Chapter 3 Part 1

Dongxie Village was far from the county seat, and the roads were bad. From the day Chen Li agreed to come, Xie Anqing had planned to let her stay at her house. Saving money was one reason. Another was that she lived alone and had plenty of space. She could clear the whole house for Chen Li and only have to move out herself, which would be simple enough.

Xie Anqing rode for more than ten minutes before stopping in front of a locked wooden gate. She took out her keys.

Chen Li lowered the car window and looked around. White walls stood on either side of the gate, capped with black tiles. Two yellow banksia roses climbed over them. Their flowering season had passed, and only lush green leaves remained, spilling over the wall and gatehouse in long, uneven strands that partly covered the light hanging beneath the low roof.

Xie Anqing opened the gate and said, “It’s a little narrow. If you can’t get your car through, I’ll find somewhere else.”

Chen Li looked away from the mixed-color dwarf cosmos beneath the wall. “That won’t be necessary.”

She turned the wheel, pulled forward, backed up, and adjusted a few times until she’d managed to drive into Xie Anqing’s yard.

A fishpond, a well, a table and chairs, a courtyard full of flowers and greenery, and an old pomegranate tree. The tree slanted from east to west, with a few branches reaching the eaves on the right. Grass Chen Li didn’t recognize grew along the roof, dotted with tiny white flowers.

A two-story wooden house stood at the back.

Xie Anqing led Chen Li upstairs and opened the door to the larger room. “It’s an old house, so the accommodations are limited. I hope you can make do for a few days, Miss Chen.”

“You’re too kind, Secretary Xie.”

Chen Li pushed her luggage into the room. It was every bit as comfortable and pleasant as the front courtyard. Windows on both sides let the air pass through. Potted plants lined the walls, while a low table, a rug, and a weeping jasmine filled the space. A branch from the banyan tree in the backyard reached through the window, and a vase of apricot-pink double roses sat on the bay window.

A round-bellied white porcelain vase. Cool and restrained.

Chen Li looked at it and thought that only a few blooming red roses could show how crazy the summer was here. Outside, the heat could melt stone. Inside, it wasn’t cold enough to freeze anyone stiff, but the natural coolness was enough to make her forget, for a little while, that it was the middle of summer.

She walked to the north-facing window and said, “Secretary Xie, you seem to have been looking forward to my visit.”

It was a statement, not a question.

The person speaking moved aside the banyan leaves, which stirred in the still air, revealing a gardenia hidden behind them.

Summer wasn’t complete without gardenias.

If Xie Anqing hadn’t been expecting her, she wouldn’t have gone to such trouble.

Chen Li leaned against the window and looked up at the woman in the doorway.

Xie Anqing couldn’t deny it. Whatever the gap between her hopes and reality, she had still written an earnest appeal on Weibo, asking Chen Li to come and see the place for herself.

[Hello, Mr. Chen. I hope you’ll forgive me for reaching out without an introduction.

My name is Xie Anqing. I’m the party secretary of Dongxie Village in Yangcheng County, Xilin City. Our village is beautiful. Our fruit is sweet, our vegetables are fresh, and the people here are hardworking, kind, and quick-witted. But our roads are difficult to travel, and we suffer from droughts, floods, and hailstorms.

We want to save ourselves. We want to do it the way one of your photographs brought an entire country to the world’s attention: with your help.

I know you’ve photographed many famous mountains and rivers and seen landmarks all over the world. Our little village can’t compare with any of them. Still, I hope that when you have time, you’ll come and take a look. Even if all you do is watch the sun gild the mountains and wander through our green fields, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.]

Chen Li had come.

Even if that was all Xie Anqing had to be grateful for, she ought to be grateful. She picked up Chen Li’s remark—”You seem to have been looking forward to my visit”—and said, “I’ve been waiting with bated breath.”

Chen Li’s lips curved. She lifted a finger, and the banyan branch she’d been holding down sprang free, swaying in the sunset. “Secretary Xie, didn’t you know my sexual orientation?”

Xie Anqing’s lips moved. She answered honestly. “I did.”

“Then why say things like that?”

Xie Anqing hesitated. “…I was simply expressing how grateful I am that you took the time to come here.”

“But I might misunderstand.”

Chen Li walked slowly to the doorway and stood in front of Xie Anqing. She’d been only a little shorter before; now, in flats, she was shorter still. She looked directly into Xie Anqing’s eyes. “I might think that everything you prepared and waited for was for me, and me alone—not for my photographs.”

