Chapter 172: 266 chapters, loving you, there is no room for negotiation

266 chapters, loving you, there is no room for negotiation...

266 chapters, loving you, there is no room for negotiation...

——Liu Guozong Spring Diary Eighty‑One

In the late night of spring, the surging river water kept flowing incessantly, like this unceasing time. The crescent moon in the sky, the only bit of beauty from yesterday, was also swallowed clean by merciless time.

The faint clouds beside the stars are the face of time, showing a stern smile in the dark.

"Do you not see the water of the Yangtze coming day after day, rushing to the sea never to return?" Time is the same. In the face of time that comes day after day, what can we do? What can we say?

There was an old historian who, as early as two thousand years ago, told the world: "He who would take the world and act upon it, I see that he cannot succeed. The sacred vessels of the world cannot be made; those who make them damage them; those who hold them lose them. Therefore things either move or follow, either exhale or blow, either are strong or win, either carry or break. Hence the sage abandons excess, extravagance, and grandeur."

Look, how verbose, profound, and obscure this old historian's words are!

Actually, I can sum up all his nagging in one sentence: Let things take their natural course; a forced melon isn't sweet.

Is life also like that?

I recall Cao Cao's nonsense: "Facing wine, we sing; how long is life? Like morning dew, the days gone are many."

Some say Cao Cao is a liar; he says "Facing wine, we sing; how long is life?" but in fact he does not go drinking every day, indulging in eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, and living in drunken dreams. Instead, he is as Laozi said: "He who would take the world and act upon it."

To say Cao Cao is a liar, certainly many would disagree, especially Lu Xun. He would say Cao Cao is a capable person, a hero. If Cao Cao heard Lu Xun's two sentences of praise, he would surely promote and reuse him, at least giving him a construction project in a residential area, letting him start a business and become a boss.

Because Cao Cao himself once boasted: "There is none like me; I do not know how many people call themselves king and emperor."

This is Cao Cao bragging, aiming to shock listeners, deliberately exaggerating himself.

Actually, I still admire Cao Cao. I admire his nonsensical poems: they are crisp, neat, straightforward, refreshing, not vague, not obscure, not profound, not ornate, not affected, very refreshing!

Of course, I admire Cao Cao even more for: not being stingy——

Once, he and a friend went to a restaurant; the friend paid the bill. Cao Cao wouldn't allow it, no matter what he said, the friend also refused. After the meal, Cao Cao threw the money at the friend's face, turned around and left.

Loving you, there is no room for negotiation. Refreshing!

Being generous to friends, sincere and heartfelt. Cool!

Just based on that, I have memorized all of Cao Cao's writings thoroughly. Because in my life so far, I have still encountered a friend like Cao Cao!

In the late night of spring, the river water kept flowing surging and endless. By the surging riverside, I finally understood: why Bo Ya smashed his qin.

Because "The red strings are broken for the beauty, the green eyes glance only because of wine." No one listened to the qin, and no one paid the bill when dining out.

Zhong Ziqi and Bo Ya were a pair of close friends; Zhong Ziqi might be a small business owner, while Bo Ya was an insignificant laborer who usually only played a few tunes. This small business owner still liked the laborer's playing. No matter what tune he played, the small business owner could understand its meaning.

The laborer found a kindred spirit.

So, whenever they went out to eat, the laborer never took out his wallet to pay. Whether he ordered more or less, the small business owner always covered it. Later, the small business owner fell ill and died. The kindred spirit died—who will this qin be played for now? Who can understand my qin's sound? Who will pay the bill when I go out to eat……

In the late night of spring, who is pacing by the river? Who is blowing a flute by the river——

"A thousand‑mile returning ship plays the long flute; this heart of mine I pledge with the white gulls"?