Spring gave way to summer, and the days grew longer than the nights. In a corner of the Knowledge and Practice Institute, the pomegranate blossoms had faded, leaving little lantern-shaped fruits. An early-summer butterfly fluttered through the window and settled quietly on the desk.
The desk stood empty. The lovely woman was gone, but her faint fragrance lingered. Ding Wenruo had accompanied her father home, escorting the coffin, and Han Chanjuan had been missing for days as well.
He An sighed inwardly, regretting how he had treated Han Chanjuan that day. A girl studying far from her native home-apart from her family, perhaps he was the only person in the world she felt close to.
He opened his book distractedly. A folded paper crane slipped from between its pages, bearing two lines of delicate handwriting: "My heart holds a thousand knots; none but you can untie them. I fear a meeting brief as drifting duckweed, longing bitterly as I remember you!"
Han Chanjuan had written those words. He An stroked the paper crane, feeling as though something precious had slipped away.
"Xiao An... why am I hungry when it isn't even noon? We're going to the Grand View Tower again. I can finally let my belly loose and have a proper feast!"
Slumped over his desk, Fan Dazhi stirred from sleep. He rubbed his bleary eyes, glanced at the sky outside, and spoke to He An without a care in the world.
The Knowledge and Practice Institute had few classes lately. After morning lessons, the students studied on their own in the afternoon. The war at the front had prompted the court to cut part of its funding, making the Dining Hall's already meager meals even more watery and bland.
Many instructors earned so little that they took other work