6
Grandma Jiang was holding firewood, preparing to light the stove and cook. Seeing Jiang Suisui come over, she waved her hand and said, “You don’t need to work. Go back to sleep. I’ve made breakfast and kept it warm in the pot for you. Remember to get up and eat—don’t sleep in and forget again.”
Jiang Suisui walked over and also picked up a bundle of firewood: “Grandma, then let me help you tend the fire.”
Jiang Suisui sat down in front of the stove and started adding wood.
This was her first time encountering this kind of rural stove, and she found it quite novel.
Jiang Suisui kept stuffing wood in, and before long, the flames were no longer visible.
Grandma Jiang came over for a look: “Oh my, how come you don’t even know how to tend a fire anymore?”
She pulled out a few sticks from the pile, leaving some gaps, and added some easily flammable weeds. Soon, the fire blazed up again.
Jiang Suisui felt embarrassed—so tending a fire wasn’t that simple after all.
She imitated Grandma Jiang’s movements, slowly adding wood to keep the flames strong.
But at this time of year, late summer turning to early autumn, the weather was still very hot. She had only been by the stove for a short while, surrounded by smoke and heat, and soon she was drenched in sweat.
Once there was no more need to add wood, Jiang Suisui wiped her sweat and hurried outside to get some fresh air.
Grandma Jiang laughed at her: “I told you, you didn’t need to help. On such a hot day, you insisted on sitting there tending the fire.”
“Grandma, I’m going out for a walk,” Jiang Suisui called out.
“Not going to eat before you go out?” Grandma Jiang asked.
“I’m just going for a quick stroll. Keep my food for me—I’ll come back to eat.”
With that, Jiang Suisui dashed out of the yard.
At this time, the sky had yet to fully brighten, its hazy expanse washed in a grayish-blue hue. The village was still quiet, with only the occasional villager passing by, a load balanced on a shoulder pole or a hoe slung over their shoulder.
Jiang Suisui wanted to take advantage of the early hour, while there were still few people about, to go for a morning run and get some exercise.
Eat less and move more—that was the way to lose weight.
She started with a brisk walk, gradually picking up speed until she was jogging.
Jiang Suisui ran from her front door to the ridge of the fields, then turned back and ran homeward. Before long, she was out of breath.
The Jiang family house sat against the mountain. Jiang Suisui changed direction and headed up the hill.
She wasn’t sure how long she had walked. Luckily, the mountain wasn’t high—it seemed like she had climbed for only a short while before reaching the flat summit.
Jiang Suisui found a relatively clean spot on the grass and sat down, catching her breath.
The rustling sound of footsteps gradually came from behind her. Jiang Suisui turned her head and saw Song Weizheng walking out from the depths of the woods, carrying bundled firewood on his back.
The faint light of the morning sun spilled down, and he looked as if he had stepped out of the light itself.
Jiang Suisui was stunned.
Song Weizheng had gotten up early and gone up the mountain, chopping several bundles of firewood to carry back down home. He hadn’t expected to run into Jiang Suisui here.
Because she had been running and climbing, Jiang Suisui’s cheeks were now flushed pink, and she stared at him blankly.
Her again? Song Weizheng felt that he had been running into her more often lately than before.
Jiang Suisui’s intentions had always been too obvious in the past, and he could tell—he just didn’t have any thoughts along those lines.
With his family’s situation, everyone was anxious to keep their distance. He could barely support himself—how could he have the mind to think about marriage?
On the day she fell into the water, he had intended for her to grab the pole and climb out. But in all her splashing, she had knocked the bamboo pole away and sunk under.
Song Weizheng had no choice. He couldn’t just stand by and watch someone get into trouble right before his eyes, so he had jumped in to save her.
If Grandma Jiang wanted him to take responsibility, then he would marry her. After all, that was just how life went—when the time came, you settled down, took a wife, and had children.
Besides, Jiang Suisui clearly had the temperament of a child. It probably wouldn’t be long before she came to her senses and lost interest in him anyway.
