When Liang He went to bring water to the driver at noon, he was surprised to see another figure standing nearby.
She was leaning forward, appearing to be intently asking or discussing something. The driver responded with a chuckle, though he occasionally knit his brows slightly.
Liang He quickened his pace and called out, "Master Chen, thank you for your hard work. Have some water."
The petite, charming figure started in surprise and spun around. She looked as though she had been caught red-handed, her eyes wide with unexpectedness.
"Teacher... Teacher Liang." Qiu Yun had been chatting with the driver about the bus.
"You're here too?"
"I was just worried Master Chen might be bored, so I came to keep him company."
"Keep him company?" Liang He didn't believe her for a second.
"This little girl is quite the eager student; she wants to learn how to drive from me," the driver said with a hearty laugh.
"Learn to drive?" Liang He looked between the two of them, then at the dilapidated bus behind them, and let out a dry chuckle of his own.
"Oh, right." Qiu Yun stood up and plucked a white handkerchief from a tree branch. "Thank you. I washed it with well water. The sun is strong today, so it’s almost dry."
"No need for thanks," Liang He said flatly as he took it. "I didn't see much of you this morning. Where were you painting?"
"Over there," Qiu Yun pointed. "Right here, painting the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. I plan to do the Zen rooms this afternoon."
Liang He glanced in that direction and inadvertently frowned. The Bell and Drum Towers were the second simplest structures in the monastery, and the simplest of all were the Zen rooms she intended to paint next. While the other students were eager to challenge the main halls or the cliffside Buddhas—subjects with richer forms and more dramatic light and shadow—Qiu Yun had uniquely chosen the buildings in the front courtyard with the lowest level of difficulty.
He folded the handkerchief twice, tucked it into his pocket, and asked impassively, "Why didn't you choose the buildings in the back?"
"I'm too familiar with those. It's boring," Qiu Yun replied.
"And the ones in the front are interesting?"
"Not exactly..." Qiu Yun tilted her head back and squinted her eyes as if savoring the moment. Liang He expected her to come up with another excuse for her laziness, but instead, she said, "Actually, I just really want to paint them all, to record them. Have you ever thought that one day, they might all disappear before you're even ready?"
Qiu Yun tilted her head, and the braid on her left side slid off her shoulder.
She was eighteen—a clear, bright age with a clean face—yet her eyes held a hint of playfulness. The dappled sunlight from the green trees fell upon her in varying shades and sizes, overlapping as if trying to hide a forest sprite.
Liang He dithered for a moment, his mind wandering.
Qiu Yun grinned at him. "Teacher Liang, I'll treat you to a pear if you lend me something."
"Lend you what?"
Qiu Yun reached out and plucked a pair of sunglasses directly from Liang He’s front shirt pocket. "Lend me these. I'll give them back before we head home."
Liang He was startled. He hadn't expected her to be so direct, even flirtatious. His brow furrowed again as he smoothed out his shirt, looking displeased. "What do you want them for?"
Qiu Yun slid the sunglasses onto her face. "For my painting this afternoon."
"How do you use those for painting?"
Seeing Liang He’s sour expression, Qiu Yun suppressed a smile and intentionally acted mysterious. "They’re useful, of course. If you don't believe me, why don't you come and inspect my work later, Teacher?"
Liang He kept a stiff face. "Don't break them. We'll be driving into the sun on the way back; I prepared those for Master Chen."
"Understood. I guarantee I'll return them to their owner intact."
Liang He turned and walked away.
"Teacher Liang, your pear!"
"I don't want it."
Qiu Yun didn't take Liang He’s petty pride to heart. Ever since she had gained an epiphany regarding his 1988 temperament that morning, she felt everything was easy to understand. The only thing she still couldn't quite figure out was how a person's disposition could change so drastically. Time could change a person's appearance, hobbies, accent, and style of dress... but temperament was hard to alter. As the saying went, "Mountains and rivers may change, but one's nature is hard to move." Had Liang He encountered some great setback or tragedy over the next thirty years that caused his personality to shift so violently?
Qiu Yun sat under the tree with her legs crossed, wearing the sunglasses and munching on the juicy pear. Suddenly, she remembered the gossip Wu Liu had told her.
"When Teacher Liang was young, he was in love with the daughter of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the neighboring university, but she cheated on him..."
"Later, the Dean's daughter died of an illness. He was devastated and never truly recovered..."
"He and his wife only married because of family and social pressure; it was a marriage of convenience where they each got what they needed..."
"That's why he remained a DINK his whole life and never had children..."
Qiu Yun pulled the sunglasses down slightly and squinted. Liang He’s figure was faintly visible in the shade of the trees in the distance.
If... that was true.
It seemed... to make some sense.
Based on Qiu Yun’s interactions with Liang He over the past few days, the Liang He of this era was a motivated, hardworking, and upright young man. Judging by his clothes, speech, and mannerisms, Qiu Yun concluded he must come from a good family and was well-bred. Combined with the rumors she had heard during her school days, Liang He was naturally brilliant, having had a smooth academic career with teachers constantly praising him. After graduation, he had stayed at the university to teach and was being groomed for success. Add to that his handsome looks and the constant attention from women, and his life seemed to have every possible advantage. However, once such a smooth life encountered an unexpected catastrophe—especially a romantic betrayal—the devastation would be no less than the world ending. Thus, his world turned dark, he became despondent, and he sank into despair. He lost all faith in love, which was why he eventually chose a marriage of convenience with a lesbian, just to have a companion in life, let alone children...
