Chapter 2

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In the northern regions, October nights are already swept by cold winds. Su Liuhua, clad in a thin summer dress, hugged her arms and shivered as she arrived before the old family house.

"Su Jianguo said your ancestors were poor peasants for three generations—turns out he wasn’t lying."

Su Liuhua picked up a wooden stick. In the clear moonlight, a spider web hung in the corner of the doorway. She tried several times, bracing herself before finally mustering the courage to sweep it away.

“Ah.” A sharp pain stung her palm—the splinter from the stick had lodged itself in her fair skin. She stood in place, carefully pinching at it with her nails for a long while before finally managing to pull it out.

Lingering a little too long at the doorway, she turned to close the door and saw a black shadow flit past outside the crumbling courtyard wall.

Su Liuhua: “...”

She quickly bolted the door, then hung the iron latch in place.

Turning around, she was met with pitch darkness and silence, which made her swallow nervously.

Muttering to herself, she said, “Supernatural things shouldn’t exist in a period novel. And if there were, they’d be labeled monsters and dragged off. Please, let there be no rats, no bats, no cockroaches! I really can’t do this.”

The wooden house was not large, with only a kitchen and a sleeping room with a heated brick bed. Everything else had been piled up in the yard and was nearly all stolen away by now.

The only two small windowpanes had been smashed, but fortunately, there were still wooden shutters that could be bolted from inside.

Pinching her nose, she swept the brick bed. To her surprise, there was hardly any dust, as if someone had cleaned in advance. Running her hand along the mat, even in the darkness she could feel it was intact, and there was even a faint lingering warmth.

The night deepened with heavy dew, and her body was weak.

Frightened, Su Liuhua curled up against the wall. Slowly, warmth seeped into her body and she drifted off to sleep.

“Liuhua, Liuhua!”

Suddenly awakened by someone calling her name, Su Liuhua found a sliver of daylight squeezing through the window cracks.

Having spent the night alone in the dilapidated house, she patted her chest and felt she had grown stronger. She’d thought she wouldn’t sleep a wink, and yet she’d slept soundly—how amusing.

Outside, people called her name incessantly. Su Liuhua gathered her hair, slipped on her shoes, glanced briefly around the sleeping room, then walked to the door and asked through it, “Who’s looking for me?”

Her soft tone made the two young men outside compete to answer. “I’ll take you to the park to see the peacocks! We can hitch a ride for free.”

The other said, “I’ll laze around with you—if you’re hungry, I brought pancakes.”

Su Liuhua: “...Pancakes? You both must be out of your minds.”

Despite her words, she already guessed who the two outside were.

She opened the door and said to Zhang Hu, the one who wanted to show her peacocks, “How are you planning to see peacocks? Like last time, when you were mistaken for a vagrant and sent back?”

Then to the chubby one clutching his pancakes, “Don’t you laze around with me. You’re a middle schooler—your father’s counting on you to inherit his great post as granary manager for Xiaoba Village’s brigade.”

Their pursuit was nothing but a burden to Su Liuhua—and, frankly, she truly disliked slovenly men.

To put it bluntly, she couldn’t stand men who reeked.

She’d been pampered all her life; her standards for her surroundings and for others were far higher than those of the locals.

Now, given the circumstances, she couldn’t afford to be too particular—but at a minimum, hygiene was non-negotiable. Dirty, smelly men who wouldn’t leave her alone—she was genuinely repulsed.

She remembered from the novel that Zhang Hu was a drifter, living for the moment, interested only in fleeting romance.

As for the chubby one—his mother had, behind her back, called her a cast-off woman. He was pretty filthy, too. Did he really think a lard-bellied boy like him could be her choice? He was just after her youth and freshness.

Su Liuhua remained aloof, which didn’t seem to bother them. Everyone knew Su Liuhua’s standards were sky-high; it was just a matter of who could outlast the other.

She was happy enough to let them sweep the yard and clean the well—they insisted on helping, even if she tried to refuse.

After washing up, she checked her pockets—her entire fortune amounted to three yuan.

“This pickled vegetable jar can’t hold anything. Throw it out?” Zhang Hu, having scrubbed the water vat, found a forgotten pickle jar in the kitchen, and, finding it empty, prepared to toss it.

Su Liuhua, noticing the brown jar had the character for “double happiness” painted on it, said, almost involuntarily, “Keep it to store things.”

She paused, then convinced herself, “I don’t have much else at home. If I throw something out, I’ll have even less. Might as well use it for now.”

