Abstinence Pei, don't be too sweet when chasing your wife

When the sea of clouds outside the porthole cracked, Gu Fanxing's nose almost touched the porthole glass.

Pei Luonan, who was beside her, tucked the blanket back into her shoulders, his fingertips carelessly brushing against the tip of her red ear: "Don't run around later, the wind here will kill you."

Next to the luggage carousel, Pei Luonan was carefully tightening the straps of her mountaineering bag when she was suddenly interrupted by a burst of silvery laughter.

Three Icelandic teenagers with colorful dreadlocks gathered around. The blond boy in the lead pointed at the star-track brooch around Gu Fanxing's neck and exclaimed in Nordic-accented English, "Wow! This is from our Aurora series made by our local craftsmen!"

Before Pei Luonan could speak, the teenagers enthusiastically introduced the mythological story behind the brooch, which was about the volcano and the aurora.

It turns out that the design inspiration of this brooch comes from the thousand-year bond between the Aurora Goddess and the God of Volcanoes in Icelandic legend.

The teenagers gestured as they spoke, and their exaggerated movements attracted the attention of the surrounding passengers.

One of the red-haired boys took out his cell phone and played a rock ballad composed by a local band for this legend, instantly igniting the atmosphere in the waiting hall.

As we left the airport, a biting cold wind carrying ice crystals blew in our faces.

Gu Fanxing wrapped his coat tightly, but saw an old man wearing round-frame glasses sitting behind the counter of the car rental company, taking a nap while holding an orange cat.

"This is our boss, the best reindeer handler in town."

The lady at the counter explained with a smile and handed over two cups of hot blueberry juice.

When Pei Luonan took the drink, the old man suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the two of them with his old but sharp eyes: "Are you going to the South Coast? There is a blizzard warning tonight."

After saying that, he took out a hand-drawn map from the drawer and drew a cross on the location of Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon.

The edges of the map were densely covered with various symbols, some depicting smoking volcanoes, some leaping salmon, and even elves drawn with colored chalks - according to the old man, they were mysterious creatures guarding the Icelandic forests.

The car drove onto the ring road around the island, and the navigation showed that the nearest town was 120 kilometers away.

Gu Fanxing looked at the tundra whizzing past outside the window, and suddenly pointed in the distance and screamed: "Reindeer!" Pei Luonan slammed on the brakes - a group of Icelandic horses were slowly crossing the road. The leading chestnut horse, shaking its fluffy mane, stopped in front of the car, and its amber eyes looked inside the car curiously.

"They are the masters here." Pei Luonan smiled helplessly and dotingly, taking out the nuts he brought with him and feeding them.

At this time, a wooden sign on the side of the road caught Gu Fanxing's attention. It was written in Icelandic and English: "Please slow down, our pony is thinking about life." She laughed so hard that she asked Pei Luonan to stop the car and take a picture.

In the twilight, a homestay converted from a container appeared before our eyes, with the exterior walls covered with aurora graffiti.

The proprietress, a Chinese-American girl who spoke fluent Chinese, exclaimed upon seeing the two of them: "Are you the archaeologist couple Mr. Pei has booked?"

Before Gu Fanxing could explain, the other party enthusiastically introduced the features of the B&B: "You can directly see the volcano from the second-floor terrace, but tonight..." She smiled mysteriously and pointed to the corner of the restaurant, "Someone is holding a Viking wedding."

Pushing open the wooden door of the restaurant, Gu Fanxing almost thought he had traveled through time and space.

A dozen guests wearing animal-skin cloaks and horned helmets sat around a long table, with a whole leg of lamb roasting on a fire in the middle.

The proprietress handed the two of them a horn cup filled with mead: "Drink this cup, and you'll be family!" Pei Luonan was about to refuse, but Gu Fanxing had already raised his head to drink it all, and he choked and coughed.

"Wait!" Just as Pei Luonan was about to take Gu Fanxing back to the room to rest, the groom, wearing a deer antler crown and a wolfskin cloak, strode over with a battle axe in his hand, and the bronze bells hanging around his waist jingled with his steps.

