Lin Chen did not have to wait long.
Early the next morning, he took Cai'er by the hand and followed the country path he remembered into that remote little village.
The morning mist had yet to fully disperse. Wisps of cooking smoke rose among the thatched cottages, and roosters crowed intermittently. Cai'er looked around curiously. "Brother, who are we here to see?"
"Someone bound to me by fate," Lin Chen said with a smile. "And while we're here, we'll see whether his mother's cooking really is as good as he said."
Cai'er did not understand the latter half, but as long as she was with Lin Chen, she was happy to go anywhere.
The village had changed little since Lin Chen passed through several months earlier, except that a crop of wheat had been harvested and the fields tilled again, ready for the next sowing. When they reached the little courtyard at the eastern end of the village, Lin Chen stopped.
The courtyard was very clean.
A few hyacinth bean vines bloomed along the fence, and split firewood was stacked in a corner.
The gate stood half-open. Through the gap, they could see a woman bending over in the courtyard, hanging freshly washed clothes out to dry.
She was tall and slender, her coarse linen dress washed pale, yet it could not conceal an elegance utterly unlike that of an ordinary village woman.
Her skin was fair and clear, as though the years had left no trace on her face.
Her gently curved brows and eyes held a soft serenity.
Her black eyes were like deep pools, clear and still. A basket of freshly washed wild greens sat beside her, and droplets fell from her fingertips, glittering in the morning light.
Lin Chen's gaze lingered on her face for a