LW chapter 42

The affair involving the village chief’s family became the talk of the town throughout the New Year. It was discovered later that, after the village chief had sobered up the next day, there had been a huge quarrel at home.

First, the eldest and second sons of the family felt ashamed and immediately suggested splitting up. After all, there were still younger generations in the family. They were worried that, if the split was because of the affair, the younger ones wouldn’t be able to marry in the future.

Then, they argued endlessly about how to divide the family. After the split, Aunt Wang wanted to divorce Zhang Ran, but the third son, Meng Bing, firmly refused. He was scolded by Aunt Wang, who called him a living turtle¹活王八 — “living turtle,” in Chinese slang it’s an insult meaning “bastard” or “cuckold.” In rural or colloquial speech, it’s quite vulgar..

The daily quarrels of the village chief’s family became a topic of gossip among the villagers after dinner.

Winter would soon pass, and spring plowing would begin, so they had to hurry and enjoy the drama while they could.

Unexpectedly, the matter didn’t end there. Two days later, representatives came to the village and announced that the village chief had engaged in immoral behavior and was no longer fit to lead. Luohe Village would have to elect a new village chief.

The village representative called all the villagers to the meeting hall to elect a new chief. For the moment, however, the villagers didn’t know who could take on such an important task.

Chen Qing didn’t go to the meeting hall. It was enough for his mother to participate in such matters. Winter in Luohe Village seemed to pass quickly. It was only the tenth day of the first lunar month, yet the edges of the fields were already turning green.

Chen Qing and Li Xin were leading Zhou Yuan’s ox around the fields. The sun was warm, but the spring wind was still a bit chilly.

“Qi Shuning is going to the prefecture to take the imperial exam in February, and I have to accompany him.” They found a patch of land where fresh grass was sprouting from the soil. Li Xin loosened the ox’s rope and sat with Chen Qing on the ridge to chat.

“Do you think he can pass the exam?” Chen Qing didn’t know much about studying, but he knew the imperial exams were difficult.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how studying works, but he looks very confident.” Li Xin didn’t care. “Who cares if he can pass? My mother told me to go with him, so I have to go.”

The last time he went to Fucheng, he was worried. This time, he should be able to relax. Li Xin asked, “Do you want to go out and have some fun?”

Chen Qing shook his head. “It’s the busy farming season.”

There was still a month to go before the first college entrance exam on February 9. Spring plowing would start soon, and there was still a lot to do in the fields.

The vegetable garden by the door would provide them with fresh greens to eat that winter. After harvesting the last batch of peas, they would wait for the plants to flower and produce pods. The wheat planted last year needed to be fertilized, the weeds in the wheat fields needed to be pulled, and the land where corn would be planted needed to be loosened.

After lazing around all winter, Chen Qing felt his bones had gone soft; he still had to hurry to get some work done.

Looking toward the crowd, he saw that the meeting was over. He led the ox back and waited for Aunt Sun to announce the new village chief.

“I didn’t expect someone to suggest that Zhou Yuan should be the village chief,” Aunt Sun said with a smile.

Li Xin chuckled. “Who was that? How foolish.”

“Qi Shuning.”

Li Xin’s smile vanished instantly.

Since Qi Shuning was now a member of the village, he had to attend important events.

In the end, Old Man Jiang, who rented the house to Li Xin and his family, was elected as village chief. Since Old Man Jiang’s family had money, he wouldn’t seize opportunities to make money like the previous village chief. Old Man Jiang was a kind man who always smiled at everyone.

Everyone except the former village chief’s family was very satisfied.

“Old Man Jiang is a good person,” said Aunt Sun.

For the villagers of Luohe, who the village chief was didn’t matter much, and they continued living as usual.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, Li Xin came home early in the morning, saying he wanted to see the festival.

He said, “Qi Shuning wants to go see it. He’s nervous about the upcoming exam, so my father asked me to take him out to relax. Since there’s a Lantern Festival, I’ll take him to see it. Why don’t you come with us?”

Chen Qing felt awkward. The festival was held in the county seat, not in town, and he had heard that it would end late at night. This meant that he wouldn’t be able to return the same day. He had never spent the night away from Luohe Village since he arrived.

