Chapter 14

TRANSLATOR – ANNIE

He once loved her like so. She had also loved him so. She would not go against his will, she would try her best to live. She leaned her head on the arm of the sofa, groggily fell asleep again.

It started to rain very early in the morning. From the windows, one could see the bamboo shoot-like building tips in the distance, and the milky white bay windows of adjacent apartment buildings nearby, all separated by a layer of faint water vapor, becoming hazy and blurred. The city was trapped in light gray rain and fog.

Lei Yuzheng woke up very early. Coming out of the bathroom, the sky outside the window was still gloomy, and the rain was still falling in fine bits.

He changed his clothes and took the elevator downstairs to the underground garage.

It was still early, although it was raining, the traffic was very smooth. In this city, he rarely drove by himself. The sound of the sports car engine was low. The car shuttled lightly in the traffic, but he didn’t feel any pleasure. He received a call on the viaduct. The secretary’s voice came from the Bluetooth: “Mr. Lei, all your trips today have been cancelled, but MG has just notified me that their CEO temporarily changed their plans and is expected to arrive in Shanghai this afternoon. Look…”

He didn’t even bother to speak, so he hung up the phone.

The secretary did not call again, very understandingly.

The distance was far away. The location was very secluded. He could only park his car under the mountain. After going up the mountain, he had to walk for a long, long time. He did not have an umbrella, and the rain continued to drench his hair and clothes. There were trees on both sides of the mountain road. The leaves of camphor were green like spring. From time to time, large drops of rain slid down the leaves and hit people’s heads. In fact, this tree sheds its leaves in spring, but it was already summer.

It rained even more heavily, the distant mountain view was caged in light gray mist. Yet the nearby trees were full of greenery, as if they were full of vitality. For a while, he stood in the pavilion halfway up the mountain, smoking a cigarette.

Zhenrong didn’t smoke. He used to always urge him to quit because it wasn’t good for his health.

At that time, he didn’t put his words in his heart at all. He treated everything Zhenrong said like a child’s words. He forgot immediately after they went through his ears.

But he is actually no longer a kid, he was a man.

Zhenrong is twenty-eight years old today.

He extinguished the cigarette and continued to walk up the mountain.

His two hands were empty.

He didn’t know what to bring to Zhenrong. He didn’t order a cake or the like, because Zhenrong didn’t eat much sweets, although today was Zhenrong’s birthday. His youngest brother had turned twenty-eight years.

He still remembers how, when Zhenrong was eight months old, he had a thin face, unlike other children who were chubby. One could only see a pair of big black-grape-like eyes, round and staring at people. At that time, Nanny Zhao hugged Zhenrong in worry: “This child is so thin that only a pair of eyes are left.”

He also remembered that when Zhenrong was eight years old, he would follow him all around. Wherever he went, Zhenrong would go with him. During the summer vacation, a group of boys breached and stormed and played games. He had always been his little tail.

He also remembered that when Zhen Rong was eighteen years old, after finishing the college entrance examination, he was angry with his father at home, and he came back to talk to his parents for his brother.

Zhenrong turned 28 years old today.

He didn’t know how his parents would pass today, his eldest brother would pass the day, but they would definitely feel more sad than him.

So instead of going home, he came here.

I looked at the stele from far away. It was chosen by the hospital, it was made of black marble.

There was Zhenrong’s name and Zhenrong’s photo on it.

The hospital bought the cemetery after consulting him and his elder brother and let Zhenrong sleep here.

He and his eldest brother didn’t agree to take Zhenrong’s ashes home. Both he and his eldest brother attempted to stop the sadness of their parents using a distance of thousands of kilometers.

If one couldn’t see something, maybe they wouldn’t miss it.

But he clearly knew that the youngest son was most adored by his parents and the younger brother he adored the most. Even if he were moved into another world, he wouldn’t not be able to miss him.

He felt very uncomfortable, so he stood far away and stopped for a while.

The rain was a little lighter, still small and dense, like cow hair. It seemed more like rain from spring, but it wasn’t cold. The mountain was very quiet, but there was a small gray sparrow, whose feathers were half wet, and jumped across the bluestone pavement to the grass one step at a time.

Only then did he see someone in front of the tomb.

She shrank her chest, curled up there quietly, resting her head on the tombstone, like the sparrow with wet feathers, unable to fly, unable to move.

There were flowers in front of the monument, a large handful of lilies, rainwater had accumulated on the petals, dripping drop by drop. The candle on the cake next to the flower had not been extinguished, and the shape of the numbers could still be seen vaguely, one was “2”, and the other was “8”.  Occasionally raindrops would fall on the two small beams of light, causing soft “tssss” noise.

