Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

The morning mist in Xishuangbanna was still clinging to the porthole. Hannah pressed the iced coconut to Lu Yong's face and said, "I asked you to go to Houhai Village for a wild party last night. You must be sleepy now, right?"

Outside the porthole, the emerald-colored Lancang River meandered like a ribbon. Lu Yong grabbed her wrist and took two deep sips from the straw, his temples throbbing with the cold.

The person who picked us up at the airport was a young man wearing a peacock blue tube skirt. There were two unopened water-splashing guns piled on the back seat of his Wuling Hongguang.

"You guys are lucky," the car stereo was playing "Phoenix Tail Bamboo in the Moonlight," "The Shwedagon Pagoda was just replaced with gold foil yesterday, it's blinding under the sun."

The inn in Gaozhuang Xishuangjing was hung with strings of red lanterns. The proprietress slapped the room card on the rosewood counter and said, "We'll upgrade you to the starry sky room for free, just because you're the 99th couple today." The wheels of Hannah's suitcase were stuck in the gap between the cobblestones. When Lu Yong picked up the 28-inch suitcase with one hand, two Dai girls passing by suddenly covered their mouths and laughed.

"They laughed at you and said you looked like a Burmese caravan carrying buffaloes." Hannah poked his taut biceps, and her fingertips touched the sweat on the back of his neck, which sparkled in the sunlight like gold powder.

The midday sun baked the top of the Shwedagon Pagoda into a honey-colored hue. When Hannah applied sunscreen for the third time, the heel of her sandals got stuck in the wooden planks of the observation deck. "Don't move." Lu Yong squatted down and took out the Swiss Army knife on his keychain, slowly prying the blade against the silver heel. Sweat beads rolled down his jawline, leaving tiny red marks on Hannah's instep.

Fifty meters away, middle-aged women from a tour group were rushing over with selfie sticks in their hands. Lu Yong suddenly picked her up and said, "Hold on tight!" Hannah's exclamation was drowned out by the jingling of silver jewelry. He took three steps to the Bodhi tree next to the prayer wheel, and the shadow of the tree just covered her feet with rose-colored toenails.

The copper prayer wheel was as hot as a baking tray. Just as Hannah touched the engraved six-word mantra, Lu Yong grabbed her wrist and said, "Turn it clockwise for three full circles." The hair on the back of her neck lifted by his breath was clearly visible in the sunlight. The twenty-third prayer wheel suddenly "clanged" and spit out a piece of apricot-colored paper. In the middle of the Dai script were crookedly written Chinese characters - "Riding the River of Love Together".

The rainstorm came faster than the smoke from the night market barbecue stalls. When they hid in the pagoda, Hannah's chiffon skirt had revealed the outline of her mint green underwear. "Wear it." Lu Yong pulled off the soaked GUCCI silk scarf and wrapped it around her waist. When his fingertips touched her hips, he found that she was trembling. The lightning outside the tower illuminated the corner of the spiral staircase. Hannah suddenly grabbed his clothes: "That iron door is reflecting light!"

The unopened top floor observation deck was piled with faded prayer flags, and the French windows were cut into abstract paintings by rain marks. Lu Yong used his mobile phone to illuminate the mottled wall, and the latest marks were still covered with sawdust: "2023.4.7 Chen Lu waited for her rainbow." When Hannah's fingertips touched the concave and convex handwriting, the rain curtain in the southeast suddenly split into a half-circle of seven-color halo.

"It's a double rainbow!" She knocked over the copper bowl when she turned around, and Lu Yong's kiss was salty and bitter with rain in the buzzing sound. She maintained this posture until the security guard's flashlight swept over her. When she ran down the stairs, Hannah's sandal heel got stuck in the gap between the steps, and he picked her up by the waist and rushed into the denser rain.

The crowd at the night market was so crowded that the sound of the elephant drums had changed its tune. Hannah was holding up a pounded chicken foot to feed him, but was suddenly knocked off balance by a live-streaming celebrity. "Stand still." Lu Yong held up the mango stall with one hand, and his back took three elbow strikes for her. The Dai grandmother selling lotus brooches was surrounded by five fill lights in front of her stall. When Hannah stood on tiptoe for the third time to look around, Lu Yong suddenly shouted in Kunming dialect: "Auntie, do you have any sterling silver?"

