Life like summer flowers

Only years later did Fengyu County break away from the notion that teaching jobs were an iron rice bowl and introduce a contract-based employment system. Anyone who failed to finalize an employment contract with the local Education Commissions retained their official staffing status but was suspended pending further arrangements-what was known as unpaid leave...

A wave of teachers leaving to work elsewhere arose at that time. Large numbers poured into private schools in coastal regions, where salaries were at least three times those in Fengyu County, if not more. When those who had tasted the benefits returned to Qingshan Town, they persuaded quite a few others to take unpaid leave voluntarily. This eased the pressure on teaching positions, but also caused Fengyu County to lose large numbers of excellent teachers...

Some of those who remained in Fengyu County opened private schools. These included regular junior and senior high schools, but more were vocational high schools and specialized secondary schools. They were more like technical training centers, giving teenage boys and girls three years of basic training before sending them to coastal regions such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Fujian, where their wages were slightly higher than those of ordinary migrant workers without training...

Fengyu County also declined from a major agricultural county into a major exporter of labor. These private vocational high schools and specialized secondary schools continued to flourish, with the period before and during summer vacation marking the busiest enrollment season every year. It was also at this time that Qin Huai's business truly took off, his school growing larger with every semester...

Qin An's proposal could be considered a warm-up for the contract-based employment system that would come a few years later. He thought that if the county leaders promoting educational reform had any foresight, they ought to accept these terms...

Qin Xiangshan's eyes lit up. What Qin An had suggested was certainly a good solution. As the market economy and privatization gradually became dominant, having a government department act as a buffer could resolve many problems...

"Looks like whenever your second uncle runs into business problems from now on, I can come straight to you for advice..." Qin Xiangshan patted Qin An on the back. "I've decided. I have to send Qin Xiaotian back here to attend school, so he can learn something from you. What good is playing video games all day?"

Qin Xiangshan was now thoroughly satisfied with this nephew of his. What other child his age could think so clearly? Qin Xiangshan did not put much stock in talk of genius. He felt this was the result of the Qin Family's upbringing. Being able to recite and understand an accessible introductory text like the Caigentan was enough to understand the ways of the world, human relationships, and reason...

"Qin An, well said... Junzi even told me you had the makings of an official, and I didn't believe him... I didn't really understand what you just said either, but I thought it sounded quite capable of pulling the wool over people's eyes. Junzi wasn't exaggerating at all..." Qi Mei stood beside them, smiling. "Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Qin. I was right here in the room. With you talking out here, I couldn't help hearing, even if I'd wanted to. I wasn't deliberately eavesdropping..."

"It's all right. We weren't discussing any business secrets..." Qin Xiangshan said unconcernedly. Mature, beautiful women always enjoyed certain advantages. Since she had taken the initiative to apologize, he could hardly blame her for staying there without making a sound...

"Hehe... From what Sister-in-law Qi is saying, being an official means knowing how to fool people. I wonder if that's what you think of Secretary Tang too..." Qin An knew Qi Mei was not a nosy person. Most likely, she had listened for a while only because she heard Qin Xiangshan mention Secretary Tang's name...

"Is your Uncle Tang someone you can make fun of? Show some respect..." Seeing Qin Xiangshan leave, Qi Mei gave Qin An a push and said with a smile, "Go have something to eat. Get a few more drinks into that Fatty Mo..."

Mo Wendi's eyes were not particularly well-behaved; he had probably taken a few extra looks at Qi Mei. Qin An, however, would not let her off so easily. He teased, "I think Uncle Tang is pretty good at fooling people. His greatest accomplishment was fooling you into being with him..."

"Go say that to him, if you've got the nerve. All you do is run your mouth here with me. That little girl from last time-did that mouth of yours leave her so dazzled she couldn't tell east from west?" Qi Mei gave as good as she got and could not help laughing. Why did talking to him feel just like talking to a good friend her own age, without any distance between them or any need to deliberately put on the airs of an elder...

