Combining the context of the era with her knowledge from the twenty-first century, Qiu Yun drew up several sketches: pagers, "Big Brother Big" mobile phones, villas, farms, radios, luxury cars... The construction was actually quite simple. She just had to make scaled-down cubes and paint the designs onto them. Since both she and Liu Dan were art students, painting was child's play.
Naturally, Liu Dan had never seen many of these novelties and kept questioning Qiu Yun.
"Xiao Yun, what is this?"
"This is a pager. Have you heard the slogan, 'Call me if you need anything'? That’s what this machine is for."
"Oh, I’ve heard that. So this is what it looks like. And this? Is this a 'Big Brother Big'?" Liu Dan picked up a thick rectangular box painted with numbers one through nine.
"Yes, that’s a Big Brother Big." Qiu Yun brandished the one she was working on. "Look at this one; it’s the improved version."
"Your version... it’s so beautiful. So thin, so small," Liu Dan said, staring at the paper iPhone in Qiu Yun’s hand. "It has such a sense of design... it feels very high-end. What’s it called? A 'Little Sister Small'?"
"Haha, Little Sister Small?" Qiu Yun was amused. She thought for a moment and said solemnly, "No, it’s called an iPear."
"A what?" Liu Dan didn't understand.
"It’s English. Translated, it means 'My Pear.'"
"My Pear?" Liu Dan couldn't help but laugh. "My goodness, where do you get such an imagination?"
"Hehe." Qiu Yun didn't explain further. She gave a knowing smile, hiding her "fame and merit," set down the iPhone, and began sketching a Porsche design on the paper.
Qiu Yun and Liu Dan spent three days doing handicrafts in the dorm until it practically became their warehouse. Their roommate, Xu Jun, who was studying for exams, left early and returned late every day. She rarely spoke to them, and her expression was one of blatant disdain. By New Year's Eve, even Xu Jun had gone home, leaving only Liu Dan and Qiu Yun. They had no television to watch and no New Year's Eve dinner to eat, so they simply worked on their grave offerings until two in the morning. Exhausted, they set their alarms for five a.m., planning to head to different locations to sell their wares the next day.
Qiu Yun headed for Taibai Mountain on the outskirts of the city. Legend had it that Li Bai had stayed there briefly during his travels. The mountain featured a famous site called the "Floating Cup Pond," a relic left by the poet and his friends. In the twenty-first century, the graves here had mostly been relocated, and Taibai Mountain, along with Xishan Bay at its foot, had been developed into a 4A-rated scenic area. But in 1988, it was still surrounded by vast stretches of farmland. The only highway turned into a dirt road once it left the city limits, eventually deteriorating until it merged seamlessly into mountain paths.
Seeing that Qiu Yun wasn't going home for the holidays, Liu Dan assumed she must have some unspoken hardship. Since Taibai Mountain had been a good spot the previous year, Liu Dan left it to Qiu Yun and went to Wangfu Mountain in the east. The night before, they had each borrowed a tricycle from the school janitors. Qiu Yun woke at five, stuffed two rock-hard steamed buns into her pocket, and began pedaling toward Taibai Mountain while gnawing on a bun.
Halfway there, Qiu Yun couldn't help but think: *Why is Taibai Mountain so far away? It’s so far!*
By the time she finally reached the foot of the mountain, the sky had turned from pitch black to broad daylight. She had no watch and didn't know the time, but she estimated it was much longer than the "forty or fifty-minute ride" Liu Dan had mentioned. Stalls already lined the roadside, and people were milling about. Ignoring her aching legs and freezing hands, Qiu Yun quickly found an empty spot, spread out her goods, and began hawking them loudly.
Soon, people began to inquire.
"Take a look! This is the latest version of the Big Brother Big. Why not take one for your family members?" — She was actually referring to the iPhone.
"This is the newest Santana. Would you like one?" — She was referring to a Porsche 911.
"Enjoy the bustle of the city with a personalized layout, facing the sea as spring blossoms... Don't miss out on these custom villas." — This was actually a model of the National Grand Theatre's "Giant Egg."
...
To Qiu Yun's surprise, the market acceptance was very high. In no time, she had sold two-thirds of her stock. She didn't have time to count the proceeds, but she thoroughly enjoyed the process of her flat wallet gradually swelling. She had never thought of herself as having a head for business. When she was little, people had praised her for being quirky and clever, but as she grew older, her personality had shifted toward being a background character. Aside from painting, she hadn't been passionate about much; after starting work at the museum, even that last spark of interest had faded. Yet, having returned to 1988, she had become a merchant, and a successful one at that.
