The next morning, Xia Tian went up the mountain with Sister-in-law Yao again to gather mushrooms for half a day, until all four large bamboo trays woven by Shen Nian were completely filled.
In the afternoon, they didn't return to the mountain. Instead, she tidied up the vegetable garden in the backyard. After several days of rain, all the planted vegetables had sprouted.
Xia Tian took a small hoe and weeded around the vegetable seedlings, loosening the soil in the process.
In about two more months, she should be able to eat vegetables she grew herself.
After finishing the weeding, she began cleaning up the entire yard.
She arranged all the collected firewood neatly according to size. Those that were too large or thick were split directly in the yard with an axe, then stacked neatly against the wall one by one.
Shen Nian sat at the doorway, watching Xia Tian buzz around like a spinning top all afternoon, and found it amusing!
This girl must still be angry about what happened yesterday!
Shen Nian's eyes curved slightly as he called out to her, "Xia Tian, pour me a cup of water!"
"Coming!" Xia Tian lifted the teapot. "Isn't there water right here?"
She pouted to show her displeasure.
Shen Nian looked at her sulking expression but didn't acknowledge it.
Instead, he asked her, "Xia Tian, would you like to learn characters?"
Xia Tian's previously irritated expression instantly vanished, her eyes lighting up brightly.
"Yes, yes!" How could she have forgotten about this?
The original body of this person was illiterate, but fortunately she had been staying in the village and hadn't had any opportunity to reveal that she could read, or she would have certainly given herself away.
Now that Shen Nian was willing to teach her, what a perfect opportunity!
Shen Nian had known she would agree when he proposed it.
This girl probably really wanted to read books – she often secretly flipped through his books while cleaning his room, her eyes shining when she looked at them.
However, she would always close them after just a glance, likely because she couldn't read the characters.
This was truly a beautiful misunderstanding!
"We don't have brush, ink, paper, or inkstone at home. Let's buy a set tomorrow, along with a couple of beginner's books," Shen Nian said.
Xia Tian asked Shen Nian, "Shall we go buy them together tomorrow?"
"You go!" Shen Nian refused.
"Then forget it! I don't know how to read, so I'm afraid I won't choose well." She didn't want to go alone.
"Brother Shen, don't you have books? You could just teach me to recognize characters first. We can buy them later after I've learned them all," she suggested to Shen Nian.
"That works too." Shen Nian nodded. She could learn to recognize characters first, and he could teach her writing later. This could be his way of repaying her for her diligent care.
Shen Nian went inside and brought out a book. Sitting at the doorway, he opened to the first page, pointed at the characters, and began teaching her sentence by sentence.
Xia Tian leaned in, her eyes following Shen Nian's hand as it moved.
His fingers were slender with distinct knuckles, and most notably, incredibly pale.
Looking at her own "chicken claws," she instantly felt ashamed of her own hands.
After Shen Nian finished reading, he noticed Xia Tian hadn't followed along. Looking up, he found the girl staring intently at his hand.
Shen Nian cleared his throat lightly. Xia Tian snapped back to attention, smiling apologetically at Shen Nian before quickly reading along.
The book contained traditional characters, and there were some she genuinely didn't recognize. She quickly pointed at the characters with her finger and read them again one by one.
After finishing a sentence, Xia Tian looked up and asked Shen Nian, "Brother Shen, was that correct?"
Seeing Shen Nian nod, she continued reading sentence by sentence.
And so, one teaching and one learning, in less than half an hour, she had learned all the characters on the first page.
Shen Nian looked at Xia Tian!
He knew she was clever, but he hadn't expected her memory to be this good too.
Seeing Shen Nian's slightly surprised expression, Xia Tian beamed proudly. "I'm quite smart, aren't I?"
The corners of Shen Nian's mouth lifted slightly as he nodded. "Smart!"
If she had a tail, it would surely be wagging with pride right now!
Xia Tian also smiled, thinking to herself, Just wait until you see what comes next!