Thinking of it this way, a change in personality seemed like a very minor thing indeed.
Having followed this train of thought, Qiu Yun felt that Liang He was a bit pitiful.
At the same time, this "Dean's daughter" successfully piqued Qiu Yun’s curiosity.
The group was set to gather at four o'clock. By three-thirty, Qiu Yun had already packed her things and put them on the bus. Master Chen had opened the window, taken off his shoes, and propped his feet on the steering wheel, snoring loudly. His round belly rose and fell with each snore. Qiu Yun looked around and saw no place to put the sunglasses. On a sudden whim, she quietly placed them on his belly. Master Chen didn't wake up. She smiled and turned back to find Wang Chen and the others.
Most of the students were gathered in the back courtyard painting. When Qiu Yun arrived, Wang Chen was basically finished. She had painted the most representative Buddha in the center—a three-meter-tall Great Buddha sitting cross-legged on a lotus. Its eyes were slightly closed, the corners of its mouth turned up in a faint smile. Half of it was hidden in the shade of the trees, while the other half was exposed to the sunlight. The sense of light and shadow in the entire painting was excellent, though the details still needed some refinement. Qiu Yun praised Wang Chen several times and helped her wash a few brushes. On her way back, she ran into Liang He. He glanced at her, checked his watch—it was ten minutes to four—and said nothing, walking straight past.
Qiu Yun and Wang Chen packed their things and walked toward the bus. Just as they reached the door, they heard Master Chen apologizing profusely.
"Oh, Teacher, I am so sorry. I was sleeping here, and I don't know who put your sunglasses on my belly. When I woke up and rolled over, the sunglasses went 'snap' and fell to the floor. Before I could react, I heard another 'crunch' under my foot. I looked down, and the sunglasses were like this... I know you meant for me to wear them to block the sun—"
Hearing those vivid descriptions of "snap" and "crunch," Qiu Yun had a premonition of disaster. She stepped forward and, sure enough, saw Master Chen holding a pair of plastic sunglasses that had been crushed into three pieces. He looked incredibly apologetic. Liang He stood beside him, his back to her, his expression unreadable. Hearing someone gasp behind him, he turned around, crossed his arms, and looked at her with an inscrutable, silent gaze.
Who was to blame? Technically, Qiu Yun had borrowed them from Liang He and promised to "return them intact," so their being in three pieces was her fault. But specifically, it was Master Chen who had stepped on them, and Liang He had intended them for Master Chen anyway; Qiu Yun had simply given them to him ahead of time. Yet Master Chen was entirely unaware; how was he to know Qiu Yun had placed sunglasses on his belly while he slept? Qiu Yun thought about it and felt the primary responsibility lay with her.
Just as she was about to speak, she heard Liang He say coldly, "Is this your 'returning them intact'?"
Qiu Yun felt a bit sheepish and hurried to explain, "I'm sorry, Teacher Liang... I thought you wanted to give them to Master Chen, so I gave them to him early... I didn't expect this..."
Liang He waved his hand, wearing an expression that said "I knew no good would come of this." He took the broken sunglasses from Master Chen, stared coldly at Qiu Yun for two seconds, and then spoke. "Forget it. Find a seat. You're blocking the other students from getting on the bus."
Qiu Yun wanted to make amends, but seeing Liang He’s icy attitude and expression, she was momentarily choked up. She pursed her lips and obediently went to find a seat with Wang Chen.
As soon as they sat down, Wang Chen asked, "Xiao Yun, what happened just now? You broke Teacher Liang’s sunglasses?"
Qiu Yun sighed and explained the whole story to Wang Chen.
"What use are sunglasses for painting?" Wang Chen asked. "And you asked Teacher Liang to borrow them, and he just... lent them to you?"
"Yeah," Qiu Yun nodded, omitting the detail that she had reached out and taken them herself. "They're useful, of course. Have you heard of tinted glasses? I use tinted glasses to paint a different world, just like how some people like to look at others through 'tinted glasses.'"
"That's actually quite philosophical," Wang Chen praised. "You always have so many new and impressive ideas. But now that you've broken Teacher Liang’s sunglasses, what do you plan to do?"
"The worst I can do is buy him a new pair," Qiu Yun replied nonchalantly.
"Buy him a new pair?" Wang Chen couldn't help but raise her voice. "Do you know where those sunglasses were bought? Do you know how much they cost?"
"I don't know." Qiu Yun thought about it. Those plastic toad-style sunglasses looked like high-quality knockoffs from Taobao; in 2018, they would only cost twenty or thirty yuan. "How much are they?"
"I don't know either..." Wang Chen shrugged. "Sunglasses must be hard to find. I only know that in all of A City, only the department store on Ximen Street sells them, and..."
Wang Chen trailed off for a few seconds. Qiu Yun’s relaxed expression couldn't help but tighten along with the pause.
"...Do you know Lu Xialan, the daughter of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at B University? Those sunglasses were a gift from her to Teacher Liang."
***
