Liang He walked Qiu Yun back, stopping two blocks away from He Ying’s house.
In the village, streetlights were few and far between. "Be careful on your way in," Liang He said.
"Mhm." Qiu Yun nodded. "Goodbye."
"Mhm." Liang He suddenly leaned down. Thinking he was going to kiss her again, Qiu Yun instinctively turned her head in shy hesitation, but Liang He merely plucked a leaf from her hair.
"A leaf," he said.
She felt even more bashful. "Oh."
He continued to look at her hair. Qiu Yun assumed there was another leaf, so when Liang He leaned down a second time, she didn't move away.
Instead, a gentle kiss landed on her forehead.
"It’s me," he whispered with a mischievous chuckle in the darkness.
Qiu Yun gave him a playful shove.
"Go on home," Liang He said, unfazed.
Qiu Yun turned and walked away. Liang He waited until she had entered the courtyard gate before he slowly made his way back under the moonlight.
He Ying was still in the courtyard, looking as though she were lost in thought. When Qiu Yun called her name, she jumped slightly and stood up. "You're back?"
"Yes." Qiu Yun nodded. "Not asleep yet?"
He Ying replied, "Well... the weather is cool tonight, so I’m just enjoying the breeze."
For the past few days, He Ying had been waiting in the courtyard for them to return every night. Qiu Yun said goodnight as usual and went inside. Once He Ying saw her close the door, followed a minute later by the sounds of girls giggling and playing, she sighed and retreated to her own room.
Wang Chen had just washed her hair and was currently drying it. "Where did you go tonight?"
"Nowhere special." Qiu Yun looked for her clothes. "Just a walk around the village."
"Alone?" Wang Chen asked with a sly grin.
"..." Qiu Yun ignored her.
"Haha, why the silence?" Wang Chen looked like a cat that had just swallowed a canary. "‘With a light silk fan, she swats the fireflies’... the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meeting at last..."
"...What are you even talking about?" Qiu Yun scolded her. "Da Chen, you’ve changed. I remember when we first met, we still possessed our most authentic innocence..."
"Haha!" Wang Chen laughed loudly and leaned in close. "You washed your hair and changed into a white dress just to go worship Buddha in the middle of the night? Quick, tell me, who is he?"
Qiu Yun wasn't buying it. "Who? ...Go away, look at all the hair you're shedding, it's getting all over me..."
"I know..." Wang Chen grumbled. "I don't know why, but my hair is falling out like crazy this summer. It usually doesn't happen until autumn or winter... Hey, don't change the subject!" Wang Chen pressed closer. "I really want to know which sacred being has fallen into our excellent Xiao Yun’s clutches... oh no, I mean, caught her discerning eye... haha..."
Qiu Yun grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. "Turn around, I need to change."
"Is it really Teacher Liang?"
Qiu Yun focused on putting on her pajamas.
Getting no answer, Wang Chen asked again, "No? ...Could it be... Ah! Gao Zhifei?"
Qiu Yun threw her discarded dress directly at her.
"Haha, I knew it! It is Teacher Liang!" Wang Chen nearly jumped for joy.
Qiu Yun: "..."
"I'm tired... going to sleep." With that, Qiu Yun collapsed onto the *kang*.
"Hey, hey, don't sleep yet..." Wang Chen excitedly shook her. Qiu Yun was tossed about until she couldn't take it anymore. In truth, she was still buzzing with excitement from her walk and couldn't sleep at all. With Wang Chen making such a fuss, she had no choice but to open her eyes.
"Look at me..." Wang Chen stared into her eyes. After a long moment, she said with mock seriousness, "The mouth can lie, but the eyes cannot..."
"Pfft..." Qiu Yun’s composure broke, and she curled up laughing.
"Xiao Yun, is it really Teacher Liang?" Wang Chen confirmed once more.
Qiu Yun just laughed for a full minute. Realizing she couldn't hide it anymore, she finally gave a reluctant nod. "You can't tell anyone..."
"Wow..." Wang Chen collapsed onto the bed beside her.
"Keep it down... what are you 'wowing' about..." Qiu Yun nudged her.
"So what He Ying said was true..."
"He Ying? What did she say?" Qiu Yun sat up.
"Haha... look at how nervous you are..." Wang Chen asked teasingly, "Tell me, what did you and Teacher Liang do in the cave?"
Qiu Yun’s face flushed instantly, but she was fairly certain she and Liang He had already parted ways by the time He Ying arrived, so she couldn't have been seen. She remained relatively calm. "We didn't do anything. We are perfectly innocent."
"Look at you," Wang Chen patted her. "He Ying only said you and Teacher Liang seemed to get along well, she didn't say anything else."
Qiu Yun: "Really?"
"Really, why would I lie? She just mentioned it in passing."
Only then did Qiu Yun feel at ease and lie back down.
"Teacher Liang... he really is wonderful..." Wang Chen sighed. "I wonder how many hearts are going to break..."
"If you put it that way... will I become public enemy number one and meet a tragic end?"
"Hahaha... it’s entirely possible!"
"That’s why," Qiu Yun turned on her side to face Wang Chen, speaking very seriously, "you have to keep this a secret for me. You can't tell anyone."
"Not even Liu Yujin and Chang Huan?"
"Not them... not for now."
"Why?" Wang Chen felt Qiu Yun’s expression was a bit too solemn.
Qiu Yun avoided Wang Chen’s gaze. "...It’s better to keep this low-profile."
"True..." Wang Chen thought about it and found it reasonable. "Lest Gao Zhifei finds out and gets heartbroken, affecting the unity between students and teachers."
Qiu Yun: "..."
The two of them chatted until late before finally falling asleep. Perhaps because she was too excited, even after Wang Chen fell asleep, Qiu Yun remained awake.
