Chapter One

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“Sweet as honey~ sweet as honey~ the way you smile—ah-choo! Sweet as—ah-choo...”

In the early-summer breeze, Qin Xiaoyue sat beside the raised field ridge, humming tunelessly as the wind folded itself into the towering rapeseed blossoms. The setting sun and gentle breeze stirred the wisps of hair beside her ears. The golden flowers in her hands were especially vivid, and she gazed brightly at the birds that occasionally stopped there to hunt, her round eyes brimming with curiosity.

“Ah-choo!” She had indulged in watermelon chilled in well water the night before, and ever since waking that morning, she had been sneezing nonstop.

“Sneeze, sneeze, you must hide quickly, or Grandma will find out and get angry again~”

Qin Xiaoyue obediently imitated her grandmother, gently patting her own forehead.

In the vegetable garden, a group of women briskly harvested the fruits and vegetables that had just begun to ripen.

“Dimwit! The loofah’s picked. Take this basket of amaranth and the edamame to the village chief’s house!”

A woman working in the distance spoke as she lifted two baskets of greens onto a handcart.

“Mm-hmm, all right. Dimwit’s going now.”

Qin Xiaoyue hurried to her feet, but suddenly slipped and went tumbling head over heels into the muddy ground.

The comical sight sent the women into fits of laughter.

“Dimwit, have your grandmother wash you properly when you get back.”

“Mm-hmm, all right.”

She scrambled up, hastily wiped the mud from her coarse hemp clothes, and pushed the handcart toward the village chief’s house. In the blink of an eye, she had vanished down the road.

The women along the field ridge shook their heads in unison.

“Zhang’s wife, just look at that little girl. She’s eighteen, yet her mind is still like a child’s.”

“Yes, Li’s wife. The girl truly has had a hard life. No one cared for her after she was born, and then a high fever damaged her mind. Later, her mother ran off and her father disappeared too, leaving her and her grandmother to depend on each other. She’s grown up over the years, but her thoughts are still those of a child. What a pity.”

“You two, stop feeling sorry for her and get to work. We have to finish the two acres in front of us before sunset. After that, we still have to take food to our men at the adobe houses upstream.”

“We know, we know. All you ever think about is your man.”

The women’s teasing rose and fell, making the new bride from the Wu family blush scarlet.

“Wu’s wife is going to get an earful when he hears this. Come on, let’s work faster. Once those men finish building the village school, all the children will have a place to study. In the future, every household may have an educated person.”

The women chatted and laughed as their hands moved ever more swiftly.

At last, the handcart reached the cement road. Qin Xiaoyue was drenched in sweat. Thinking of the expression the village chief usually wore when he looked at her, she could not help feeling afraid.

After her mother left, the village chief had never again treated her with the warmth he once had. In Qin Xiaoyue’s memories, before her mother departed, she had cried endlessly, while her father had coldly and bitterly shouted at her to get out. Only her grandmother, the village chief, and Brother Zishou had ever been gentle with her. They could even conjure little cubes of sugar from their pockets.

Back then, every so often her mother would go away for a while. Her father would personally bring her back, but afterward her mother cried even harder.

To keep her from crying, her father would lock her in the pigsty behind the house—the very place where Qin Xiaoyue slept as well. At night, cockroaches and rats gnawed at her until she ached. She did not understand why. She only knew that after a while, her mother would stop crying, and then everything would be fine.

Thinking of it now, she could still happily play hide-and-seek with the little mice...

When she grew a little older, her mother told her she would take her to a very distant place. She even bought her a great deal of candy—so much that it would have taken three days to finish.

Then she and her mother secretly climbed onto the village chief’s son’s ox cart. The village chief chased after them, and in the confusion Qin Xiaoyue fell from the cart. Watching her mother’s retreating figure, she began to giggle foolishly. She picked up the scattered sweets one by one, and just as the village chief caught up with her, the ox cart disappeared into the dusky sunlight.

Before long, she reached the age of understanding. Her family built a new house, and Qin Xiaoyue gained a bedroom of her own—one meant especially for Dimwit.

But her father disappeared after that. She heard that he had received news of her mother and, on a freezing night, hurried into the city. He never returned.

Just like her mother.

Her grandmother pulled her into her arms and said gently, “Dimwit, Dimwit, let everything follow its natural course. You aren’t foolish. You’re the loveliest little moon in the whole world. From now on, you’ll stay with Grandma. We’ll smile together, and then time won’t be able to catch us. Grandma loves you most when you smile, Dimwit.”

Whether the reasons behind everything had anything to do with her or not no longer mattered.

That smile lasted for thirteen years...