The old lady's cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, and she fished out a pair of lotus buds from the bottom of the handkerchief: "They are made of old material from the bottom of the Lancang River." The diamonds in the stamens flashed under the LED light, making Hannah gasp. Lu Yong held her wrist and scanned the code to pay: "Just consider it as your birthday gift."

The tuk-tuk on the way back to the inn made Hannah fall into his arms, and the silver chain of her brooch caught the sweat beads on his collarbone.

"Grandma said this lotus can..." The love words were crushed by the roar of the engine. Lu Yong's lips found the newly bleached hair roots behind her ears and tasted the sunscreen mixed with lime shampoo. The remaining rain leaking from the glass roof of the Starlight Room soaked the sheets with dark petals, and the night light of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the distance was turning off the last one.

…………

The cable car at Wild Elephant Valley lost power at 2:17 pm.

Hannah clutched Lu Yong's shirt buttons and heard the steel cable making a teeth-grinding "creaking" sound in the hot and humid air. They were hanging five meters above the treetops, and the low roars of the elephants came from the depths of the rainforest.

"How much battery is left on your phone?" Lu Yong took out a power bank, and the blue light of the screen reflected the sweat on Hannah's nose. "Don't be afraid, this broken cable car gets stuck seven or eight times a year." He deliberately breathed behind her ear, and sure enough, he was elbowed.

A child suddenly cried in the cable car below. Hannah leaned over to look and her hair brushed Lu Yong's chin. "Be careful!" He hugged her waist and pressed her deeper into the seat. The yellow ants hanging from the vines were falling in bunches. Hannah suddenly pointed at the rust on the steel frame and asked, "Is that a word?"

Lu Yong wiped off the rust with a tissue, revealing mottled red spray paint: "Anan loves Xiaoru 2019.4.3". More graffiti appeared on the wet metal surface: a heart drawn with lipstick, coordinates engraved on a key, and even a faded cartoon tattoo.

“Look at this!” Hannah pried open the plastic star stuck in the gap, and the pen writing on the back was stained with water: “If we are still together when we are thirty, come back and take the time capsule.” Lu Yong took out a Swiss Army knife and engraved "Lu & Han 2023.7.21" on the inside of the steel frame, and deliberately scraped out a crooked heart with the tip of the knife.

There was a sudden sound of electricity, and the cable car started up with a violent tremor.

As Hannah fell into Lu Yong's arms, she caught a glimpse of a silvery reflection on the plank road below - it was the lotus brooch they bought at the Shwedagon Pagoda, which was now pinned on the ranger's straw hat.

The fireflies at the Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences appeared when they got lost for the eighth time.

Hannah's sandals sank into the swamp, and Lu Yong carried her on his back to grope for the trail made of rotten leaves. "It's all your fault for taking a shortcut!" She bit his shoulder and complained, her teeth digging into his sunburned skin. The moonlight leaked through the base of the parasol tree, illuminating the newly scabbed mosquito bites on the back of his neck.

When the first green light appeared from the tip of the palm leaf, Hannah thought it was an illusion caused by hunger. Then thousands of light points emerged from the aerial roots of the strangler fig, like stardust blown by the wind and falling into the world. Lu Yong suddenly covered her eyes: "Sh ...

The darkness magnified all the senses. The rustling of fireflies' wings mixed with the gurgling of a stream in the distance. Hannah's earrings brushed against his palm. They were the pair of silver peacock earrings that she bought at the Shwedagon Pagoda night market. When Lu Yong let go of her hand, she saw that he had spelled out "Marry Me" on the rotten wood with the light of his cell phone, and the glowworms were dancing around the letters.

