Editing

Plump little mushrooms, bamboo shoots just poking out their tips, and swaths of tender wild greens—it was as if all of spring had gathered here.

Li Ping took a close-up of Zhao Danshi's bamboo basket.

After coming down the mountain, Zhao Danshi faced the morning light and followed the path toward his family's fields.

Villagers greeted him one after another, all speaking in the local dialect, with a simple, easygoing warmth of their own.

Zhao Danshi's vegetable plot was well tended. Row after row of vegetables stood lush and green, while the rapeseed flowers had already bloomed. Early-spring pink butterflies fluttered around them. As Zhao Danshi approached, the butterflies scattered briefly, then circled him from afar, reluctant to leave.

Li Ping watched him through the camera lens and could make out the fine down on his face. Zhao Danshi lowered his eyes, his long lashes drawing a lovely curve beneath them.

The tender scallions and garlic in the vegetable patch had just grown in. Zhao Danshi did not pull them up by the roots, only picked some scallion leaves and garlic leaves, carefully gathered them into a bundle, and placed them in his back basket.

He walked along the ridge between the fields toward the village meat stall to buy a cut of pork. It was already past eight when he came down the mountain, and not much meat remained. Zhao Danshi chose a piece with alternating layers of fat and lean meat. The stall owner swiftly cut it off, threaded it with straw, and handed it over.

Li Ping silently kept filming.

The stall owner, Zhao Mingzhi, found it very novel to see a camera following Zhao Danshi around. While Zhao Danshi was paying, Zhao Mingzhi asked curiously, "Danshi, what are you doing?"

"Filming some videos to promote my family's vegetables." Zhao Danshi smiled. "Uncle Mingzhi, I have things to do today, so I'll head home first. We can chat another day."

"Ah, all right. Hurry home, then. Your Dou Dou must be waiting for you."

Zhao Danshi smiled. Thinking of that fair, soft little fellow, he unconsciously quickened his pace.

Infected by his excitement, Li Ping's mood brightened as well.

They had not been especially close in college. They only occasionally ate together, attended gatherings, or took part in club activities. Li Ping knew that this junior liked him, but he had not been looking for a boyfriend then, so he kept neither too close nor too distant from him. Naturally, Zhao Danshi had held no place in his eyes.

Li Ping had never focused on Zhao Danshi as wholeheartedly as he did now. His eyes and heart were filled with him.

When they got home, Zhao Danshi set the bamboo basket and the pork on the chopping board he had brought out earlier.

He had placed the chopping board beneath an old tree in the courtyard, not far from the well. The courtyard was brightly lit, and the old house, specially tidied up, possessed a distinctive rustic charm.

When Dahei saw Zhao Danshi and Li Ping return, he rose from the corner of the courtyard and nimbly circled them several times.

Li Ping aimed the camera at the broad, well-fed dog.

After putting everything away, Zhao Danshi made a gesture, and Li Ping turned off the camera.

The old man poked his head out from the kitchen. "You're back?"

"We're back." After answering, Zhao Danshi waved his arms and twisted his waist to loosen his joints, sighing, "I'm exhausted."

Li Ping smiled. "You were tense the whole way, weren't you?"

"Of course. I kept my back straight and my shoulders pressed down, just so I'd look a bit more graceful. Senior Brother, how was I in that segment? Did I look more natural?"

"Very natural. Don't worry."

Zhao Danshi looked at him and smiled helplessly. "Whatever I do, you say it's good. I need to go watch the footage."

Li Ping looked over with his deep eyes, a faint smile in them as well. "To me, everything about you looks natural and good."

The tips of Zhao Danshi's ears suddenly turned red. He awkwardly touched his nose. "I'll go check on Dou Dou."

Dou Dou had woken up early that morning without being held by his father. When he saw Zhao Danshi, he immediately waved his little hands and feet, wanting to cling to him.

Zhao Danshi hurriedly picked up his soft little body, gently rubbed his belly with one hand, and kissed his cheek.

Dou Dou was tickled by him and laughed, his chubby little face radiant.

After playing with Zhao Danshi for a while, Dou Dou's eyes began sticking to Li Ping. Seeing this, Zhao Danshi smiled. "Hold Dou Dou for a bit. I'll go make his formula."

The old man came out and asked, "Did things go smoothly this morning?"

"Smoothly. Senior Brother said the filming turned out pretty well. I'll take another look later. If it really doesn't work, we'll film it again tomorrow. Grandpa, is there still fire in the stove?"

"It just went out. Do you need to light it?"

"We dug up a few spring bamboo shoots. I'll light a fire and roast them in the ashes."

The old man immediately said, "Then I'll go bring in a couple bundles of straw from the woodshed."

"I'll go." Zhao Danshi hurriedly stopped the old man, whose steps were unsteady, then turned and fetched two bundles of straw from the woodshed.

Here, people liked to roast bamboo shoots whole, still in their shells, buried in the stove ashes. It locked all their fresh flavor inside.

Li Ping played with Dou Dou for a while, fed him, wrapped him in a sleeping bag, and placed him in a carrying basket. He then pushed the basket out into the courtyard. Dou Dou would not be on camera for the moment, but he would remain right under their watch.

After resting for a while, the two continued filming.

Zhao Danshi first took out the bamboo shoots, placed the wild greens and mushrooms on the chopping board, then carried the shoots into the kitchen and buried them in the stove ashes. The old man kept feeding straw into the fire, and the glowing red ashes would soon roast the shoots through.

After leaving the kitchen, Zhao Danshi took out a wooden basin, drew water, and washed the wild greens and mushrooms.

