The courtyard gate opened to reveal a white-haired old man with a wisp of a white beard on his chin. He squinted at Qingmu for a moment before speaking. "It's Qingmu, right? Quick, come in! What brings you here?"
Qingmu smiled. "Grandpa Li, is Uncle Gengtian home? I need to ask him something." He suddenly felt a twinge of regret. 'I should have come at night. Who has any free time during the day?'
"He is, he is! Come on in. Gengtian, Qingmu from the foot of Little Qing Mountain is here!" the old man shouted toward the main house. He then turned and walked to a jujube tree, where a stone table stood surrounded by four tree stumps. On the table sat a round sieve piled high with Huangdou. The old man sat down, bowed his head, and began picking through them—he appeared to be selecting seeds.
Qingmu gazed at the long row of six large, green-bricked, tile-roofed buildings, a deep sense of envy filling his heart. 'It'd be nice if our family could live in a house like this someday,' he thought.
Just as he was lost in thought, the voice of the village chief, Li Gengtian, came from behind a plain wooden door in the central building. "Qingmu, come in. Whatever it is, come inside and we'll talk."
He stepped through the doorway and saw the village chief sitting at a square table in the main hall, holding a ledger in one hand while working the beads of a large abacus with the other. A central scroll depicting pines and cranes for longevity hung on the wall, flanked by two couplets. Qingmu couldn't read the characters, but he could feel that the hall possessed a refined, scholarly elegance unlike that of other farmhouses.
Li Gengtian was a literate man and carried himself with a scholarly air that other farmers lacked, which was why he commanded considerable prestige in Qingnan Village.
He was in his forties, his face clean-shaven. He looked up as Qingmu came in, his eyes flashing with a brief glimmer. "Qingmu, come, sit down! Let's talk about whatever's on your mind." With that, he closed the ledger in his hands.
Qingmu's face reddened slightly as he sat on a long bench at the foot of the table. Mustering his courage, he asked, "Uncle Gengtian, I just wanted to ask, is the village really starting a school?"
Li Gengtian shot him a look of surprise. "That's right! An old scholar by the name of Zhou has settled in our village. I was thinking of asking him to teach the village children. It would save anyone who wants to study from having to travel so far, right? It would also give Scholar Zhou a way to put food on the table—he doesn't know how to farm, after all! Why do you ask? Is someone in your family..."
His quizzical gaze made Qingmu feel even more embarrassed.
'It made sense,' he thought. 'My family doesn't seem like one that would have a scholar. Juhua is about the right age, but girls rarely study. Besides, with her face, she only comes to the village a few times a year. She'd never go to a school. And I'm already so old...'
Sigh. 'I'll face the music one way or another.'
He suddenly looked up at Li Gengtian. "Uncle, I'd like to study, too. I know I'm a bit old, and I'm not trying to become the Champion Scholar or anything. But learning to read a few words is better than being completely ignorant!"
Li Gengtian was thoroughly surprised. 'This boy actually has such good sense!'
He smiled, pleased. "This is a wonderful thing, Qingmu! That you even have this idea shows you're motivated to get ahead. And what does age matter? Some of those old scholars are in their forties or fifties and still desperately studying for the exams, hoping to earn an official rank! You're only fifteen or sixteen. If you start studying now and work hard enough to become a Scholar, who's to say you couldn't become the Champion Scholar in the future? It's not out of the question!"
Qingmu felt a little embarrassed by the praise, but the fact that the village chief wasn't making fun of him was a great relief. He asked cautiously, "Uncle, what about the tuition?"
Li Gengtian answered, "Scholar Zhou isn't particular about the tuition. He says just having a bowl of rice to eat is enough. Families with money can give fifty cents a month, and those without can provide some rice, grain, vegetables, or meat. But even if he isn't demanding, we must still show respect for our teacher, right? We can't just show up to study without giving anything at all."
Now Qingmu had a clear idea. 'This is much more flexible,' he thought. 'If we really don't have any money, I can just hunt some game in the mountains, catch some fish and shrimp from the river, and bring over some of our grain from home. That should do it.'
He followed up by asking about the school's schedule and location.
Li Gengtian told him they planned to repair the old village ancestral hall to use as a schoolhouse, so it would still be a few days before classes could begin. He then added, "Since you want to study, you can contribute your share of effort. Come by tomorrow and help with the repairs—we still need a few hands."
Qingmu readily agreed, then said his goodbyes and left.
He recalled that the ancestral hall was not far from the village chief's house, making it a convenient stop on his way back. So, he decided to take a detour and check it out.
After leaving the village chief's courtyard, he followed a small path along the wall, heading west.
As Qingmu was walking briskly, a slender young woman in an eye-catching red dress ran out from the courtyard of the house next door.
"Brother Qingmu, wait!" the young woman called urgently, hurrying after him.
Next door to the village chief lived the family of Sun Jinshan, whose large courtyard surrounded three tile-roofed buildings. The young woman was his daughter, Sun Liu'er.
Qingmu stopped in his tracks, looking with surprise at Sun Liu'er as she caught up to him. He had no idea what she could possibly want with him.
Back in their childhood, the other village girls had avoided Juhua because of her disfigured face. Out of loyalty to his sister, Qingmu hadn't interacted much with those girls either. Now that they were older, combined with the fact that he lived so far away, he barely saw any of the village girls more than once or twice a year. They were, for all intents and purposes, strangers.
Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Liu'er, who was still a little breathless from running, steadied herself and asked apprehensively, "Brother Qingmu... what... what brings you here?"
