During the break, Wang Chen asked Qiu Yun how she knew all that. Qiu Yun casually brushed it off, saying she had learned a bit at home as a child. Wang Chen pressed further, asking if someone in her family was a professional artist and who her teacher had been. Before Qiu Yun could come up with a reply, she heard someone calling her name from a distance. Looking up, she saw Liang He standing by the classroom door, gesturing for her to come over.
She stood up and walked out. Liang He led her to the stairwell outside.
"Student Qiu Xiaoyun," Liang He said, his hands behind his back.
"Yes?" Qiu Yun noted his serious expression.
"Do you have a foundation in drawing?"
"I... I suppose so..." It was a strange question. Did one not need a foundation to enter the Academy of Fine Arts twenty years ago?
"How long have you studied?"
"How... how long?" Qiu Yun had no idea how long the original Qiu Xiaoyun had studied. Her eyes darted around as she answered vaguely, "Not very long." Then, feeling a bit apprehensive, she asked, "Is something wrong, Teacher Liang?"
"How long is 'not very long'?" Liang He frowned.
"Since... since I was little, I had a teacher..." Qiu Yun was telling the truth; she had actually studied art for five years in elementary school. If he asked for details, it wouldn't exactly be a lie. As she spoke, she studied Liang He’s expression. A sudden realization struck her—was Liang He here to give her trouble because of that stunt she pulled in class?
She quickly spoke up before he could say anything else. "Teacher Liang, did Professor Chen ask you to talk to me? About that... I was a bit impulsive just now. It was my first class and I got a little excited, I couldn't control my impulses... It won't happen again..."
As she stammered through her explanation, a hint of a smile actually appeared in Liang He’s eyes.
"I was just asking about your foundation in drawing. Why are you explaining so much?" he said unexpectedly. "I didn't expect you to be so imposing in class, yet so timid afterward."
Qiu Yun froze for a moment. Suddenly, her face felt incredibly hot, as if she had been teased. She looked at Liang He again; his eyes were narrowed slightly, and he was watching her with a half-smile.
"I’ve looked at your entrance exam. Your lines are fluid and your logic is clear; it’s quite good," Liang He continued. "The department is planning to start a journal and we need hands. Would you be interested in participating? Of course, the department’s budget is limited, so there is no pay."
Did he even need to ask? The answer was obviously—no!
Qiu Yun didn't belong to this world anyway; why get involved in so many things? Moreover, no pay was a major deal-breaker. She was about to refuse without a second thought when she heard Liang He speak again.
"But this is a very rare opportunity. We will hold regular activities and take students out to collect materials and find inspiration. This kind of experience is hard for other students to come by." Liang He looked confident, as if waiting for Qiu Yun to jump up, wave her hands, and shout, "Pick me! Pick me!"
Qiu Yun almost wanted to laugh. Using grand slogans as an excuse to go out and have fun wasn't exclusive to the post-90s generation after all. Look at this—even in the material-scarce 1980s, when conditions didn't exist, the comrades could create them! Haha, these words might fool a fresh-faced freshman, but did he really think he could trick a "slick veteran" like her, who had already spent two years struggling in the professional world?
Seeing that Qiu Yun remained silent, Liang He assumed she was stunned by the surprise and continued his gentle persuasion.
"For the first issue, we need high-quality submissions. While we are soliciting contributions from the public, we are also encouraging the outstanding students in our department to submit their work. This Saturday, we are organizing a trip to the outskirts for a sketching session..."
"Wait... a sketching session in the outskirts this Saturday?" Qiu Yun suddenly interrupted him.
"Yes. Guiyun Temple in the eastern suburbs. Do you know it?"
Know it? She lived right near there!
It was just that A-City was still very small at this time. The city hadn't expanded yet, and the area where Qiu Yun’s future home would be was still a desolate, "birds-don't-even-poop-there" suburb.
"That's very far..." Her thoughts drifted far away as she spoke.
"Yes," Liang He nodded. "If there are enough people, we will arrange for a vehicle..."
"A vehicle?" Qiu Yun snapped back to attention, her eyes shining.
She had arrived here by being hit by a car. If she were hit again now, would she be able to go back?
This was an idea she’d had since her second day after the transmigration. But this was 1980s China; private cars were extremely rare, and there weren't many buses on the road. The Academy of Fine Arts was in the western suburbs of A-City, and there was only one bus route into town. She had gone to inspect it; the bus only came once in a blue moon, and it was always packed to the rafters, swaying precariously and moving deathly slow. If she didn't get hit "just right" and ended up half-dead or paralyzed instead, that would be truly disastrous.
"Is it a vehicle organized by the department?" she asked to confirm.
"It should be." Liang He slightly regretted his words, as he had only mentioned the vehicle to old Professor Chen. He hadn't expected Qiu Yun to have such a strong reaction to it.
"Great! I'll go!" Qiu Yun signed up immediately. "If there's a vehicle, I'm in!"
Liang He’s heart sank, unsure whether to be happy or disappointed. Professor Chen had talked to him about her before, saying her drawings had a certain spiritual quality and that she was a talent worth molding. He had thought that if he approached Qiu Xiaoyun, she would agree without hesitation out of a love for art and a passion for learning. But there was a gap between reality and his expectations, even though she had agreed in the end.
"Alright then," Liang He paused, his voice flat. "I'll put your name down. Wait for notice regarding the specific arrangements."
"Okay, thank you, Teacher Liang!" Qiu Yun felt as if a magpie were dancing in her heart. "Be sure to tell me early once it's settled! I need to prepare!"