The two studied for a while longer before Xia Tian, noticing it was getting late, went to prepare dinner.
Shen Nian put away the books and watched Xia Tian bustling about in the kitchen.
Such peaceful days didn’t seem so bad after all!No scheming, no fear of being plotted against.
…
Several days passed in the blink of an eye!During this time, Xia Tian had already finished half of the book and learned many new characters.
Aside from teaching Xia Tian to read, Shen Nian spent his days weaving items with bamboo strips.He even crafted a rocking chair for the yard, following Xia Tian’s gestures and descriptions.
Thanks to Sister-in-law Yao, Xia Tian had gradually become familiar with the aunties, sisters-in-law, and elder sisters in the village.She even brought back a grapevine from one of the aunties she’d grown close to and planted it in the yard, saying that once the vine grew, they could sit under it in the rocking chair and enjoy the shade.
On the fourteenth of April, before noon, a guest arrived at the house.
Xia Tian had gone to the mountains to cut bamboo, as the previously gathered bamboo had all been used up by Shen Nian.The young chicks at home occasionally wandered into the backyard vegetable patch.To prevent them from damaging the crops, she planned to cut more bamboo to fence off the vegetable plot.She also intended to build a chicken coop in the backyard to keep the grown chickens from leaving droppings all over the place.
As soon as Xia Tian entered the gate, she saw Shen Nian and a man sitting under the apricot tree in the yard. Beneath the tree stood a table and stools woven by Shen Nian.
Looking closer—“Big Brother?” She was surprised, never expecting anyone from the Xia Family to come visit her.
The visitor was none other than her elder brother, Xia Yang.
“Si Ya.” Xia Yang quickly stood up, his voice filled with delight but his expression slightly awkward as he called out to her.
“Big Brother, what brings you here?”
Xia Tian set down the back basket and the bamboo she’d been carrying on her shoulder, smiling as she walked toward Xia Yang.
“I—I came to see you,” Xia Yang replied somewhat uncomfortably.
“Big Brother, please sit. Let me wash my hands first.” Xia Tian hurried to the kitchen to wash up, then returned and took a seat on the stool beside Shen Nian.
Shen Nian poured her a cup of water, which she accepted and drank in one go—she was genuinely thirsty.
“Brother Shen, have you finished the water in your teapot?” Xia Tian asked him.
“Yes,” Shen Nian nodded gently.
To avoid confusion, Xia Tian had bought an additional teapot set during the market day. The one on the table now was her new purchase.Shen Nian’s original teapot remained in his room for his personal use.
Since she had added Spiritual Spring Water to it, and to keep Shen Nian from growing suspicious, Xia Tian specifically brewed dandelion water in his teapot and reminded him to finish it daily without sharing it with others.
Watching the interaction between Si Ya and her husband, Xia Yang quietly let out a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat reassured.
Lately, whenever he thought of Si Ya, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.When Si Ya got married, the family gave her nothing, and there had been no wedding ceremony or procession from the groom’s side either.To put it bluntly, the family had sold Si Ya off for silver.
On the third day after the wedding, when brides traditionally return to their maiden home, the family waited all day, but Si Ya never showed up. They were even subjected to their grandmother and aunt’s sarcastic remarks.
He knew his mother had secretly wept at home that day.
He assumed Si Ya must resent the family—why else would she skip the homecoming visit?He also worried about how his sister was faring in her husband’s home. After wrestling with his thoughts for a long time, he had finally mustered the courage to visit her today.
The moment Xia Tian laid eyes on Shen Nian, she realized her brother-in-law was fundamentally different from their family, which deepened her worries.
Xia Yang had always been a man of few words, and coupled with Shen Nian's usual aloof demeanor that kept others at a distance, the two found their time sitting together excruciatingly awkward in Xia Tian's absence.
Noticing that Si Ya seemed to have fairer complexion and brighter spirits since he last saw her, Xia Yang finally felt somewhat relieved.
Seeing Xia Yang's silence, Xia Tian took the initiative to ask, "Big brother, did the family send you?"