Chapter 31
People in the mountains pay great attention to traditional festivals like the Dragon Boat Festival. It’s not just about hanging mugwort; aside from dragon boat races, which are impossible due to geographical constraints, all other customs, including hanging calamus, drinking realgar wine, and making zongzi with blue cords, are observed by every household.
By the way, I heard they also open the mountains and worship the mountain gods.
This was Su Hui’s first time visiting such a remote mountain town, and she was very interested in everything, wanting to explore every place. Cheng Xiwu, who had to accompany her while also managing some pressing work, found himself unable to even find time to visit Yu Le.
While Cheng Xiwu was busy and stressed, Yu Le was having a great time.
He had never experienced a Dragon Boat Festival with such a strong festive atmosphere before.
Although it was still a few days before the actual festival, the town had already become lively. Yu Le was woken up early by Zhao Xiaosong’s shouting to Shui Cai. Before he even reached the well, Zhao Xiaosong bounced over and handed him a salted duck egg.
“Happy Dragon Boat Festival, Brother Yu Le! Here, made by Mrs. Zhao, a family recipe, with extra oil in the yolk!”
Zhao Xiaosong cupped her hand over her mouth, speaking mysteriously, “I must emphasize that this was carefully selected from a sieve—big green shells, high probability of double yolks~”
“Wow, thanks.” Yu Le examined the salted duck egg in his hand, “But what’s drawn on it? Is it Ultraman again?”
“No, it’s a Q-version Mountain God!” Zhao Xiaosong stood on tiptoe and pointed to the two small figures on the egg shell, “Look, the Mountain God’s water buffalo horns, very lifelike!”
Yu Le didn’t quite understand but still gave a supportive thumbs-up, “Very lifelike!”
Lu Yao came back from outside carrying two wooden barrels, placing them under a tree. One barrel contained glutinous rice mixed with red beans and cured meat, while the other had unwashed zongzi leaves, with several already cut blue cords hanging on the barrel’s edge.
Yu Le and Zhao Xiaosong crouched by the barrels, sniffing the air. The red bean and glutinous rice mixture smelled of pepper powder, with a fragrant mix of oil and cured meat.
He asked, “Are we making zongzi today?”
“Yes,” Lu Yao said while pouring water into the barrel to wash the zongzi leaves. He glanced at Yu Le and read his thoughts, “Want to join in?”
“Yes,” Yu Le didn’t hesitate, smiling, “But I’ve only ever eaten pre-made zongzi from the supermarket, just peeled, not wrapped. Is it hard to learn?”
“Not difficult.” Lu Yao urged him, “Go have breakfast first, and then I’ll teach you. Xiaosong, help bring the calamus in from the door.”
“Understood!” Zhao Xiaosong ran towards the door.
After Yu Le had a bowl of mixed noodles for breakfast, he returned to the tree to watch Lu Yao clean the zongzi leaves while peeling the salted duck egg. He wasn’t sure if it was because the egg wasn’t cold enough or if his technique was off, but the egg white kept sticking to the shell.
Lu Yao glanced over several times before he couldn’t bear it anymore. “Give it to me.”
Yu Le handed over the half-peeled egg, and seeing Shui Cai licking the water stains on the ground, he scooped some water from the wooden basin for it to drink.
“Oh, making zongzi?”
Wang Wenyun came downstairs yawning, followed by Zhou Fei and Chen Fa. The other members of the family weren’t seen, so it was unclear if they were still asleep.
Zhou Fei had intended to say something but seemed to remember something and quickly shut his mouth, heading straight to the back to eat.
“Meat zongzi? Not bad~” Wang Wenyun also squatted by the barrel, washed her hands, and naturally picked two zongzi leaves, folded them into a cone shape, and quickly filled them with glutinous rice, wrapping up a zongzi in no time.
Her movements were so smooth and skillful that Yu Le was amazed, “How are you so good at wrapping zongzi?”