"Mhm." Liang He nodded.
"Is there anything else?" Qiu Yun was impatient to go back and get ready.
"Nothing," Liang He said, looking at her matter-of-factly. "Go on."
Qiu Yun turned to leave, a wide grin spreading across her face the moment she turned away. Seeing this, Liang He’s heart sank further. He watched her back as she took a few steps, then actually skipped and broke into a little trot.
*No interest in learning, but so happy about material things?*
So, he added one more thing: "Actually, Professor Chen asked me about you earlier. He asked what was going on with this student."
Qiu Yun stopped and tilted her head. "What?"
"In class, why did you defy the teacher?"
Qiu Yun was momentarily stunned. "That..."
Liang He said, "I told him your situation was a bit special."
"I'm special?" She was even more confused.
"I said she was just hit in the head by a soccer ball." He pointed to his own head. "So Professor Chen decided not to hold it against you."
***
Wang Chen was the one who told Qiu Yun about the details for the Saturday trip.
In this era, there were no computers or cell phones. Even the pagers clipped to people's waists were a novelty. There were only two landlines in the entire academy: one in the department head's office and one in the counselor's office, and the two lines were even shared. The scope of communication between people was small, but simple. If you agreed on a time and place to meet, it would definitely be that time and place; once things changed, it was very difficult to get back in touch. The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and life was simple—even time seemed to slow down.
Qiu Yun tilted her head back as she washed her clothes, involuntarily humming:
*"In the past, the days moved slowly,*
*The carriages, horses, and mail were all slow,*
*A lifetime was only enough to love one person..."*
"You sing so beautifully. It sounds like a poem," Wang Chen couldn't help but praise.
"Huh? Haha." Qiu Yun turned around and saw Wang Chen standing in the sunset. Her face was flushed, and her thick, dark braids created a beautiful silhouette. She, too, looked like a poem.
"Looking for me?" Qiu Yun wiped the water from her hands.
"I came to tell you about the sketching trip on Saturday."
"You told me this afternoon."
"Oh, I did?" Wang Chen smiled sheepishly. "I forgot. Well, as long as I told you. We'll go together then."
Qiu Yun noticed two suspicious rosy patches on Wang Chen’s face. "Why is your face so red, hmm?"
"Ah, oh, the weather is just hot. The Autumn Tiger." Wang Chen walked quickly to the sink and splashed her face with cold water.
"That's not it!" Chang Huan suddenly popped up from behind. "Big Chen received a love letter!"
"What are you talking about?" Wang Chen’s face turned even redder, and she turned to leave.
Chang Huan blocked her path. "Haha, you're shy! Come on, confess!"
Qiu Yun stepped in front of her, looking gossipy. "A love letter? Big Chen, you're not leaving until you tell us!"
Outnumbered, Wang Chen was forced to confess everything by the combined efforts of Qiu Yun and Chang Huan.
It went like this: Before coming to university, Wang Chen had been a worker in a textile factory. she had a childhood friend who lived nearby and worked as a technician in the workshop. After the National College Entrance Examination was reinstated, encouraged by her friend, they promised to take the exam together. The friend got into a prestigious school in X-City in the first year. Wang Chen, however, applied to schools in X-City for two consecutive years and failed both times. In the third year, she changed her target to the local A-City Academy of Fine Arts and finally succeeded. This letter was a congratulatory note from her childhood friend in the other city.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What did he write? Is it all 'my dear,' 'I love you,' and 'baby'..." Chang Huan said exaggeratedly.
"It's not like that at all," Wang Chen explained with a red face. "He just told me to adapt to university life quickly and study hard. To not let down the expectations of the Party and the people, and to be a person who is useful to society."
"Haha!" Qiu Yun was drinking water and spat it out upon hearing those last two sentences. Such era-specific language! "Then show us a photo. You don't have to show us the letter."
"Yeah, let us see!" Liu Yujin joined the Chang Huan squad upon returning from outside, her face full of envy and curiosity.
Wang Chen clutched the letter and hurried to sit on the edge of her bed. "There's no photo."
"Let us have a look." Chang Huan squeezed in beside her, nearly pushing Wang Chen off the bed.
"Oh, you guys are so annoying." Unable to cope, Wang Chen stood up to leave.
Chang Huan’s eyes caught sight of the letter in Wang Chen’s arms, and she suddenly laughed loudly. "Aha! I saw it!"
"What did you see?" The other three in the dorm asked in unison—one in embarrassed annoyance, two in curiosity.
Chang Huan rolled her eyes, looking at everyone in the room, and then announced loudly: "The signature is—'Your Wind'!"
The four girls in the dormitory burst into a fit of laughter.
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 采风 | Collect materials / Find inspiration | Literally "collecting wind," a term for artists/writers going to the field for inspiration. |
| 归云禅寺 | Guiyun Zen Temple | A specific location mentioned for the sketching trip. |
| 秋老虎 | Autumn Tiger | A Chinese term for a spell of hot weather after the Start of Autumn. |
| 青梅竹马 | Childhood friend / Childhood sweetheart | Literally "green plums and bamboo horse," referring to a boy and girl who grew up together. |
| 你的风 | Your Wind | The romantic/poetic signature used in the letter. |
| 邱晓云 | Qiu Xiaoyun | The protagonist's full name in the 1980s timeline. |
| 大晨儿 | Big Chen | An affectionate nickname for Wang Chen. |
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