From the run and the shyness she felt under Qingmu's gaze, her cheeks were flushed a deep crimson. It served only to accentuate her picturesque features, her bright, liquid, almond-shaped eyes. Dressed in a brand-new red dress, a rare sight in the countryside, she was an absolutely breathtaking sight.
Other than Juhua, Qingmu had never observed a girl from such a close distance. He was momentarily dazzled by a youthful beauty that was difficult to describe.
His mind wandered. 'If nothing had happened to my sister's face, would she be this beautiful, too?'
'Yes,' he thought, 'she definitely would be!'
He remembered his sister being adorable as a baby, lying in her cradle with a tender, rosy face. But when she was just over a year old, their mother had been busy in the vegetable garden. She'd put his sister down to play on a cloth at the edge of the yard, and something had bitten her face. It had been scarred ever since.
Seeing Qingmu staring at her blankly, Liu'er felt a mix of joy and shyness, and her face grew even redder. She stammered softly, "Brother Qingmu, you..." 'What am I supposed to say?' she wondered. 'Should I just tell him to send a matchmaker to my mother to propose?'
Qingmu snapped out of his daze. He saw that Liu'er hadn't actually asked anything of substance, and as for what he was doing here, why did he need to tell her? He turned to leave. Liu'er's beauty was a painful thorn in his heart; seeing it only reminded him of Juhua's face, and the contrast felt cruel.
When Liu'er saw him leave without a word, she was so frantic she was on the verge of tears. She summoned her courage and called out, "Brother Qingmu, wait! I... I have something to give you!" She then turned and ran back toward her house.
But Qingmu continued on as if he hadn't heard her, walking away with long, quick strides.
By the time Liu'er ran out again, clutching a small teal-colored pouch in her hand, the path was empty. There was no sign of Qingmu. Staring at the deserted lane, tears began to stream silently down her cheeks.
'Why does he never spare a single glance for me, yet dotes so completely on that ugly sister of his?'
She remembered one time in their childhood, when the village kids were all playing together, Qingmu had held his "ugly sister" Juhua's hand and refused to let go for a single moment, protecting her with utmost care. If any child dared to laugh at Juhua, he would viciously beat them up. He had managed to intimidate all the children so much that none of them dared to mock Juhua to his face—though it was a different story behind his back, of course.
From that day on, she often found herself thinking how wonderful it would be if Qingmu held *her* hand like that, protecting her so carefully. This went on for many years. As she grew up, that faint longing blossomed into the tender feelings of a young woman in love, and she often dreamed that one day, that same boy would take her hand and lead her into the bridal chamber.
Among the young men in the village, Zhang Huai and Qingmu were the most outstanding in both looks and character. But because Liu'er had been smitten with Qingmu since childhood, her heart had long since been secretly given to him.
But Qingmu was always so quiet and rarely paid her any mind, a fact that had caused Liu'er to shed more secret tears than she could count. To make matters worse, her mother was incredibly greedy and was pulling strings everywhere to try and marry her off to a rich family.
Seeing this dream she had cherished for years about to be shattered, she simply couldn't accept it!
A moment ago, when she saw the figure she had dreamed of countless times walk past her gate, she had been ecstatic. The truth was, she hadn't known what to do when she rushed out; she only felt that if Qingmu liked her back, she wouldn't have to face her mother all by herself.
'But would Qingmu protect me the way he protects his sister, Juhua?' she wondered. 'If he knew my mother wants to marry me off to a rich family, would he come to my rescue?'
Thinking of how Qingmu had left without saying a single word, she felt a wave of despair. 'Qingmu... he seems to have never even noticed me! Zhang Huai at least sneaks a few extra glances at me now and then, but Qingmu...'
"Liu'er, what are you doing standing out there?" Liu'er's mother called out, emerging from an inner room. Seeing Liu'er standing blankly outside the courtyard, she demanded loudly.
Liu'er hastily wiped away her tears and answered, "Nothing! I was just talking with Meizi!" She turned and entered the courtyard, where she saw Granny Hua and her mother standing under the eaves, having just finished their gossip session.
Granny Hua looked Liu'er over and couldn't help but praise her again. "Liu'er's mother, your daughter is truly without flaw. She was born with the kind of looks that destine her for a life of comfort. She'll definitely marry into a great, wealthy family."
Liu'er's mother said smugly, "Isn't that the truth. There's a Mr. Tang in Xiatang Market who's looking to take a concubine. Matchmaker Wang came to me about it, but I haven't given her an answer yet! I want to find a family that's not only well-off, but a man who's young and handsome, too. That would be a respectable match for Liu'er. But this wretched girl doesn't appreciate it at all and just walks around with a sour look on her face all day!"
Granny Hua quickly and "helpfully" exclaimed, "Oh, my! What a tremendous blessing! Other people couldn't hope for such an opportunity. If she marries into the market town, her future will be full of fine food, beautiful clothes, and even maids to serve her!"
Liu'er's mother scolded her daughter, "Did you hear that? Even your Auntie Hua says it's a good thing. You're the one who wants to marry some farmer. Let's see how fresh and dewy you look after toiling under a few hot suns! Now get back to your embroidery. Your father and brother will be home soon, and you'll have to make dinner."
Her heart filled with a sour bitterness, Liu'er went to her room to do her embroidery. Holding her needlework hoop, she stitched and schemed. 'I have to find a way to visit Qingmu's home,' she thought. 'I have to make him understand how I feel. Once he knows, he'll surely stand up for me, won't he?'