For once, there were a few leisurely days.
The villagers all busied themselves with their own affairs.
Some visited relatives.
For example, when Shen Yao woke up one morning, she realized she had not seen her father all day.
When she asked Wang Yunzhi about it, she learned he had gone to visit her maternal grandparents.
Shen Yao’s grandmother’s village, Wang Village, was over thirty li away from Shenjia Village.
Once Shen Guozhong left, he would probably be gone for two or three days.
Since there was no farm work requiring attendance, Wang Yunzhi took care of all the household chores herself.
All Shen Yao had to do was sit at home and sew her clothes.
The weather was far too hot.
Instead of sitting outside in the courtyard, she worked on her needlework by the window in the eastern room where her parents slept.
She had always been the sort of person who rarely left home.
In the heat of August, staying indoors rather than running around mountains and streams was unquestionably the most comfortable option in her opinion.
That day, He Shi ate all three meals at Old Madam Shen’s house.
He passed by the Shen family courtyard three separate times.
Each time, the place was quiet.
He did not even see Shen Guozhong.
That evening, he went to the educated youth residence.
Sitting in a rattan chair with his head propped on one hand, he listened absentmindedly as the educated youths talked animatedly around him.
His thoughts drifted back to some time ago.
He had been sitting here then too.
Shen Yao had been seated directly opposite him.
All he had needed to do was lift his eyes to see her.
Now, occupying that same spot was a female educated youth he did not even know.
For some reason, the gathering suddenly felt dull and meaningless.
Then he realized something.
He had never really liked these gatherings to begin with.
Two more days passed in the blink of an eye.
One morning, as He Shi and Xu Xiangdong headed out, they noticed far more people than usual moving about on this side of the river.
Most of them were heading into the mountains.
After breakfast at Old Madam Shen’s house, the old woman picked up a basket and a small iron shovel and prepared to leave as well.
Smiling, she asked the two young men,
“You haven’t had much to do lately, have you? Want to come into the mountains and dig for sweet potatoes too? There are quite a few wild sweet potatoes growing in these hills. Whoever digs them up gets to keep them. The mountains are bound to be lively these days. Even seven- and eight-year-old boys are going up there to look for sweet potatoes.”
“I know you don’t lack grain, but sweet potatoes keep for a long time, especially when dried. They’re delicious whether steamed or roasted. If you don’t feel like digging any, that’s fine too. I have some here. Tomorrow I’ll steam a few for you to try.”
He Shi was not interested in sweet potatoes.
But when he heard the phrase “even seven- and eight-year-old boys are going up the mountain,” his eyes flickered slightly.
“I’ll go later too.”
Xu Xiangdong shot him a surprised look.
Since when did they need to dig sweet potatoes?
He Shi offered no explanation.
He simply left together with Old Madam Shen.
As they passed the Shen family courtyard, the old woman suddenly stopped.
Standing at the gate, she called out loudly for Shen Yao and Shen Gang.
His heart tightened.
He looked toward the entrance of the Shen family’s main hall and saw Shen Yao emerge from inside at the sound of the call.
She had probably recognized Old Madam Shen’s voice.
A smile curved her lips, and that smile filled her entire face with brightness.
It was August.
Shen Yao wore an apricot-colored blouse with three-quarter-length sleeves, exposing only a section of her fair wrist.
Perhaps because she had not gone out, her long hair hung loose. Only two finger-width braids had been woven along either side of her head, disappearing behind her ears into the curtain of straight black hair.
The interior of the house was much dimmer than outside.
As Shen Yao walked out step by step, passing through the shifting layers of light and shadow, He Shi was reminded of the first time he had seen her at the educated youth residence.
Back then, she had sat quietly under the lamplight, her face illuminated by its glow, beautiful enough to steal one’s breath.
No.
Compared to that day, she was even more stunning now.
For a fleeting moment, He Shi felt as though a gentle and refined young lady from a wealthy old household had stepped out from another era.
At that instant, she was the only person in his eyes.
Everything else seemed frozen and blurred into the background.
Even Xu Xiangdong was stunned.
Without realizing it, he had stopped breathing.
Shen Yao greeted, “Fifth Grandma.”
Then she noticed He Shi and Xu Xiangdong standing behind the old woman and smiled at them.
Only then did the two men suddenly come back to their senses.
A thin layer of sweat dampened He Shi’s palms.
His breathing grew slightly heavier.
All he could hear was the pounding of his own heartbeat.
One beat louder than the last.
One beat faster than the last.
Old Madam Shen shuffled into the courtyard on her bound feet and pulled Shen Yao closer, looking her over from every angle.
She was a woman from the old days.
Although Shen Yao’s outfit bore no resemblance to traditional clothing, it had no frog buttons and no overlapping front panels, the moment the old woman saw her wearing it, she instinctively thought of the refined young ladies she had seen in her youth.
The old woman smiled.
Patting Shen Yao’s hand, she said, “Young girls ought to dress like this. Yaoyao looks beautiful.”
In truth, Shen Yao’s outfit was not eye-catching at all.
On the contrary, it was simple and understated.
But through her clever tailoring, that simplicity became elegant.
Combined with Shen Yao’s naturally classical features, it only enhanced her charm.
Hearing the praise, Shen Yao’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.
Seeing the basket in the old woman’s hand, she asked where she was going.
“To the mountains to dig sweet potatoes,” the old woman replied. “I was just wondering whether you and Gangzi wanted to come along.”
Shen Yao had completely forgotten about sweet potato season.
Only after hearing it mentioned did she remember.
Every year, a few days after the summer harvest, the villagers of Shenjia Village would head into the mountains to search for wild sweet potatoes that belonged to no one. They would dig them up and dry them as food reserves.