He laid out the beautiful porcelain plates he had specially bought online across the chopping board. With swift, decisive strokes, he evenly chopped the wild greens and mushrooms, placed the prepared ingredients separately onto the plates, then cut the pork, ginger, scallion leaves, and garlic leaves.

By the time he had finished preparing everything, the bamboo shoots were nearly done roasting.

Wearing thick gloves, Zhao Danshi neatly split open the bamboo shoot shells, took out the tender shoots inside, let them cool slightly, and cut them up as well.

The warm breeze of mid-spring blew through the morning. Once Zhao Danshi struck his pose, it felt like they were filming an idol drama.

After cutting all the ingredients, Zhao Danshi added seasonings and mixed them thoroughly. He then carefully wrapped everything in spring roll wrappers, ready to fry them in oil later.

His cooking skills were still a little rough, but his seasoning was exceptionally precise. He never used too little or too much of any seasoning, bringing out the fresh flavors of every ingredient perfectly. The pork was rich and fragrant, the bamboo shoots fresh and sweet, the mushrooms savory, and the vegetables light and crisp. Together, every ingredient complemented the others. One bite released a burst of delicious flavor in the mouth, paired with the crisp fragrance of the fried wrapper—it was enough to make someone swallow their tongue.

Though the old man was already in his eighties, he was not afraid of the heat and ate three in a row.

Zhao Danshi had Li Ping turn off the camera and come over to taste them. Seeing the old man like this, he hurriedly moved the whole plate away. "Grandpa, spring rolls are a bit heaty and hard to digest. Just have a taste. Don't eat so many at once."

"Freshly fried spring rolls taste best. After a while, the flavor drops off greatly." The old man narrowed his eyes and patted his knee as he savored the aftertaste. "These spring rolls are delicious. Yun Yun, your cooking is good."

Zhao Danshi bit into a spring roll and smiled. "It's fine. We can make something else delicious next time."

The old man shook his head. "It takes too much time and effort."

Li Ping smiled from the side. "It doesn't. Not only did we get to eat spring rolls, we also filmed a video. We killed two birds with one stone, so it wasn't a waste of time."

Dou Dou had smelled the fragrance long ago and had been babbling beside them the whole time. Drool ran down his chin and soaked his sleeping bag.

Zhao Danshi laughed as he wiped it for him. "Being greedy won't help. You haven't even grown teeth yet."

Li Ping laughed too. "He still has a long wait ahead of him. At least another year or two before he can eat spring rolls."

Neither Li Ping nor Zhao Danshi was afraid of heaty foods. They ate the spring rolls one after another and finished them all. A small basin of meat filling remained, so Zhao Danshi mixed in some flour and, while making the spring rolls, fried it into meatballs as well. They would taste good in soup or stir-fried dishes that evening.

Zhao Danshi and Li Ping cleaned up the kitchen and courtyard together. They had risen early and been busy all morning, so Zhao Danshi urged Li Ping to go back and catch up on sleep. He himself carried Dou Dou off for a nap.

Dou Dou clutched Zhao Danshi's collar and babbled nonstop.

Zhao Danshi had no idea what he was saying, so he casually responded with an occasional "Mm" or "Ah," treating it as a conversation.

The father and son chatted completely past each other, but the sight was rather amusing. Watching their warm interaction, Li Ping could not help taking out the camera again to film.

"Senior Brother, don't put this in the video."

"I know." Li Ping chuckled. "Dou Dou is still little. I'm filming some things to keep as memories for later."

Hearing that, Zhao Danshi said nothing more. Instead, he moved closer and watched the playback with Li Ping.

The old man felt sorry that Zhao Danshi had gotten up early and worked so hard, so at noon he quickly took over the spatula and prepared lunch for them.

It was spring now. The greens in other people's fields were gradually getting old, while new beans and eggplants had yet to grow. Many households had no vegetables to eat. The old man was used to being frugal and thought the greens at home should be saved to sell, so he was generally reluctant to cook them.

There were still wild greens left from what Zhao Danshi had brought back that morning. The old man blanched them in boiling water, took them out to cool a little, then mixed them with oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, mashed garlic, and chili oil. A cold wild-greens salad was ready.

Green peppers with meatballs, pork belly stir-fried with pickled cabbage, and tomato and egg soup rounded out the lunch.

Zhao Danshi came out carrying Dou Dou and yawning to eat lunch. After lunch, he would take Dou Dou for another nap, then he and Li Ping would have to go work in the fields.

His workload was much heavier than before, and he moved around all day. His body had actually become healthier. It was no longer like before, when he faced a computer from morning to night until his eyes blurred.

After inspecting the fields and finishing their work that afternoon, the two still would not be able to rest that evening. They had more work to do.

While the footage was still fresh, Li Ping and Zhao Danshi brought out the computer and planned to first compile and edit the video. If any footage was insufficient or ruined, they could reshoot it the next day.

When it came to video editing, Zhao Danshi was far inferior to Li Ping. They were both beginners and learning at the same time, yet Zhao Danshi's edits were ordinary—neither good nor bad—while Li Ping's carried a distinct atmosphere, making the Zhao Danshi in the video seem elegant and serene.

Zhao Danshi looked at him admiringly. "Senior Brother, you're amazing."

Li Ping replied casually, "Not really. I've just watched more videos. Once you have more experience, you'll naturally be able to tell too. Oh, we should reshoot the vegetable-picking part tomorrow. Too many people were recorded today, so the scene looks a little messy."

Zhao Danshi had no objection. Like Li Ping, he believed that if something was worth doing, it should be done as perfectly as possible.