While cleaning up after their meal, Lu Xiao mentioned he would take Su Tang to the back mountain tomorrow to pick oleaster jujubes.
Lu Xiao just felt that Su Tang was bored staying at home and was afraid she'd get sick from the monotony.
After all, her parents had shown his family great kindness. If anything happened to her on his watch, forget her parents—his own parents would never let him hear the end of it.
That's why he suggested taking Su Tang to the back mountain to pick oleaster jujubes.
The two had a simple dinner and prepared to rest.
As they were making small talk, a THUMP THUMP THUMP sound came from outside.
"What on earth is that outside? Why does it go THUMP THUMP THUMP every night?"
Su Tang asked curiously, moving to pull back the curtain as she spoke.
'It's not some wild animal, is it?'
Seeing this, Lu Xiao quickly reached out to stop her.
The position was very intimate. From behind, it looked as if Lu Xiao had Su Tang completely encircled in his arms.
The man's warm breath fanned across the nape of her neck.
The faint light of the kerosene lamp illuminated their small corner of the world. When Lu Xiao looked down, all he could see was her skin, so fair it seemed to glow.
Like the white fox he had once encountered in the Northwest.
Su Tang felt Lu Xiao's breathing grow heavier. She turned her head away, her hand tightening on the curtain.
Realizing his actions had been a bit abrupt, Lu Xiao quickly stepped back.
"It's nothing. Just… that stuff between a husband and wife."
After speaking, Lu Xiao, who had just finished his brown sugar water, suddenly felt his mouth go dry.
The family courtyard wasn't very soundproof to begin with. The houses were connected, so any loud noise was easily heard.
Men, well, they're full of vigor. After the lights go out at night, what else is there to do but that?
At first, Su Tang didn't understand. She turned her head and blinked.
Her long, loose black hair was as smooth as flowing water.
Paired with Su Tang's large, innocent eyes, it made Lu Xiao's throat go dry all over again.
"What stuff?"
'That THUMP THUMP THUMP… I thought something had fallen…'
'Wait, that stuff between a husband and… wife?'
"Lu Xiao! You're being a hooligan!"
Su Tang's face instantly turned bright red. She pointed a finger, as pale as white jade, at Lu Xiao opposite her.
Fortunately, Lu Xiao's skin was a bit dark, so even if he was blushing, it wasn't noticeable.
"When you see the other wives tomorrow, don't mention this."
'It's already awkward. Wouldn't that make it even more so?'
Su Tang pressed her lips together and turned away, feeling as if her face was on fire.
'Then again, it's the seventies. There isn't much entertainment. After dinner, there's nothing else to do.'
'It's not like modern times, when this would be right around when I'd be getting off work.'
The two of them, with a tacit understanding, didn't mention it again and slept back-to-back for the night.
At the crack of dawn the next day, Lu Xiao was squatting in the courtyard, sharpening a shovel.
The rusted edge made a SCRAPE, SCRAPE sound against the whetstone, startling away the sparrows pecking at corn grits on the windowsill.
Su Tang stood in the doorway, holding an enamel mug, and watched as his rolled-up pant legs revealed his wheat-colored calf muscles.
In the morning light, puffs of white steam rose from his sweat-soaked collar.
'It's already autumn, but he's living as if it's summer.'
"Let's go."
He saw Su Tang come out dressed in work clothes and a straw hat. If not for her fair and delicate face, she would have looked no different from them.
The oleaster jujube grove on the back mountain was a grayish-green in the morning mist. The sandy path was darkened where it was soaked with dew.
Lu Xiao walked ahead, using the shovel to clear away thorny bushes. Su Tang followed in his footsteps, the delicate, sweet fragrance of oleaster blossoms lingering in the air.
Suddenly, she felt something brush against her ankle. Looking down, she saw a few clumps of light purple Kalimeris flowers emerging from a crack in the earth, their petals still dotted with dewdrops.
"Watch out for the thorns."
Lu Xiao suddenly turned, the handle of the shovel blocking her chest.
Su Tang hadn't noticed an oleaster branch jutting out ahead, its sharp thorn pointed right at her eye.
They were so close she could see the beads of mist clinging to his eyelashes.
