I Really Would Keep Waiting Forever

"Xiao Mo, how do you read these two characters?"

"Yao tiao."

"And this one?"

"Qiu."

"'The graceful and lovely maiden is a gentleman's good match.' Xiao Mo, what does that sentence mean?"

"It means that a beautiful and virtuous maiden makes a gentleman a good wife."

"Then how do I become a virtuous maiden?"

"Read."

"But I am reading."

"Not enough. You need to read more."

"How many books do I have to read?"

"When you've read enough, you'll know for yourself."

"Oh."

Bai Ruxue replied, then lifted her lovely face and looked at the top of Xiao Mo's head.

"Huh? Xiao Mo, I think you've gotten taller."

"Have I?"

"You have." Bai Ruxue rose onto her tiptoes and held her hand out to measure. "You used to be as tall as me, but now you're a whole head taller."

"I guess so." Xiao Mo looked at the girl before him. "But how come you haven't grown?"

"Right." Bai Ruxue blinked. "Why haven't I grown?"

"Maybe this is as tall as you'll get." Xiao Mo patted her on the head. Leading the ox with one hand and reading as he went, he continued down the path.

"No way." Bai Ruxue hurried after Xiao Mo. "I'll still grow, Xiao Mo! I'll get really, really tall, and my legs will be really, really long."

Xiao Mo smiled. "All right. I'll wait and see."

Whenever Xiao Mo went up the mountain, he ran into the girl.

She never told him where she came from, and he never asked where she lived.

Whenever Xiao Mo rode the ox and read, the girl would sit side-saddle behind him, her little feet swinging beneath her skirt as she watched the clouds, the grass, and him.

Ever since the girl appeared, Xiao Mo had spent much less time gathering herbs.

The main reason was that Bai Ruxue would gather the herbs and bury them in the ground.

Whenever Xiao Mo came by, she would excitedly tug him farther into the mountains, saying, "I found lots more Purple Sun Grass and Green Waterfall Flowers!"

Xiao Mo taught her to read and write, while Bai Ruxue picked up bits of silver to pay his tuition.

But even with the best luck in the world, Bai Ruxue couldn't find money every day.

Whenever she came up empty-handed, Xiao Mo had to comfort her. "It's all right. You can pay my tuition with a rabbit or pheasant sometime."

After that, whenever the girl came to see Xiao Mo, she would carry a rabbit or pheasant in her tender white hands.

"You should've said so sooner. Rabbits and pheasants are much easier to find than silver," the girl said.

Still, Bai Ruxue kept picking up silver every day.

There was no other reason.

Bai Ruxue had heard Xiao Mo say that studying cost a lot of money, and she wanted to find money to help him study.

Summer came, and the weather grew hotter by the day.

Snakes liked cool, shady places.

Standing at the mouth of the cave, Bai Ruxue took one look at the blazing sun and didn't want to go outside.

She even felt that if she crawled out, the ground would burn her belly and turn her into a roast snake.

But Xiao Mo had said he was going up the mountain to graze his ox today.

Judging by the time, Xiao Mo had probably finished lunch and was already riding the ox up the mountain.

"Xiao Qing, your big sister's heading out," Bai Ruxue said, gathering her courage.

Xiao Qing lazily lifted her head from the cool stone. "Come back early, big sister."

After all this time, Xiao Qing had given up trying to talk her sister out of going to see that human.

Her sister never listened anyway.

Besides, that human seemed rather dense. He still hadn't realized that her sister was a demon.

"Mm, I'm off."

Bai Ruxue transformed into human form and took a special look at her little feet.

They really weren't a tail. Delighted, Bai Ruxue bounded out of the cave.

Sure enough, on the path he often took up the mountain, Bai Ruxue spotted a boy and an ox.

"Xiao Mo!" the girl called happily, waving.

As usual, the two rode Big Black Ox and swayed along through the mountains.

Only, the sun was scorching.

Bai Ruxue felt her eyes growing blurry and her head beginning to spin.

Just then, a shadow fell across the girl's face.

Bai Ruxue looked up. It was an oil-paper umbrella.

"Here, take it. It's hot out. Don't get heatstroke." Xiao Mo handed her the umbrella.

"Good of you to think of me."

Bai Ruxue happily took the umbrella and rested it against her shoulder, twirling the handle like a little child.

On the ox's back, the girl sat side-saddle beneath her umbrella, while the boy sat astride and read.

Birdsong and insect calls mingled in the mountain air.

A breeze swept by, ruffling Xiao Mo's hair.

The girl took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing contentedly. The wind carried the scent of earth and Xiao Mo.

Perhaps summer wasn't so bad after all.

Late autumn.

The weather gradually turned cold, and the leaves grew more and more yellow.

Many of the herbs in the mountains had withered and died.

Sitting on the rock beside the path Xiao Mo always took up the mountain, the girl rested her chin in her tender white palm, looking a little forlorn.

Compared with summer, Bai Ruxue found that she disliked autumn even more.

When autumn came, he hardly ever went up the mountain to graze his ox or gather herbs.

Though he still came to visit her every few days, he wasn't nearly as diligent as before.

She gazed and gazed.

Every day, the girl sat on that same rock and looked out, from sunrise to sunset.

Before she knew it, dusk had fallen.

In half an hour, the sun would set.

Just as the girl thought he wouldn't come today, a familiar figure appeared on the little path.

The girl's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Xiao Mo!" The girl ran over happily. "Why are you coming up the mountain so late today?"

"I had some free time today, so I came to have a look. I thought that if I ran into you, I'd tell you something. I didn't expect you'd still be up here." Xiao Mo smiled.

"I—I'll be going down soon, too." The girl's eyes darted about. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Village Chief said I've done well in my studies these past few years and should be able to pass the Imperial Examination for Children. I've already signed up, and I'll take the exam in early spring next year. Village Chief told me to prepare well and try for a good result. Winter's almost here, so I probably won't be coming back for a while."

"Oh." Bai Ruxue lowered her head, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes.

"Sorry. I won't be able to teach you to read for a while."

"It's okay, it's okay." The girl hurriedly waved her hands. "You'll come back in early spring next year, right?"

"Mm." Xiao Mo nodded.

"Then let's make a promise." The girl held out her slender little finger.

Xiao Mo held out his own.

"Hook pinkies, hang a hundred-year promise. No take-backs."

Their little fingers hooked together. The girl swung their joined hands, her clear, lilting voice carrying through the forest.

"Xiao Mo, I'll wait for you here in early spring next year. You mustn't lie to me, okay?"

The girl looked at Xiao Mo with her lovely eyes, unable to bear the thought of parting.

"What if I do lie to you?" Xiao Mo teased.

"You're not allowed to lie to me."

The girl pouted.

"Because... I really will keep waiting forever."