Nothing was written on the cake. Beautiful chocolate flowers were spread between the fruit and the cream, squeezed close to each other, as if blooming in the rain.

He stood there for at least ten minutes, even until the candles on the cake were extinguished, he remained motionless.

Her face was blocked by her arms, and he couldn’t see her expression at all. Her hair was draped over her shoulders at random. Crystal raindrops came out from the tips of her hair. Her clothes were soaked. He didn’t know how long she’d been there. She was motionless, as if there was no life left.

He suddenly thought, did something really happen?

Thus, he walked over and leaned down and gave her a push.

She seemed to be asleep, she gave a dazed groan, moved a bit, and at the same time he smelled the strong stench of alcohol, and found an empty wine bottle at her feet.

So she had drunk too much.

Ever since Zhenrong had gone, all he’d seen was her most unsightly side.

She curled up here like a stray cat, her fingers were as thin as bamboo knots, and faint green veins could be seen, but she still clung to the tombstone, like it was her only support, the only driftwood, arising pity from the hearts of onlookers.

The rain gradually became heavy again. The mountains echoed with the sound of wind and rain. Even the flowers trembled as they were hit with rainfall. Each flower appeared pitifully weak. But she stayed there without moving an inch as if she’d lost consciousness. Her face stuck closely to the tombstone. Her long eyelashes covered her eyes, like a shrub growing with branches and leaves, yet carried crystal raindrops, or perhaps tears, threatening to fall.

The rain became even heavier. The mountains were covered by mist, a thin layer of water vapor arose from the ground. In a short while, his clothes were all soaked. Hitting one’s face, the heavy rain was a little painful, making it hard to even open one’s eyes. But she didn’t have any reaction, she shrank there like a piece of dead wood, letting the rain fall. He thought, it’s best to go down the mountain. Why don’t I go down to the pavilion, considering the rain is so heavy.

He turned and walked down the mountain. When he reached the pavilion, his clothes were already soaked. The corners of his clothes were dripping with water. When the mountain breeze blew on him, it was cold. The smoke was already a little moist. It took a while for the lighter to light.

He already finished smoking a pack of cigarettes in the pavilion, but the woman still didn’t come down the mountain.

This was the only way down the mountain. If she walked down, she would definitely pass by here.

She might’ve really drunk herself to death. He crumpled the empty cigarette case and threw it into the trash can.

The rain gradually subsided, and the sound of water droplets falling on the leaves could be heard. He walked down the mountain, the road was very slippery, and he could see snails slowly crawling on the bluestone pavement. When Zhenrong was three or four years old, he liked to catch snails and watch them eat leaves.

Zhenrong has always been a very quiet child, very well-behaved.

After he grew up, he was also very quiet. His mother always said that Zhenrong was the most well-behaved one in the family.

Lei Yuzheng walked to the parking lot and started the car. Before leaving the parking lot, he thought about it again, and finally stopped the car and went up the mountain again.

He felt the road even more slippery as he walked upwards. The rain had stopped, but there was a shallow layer of water on the road, reflecting his rippling shadow. He walked briskly and quickly arrived at the black marble tombstone. Yet, Du Xiaosu was still there, like nothing had changed. Although her clothes were soaked, she was still like a sculpture, motionless, as she leaned against the tombstone.

“Hey!” He called her, “Wake up!”

She didn’t answer him.

“Du Xiaosu!”

He called her name, and she didn’t respond.

Finally, he pushed her hard. She finally opened her eyes and gave him a look.

Her eyes were tired and hollow. When she saw him, there seemed to be a little light in her eyes, like the last embers in the charcoal fire. Before he could react, she suddenly let go of the tombstone and grasped him tightly. She leapt into his arms, her whole body trembling violently – he had never seen someone like this before, like they were digging out their heart and lungs, vomiting all their internal organs. But she didn’t vomit, much less cry. She just tightly clutched onto him, shuddering, but silent. She seemed to have lost all her vocal cords, everything turned to stubborn grief, but without a single tear. He pushed her hand away hard, but she refused to let it go. Her lips were purple, perhaps because of cold or sadness. She fainted all of a sudden.

He has never seen a person who can be sad in this way. In fact, she hasn’t even shed a single tear, but this kind of desperate and silent sadness was more depressing than howling.

He tried to wake her up, but she didn’t even respond after he pinched her for a long time. One of her hands was holding onto his clothes tightly. It took him a lot of effort to tear away her hand that was holding the corner of his clothes. He heard a slight “ding”. Something had fallen onto the ground. . When he picked it up, he realized it was a ring.

