Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Because of the appointment with Ying Qiao, Jiang Lan was full of anticipation for the next day and went to bed early that night.
When Bi’an came home late and saw his brother already asleep, he couldn’t help feeling a little guilty: It seems that he was really exhausted from working day and night these days.
He had to work during the day and go shopping with him at night. He really kept a close eye on him.
Bi’an reflected on himself for a while and thought that he should give him a day off tomorrow. After all, after observing his brother for the past few days, he seemed to be very well behaved and should not have secretly contacted Ying Long.
….
The next morning, Jiang Lan got up early and prepared to go to work.
Because he was going to meet his boyfriend, he specially picked out a set of casual clothes that Ying Qiao had once praised, and then he prepared to go out with his younger brothers in high spirits.
Seeing this, Bi’an leaned against the bedroom door and said, “The luggage has been purchased. The delegation will arrive in Jiangcheng next Tuesday. You should rest well and recuperate the next two or three days. I have to go to a meeting tonight and will be back later. You can go out for dinner by yourselves.”
“!!!”
Jiang Lan was cheering in his heart, but he remained calm on the surface. And he nodded calmly: “Okay, what time will you be back? We can wait for you.”
“It’s hard to say. The earliest it will probably be is nine o’clock. You guys eat first, you don’t have to wait for me.” Bi’an was completely defenseless against his naive brother.
Jiang Lan nodded in agreement and went out to work calmly.
It was not until he arrived at the office that he excitedly sent a message to Ying Qiao and couldn’t wait to tell him the good news!
[Fourth brother is going to a meeting tonight! He wouldn’t come home until nine o’clock!!!]
[Would you like to have dinner together tonight? I miss you o3o]
[I’ll come to see you during lunch break.]
Ying Qiao quickly replied: [Let’s discuss where to go tonight.]
Jiang Lan was delighted. After agreeing on a time with Ying Qiao, he quickly finished his breakfast and concentrated on his work.
….
At around ten o’clock, Director Cheng came to the office with a cup of tea and a handful of tickets in his hand. “Come on, take a few tickets each. This is an event to promote traditional culture in my hometown, Nancheng. If you have time on the weekend, you can go and support it. If you have relatives who are interested, you can also go and have a look. Nancheng is not far away.”
“What event?” Several people came forward to get tickets.
Xue Meng exclaimed as soon as he saw it: “An open-air opera? It’s been many years since they were famous, right?”
Xiao Xiaoyu continued, “Yes, I remember when I was only a few years old, I watched an open-air opera once or twice in my hometown in the countryside. It was so lively.”
“What is open-air opera?” Jiang Lan was curious. Judging from their tone, it should be quite interesting.
Even Zhang Tianxing turned his head and stared at the two of them, waiting for an answer.
Xue Meng was immediately excited when they stared at him, and explained to them, “It’s an outdoor opera troupe. At that time, people were poor, and many villages had such troupes that traveled around. They were called outdoor opera troupes. In my hometown, during festivals or when offering sacrifices to the gods, it was popular to use a few carts to build a temporary stage and then invite a troupe to perform on the stage.”
He seemed to recall something interesting, and laughed, “At that time, there was a lack of entertainment activities. So the Huangmei Opera and Huagu Opera, as well as some Peking Opera and Cantonese Opera from other places were popular with locals, and some tunes and little songs… There were a lot of miscellaneous things, and adults and children would sing a few lines along. Open-air opera troupes were not as particular as they are now. When the troupe members went up to sing, those of us who could sing and were brave would also move tables and set up a stage to sing against them. Whichever side sang best would be applauded. At that time, there were quite a few people who sang against each other, and we called it ‘open-air stage’.”
“If you are a good singer in the open-air stage, you could become famous after just one performance. People with more money will even give you money as a reward. It was also an honor to tell others about it. So the open-air stage in our area became more and more popular. Every year, people from all over the country come to participate. Many people who wanted to win fame by performing in the open-air stage drove their own ox carts to take a good position early, set up their positions on both sides of the stage, and waited for someone to take the lead before they started singing.”
“Your place is so lively?” Xiao Xiaoyu said in surprise: “I remember that my family sat downstairs to listen to the opera, and there were people selling popsicles and melon seeds everywhere under the stage.”
“We had famous actors in our area before, and everyone liked to sing a few lines whenever they had time.” Xue Meng was so excited that he hummed a few lines from “The Female Prince Consort” and said with great joy: “You haven’t seen that scene. Once someone starts singing, the carts parked on the roadside will start singing one after another. It’s noisy at first, but after a few minutes, those who are half-baked will leave in shame. Those who stay are all real talents. They don’t wear costumes or have any music. They just rely on their good voices and real skills to sing a cappella. The low notes are gentle and melodious, and the high notes soar into the sky. Those who can listen to it will feel their hearts turning and their ears numb.”
Jiang Lan had lived in Dragon Palace for a long time, and this was the first time he heard of such a lively activity in the countryside. So, he became more and more curious: “Is the outdoor opera in Nancheng like this too?”
“I don’t know about that.” Xue Meng scratched his head and threw the question to Director Cheng with a smile: “Director, can you tell us about it?”
“You can go and see it yourself when the time comes. I’ve already told you what’s so great about it.” Director Cheng waved his hand. “But Nancheng has been vigorously developing the tourism industry in recent years and wants to develop its own unique tourism culture. This outdoor performance is probably also a way to test the waters. I heard that the stage will be on the river this time, and there will be night performances. This ticket is for the night performance.”
“There are night shows?” Xue Meng was even more surprised, and he shamelessly tried to take the tickets from Director Cheng: “Give me a few more tickets, my aunts and uncles all like to go to the opera. I’ll take them with me when the time comes.”
