Chapter 68

Zhenzhen ran excitedly into the house, beaming as she shouted, “Second Brother!” She rushed forward and threw her arms around Mingxi. “If you didn’t come back soon, I was gonna forget what you looked like!”

Mingxi tugged lightly at one of Zhenzhen’s braids and smiled dotingly. “You’re already forgetting your second brother after just a few years? All my pampering went to waste.”

Zhenzhen giggled and clung tightly to his arm, refusing to let go.

Seeing the close relationship between the siblings, Grandma Li was grinning from ear to ear. But noticing that Zhenzhen hadn’t acknowledged the other guests in the room, she quickly reminded her, “Don’t just hang all over your second brother. Didn’t you see there’s a guest?”

Zhenzhen turned her head and saw a young woman standing by the kang, smiling at her. She had short hair, big eyes, and a spirited appearance.

Zhenzhen smiled back and tugged at Mingxi’s hand, teasingly asking, “Should I call her ‘Jie’ or ‘Second Sister-in-law’?”

Mingxi bent his finger and tapped her forehead with a smile. “Call her Sister Yanan.”

Zhenzhen let go of Mingxi and walked over. “Nice to meet you, Sister Yanan. I’m Li Mingxi’s younger sister, Li Mingzhen. Just call me Zhenzhen.”

The short-haired girl replied generously, “Nice to meet you. I’m Xie Yanan—your future second sister-in-law.”

Zhenzhen burst out laughing. “I knew it! This is the first time Second Brother’s ever brought a girl home. Just look at how Grandma’s smiling so hard her eyes disappeared—you can tell how welcome you are in this family.”

And that was no exaggeration. Grandma Li had been worrying about her grandson, thinking he’d been in the army for so long and still hadn’t solved his personal affairs. She had no idea that the boy would just casually bring a girl home one day! Half the worries she’d been hiding in her heart instantly melted away. She even regretted not having built Mingxi’s room already—otherwise, they could’ve gone ahead with the wedding right away.

Seeing how open the girl was—directly admitting her relationship with Mingxi—Grandma Li finally mustered the courage to ask the question she’d been holding back:

“Yanan, when are you and Mingxi planning to get married? Will you hold the wedding here at home?”

Yanan smiled and looked at Mingxi. He immediately replied, “That’s actually what I wanted to discuss with you. Earlier this year, the family sent a few letters to my unit. After being reviewed and forwarded, they didn’t reach me until May. Yanan and I submitted a request after discussing it, and the organization has approved our marriage after a background check.

“We talked it over and figured our current work is at a crucial stage, so we probably won’t be able to come home again for another year or so. Since we’re already home for Mingnan’s wedding, we thought—why not hold ours at the same time?”

Grandma Li was so shocked she nearly fell off the kang. She quickly grabbed Yanan’s hand, laughing but also fretting. “You two kids, how could you not tell us earlier about something this big? Oh dear, if I’d known, I would’ve had a new house built for you too! What now? We haven’t even made you a wardrobe or a kang-table. Haven’t even prepared wedding clothes or bedding—what are we going to do?”

Yanan patted her hand gently and smiled. “It’s fine, Grandma. Mingxi and I aren’t particular about formalities. Just tidy up a room for us, that’s good enough.”

Mingxi quickly added, “Really, Grandma, don’t stress about it. We each brought a new military uniform with us, and since it’s summer, we don’t need quilts or heavy bedding anyway.”

“But it can’t be too shabby either,” Grandma Li began calculating out loud. “It’s too late today, but tomorrow I’ll go to the supply co-op and see if they have red bedsheets or red towel blankets. If not, Mingnan has two—we’ll just take one each for you two. We also need washbasins and mugs. Let’s get whatever you’ll use in the next few days, and we can get the rest later.”

Zhenzhen used her ability to glance inside the co-op and saw only two dark blue towel blankets behind the counter, patchy in color and quite ugly. She immediately said, “Grandma, let me handle the small stuff. You and Mom stay home tomorrow and prep everything else.”

