"That’s good, I’m really afraid of snakes!"
The car had traveled over thirty kilometers. Xu Aiguo parked it near a secluded woodland, and after everybody got out and gathered their things, they crossed through the bamboo forest where the sound of running water grew louder.
Before long, several people emerged from the bamboo forest. They were greeted by a winding, serpentine stream. The scenery here was delightful; not far away, they could see birds fluttering in the water, bathing.
The children couldn’t resist the temptation of the water and hurriedly placed their belongings on the ground before running towards the stream.
The stream water was crystal clear; "Hundreds of fish in the pool swim as if they’re floating freely," exactly as described in the ’Small Stone Pond’ legend.
The stream flowed downwards from upstream, the shallowest part reaching only ankle-deep, and the deepest part not exceeding an adult’s thighs.
Xu Qingfan was truly convinced by his old dad; how had he found such a perfect spot for an outing?
"Be careful not to slip; the moss is very slippery!" Seeing several people excitedly taking off their shoes and rolling up their pant legs to walk in the stream, Xu Qingfan quickly reminded them.
"Brother Qing Fan, there are fish!" Lin Wanning pointed at a small crucian carp, about the size of two fingers, in the water.
"Such a small fish; catching it wouldn’t even be enough for Little White to eat." As it was still somewhat cold, the little white dog just stood anxiously on the bank, wagging its tail, not going down to play.
"Wanning, Yiyi, you two come back here quickly; be careful not to fall into the water, the creek is very cold!" Lin Jing came over and gestured to the two.
"Heehee, okay~" Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi held hands and walked back to the bank.
Xia Xiaoxiao and Xiao Ruawen sat in a row on the green stones by the bank, dipping their feet into the cool stream, swaying them like oars. Under the sunlight and the reflection from the water surface, their feet resembled a pair of flawless white jade.
Wu Lingyu, well-behaved and sensible, was busy helping Yao Jinping sort the purchased ingredients by category.
Once the campfire was lit, the atmosphere of wild cooking sprang up immediately.
The adults handled the fire and grilling, while the children were in charge of playing. Yao Jinping smiled and patted Wu Lingyu’s head, "Yu’er, go play with them; we rarely come out ."
"Mmm!" Wu Lingyu gave Xu’s mother a sweet smile and jogged over to squat beside Xu Qingfan to watch him pile up stones.
"Brother Fan, what are you doing?" After squatting and watching for a while, Wu Lingyu asked, seeing that the stones arranged by Xu Qingfan kept falling down due to imbalance.
"I’m building an anti-gravity stone tower; the stones by the river are too smooth and there’s not enough friction," Xu Qingfan excused himself.
"Oh!" The little girl nodded with a half-understanding, excited, "Anti-gravity stones, sounds so impressive, Brother Fan is amazing!"
After a while, perhaps Wu Lingyu’s arrival had brought him luck, for when he added the last stone and slowly released his hands, the anti-gravity stone tower miraculously maintained its balance.
"Hey, look at me!" he said excitedly.
"Brother Qing Fan, how come they don’t fall?" Lin Wanning stood up and ran over to look.
Xu Qingfan was about to caution her when Lin Wanning’s finger lightly touched the tip of the tower, and the stone tower, unable to maintain its balance due to this slight force, collapsed.
"Ah! Sorry, Brother Qing Fan, Ningning didn’t do it on purpose." Seeing she had caused a mishap, Lin Wanning quickly pinched her own ear in apology.
"No worries, you all saw it. I was going to push it over anyway, Ningning actually helped," Xu Qingfan patted her head to comfort her.
"Heehee, Brother Qing Fan is so nice!"
Inspired by Xu Qingfan, several of them abandoned the traditional method of stacking stone heaps and patiently built anti-gravity stone towers by the creek.
Before long, stone towers resembling humans, little dogs, hearts... assorted shapes appeared at their feet. Six people gingerly stood up behind their creations, and the camera immortalized the scene.