“Go on,” Aunt Sun chimed in. “You’ve never been to the Lantern Festival. It’s beautiful.”

“We’d have to stay overnight. That’s inconvenient.” Chen Qing shook his head and turned to Li Xin. “Just tell me about it after you’ve seen it.”

Seeing that he really didn’t want to go, Li Xin gave up. “All right, I’ll head off then.”

Chen Qing nodded. Aunt Sun still seemed regretful. She said to Chen Qing, “You should go see it. The Lantern Festival in the county is beautiful. I saw it once years ago, and the lanterns were especially impressive.”

Chen Qing smiled. “There’ll always be a chance in the future.”

Aunt Sun sighed. “Yes, young couples go together, and it’ll be the same when you get married.”

After Li Xin left, Chen Qing and Aunt Sun began making yuanxiao²元宵 (yuánxiāo) are glutinous rice balls, usually with sweet fillings like sesame paste, red bean paste, peanut paste, etc.. Aunt Sun hadn’t seen Zhou Yuan at their house today and was still feeling uneasy.

That night, Zhou Yuan returned with a lantern. Chen Qing took the lantern from him and asked, “Did you go to the Lantern Festival?”

Zhou Yuan nodded. “I went to the county seat for something. It wasn’t during the festival, so I just bought a lantern and brought it back.”

He carried it home openly. A few people asked him if it was a gift for his sweetheart. Zhou Yuan only smiled.

After giving the lantern to Chen Qing, Aunt Sun invited him to stay and eat yuanxiao at their house. He agreed, then went back to his house and returned with the red cloth he had brought back from the capital last time.

“Today is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and it’s almost the end of March.” Zhou Yuan placed the cloth in Chen Qing’s arms. “Would you like to make your wedding robe yourself or have someone else make it?”

Chen Qing looked at him. “I’ll make it myself.”

Aunt Sun brought out the yuanxiao and looked at the red cloth. She touched it with the back of her hand, feeling its silky texture. “This cloth is really nice. It’ll look great on Aqing as a wedding robe.”

Chen Qing rarely blushed. Holding the cloth, he said seriously, “I’ll make it better.”

It didn’t take long to finish a bowl of yuanxiao. On the fifteenth, the moon was round, and its light spilled over the courtyard like frost covering the ground.

Aunt Sun looked at Zhou Yuan and Chen Qing sitting in the yard and said, “You two should take a walk. Don’t waste this beautiful moonlight.”

After they left the yard, Zhou Yuan remembered that Chen Qing had said he wanted to see the moon. He took Chen Qing’s hand and headed for the back mountain. Chen Qing hunched his neck and asked, “Where are you taking me?”

“To see the moon,” Zhou Yuan replied.

The moonlight was beautiful that night, and the mountain path was easy to walk on. They soon reached the back mountain, where Zhou Yuan spotted a tree so big that two people could wrap their arms around it. A branch stretched out to the side.

“Can you climb a tree?” Zhou Yuan asked.

Chen Qing shook his head. There hadn’t been any trees that big in his hometown.

Zhou Yuan lifted Chen Qing with one arm as if he were a child and used the other to climb. Chen Qing’s heart pounded, but Zhou Yuan eventually set him steadily on a branch and had him sit down.

He had never seen Luohe Village from this angle before. The moonlight covered the whole village like a veil.

“So this is what it’s like to see the village from here.” Chen Qing looked toward the village, and Zhou Yuan looked at him.

When he didn’t hear a reply, he turned and saw Zhou Yuan watching him. Feeling shy, he asked, “Why are you looking at me?”

“It looks nice.” Zhou Yuan brushed his hair.

Chen Qing turned back, thinking Zhou Yuan meant the moonlight. The moon hung high in the sky, as if one could reach out and touch it.

Zhou Yuan sat beside Chen Qing, not looking at the moon. Chen Qing watched the moon, and Zhou Yuan watched him.

In the military camp, time had never felt so slow. There were still two months until March, but the days felt like years.

“The incident at the village chief’s house…”

“What about it?” Zhou Yuan raised his brows.

“It’s not as simple as you said, is it?” Chen Qing looked awkward, but he’d had plenty of time to think about things privately. He didn’t say anything aloud, though.