Grandma Li nodded. “Alright, you’ve got a good eye and you know how to pick things. You go buy them tomorrow, and let your brother and Yanan rest at home. The wedding’s the day after tomorrow.”

At the mention of the wedding, she couldn’t help grinning again, her mouth practically stretching to her ears: “This is all happening so fast! Hahaha!”

Mingxi and Yanan couldn’t help but laugh too when they saw her expression. Zhenzhen brought over a basin of wild berries and laid them out nicely on a plate for Yanan.

“Second Brother, how’d you and Sister Yanan meet? We all thought you were surrounded by nothing but guys in the army and were destined to be a monk forever!”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Grandma Li scolded as she shoved a sand apple into Zhenzhen’s mouth. “Your brother clearly found himself a wife!”

Mingxi smiled and sat down beside Yanan. “My identity returned to the army, but I wasn’t stationed there. Yanan and I work on the same scientific research team—we’re colleagues.”

“Oh, so you work together,” Grandma Li said, half-understanding. “Then will you two be able to write letters home more often? I was always so worried when we didn’t get any from you.”

“I’m afraid not,” Mingxi said, a little apologetic. “The project is confidential and based in a remote area. But I figure this kind of work will only last three to five more years at most.”

“Three to five years, huh…” Grandma Li sighed with a trace of disappointment. But when she saw the guilt on her grandson’s face, she quickly changed her expression into a smile. “Actually, that’s not too long. If you hadn’t brought Yanan back, I would’ve kept worrying about your marriage. Now that I see you have a home too, I can be at ease.”

She climbed down from the kang, opened a chest, and pulled out an envelope with Mingxi’s name on it, handing it to Yanan.

“These are the wages Mingxi sent home over the past two years. I took out twenty yuan a month for the family’s expenses. The rest I saved as his. Now that you two are back, you’d better take it. You’ll need plenty of money for married life.”

Yanan quickly waved her hands. “Grandma, that money was meant to support the family—I can’t take it.”

“You’re not the only one—I did the same for all the boys,” Grandma Li insisted, pressing the envelope into Yanan’s hand. “Just make sure you both send twenty yuan home each month from now on. That’s his responsibility.”

Xie Yanan looked at Ming Xi helplessly. Ming Xi smiled, picked up the envelope, and handed it back to Grandma Li. “Building a house at home doesn’t cost money. My dad’s salary is enough if we save up. We can talk about money after I get married. All the money from before marriage goes to the family.”

Xie Yanan nodded along quickly. “Grandma, just take it. You see, now that we’re away from home, we can’t take care of the family, and if you still refuse the money, we’ll really feel bad about it. Besides, Mingnan and I have the state covering our food, clothes, and lodging. We barely need to spend anything in a year. You really don’t have to worry about us.” Seeing how filial her grandson and granddaughter-in-law were, Grandma Li’s heart felt sweeter than honey.

Early the next morning, Zhenzhen took the money and ration tickets that Grandma Li had given her, but instead of heading to the supply and marketing cooperative, she went to Yidong. Following Grandma Li’s instructions, she bought all the items needed for the wedding, dropped them off at home in a hurry, and then got ready to head up the mountain again.

Ming Xi saw her running and sweating all over, quickly pulled her back, and handed her a cup of water. “Look at you, all flustered and in a rush. Where are you off to now?”

“Up the mountain to catch some wild game.” Zhenzhen went into the house and grabbed a slingshot—made from a sturdy redwood Y-shaped branch, with cow tendon tied to it.

“Hunting on the mountain?” Xie Yanan looked curiously at Ming Xi and Zhenzhen. “My hometown is in the plains, I’ve never been to the mountains. Can I come along? Ming Xi told me before that he once slapped a wild boar to death.”

Zhenzhen couldn’t help laughing and looked at Ming Xi’s slightly embarrassed expression before nodding. “He really did! That wild boar charged straight at my brother, and he slapped it so hard it crushed the boar’s skull. Everyone in the area was shocked—we had people coming to praise him every day. But my brother’s so modest, he’d hide in his room whenever someone tried to compliment him.”

