I served as Li Bai's page.

Sixth Aunt chatted with the young masters and ladies at the Li residence until dark. Seeing that it was getting late, Sixth Aunt said:

"We're leaving now. Come visit us anytime you have time."

"We will, Yuehua will escort you," Xu Ziyan said.

"No need, there are many of us, we're not afraid. There's a street lamp in the alley," said Aunt Liu.

"Sixth Aunt, let us see you off," Li Bai said, helping Sixth Aunt up.

I carried the lantern and walked ahead, while Li Bai helped Aunt Liu walk behind. We escorted Aunt Liu and the others to the gate of the mansion, and then Li Bai and I turned back. When we reached the gate, we saw Pingyang and Boqin craning their necks and looking around. When they saw Li Bai return, they happily ran out, grabbed his hand, and said, "Father, I thought you were going to go drinking!"

"Father promised to take you out to play tomorrow, so we won't go drinking today. Come on, let's go back to sleep." Li Bai led one child by the hand and they returned home.

After breakfast the next day, I had everything ready, and Li Bai said:

"Let's go for a walk around North Lake today."

I carried my luggage, held two paper kites in one hand, and led Boqin at the front of the group with the other hand. Xu Ziyan walked at the back, arm in arm with Li Bai. When we arrived at the East Gate Wharf, the wharf was already bustling with activity.

We lingered at the pier for a while and saw a passenger ship about to depart. I went over and asked:

"Excuse me, where is this ship going?"

One of the guests replied, "Let's go to North Lake."

I walked up to Li Bai and said, "Young master, this boat goes to North Lake, shall we board?"

Li Bai glanced at the two children, then at Xu Ziyan, and said to me, "Let's rent a boat; it'll be more convenient when we're cruising the northern tide."

"Okay, I'll go look for it," I said.

I looked around the dock and saw a plain boat arrive. Several people were already walking towards it. I quickly went over too. The boatman was an old man with a little boy who was a bit older than Pingyang.

When Pingyang and Boqin followed me to the boat, the three children looked at each other. Boqin handed a piece of pastry he was holding to the little boy, saying, "Here you go, big brother. We have more."

The little boy shyly accepted the pastry and quickly stuffed it into his mouth. I took out a large piece and handed it to Boqin, saying, "Give this to the older brother; he hasn't had breakfast yet." Boqin obediently took the pastry and handed it to the little boy.

"Young man, do you want to rent a boat?" the boatman asked me, looking at the little boy.

"Yes, Uncle, how do you rent this boat? We'd like to rent it for the whole day."

The boatman quoted a price, which Li Bai found reasonable, so he rented the boat.

"My surname is Sun, so you can call me Uncle Sun. This is my grandson, Sun Fan. He is my son and daughter-in-law. His parents died a few years ago during a flood, leaving only my grandson and me, who make a living by boat," the boatman said.

Xu Ziyan said, "This child is quite pitiful; he lost his parents at a young age."

The five of us boarded the boat. I led Xu Ziyan and the two children into the cabin and sat them down. Although the boat was a bit old, it was clean and tidy. Sun Fan stood at the cabin door, looking at Pingyang and Boqin.

Xu Ziyan beckoned to him and said, "Come on, child, come and play with your younger brother and sister."

Sun Fan hesitated for a moment, then went into the cabin and sat down next to Bo Qin. Bo Qin stuffed all the fruit and candy he was holding into Sun Fan's hands. The three children gradually became familiar with each other.

Li Bai and I stood outside the cabin, watching the warm spring river, the soaring seagulls, and the peach blossoms appearing and disappearing on both banks. I couldn't help but recite a poem by Su Shi of the Song Dynasty: "Two or three peach blossoms bloom outside the bamboo grove; the ducks are the first to know the warmth of the spring river. Water chestnuts cover the ground, and reed shoots are short; it is the time when pufferfish want to swim upstream."

Li Bai looked at me in surprise and said, "It's that great poet's poem again! It feels like we're on our boat. Could it be you, Yuehua?"

"I could never write such beautiful verses. It's Su Dongpo, you don't know him," I said.

"Could you introduce us? We can have a few drinks together," Li Bai asked tentatively.

"No, he can't possibly get here."

"Can't I go to him? You know, I love traveling the world. I could travel all over mountains and rivers and never feel tired."

"You can't go either, and I don't even know how to get back," I muttered to myself.

"What did you say?" Li Bai asked.

"I didn't say anything, I'll row for Uncle Sun." After saying that, I walked over to Uncle Sun, took the oar, and slowly started rowing.

When we arrived at Beihu, it was almost noon. After Uncle Sun docked the boat at the Beihu pier, I took my kite, slung my luggage over my shoulder, and was the first to go ashore. Sun Fan, along with Boqin and Pingyang, also got off the boat.

As Li Bai helped Xu Ziyan off the boat, he said to Uncle Sun, "Uncle Sun, you and your granddaughter can have dinner with us. The boat is moored here."

"Master Li, we're not going. You go ahead," Uncle Sun said. Upon hearing that his grandfather wasn't going, Sun Fan released Bo Qin and Ping Yang's hands and returned to his grandfather's side.

"Come with us, I'll rent your boat and provide meals for you and your grandson," Li Bai said.

"Uncle Sun, go ahead, my master and mistress won't mind if you go," I said.

At our urging, Uncle Sun brought his grandson and we went to a restaurant by North Lake.

Li Bai ordered the shopkeeper to cook several meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and an egg drop soup, but he didn't order any wine.

Xu Ziyan asked Li Bai, "Aren't you going to have a couple of drinks?"

"I can't drink. I'm going to play in the water this afternoon. I don't want to add to your burden," Li Bai said to Xu Ziyan with a grin.

"You're smart enough to know that boating on the lake is dangerous," Xu Ziyan replied.

After lunch, the three children dragged me to fly kites, while Uncle Sun said he was going to rest on the boat. I picked up the kite and led the three children to the sandy shore of the lake. Li Bai shouted loudly from behind, "Yuehua, slow down, wait for your wife!"

Li Bai ran a few steps, then looked back at Xu Ziyan struggling to walk forward. He turned back and helped her up. I shouted, "Young Master, you can chase after us on your back, and if you catch up, I'll give you a kite!"

Before I could finish speaking, Li Bai bent down, picked up Xu Ziyan, and chased after us. The four of us took off running. Boqin was the youngest and the slowest. Seeing that Li Bai was about to catch up with her, she burst into tears. I had no choice but to turn back, pick up Boqin, and rush forward. In the end, due to exhaustion, Li Bai still caught up with me.

"You said it yourself, if we catch up with you, you'll give us both a kite." Li Bai held out his hand for the kite, and Bo Qin obediently took one and placed it in his hand, then turned to us and said, "We'll each fly this kite for a while."

Xu Ziyan beckoned to Bo Qin and said, "Son, come here. You and your parents form a group, and the other three form a group. Let's see which group's kite flies the highest."

Bo Qin obediently went over, and Li Bai placed the kite string in Bo Qin's hand, slowly raising the kite into the sky. After several attempts, it still wouldn't fly. I said to Sun Fan:

"Go help your younger brother. Hold onto the kite and run forward. Once you feel the kite can fly upwards, let go."

Following my instructions, Sun Fan successfully launched Bo Qin's kite into the sky. Then he returned and had Ping Yang hold the string, which also launched Ping Yang's kite into the air.

Many people were flying kites by the North Lake, and tourists looked on with envy at the family chasing and playing.