Since Chen Qing had already guessed, Zhou Yuan didn’t bother hiding it from him. He explained what had happened that day, saying, “If they hadn’t set their sights on me, I wouldn’t have done this.”

Chen Qing looked at him for a moment, then turned away. As he did so, Zhou Yuan caught a faint sigh.

Zhou Yuan didn’t let him turn away. He gripped Chen Qing’s chin with his large hands, forcing him to look at him.

Unable to break free, Chen Qing looked at Zhou Yuan innocently. “What is it?”

“Why did you sigh?” Zhou Yuan asked.

Chen Qing hadn’t expected him to notice such a subtle gesture. “I didn’t sigh.”

“If you have something to say, say it out loud. Don’t keep it in your heart.” Zhou Yuan said this was Chen Qing’s flaw—he kept everything inside, which was not a good habit.

“I really wasn’t thinking about anything.” Chen Qing pouted. “It’s kind of cold. Can we go back?”

Zhou Yuan only stared at him seriously. Chen Qing felt a little scared under his gaze; his voice trembled. “I…”

Zhou Yuan leaned closer.

Chen Qing was startled and instinctively shrank back. He forgot that he was sitting on a tree branch and almost fell. Zhou Yuan caught him, and they ended up even closer.

Chen Qing had never been this close to a man before. The most outrageous thing he had done was kiss Zhou Yuan’s chin at night. Now, with Zhou Yuan so close and holding his wrists, Chen Qing couldn’t stop trembling.

In the past, Zhou Yuan might have asked if Chen Qing was afraid of him, but now he knew Chen Qing was just shy.

“Go back, go back.” Chen Qing let go of Zhou Yuan’s hands but didn’t dare look at him. However, he couldn’t pull his hands away because Zhou Yuan was still holding them.

“Alright.” Zhou Yuan agreed but didn’t move. He just held Chen Qing’s hands and looked at him.

Chen Qing knew his hands didn’t look good. They were covered in bruises of various sizes. His fingers weren’t long and slender, but short and slightly chubby. After coming to Luohe Village, he had a hard time adapting to the climate his first year and got frostbite on his hands. After that, it got worse each winter. Though it was better now, there were still scars, which didn’t look good. He wanted to hide them, but Zhou Yuan stopped him.

“How did you get hurt here?” Zhou Yuan brought his hands closer and pointed to the scar on the back of his hand.

“I don’t remember,” Chen Qing said, shaking his head. He was too busy, and minor injuries like that didn’t seem worth worrying about.

“The frostbite seems to be a bit better.” Zhou Yuan gently touched the red, swollen spot.

Chen Qing nodded. “The frostbite cream you brought back is really useful, and the weather’s getting warmer.”

Zhou Yuan held Chen Qing’s hand and kissed it. “Next time I have time, I’ll bring more, but I’ve heard that hands get itchy when it’s warm.”

“No, it’s much better now,” Chen Qing stammered.

His palms were sweating, and the frostbitten parts of his body started to feel itchy—not just his hands, but his back too, as if insects were crawling on him. His heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat.

Zhou Yuan leaned in, and Chen Qing’s heart pounded, but he didn’t back away.

When Zhou Yuan kissed him, Chen Qing gripped his arm tightly. Zhou Yuan could feel the strength of his grip through his clothes.

This was nothing like the kiss that had fallen lightly on his chin last time. This time, they were very close. Chen Qing forgot to close his eyes when their lips touched.

He opened his eyes and stared sharply at Zhou Yuan.

The surroundings were so quiet that he could only hear Zhou Yuan’s quickened breathing and the sound of their lips and tongues intertwining.

Many images flashed through Chen Qing’s mind: lanterns, red cloth, the moon, corn, wheat, and more.

When he came back to his senses, he felt Zhou Yuan’s hands on his shoulders and another kiss on his eyelid.

The moon seemed to hang at the top of the tree, confusing people’s minds. Chen Qing’s eyes were brighter than the moon, Zhou Yuan thought.

• 1
  活王八 — “living turtle,” in Chinese slang it’s an insult meaning “bastard” or “cuckold.” In rural or colloquial speech, it’s quite vulgar.
• 2
  元宵 (yuánxiāo) are glutinous rice balls, usually with sweet fillings like sesame paste, red bean paste, peanut paste, etc.