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Watching Qinglan's figure run away, Jian Ming, Du Yifan, and Reiko all found the girl quite strange. Why not just tell them how to get to An Shaomin's house? They could find out if she was home themselves. Why did she have to run over to check?
Jian Ming and Du Yifan shook their heads and smiled.
Perhaps the children in the mountains are all this simple, Jian Ming thought.
The three of them headed in the direction Qinglan had gone.
As they reached Shaw Min's doorstep, they coincidentally bumped into Qinglan who was just coming out.
"Sister Shaomin isn't home; she went to her in-laws today," Qinglan said timidly in Mandarin to Jian Ming, then lowered her head and walked past him.
"Not home? What a coincidence." Although the three felt a bit disappointed, they still walked inside.
At that moment, Bai Cuifen came out from the room to greet them.
"Auntie, hello. We are An Shaomin's classmates, here to see her. Is she at home?"
Based on her age, Jian Ming guessed that this woman dressed in Han Ethnicity clothing must be An Shaomin's mother.
Bai Cuifen's response matched what Qinglan had said; An Shaomin was not at home.
"Then what about An Shaojie? Is he at home?" Jian Ming remembered that Simple had mentioned she had a younger brother named An Shaojie and asked.
Jian Ming thought that since An Shaomin was not home, it would be better to look for her brother. Perhaps he could provide some information about An Shaomin.
Jian Ming felt that the situation they encountered today in Liu Family Village was too strange. He didn't believe what Qinglan and Bai Cuifen had said.
"An Shaojie is also not at home; he went with Shaw Min to her in-laws," Bai Cuifen replied. Having received an education, she spoke Mandarin fluently, so when she saw Jian Ming and his friends speaking Mandarin, she responded in kind.
Bai Cuifen simply offered them tea and guessed that since they had come such a long way from the county town, they probably hadn't eaten lunch yet. She went back to the kitchen to prepare a meal for them.
In the kitchen, while cooking, Bai Cuifen wiped away her tears.
For the meal she prepared for Jian Ming and the others, Bai Cuifen specially made a tea soup traditionally served by the Tujia people for honored guests and respectfully presented it to Jian Ming, Du Yifan, and Reiko.
Looking at the three young, beautiful, and vibrant faces, Bai Cuifen turned away, her eyes involuntarily reddening.
Her daughter, An Shaomin, also had a young, beautiful, vibrant face. After the college entrance examination, she could have gone out into the vast world beyond the mountains like them, could have held hands with them at the same starting line and run together, could have walked the same path in life alongside them.
But overnight, Shaw Min saw them coming and could only hide away, unwilling to meet them.
Perhaps from now on, she and they would be worlds apart, each on opposite paths in life, each going their own way.
The classmates who came from afar to see Shaw Min were probably her best friends, Bai Cuifen thought. Therefore, she treated them with special care, every action and attitude filled with respect.
The more respectful she was, the more uneasy Jian Ming and the others felt.
After dinner, Jian Ming and the others returned to the county town with a sense of loss mixed with confusion, reluctance, and unease.
When they reached the stone bridge at the east end of the village where they had asked for directions earlier, they turned back to see Qinglan standing on the other side of the bridge, still wearing wooden clogs and a fiery red embroidered skirt, watching them.
Qinglan saw them occasionally glancing back at the Liu Family Village as it gradually receded from view.
In Jian Ming's heart, he kept telling himself: "Dear, beautiful girl, even though I came to see you and you did not see me, I will always keep you in my heart. No matter what unexpected things happen to you, I will always come back to see you; we will always be together."
Indeed, in Jian Ming's heart, he had already regarded "coming to Liu Family Village" as "returning to Liu Family Village," just like he was stepping homeward at this moment. When he received the bowl of tea soup that Bai Cuifen offered him during dinner at Shaw Min's house, he recognized that this woman—though aged but still showing traces of her past beauty—was a kind woman like his mother; he loved them both.
The cicadas on the old locust tree chirped incessantly. A cool breeze under the tree lifted Qinglan's disheveled hair as she thoughtfully watched them leave until their figures disappeared at the end of the country road. It seemed that those who came to visit were not just Shaw Min but also her. The figures heading down the small road to the outside world not only left Shaw Min behind but also left her behind.
The blazing sun hung high in the sky, its rays blinding. Beads of sweat like soybeans trickled down Qinglan's forehead and flowed down her cheeks.
"You dead girl, what are you doing standing there?" At some point, Liu Xiuzhen stood behind Qinglan and shouted at her in a daze.
Qinglan glanced at Liu Xiuzhen but said nothing as she turned and went back into the house.
In the side room on the right side of the main hall, Liu Jiawei lay on the bed, staring blankly at the mosquito net above him.
These past few days he had dared not go out anymore; Qing Shusheng had warned him that if he stepped out of the main hall again, he would break his legs.
Qinglan sat on a small stool, leaning beside Grandma while watching her embroider.
"Is that ungrateful child at home?" As Qing Shusheng stepped through the gate, he placed the hoe he had been carrying on his shoulder into the corner of the yard and asked Liu Xiuzhen.
Liu Xiuzhen was tidying up things in the yard. Upon hearing Qing Shusheng's question, she pouted and ignored him.
Entering the main room, Grandma gestured with her chin towards the right side room to Qing Shusheng.
Seeing Father had returned, Qinglan quickly got up, poured him a large bowl of fish mint tea, and then turned to go into her own room to take out a book from under her pillow.
The main room outside was quiet. The atmosphere at home had been heavy these past few days, and no one dared to speak loudly. Even Liu Xiuzhen, who was usually bold and outspoken, had to watch Qing Shusheng's expression before speaking or acting.
Liu Jiawei didn't even dare to breathe loudly. Normally, he would be quite assertive in front of anyone, but these days he had to keep his head down.
Especially not daring to anger Father again; otherwise, his life would be at stake.
That night, when he returned home in a daze and Qing Shusheng found out he had wasted Shaw Min, he immediately took a whip and started beating him. Not satisfied with just that, he tied his hands with hemp rope and left him hanging under the Old Locust Tree in the yard.
If Bai Cuifen hadn't come by to let him down, he probably wouldn't have survived that night.
Before the college entrance examination, Shaw Min returned for a visit. Walking along the small path in the fields before Liu Family Village, she was thinking about how after the exams she could fly out of the mountains and chase her dreams in a broader sky. Little did she know that a shadow was following her from behind. That shadow was Liu Jiawei.
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