It’s just…
Song Weizheng remembered the gossip among the neighbors, saying that Jiang Suisui had fallen into the water and had been stunned silly.
Looking at her somewhat dazed expression, he couldn’t help but feel a tighten in his chest—surely she hadn’t actually gone stupid, had she?
Otherwise, why would she have come up the mountain all alone at the crack of dawn?
Thinking this, Song Weizheng frowned and walked over, saying to Jiang Suisui, “Get up. I’ll take you back.”
Jiang Suisui was stunned: “Huh? No, it’s fine. I’m just resting for a bit. I’ll head back on my own in a while.”
Song Weizheng was uneasy and stood in front of her without moving: “I’m going down the mountain now. Come back with me.”
Jiang Suisui: “?”
Since when did Song Weizheng become so considerate?
Could this be… the change that came after getting engaged?
In a daze, Jiang Suisui obeyed his command and stood up, following behind Song Weizheng as they went down the mountain together.
As the saying goes: it’s easier to go up than to come down.
Jiang Suisui hadn’t felt much difficulty climbing up, but on the way down, she realized—how were there so many twists and turns on this path? How was this slope so steep? And how were these pebbles so slippery?
She held her arms out slightly, carefully watching the path beneath her feet, hesitantly testing each step with her toes as she made her way down.
Suddenly, with a slip, her feet skidded out from under her. She landed hard on her backside and even kicked Song Weizheng, who was walking ahead of her.
“Ah!” she yelped in surprise.
Song Weizheng turned around speechlessly, only to see Jiang Suisui pouting pitifully at her own palm, her face scrunched up.
She held out her hands for him to see: “I scraped the skin off.”
Song Weizheng looked down and took a glance. She had indeed scraped a bit of skin, but it wasn’t bad—no bleeding.
As a genuine rural man through and through, Song Weizheng didn’t think much of it at all: “As long as your legs aren’t hurt, that’s what matters. Get up. We need to hurry down the mountain—the sun’s already getting high.”
Jiang Suisui: “……”
Such a dense straight man!
She held out her hands with a pitiful expression and stood up, looking at the path ahead—barely halfway down. She felt a little intimidated.
“Um… could I hold onto you as we walk? Just go a bit slower,” she asked.
Seeing her timid look, Song Weizheng felt somewhat helpless: “Wait here for me.”
With that, he turned around and quickened his pace, heading down the mountain on his own.
Jiang Suisui craned her neck to watch his retreating figure, curious about what he was up to.
She crouched down and sat on a rock, waiting for Song Weizheng to return.
Before long, Song Weizheng came striding back up.
Jiang Suisui quickly stood up: “You’re back!”
Song Weizheng nodded and reached his hand out toward her.
Jiang Suisui: “?” She didn’t understand what he meant.
“Hold on,” Song Weizheng said. Seeing that Jiang Suisui didn’t react, he assumed she was being slow-witted again. So he simply reached out himself and took her hand in his.
Jiang Suisui: “!!!”
Her hand was suddenly enveloped in his large, warm palm. It felt as if she’d been electrified, and her instinct was to pull her hand back.
But Song Weizheng held on firmly, and she couldn’t pull free.
“Don’t fuss. Just follow me,” Song Weizheng said, glancing back. Then he led his silly wife slowly down the mountain.
Jiang Suisui: Actually, I had only meant to grab the hem of his sleeve or something…
But then again, this was the first time in her life that she had held hands with someone other than her father or brother…
Why was she feeling a little shy and a little excited?
Jiang Suisui figured it must be because the sun had come out and the weather was heating up. Before long, her palms began to sweat.
Well… it could also be Song Weizheng’s sweat.
As he led her down the mountain, Song Weizheng kept glancing back from time to time to check on Jiang Suisui’s condition. Only when he saw her looking obedient and comfortable did he feel at ease.