Director Cheng laughed and scolded him, then gave him four more and refused to give him any more: “Go away, I’m keeping a few for myself.”
….
After Director Cheng left, Xue Meng actively asked them to go to Nancheng together: “It’s only a two-hour drive, let’s go together, and we’ll have someone to take care of us on the way. We’ll go on Saturday, stay in a hotel for one night, and return on Sunday.”
Jiang Lan was completely intrigued by Xue Meng’s story. Thinking about how his fourth brother said that the delegation would not arrive until Tuesday and there was still time on the weekend, he agreed.
In the following time, Jiang Lan dealt with the work at hand while listening to Xue Meng’s scattered talk about the outdoor operas he had heard when he was a child. The whole morning passed in the blink of an eye.
When it was time for lunch, Jiang Lan declined Xue Meng’s invitation to have lunch together. After asking Cool Ge to help look after Suan Ni and Jiao Tu, he happily got into Ying Qiao’s car.
All in all, the two hadn’t seen each other for a week.
Jiang Lan’s eyes were sparkling, and he couldn’t get enough of staring at Ying Qiao.
“Let’s go have lunch first?” Ying Qiao asked, pursing his lips.
“Let’s go to your house and order takeout.” Jiang Lan rolled his eyes, already impatient to try the tail ring on Ying Qiao: “Let’s go back and try if the tail ring fits.”
Ying Qiao was amused by his impatient expression and turned the car around to go home.
Fortunately, Ying Qiao’s home was not far from his workplace, and it only took half an hour to get there by highway. Jiang Lan had already ordered takeout on the way, so as soon as he got home, he pushed Ying Qiao into the bedroom and urged him to quickly transform his tail.
Ying Qiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and could only follow his instructions to conjure up a snake tail. The black jade-like snake tail had an excellent texture, and the scales shone with a subtle luster. Only a few scales had fallen off near the tip of the tail, revealing the deep pink tender flesh, which destroyed the beauty of the entire snake tail.
The snake’s tail circled around Jiang Lan’s waist, and the tip of the tail gently rested on his arm.
“Does it still hurt?” Jiang Lan gently touched the injured area.
“Somewhat.”
In fact, this minor injury was nothing more than a bit of numbness to Ying Qiao, but since his boyfriend asked, he had to say it hurt even if it didn’t hurt.
Jiang Lan felt even more distressed after hearing this. He gently touched the snake’s tail, letting it wrap around him, and took out the tail ring from his backpack. The emerald tail ring was in a black velvet box. Jiang Lan took out the tail ring, carefully passed the tip of the tail through the middle of the tail ring and then fixed it at the injured position.
The size was just right, and the jade tail ring, which had been polished to an extremely thin layer, fit the scales perfectly and covered the wounds caused by the scales falling off.
The scales were extremely black, and the emerald was extremely green. The combination of inky black and rich green added a bit of color to the mottled and fragmented sunlight.
“Nice.”
Before Ying Qiao could speak, Jiang Lan’s eyes flashed with admiration, and he said with a smile: “I said it would definitely match your tail.”
Ying Qiao stared at the tail ring on his tail.
The tail ring was a lustrous dark green, without any complicated shapes. It was polished very smoothly inside and out, with a moist gleam. Its only embellishment was the extremely fine dark lines engraved on the surface. It was a simple style that was not ostentatious, but after wearing it, it was set off by the black snake tail and looked extremely gorgeous.
He pursed his lips reservedly but still couldn’t hold back the smile on his face. The tip of his tail then rubbed against his palm: “Thank you, I like it very much.”
“I like it too!” Jiang Lan took the opportunity to hold his tail and wouldn’t let it go.
His fingertips slid over the tail piece by piece and repeatedly stroked the part with the tail ring. The texture of the combination of scales and jade became more and more fascinating to him. If the timing was not wrong, Jiang Lan would have wanted to grind and bite it with his teeth again.
After all, whether it was the snake’s tail or jade, they could all arouse his desire.
He was happily touching his boyfriend’s tail and didn’t notice the slightly gloomy look in his boyfriend’s eyes.
The injured part had no scales and was much more sensitive than usual. Ying Qiao finally couldn’t stand it anymore and curled up his tail, brought him to his arms, and firmly held his hand to prevent him from touching it: “Don’t touch it anymore.”
“Why?” Jiang Lan’s voice sounded a little aggrieved.
I just gave you a gift and you won’t let me touch it! Why is that?!
Ying Qiao took a deep breath, looking at Jiang Lan’s ignorant appearance, thinking that if he continued to endure, he would really have to see a doctor. Anyway, now he has the token of love and the guarantee. Maybe… it’s about time to confess.
He really didn’t want to be an ascetic monk who could only look but not eat anymore.
He leaned over and bit Jiang Lan’s slightly pouting lips because of his unhappiness, then held them in his mouth and rubbed them gently with his teeth. Ying Qiao then said in a low and hoarse voice: “Wait until your fourth cousin leaves, and I will tell you a secret.”
Huh?
Jiang Lan blinked, his curiosity immediately aroused: “What secret?”
“I’ll tell you after your fourth cousin leaves.” Ying Qiao added schemingly, “If you’re not angry after listening to me, I’ll teach you a new ‘course’…”
When Jiang Lan heard that he had to wait for his fourth brother to leave, he became bored.
He glared at Ying Qiao angrily, his eyes rolled around, and in order to return the favor, he said cunningly: “Then I will also tell you a secret when the time comes, and you are not allowed to be angry with me.”
“Good.”
Ying Qiao smiled helplessly, thinking that Jiang Lan must have made up a “secret” to whet his appetite because he was unwilling to tell the secret.
He didn’t take it seriously and wondered what secrets the little monster could have.
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