Wang Wenyun smiled, standing up with her eyebrows raised high, “My mother used to sell zongzi with her third husband. We made six hundred a day, and I wrapped them all myself.”
Yu Le: “…”
Such unexpected information.
After they had finished eating, Lu Yao, having peeled the salted egg, reminded Yu Le to wash his hands before handing it to him.
Soon after breakfast, the area under the tree became quite lively, with everyone gathered to make zongzi. Even Wen Yuan joined in the fun.
Yu Le tried to learn, but the zongzi he made either fell apart or looked unattractive, with none suitable for cooking.
Realizing he lacked a talent for wrapping zongzi, he decided to stop causing trouble and went with Wen Yuan to hang mugwort and calamus.
Lu Yao came out from the hall, holding a green porcelain cup, and called out to Yu Le, “Come over and drink this first.”
Yu Le walked over with a bunch of calamus and looked at the orange liquid in the cup, which smelled of alcohol, “What is this?”
Lu Yao said, “Haven’t you had this before?”
Yu Le shook his head, certain he hadn’t tried it before.
Lu Yao replied, “White Snake Revealing Soup.”
Yu Le: “Huh?”
“Realgar wine!” Wen Yuan couldn’t hold back, “Brother Lu, you’re really childish!”
“…” Yu Le silently drank the cup of “White Snake Revealing Soup.”
“Little Lu! Little Lu!” A flustered voice came from the doorway. All three turned to see Aunt Long, panting as she stepped through the door.
Lu Yao took Yu Le’s empty cup, “Aunt Long, what’s wrong?”
“Little Fei ran away!” Aunt Long was both angry and anxious. “He just finished the college entrance exam, and he insisted on applying to some police academy. I didn’t agree, so he threw a tantrum and ran away last night!”
“Ah?” Wen Yuan asked, “Shouldn’t we report this to the police?”
“Oh, no need for that,” Aunt Long said, fanning herself with her crumpled apron. “His second uncle called me and said Little Fei stayed at his place last night.”
Wen Yuan was relieved, “As long as he’s not lost. Little Fei’s second uncle lives in Qingzhu Town, right? Shouldn’t we ask Brother Lu to go pick him up?”
“If he can get him!” Aunt Long became angry again, “That rascal ran away early this morning, saying he wanted to go on a graduation trip with his classmates and wouldn’t return until the application was completed. Isn’t he just trying to make me angry!”
Lu Yao asked, “What about the mountain god worship?”
“Yes,” Wen Yuan furrowed his brows, “Little Fei ran away at this critical moment, what do we do about the mountain opening ceremony? There’s no backup.”
Yu Le, an outsider among the locals, was quite confused by this discussion.
Aunt Long snapped, “Ugh! I’m so anxious about this! Little Lu, do you think we can quickly find another boy to fill in?”
Wen Yuan scratched his head in distress, “But there are only a few boys in our town, either they’re not suitable in appearance or they’re too young. Brother Lu can’t exactly become someone else.”
Aunt Long had already thought of something on the way over, “There have been many tourists in the town recently. I’ve seen a lot of young people. Maybe we could ask around? If not, I’ll pay them to help!”
Lu Yao thought this was inappropriate, “It’s not easy to ask in such a scattered crowd, and it might come off as intrusive. Also, this is a special situation; many boys might not be willing.”
“That’s true… Ugh, this Long Fei! When he comes back, I’ll break his legs!” Aunt Long’s face turned red with anger. She suddenly had an idea and looked at Wen Yuan, “Hey, Little Wen, I see you’re—”
“No, no, no, I can’t do it,” Wen Yuan frantically waved his hands, “I’m already 25 this year, too old.”
“Oh right, how unlucky!”
Aunt Long, with a headache, patted her head and noticed Yu Le standing aside, listening to the commotion.
Her eyes lit up, “Hey, kid! How old are you now?”