Ming Xi’s face went dark. Just recalling that incident made his legs go weak. Every time someone brought it up, he was forced to remember it again. If it hadn’t been to impress his girlfriend, he’d never mention that heroic feat that almost made him wet his pants.

After Zhenzhen confirmed the story, Xie Yanan looked at Ming Xi with admiration. “Then you should bring back a wild boar today too! I’ve never had wild boar meat before.”

Ming Xi’s legs gave out a bit. He managed to grab onto the cupboard to avoid falling. He’d been a soldier for years—it wasn’t that he was timid, it was just that particular wild boar had traumatized him. Even now, when he closed his eyes, he could picture the tusked beast charging at his face. It was terrifying.

Zhenzhen laughed and patted Ming Xi’s arm. “Second Brother, you bring the hunting rifle, and I’ll take the slingshot. Let’s hunt a bunch of game and make sure we have a feast tomorrow.”

As soon as the others heard Zhenzhen, Ming Nan and Ming Bei—who had just returned from the youth work site—both got excited and insisted on coming too. They grabbed hunting knives from the shed and strapped them to their waists. Zhenzhen noticed Xie Yanan seemed quite interested in her slingshot, so she brought along extra cow tendon and a hatchet. “We’ll make one for you on the mountain.”

A whole crew of them headed out. Before they left, Zhenzhen asked Wang Sufen for a fresh batch of flatbread and stuffed it in the basket. “Mom, no need to make lunch for us—we’ll roast wild rabbit on the mountain.”

Watching Zhenzhen’s confident manner, Xie Yanan turned and asked Ming Xi, “Is hunting really that easy up in the mountains here?”

“Not really,” Ming Xi replied. “I’ve been away since high school, so most of my hunting memories are from middle school. For experienced hunters like my dad, catching a rabbit or a pheasant is no problem. Sometimes a group of guys can even take down a wild boar. But most people usually return empty-handed—not even a feather.”

Ming Bei chuckled as he played with his hunting knife. “Second Brother, you don’t know—Dad’s not the best hunter in our family anymore.”

“Then who is? You?” Ming Xi looked at him, thinking he was bragging. But Ming Bei grinned and said, “No way, it’s our little sister. As long as you follow her into the mountains, you’ll never come back empty-handed. I used to think I was good, but during my time at the youth site, I only ever caught one rabbit—and that was with a group of educated youths chasing it together.”

Ming Xi looked at Zhenzhen, who only came up to his chest, utterly surprised. “Your Fourth Brother’s exaggerating, right? You’re so small—what could you possibly catch? It must’ve been luck.”

Zhenzhen rolled her eyes at him, slowly pulled a round stone from her backpack, loaded it into the slingshot, and casually shot it.

Ming Xi chuckled. “You’ve got the stance, sure, but you need to aim. You can’t just—”

Bang! A pheasant dropped from a tree twenty meters away, startling a flock of birds into flight.

Ming Xi ran over, picked up the pheasant, and saw its head had a deep dent with a visible mark from the stone.

He looked at Zhenzhen’s smug face, full of admiration. “Little Sis, that was incredible. If you were in the army, you’d be a sharpshooter for sure.”

Zhenzhen folded her arms behind her back, lifted her chin, and smirked at him. “Speechless, huh? Bet you won’t underestimate me again.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Ming Xi laughed and tossed the pheasant into the basket Ming Bei was carrying. “Second Brother’s just been away too long to know how amazing you’ve become. I apologize. At noon, I’ll roast rabbit and pheasant for you.”

Zhenzhen nodded with satisfaction. “You said it—if the roast turns out bad, I won’t be happy.”

Ming Xi laughed and ruffled her hair. “You little rascal, getting more mischievous every day.”

They walked for half an hour until they reached a spot dense with rabbits and pheasants. Zhenzhen took off her shoes, hugged a tree trunk, and climbed up with ease. She picked a suitable branch and quickly chopped it down with the hatchet she’d tied to her waist. Ming Nan’s eyelids twitched at the sight. Before Zhenzhen could even climb down, he couldn’t help scolding her: “Your Second, Third, and Fourth Brothers are all standing right here—why are you climbing trees and chopping branches yourself? Can’t you just tell us to do it?”