On Saturday, the painting class had a different teacher, an elderly teacher with a modest reputation in Qingshan Town who had also trained in art. Qin An understood that Luo Bofu was too ashamed to face him. He had handed all the tuition money he had earned over to Qin An, yet still had to pay someone out of his own pocket to cover his classes. He had taken quite a loss...

That afternoon, however, a heavy rain came. Each autumn rain brought a deeper chill, but this downpour was nothing like the usual bleak autumn rain. It hammered down from every direction, filling the world with mist and rain, the drops striking the backs of people's hands hard enough to hurt...

Parents hurried to the school to take their children home. Li Qin sheltered Qin An beneath an umbrella and brought him home, only for terrible news to arrive without warning...

His older male cousin's mine had collapsed, burying his cousin and several miners inside. Once the rain eased a little, villagers who had rushed over on hearing the news dug open the shaft and found the bodies of his cousin and the miners. Not one had survived...

The rain fell in long threads. Qin An trembled all over, caught in a feeling he could not identify as either cold or fear...

Wasn't his cousin supposed to go into the city on Saturday to pick up his car?

His older female cousin told him through her sobs that his cousin had felt coal mining was too risky and had decided to sell the mine. He had originally arranged to meet someone at the mine that day to discuss the details, but the man had not come. His cousin had gone down the shaft to check on things, and the mine had collapsed just then...

After the mining disaster, every penny his cousin had earned over the years went toward compensation. His grandfather, Qin Jude, wept bitter tears. He had often scolded his cousin, but what grandfather did not love the grandson he had raised with his own hands? Qin Jude fell ill and took to his bed. His eldest uncle, Qin Youliang, and his aunt aged overnight. His cousin's wife was at a complete loss, crying all day long, while the two children watched the chaotic, clamorous world in bewildered panic, forlorn and frightened...

Following local custom, the funeral arrangements were handled by the brothers Qin Huai and Qin Xiangshan, with several highly respected relatives from their clan presiding. The funeral lasted seven days and was conducted with great ceremony. It could be counted as Qingshan Town's grandest, most bustling funeral...

Qin An did not attend school during those days. The funeral in his memories overlapped with the one before him, the one he had believed should never have happened. The same tragedy, the same outcome. Nothing had changed in the slightest because of him...

On the final day of the funeral proceedings, Qin An went to visit his grandfather. His grandfather said nothing, his eyes clouded with tears. He held Qin An's hand, unwilling to let go...

Only after his grandfather fell asleep did Qin An go to An Shui's room...

An Shui was packing her luggage. Qin An forced a slight smile. "Sister An Shui, are you leaving too?"

An Shui did not speak. She gathered Qin An into her arms, rubbing her cheek tenderly against his hair. "There are things you can't stop, but they aren't your responsibility. What are you blaming yourself for? You're only thirteen. If you want to cry, then cry. I've watched you holding it in these past few days. That smile on your face just hurts to see..."

Breathing in the warm fragrance of An Shui's body, his cheek resting against her soft chest, Qin An gradually grew calm. "I had a premonition that something terrible would happen, but I thought my cousin was supposed to go into the city on Saturday to pick up his car, so it wouldn't happen. Who could have known..."

"We can never stop things that lie beyond our expectations or all reason. It's like walking down the street-none of us knows whether some madman might suddenly rush over and shoot at us... What we can do is work hard to protect ourselves and the people we care about. As long as we don't pin our hopes on heaven's mercy, we can surely be happy and safe all our lives..."

Qin An put his arms around An Shui's waist and held her. Life was so fragile. Once it bloomed, he had to make it brilliant and radiant, a life like summer flowers...

With my cousin's death, let the pain in those old memories be buried too, Qin An thought. A new life, a new way of living-he should no longer remain entangled in the past. He and Sun Sun, he and Ye Zhulan, he and An Shui; his future with them, their happiness, their joy, brilliant, radiant, beautiful...

It will happen, Qin An repeated silently...