Su Tang hastily stepped back, but her heel sank into the soft, sandy soil.
Lu Xiao reached out and grabbed her wrist. With a swift pull, Su Tang stumbled into his blue cotton shirt, which smelled of sweat.
The sound of her own heartbeat thundered in her ears, even louder than the THUMPING from last night.
His palm was rough yet strong, and the calluses between his thumb and index finger tickled her wrist.
It wasn't until the sound of someone chopping wood echoed from a distance that the two sprang apart as if scalded.
'They weren't the only two in this forest; there were plenty of people up ahead.'
The oleaster trees grew on a sunny slope, their bowl-thick trunks laden with small, yellowish-green fruits.
Lu Xiao climbed up, stepping on the branches. His work pants made a RUSTLING sound against the bark.
Su Tang held the bamboo basket and looked up, the sunlight filtering through the leaves and casting a golden edge on his bronze forehead.
Suddenly, a ripe oleaster jujube fell with a PLOP into the basket, hitting the back of her hand.
The cloying, fruity aroma mixed with the astringent scent of the bark rushed into her nose.
"Catch."
Up in the tree, Lu Xiao shook a branch, and a dense shower of oleaster jujubes rained down.
Su Tang laughed and used the basket to catch them, but then she saw the branch beneath his feet let out a CREAK.
"Look out!"
Before the words left her mouth, Lu Xiao had already fallen from the tree, his entire body landing on top of her.
The bamboo basket was overturned on her head, and oleaster jujubes scattered all over the ground.
The earthy smell filled the air. Lu Xiao propped himself up on his elbows, hovering above her, his nose almost touching her trembling eyelashes.
Su Tang saw his Adam's apple bob, and the skin behind his ears turned a red more vibrant than a ripe oleaster jujube.
The sound of a shepherd's whip cracking in the distance made him jolt upright. As he reached out to help her up, he noticed the palm of her hand was scraped open by a thorn.
"I-I'll go back and get you some ointment."
Seeing her injured, the usually calm and composed man was stuttering.
He took out his handkerchief, wanting to wrap her hand but not daring to touch it.
Watching his flustered state, Su Tang was suddenly reminded of his awkwardness the previous night when he mentioned "that stuff between a husband and wife," and she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
'This innocent act of his… could it be that he's still a…'
At this thought, Su Tang's laughter became even more unrestrained.
In the morning light, her eyes curved into crescents. The corners of her mouth were smeared with the sweet juice of the oleaster jujubes, making her look like a little animal that had secretly lapped up some honey.
"Lu Xiao, you look better when you smile."
Watching Su Tang laugh, Lu Xiao felt his own mood being colored by hers, a sweet feeling spreading through him.
After they finished with the oleaster jujubes, the two headed back.
As they neared the family courtyard, they heard several of the wives talking by the entrance from a distance.
"Do you think Lu Xiao will be disciplined because of this?"
"Such a promising future, all ruined by a capitalist miss. Sigh."
Lu Xiao's footsteps froze, his back stiffening ramrod straight.
When he heard the words "capitalist miss," he couldn't help but clench his fists.
In his peripheral vision, he saw Su Tang's lowered eyelashes casting a butterfly-wing-like shadow beneath her eyes.
The brim of her straw hat hid half her face, revealing only lips pressed into a thin line.
"Sister-in-law Li."
Lu Xiao suddenly spoke, his voice like the edge of a sharpened shovel—cold and hard with a metallic bluntness.
"Your husband sprained his back last month. Who was it that covered his three night shifts?"
The middle-aged woman who had been speaking turned around. Upon hearing his words, her face flushed red to the roots of her ears.
The wife next to her in the blue cotton shirt tugged at her sleeve, coughing to change the subject.
"Looks like it's going to rain. We'd better bring in the drying bedsheets…"
Lu Xiao paid them no more mind and reached out to take the bamboo basket from Su Tang's hands.
As their fingertips brushed, he noticed the cut on her palm was still oozing blood.
"I'm sorry, Lu Xiao. Did I get you into trouble?"
"Don't listen to their nonsense."
After walking a few more steps, hearing Su Tang's words, Lu Xiao spoke in a low voice, "We've been married for a year. If you were going to cause me trouble, you would have done so long ago."