He recognized it. It was given by Nanny Zhao. There should be three identical ones. One was given to his sister-in-law, and this one was given to her.

He didn’t expect that she would still carry it with her.

She was actually not not pitiful.

He was stunned for a long time before putting the ring back on her finger, and then he brought her down the mountain.

When he finally pushed her into the car, he was sweating, and even his clothes were already steamed dry. In fact, she was not heavy, and her body is full of bones, which rubbed painfully against him.

She was groggy while in the passenger seat. Her body convulsed front ime to time, like a small child who had cried for so long that the body stayed that way. But she still didn’t cry, not even a single tear.

She slept for a long time without moving, like a baby in the womb, just sleeping quietly.

She might have had a dream. In the dream, she got lost. It appeared as though when she was really small, she couldn’t couldn’t find her parents and the way home She only knew how to cry in panic.

Then Zhenrong came, he took her home, and he held her as if he had never left her. She felt very relieved, pressed her face to his chest, listened to his heartbeat, thump thump thump, familiar and intimate.

But Zhenrong was no longer there.

She knew it was a dream, so she refused to open her eyes, and she refused to cry. She was afraid that if she moved a little, he would disappear, just like what had happened in many dreams.

But she would ultimately wake up.

She did not cry when she woke up. Although in her dream she had cried a lot, holding onto Zhenrong, staying in his arms, those warm and most comfortable arms. She cried so painfully and desperately, like her intensives were getting cut apart, but when she awoke, it was all but a dream.

There was no more Shao Zhenrong, to let her cry in his arms.

She knew this, so she put her hand on her chest. There was still a faint pain, she knew it would hurt for a long, long time, for a lifetime.

She only didn’t have Shao Zhenrong.

The room was very big and unfamiliar. The bed was wide. She was covered with a thin blanket. The ceiling was full of mirrors and she could see herself curled up in a ball.

She didn’t know where this was. She only remembered that she had gone to see Zhenrong, bought flowers, bought a cake, bought wine and then went to Zhenrong’s. It was Zhenrong’s birthday, so she went. A picture of him was embedded on the tombstone, and through the thin colorless glass, he looked at her with a smile, just like before.

In fact, she said a lot to Zhenrong. It was too hard, so she could only tell Zhenrong that it was too hard to live. She promised her mother and she knew that Zhentong also wanted her to live well, but it was so hard. She couldn’t tell anyone, only Zhenrong.

Later, it rained heavily and she fell asleep.

She didn’t know where she was, or how long she slept. Her clothes were almost dry, crumpled like pickles. She got up and saw that there was a bathroom inside, so she went in and washed her face. The person in the mirror was pale and haggard, like a lonely wild ghost. In fact, she was indeed a lonely wild ghost. Being alive was not more than so.

She didn’t find her shoes, so she walked out of the room barefoot. The corridor was full of carpets and one could walk silently. She could see the vast living room, which had a high ceiling and great depth.

The downstairs was very quiet. There was no one.

The large villa looked very empty. She turned a corner. There was a door there, and there seemed to be a small noise behind the door.

She pushed open the door.

In front of the western-style kitchen, there was a uniquely designed atrium for lighting. In the chic courtyard, a huge osmanthus plant was planted. The rain washed the leaves of the osmanthus, making the leaves shiny, reflected in the window, as if full of greenery and life.

He looked back at her without any expression, then turned his head to continue.

Her vision is blurred, in the dim golden halo, she could vaguely see his profile. He eyebrows and eyes were all not very clear.

But he was gone, that was not him.

She knew it clearly.

Just like how it was summer, but the morning raindrops falling on the leaves sounded like autumn.

He put the slices of bread on the plate, spread jam, then pushed the plate in front of her, went to the refrigerator, split the bread, and baked two more slices for himself.

The log dining table in the kitchen was very wide and long. The flower arrangement that was sent fresh in the morning was casually placed in the center of the table by him, covering most of his face, making it difficult to see his expression. She tried very hard to eat the bread. The knife and fork occasionally touched, making a slight clanging sound.

Both of them were very quiet. The rain outside started again, drop after drop, falling on the bluestone slab in the atrium.

She plucked up the courage and raised her head: “Can I beg you for one more thing, can I?” He originally thought she would ask for the house again, but unexpectedly, she didn’t.