Zhenzhen chuckled sheepishly as she held the hatchet. “I’m just used to doing it myself.” Ming Bei stepped forward to take the hatchet from her and asked, “What do you need the branch for?”

Zhenzhen quickly rummaged through her bag and pulled out the piece of ox tendon. “I just wanted to make a slingshot or something for Second Sister-in-law.”

Mingbei laughed and handed the axe to Mingxi. “Then Second Brother has to make it himself. We shouldn’t meddle.”

Mingxi had made plenty of slingshots as a kid. In just a few quick moves, he had it done, tested the elasticity, and then guided Yanan’s hand to fire a stone.

As they hiked up the mountain, they shot at any wild chickens or rabbits they came across. Mingxi carried a hunting rifle while Zhenzhen held the slingshot. The two competed to see who could hit more. Since they were craving roast rabbit, Zhenzhen purposely led them along a path with a mountain spring for easier cleaning.

Once they reached the spot, Mingxi, Mingnan, and Mingbei began processing the game. Zhenzhen wandered off and soon disappeared from sight. When the firewood was set up, Mingxi realized she was missing and jumped up in alarm, about to go look for her.

Mingnan turned the grill as he said, “Second Brother, Zhenzhen’s been running around these mountains since winter and summer. Don’t worry, she’ll be back once the rabbit is roasted.”

Mingbei nodded in agreement, skewered the wild chicken onto red pine branches, and set it over the fire. “Second Brother, do you know who the king of the red pine forest is?” Without waiting for Mingxi’s answer, he said, “It’s Zhenzhen. Even tigers aren’t as fierce as her.”

Mingxi laughed and scolded, “What kind of way is that to talk about your sister? Saying she’s fiercer than a tiger—are you calling her a tigress?”

Just as he finished, a tiger’s roar echoed through the forest. Mingxi’s face went pale, and he immediately shielded Xie Yanan behind him. “Damn, there are actually tigers here? Mingbei, grab the gun! Let’s fall back and find Zhenzhen!”

They had only taken a few steps back when a striped tiger leapt down from higher ground. No one dared move. Mingnan stood stiffly and muttered, “We didn’t even go that deep into the forest. Why’d we run into a tiger? Mingbei, quick, give the gun to Second Brother—he’s a better shot.”

“Wait! Don’t shoot it yet,” Mingbei swallowed hard, staring at the tiger that he hadn’t seen in years but often dreamed about. He forced a smile. “D-Dahuang… do you remember me? I’m Zhenzhen’s brother… I used to ride you, remember?”

Mingxi and Mingnan both turned to look at Mingbei like he’d lost his mind. Their expressions basically screamed, Are you crazy?

But Mingbei didn’t have time to argue. Seeing Dahuang yawn made him breathe a little easier—it didn’t look like it was hunting. “Dahuang, are you looking for Zhenzhen? Why don’t you lie down and rest a bit? She’ll be back soon.”

Mingxi’s face darkened. He kept a wary eye on the tiger and reached for the gun in Mingbei’s hands. “Are you insane? You want Zhenzhen to be our tiger shield?”

Mingbei panicked, afraid the gunfire would provoke the tiger, and quickly tried to snatch it back. “No, don’t shoot! This tiger belongs to Zhenzhen—she raised it.”

Mingxi was furious. “Bullshit! Who the hell raises a—tiger…”

“Dahuang, who told you to come down the mountain?” Mingxi hadn’t even finished when a familiar voice came from behind. Zhenzhen walked over carrying a beehive and tossed it to Mingbei. “Watch the chicken. Don’t burn it. I just found a wild beehive—quick, spread some honey on the chicken and rabbit, it’ll taste better.”