“Friends from far away!” he shouted in English with a thick Icelandic accent. “Our shaman says that the fire burns brighter tonight because of you. Come and join our celebration!”

Before the two could react, the enthusiastic guests had already surrounded them and moved them to the long table.

The bride, wearing a traditional woolen embroidered wedding dress, filled their ox horn cups with her own hands.

"According to our rules," she blinked her bright blue eyes, "guests must drink 'Thor's Wrath' first." Gu Fanxing took the wine glass and smelled the strong malt aroma mixed with a hint of smoke - this was a strong liquor made with Iceland's unique peat whiskey.

The dishes at the wedding banquet completely subverted their imagination.

In addition to the roasted whole lamb, the wooden plate also contained whale meat stewed with potatoes, fermented shark meat, and seal meat pie.

"Don't be afraid," the old woman sitting next to Gu Fanxing patted her with her wrinkled hands. "These are gifts from the sea and the land." She then demonstrated a unique way to eat it: dipping the shark meat in fermented goat's milk. "The taste is just like our Icelandic winter: bitter at first, but sweet aftertaste."

The bonfire suddenly burst into flames a foot high, and a masked shaman appeared, holding a birch branch and performing a blessing dance, chanting something.

Pei Luonan quietly held Gu Fanxing's hand tightly, feeling the thin sweat on her palm due to excitement.

As the passionate melody of the langlaqin sounded, the bride and groom took the lead in performing the war dance. Gu Fanxing was pulled into the dance circle and imitated the locals in stomping their feet and waving their arms, but she could never keep up with the rhythm.

The firelight reflected on Gu Fanxing's face, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. Pei Luonan watched the performer intently, occasionally turning his head to look at Gu Fanxing beside him, and a smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his mouth.

At the end of the performance, the audience burst into warm applause.

The groom raised his glass again and said loudly: "Tonight, we have not only ushered in the most important moment of our lives, but also made friends from the far east! Let us raise our glasses together and wish our fate to meet!"

Everyone raised their glasses, and the sounds of cheers and clinking glasses echoed in the night sky.

Gu Fanxing and Pei Luonan also joined in, feeling the enthusiasm and heroism.

At this moment, they are no longer just passers-by, but part of this grand celebration.

On this ice field far away from home, they experienced unprecedented warmth and touching moments, and were full of expectations for the upcoming journey.

At midnight, the wedding reached its climax, with guests holding torches and forming a long winding line along the coastline.

The bride and groom took their vows on the black sand beach, facing the Atlantic Ocean, cheered on by the waves crashing against the basalt columns.

Returning to her room late at night, Gu Fanxing pushed open the door to the terrace and was confronted by a sky full of stars.

Pei Luonan came over with hot cocoa and a wool blanket. "The blizzard that grandpa was talking about has changed its course." He wrapped the blanket around them.

"But..." Before he could finish his words, dark red smoke suddenly rose from the crater in the distance, drawing a strange arc in the night sky.

Gu Fanxing shrank back into his arms out of fear, but heard a chuckle from above her head: "It's normal activity of a dormant volcano. Want to see something more shocking?"

He took out his phone and opened the app. On the satellite map, their location was marked as a blue dot, surrounded by hot springs, glaciers and active volcanoes.

"I'll take you somewhere tomorrow."

Pei Luonan zoomed in on the map and saw the words "Underground Lava Cathedral" next to a certain marker. "The walls there still retain the traces of flowing magma, more vivid than any museum exhibit."

As they were talking, a melodious bagpipe sound came from afar. Gu Fanxing then discovered that in the courtyard of the B&B, several Icelanders were sitting together, playing the traditional plucked instrument "Langla".

The night wind blew up Gu Fanxing's hair. Pei Luonan reached out and tucked it behind her ear, the sweet scent of mead lingering on his fingertips.

In the distance, the laughter of the Viking wedding continued.

Gu Fanxing looked at Pei Luonan's profile in the moonlight, and suddenly found that this man who always arranged everything properly also had the same curiosity and expectation in his eyes as hers - it turned out that in this land, even planned romance would grow unexpected branches.