She and Shao Zhenrong once sponsored a few poor children from a Hope Primary School on a remote island. Those sensible children wrote to them almost every month. During the Chinese New Year, the children wrote and begged her to send a photo with Shao Zhenrong. The children had been hoping to see her and Shao Zhenrong in person. At that time, she and Shao Zhenrong replied that once Uncle Shao was on vacation, they could go see them, bring a camera, and take many photos with them, and then watch them when they grow up.

“Can you accompany me to see the children, just this time. It won’t take much of your time, you look very similar to Zhenrong… they won’t know…” she murmured, “I really don’t know what to do and how to tell them… If I say, Zhenrong is gone… Such cruel words, even I myself can’t accept them…” She lowered her head, but did not cry, instead the corners of her mouth rose stubbornly, carrying a sad smile.

He glanced at her: “You do a lot of things.”

“We originally planned to support these children until college, but now…In any case, I will continue to let them study on.” She raised her eyes and looked at him, “I will only trouble you this time, and I promise that I won’t cause you trouble again. This is the last time.”

She looked at him with big black eyes, neither pleading nor pitiful, there was only an openness in her eyes, as if she was not asking him, but simply seeking help. He had always felt that she was pitiful, but sometimes, she would unexpectedly surprise him.

He was silent.

A three-day round trip was a bit tight, but time was barely enough. Du Xiaosu had no luggage, but bought a lot of stationery, paintbrushes and other things, and also bought a lot of extracurricular books, which filled up the fifty-liter mountaineering bag. After getting off the plane and changing cars while it was still raining, the journey was very difficult. The road was bumpy and they even had to ride two ferries. It was already dark when they got to the sea, and so they changed to a smaller fishing boat to go to the island. It was raining, the wind and waves were very heavy, and the fishing boat was small. She was seasick and vomited so much that she squatted on the side of the ship and did not dare to stand up. He have a bottle, because he often went fishing, so he adapted much better than her. She just squatted there, vomiting and vomiting while hugging the rope net, but she didn’t say a word, neither groaned nor asked how far away they were.

Her stubborn look was a bit like Zhenrong.

When they finally made it off the boat, it was likely her first time taking a fishing boat across the sea, so once she landed on solid ground, her legs were still slipping, like the ground was still shaking like the sea. There was a lamp on the pier, shining on the diagonally falling rain. The sea not far away was pitch black, and made it still seem like they were on a boat.

The children were carrying lanterns, led by the only teacher, and guarding the dock to pick them up.

That Teacher Sun is not old, in fact, he was only a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old. Seeing them, he was extremely shy, but still rushed to help them with their luggage.

A child yelled timidly: “Uncle Shao!” Du Xiaosu was obviously taken aback. Looking back at him, he agreed with a smile and touched the child’s head. Du Xiaosu seemed to be relieved. The gang of children screamed like a nest of birds, and immediately became lively. Several little girls called Du Xiaosu: “Sister Xiaosu!” An older girl stood on tiptoe, trying to open an umbrella for Du Xiaosu. Seeing the little girl so strenuously try to help, Lei Yuzheng adjusted the mountaineering bag on his back and left room in his hands to take the umbrella: “Let me.”

Du Xiaosu was very silent along the way. She had been like this ever since Shao Zhenrong’s accident. Only when she talked to the children did she become a little lively: “There is sea on all sides. We will definitely not go the wrong way. Why did you come to pick us up even on such a rainy day?”How can it be rained? Come out to pick us up?” Teacher Sun was still very shy and said, “I answered the phone yesterday and hearing that you were coming, the students reminded me the whole day that we needed to wait at the pier. I couldn’t persuade them. Besides, both of you coming from so far away, we definitely should come pick you up.” The umbrella was very small, and the rain was getting bigger. The little girl said seriously: “Sister Xiaosu, Look, Uncle Shao is getting wet.” It turned out that the umbrella in his hand was inclined towards her. Du Xiaosu was taken aback, seeing that most of his shoulder was still wet, she didn’t know what to do, and after hesitating for a while, stretched out her hand to hold his arm.

A group of children were all smiley, they were probably happy to see them close.

The school was built on the hillside. The road up the mountain was not easy to walk. It winded upwards and nearly every step was slippery. After finally getting to the student dormitory, almost everyone was wet. The so-called student dormitory was actually just a slightly larger room. There is a slick plank, and a dim light bulb hung above their heads. Teacher Sun was still shyly smiling, “We have a generator…” Before his voice fell, the light bulb went out.

The children all laughed, and Little Teacher Sun looked irked in the dark: “Why are you still laughing.”