Mingxi stared in shock as Zhenzhen casually walked past him and plopped herself onto the tiger’s back, stroking its head as she scolded, “Didn’t I tell you not to go where there are people? Who said you could come down the mountain?” Dahuang let out a pitiful whimper, as if complaining Zhenzhen hadn’t visited in too long.

Because of her powers, Zhenzhen emitted a soothing aura animals loved. Dahuang especially liked letting her sit on its back and help it groom. But she’d been so busy lately that even when she did come up the mountain, she only stayed ten minutes at most. It had been almost a year since Dahuang last saw her. Today, it sensed her familiar comforting aura getting closer, and couldn’t resist breaking the rules to find her.

Seeing how familiar Zhenzhen was with the tiger, Mingxi turned and glared at Mingbei. “You actually let Zhenzhen raise a tiger in the mountains?”

Mingbei looked so wronged he was ready to kneel. “Does Dahuang even give me the time of day? Zhenzhen saved it when it was a cub—it has nothing to do with me. First time I saw it, I nearly peed myself.” Seeing Mingxi’s face grow darker, Mingbei quietly backed away to the grill. “Uh… I should watch the chicken, Zhenzhen won’t be happy if it’s burnt.”

Mingxi ignored him and cautiously stepped toward Zhenzhen. Dahuang immediately turned its head and stared him down, letting out a threatening growl.

Smack! Zhenzhen smacked Dahuang on the head. “What are you howling for again? It’s because you keep doing this that Li Mingzhong won’t come up the mountain with me anymore. You scared his little brother so bad last time he had the runs for two days!”

Dahuang lay down in grievance, covering its head with its paw. Zhenzhen gave its head a good rub before standing up on its back. “See? These are all my family. Don’t scare them anymore.”

Dahuang immediately turned and rubbed against her hand like it didn’t want to part. Zhenzhen couldn’t help laughing. “Such a big tiger still acting all clingy. Alright, go back now. We still have hunting to do.” Dahuang nuzzled her a couple more times before dashing back into the mountains.

Zhenzhen squatted by the spring to wash her hands. Besides Mingbei, who was calmly brushing honey on the chicken and rabbit, the rest were still in a daze.

Seeing the tiger was gone, Xie Yanan finally peeked out from behind Mingxi, looking at Zhenzhen with admiration. “Zhenzhen, you even tamed a tiger? That’s amazing.”

“Tame, my butt,” Zhenzhen awkwardly tugged her braid. “I’ve known it since I was little. It’s no different from Li Mingzhong to me.”

Mingxi looked at the tiger tracks on the ground, then at his sister’s big silly grin, and could only shake his head with a sigh. “You’re a real fearless fool.”

Ming Nan gave a thumbs up to the admired Zhao Zhenzhen. “Ming Bei’s right. You’re the true king of the forest.”

After all, encountering a tiger and then watching it act like a tame kitten under his little sister’s hand was such a shock that even the usually meticulous and cautious Ming Xi kept getting distracted. He didn’t manage to hunt a single thing afterward.

But what made Ming Xi feel even more defeated wasn’t losing the hunt to his sister—it was seeing how, after Zhenzhen made friends with the tiger, Xie Yanan’s eyes sparkled whenever she looked at her. On the way back, Xie Yanan held tightly onto Zhenzhen’s hand. No matter what Zhenzhen said, she nodded admiringly and added, “Zhenzhen, you’re amazing.”

Ming Xi felt that if Zhenzhen were a boy, there’d be no place for him in that wedding tomorrow.

Weddings in this era were held at night, but on the day of the wedding, the whole family got up early anyway. Wang Sufen cleaned the house again, then started preparing the key dishes for the evening banquet. Ming Nan stared blankly at the clock all morning and finally, after lunch, couldn’t wait any longer and rushed off to pick up his bride.

He took down the polished, gleaming Flying Pigeon bicycle from the wall, and with Ming Dong, Ming Bei, and Li Musen’s sons Ming Rong and Ming Guang, plus Li Mulin’s sons Ming Shu and Ming Xin, the whole gang headed off in grand style to the Hydrolysis Plant.