"You learned Douyin's tricks!" She smiled and pinched his waist, but felt sweat on her hands. Lu Yong took out a plastic bag from his trouser pocket like a magician, and inside it was a wilted pink flower: "I picked it up next to the royal lotus pond, and it is said that I can bring it back." Before he finished speaking, Hannah blocked his mouth with hers, and fireflies fell on the ends of his hair like dancing jade. Seventeen couples lined up in front of the wedding customs experience stall in Manting Park. Hannah was making a peacock feather bracelet for Lu Yong, and was suddenly pulled into the queue by a girl in a gold thread skirt. "The bride has to wear a silver belt!" When the host buckled the engraved silver chain around her waist, Lu Yong found that her back zipper had broken half an inch.

"The groom carries the bride across the fire basin—" the MC shouted in a long voice, and Hannah's chiffon skirt swept across the charcoal fire, sending up a few sparks. Lu Yong's arm muscles were throbbing, and she took the opportunity to whisper in his ear: "Isn't it more exciting than lifting weights in the gym?" The cameras of the onlookers were all pointed at them, and a man holding a gantry almost fell into the dragon blood bushes.

When exchanging banana leaf marriage certificates, Hannah caught a glimpse of Lu Yong drawing a turtle on the back of the leaf. "This is the Dai mascot!" He grabbed the pen confidently and added an abstract painting that looked like an elephant on her leaf. The moment the photographer pressed the shutter, a column of water suddenly exploded in the water splashing square, and Hannah's mascara printed two crescents on Lu Yong's white shirt.

The old portrait artist at Gaozhuang Night Market recognized them on the fourth day. Hannah was trying sour doyip fruit when the charcoal pencil suddenly pointed at her through the crowd: "Little mandarin ducks wearing couple outfits, I'll draw you a picture with a golden pagoda for free!" Lu Yong's GT shirt and her tie-dyed suspenders were obviously unrelated, but the old man stubbornly asked them to sit on the plastic stools next to the mango stall.

It suddenly rained halfway through the painting, and the Shwedagon Pagoda on the sketch paper was blurred by water stains and turned blue-gray. Hannah pouted and wanted to repaint, but the old man took out a bottle of blue ink: "This is made with water from the Lancang River." He dipped a cotton swab in the liquid and applied it, and the rain marks turned into swirling clouds. Lu Yong suddenly pointed to the corner of the painting: "There's a peacock hiding here!"

The old man smiled and added wing tips among the clouds and mist: "Anyone who can find all three will receive the blessing of the Bayeux Manuscript." When Hannah held the painting up to the street light to take a closer look, Lu Yong had already scanned the code and paid two hundred yuan - he had noticed that the glue on the toes of the old man's cracked cloth shoes had come loose.

.........

During the third round of the rice pounding competition in the Jino village, Hannah's silver bracelet got stuck in the crack of the wooden mortar.

The tanned son of the clan leader raised a bamboo tube of wine and started to make a scene: "Sister, feed your man some poop, and we will help you get it!" Lu Yong wiped the glutinous rice flour off his face, and suddenly grabbed her waist and lifted her to the edge of the wooden mortar: "Sit tight."

Hannah swung her legs in the air, watching him pounding purple rice with veins popping out of his neck. The steaming hot air was wrapped in the fragrance of banana leaves. She dipped her fingertips in honey and tried to rub it on his lips, but the rice ball suddenly collapsed and splashed all over her hands. "This is a love test for the Jino people, don't you understand!" She smiled and kicked his calf, and the silver bracelet suddenly popped out from the crack with a "click" and caught Lu Yong's watch squarely.

"We're stuck." The patriarch's son put realgar wine on their foreheads, and the old ladies watching suddenly sang in unison. Lu Yong took the opportunity to bite the honey on Hannah's fingertips and tasted the plastic taste of the nail art fragments she had done at the Shwedagon Pagoda three days ago.

The water-splashing fight in the Dai Garden broke out at 2:30 p.m. Hannah had just changed into her rented light pink skirt when a basin of iced lemonade was poured over her head. "Lu Yong, you're dead!" She picked up the plastic basin and chased him under the Bodhi tree, only to find that the instigator was a little boy wearing goggles.

The real sneak attack came from behind. Lu Yong carried a 20-liter mineral water bucket in one hand, and the water accurately washed away the frangipani on her bun. "You'll have to pay for getting wet." He approached, swinging his soaked white T-shirt, and the outline of his abdominal muscles was faintly visible under the wet fabric. Hannah turned to escape, and the belt of her tube skirt suddenly loosened, revealing the shoulder straps of her black sports bra underneath.