A group of children laughed again. Teacher Sun said: “It’s an old generator we bought last year. It keeps on breaking, but no one on the island knows how to fix it…”

Lei Yuzheng lit up his lighter and found the flashlight in the mountaineering bag. Teacher Sun also found a candle and said: “I’ll go boil some water.The children have not washed it yet. It is easy to catch a cold after getting wet.”

Lei Yuzheng asked: “Where is the generator? I’ll go and see.” Du Xiaosu seemed to give him a surprised look, but didn’t say anything.

Little Teacher Sun led him to look at the generator. Lei Yuzheng took off his coat, then pulled up his sleeves and checked carefully: “The problem is not big.”

Because Teacher Sunwas in a hurry to boil water, Du Xiaosu took over the flashlight and lit it for Lei Yuzheng. He hadn’t touched a machine for many years, and the last time he did, he was in a university laboratory. Fortunately, the basic principles had not been forgotten, and the circuit was not complicated. Because the light beam of the flashlight shone at a very limited angle, and moving even a little further would cause it not to be bright enough, Du Xiaosu squatted beside him. The two were almost heads together. Only then could he see the parts in the generator. But because they were so close, her breathing was warm and soft, brushing his ears, and his ears started to heat up for no apparent reason. There was a faint scent in her breath, not perfume, but the scent on her body was caught with the diesel scent of the machine. He was a little suspicious that it was his own illusion, because the smell of diesel was so strong that he shouldn’t be able to smell anything else.

After fixing it for almost an hour and his hands were smeared with oil, the generator finally roared to life again, the light bulbs in the room turned on, and the children cheered.

Back in the room, the children babbled: “Little Uncle Shao is really capable!”

“Little Uncle Shao is a doctor!”

“He can cure diseases and repair generators!”

“When I grow up, I will be like Little Uncle Shao!”

……

She also smiled and turned her head back, the dim light of the electric lamp shone on her face, her cheeks were slightly flushed, as if she was joyful: “I’ll fetch water to wash your hands.”

Before he could say anything, she ran to the kitchen.

Little Teacher Sun had already boiled a big pot of water. She took a scoop, mixed it with warm water, and gave it to him to wash his hands. She then helped Little Teacher Sun call over the children to take a bath. They were all children of the fishermen from nearby islands. They concentrated on this small island to study because the big and small islands faced each other across the sea. Many students could go home for a month. From class to eating, drinking and sleeping, it was all Teacher Sun taking care of them. Fortunately, the children were very sensible, so they took the basin to divide the water and lined up to take a bath.

Little Teacher Sun gave Xiaosu and Lei Yuzheng a room, and went to sleep with the students. He smiled shyly: “The price of diesel has risen. The generator can only be open for a while. Rest early.”

Lei Yuzheng felt awkward, but fortunately, Teacher Sun was also embarrassed. He put the two boiling water bottles in his hand on the ground, scratched his head, and left quickly.

Lei Yuzheng closed the door, opened the hiking bag, took out the moisture-proof mat and sleeping bag: “You sleep on the bed.”

She looked at the single bed. Teacher Sun must have cleaned it up. The bedding was clean. She said, “I should sleep on the ground.” Although they were on the mountain, they were on the island after all, and it was still raining, so the ground was extremely humid.

He said, “It’s okay. I often sleep in a tent when hiking.” He gave her another sleeping bag, “Do you want one? It will be very cold at night.”

After washing her face, hands and feet, she lay down in her sleeping bag. The sound of wind and waves on the sea can be heard from a distance. After all, after a day on the road, tiredness hit quickly. She turned over and stopped breathing after a while, apparently asleep.

Not long after, the tungsten filament in the bulb flickered slightly, and the yellow bulb went out.

Maybe that little amount of diesel has already burned out.

He didn’t know why but he couldn’t fall asleep. Maybe it was because of the sound of wind and rain outside the house. Maybe it was because of the strange environment. Maybe there was no reason and he just wanted to smoke a cig.

It was pitch black in the house, and pitch black outside, there was only the sound of wind and rain left between the sky and the earth. The sound of her breathing was very subtle, but it was still audible in the noisy rain, like a cat, or some other small animal, not snoring, but a fine sound. She slept soundly. And the night was so quiet, even though it was windy and rainy outside, the air in the room seemed to solidify like amber. The sleeping bag was so warm that it almost felt irritating.

He finally got up and looked for the cigarette case in the backpack. The lighter clicked softly, the flame rose, and at the same time it lit the cigarette, inadvertently cutting through the silent darkness. The slightly swaying flames carried a yellowish halo, suddenly lighting her sleeping figure, her black hair curled by the pillow, making her profile look like a bright moon hanging over the sea, so incredibly white and clear.

