The following day, Liang He, Qiu Yun, Sima Feng, and Wang Chen boarded the train back to school.
By their count, they had spent exactly one month and three days in Datong, Shanxi.
Qiu Yun leaned against the window, watching the city of Datong slowly recede. The fields were the same fields she had seen upon arrival, yet she already found herself missing that small mountain village with its faint scent of coal cinders.
There were still about twenty days left of the summer break. Because of her foot injury, Wang Chen could only stay at home. Sima Feng lived near her and visited almost every day. Not wanting to stay in the cold, empty dormitory alone, Qiu Yun shamelessly wheedled Wang Chen, begging to stay at her house.
Wang Chen was naturally welcoming. Qiu Yun had stayed with her during the Spring Festival when she had injured her own foot, but back then, Wang Chen’s family had been away. Now it was summer. One younger brother who worked lived at home, and two others who were still in school were home for the holidays. The family of five was packed into a bustling traditional courtyard compound. If Qiu Yun stayed, she would have to share a bed with Wang Chen. Moreover, everyone dressed lightly in the summer heat; Wang Chen worried if Qiu Yun would feel uncomfortable around her three adult brothers.
Before Wang Chen could finish her concerns, Qiu Yun immediately insisted she didn't mind at all. How could she? Wang Chen’s brothers were her future great-uncles, and Wang Chen’s parents were her future grandparents. Who would mind living with their own family?
When Wang Chen asked about Qiu Yun’s grandfather, Qiu Yun pouted and explained that he still hadn't returned. There was only a handsome senior disciple about her age at the house; if she went back, it would just be the two of them alone...
Wang Chen immediately put on a look of disapproval, telling her to pack her things and come home with her that very day.
Home!
Ah, what a beautiful, warm word!
*I’m going home!*
However, when Liang He found out, he hesitated. He noted that Wang Chen’s house was crowded and might be inconvenient for Qiu Yun. He suggested she stay in the vacant single faculty apartments at the university instead.
Qiu Yun shook her head instantly. "How is that any different from staying in the dorms? It’s still at school."
Liang He glanced at her sideways and fell silent.
Qiu Yun seemed to catch his drift. She playfully clung to his arm, acting like a little sycophant. "This has nothing to do with Sima Feng. Don't go overthinking things."
Only then did Liang He look at her properly. Seeing he couldn't dissuade her, he began to nag like an old mother hen, telling her to be polite at someone else's house, not to cause trouble, to help with the dishes after meals, and to assist Wang Chen as much as possible.
Qiu Yun nodded like a little chick pecking at grain, agreeing to everything. She even added of her own accord, "I'll come find you every day!"
After saying this, she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a sweet kiss.
The frost on Liang He’s face thawed. He tried to press down the corners of his mouth, but in the end, he let them curl into a smile.
***
Upon returning to A City, Liang He first reported the results of the sketching trip to the Department Head, Chen Jintao. Under Chen’s guidance, he began organizing the primary materials they had gathered. Starting next semester, as he entered the second year of his master's program, Liang He would no longer serve as a counselor for the freshmen. There would also be opportunities for state-sponsored study abroad programs. When Chen Jintao asked if he had a preferred destination, his first instinct was Europe, the birthplace of Western art. Chen Jintao nodded, promising to keep an eye on the applications for him.
Since the incident with Lu Xialan’s family, the relationship between Liang He and He Chengyan had undergone a subtle shift. The most obvious sign was the day he returned; He Chengyan had actually come to the train station to pick him up in person. Liang He was surprised, telling her she shouldn't have traveled so far with her bad leg. He Chengyan smiled affectionately and had Zhou Wen help with the luggage, mentioning that he had his uncle’s driver for the day. Liang He was even more stunned; He Chengyan was usually solitary and rarely asked others for favors, even her own brother. While he was still dazed, He Chengyan looked at the three students behind him and invited them to join. The three of them exchanged glances, feeling overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.
A few days later, while Liang He was eating at home, He Chengyan suddenly asked if the student at the station was the same one who had eaten dumplings at their house during the Spring Festival. Liang He took a moment to process this before cautiously confirming it was. He Chengyan nodded and said a mysterious, "I see."
