LW chapter 10

 

Li Xin was a very handsome man. His limbs were long and well-proportioned, and he was slightly taller than Chen Qing. Due to his privileged upbringing, he exuded natural confidence, a trait that Chen Qing could never possess, no matter how hard he tried.

Li Xin wasn’t unmarried because he couldn’t find a husband. It was because he had too many suitors in Luohe Village. Matchmakers came knocking often, but Li Xin’s father didn’t like any of them. Ultimately, Li Xin’s father let his wife take him to stay at her father’s place for a while. He thought they might find a suitable match there, so they ended up staying quite a while.

Li Xin wiped the water from his face and said, “But I really don’t want to get married. It’d be nice if I could be like you.”

Chen Qing quickly replied, “Don’t say that. How could my situation be considered good?”

Li Xin realized he’d misspoken. He changed the subject. “I heard about the guy who built his house next to yours. Have you seen him?”

Chen Qing threw his clothes into the water. “Yeah, I’ve seen him. He’s a good man.”

Li Xin stared at him and playfully shoved him. “Chen Qing, you’re acting suspiciously.”

Chen Qing jerked his head up, then looked down again, feeling guilty. “What nonsense are you spouting? Hurry up and wash your clothes.”

Li Xin felt like he really understood Chen Qing. He never said anything about the people in the village, afraid folks would say he gossiped about them. Why was he calling that neighbor a good man today?

Knowing Chen Qing’s personality, though, it was like talking to a gourd with its mouth sewn shut—there was no way to get anything out of him. So Li Xin focused on washing.

Chen Qing didn’t have many clothes. After finishing his, he helped Li Xin with his laundry. Li Xin and his mother had been away for a long time, so the bedding needed washing, too. It was a lot of work.

“If I hadn’t run into you, I would’ve finished bathing by now,” Li Xin joked. The two of them wrung out the water together, each holding one end of the fabric.

When they were finally done, Li Xin didn’t rush back. Instead, he took off his shoes, sat by the river, and dipped his feet in the cool water. The chill spread all the way up to his head. He tugged at Chen Qing. “Aren’t you going to soak your feet, too?”

Chen Qing shook his head. “I don’t dare go into the water. I don’t want to take medicine again.” The real reason was that medicine was expensive.

Li Xin didn’t press him. Instead, he sighed. “Why do people have to get married when they grow up?”

Chen Qing instinctively wanted to say, “So you’ll have someone to rely on.” But then he thought of his own marriage, and he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Li Xin knew Chen Qing wasn’t much of a talker. When they played together as kids, Li Xin was the one doing all the chatting while Chen Qing quietly listened. Chen Qing had only asked him about Meng Tao once, but Li Xin didn’t know him—they weren’t playmates. All Li Xin remembered was that Meng Tao was big, dark-skinned, and strong. Nothing else came to mind. After hearing that, Chen Qing hadn’t asked again.

After soaking their feet for a while, Chen Qing wanted to go home and hang up the laundry while it was still hot out.

Li Xin put his shoes back on while Chen Qing gathered the clothes. But before they could leave, someone came over from across the Luo River.

Men in the village usually didn’t wash their own clothes; their wives or sisters did it for them. Li Xin wasn’t pampered, though. His mother was in poor health, so he had done his own laundry for years. Even his six-year-old little brother had learned to wash his own clothes thanks to Li Xin.

When Li Xin saw Zhou Yuan, he nudged Chen Qing. “Does that guy still wash his own clothes?”

Chen Qing glanced at him. “He lives alone. Who else is going to wash them if he doesn’t?”

Li Xin felt like something was still off about Chen Qing, but he didn’t mention it. Instead, he said, “Let’s go pick some wild fruit by the river later.”

The two of them split up at the crossroads. Chen Qing’s steps felt lighter as he headed home. When he arrived, Aunt Sun was helping him hang up a line for the laundry.

“Li Xin’s back,” Chen Qing said.

“I thought so. People are always happier after getting their laundry done.” She told him to rest and started hanging up the clothes herself.

“Li Xin said he wants to go to the river for wild fruit later,” said Chen Qing, taking a drink of water.

“Go on then.” Aunt Sun finished hanging the clothes. “You don’t eat well, but you sure like wild fruit.”

Chen Qing smiled. “It’s tasty.”

After a simple lunch, Chen Qing waited at home for Li Xin to pick him up. Aunt Sun found it funny to see him sitting so obediently at the main hall door, glancing at the gate from time to time. He looked just like a kid waiting for a friend to come play.

“If you find a lot, why not take some over to the neighbors?” she said.

“Huh?” Chen Qing was startled.

“They brought us wild fruit last time. Even if we don’t have much money, it’s only right to return the favor, isn’t it?”

Chen Qing nodded, the tips of his ears turning red. “Okay, I get it.”

“If you don’t want to go, just bring it back, and I’ll deliver it.”

“Okay.”

Before long, Li Xin arrived. After greeting Aunt Sun, he took Chen Qing to the river.

