It turned out that the event was simply about tossing drift bottles into the river.
People wrote down their thoughts and questions and put them in the lanterns and lamps.
The people waiting downstream could then pick up these lanterns and lamps, choosing if they wanted to answer the questions.
"They've started sending the lamps!" Qian Qiye exclaimed.
A lot of colorful water lanterns and lamps floated downstream, turning the river into a shining, twisting ribbon. Countless spots of flickering candlelight were reflected on the surface of the water.
The people waiting started picking up these lanterns and lamps.
Qian Qiye was the most excited one amongst them. "Wait for me!"
Liu Qingfeng hurriedly walked closer to the river and Lu Changsheng followed them.
Many lanterns and lamps had already been picked up.
Soon, a small colorful lamp stopped in front of Lu Changsheng. He gently picked it up from the water and took out the note.
Honestly speaking, he was also slightly excited.
The hazy and beautiful mood was very attractive.
What kind of lady was the owner of the lamp? Lu Changsheng wondered to himself.
However, when he unfolded the note, the look on his face slightly changed.
It was written in red ink.
It was sent by a man.
This wasn't a very good start.
Lu Changsheng folded the note and put the lamp back into the water.
Then, he picked up another one.
Again, the message was written in red ink.
It was from another man.
This time, Lu Changsheng simply threw away the note.
He then picked the third lamp.
Lu Changsheng took a deep breath before unfolding the note, he saw the same red ink.
Lu Changsheng was a bit upset now.
He wondered why he had such a solid connection with guys.
After shaking his head, Lu Changsheng got rid of this thought. He was certain he didn't like guys in that way.
The next one!
Lu Changsheng slowly unfolded the note.
Well, he saw the same red ink.
The message was: [You are?]
Perhaps there were lots of beautiful wishes and imagination the writer wrote in this message.
However, Lu Changsheng was quite upset.
He was so unlucky.
The messages he got were all from men? Why?
Did he waste up all his good luck on those riddles?
Impossible!
It could be that his best match wasn't here.
That's right!
His true love was somewhere else.
Even though Lu Changsheng steeled himself as he put back the note, he was still kind of mad.
So he simply took out the note again and wrote down his reply:
[You are?]
[Your dad!]
After leaving the message, Lu Changsheng put the lantern back.
Because it was an anonymous message, Lu Changsheng felt slightly better.
"Senior Brother! Look! I'm really lucky with the lanterns! I picked up three lanterns and they were all from women!" As he had no idea what Lu Changsheng was thinking, Liu Qingfeng exclaimed excitedly.
Lu Changsheng simply cast a glance at Liu Qingfeng without saying anything.
He picked up another colorful lantern.
Well… the result was just as expected.
It was from a man again.
[Take a guess: Who am I?]
The red ink burnt Lu Changsheng's eyes.
This message was filled with hope and expectations.
The owner of this lantern must have been waiting for a beautiful lady who appreciated his sense of humor and talent.
Lu Changsheng picked up the small brush pen.
He left the answer:
[You're a dumbass!]
Lu Changsheng wasn't sure if people in this world understood the word, dumbass.
However, he really liked this answer.
After writing down these three words, Lu Changsheng took a glance at Liu Qingfeng standing beside him, he added a name this time.
[You're a dumbass! From: Liu Qingfeng]
Wow!
Somehow, Lu Changsheng was suddenly in a very good mood.
Good!
Very good!
This was the perfect feeling!
Lu Changsheng felt so light-hearted right now.
He was really having fun.
He picked up the fifth lantern.
It was still from a man.
A question was raised in it:
[I think my life is so dark and gloomy. What would you say?]
Lu Changsheng wrote down the answer immediately—
[I think you're right! From: Liu Qingfeng]
Lu Changsheng burst out laughing.
Then he picked up the sixth lantern.
[Can an ordinary but hard-working man ever catch up with a genius?]
Lu Changsheng wrote down the answer without hesitation—
[If working hard can solve every problem, why do we still need geniuses? From: Liu Qingfeng]
The smile on Lu Changsheng's face became even bigger.
He couldn't stop himself.
[Why is my life so harsh?]
[Look at yourself in a mirror and you'll know why. From: Liu Qingfeng]
[In this world, lots of things cannot be bought using money.]
[That's only because you don't have enough money. From: Liu Qingfeng]
[Which one shall I choose? The one I like or the one who likes me?]
[Wake up. You sure there's someone who likes you? From: Liu Qingfeng]
[Is it really true that a young man should endure many hardships?]
[It's true, so you'll get used to them when you become old. From: Liu Qingfeng]
…
Lu Changsheng had no idea how many messages he replied.
The only thing he knew was that he was in an extremely good mood.
Two hours later, basically, all of the lanterns had been picked up by now, Lu Changsheng finally stopped.
"Senior Brother, you're really enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Liu Qingfeng looked at Lu Changsheng curiously.
The big smile on Lu Changsheng's face lasted for two hours.
This was very rare.
"I like this event. Qingfeng, how many messages did you reply?" Lu Changsheng asked.
"Seven or eight. Much less than you did," Liu Qingfeng answered in high hopes.
"When will they receive their responses?" Liu Qingfeng asked Qian Qiye.
"Along the stream, these lanterns will reach the bottom of the river during early morning tomorrow. The owners of these lanterns and lamps will be able to take them back," Qian Qiye replied.
Then she hurriedly said, "There's the last event! Let's go, don't be late!"
Qian Qiye tugged on Lu Changsheng's arm so they'd leave the river bank.
Lu Changsheng wished that there were more lanterns, however, he also thought that he already wrote enough responses.
Now, they went to the next place under Qian Qiye's guidance.
A very important event from the Lantern Festival was held here, it was also the last event.
It was the Poetry Competition.
Winning the top prize was a great chance to gain fame in the capital. More importantly, there were also good rewards.
The competition would be held on the open square.
At this time, lots of young scholars and beautiful ladies were already gathered. All of the seats had been taken.
The most popular place for watching the competition was the River View Tower.
"Are we standing here?" Liu Qingfeng asked as he stared at the square which was fully packed.
"Of course not! I booked us a nice window seat in the River View Tower. We can watch the competition while enjoying a meal," Qian Qiye puffed out her chest as she said this.
"Teacher Changsheng, the River View Tower is the most well-known restaurant in the capital of Da Qian. The food there is absolutely the best, and the waitresses are all beauties too! It's always hard to get a spot there, not to mention today. Even though the manager's attitude wasn't good. But fortunately, I still managed to get a spot for us in the end," She said proudly.
"How?" Liu Qingfeng was curious.
"Although I'm a princess, my father keeps telling me that I shouldn't take advantage of my power to bully people."
"So what did you do?" Liu Qingfeng asked.
"It's simple. Since I can't use my authority, but my Elder Brothers can. A few days ago, my Eldest Brother came to this place with his three thousand well-trained soldiers. It turned out that the owner of this place was quite nice. He even said that they still had a spare room," Qian Qiye said thoughtfully.
Liu Qingfeng really didn't know what to say.
Lu Changsheng was also quite speechless.