He turned off the lighter and quietly finished smoking. No smoke rings could be seen in the darkness, but the smell of tobacco penetrated into the lungs, carrying a slight bitterness. Outside the house, the rain was still falling intensively. It made it seem like this small island in the sea has become a small boat, swaying ups and downs in the waves.

The rain didn’t stop the next day, but instead got worse and worse. Du Xiaosu woke up very early, but Lei Yuzheng was already up. She went to the kitchen, and Teacher Sun had just lit the fire, so she volunteered to help cook breakfast. The radio was broadcasting the weather forecast. The typhoon was moving to the south. Fortunately, the center of the typhoon was very far away from the island, and they were only affected by the outer wind.

The children were brushing their teeth and washing their faces under the eaves. Breakfast was porridge and fried fish. Du Xiaosu over-fried the fish, but the children still ate with relish. Teacher Sun was also smiling when he ate the burnt fish. Du Xiaosu felt embarrassed and removed all the scorched exteriors: “Just eat fish. It is not good for your health to eat the burnt parts.”

After eating breakfast, she took out the stationery and extracurricular books she had brought. The children cheered, happy as though it were the holidays.

The rain became heavier and heavier. The wind also blew with more and more force. Afraid the typhoon would transfer over to where they were, Little Teacher Sun ran out into the rain using a hammer, nails and wooden boards to reinforce all the doors and windows in the classroom. Lei Yuzheng originally wanted to help him, but seeing Du Xiaosu bend down to hold the planks, he walked over and pushed her away: “This kind of thing should not be done by women.”

He held the plank and walked over, braving the wind and rain outside the window with Little Teacher Sun, hammering and nailing. It took a long time to finish it.

As a result, both of them were soaked. Their wet clothes stuck to their bodies. With each blow of the sea breeze, they felt the cold seep into their bones. Du Xiaosu didn’t know how to use a large stove. In the end, it was Teacher Sun who made the fire. She rushed around in panic and boiled a pot of ginger soup. Teacher Sun didn’t say anything, Lei Yuzheng frowned as he drank it. She didn’t cook very often, so she looked at him with a guilty conscience: “Is the ginger soup spicy?”

Ginger soup is of course a bit spicy, but it was much better than the burnt fish in the morning.

Seeing her clumsily attempt to cook lunch, he couldn’t help it anymore: “Give me the apron. You can go out.”

She was taken aback, as if thinking of something, but she didn’t say anything, and silently untied her apron and handed it to him.

Teacher Sun continued to stir the fire over the stove. Du Xiaosu helped do miscellaneous work beside him, handing over plates and bowls or the like. Lei Yuzheng made four dishes, all of which were fish. The children ate until their bowls were squeaky clean. They clamored about how delicious Little Uncle Shao’s cooking was, how even fish could become so appetizing.

Du Xiaosu is also quite proud: “LIttle Uncle Shao is the most capable. Even when he cooks, the food is delicious, much better than how I cook.”

The little girl also smiled: “Sister Xiaosu, you can’t cook?”

Du Xiaosu squatted down and said to her with a smile: “Sister Xiaosu still has a lot of things that she doesn’t know, so you all should study hard. When you go to university and get a master’s degree or PhD, you will know more things than Sister Xiaosu and become more capable than Sister Xiaosu, then it will be your turn to teach me.”

Teacher Sun took the opportunity to say: “Okay, class is about to start. Everyone, come to the classroom.”

The children went to class and the kitchen quieted. Du Xiaosu put away the rice bowls and soaked them in the basin. The water in the tank was gone, so Teacher Sun had placed the big wooden basin in the yard to catch rainwater. It was raining too much, filling the air with only the noise of huahua. The bushes and short trees on the back mountain were blown sideways by the wind. There was a wooden barrel in front of the stove with a plastic basin placed upside down that held mantis shrimp inside. They had been delivered from the boat they came on yesterday. Little Teacher Sun had prepared this for everyone’s dinner. She opened it to take a peek. After a day, they were still alive and kicking. One shrimp popped out all of a sudden. When she caught it and attempted to place it back, the shrimp hunched over and jumped all the way to the corner of the room. She followed after it . Suddenly a small black shadow leaped out, sweeping straight past the heel of her foot. Du Xiaosu was frightened. After a little while, it became clear to her that it was a very small cat that had instantly swooped on the shrimp. Yet who knew there was a thorn on the shrimp. The kitten had coincidentally pressed onto the thorn and gave a meow, leaping far back. It tilted its round little head, observing the shrimp. After  a while, it tiptoed closer and reached out another paw, tentatively pushing at the shrimp. The shrimp gave a forceful jump and just happened to hit the kitten’s noise. The kitten was scared. It whimpered and weaved over close to Du Xiaosu’s legs, shivering.