They were close enough for Xie Anqing to smell her faint fragrance.

Chen Li’s skin was clearer and more delicate than the blooming jasmine.

Her words were so direct they sounded almost like a flirtation.

Xie Anqing curled her fingers, then turned aside under the pretense of adjusting the fragrant wood on the vanity. “Miss Chen, you’re teasing me.”

Chen Li closed her eyes for a moment in the pleasant coolness, then turned around. Turning to the right put weight on her right leg. She accidentally pulled at the wound and lowered her mouth in pain, cold sweat breaking out. She couldn’t bear another second in her dirty clothes.

“Secretary Xie, is there somewhere I can shower?” she asked.

Xie Anqing heard the sudden change in her voice and looked up at the mirror. “Yes.”

Chen Li headed for her suitcase. “I’ll take a shower.”

“All right.”

Xie Anqing led her downstairs.

The bathroom was in the backyard, connected to the house by a covered walkway.

Chen Li felt uncomfortable all over and had no interest in admiring the backyard. She only noticed the greenery and the scent of flowers, the soothing natural atmosphere easing away her irritation. Following Xie Anqing’s directions, she went into the bathroom and stripped off her dirty dress and underwear, then took a long, satisfying shower.

An hour later, she stepped back outside.

Xie Anqing was gone. A note had been left on the pillar closest to the bathroom.

[Miss Chen, I’m sorry. I just received word that there’s been a landslide where our village meets the neighboring village. We need to evacuate the residents and clear the road immediately. This was unexpected, so it’ll take some time to deal with. Please rest for the next few days. As soon as I’m done, I’ll show you around the village.

135XXXX3912

That’s my cell number. I use the same number for WeChat, so contact me anytime if you need anything.]

She’d just been left alone in the house?

Maybe for several days.

Wasn’t Xie Anqing worried she might get lost somewhere in a place she’d never been before?

Even if she didn’t get lost, she could starve. Chen Li was utterly useless at cooking.

Chen Li held the note and looked at it for a while. Only then did she notice how messy the handwriting was. A few strokes were so hurriedly omitted that she could only guess what they were. The person who’d written it must have been in a real hurry.

Okay.

The shower had been so relaxing that Chen Li’s irritation had already faded. She decided to be understanding and support the hardworking young secretary.

She memorized the number and tossed the note into the trash. Then she picked up the clothes she’d left on the bathroom floor before showering. They were stained with blood. Even if they could be washed clean, she wouldn’t wear them again.

Xie Anqing’s tie—the one she’d used to stop the bleeding—was still wrapped up in the clothes.

As the bundle slid out of Chen Li’s hand, the tie slipped unexpectedly between her fingers. It brushed her fingertips, and she curled her hand around it on instinct, catching the strip of fabric that had been looped around Xie Anqing’s neck beneath the big green tree.

The sun was still blazing near seven in the evening, and the sunset was red enough to set the sky on fire.

Chen Li tugged at the tie, then put it back in the bathroom and trudged toward the house.

The greenery was lush, the flowers in full bloom—if anything, the backyard was even lovelier than the front.

Only the cicadas were unbearably loud.

Chen Li turned her head to avoid a banyan branch reaching into the walkway. She reached out and pulled at it, startling a thin-winged green cicada. It buzzed across the walkway, and a rustling sound came from above Chen Li’s head, quickly moving through the banyan tree that covered nearly the entire backyard.

Thump.

Something heavy suddenly fell.

Chen Li stopped and looked up at the second floor, wary.

The branches shook wildly. A small head poked out from among them, its owner’s cheeks flushed and her smile as sunny as a sunflower. She looked very friendly.

“Auntie, whose family are you from?” the little girl asked from the railing. She didn’t look a day over seven.

Chen Li relaxed, folded her arms, and leaned her shoulder against the pillar. “This one.”

“That’s my little aunt’s house.”

“Then I’m from your little aunt’s house.”

“So am I.”

As she spoke, the little girl jumped onto the railing without warning.

Chen Li was startled. Before she could move, the child deftly leapt onto the banyan tree, slid down the trunk, and landed steadily in front of her.

Chen Li stared.

That was quite an entrance.

“My name is Xie Huaixia. I’m six and a half, and I’m in first grade.” The girl stood tall and introduced herself.

Chen Li lowered her gaze, noticing the social gesture she shared with Xie Anqing. She reached out and shook her hand. “Chen Li. I’m twenty-nine. I’m not in school.”