Zhang Hu naturally obeyed—he was, after all, trying to win her favor.

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“I’ll have my dad look in the warehouse for some old tiles to patch the holes in your roof,” the chubby one said, sitting on the broken threshold after sweeping the yard. “If I tell him to help you, he’ll be more than happy.”

She knew better than to take things from others—work was fine, but she wouldn't accept their property. “Thank you, but no need.”

The chubby one grinned, his round face creasing. “You can be polite to him, but don’t be polite to me! It’s free. Otherwise, if the wind picks up tonight, you’ll freeze.”

Su Liuhua flashed a radiant smile, her white teeth dazzling him. “But I like the fresh air.”

He was left speechless, while Zhang Hu burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” A gentle voice called out.

Su Liuhua saw, standing by the broken wall, a passably handsome, healthy-looking young man. She called out slowly, “Xia Yutian?”

Just from his name, one could guess when he was born. His parents were both team leaders and model workers—industrious, never ones to gossip.

He too was hardworking, and of all the men around Su Liuhua, the only one who didn’t vex her.

He acted protective of her, even bringing her medicine twice when the original Su Liuhua was pining for another man in the old house.

He also had a sweet tongue, always coaxing Su Liuhua, and didn’t have a strong odor—he left a decent impression.

Carrying a small bag of old rice, Xia Yutian poked his head into the kitchen and exclaimed, “Wow, there isn’t even a pot.”

Su Liuhua, for once a little embarrassed, replied, “I plan to buy a small stove.”

Mainly because a small stove saves firewood and uses a small enough pot that she can handle it herself. Otherwise, a big iron pot would cook enough for ten days at once, and hauling and washing it would be a pain.

Xia Yutian pointed to the red bricks in the corner, saying easily, “Don’t waste your money—I’ll build you a brick stove. Just get a small iron pot.”

That was perfect.

Su Liuhua’s mood brightened at once.

Seeing Xia Yutian lift her spirits so easily, Zhang Hu protested, “I’m the one who cleaned up everything inside and out.”

The chubby one chimed in, “I swept the yard, too!”

Su Liuhua, admitting her laziness, still argued, “But you didn’t wipe down the bed mat.”

“I’ll do it now!” the chubby one quickly offered.

She stretched out her slender arm to stop him, holding her breath. “Don’t! If your sweaty smell gets on it, what’ll I do? Go home and have a bath.”

He tilted his chin. “You just don’t understand—that’s what you call manly.”

“Well, isn’t this impressive—just one night here and the whole place is full of men,” came a sharp voice.

Su Huidi, waiting for Brother Hongxing from the grain and oil shop to come with a marriage proposal, had been sent by her mother to keep an eye on Su Liuhua, fearing she’d stir up trouble.

Wearing a floral shirt and new shoes, Su Huidi stood before Su Liuhua, saying sourly, “If Brother Hongxing asks for you, you’d better not go.”

Su Liuhua sneered, “Why would I? It’s not my business if they’re selling their daughter.”

Su Huidi glared, “You’re just jealous—”

Su Liuhua couldn’t help but laugh. “If you’re so eager to jump into the fire, no one’s stopping you.”

With the battered feather duster in hand, she said, “It’s cold already, yet there are still flies—strange, isn’t it?”

Building the stove, Xia Yutian didn’t even look up. “If any flies dare come in, I’ll help you shoo them out.”

Stomping her foot outside the gate, Su Huidi yelled, “What’s wrong with you people? She’s a cast-off, and you’re still swarming around her—aren’t you picky at all?”

Su Liuhua replied in a soft, delicate voice, “Of course they’re picky—otherwise, they’d have picked you.”

Everyone burst out laughing. Su Huidi, infuriated, said, “Just you wait.”

She’d expected Su Liuhua, with her temperament, to cry herself to sleep in the house. She’d wanted to savor her misery. Never did she expect to be laughed at instead.

After she left, Su Liuhua went to the supply co-op and bought a small iron pot. Xia Yutian demonstrated how to use it, and soon she was enjoying rice porridge made on her new stove.

Seeing the two of them chatting so warmly, Zhang Hu and the chubby one felt left out and left together.

After drinking the old rice porridge, Su Liuhua wrapped herself in the thin, patched cotton jacket she’d dug out from a corner, sitting on the bed and obediently waiting for Xia Yutian to finish washing the dishes.