***
After returning to A City, Qiu Yun naturally didn't have much to do. As a person of leisure, she spent her time clinging to Wang Chen and Sima Feng or looking for Liang He. When neither side was free to entertain her, she would return to No. 89 Phoenix Street. In fact, the first thing she did upon returning was check the house. But that old rascal Qiu Zhenghong was truly terrible; not only had he vanished without a sound, but he hadn't even left a note. Speechless, Qiu Yun could only check back periodically. Every time she found no one there, it brought both a sense of relief and a strange, lingering unease.
However, that bit of unease was quickly overshadowed by the joy of spending time with Liang He. He took her to see two movies, both new releases. One was *The Last Emperor*, which Sima Qiu Yun had heard of in the 21st century. The other was a new Hong Kong import starring Joey Wong, titled *Picture of a Nymph*.
In 1988, A City had only one cinema—or more accurately, a Great Auditorium that doubled as a cinema. This auditorium remained in the prime city center until 1999 and held a significant place in Qiu Yun’s childhood memories. During her kindergarten years, Sima Feng’s workplace held its annual New Year’s celebration and awards ceremony there every year. She would be brought along as a young spectator or a flower girl, always looking forward to attending her father’s company gala every New Year’s Day. But two months before the millennium, the land was purchased by a Hong Kong real estate company. A month later, the Great Auditorium, which held such importance in the hearts of old A City residents, was razed to the ground.
The Great Auditorium belonged only to the previous century.
But in 1988, it was undoubtedly the "big brother" of A City’s architectural scene. Its solemn European style, the vast public square in front, and the high-end A City Department Store to the east marked it as the undeniable political, cultural, and commercial center of the city. Of course, movie tickets in this era were as hard to get as Jay Chou concert tickets on Damai in the future. "Scalpers" and "gate-crashing" were common phenomena both inside and outside the theater. For Hong Kong films in particular, the difficulty of obtaining a ticket increased exponentially. Liang He had to pay a scalper double the price to get tickets for *Picture of a Nymph*.
The movie started at 7:20 PM. Qiu Yun and Liang He shared a tacit understanding, acting as cautious as celebrities afraid of being caught by paparazzi. They each held their own ticket and entered separately to find their seats. There was no eye contact throughout, as if they were total strangers. It wasn't until the hall was full and the lights dimmed that a hand reached out in the darkness—Liang He quietly took hold of Qiu Yun’s hand.
On the big screen, the female lead played by Joey Wong was being captured by a demon in a tragic scene, but Qiu Yun had an irrepressible smile on her face.
Perhaps the environment’s influence on an individual is decisive. Qiu Yun, a girl who had traveled back from the liberal 21st century, felt no sense of discord while adapting to the dating rules of this era. Who would have thought that her first time going to the movies with her boyfriend would be as discreet as a meeting between underground party members? Yet, her heart accepted, liked, and anticipated such scenes naturally, as if she truly belonged to this era, as if she had never witnessed the open freedom of young lovers in the years to come. She even felt that this pure, hidden date, away from the eyes of the public, held a thrill and pleasure akin to a secret affair. The exchange of glances amidst the flickering screen and the play of light and shadow, the unspoken connection transmitted through a dark palm beneath the seats—it all made her heart race with sweetness.
This beauty was like the "Pipa player half-hiding her face" described by the Governor of Jiangzhou, or like the Venus de Milo they had both sketched. Art always uses the rhetoric of synesthesia to obscurely express hormone-filled fantasies, and only at the right moment does the person involved realize—oh, so this is that wonderful feeling.
***
Of course, as a girl from the 21st century, her thinking still differed significantly from the present. For instance, amidst the shifting winds of China in the late eighties and during this idle summer break, she keenly noticed a piece of news: A City’s first commercial housing development was about to go on sale.
She could practically see RMB fluttering through the air!
When she first entered Qiu Zhenghong’s courtyard house, she had grumbled to herself that such a perfectly square courtyard would be worth over a hundred million in the 21st century. But back in 1987, the term "commercial housing" didn't even exist; Chinese real estate was a concept still brewing, without even a formal document to its name. By 1988, a real estate wind blew from Hainan, spreading to Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and finally reaching A City.
That year, the advertisement in the *A City Morning Post* read: Donghu Liyuan, 500 RMB per square meter, villas. In 2018, another news story would shock the city: someone had sold a single villa in Donghu Liyuan to save a listed company from bankruptcy.
Although the location of Donghu Liyuan seemed a bit remote now, thirty years later, it would become a mature urban area where three rail transit lines converged—and the only low-density villa community in the city center.
