Afternoon

Liu Qian hid in the little room with a flushed face, feeling both a trace of sweetness and a trace of annoyance. The sweetness came from having her secret thoughts guessed by others; presumably, the man in her heart knew as well. What annoyed her was that she had only been here for a few days, yet they were already talking like this. They were looking down on her far too much.

Though Liu Qian's face burned and faint anger lingered in her heart, she was also puzzled. After these past few days of contact, Grandmother had seemed like such a sensible person. She should not have made things awkward for her so directly. Then again, perhaps not. Elderly people were old, and their minds were bound to grow muddled sometimes. Liu Qian could understand that. But how was she supposed to go out and face them now?

Everyone outside felt much the same. Watching Grandmother grin from ear to ear, Zhang Xiaolong was at a loss for words. There was nothing he could do; it was hardly appropriate for him to go inside now. After thinking for a moment, Guo Sufi twisted Zhang Xiaohua's ear and said, "This is all your doing. Go on, you go call Liu Qian out."

Zhang Xiaohua rubbed his ear and scratched his head, muttering, "What does this have to do with me?"

Guo Sufi smiled and gave him a push. "If you hadn't told your grandmother about your eldest brother and Liu Qian, how would she have known?"

"So you all knew," Zhang Xiaohua said. Then he had no choice but to get up and head toward the room, thinking as he walked about what to do.

Liu Qian was sitting inside with her face still burning when Zhang Xiaohua came in. He ran cheerfully up to her, took her hand, and said, "Sister Liu, it's boring staying at home. Come with me to see my farmland and the well we dug."

"Alright," Liu Qian said. "I heard your eldest brother talk about the land you opened up yourself long ago. I've always wanted to see it. Come on, we'll go today."

With that, Liu Qian took Zhang Xiaohua's hand and walked out of the little room.

Zhang Xiaohua followed behind Liu Qian. The moment he stepped out, he called, "Father, Mother, I'm taking Sister Liu to see my land on the hillside. We'll be back soon."

Guo Sufi said, "Then go early and come back early. Make sure you get back in time for dinner. Xiaohua, protect your sister well."

"No problem, Mother," Zhang Xiaohua said with a grin.

Liu Qian walked up to Guo Sufi and said softly, "Auntie, then I'll be going."

Guo Sufi smiled. "Go early and come back early."

Thus, Liu Qian and Zhang Xiaohua left the Zhang family courtyard.

As they walked along the small paths of Guo Village, familiar villagers greeted them from time to time. The village was not large to begin with; if any household had even a sesame-seed-sized matter, everyone would know at once. Much less when the usually low-key Zhang family had suddenly gained a young woman as lovely as a flower and as beautiful as jade. The neighbors who had gone with Zhang Xiaohua to Baligou had already been instructed by Zhang Cai not to reveal Liu Qian's situation. They only said she was a child from a relative's family who had come to stay for a while and look after the sick and injured members of the household. Naturally, Zhang Cai was the sick one, while Xiaolong and Xiaohu were the injured ones from being mischievous. Though they were already past the age for mischief, people in the mountains often got hurt, so no one suspected anything else.

It was no wonder Zhang Cai was so careful. The lesson from the neighboring village was right before them; it was best not to draw attention.

Though saying she was a relative was a reasonable explanation, the villagers found it highly suggestive. A girl more beautiful than every maiden in the village had come to care for Zhang Xiaolong. Everything could only point to a secret everyone knew, though no one spoke it aloud. Whenever they looked at Liu Qian or greeted her, their expressions carried a hint of ambiguity. Liu Qian had come out precisely to escape embarrassment, yet on the village path, there was only more of it.

Fortunately, the road was not long, and they soon reached the little bridge. Liu Qian liked streams very much. She liked how their flowing water traveled farther and farther away without a care in the world. She asked Zhang Xiaohua, "Xiaohua, when you went to our Baligou, did you see the little river in our village?"

Zhang Xiaohua scratched his head. "I didn't notice. At the time, I was thinking about how to find your home, so I had no mind for anything else."

Liu Qian smiled. "The river in Baligou is much bigger than yours, and there's more land along its banks. Even our family was allotted a plot of land by the river, neither too big nor too small. Unfortunately, no one in our family farms it, so we rented it out to someone else."

"That's a pity," Zhang Xiaohua said. "If our family had another plot like that, we wouldn't need to reclaim wasteland on the slope."

As they spoke, they crossed the bridge. A winding little path led up the hillside. It was not really a road; as the saying went, where many people walked, a path appeared. It had formed across the gentler ground on the slope. Liu Qian moved lightly along it, her bearing like a dancing note. Zhang Xiaohua could not help praising her. "Sister Liu, you walk so beautifully."

Liu Qian smiled faintly. "You little rascal, hurry up and walk."

Under the winter sun, a rare warmth spread through the hills. As the two made their way along, they felt neither cold nor desolation. There was even a taste of spring in the air. The newly opened farmland on the slope lay there all alone. Its owner had not come to see it for a long time, and it was still just as before.

Liu Qian looked it over and said in surprise, "Xiaohua, did you open this up all by yourself? It's such a large plot of land."

Zhang Xiaohua raised his little head proudly. "Yes, Sister Liu. I did all of it. Eldest Brother and Second Brother helped a little too."