The birds outside tore away the night’s veil of modesty with their shrill, overlapping cries, screaming above Fu Weichen’s tightly furrowed brow.

“Fu Weichen! Get up! Weren’t you supposed to go teach in the countryside? You’re leaving today!”

Fu Jianye’s roar jolted him awake.

Before Fu Weichen could say anything, Fu Jianye immediately ordered the housekeeper to take the young master to the railway station.

Fu Weichen gazed at the light outside the window and struggled to raise the corners of his mouth.

“Mm-hmm. But, Father...”

He stopped when he noticed the identification papers in his father’s hand, and his gaze turned cold.

Seeing the tension between father and son, Wei Ting quickly tried to smooth things over.

“The weather’s about to grow hot, and Weichen will already be suffering enough where he’s going. Don’t make that face. I think journalism is a fine path too. Let our son go and temper himself a little. Who knows? Perhaps the Fu family will produce a writer who dares to wield his pen like a blade against the injustices of the age.”

Fu Jianye was already furious and had no patience for Wei Ting’s words.

Seeing Fu Weichen’s attitude, his expression changed at once.

“Don’t bother persuading me. This ungrateful son has never listened to me. Now he won’t even obey the arrangements made by his own family. Tell him to take his things and leave right now. The farther away, the better! He refuses a perfectly good position with the Civil Aviation Administration and insists on becoming some insignificant reporter, claiming he wants to expose the problems of society. What exactly does he think he’ll expose?”

“Mother, don’t try to persuade him. Has Father ever cared about what I wanted all these years? He’s Director Fu, accustomed to commanding people outside. Now he even wants to interfere with his son’s plans for the future!”

Fu Weichen pursed his lips, accepted the suitcase from the housekeeper, and walked past Fu Jianye into the bathroom.

“Fine! I really have raised a wonderful son. I sent you abroad to study, not so you could casually become a reporter or a volunteer teacher and call it a life. Do you know how many favors I called in and how much effort I spent arranging a position for you? And what do you do? Just to oppose me, you run off to teach in some mountain village! This house does not welcome you. Mount Moran welcomes you!”

In front of the mirror, Fu Weichen’s eyes grew colder still. He stared at his reflection in astonishment, and one thought grew ever stronger:

He could not accept an arranged life like this.

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He squeezed out some blue-and-white toothpaste and began brushing his teeth vigorously.

Wei Ting felt sorry for him. As the saying went, it was wise to prepare generously when traveling through poor country, so she quietly took out a thick wad of cash and slipped it into Fu Weichen’s suitcase.

Seeing that neither father nor son would speak, the housekeeper smiled and tried to mediate.

“Master, it may do the young master good to experience some hardship. It’s only a year, after all. Perhaps he’ll grow up by the time he returns.”

Fu Weichen poked his head out, his mouth covered in foam.

“Uncle Liu, my father’s too stubborn to listen to you.”

“You ungrateful brat!”

Fu Jianye’s anger surged. How had he ended up with such a disobedient son? He snatched up the identification papers and hurled them.

Fu Weichen dodged quickly, narrowly avoiding them. Then he suddenly thought of his mother, who was far away overseas.

“You refused to support my mother’s career back then, so she had to go abroad alone and struggle for the life she wanted. We haven’t heard from her in all these years, and now you’re trying to force me too.”

At the mention of Fu Weichen’s mother, Wei Ting’s hand stilled. She had never met Fu Jianye’s former wife; she had only heard stories about her and seen a few blurry photographs. The woman had been handsome and striking, and Wei Ting admired her from the bottom of her heart for pursuing the life she wanted in the name of her ideals.

Fu Weichen realized that his words had been inappropriate.

“Mother, I didn’t mean it that way. Please don’t take offense.”

“It’s all right, it’s all right. I understand. By the way, your maternal grandfather—my father—has returned from overseas. There’s no harm in leaving a little later. You should see him first.”

Fu Jianye ignored her and merely pointed at the identification papers on the floor.

“Even if you go, you’ll only disgrace this old face of mine. Are you going to the Civil Aviation Administration or not? If not, leave right now, and don’t ever come back.”

“I want to follow my own ideals, Father! Father!”

Fu Weichen caught hold of Fu Jianye’s sleeve, then gave Wei Ting a meaningful glance.

Wei Ting was about to speak when Fu Jianye cut her off.

“This is all your fault! All these years, you’ve supported everything he wanted without question—his friends, going abroad, studying journalism. Which of those things didn’t you encourage him to do?”

With that, Fu Jianye turned and walked away. This time, he would make his son obey him no matter what. A severe crackdown on the newspaper industry was about to begin, and many publications were facing closure. Wrong judgments and unjust verdicts were becoming common. Protecting oneself wisely was the only sensible path.

