Courir partout et jouer des rôles mineurs

Chapitre 89

Thinking about it again, it's been several years since I last saw him. I washed two cucumbers and spread a layer of white sugar on the plate, which looked quite pleasing to the eye.

Throughout this time, Yin Yeyao stood outside the kitchen watching. Shang Lin was busy tending to the fire and worrying about burning the food while cooking. When she turned around and saw him, she naturally offered to help him tend the firewood in the stove. Yin Yeyao paused for a moment, then slowly walked in and sat down in the spot she indicated. He stared at the firewood she had forced into his hand for a long time, until she impatiently scolded him a few times before he finally put the firewood into the stove.

Shanglin belatedly realized: "Oh dear, I forgot you haven't lived in the countryside for many years, you're probably not used to it! Asking guests to do things, look at my brain—hey, wash the dishes and bring them to me."

Yin Yeyao got up again, took the plate, washed it, and handed it to her.

Shanglin was very efficient. He stir-fried the food a few times, added salt, tasted it, and then plated it, handing it to him while taking a steamed bun for himself: "Come on, let's go inside and eat. There are too many mosquitoes outside, they're biting me to death!"

After speaking, he went inside first.

As Yin Yeyao watched her perfectly natural back view while holding the plate, he couldn't help but smile.

A gentleman stays away from the kitchen. Although the old master didn't care about this, he had never stepped into the kitchen. Xu Mi, upholding the traditions of a scholarly family, would never teach him household chores. Yin Yeyao had been back home for so many years, and he didn't even know what the kitchen looked like, let alone how to start a fire and cook.

She had asked him for help earlier with a casual and natural attitude, showing no unease because of his status, which pleased Yin Yeyao. He had initially worried that Qiu Shanglin would become distant and estranged, but now it seemed that their tacit understanding had not disappeared with the passage of time.

Yin Yeyao was in a great mood, and the two of them finished off the entire meal.

Shanglin felt a pang of regret; if he had arrived a few hours earlier, he wouldn't have had to endure such a meager meal of four dishes. He decided to make it up to him tomorrow. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "You're not going home tonight, are you?"

He was quite pleased to receive an affirmative answer: "Then I'll stay here for now. Everyone else in the village is asleep at this hour. We'll make plans tomorrow. By the way, how many days can you stay?"

Looking at her joyful face, Yin Yeyao couldn't help but feel happy too. After quickly weighing the options, he replied, "Three or four days."

Shanglin was even more delighted: "That's great! We haven't seen each other in so long, we can finally have a proper chat. Oh, and Xialin is here too, he's sleeping next door!"

Looking at her face, Yin Yeyao felt an indescribable joy and softened her voice, "I know."

She was oblivious: "But he's so sound asleep he won't wake up even if there's thunder. If you want to see him, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. Luckily, you can stay for three or four days, so you'll have time to talk."

The two exchanged a few more words, mostly about the changes in Zifang Town and their village. Finally, they arranged for him to sleep in Changsheng's room—the others, wanting more excitement, slept on the kang (heated brick bed), a large shared room, but luckily there was a single bed available.

Changsheng lay on the outside, quietly listening to the laughter and chatter coming from next door. They were deliberately speaking in hushed tones, afraid of waking the person in the dream. The mountain village was quiet at night, with only the occasional chirping of crickets under the corner of the wall. With his sharp ears and eyes, he could vaguely make out their conversation.

Qiu Xia Lin, who was sleeping on the inside, mumbled as he turned over, putting his hands and feet on Chang Sheng. He gently moved away, and Xia Lin seemed to be awakened, saying groggily, "Brother, you're not asleep yet."

He was startled and was about to answer when Xia Lin turned over, his breathing became heavy again, and he fell asleep once more.

Chang Sheng chuckled, but when he heard Shang Lin arranging accommodations for Yin Yeyao, his face darkened, and he stared at the single bed in the corner, wishing he could stare a hole through it right then and there.

Hearing the door open suddenly, Shanglin softly called his name: "Changsheng? Changsheng?"

Changsheng kept his eyes closed and did not answer.

Then he heard her fetch the bedding, make the bed for him, and after settling him in, she said apologetically, "The conditions are simple, I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Yin Yeyao's voice was muffled and unclear.