Du Xiaosu held the kitten. It was a small black and white tabby cat, curled into a ball softly in her palm, like a pom pom, meowing. She teased the kitten: “Mimi, what’s your name? Seeing how you’re so skinny, I’ll call you Ribs.” Actually, the kitten was a bit like her, with big round eyes and pointed face. The way it looked at people was very similar, always watery, like the eyes could speak.

The kitten stretched out its little pink tongue and licked her fingers. She burst into laughter: “Look, Zhenrong, it’s so cute!” He didn’t say a word. She probably really regarded him as Shao Zhenrong on this small island.

Probably because she had loved him so deeply that she would indulge herself like so, deceiving herself.

The heavy rain outside rustled, accompanied by the sloppy sound of children reading out loud in the classroom, led by the not-so-standard mandarin of Teacher Sun: “The stream of Wuyi Mountain makes nine bends around the mountain peaks, so it’s called Nine Qu River. Its water is very clear, so clear that the sand and stones at the bottom of the stream are visible…” The voice was mixed with the sound of wind and rain, making it seem distant and fleeting. Du Xiaosu watched the thin white smoke rising from the heavy rain outside, blown up by the wind, like a piece of white silk, bringing moisture wherever it went. She couldn’t help but feel a little worried: “What should we do if we can’t leave tomorrow?”

With such bad weather, the ferries had all likely come to a stop.

She suddenly smiled at him again: “If we can’t go, let’s stay on the island for two more days.”

Before, she always looked like she was in tears. But when she smiled, she was very cute, like a child. There was a kind of innocent and bright light between her eyebrows, like starlight, which would leak out, silently entering people’s hearts. The sound of wind and rain outside, with the racket it was making, seemed to be isolating this island to another world.

In the evening, the wind finally subsided and the rain stopped. The children rushed out of the classroom and cheered on their small playground. Carrying a camera, Du Xiaosu took countless photos of them. Their little heads close together, looking at the small LED screen on the digital camera. The group photos were taken very properly. The children surrounded him and Xiaosu. Their bright smiles were like a bouquet of the cutest flowers. Some photos were taken randomly by Xiaosu. The children liked to make faces at the camera, making all sorts of strange looks, causing people to laugh. Du Xiaosu was very patient. Picking out photos one after another for everyone to look at, amusing the children and causing them to laugh.

The water in the water tank was almost gone. Teacher Sun was going to pick up water. Du Xiaosu volunteered: “I’ll go.” Teacher Sun scratched his head: “Then let Dr. Shao go with you. The road is difficult. You also won’t be able to pick it up.”

She paused, Lei Yuzheng had already taken the barrel over: “Let’s go.”

Only after walking up the mountain did she find out why Teacher Xiaosun said the road was difficult to walk. The so-called road was a thin zigzag trail on a steep mountain. The spring was very far away. There is a long stretch of road facing the cliff. The waves hit the air under the cliff. The rugged reef shattered the waves, spraying the air with snow-like white drops, making the onlookers feel dizzy. Du Xiaosu was already out of breath when they climbed to the top of the mountain. The wind was so strong that all her hair was messed up. Standing on the top of the mountain, she can see the endless sea. The seawater near her was murky brown while the water in the distance was a very light blue. For as far as she could see, there were small islands scattered here and there, like small mountain peaks in the sea of ​​clouds.

Large chunks of clouds were blown by the wind farther away, like countless competing sails and like numerous giant birds by the sea taking flight away from them. She opened her arms and felt the wind blow between her fingers. Lei Yuzheng stood there, staring at the sea and sky, as if his mind was getting cleansed. The sky and the sea were so majestic and vast, while people were so small and weak. No matter how much trouble and pain existed in the world, they seemed to be swallowed up and obliterated by the immortality of this sea and the sky.

To think such magnificent scenery would be on this insignificant small island.

A fluffy thing swept his legs, and looked down to see that it was the kitten that had followed them from who knows when. Mud had been splashed on its small paws, but it shakily ran towards Du Xiaosu. She picked up the kitten and squatted by the spring to wash its paws. The spring water was so cold, causing the kitten to shiver and splash water drops on her face. Because of the cold, her cheeks were reddened by the sea breeze, and her skin was almost translucent, like a rose flower in the morning, carrying dew-like crystals. She smiled brightly, as though a blooming flower.

