Gu Le was the kind of refined soul whose emotions flowed effortlessly through his guqin, yet whose tongue seem…
Gu Le was the kind of refined soul whose emotions flowed effortlessly through his guqin, yet whose tongue seemed to stumble over every word. Qiu Yuehai knew this well and loved teasing him.
"If your brother Lie Yan and I both fell into the river, who would you save?"
Pluck! The absurd question made Gu Le miss a note.
"Both! I'd save both!"
"Impossible. With your frame, saving one would be a miracle enough."
"Then... ah..." Flustered, Gu Le could only sigh.
"Must you two drown yourselves at all?"
When they first met, Gu Le saw a fisherman-looking youth lounging on a rooftop, golden wheat stalk between his teeth. Bright sunlight that day. The stalk inside his mouth gleamed like gold. Newly recruited by Lie Yan to resist the Khitans, Gu Le squinted upward:
"Excuse me... is Brother Lie Yan here?"
"Brother Lie Yan? You two sound close? Are you his real brother?"
The youth's teasing eyes sparkled with mischief.
"No... we're not related, it's just..."
"Stepbrothers then?"
"No... No relation at all! I was playing guqin when Lie Yan..." Red-faced, Gu Le gave up explaining and let his head drop.
"Anyway, he asked me to come."
The youth laughed, jumping down.
"I know, I know. Another recruit against the Khitan! I am here for that too. I'm Qiu Yuehai. Call me brother if you like."
Qiu Yuehai patted his shoulder, perhaps an apology.
"Sorry, but whenever I meet earnest young gentlemen like you, I can't help wanting to tease you."
Later, when they became famed as two of the "Eight Talents of Hedong," their bond deepened. The refined aristocrat and the rough fisherman were modern Zhong Ziqi and Bo Ya. Their dynamic became legendary:
Gu Le struggles to explain, always starting with "Anyway..."
Qiu Yuehai instantly understood: "What he means is..."
Others called them the "Anyway" and "What he means" brothers. Such was their harmony. Their youthful camaraderie burned bright. What came after belongs to another story.