He listened as Qiu Shanglin left, and Yin Yeyao lay down before opening his eyes again, looking towards the single bed in the darkness—I sleep on the kang (heated brick bed) and you sleep on the bed, what's there to complain about!

Li Changsheng's little scheme

In the mountain village, the morning begins with the crowing of roosters. After a peaceful night's sleep, the housewives of each household get up, wash, cook, feed the poultry, and wake their husbands and children. Some go to school, and some go to the fields. Everything is in perfect order.

The elderly couple didn't sleep much, so they woke up early and watered the garden and looked at the flowers in the yard by the light. She had already developed a biological clock, getting up at six o'clock sharp. When she appeared in the yard, Shanglin had already run a lap around the village and was practicing Tai Chi in the backyard.

One was reading French, the other was practicing boxing, and neither of them disturbed the other.

Yin Yeyao tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. Firstly, he was uncomfortable with the bed; secondly, there were so many mosquitoes. In the mountain village during summer, the mosquitoes were large and their bites were vicious. A huge mosquito net hung on the communal bed, but Qiu Shanglin, having made the bed for him, forgot to hang it up. Yin Yeyao, with his delicate skin, had never experienced such suffering before. With the blanket over his head, the mosquitoes buzzed in his ears, and he would easily get bitten.

I endured the night and finally fell into a deep sleep at the crack of dawn. But after less than an hour, I was awakened by the sound of the old lady cooking over a fire, so I simply got out of bed.

The communal sleeping area was filled with people sleeping haphazardly, but Li Changsheng was nowhere to be seen.

He slowly walked out, and his grandmother greeted him with a smile and asked after him. Lin had already told the elderly couple early that morning, so as not to frighten them if a grown man suddenly appeared in their home.

"Shanglin hasn't gotten up yet?"

The old lady's face, which had been wrinkled with laughter, smoothed out all her wrinkles. She pointed to the backyard and said, "What's in the back?"

Passing through the enclosed corridor that served as a storage room, Yin Yeyao stood at the corner of the corridor and saw Li Changsheng practicing boxing in the courtyard at first glance.

He wore a loose, absorbent white cotton vest that accentuated his dark complexion, making his thick eyebrows and large eyes appear even more striking. Qiu Shanglin sat on the stone steps under the flower trellis. Although it was summer, the steps were a bit cool, so he had laid out a cushion and sat comfortably cross-legged, murmuring to himself while holding a French book.

After Li Changsheng finished his punches, he walked over to Shanglin. She looked up from her book and handed him a large towel. Changsheng wiped himself haphazardly, reaching for his neck and back. Seeing his struggle, Shanglin took the towel and gestured for him to turn around.

Changsheng obediently turned her back to Shanglin. She sat higher and Changsheng stood lower, slightly hunching over to reduce the height difference between them, so Shanglin could reach her with just a slight raise of her hand.

"Take a shower before eating, you'll be covered in sweat!" He pinched his nose with one hand and wiped it with the other.

Changsheng deliberately moved closer, raising his hand as if to brush against her clothes. Shanglin was so startled that she leaned back, forgetting she was suspended in mid-air, and almost fell. Amidst her scream, Changsheng nimbly caught her, laughing triumphantly. She was surprised, angry, and amused all at once, and playfully slapped him away. Changsheng jumped back, mischievously saying, "You can't hit me, you can't hit me!"

He chuckled.

Shanglin stood on the stone steps, swaying as she reached forward to hit him. Changsheng deliberately moved closer, and just as he was about to hit her, he quickly stepped back, making her scream in anger. He coaxed her, "Okay, okay, you can hit me!"

He moved closer again, and Shanglin reached out once more, but just a few millimeters away, he jumped back, looking at Shanglin with a smug expression as he watched Shanglin's exasperated state.

Yin Yeyao stood at the corner, half a wall obscuring his figure. He stood there, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

The playful tussle continued for a while until Shanglin, displeased, turned her head away as if to leave. Her gaze returned to Yin Yeyao, and she paused slightly, then smiled happily.

"You're awake."

Like a hundred flowers in full bloom, he clearly heard a loud bang.

My heart skipped a beat.