On the way, he said, “I saw that house—the one with blue bricks. Not bad.”

He added, “I saw him from afar earlier. He looks so strong. I heard from the villagers that he killed a man.”

Chen Qing didn’t think it was right to talk about someone like that behind their back. He tugged Li Xin’s hand. “Don’t say stuff like that.”

“Oh, it’s just us here.” Li Xin stuck out his tongue. But, seeing how serious Chen Qing was, he said, “All right, I won’t say anything.”

They reached the river. Most of the wild fruit bushes were growing on the hill near the water. Since it was the end of the season, the leaves weren’t green anymore. Some had turned yellow in the sun.

Chen Qing and Li Xin crouched down and searched inch by inch. It was always hard to find the first one, but once they did, more kept appearing. They circled almost the entire river, filling a basket and nibbling as they went.

The wild fruit was only as big as a finger. It was soft with tiny seeds that made it more flavorful—sweet and sour. Chen Qing loved it. There was nothing like it back in his hometown.

“We picked so much!” They stopped under a big tree to rest. They were both sweaty. Chen Qing wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

In the distance, they could see the Luo River’s shallow waters. In the summer, the village kids would run into the water for fun. But every few years, a child would drown. Li Xin quickly yelled for them to go home.

Chen Qing handed him a handful of fruit. “Here. Eat.”

Li Xin popped the fruit into his mouth, not caring if they were dirty. “Those brats! What if they really drowned?”

Then, he frowned again. “So annoying. My dad’s off seeing Matchmaker Hua today!”

Chen Qing nearly choked. “Did Auntie Hua come to propose?”

“How could Matchmaker Hua come to our house? That would make us look too eager. My dad just asked her to test the waters.” Li Xin looked more annoyed than anything. “I haven’t been in the village for months. What can you tell me?”

“Huh? Tell you what?” Chen Qing’s heart felt tight, as if stuffed with cotton.

“I don’t like that type at all.” Li Xin said, “Tall and strong as a mountain—and he killed a man.”

Li Xin really didn’t like that type. He preferred slim, gentle men. His dad was a shirtless blacksmith—he’d seen enough of the burly sort.

Chen Qing pursed his lips. “But he didn’t kill anyone innocent. On the battlefield, it’s kill or be killed.”

“True, but I still don’t like that type.” Li Xin scratched his head.

“You can talk to your dad,” said Chen Qing. “I’m sure he’ll listen.”

“My dad really likes him.” Li Xin sighed. “He says many families want to marry their daughters or sons off to him. I really don’t want to join that crowd.”

Chen Qing didn’t know what to say; he could only listen.

By the time the sun set, they headed back. Chen Qing gave Li Xin half of the wild fruit; he had younger brothers at home who would want some.

Li Xin didn’t bother with polite refusals. He took them and asked Chen Qing to go shopping with him in town the next day.

When Chen Qing arrived home, Aunt Sun was preparing dinner. Seeing the wild fruit, she asked, “Why’d you pick so much?”

“It seems like no one else picked them this year,” said Chen Qing. He washed them, sorted out the small or shriveled ones, and gave the best ones to Aunt Sun.

Aunt Sun understood what he meant. After dinner, she grabbed the basket and said, “Watch the fire in the kitchen.”

Chen Qing nodded and watched her leave cheerfully. Once she was out of sight, he went to the kitchen to tend the fire and start cooking.

Zhou Yuan stared at the basket of wild fruit he’d just been given. He looked at it for a long time before trying one. It tasted sweet and sour, a lot like the fruit he used to bring back from the mountains.

His family had been poor. They didn’t have any rich hills or rivers like Luohe Village. They were so poor that his grandmother had to take him into the wilderness to dig up roots just to survive.

Back then, he’d joined the army for just a tael or two of silver to send home. But his grandmother hadn’t lived to see him return. By the time he got back, she was nothing but a pile of yellow dirt. He then realized that his relatives, who had long cut ties with them, had intercepted the money and letters he’d sent. His grandmother hadn’t received a single coin.

Without his grandmother, that place wasn’t home anymore. He remembered how she’d always dreamed of living somewhere surrounded by mountains and water. So he brought a handful of soil from her grave and her spirit tablet and came to Luohe Village.

Zhou Yuan snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the bright red fruit again. Chen Qing must be healthy to be able to go out and gather fruit in this heat.

He put the fruit away and started cooking something simple. His cooking skills were terrible. When he ate at Aunt Sun’s house, it had been different. Now, alone, he just threw everything into a pot to fill his stomach.

He chopped up some squash and tossed it into the pot. Just then, he heard a sound at the door. He went out and saw Matchmaker Hua dressed in red and looking pleased.

Zhou Yuan had guessed her intentions and didn’t want to open the door, but since she was already there, he had no choice. However, since she was already there, he had no choice but to greet her.

He forced a smile and pretended to be surprised. “Auntie, what brings you here at this hour?”

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