“I explained the consequences to you long ago. Why won’t you listen?”

Fu Jianye turned and descended the stairs. Wei Ting’s face was troubled; father and son had quarreled more fiercely than ever before.

“Justice lives in the hearts of the people, and in the written word, Father!”

At the word “Father,” Fu Jianye stopped.

Two seconds later, he continued downstairs with Uncle Liu.

“Father! Can’t you really let me stay? Can’t you give me a chance? ... Take care of yourself. Wait for me to come back.”

For an instant, his father’s back seemed to falter.

Fu Weichen knew that this time, his father was truly hurt by him.

He took Wei Ting’s hand as she steadied him, and two tears slid down his cheeks.

“Mother, you must take care of yourself too.”

“Go. Your father and I will wait for you to return. If the hardship becomes too much, come home at once.”

As Wei Ting watched Fu Weichen leave with the housekeeper, sorrow and concern surged through her. She kept wiping away her tears.

The black Mercedes stopped at a crossroads on a cement road. Its rumbling engine startled the crows perched on the utility poles, and dark shapes rose into the air one after another.

“Young master, this is where we leave you. You’ll have to walk the rest of the way yourself.”

“Thank you, Uncle Liu. You and Father take care.”

Fu Weichen got out of the car, took his luggage, and entered the railway station.

...

After nearly three days on the train, Fu Weichen awoke from a dream. Beyond the darkened window lay a remote little village, just as he had imagined.

He knew that Mount Guling Village, his destination, was still a long way off.

Yet his heart had grown steadily brighter.

“My backside’s been jolted into eight pieces.”

A young man leaped from the three-wheeled tractor and slapped his buttocks. He turned to look at Fu Weichen, who was dozing against the padded seat.

“You’re a real stoic. After getting off the train, we spent a whole day on a freight hauler, then another two days on this three-wheeler. My backside’s practically gone, and you haven’t uttered a word.”

Fu Weichen coughed twice and opened his eyes slightly before climbing down. The cement-and-gravel road beneath his feet looked newly laid, and the sight gave him an almost unbelievable feeling.

“This place isn’t as bad as I imagined.”

“This isn’t bad? Where are you from, comrade?”

The young man looked at Fu Weichen in disbelief.

At five feet ten, he was usually half a head taller than everyone around him. Yet the man beside him was half a head taller still.

“I...” Fu Weichen was about to answer when someone called out.

“Gentlemen, Old Yang has come to fetch you!”

The cattle driver grinned good-naturedly and waved enthusiastically toward someone in the distance.

Yang Dechang sat on an ox cart, one hand holding the reins and the other waving the whip. In the bright sunlight, the three figures seemed almost impossibly beautiful.

“Old Yang, you look downright radiant. The school’s finished!”

“Finished, finished! We were only waiting for you two gentlemen.”

Old Yang stopped the ox, then hurried over. He could not stop rubbing his palms against his clothes, his face alight with joy as he shook Fu Weichen and the young man by the hand.

“Gentlemen, this is the leader of Mount Guling Village, Yang Dechang. Everyone calls him Old Yang.”

Old Sun, seeing how delighted Yang Dechang was, felt delighted for him as well.

“This is Mr. Fu Weichen. What a handsome young man!”

Village Party Secretary Yang Dechang drew close and clasped Fu Weichen’s hand, his face glowing with happiness.

The town authorities had sent two information forms. Though the photographs were black and white, Old Yang had memorized Fu Weichen’s appearance at a glance. His well-proportioned, handsome face was even more striking in person than in the photograph.

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As soon as he finished speaking, Old Yang’s eyes unexpectedly filled with tears.

“Wonderful, wonderful! Mount Guling Village welcomes you!”

The man’s warmth left Fu Weichen stunned and momentarily speechless.

Seeing this, the young man seized Old Yang’s trembling hands.

“You’re Secretary Yang, right? My name is Xu Duowen. I’m the teacher sent by the school authorities. He’s an ice block. We traveled down together, and in three days we barely exchanged two sentences.”

“Good, good! Welcome, Teacher Xu, welcome to Mount Guling Village. From now on, we’re comrades, and we’ll help each other. People from River City really are different. Let me think... fashionable! Yes, fashionable!”

Old Yang looked the two men over. Both carried an unusual air about them, but Fu Weichen, quiet and smiling faintly, was especially elegant and composed.

“I never expected Teacher Xu to be so lively and warm. You’re quite like the people of our Mount Guling Village. Easy to get along with.”

“That’s even better. We’ll be neighbors from now on, so we’ll have to look after each other.”

“Certainly. Everyone in the surrounding villages says Old Yang is the most helpful man around. Well, this is where I leave you. Mount Guling Village hasn’t had newcomers in a long time. This is quite an event for everyone there.”