Just as she tucked a fifty-cent coin into her pocket, someone pointed at an item by her leg and asked, "Boss, what is this? How much?"
Qiu Yun looked down. It was a white paper box originally meant to hold an iPhone. Since someone was asking, she immediately improvised: "This... this is a UFO! It's a spaceship that can go to heaven. Your loved ones can ride it to the Southern Heaven Gate to see the Jade Emperor, or go to the Western Paradise to find the Buddha. I only have this one left today—"
Her fluent sales pitch stopped abruptly. She stared at the person in front of her, eyes wide. After a stunned moment, she recognized him. "Professor Liang?"
Liang He stood there with his arms crossed, watching her.
She was surprised and embarrassed, but she quickly recovered. "You're here too... If you want it, I'll just give it to you..."
Liang He waved his hand. "I've already come down from the mountain."
"It's fine, it's fine," Qiu Yun said, her brain overheating for a moment. "You can keep it for your own use later."
"..." Liang He was momentarily speechless.
Qiu Yun realized she had misspoken and felt awkward. Liang He asked, "Your grandfather still hasn't returned?"
"Ah..." Qiu Yun nodded. Before she could speak, someone else asked the price of her high-imitation Porsche 911.
Liang He said, "Do your business first. I'll be over there waiting for the bus." He stepped back, and the crowd quickly filled the gap he left.
"An acquaintance?" He Chengyan asked him.
"One of my students. Her circumstances aren't great. She only has her grandfather, and he hasn't come home for the New Year."
"He hasn't come back?"
"No," Liang He gave a helpless smile. "He's a fortune teller, a 'half-immortal.' He went off on a journey last year."
"That... is certainly rare. Is she a local?"
"Yes, she lives on Phoenix Street."
"Surely she has relatives or siblings?"
"Just her. It seems she has no other relatives."
"Then the child has had a hard time," He Chengyan sighed. Watching the crowd and hearing the shouting, she added, "The children of the poor take charge of the household early."
He Chengyan was merely making a passing observation, but the words landed heavily in Liang He's ears. *A child of the poor?* Liang He looked into the distance. Qiu Yun's figure was buried in the crowd; he could only occasionally see a glimpse of her dark hair. It was true that she was a child of the poor—her family background was poor, she had lost her parents early, and now she only had an unreliable grandfather. She likely had no money, which was why she was out selling grave offerings on the first day of the New Year.
Yet, observing her daily conduct and speech, she didn't seem like a child from a poor family. For instance, her English proficiency was quite good, her painting skills were unique, and she had a casual, almost indifferent attitude toward things that suggested she was already confident in the outcome. Occasionally, she would come out with fresh terms and insights. None of this fit the profile of a child from a poor background. Liang He didn't have class prejudices, but he believed that the economic base determined the superstructure; a person's style, vision, and cultivation should be directly linked to their family background. But this rule didn't seem to apply to Qiu Yun.
Was she a lotus rising unstained from the mud, or was she simply exceptionally gifted?
Liang He couldn't figure it out.
Liang He and He Chengyan sat by the roadside for a while, watching bus after bus go by. By now, very few people were heading up the mountain; almost everyone was coming down after finishing their grave visits. He Chengyan said she wasn't in a hurry; she had anticipated this and brought some dry rations. By then, Qiu Yun had sold everything. As she was tidying up her area, she discovered that Liang He still hadn't left; he was sitting on a rock about twenty meters away.
She pushed her tricycle over. "Professor Liang, why are you still here?"
"We're waiting for the crowds to thin out before taking the bus."
Only then did Qiu Yun notice a silver-haired woman sitting beside Liang He. She was small and thin with bright, piercing eyes, but a crutch rested against her right leg.
"This is my mother, Professor He. We came to sweep the graves together today. Her legs aren't very mobile, and she can't squeeze onto the bus when it's this crowded," Liang He explained.
"Oh, I see. Happy New Year, Professor He!" Qiu Yun said quickly. "I'm Qiu Xiaoyun from Class 1 of the '87 Oil Painting Department. I'm Professor Liang's student."
"Hello," He Chengyan nodded. "You're out selling things on the first day of the year?"
"Yes," Qiu Yun smiled.
"All by yourself?"
"Yes."
He Chengyan took a steamed bun from her bag and handed it to Qiu Yun. "You must be hungry. We have some food here."
"Oh, no, it's okay." Qiu Yun waved her hands, but right then, her stomach let out two very audible growls. Her face turned bright red instantly.