In those days, going to pick up the bride on a Flying Pigeon was a source of pride. What’s more, Li Mingnan was good-looking, and the neighbors watching couldn’t stop praising how well-matched the couple was.

Meng Xiaoxi sat on the back of the bicycle, while Ming Nan pushed it along with a joyful grin. There weren’t many entertainment options back then, so even without firecrackers or sedan chairs like the old days, a wedding procession still drew a crowd. Ming Bei was cheerfully belting out a revolutionary song when he turned around and spotted Yu Wanqiu holding her younger brother’s hand, watching from near the residential building.

Ming Bei’s singing faltered and went off-key. Even with Ming Shu and Ming Xin shouting at the top of their lungs, they couldn’t get him back on track.

Noticing Ming Bei looking at her, Yu Wanqiu smiled and nodded at him. Ming Bei froze for a second, then quickly returned a polite smile and turned his gaze forward again, continuing to sing, even louder now.

As Ming Bei walked farther away, his off-key singing could still faintly be heard. Yu Wanqiu felt a complicated emotion she couldn’t name.

Yu Wanqiu had always known that Li Mingbei liked her. Honestly, she hadn’t thought much of this loud and careless guy at first. Clumsy, oblivious, impractical—those were exactly the qualities she disliked most. She had once sworn she’d never marry someone like her father, and Ming Bei’s flaws were a perfect match.

But at the same time, she couldn’t help being drawn to his warmth, simplicity, and straightforwardness. He felt like a burning flame, capable of driving away the gloom buried deep in her heart, of unlocking the passion she had suppressed for years.

She didn’t know what to do as she struggled and hesitated. From school to the youth center, she had avoided Ming Bei’s confessions again and again, yet she couldn’t stop herself from chasing after his presence. But over time, Ming Bei had gone from flustered whenever he saw her to calmly smiling and walking away without looking back. Now Yu Wanqiu didn’t know whether to feel relieved or regretful. That Li Mingbei, who was becoming more and more like a real man, was also growing farther and farther away from her.

Ming Nan brought Meng Xiaoxi home. Ming Xi and Xie Yanan were already standing by with the red-covered marriage booklets in hand. The union presidents of the Hydrolysis Plant and the Grain Depot officiated the ceremony. The neighbors, who had never seen two brothers get married at the same time, packed the house to the brim.

The two couples sang “The East Is Red” together, recited the Chairman’s latest directives, then bowed to the Chairman’s portrait, followed by bows to Li Muwu and Wang Sufen.

They handed out handfuls of fruit candy to the attending neighbors and coworkers. Tables were set up in the Li family’s yard. It was the season of fresh fruits and vegetables, and there was plenty of wild produce from the mountains. Stewed wild rabbit with potatoes, mushrooms with pheasant, tofu with river fish, and a plate of raw vegetables with dipping sauce, plus loose white liquor on every table—this made for a proper wedding feast.

With two children getting married at once, Grandma Li couldn’t stop grinning through the whole event. Whenever someone complimented her new granddaughters-in-law, she’d enthusiastically pile more food on their plates. By the time the guests had gone home and the sky was fully dark, for the first time in years, Grandma Li was completely drunk.

—

Time flew by. The ten-year revolution had finally come to an end. Now a graceful young woman, Zhenzhen brought the latest newspaper to the mountain hideout. The decade hadn’t aged them. Instead, the beautiful, natural surroundings, like-minded companions, and a continuous pursuit of their craft had kept them youthful at heart.

They packed up their things and looked around the place they had lived in for nearly ten years, reluctant to leave. It felt like once they passed through the mountain cave, this place would be lost to them forever.

“Teachers, let’s go. Mister Wangwo is waiting outside,” Zhenzhen said with a smile, urging them along. Only then did Su Weiran and the others pull their gazes back, passing through the narrow cave and returning once more to the world.

The year after receiving the Nobel Prize, Huaguo sent representatives to Sweden to bring Wangwo back. Though he feared the same nightmares might return, he couldn’t bear to leave his dearest friends behind, nor did he want to die one day and never return to his homeland. So, he resolutely boarded the plane.