The original Shen Yao had often gone with Shen Gang.
She nodded.
“We were planning to go too, but a little later. Gangzi went out and hasn’t come back yet.”
Then she asked whether the old woman wanted to go with them.
Old Madam Shen shook her head.
Her feet had been bound when she was young, making mountain paths difficult for her. She did not dare venture too deep into the hills and was afraid that if she left too late, all the easy-to-reach sweet potatoes would already be gone.
Shen Yao smiled and said, “Then just stay around the outer areas. Gangzi and I will keep looking for a few more days. We’ll bring some over to you when we find enough.”
The thoughtful words made the old woman smile so broadly that the wrinkles on her face deepened.
She repeatedly agreed.
Once the old woman left, He Shi and Xu Xiangdong had no reason to linger.
They accompanied her back across the river.
The old woman headed toward the mountains while the two young men returned to their lodgings.
Only then did Xu Xiangdong finally voice what he had been thinking.
“She looked like a beauty stepping out of an old painting.”
“Do you remember those ancient paintings they confiscated and destroyed a couple of years ago?”
He sighed.
“What am I supposed to do? Now I want to find a wife down south too.”
In truth, post-liberation Beijing had a large population of people from other provinces.
This was especially true in government and military compounds, where officials and officers from all over the country had been assigned after earning distinction during the revolution.
There were plenty of southerners among them.
Yet Xu Xiangdong had never met anyone quite like Shen Yao.
It was not just her appearance.
It was her bearing.
Her temperament.
The classical grace she carried.
Unfortunately, she was considered simple-minded.
Even after He Shi eventually realized he liked Shen Yao, how could the He family possibly agree to let him marry a girl with intellectual difficulties?
Looking at He Shi now, Xu Xiangdong found some of his previous assumptions wavering.
Perhaps it was actually a good thing that He Shi had not yet fully recognized his feelings.
After all, with a girl like Shen Yao, if He Shi truly fell head over heels, would he ever be able to climb back out?
Xu Xiangdong considered himself the sort of person who would never become too deeply entangled in love.
But He Shi was different.
A man with no romantic experience.
Someone who had never shown much interest in girls.
Once a person like that fell in love, it was dangerous.
Meanwhile, He Shi had barely heard a word Xu Xiangdong said.
His mind was filled entirely with Shen Yao.
The image of her walking through the shifting light.
The smile she had given him.
At that moment, he had been incapable of thinking at all.
Only now was his brain beginning to function again.
At last, he understood the source of his recent disappointment.
Why the educated youth gatherings had suddenly become dull and meaningless.
Perhaps.
Maybe.
Quite possibly.
It was because of Shen Yao.
Because he had not seen Shen Yao for two days, he had felt disappointed.
Because Shen Yao no longer went to the educated youth residence, he found it boring.
For the first time, He Shi realized that, without noticing, he had been paying far too much attention to Shen Yao.
And his feelings for her seemed to have changed.
When had it started?
Perhaps when he learned that she was actually simple-minded.
The calculating, shameless girl he had imagined, the one supposedly scheming to get into the city at any cost, had never existed.
She was simply a foolish girl who knew nothing of schemes or manipulation.
What had he felt then?
Disbelief.
Guilt.
And something else.
Something difficult to define.
Complicated emotions.
After that, he had begun paying more attention to her.
Feeling more sympathy for her.
Because she had climbed into his bed, he constantly worried she might do the same thing to someone else.
For example, Song Jincheng.
By now, the two men had returned to their lodgings.
He Shi held his key in his hand but did not unlock the door.
Instead, he stood outside, carefully sorting through the chaotic emotions in his mind.
Was he worried about Shen Yao getting hurt?
Or was he jealous?
Or perhaps both?
Thinking carefully about it, he realized that every time he saw Shen Yao, his emotions fluctuated intensely.
Sometimes he felt annoyed.
Most of the time, he felt happy.
At that thought, He Shi suddenly turned to Xu Xiangdong and asked,
“Dongzi, if seeing a girl makes you happy, and not seeing her leaves you feeling empty, does that mean you like her?”
Xu Xiangdong felt as though he had just been struck by lightning.
He honestly wanted to slap himself.
What a cursed mouth he had.
For a moment, he even wondered whether it was his own fault.
Had he spent too much time teasing He Shi about liking Shen Yao?
Was that what had finally caused this blockhead to awaken to his feelings ahead of schedule?
Xu Xiangdong swallowed hard and nodded.
“I think… yes, it probably is.”
He did not have the courage to lie to He Shi.
Besides, He Shi was not really seeking advice from him.
Rather than asking him, it felt more like He Shi was asking himself. Deep down, he probably already knew the answer.
Clearing his throat, Xu Xiangdong said, “A man’s feelings for a woman are complicated. Sometimes it’s simply physical attraction. What he likes is her pretty face. Other times, it’s genuine affection from the heart.”
He scratched his head.
He was not entirely sure what he was trying to say.
Perhaps he wanted He Shi to think carefully before rushing into anything, but he could not quite find the words.
In the end, all he managed was:
“Anyway… it’s complicated.”
He Shi also wanted to understand what exactly he liked about Shen Yao.
After thinking it over, he concluded that perhaps Shen Yao was simply too beautiful.
So beautiful that, somewhere in his subconscious, he forgot she was simple-minded.
So… he liked Shen Yao?
He had fallen for a girl whose mind was only that of a five- or six-year-old child?
He Shi could not describe what he was feeling at that moment.
Taking out his key, he opened the door.
He did not even invite Xu Xiangdong inside.
After shutting the door, he tossed the key onto the table and sat down on the bed.
A long while later, he let out a sigh.
Leaning back with both hands behind his head, he stared blankly at the earthen wall of the room.