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Curiously enough, the thin cotton jacket was made from the cheapest coarse black cloth, yet it smelled clean and sun-dried, no matter how long it had been stored. In an emergency, it would do.

After a while, though, Su Liuhua scratched her neck—the coarse cloth irritated her skin. She lined the collar with a washed-soft handkerchief, making it barely tolerable.

Xia Yutian, having finished the dishes and refilled the water vat, dried his hands and stepped into the sleeping room. “My mother wants me to go to the mountains for some wild greens—do you want to come along?”

She’d spent one yuan fifty on the small iron pot and another dime on a roll of red toilet paper—her pockets were nearly empty. She had to save money by gathering food: “I’ll go.”

True to her word, she slung a little bamboo basket over her arm, tucked the red toilet paper inside, and followed him up the mountain.

There was no mention in the book of Xia Yutian taking Su Liuhua up the mountain, so she figured this was the butterfly effect at work.

She bent to dig up the wild greens—soft and tender, so much so that she was both scornful and reluctant to throw them away.

Xia Yutian pretended there were mushrooms ahead, leading her deeper into the mountains.

Seeing that it was getting late, Su Liuhua began to insist they head home. Xia Yutian tossed a cluster of golden mushrooms into her basket and, as if by accident, said, “Liuhua, did you know all along that I liked you?”

Su Liuhua was still squatting, digging up wild greens. She didn’t see the dark emotion in Xia Yutian’s eyes and replied without looking up, “I didn’t know.”

He gave a bitter smile. “I know you want to marry up, move to the city—even if it means turning against your own sister for a man twice your age. Is a city residence permit really worth it?”

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” she shot back.

“Is it really just hearsay?”

“Believe what you want.”

Su Liuhua dug up the last of the greens in front of her and carefully wiped her hands with the red toilet paper. Xia Yutian said nothing more.

Compared to the other two, he was at least a bit cleaner, but there was still a faint trace of sweat on him.

Su Liuhua became aware of the scent—too close behind her. She turned around sharply. “Why are you so close?” she demanded, stepping several paces to the left.

But Xia Yutian moved in faster, closing the distance. Su Liuhua sensed something was wrong and began to back away, step by step. “What do you want?”

“Be my girlfriend,” Xia Yutian said fervently. “A delicate flower like you—how could you survive without someone to care for you? I’m willing to be your gardener, to let you bloom in my garden.”

Su Liuhua frowned, her beautiful brows drawing together. “I refuse. I don’t want that.”

A flash of menace crossed his face as he placed a hand on his belt.

Su Liuhua shouted, “Are you going to call for help?” And her heart skipped a beat—this was how melodramatic plots always unfolded...

Xia Yutian chuckled darkly. “You could scream your lungs out and no one would come!”

Su Liuhua: I knew it!

He reached out to grab her wrist, her cries growing more frantic and delicate.

He blamed Su Liuhua for stirring the criminal urge in him. “Be good, it’s out of your hands now.”

Suddenly, a rustling came from the chestnut tree behind them.

Both Su Liuhua and Xia Yutian looked up.

A lithe, agile youth emerged from the thick leaves, gripping the trunk and leaning down. “You’re disturbing me,” he said, dropping a basket full of chestnuts from above.

While Xia Yutian was stunned, Su Liuhua darted aside, snatched up the digging knife he’d dropped, and pointed it straight at him. “Someone’s here now!”

Xia Yutian ignored her and looked up at the youth in the tree. “Mongrel, this has nothing to do with you—get lost!”

The “mongrel” looked only fourteen or fifteen, his sharp, handsome face still tinged with boyishness and his eyes tough and unyielding. He showed no fear of the seven or eight meters’ height, leaping down with agility.

Though the weather had turned cold, he wore only a patched short jacket, his tanned arms bare. Standing in front of Su Liuhua, he was like an unbreakable wall, taller than Xia Yutian and giving her an overwhelming sense of safety.

She caught no whiff of male sweat on him—only the clean scent of soapberry.

“How is it not my business?” the youth asked, his voice rough with adolescence. “I’ve already dug up the herbs you wanted for your... problem. When are you going to pay me?”

From behind her defender, Su Liuhua cried out, “Xia Yutian, you’re already that sick, and you still want to commit a crime?”

Xia Yutian stammered, “I-I just wanted to try my luck—you might have said yes.”

Su Liuhua’s face was expressionless. “Oh, I thought you were betting on your speed—not getting caught.”