He had seen countless beautiful women, but none possessed such a pure, natural, and familiar warm smile. During those days of gritting his teeth and enduring hardship, that smiling face haunted his dreams.

That year, Yin Yeyao was sixteen and Qiu Shanglin was thirteen. In the mountain village where he had spent his childhood, he found his love. Everything he had struggled for all this time found its answer at this moment, and he hoped to see that smiling face forever.

Shanglin was completely unaware. He jumped down the stone steps: "Xialin is still in bed? Come on, let's wake him up."

She and Li Changsheng walked over, their eyes meeting as they passed each other.

Don't expect Qiu Xialin to still remember the happy life he had with Yin Ge.

His brain is only focused on eating, drinking, and having fun. He has extra space for his family and extra space for studying. His brain capacity is limited and can't hold too much else.

Fortunately, he still remembered that his brother Yin had protected him back then and often shielded him from Qiu Shanglin's beatings. After a few words, they warmed up to each other. Yin Yeyao laughed and brought up the past when he was terrified of his sister and the three of them used to set up a stall together at the school gate. Qiu Xialin sighed and pulled Gu Zhiyuan and Ji Yunwen aside to complain:

My sister back then... I was just a poor kid nobody wanted back then...

He inquired about Yin Yeyao's life over the years out of curiosity, but Yin Yeyao diverted his attention with a brief introduction about reading and the customs and culture of the South, successfully shifting his focus to admiration for the exquisite snacks and open environment of the South.

Shanglin was also curious. How did that boy, full of malice and unruly back then, transform into a smiling, refined, and polite young man?

His current appearance... He used to be a tender young beast who had lost the protection of his parents, restless and irritable, ready to tear apart any human who dared to provoke him. He always had a stern face with an air of cold arrogance, and his face clearly said four words: Keep out of reach!

Returning to the broader context of the Yin family, after several years of training by the family patriarch, the young beast had grown up. It had sheathed its claws, concealing its restless gaze, becoming polite and refined. It is said that a person with a wealth of knowledge naturally exudes elegance. But Yin Yeyao was not born a scholar. No matter how many books he read, they only adorned his outward appearance; his bones remained bloodthirsty and brimming with aggression. Like a cheetah, he moved with elegant steps, his sharp eyes fixed on his prey, concealing his bloodthirsty instincts beneath a refined and intellectual exterior, yet crouching low, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

After breakfast, Grandma assigned tasks, including going to the market.

The mountain village doesn't have a fixed market; there's a market every five days. Usually, it's run by small vendors from other villages, who bring daily necessities, fresh vegetables and fruits, needles, thread, rouge, and face powder to sell at this spontaneously formed market. Buyers aren't limited to the village; whenever there's a market day, people from several nearby villages come specifically to attend.

The act of wandering around the market is called "going to the market".

There's no meat at home, and the kids crave it, so we'll take the opportunity to buy some extra meat at the market where someone is butchering and selling pigs. We'll also buy plenty of fresh vegetables, flour, rice, and all sorts of delicious cooked snacks—a whole host of odds and ends.

The market is located at the entrance of the village, extending from outside the village into the village. It is laid out in two rows along the houses, with gaps in the middle for people to walk and select goods.

Women and young girls from all around came, creating a bustling, crowded scene.

Shang Lin frequented many markets back then, and her first pot of gold was earned from the market in Zifang Town.

Unlike the market in Zifang Town, this place was unregulated. Whoever arrived early could simply find a spot, set up their goods, and start selling. Later arrivals would line up in order, following the lead of those who came earlier. Chicken vendors stood next to vegetable vendors, and pork vendors were busy hawking their sesame oil. It was chaotic, yet lively.

They grew plenty of vegetables in their own garden, but the better ones needed to be bought separately. Tender celery, crisp chives, plump purple eggplants, cauliflower, bok choy, and chili peppers, and of course, delicious white mushrooms—the vegetables filled a large basket, heavy and hanging from their elbows. Fortunately, they had many assistants following behind, so Shanglin only handled the purchasing and not the transportation.

The boy had a big appetite, and there were many of them, so they ate up all of their grandmother's food reserves in just a few days. Not only them, but all the children in the village who could play together were reluctant to part at mealtimes and would often invite them over for a meal.