"You are so beautiful, Lan'er," he almost whispered, "I love you more than anyone, even my sister and my mother." There is no one in the world like you. If you wish, you can become a queen, and the great men of the world will put the world's wealth at your feet and will fight for the honor of taking a glimpse of your autumn waves. Do you know how beautiful you are and how much I love you!"
Lan Er was silent for a long time, staring into his eyes, his smiling lips. This brave young man, not afraid of the reproach of her parents, defied the constraints of the old rites and came to her garden in private. Her lips also opened in a trembling smile.
"I know," she said softly at last, "because I love you too." ”
They hugged each other again. The whole world was immersed in silence.
There were some tiny sounds coming from outside the gazebo. Lan Er stepped back from Rong Lu's side.
"Xiao Zhu gave the signal that I had to go. Tomorrow, how's it going, Ronglu?"
He nodded, reluctantly letting go of her.
"I'm going to visit your parents in a moment," he said with his characteristic idyllic smile, "and this time I will not leave the moon-shaped gate." I have important news for your father that you can listen to in the study on the other side of the shed. I'm not going to tell you now, because we spend so little time together, and I don't think there's anything important to say to you other than tell you I love you. I will always love you, Lan'er, and will always be loyal to you until the last moment of my life. ”
She gently rubbed his lips with her fingertips. A bold gesture, because no implicit Manchurian girl would take the initiative to offer caresses to a man. But what can be done? Rong Lu had already explained that he loved her.
She went and then walked out of the gazebo. Rong Lu watched her from a window until the corner of her father's house blocked his view. After a while, he saw the maid Xiaozhu walking toward the moon-shaped door. The door opened.
Rong Lu did not look left or right, and calmly and quickly left the pavilion. Because he knew that if there was a danger of being discovered, Xiao Zhu would not open the door lock. He went out through the wall from the garden, leaving behind the most precious gift of his life.
He walked around the wall to the general's residence. The servant went in to inform, and he was introduced as a VIP. When he went in, Lan Er's father woke up and hurriedly retrieved the pipe from the folds of his robe. The mother put the needle and thread live on her knee.
Rong Lu could see Lan Er and her sister bowing their heads, and in the room on the other side of the shed, they were reading carefully. The teacher suddenly woke up and let out an irritable roar from his thick lips. Then in Manchurian he yelled something at the two girls. The girls' heads hung lower. Rong Lu smiled. He pretended not to see what was happening over there.
He sat down on the kang opposite the door, and the servant brought refreshments. Lan Er's father had always been hospitable, especially Rong Lu. He loves Ronglu as much as he loves his own children, and in the depths of his soul he has buried the idea that one day Ronglu may really become his son.
Except for Lan Er's father himself, no one knew this thought. Lan Er's mother had similar thoughts, but she also didn't say anything, because being the master of the house and arranging the marriage of her children were the father's business.
But the mother can wait patiently, hoping that Lan Er can be happy. If Rong Lu could know that they, the parents of the girl he loved, had such a plan, then he should have smiled happily from the heart, but unfortunately he did not know.
The five members of Lan'er's family have their own secrets. Xiao Zhu, she and Lan Er jointly keep the secret of the meeting place. Lan'er's sister, she guessed more than she actually knew, because this gentle sister was somewhat incredible to her, her sister always dreamed, and sometimes said things that showed great ambition, not at all like a woman from an aristocratic family, who would not fantasize about being able to pick up a pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow in this world.
Lan Er's father has his secret, and his mother has her own secret.
But Rong Lu himself knew nothing, and it was he who made the biggest secret of these secrets a secret forever.