"Don't move." Lu Yong bit the plastic rope with his teeth to tie her belt again, and the hot air sprayed on the tattoo on her lower back. Six girls holding water guns took the opportunity to attack him. He turned around and protected Hannah in his arms, and a splash of cold water exploded on his back. When the administrator struck the gong, the prayer ropes wrapped around their wrists had turned dark brown.

The hiking trails in the tropical rainforest valley were covered with moss after the heavy rain. When Hannah slipped for the eighth time, she finally exploded: "You must learn from Bear Grylls and play wilderness survival!" Lu Yong stuffed the last piece of compressed biscuit into her mouth, squatted down and patted his shoulder: "Come up, I'll take you to find the thousand-year-old strangler fig."

The rotten leaves made a sticky sound underfoot, and the croaking of tree frogs sounded like rusty door hinges. Lu Yong suddenly stopped and illuminated the shed skin of a python lying across the road with his flashlight. "I'd have eaten you if I was alive." He poked the three-meter-long snake skin, and Hannah's scream startled the hornbill in the treetops.

When the thousand-year-old strangler fig tree really appeared, Hannah forgot that she was still lying on Lu Yong's back. Dozens of bird's nest ferns hung between the tree nets woven by aerial roots, and the moonlight leaked in through the gaps between the leaves like a handful of broken diamonds. Lu Yong suddenly unscrewed the thermos cup, and the moment the steam rose, the fireflies hidden in the ferns lit up at the same time.

"It's just right that my cell phone has no signal." He took out the palm leaf scripture he bought in Manting Park and used the flashlight to recite the random Dai love poems. When Hannah was shaking with laughter, a ripe wild mango suddenly fell from the treetops, bursting with golden sweet juice on Lu Yong's shoulders.

The release pond at Mengle Grand Buddha Temple was surging with strange water splashes. Hannah was throwing fish food into the pond when Lu Yong suddenly covered her eyes and said, "That couple is hanging love locks on the railing." She peeked through her fingers and saw that the man and woman in couple outfits were hanging the sixth lock, with an anti-counterfeiting QR code on the surface of the copper lock.

"Isn't that vulgar?" Hannah poked him in the waist with her elbow, only to find that he was secretly filming the release of turtles. A half-meter-long black turtle suddenly poked its head out and accurately snatched the feed bag from her hand. Lu Yong laughed so hard that his phone almost fell into the pond, and was glared at by the monk next to the merit box.

When they met a tour group while spinning the prayer wheel, Lu Yong suddenly circled her inside the prayer wheel. "Turn three times clockwise." He repeated the rules of the Shwedagon Pagoda close to her earlobe, and Hannah could feel his chest vibrating on her back. When it was turned to the seventh circle, the prayer wheel suddenly got stuck, and a wishing note with a Meituan coupon printed on it fell out.

Hannah found the silver jewelry shop at the end of the night market.

The old craftsman was chiseling a lotus pattern with two stems, and the firelight reflected the peacocks and elephants on the wall. "Can the size be changed?" She took off the silver bracelet she bought at the Big Buddha Temple, and the Dai blessing engraved on the inner ring shone coldly in the moonlight.

The old man suddenly pointed to the red mark on her collarbone and said, "Little girl, you should apply the right concealer." Hannah's ears instantly burned, and when she turned to escape, she bumped into Lu Yong's arms. "I was wondering why half a bottle of sunscreen was missing." He shook the newly bought aloe vera gel in his hand and saw the old master engraving "LYHN" on the inside of the bracelet.

The night journey back to the inn was exceptionally quiet, and Hannah's silver bracelet jingled with her footsteps.

When passing by a barbecue stall, Lu Yong suddenly took out a burnt branch and wrote on the stone road, "Come back next time to see the silver bracelet become old."

Before the wet handwriting was washed away by the sprinkler truck, Hannah added "Bring the rainbow of the Shwedagon Pagoda." (End of this chapter)