As Grandpa Li Ka-shing said, the three elements of buying a house are: location, location, location!
This was the perfect illustration.
So, while everyone else was using the newspaper to catch watermelon seeds, Qiu Yun nearly jumped off the ground. *Buy! She desperately wanted to buy the whole development!*
Yes, she was desperate, but she couldn't buy the whole development!
There were two reasons: 1. She was a student and didn't qualify for a mortgage (unable to do a 10-year installment plan); 2. She had no money! 500 RMB per square meter was a bargain price in the 21st century, but in 1988, it was an astronomical sum—nearly a full year’s salary for a worker, assuming they didn't eat or drink.
During their evening walk, she told Liang He about it.
Liang He paused, his expression a bit subtle. Qiu Yun gathered from his gaze that he wasn't quite getting the point she was trying to convey. In fact, Liang He’s focus was indeed different from hers. He went quiet, his face flushing imperceptibly in the night. "Oh," he asked, "you want me to buy a house?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Qiu Yun nodded like a woodpecker. "Buy as many as you can! Don't you still have prize money left from that award-winning painting?"
"That..." Liang He looked slightly embarrassed. "The remainder, when converted to RMB, can only buy about one square meter..."
"Ah..." Qiu Yun’s excitement dampened slightly.
"However, an American collector contacted me recently saying he wants to buy that painting," Liang He added slowly after a short silence. He sounded distracted, as if he didn't particularly want to sell it.
"How much can it sell for?"
"Probably... enough for one unit," Liang He said slowly.
"Then what are you hesitating for? Sell it quickly!" Qiu Yun shouted immediately.
"But..." Liang He hesitated, searching for an answer in Qiu Yun’s eyes. "Tell me first, are you having some kind of difficulty? Are you in urgent need of money?"
"Yes! Oh, no, no..." Qiu Yun felt her head spinning. "I’m telling *you* to buy it. I don't have the qualifications to buy a house, so I'm not buying!"
"But..." Liang He showed a level of hesitation and caution he never usually displayed. It took him a long time to ask, "You’re asking me to buy a house because...?"
He wanted to say that if all went well, he would stay at the Academy of Fine Arts after graduation, and the school would provide subsidized housing. He didn't need to buy his own, so she didn't need to worry.
"Big brother," Qiu Yun found it hard to describe thirty years of Chinese economic change in one sentence. She wiped the sweat from her brow. "Do you trust me? Just listen to me, you can't go wrong! Regardless of whether you live in that house later, this will be a decision you won't regret for the rest of your life. That place... I’ve already scouted it. It’s a bit remote now, but given its positioning as a villa... it’s excellent! Who doesn't want to live in a villa? Right? Remember that dubbed movie we watched together? Didn't the hero and heroine live in a villa?"
Liang He saw the conviction on Qiu Yun’s face, and Qiu Yun saw the doubt and hesitation on his.
Qiu Yun wondered how to convince this man. If she told him directly that the house would increase in value several hundred times over in thirty years, would he believe her? Would he think she was crazy?
Then, Liang He said, "It’s not that I don't trust you."
"Then what is it?"
"I didn't plan on selling that painting."
"Why?" Qiu Yun asked. "Oh, right, I still haven't seen that painting; we always seem to miss each other. Are you attached to it? Was it hard to paint?"
Liang He pursed his lips, looking somewhat bashful. "I kept a copy of the magazine it was published in. I'll show it to you tomorrow."
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
大杂院 | traditional courtyard compound | A large courtyard shared by multiple families, common in old Chinese cities.
研二 | second year of master's | Short for 研究生二年级.
陈劲韬 | Chen Jintao | Liang He's department head.
末代皇帝 | The Last Emperor | The 1988 film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
画中仙 | Picture of a Nymph | A 1988 Hong Kong fantasy film starring Joey Wong (Wang Zuxian).
大礼堂 | Great Auditorium | A multi-purpose hall used for meetings and movies.
东湖郦苑 | Donghu Liyuan | The name of the first commercial housing development in A City.
商品房 | commercial housing | Privately owned housing sold on the open market, as opposed to state-allocated housing.
按揭 | mortgage | A loan for purchasing real estate.
江州司马 | Governor of Jiangzhou | A reference to the poet Bai Juyi and his famous poem "Pipa Xing."