“An event indeed. When the villagers heard I was coming to fetch you two gentlemen, they all gathered at the entrance to wait. The children even said they wanted to be the first to meet their teachers.”

“Mr. Fu, it looks like we’re going to become celebrities,” Xu Duowen teased.

“Gentlemen, come aboard. We use ox carts here. It won’t be as comfortable as traveling in the city.”

Old Yang spread more straw across the cart, trying to make the ride as soft as possible.

“Secretary Yang, there’s no need. We can manage,” Fu Weichen said, watching the old man fuss over the cart. He felt the man was being overly deferential, so he stepped forward, took the straw from him, and placed the luggage down all at once.

Xu Duowen followed suit. The two leather suitcases lay atop the golden straw, creating a strangely warm and distinctive sight.

“Oh dear, my poor backside is going to suffer again.”

Xu Duowen’s lament followed close behind.

“Gentlemen, we’ll be there in half an hour. Big Yellow, go!”

At Old Yang’s command, the old yellow ox turned its head, and the group disappeared around the bend.

Qin Xiaoyue set several large baskets of fruits and vegetables down in the village chief’s courtyard with practiced ease.

“Brother Zishou, Aunt Zhang asked me to bring you another load of loofah.”

No one answered from inside. Qin Xiaoyue lifted the curtain and found no one in the room either.

Then she caught the rich fragrance of food, and her appetite stirred at once.

Brother Zishou had always been an excellent cook. Delighted, Qin Xiaoyue hurried around to the kitchen at the back of the house.

Before the stove, Yang Zishou was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground. He chopped vegetables, lifted the wok, and tossed its contents in quick succession. He raised his eyes slightly, saw that the visitor was Qin Xiaoyue, and rolled them in exasperation.

“Go on, go on. Here you are again, sneaking food. Don’t get in the way while I fry these beans.”

“Brother Zishou, I brought you fresh vegetables.”

As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyue pulled a cube of sugar from inside her clothes and carefully unwrapped it.

“All right, I know. Go home now. Aunt Zhang really is something, sending a fool like you every time.”

Yang Zishou waved her away and wiped the sweat from his face by the handful.

“Brother Zishou, have some candy.”

Qin Xiaoyue held the sugar to his lips and gazed at him earnestly, her round eyes glimmering faintly.

She met only Yang Zishou’s impatient expression.

“I’m not eating any...”

He was already rushing about, and Qin Xiaoyue’s sudden intrusion completely disrupted his rhythm. With a careless flick of his hand, he tossed the sugar into the wok.

For a moment he froze, then quickly came up with an explanation.

“Perfect. I was just missing a piece of sugar to season the ribs.”

Qin Xiaoyue stared at the ribs bobbing and bubbling beneath the billowing steam. Their golden-brown surfaces made her even hungrier, and before she could stop herself, she reached into the wok.

“Don’t stick your hand in there! Aren’t you afraid it’ll be boiled into a pig’s trotter? Didn’t your grandmother teach you anything?”

“Brother Zishou, Xiaoyue wants ribs too.”

“Fools have to behave themselves. These ribs are for welcoming the new teachers. And where did you get all that mud on your hands and face?”

Only then did Yang Zishou notice that Qin Xiaoyue was covered in filth, with not a clean spot on her from head to toe.

Only her bright, clear eyes blinked at him.

“It’s all right. The mud hugged Xiaoyue for a while. Are the teachers coming? Can Xiaoyue go to school too?”

As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyue began raising a finger toward her mouth.

“You’re eighteen years old. I’m afraid school isn’t for you anymore. And don’t put your fingers in your mouth! Even the loaches in the fields are cleaner than you. Go wash yourself at the well—your hands, your face, everything. When the teachers arrive and see you looking like this, they’ll laugh at all of us!”

Though Yang Zishou’s tongue was sharp, he still scooped out a small portion of meat and put it into a little bowl for Qin Xiaoyue.

She hurriedly accepted it, sniffed it, and looked utterly delighted.

“Grandma says teachers are very, very great people. They won’t laugh at us.”

“Your grandmother’s lying to you. Teachers are ordinary people, just like us. They’ve simply seen more of the world.”

Yang Zishou glanced at the sun outside.

“At this hour, they should be reaching the village entrance. Why haven’t you gone to wash yet?”

“Thank you, Brother Zishou. Brother Zishou is the best. Xiaoyue won’t wash yet. Xiaoyue wants to see what the teachers look like!”

“Qin Xiaoyue, little girl, slow down!”

But before the words had fully left his mouth, Qin Xiaoyue had already vanished like a streak of smoke.