Yu Le: “Twenty-four—”
Before the words had even finished, two more pairs of eyes fell on Yu Le. He felt a bit uneasy under their gaze and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Aunt Long looked him up and down with growing satisfaction. “Oh! The size is right, the looks are right, and the age is right. Isn’t he even better than Little Fei?”
Wen Yuan and Lu Yao nodded in agreement; indeed, Yu Le was quite suitable.
Aunt Long enthusiastically approached Yu Le. “Hey, kid, how about helping Aunt Long with something the day after tomorrow?”
Yu Le, feeling a bit overwhelmed, moved closer to Lu Yao. “W-What kind of help?”
Aunt Long said, “On the day of the mountain god worship, would you come and be the bride?”
“Huh?” Yu Le was stunned. “But I’m a man. How can I be a bride?”
Aunt Long waved her hand dismissively. “Oh! The mountain god’s bride needs to be a boy!”
Yu Le didn’t understand this tradition and wasn’t sure what to do, so he looked at Lu Yao for help.
Lu Yao didn’t put any pressure on him and simply asked, “Do you want to try it? If you don’t, I can think of another way; it’s okay. But if you do want to, I’ll carry you in the sedan chair on Dragon Boat Festival day.”
Yu Le ultimately agreed because he knew this wasn’t just helping Aunt Long but also helping Lu Yao and the entire town of Daiwa in their hard preparations for the festival.
Moreover, as a costume designer, he wasn’t opposed to wearing women’s clothing. Being able to wear a unique, locally characteristic outfit and participate in a special cultural event was indeed a rare and wonderful experience.
However, after he had mentally prepared himself to wear women’s clothing, Zhao Xiaosong brought him a large red, loose-fitting Han-style robe on the fifth day of May, which was unisex and could be worn by anyone.
There were no shoes or wigs, just the robe, a golden belt adorned with small bells, and a large red veil.
“Is this all?” he asked.
Zhao Xiaosong nodded. “Yes, this is all Aunt Long gave me!”
Yu Le took the robe and examined it closely. Zhao Xiaosong hurried to leave, “Brother Yu Le, I’m going now. Miao Miao is still waiting for me outside. Later, we’ll follow the sedan chair together to take you up the mountain!”
Yu Le nodded and tried on the robe. He found it wasn’t as easy to wear as it looked. After struggling to figure out the ties and getting dressed, he looked in the mirror and found it looked odd.
Especially the hem, which was so long he could barely move.
Had he put it on wrong?
Yu Le tugged at the sleeves and picked up his phone to look for tutorials online.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Lu Yao asked from outside, “Are you dressed?”
Perfect timing.
Yu Le put down his phone. “I’m not sure. Could you come in and take a look?”
Lu Yao opened the door, and the sunlight that had been shut out burst in boldly.
Yu Le, holding up the hem of his robe, turned to him. “I must have put it on wrong. It’s too long. How can I walk in this?”
He was standing right in the path of the sunlight, and the loose, dark red of his robe was glowing brilliantly, making his skin appear warm and fair.
His delicate features, bright eyes, and well-defined eyelashes made him look radiant in the light.
Lu Yao paused, his breath slowing as if afraid that even the smallest disturbance would shatter the scene like butterflies taking flight.
Yu Le, too, felt a bit overwhelmed.
During yesterday’s impromptu lesson, no one had mentioned that “sedan bearers” didn’t wear shirts.
Lu Yao was shirtless, wearing only black, red, and green patchwork waistbands over his shorts. He also had a small bunch of calamus and mugwort hanging from one side.
His face and abs were decorated with red and green paint, with his muscular lines clearly defined under his honey-colored skin. His near-perfect physique was striking and exuded an impressive potential for strength.
His short hair, still damp, and the mask, which he had temporarily moved to the left side of his head for convenience, had horns and sharp teeth. Combined with his chiseled facial features, the backlighting made him appear dark, mysterious, and imposing.
Yu Le stood frozen, his breath caught.
At that moment, he couldn’t help but think that Lu Yao… might be the mountain god come to fetch him.
