At that time， she was a 16-year- old girlwith a robust body and pupils that were a deep shade of black while Lachu was from Sinong Village at the bottom of the sacred Kawagarbo Mountain. The village is known far and wide as the home of the art of Reba， a popular timbrel dance in Tibetan areas.The bold and unconstrained movements of the dance are typically used to drive off calamity and misfortune. They beautifully express a wish for the people and livestock of an area to prosper. The dancers must possess great skills.Traditionally， most Reba performers wandered about in travelling art companies performing. Most of the time，Lachu carelessly strummed his xianzi， occasionally looking to Yangjin with a gentle smile beneath melancholy eyes.
She watched him from afar during the dance. Brute force has always been the best means of communication in the valley and the men there have always employed it to conquer women， but Lachu wasn't this way. He was handsome and graceful， and when the day eventually came for him to gently slid his tongue between her lips and as his breath consumed the room， she completely handed herself over to him taking refuge in his scent. When the time came to leave， Lachu placed a precious coral-inlaid silver ring on her long， left middle finger and gently said， “Wait for me and I’ll come back to marry you.
At the age of 18， she had been waiting for him to return to marry her. Occasionally， news trickled in through the Dian-Zang Road. Some said that Lachu had fallen ill and died， others reported that he had been ordained a monk，but even more had heard that he had fallen in love with another girl in the Tibetan region. Who actually knew?Reba artists soared like hawks throughout the ravine， finally disappearing into the boundless horizon. Only the beautiful ring he'd left behind could prove his existence along with the once ephemerallove they shared.
She should have forgot：ten the wanderer， but the taste of him was constantly under her skin， from his body and muscles to his lips and luster. Even as time flowed into years and countless dark nights passed by， his face remained as clearly etched in her memory as before， “What a sin!”
Yangjin let out a sigh. When the peach blossoms near Jinsha River blossomed again， there was still no news from Lachu.Yangjin felt a twinge of sorrow， perhaps he had changed.The Buddha teaches we should not have attachments， but she always remembered that blossoming happiness and was unable to hold back that desire to have a big house where she could give birth to strong and healthy children for him.
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