possible for Lu Ziqi to extricate himself from the conflict? Will Lu Ling truly defend the territory with unwavering passion in the future?

It turns out that the feeling of knowing the ending but being able to only watch helplessly as everything happens is so powerless.

He let out a long sigh, smoothed his hair, and stood up.

Why think about these things for no reason? It's like he's just bored and has nothing better to do. Lu Ziqi is just a minor official in a remote area. What business is it of his to worry about the major events that affect the rise and fall of the country? He should just do his job, manage his county well, and make sure his own little plot of land is well taken care of!

Since we cannot go against the current, we can only go with the flow.

While it's true that every citizen has a responsibility for the rise and fall of a nation, the people suffer whether it prospers or falls. Changing the rulers is just changing the country's name; ordinary people will still eat, sleep, and work as usual. In the end, all 56 ethnic groups are one family, all Chinese, so what's the point of all the fuss...?

"Yaoyao, what are you thinking about?"

“Oh… I was thinking…” Song Xiaohua made a face at Lu Ziqi: “Let the torrent of history drown me! Let the wheels of history crush me! Amitabha…”

"…………"

Lu Ziqi remained silent, while Song Xiaohua burst into laughter.

After laughing enough, she wiped away her tears and said, "It's getting late, aren't you leaving?"

"Let's go now."

When will you be back?

"It can take anywhere from twenty days to more than a month."

"So long..."

He raised his hand and straightened the slightly crooked hairpin in her hair bun: "I'll try to do it as soon as possible."

Song Xiaohua smiled brightly: "Okay. Be careful." I'll be waiting for you to come back...