Qiu Yun glanced at Liang He. He only smiled and said, "Don't be polite. Eat. My mother brought extra." Qiu Yun stopped being formal, said thank you, turned slightly to the side, and began to eat heartily. She had spent over an hour exercising on the bike this morning and then spent the whole morning shouting and selling. She was famished. Although the bun was cold and hard, once the salivary amylase in her mouth began to break it down, it tasted like the most delicious thing in the world.
Watching Qiu Yun eat with such relish, Liang He couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile. But when he saw her hands, his smile slowly froze. Her hands were red and swollen—he couldn't tell if they were pricked from making the offerings or bitten by the cold. As she ate, she unconsciously scratched here and there, leaving the skin flushed red. Born in the twenty-first century, Qiu Yun didn't know what chilblains were, but Liang He recognized them at a glance.
"Are you riding back later?" Liang He asked.
"Yes. Back to school."
"School?" Liang He was surprised. He clearly remembered that on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month—the first day the school was cleared out—he had seen Qiu Yun's dorm windows and doors tightly shut, looking as though no one was there. "Why are you staying at school?"
"I couldn't find my house keys, and there were no locksmiths open for the New Year. I pestered the dorm auntie until she let me stay in a room with some other students who remained behind," Qiu Yun said, chewing her bun without any regard for her image.
"No wonder..."
"What?"
"Nothing. How could you be so careless as to lose your house keys?" Liang He didn't know what to say. He wanted to criticize her for being so scatterbrained that she couldn't even spend the New Year properly, but seeing her unbothered expression, he was reminded of the idiom: *The emperor isn't worried, but the eunuchs are.*
"It's fine, Professor Liang," Qiu Yun said, clapping her hands after finishing the bun. She spoke with her usual bravado. "I'm an 'indestructible Little Strong.' Look at today..." She patted her right pocket and said with a grin, "I've made a handsome profit."
Liang He remained unmoved. "Lend me your tricycle."
"For what?"
Ignoring her, Liang He leaned over to He Chengyan. "Mom, I think the bus is going to be hard to catch. Why don't you sit in the back of this trike? I'll pedal you back. It'll be faster than waiting for the bus."
He Chengyan was also getting a bit cold. "What about your student?"
Liang He turned to the dazed Qiu Yun. "What are you standing there for? Get on."
Qiu Yun felt quite uneasy sitting in the back. Liang He was huffing and puffing as he pedaled in front, while she and his mother sat in the back, braving the wind of the first day of the New Year. Sitting there with Professor He, she couldn't help but feel awkward. A young man pedaling in front with an older woman and a younger woman in the back—it was easy for people to mistake them for his mother and his wife. She felt this wasn't right; the back should only hold one person. If it were just Professor He, it would be perfectly natural—a son carrying his mother. But then what about her? Walk back? If it were just Qiu Yun, that wouldn't be right either; setting aside how Professor He would get home, Liang He giving Qiu Yun a ride sounded a bit too intimate. Thinking about it, she suddenly felt this was a variation of the "Who would you save if your wife and mother fell into the water?" dilemma. Qiu Yun tapped her head. *It's the first day of the New Year; what am I thinking?* But the more she tried not to think about it, the more strange thoughts popped up. She became so afraid to look at He Chengyan or Liang He that she didn't even notice when they arrived at the base of He Chengyan's apartment building.
"Xiao Qiu," He Chengyan said. "It is Xiao Qiu, right?"
"Yes, yes." Qiu Yun nodded guiltily.
"Come inside for a simple meal. There won't be much to eat at the school."
"Huh?" Qiu Yun's head shook like a rattle. "No, no, I couldn't possibly trouble you."
"It's no trouble," Liang He said, parking the tricycle by the entrance. "I'll cook. It won't be anything special, just some buns and simple dishes."
By noon on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the sun had risen. Though the air was still cold, after pedaling for over an hour, beads of sweat had formed on Liang He's forehead. He unbuttoned his military-green overcoat, revealing a dark brown sweater underneath. His sleeves were slightly rolled up, and due to the exertion, the blue veins on the back of his hands were slightly prominent, looking strong and powerful. As he spoke, he walked toward Qiu Yun, his face flushed and the bridge of his nose sharp. As the sunlight hit his face, Qiu Yun saw those amber-like eyes again.
Qiu Yun lowered her head, her hands starting to itch again. She scratched them, and a strange itch seemed to tickle her heart as well. As if possessed, she spoke: "Then... then... alright, sorry for the trouble."
---