Finally, they reached the foot of the mountain. Song Weizheng let go of her hand, picked up the firewood he had dropped on the ground earlier, and hoisted it neatly onto his back. He said to Jiang Suisui, “Do you know the way from here? Can you get home on your own?”
Though she was still a bit dazed, Jiang Suisui answered instinctively: “Yes, I can…”
Song Weizheng nodded: “Alright then, I’m off. You head back quickly—don’t let your grandma worry.”
Jiang Suisui watched him leave, feeling inexplicably as though she had been treated like a child in need of care.
She kicked at the small stones by her feet and made her way home with mixed feelings.
Grandma Jiang hadn’t gone out yet and was waiting for her at home: “Suisui, why did it take you so long to come back? Where did you go playing so early in the morning, before the sky was even light?”
“Grandma,” Jiang Suisui said seriously, “I went out to exercise.”
“What? Exercise?” Grandma Jiang didn’t understand.
Jiang Suisui explained: “It means going out for a run, climbing the mountain, getting some physical activity.”
Grandma Jiang looked utterly confused: “What are you doing all that for?”
In the countryside, people worked all day long—there was no shortage of physical labor. This was the first time Grandma Jiang had ever heard of someone making a special trip to run and climb mountains just to “exercise.”
Jiang Suisui: “Grandma, I feel like my body is too weak. And besides, aren’t we all encouraged to build up our health and strength?”
Grandma Jiang laughed: “So our little girl has finally stopped being lazy?”
Jiang Suisui was helpless: “Grandma!”
It wasn’t her who was lazy to begin with.
Grandma Jiang: “If you want to build up your strength and all that, you can help me out with some chores. No need to go to the fields—you wouldn’t be able to handle it anyway. Help me gather some firewood and collect some pigweed.”
“And that’s right—you’re a grown girl now. In just a few years, you’ll be married off. You need to learn how to cook. From now on, when I cook, you watch by my side, got it?” Grandma Jiang instructed.
Jiang Suisui was stunned. She hadn’t expected that one mention of “building up strength” would land her with so many tasks.
But then again, living in the countryside, it really wouldn’t be right not to do any work at all. She might as well take things as they came! Jiang Suisui thought optimistically.
Soon, September arrived—the busy farming season. The villagers were all busy harvesting crops, and the schools had even let the children go home to help out.
One day, Song Yuxue heard the rooster crow and immediately got dressed and out of bed. But when she opened the door and came out, she saw that the water vat was already full, the stove had wild vegetable porridge and two mixed-grain steamed buns warming on it, and the corner of the yard was piled high with neatly chopped firewood.
Song Yuxue walked over to her brother’s door and tentatively knocked. The moment she touched it, the door swung open. Looking down, she saw that the door latch was broken and wouldn’t lock. Looking up into the room, the bed was neatly made—clearly, he had been up for a long time already.
Song Yuxue stood there for a moment, then turned around to scoop some water and wash up. She went to the kitchen and drank half a bowl of porridge, added a little more firewood to keep it warm, and finally went back to her room for a look. Then she gently pulled the door shut, picked up her basket, and headed out.
Meanwhile, Jiang Miaomiao had been looking for opportunities to get close to Song Yuxue. But who knew that by this time, the eight-year-old Song Yuxue had already been sent to elementary school by Song Weizheng and was gone all day long.
Dayan Village had co-founded an elementary school with several other production brigades, staffed by two educated youths sent down from the city. The location wasn’t far from the village, but it wasn’t close either. Usually, by the time everyone else finished their work and came home, Song Yuxue was only just getting out of school. By then, there were too many people around, and Jiang Miaomiao didn’t dare to run over to Song Weizheng’s house alone to cozy up to her.
Jiang Miaomiao gritted her teeth in frustration. What was the point of a girl going to school? Going to school meant she couldn’t work in the fields, and if she couldn’t earn work points, then Song Weizheng would have to support her all by himself. And on top of that, there was a mother at home who needed money for medicine and doctor visits all the time. No wonder they were so poor…
**