Chapter 8

The deep affection in Huo Qi's eyes shocked Lu Tinglan to a crisp. She shook off her goosebumps and scooted farther away from him.

So weird. So creepy. If I remember right, this is our first time meeting. What's with the greasy act?

The hand holding Jiang Xingnian's tea bowl wobbled slightly. Greasy—Lu Tinglan had found the perfect word for Huo Qi.

Huo Qi himself showed no reaction. Jiang Xingnian had read a few tales of the supernatural, and he couldn't help wondering if he had somehow gained the ability to read minds.

He wanted to test it further, but Mother Lu, seated beside him, gave him no quiet moment. She moved from one topic to the next, leaving the taciturn Jiang Xingnian struggling to keep up.

Lu Tinglan obediently played the part of a decorative vase, her eyes fixed demurely on a small patch of floor.

Bored out of her mind, she began counting the scratches on the wooden table with great interest. When she reached the twenty-fifth, a pair of men's shoes suddenly entered her view.

Lu Tinglan had been so struck by Jiang Xingnian's face that she hadn't noticed what he was wearing. Now that she looked, she found his clothes had quite the "design." Layer upon layer of patches covered his loose cotton-padded jacket; not a single spot was whole.

Clothes that old and ragged could hardly keep him warm. His long, handsome hands were red and covered in chilblains.

Lu Tinglan couldn't help wondering about it. Lu Family Village lay in the Central Plains, where life wasn't especially hard. Jiang Xingnian was a strong laborer who could earn full work points. How could he be so poor he didn't even have one decent outfit? It was strange!

Looking farther down, she saw that his clothes were "presentable" compared with his shoes. Scraps of fabric in every color competed for attention across the uppers, but they couldn't conceal the gaping holes beneath. Those shoes would never last through the winter.

Jiang Xingnian had lived a hard life since childhood, so he was sensitive to other people's gazes, especially ones that sized him up so closely.

Poverty had left a shame buried deep in his bones, but for some reason, he didn't want to show it in front of Lu Tinglan.

Jiang Xingnian turned, adopting a position that was deeply uncomfortable but hid his shoes just outside Lu Tinglan's line of sight.

Once he escaped that gaze, which felt almost scorching to him, Jiang Xingnian let out a quiet breath. Then he grew nervous again. For some reason, he wanted to know what Lu Tinglan was thinking...

At that moment, he was suddenly glad he could read minds. He could sense others' kindness or malice with perfect accuracy.

Jiang Xingnian pricked up his ears, listening closely for any movement from Lu Tinglan. Sure enough, he heard her inner voice.

Why are the big shot's shoes nearly worn through? His hands are red from the cold—aren't his feet freezing too? If I'd known, I would've brought Second Brother's new cotton shoes. I don't know if they'd fit, though. Maybe I should check the wardrobe when I get back. I remember Second Brother just got a new work jacket. I'll have Mom bring over his old one next time. It must be miserable not to dress warmly in weather this cold.

Far away in the county town, Lu Tinglan's second brother rubbed his nose and let out a huge sneeze.

He wasn't catching a cold, so who was talking about him behind his back and sending a chill down his spine?

Jiang Xingnian had never expected to hear neither contempt and mockery nor false kindness, but concern with a touch of humor and a young woman's rambling thoughts. Even as an inner voice, it was remarkably pleasant to hear.

He suddenly smiled. His handsome face was like a sky clearing after snow, and Lu Tinglan stared for a moment.

This time, she reacted quickly. Before Mother Lu could scold her, she looked away and returned to staring blankly into the tea bowl on the table.

Why'd he have to smile like such a flirt? Spring isn't even here, and he's already showing off his feathers?

The smile froze on Jiang Xingnian's face. Mother Lu's ceaseless chatter also came to an abrupt halt.

Lu Tinglan didn't notice the sudden silence in the room. She kept looking at the tea bowl. Steeped in hot water, the dried leaves had unfurled again in the earthen-brown porcelain bowl. Some lay across the surface like long needles, while a few tender buds stood straight up in the water.

Huo Qi's eyes hadn't left Lu Tinglan. The other three had seemed sealed off inside some invisible barrier, and despite several tries, he hadn't managed to get a word in. Now that Lu Tinglan seemed interested in the tea, he immediately seized his chance to boast.

"Comrade Lu, this is Silver Needle Tea my family sent me. It tastes wonderful. Try some!"

The tea really was a fine thing. In the countryside, guests were usually served a cup of plain water; families with better means might offer sugar water. The fact that Huo Qi could bring out tea showed he was indeed well-off.

But Silver Needle Tea...

Something flashed through Lu Tinglan's mind, but the clamor outside interrupted her before she could catch hold of it.

Several educated youths came into the courtyard. By the time, it was just when the main group would have finished work.

In the women's dormitory next door, Zhou Zhuo unlocked her cabinet and took out her ration for the day to prepare dinner. To save trouble and firewood, everyone at the Educated Youth Compound contributed food to a communal meal and took turns cooking.