Fortunately, things weren’t as bad as he had feared. Huaguo provided him with a new residence and even arranged for him to meet with the country’s leaders. Though he longed day and night to return to the mountain to see his friends, he was afraid that doing so would expose their location and bring trouble upon them. Just when he had thought he’d never see them again in this lifetime, the dawn of victory finally arrived.

Wangwo stood leaning on his cane outside the mountain cave, waiting for a long time. Finally, Su Weiran was the first to emerge from the cave. Wangwo rushed forward and hugged him tightly. He smiled—and then burst into sobs.

From inside the cave, Xie Shurang grumbled, “Can you cry somewhere else? You’re blocking the way.”

Wangwo wiped his tears and started laughing again. He grabbed Su Weiran and pulled him away from the cave entrance. As he watched everyone else coming out one by one, he hurried to call them into the cars. This time, Wangwo had specially applied for two small cars to pick them up. After everyone got in, he waved to Zhenzhen and said, “Come on, get in! I saved you a seat!”

Zhenzhen waved her hand with a smile. “You all go ahead, I’m not heading in the same direction as you.”

Wangwo knew Zhenzhen had always gone off on her own these past years, and guessed she probably had other things to take care of, so he left with the others without pushing.

Zhenzhen stood in front of the cave for a long time. Only after confirming with her spiritual sense that Wangwo and the others had arrived safely back in the Imperial Capital did she enter the cave and return to their former dwelling. She checked over the western-style house, and seeing that there were still some scattered books and paintings left in the study—seemingly unwanted—she stored all of them in her spatial space.

In a flash, she vanished from the spot. Immediately after, the earth of the mountain stream trembled slightly, the western-style house collapsed, and huge boulders tumbled down. The secluded paradise where Su Weiran and the others had lived for ten years turned into ruins in the blink of an eye, with no trace of its former days left.

—

“Zhenzhen, stop reading already,” Grandma Li said as she came over, and while speaking, she unscrewed the light bulb in the room. “It’s so dark, aren’t you afraid of ruining your eyes?”

Zhenzhen stood up with a cheerful smile. At seventeen, she was a full head taller than Grandma Li. Her once chubby cheeks had slimmed into a delicate oval face, though her large, lively eyes remained just as they had been when she was little.

Stretching lazily, Zhenzhen glanced at the calendar on the cabinet. “Wow, it’s already the fifteenth of the twelfth lunar month. My Eldest Uncle and Second Brother should be back soon, right?”

“Should be these next couple of days,” Grandma Li replied with a grin. “Your Eldest Uncle just got transferred back to the Imperial Capital last year and was so busy he couldn’t even make it home for New Year’s. But things are better now—no more of that messy nonsense. We can finally have a proper family reunion this year.”

“Exactly!” Zhenzhen laughed and started massaging Grandma Li’s shoulders. “And my Second Brother’s finally been transferred back from the northwest. When he gets home, I have to ask if he bought the books I asked for.”

“What books? You’re about to graduate high school and you’re not even taking the college entrance exam. What’s the point?” Grandma Li picked up her tobacco pipe but, under Zhenzhen’s gaze, silently put it back. “Geez, I only smoke three times a day—I haven’t even had my evening smoke yet.”

Zhenzhen curled her lips and huffed. “You think I didn’t see you squatting behind the house with that pipe this afternoon?”

Grandma Li could only chuckle awkwardly and put the pipe aside, muttering, “No one can hide anything from you and those sharp eyes of yours.”

Zhenzhen helped her up from the heated brick bed with a smile. “Since you know you can’t hide it, don’t do it again. I’m telling you to smoke less for your own good. Don’t you want to help me take care of my kids in the future?”

“Such a big girl talking about kids already—aren’t you embarrassed? Let me pinch that thick skin of yours,” Grandma Li said as she reached out to pinch her cheek. The two were laughing and joking when the door suddenly opened. Zhenzhen looked up with a smile. “Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law, you’re back!”