Liu Qian praised him. "You truly are no ordinary child. You're amazing."

Then she naturally noticed the enormous bed-sized stone beneath the big tree and asked in surprise, "A stone like this is rare. It's so smooth and neat, and it's actually this large. Even in the mountains near our place, you hardly ever see one like it."

Zhang Xiaohua asked Liu Qian, "Sister Liu, guess where this stone came from?"

Liu Qian smiled. "How could I possibly guess? Don't tell me you dug it out while reclaiming the land? Or did you carry it here from the riverbank?"

Liu Qian walked over to the great stone and sat down, resting her hand against it. Only then did she discover that the stone, contrary to what she had imagined, felt somewhat warm and smooth. If not for the ugly color exposed on its surface, she might have thought it was a huge piece of jade. How strange.

Zhang Xiaohua had not noticed the details of the stone. When he had hauled it up here, he had been exhausted like a dead dog and drenched in sweat. How could he have known whether it was warm and smooth? Besides, it had been tossed there ever since, and he had not paid attention to it again. Even when he sat on it, he had only assumed it was warm because of the sun.

Zhang Xiaohua smiled. "Since you can't guess, Sister, I'll show you something."

Then he led Liu Qian down the slope to the well at its foot. Seeing the enormous mouth of the well, Liu Qian could not help laughing. It seemed that stone had been dug out from here. She had truly never seen anyone dig such a huge well opening.

Zhang Xiaohua said, "Sister, that stone was dug out of this well. It took a tremendous effort back then, and we almost failed to dig the well."

Then he used the tools beside the well to draw up some water and handed it to Liu Qian. "Sister, taste it. The water is really good. It's even sweeter than river water."

Liu Qian took it and sipped a small mouthful. Her brows lifted. Xiaohua had been right; the water was truly sweet and refreshing, much better even than the sweet spring water she had once carried down from the hills. If it were used to brew tea, Father would certainly like it. Thinking of this, she secretly smiled. If Father knew, he would surely cling to the Zhang family and refuse to leave, brewing tea every day with fresh spring water. At the very least, he would insist on bringing several buckets home.

Liu Qian asked again, "Is all the spring water around here this tasty?"

Zhang Xiaohua shook his head. "No. The spring water in the mountains isn't this sweet."

"Could it be because this well was dug at the foot of the mountain?" Liu Qian asked.

Zhang Xiaohua shook his head again. "The neighboring village dug a well on South Slope too. I don't know whether its water tastes good, but no one cares about that anymore."

Liu Qian found that strange. "Why not?"

Zhang Xiaohua told her about what had happened at Mr. Wu's home in the neighboring village. Liu Qian listened with a sorrowful expression as well.

After a while, Liu Qian gazed at the sun already sinking westward over the hillside and said, "Xiaohua, draw some water. We'll brew tea with it tonight when we get back."

Zhang Xiaohua said happily, "Is it the kind I drank at your house? The kind that wasn't very bitter? I tried Old Guo's tea at the east end of the village, and it was far too bitter."

"The tea you drank, I didn't see," Liu Qian said, "but it should be that kind. I brought a little with me this time and haven't taken it out yet. We'll try it today."

Filled with energy, Zhang Xiaohua drew a bucket of water from the well, carried it, and followed Liu Qian back up the slope. Then they headed home.

As they walked, Liu Qian asked, "Xiaohua, tell me, Mr. Wu in your neighboring village had such good fortune. Why did it turn into a bad thing?"

Zhang Xiaohua thought for a moment. "He got something good, bad people found out about it, and he wasn't capable enough to hold on to it."

Liu Qian said seriously to Zhang Xiaohua, "That's right, Xiaohua. You must remember this: a common man is innocent, but possessing jade becomes his crime."

Zhang Xiaohua asked in confusion, "Sister, what does that mean?"

Liu Qian said, "It means that someone may be living a perfectly good life, but if he carries beautiful jade or possesses something valuable, disaster will come looking for him. Xiaohua, you're still young, so perhaps you don't understand. The hardest thing to fathom in this world is human nature. You can never be sure who can look at your beautiful jade without coveting it. Mr. Wu's mistake was that although he dug up treasure, others found out. Those who coveted it came to seize it. If no one had seen him when he dug it up, then others would not have known he had treasure, and naturally they would not have come to rob him."

Then Liu Qian added jokingly, "In the future, if Xiaohua gets any rare treasure, you must guard the secret well and not let anyone know. Only then can it truly be your treasure."

Zhang Xiaohua smiled. "I will, Sister. If I get a treasure in the future, I won't tell anyone. I'll only tell you. Would that be alright?"

"No," Liu Qian said. "With secrets, you might tell me and think it doesn't matter because only I know. But I might casually tell someone else, thinking it doesn't matter to tell just one person. And if that other person thinks the same way, then tell me, won't lots of people end up knowing?"

Zhang Xiaohua nodded. "Mm, Sister is right. Passed from person to person, everyone will know."

Zhang Xiaohua added, "Then, Sister, what if Great Hero Wen were the one who dug up the treasure? Would everything be fine then?"

"That situation would be different," Liu Qian said.

Zhang Xiaohua asked curiously, "What would be different about it?"