"Not just a little." Elena snorted. "Back then, you looked like you wanted to stuff him right back where he came from."
Saina laughed again, laughing so hard she coughed twice.
Elena helped her straighten up and patted her back.
"What kind of look did you have back then?" Once Saina caught her breath, she shot back, "The corners of your eyes were practically flying up into the sky—you looked like no one in the world was worthy of you."
"They weren't."
Saina turned her head to look at her for a long while.
"What about now?"
Elena did not answer. She shifted her gaze elsewhere.
"Get some sleep. We still have several hours to go."
Saina did not press further. She rested her head back on Elena's shoulder and slowly closed her eyes.
Wading Village was much larger than it had been a hundred years ago.
The old dirt road had become a broad street paved with bluestone slabs. The site of the blacksmith's shop had turned into a row of wooden houses, but the Old Locust Tree at the village entrance was still there.
Its trunk was two rings thicker than before, and the soil around its roots had been heaved up, its tangled roots exposed above the ground.
The spot on the bark that Saina had picked away as a child had long since healed, leaving behind a slightly lighter scar.
Su Li stopped the carriage beside the locust tree, climbed down, and helped Saina out.
Saina stepped onto the ground and looked up at the tree, remaining still for quite a while.
"It's still here." She reached out and pressed her hand to the bark. "It's still the same tree."
Su Li said nothing.
Saina slowly walked around the trunk to its back side and