After handing over her share, Zhou Zhuo saw there was still warm water in the pot and decided to wash her clothes first. But the spot where she usually kept her soap was empty. Anger flared up inside her.

"Li Qing, my soap's gone again!"

"What happened? I saw it there this morning." Li Qing helped her search, but the palm-sized bar was nowhere to be found. The room was only so big. If they couldn't find it, there was only one possibility—it had been stolen.

Zhou Zhuo gritted her teeth. "Things had finally settled down lately, and I thought that little bastard had changed. Turns out he was just too sick to get up after falling in the water, so he couldn't keep stealing. Look—he's barely well enough to go back to work, and things start disappearing again. Why won't heaven take him?"

"I've had enough. I'm not letting him off this time." Old grudges and fresh anger boiled together. Zhou Zhuo dropped the clothes in her hands onto the table and stormed out of the room.

With her looking ready to breathe fire, someone was bound to ask.

"What's got you so angry?"

Facing Jiang Xingnian's room, Zhou Zhuo planted her hands on her hips and raised her voice. "Why am I angry? Because there's a bad apple among us! We've got a thief in the Educated Youth Compound!"

"Shameless, stealing soap, handkerchiefs, needles, and thread day after day." Zhou Zhuo shook off Li Qing's hand. "Don't stop me. Today I'm rooting out this menace, and I'm going to find that thief!"

The commotion outside was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Huo Qi's eyes darted, and he went straight out the door.

Putting on the air of a kindly peacemaker, he said gently, "Educated Youth Jiang has guests. Let's wait until they've left before discussing matters among us educated youths."

Huo Qi's words only poured oil on the fire. Zhou Zhuo became all the more determined to expose the thief's true face before everyone.

She shoved Huo Qi aside and pointed at Jiang Xingnian inside. "If someone can do it, why can't I say it? I'm telling you, I've had enough! In the three years since I came here, I haven't managed to use up a single bar of soap. Why? Because there's a thief among us!"

"Needles and thread might not seem like much, but who can afford to keep buying them every day?" Zhou Zhuo had thrown all caution aside. "Jiang Xingnian, get out here! Stop hiding like a turtle with its head tucked in its shell!"

The scene had grown too ugly. Everyone in the courtyard was looking toward the little room, and Jiang Xingnian had no choice but to see his guests out first. "Auntie, it's getting late, so I won't keep you. Next time, I'll bring some meat and vegetables when I visit, and we can have a proper chat."

Mother Lu had no wish to get involved in a dispute among the educated youths. She wanted to leave, but her daughter stood as though rooted to the spot, refusing to budge no matter how Mother Lu tugged at her.

The accusations crashed over Jiang Xingnian like a tide. He stood there, his few dry protests sounding terribly feeble.

"Lu Tinglan." Mother Lu gave her arm a firm tug. "Listen to me. Let's go home and make dinner!"

Lu Tinglan still didn't move. The whole scene struck her as so absurd it was almost laughable.

A whole crowd slandering him, piling on accusations without a shred of evidence. This is nothing but a grand spectacle of collective bullying!

Lu Tinglan wasn't someone with an especially strong sense of justice, but she couldn't stand by while a mob picked on one person.

She gritted her teeth and stepped forward, placing herself in front of Jiang Xingnian. "What right do you have to accuse him without evidence?"

The young woman's clear voice stood out easily amid the sickening abuse. Zhou Zhuo looked at her with righteous indignation. "Comrade, these aren't baseless accusations. Who in the Educated Youth Compound doesn't know Jiang Xingnian is a thief?"

"Just take the soap I lost today. It was there this morning and gone by noon. Everyone else here goes to work and comes back together. Who else could the thief be but Jiang Xingnian?"

The thought made Zhou Zhuo grind her teeth with jealousy. They had arrived in the same group of educated youths. She was even two years older than Jiang Xingnian and had studied through her final year of high school, yet somehow that brat had persuaded the village chief to believe his nonsense and give him the job of raising pigs.

It wasn't the cleanest work, but it was far easier than breaking their backs in the fields every day. And he still earned full work points.

He was a thief. Why should he get that?

Lu Tinglan swept her gaze over the educated youths in the courtyard one by one, then settled it on Zhou Zhuo's furious face. "If you're identifying suspects by when they finished work, I'd say every one of you is a possibility. Who knows whether someone slipped back to steal the soap while the others were using the toilet?"

Were they supposed to let her argue her way out of it? The victims wouldn't stand for that. One after another, they listed what they had lost.

"A whole ball of cotton thread I bought last month vanished as soon as I brought it back."

"Since I got here, I haven't used up a single bar of soap. Every time it's half gone, it disappears!"

"And the tea my family sent me—the tin was nearly empty after I'd only made it a few times."

"He steals everything but money! Someone like him is a parasite on socialism. He ought to be sent to a farm for reform along with that capitalist mother of his!"