She climbed up and, by the light of the moon, leaned against the windowsill to write in her diary:
*July 29, 1988. Heavy rain turning to overcast.*
*The most beautiful rainy day.*
She drew a very girlish heart at the end.
After finishing, she put her diary away and lay back down on the *kang*, finally drifting off to sleep.
Qiu Yun had a dream.
She dreamed she was wearing a pure white wedding dress, holding a bouquet of flowers, walking down a red carpet strewn with roses. The church doors slowly opened for her, and a beam of light shone through, so bright she could hardly keep her eyes open. A hand reached out from the light and gripped hers firmly.
She looked up to see Liang He in a dark blue suit, standing tall and elegant. His features were sharp yet handsome, his expression tender as he gazed steadily at her.
Lines that had appeared in countless movies finally manifested in her own life.
Someone asked, "Mr. Liang He, do you take Sima Qiu Yun to be your wedded wife? To love her, to be faithful to her, in poverty, sickness, or disability, until death do you part? Do you?"
Liang He gazed at her, solemn and deeply affectionate. "I do."
The person asked again, "Ms. Sima Qiu Yun, do you take Liang He to be your wedded husband? To love him, to be faithful to him, in poverty, sickness, or disability, until death do you part? Do you?"
Qiu Yun’s eyes grew red. Just as she was about to say "I do," the Liang He before her suddenly transformed into Qiu Zhenghong. He had returned to his seventy or eighty-year-old self, his face covered in terrifying wrinkles. He glared with clouded eyes and barked at her, "What are you doing? You are about to return to your own era! How can you marry him? Don't you know this will lead to death?!"
Terrified, Qiu Yun stumbled back, crying out, "Why are you here? Where is Liang He? Where is Liang He?!"
"You won't see him again! Don't be foolish, hurry back! Something terrible has happened in reality! Your father..." Qiu Zhenghong’s face shifted like a magic trick, suddenly turning into Sima Feng.
"Dad..." Qiu Yun said in a panic, "What... what happened? And... what about Liang He?!"
"Hurry back! Hurry back!" Qiu Zhenghong was gone, and Sima Feng was gone. In the vast, empty space, only those words echoed.
Qiu Yun jolted awake.
It was already light out.
Wang Chen was already dressed and teased her, "I wonder who it was, constantly calling out 'Liang He' in her sleep..."
Qiu Yun sat in a daze for a long while before slowly getting up.
Monday was the final day of the sketching trip. Once the day was over, their half-month excursion would come to an end. Because it was the last day, everyone was quite relaxed. Lin Zhongren wanted to use up his remaining rolls of film so he could develop them all at once back home, so he took many photos of everyone.
In the evening, to thank the village for their warm hospitality, Liang He and Lin Zhongren organized a bonfire party and invited the residents to join. Having stayed in the village for nearly half a month, eating and living together every day, the students and villagers had developed deep bonds. Director Huang joked that when they first arrived, the students' skin was fair and clean, making the difference between them and the villagers obvious at a glance, but now everyone looked the same—they were all one family. The crowd roared with laughter.
Qiu Yun looked down at her arms; they were indeed much darker than when she arrived. Lifting her short sleeves, she could see a distinct tan line. She looked up across the bonfire to find Liang He catching her in the act. He flashed his white teeth, laughing happily. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Tsk, tsk..." Wang Chen quietly poked Qiu Yun’s waist. "All this flirting... do you want me to find someone to swap seats with?"
"Da Chen..." Qiu Yun gave her a sidelong glance.
"Look over there..." Wang Chen pointed toward nine o'clock. "Someone over there has looked at you several times already."
Qiu Yun followed the direction. Gao Zhifei was sitting there. Seeing her look over, his eyes lit up. When their gazes met, he even gave her a cheerful wave with the enamel mug in his hand.
Qiu Yun: "..."
"And look here, and here, and over there..." Wang Chen pointed in several other directions. "Liu Lin and Zhou Daping from our class, and Hu Xin, Chen Xiao, and Liu Qiao from the other class..."
These girls were sitting not far from Liang He, their gazes constantly sweeping in his direction. When Zhou Daping saw Liang He laughing so happily, she looked toward Qiu Yun with a puzzled expression.
Qiu Yun immediately felt as if a hidden arrow had been shot her way.
"Well? Can you feel it?" Wang Chen asked.
"...How did you know? Before, it didn't seem like..."
"Are you stupid or just forgetful? The news of Teacher Liang and Teacher Lu breaking up spread through the entire Yunma Village last week. Even Director Huang wants to introduce a wife to Teacher Liang." Wang Chen spoke with exasperation. "Besides, we're out on a field trip now, not at school. And Liang He won't be teaching us next semester; he'll just be our senior graduate student. I'm not saying everyone is being blatant about it, but you can't stop people from having secret crushes..."
Qiu Yun listened, stunned. She had zero romantic experience; it had always been others pursuing her. Dealing with so many "love rivals" at once was a first in her life.
Looking at Liang He’s harmlessly smiling face across the fire, she thought to herself: *He really is a charmer.*
Just then, someone in the crowd started a commotion, calling for Teacher Liang to perform a song for everyone.
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
轻罗小扇扑流萤 | With a light silk fan, she swats the fireflies | A line from the poem "Autumn Evening" by Du Mu.
牛郎织女 | Cowherd and Weaver Girl | Figures from a Chinese myth representing lovers separated by the Milky Way.
炕 | Kang | A traditional long platform for sleeping, made of bricks and heated from below.
妖精 | Charmer / Enchanter | Literally "goblin" or "spirit," used here to describe someone irresistibly attractive or a heartbreaker.
搪瓷杯 | Enamel mug | A common household item in 1980s China.