He squatted down to fetch water.

He heard her say to the kitten: “Ribs, come home with us. There are so many delicious things at home.”

He glanced over, and finally said: “You don’t really intend to take it back, do you?”

She looked a little guilty: “Little Teacher Sun said that the mother cat had died. The kitten has nothing to eat here. It might starve to death…”

“There are fish and shrimps here every day, how could it starve?”

“But no one cooks for it.”

He lifted up two buckets of water slowly: “Will you cook for it?”

She heard the sarcasm in his statement, and her voice dropped: “I don’t know how…but I can buy cat food…”

He carried the water down the mountain: “No pets are allowed on the plane.”

She was stunned for a moment. She chased after him: “Help me think of a way. Help me please?”

He ignored her and walked carefully down the rugged mountain road.

She hugged the cat, followed him step after step, begging: “Look at how pitiful the cat is. Think of a way please? You could even repair the generator…” Her voice was soft. She tugged at his sleeves, “Zhenrong…”

He suddenly stopped and said plainly: “I’m not Shao Zhenrong.”

Her hands loosened. The kitten jumped to the ground. She stared at him in a daze, as if she was suddenly awakened from a dream, still stunned. The kitten rolled in mud on the ground, so muddy that the color of its fur became hidden. It stretched out its tongue and kept licking its paws, before raising its head to meow at him. The eyes of the person and cat were wide open, as if at a loss.

He carried the bucket and continued walking down the mountain. She hugged the cat and followed him silently.

In the evening, he was still the chef. Because there was seaweed, he made seaweed and shrimp soup. The children still ate it with fervor. Du Xiaosu filled a bowl of soup and drank it silently. Teacher Sun was afraid that they caught a cold so he deliberately went to the kitchen to find a bottle of wine and came out: “Let’s drink a little tonight to avoid rheumatism.”

The wine was soju and had previously soaked sea cucumber, so its taste was a bit strange.

Teacher Sun originally wanted to drink some more with Lei Yuzheng, but he was not Lei Yuzheng’s opponent. After a few glasses of wine, his face has been flushed all the way to his neck. He became more chatting “You two coming here, have made he children very happy. I’m also happy… Dr. Shao, you and Miss Du are really nice people, continuing to send money over and buying books to send over… I also have a girlfriend, but she doesn’t understand. She keeps saying that working on the island is too hard and that one can’t make money as a teacher. She wants me to go to the mainland to work, but if I leave now, how will the children fare… No one will teach them… You and Miss Du, both of you have such good hearts…”

He was a little incoherent. Du Xiaosu took the bottle and poured him a glass of wine: “Teacher Sun, I respect you.”

“Ms. Du should also drink some. This wine cures rheumatism. The island is very humid.” Teacher Sun’s ruddy face while smiling, still carried that shyness, “This time you two came, I didn’t care enough for you two. You’ve both really worked hard. The children and I wish you two a long life together.”

After finishing a bottle of soju, the generator also stopped.

Teacher Sun carried a flashlight and went to the dormitory to take care of the children to sleep. Du Xiaosu lay on the bed. At first, she could vaguely hear Teacher Sun talking to the children that hadn’t slept yet. After a while, likely because they all had fallen asleep, there was no more sound.

A candle was lit in the room. The candlelight flickered slightly.

Lei Yuzheng was still sleeping on the ground with his eyes closed. She was not sure if he was asleep, so she whispered to him: “Hey…”

He opened his eyes and looked at her.

“I am sorry.”

He closed his eyes again.

She said, “Thank you for making the children so happy these past two days.”

He was a little impatient and turned over: “Don’t worry, there won’t be a next time.”

“I know I was wrong. I always blamed the heavens and others. I thought I was strong. After Zhenrong left… I only then learned how weak I was. I thought it was so unfair. How could fate let Zhenrong go like that? I didn’t have time to tell him anything…I hated myself. If I didn’t ask to break up, maybe Zhenrong would not have gone to the disaster-struck area.. But now I know that even without me, Zhenrong would definitely go. Because he was like that. He was kind, so he would definitely go save people. If I really wanted to blame anyone, I can only blame myself for not being lucky.” Her voice slowly lowered, “Just like Teacher Sun. He never complained about others. One person on the island, and having to teach so many students. To even fetch water, he had to walk such rugged mountain roads even to get some fresh water. He wants to teach, and to take care of the students, but he doesn’t even have any words of complaints…compared with Little Teacher Sun, and Zhenrong, I’m truly too selfish and too narrow-minded…”