Chapter 47

The man’s deep voice slowly drifted to her ears, carrying a trace of unmistakable grievance.

Ye Qingshui hesitated for a moment and said, “No.”

To Xie Tingyu, this was just something that had happened six months ago. To Ye Qingshui, however, it felt like decades had passed. That youthful, naive affection from the past had long since vanished without a trace.

Xie Tingyu lowered his head, studying her expression carefully. In those clear, spring-like eyes of hers, there was only calmness and seriousness. He had never imagined that after baring his heart, this little girl would still reject him.

Taking advantage of his daze, Ye Qingshui quickly slipped out from under his arm.

Seeing the stunned shift in his expression, she felt a strange pang—

So he really could be troubled by the idea of divorce.

“You don’t actually like me that much,”

she said, her dark eyes glinting with scrutiny.

Xie Tingyu locked eyes with her, speaking slowly and clearly:

“Divorce is no small matter. Feelings can grow over time. Let’s give it one more year, okay?”

“If things still don’t work out after a year, I’ll go along with your wish to divorce.”

“But if you don’t agree now…”

He looked at her cold, frosty face and felt more frustrated than he ever had in his life. Then, without warning, he scowled and picked her up like a sack of grain, slinging her over his shoulder.

Ye Qingshui’s world flipped upside down.

Her chest smacked hard against his solid back as she hung over his shoulder, completely off balance. Her face flushed scarlet with embarrassment.

Xie Tingyu gave her butt a light slap and warned:

“If you don’t agree, I’ll just have to…”

Golden light reflected in his shadowed eyes, like it was sinking into a deep, motionless whirlpool—without a ripple.

Ye Qingshui’s face burned with humiliation.

From what she knew of him, he wasn’t the type to force someone, so she insisted: “No.”

Xie Tingyu’s arms tightened, his whole body going stiff.

Sure enough, he carried her back into the house and threw her onto the bed.

“Still saying no?”

The words were practically ground out between his teeth. His face was black as the bottom of a pot.

Ye Qingshui was so dizzy her vision blurred and stars danced before her eyes. She saw him reaching to unbutton his shirt.

Meeting his increasingly fierce and provoked gaze, she trembled in fear and quickly changed her answer: “Yes—yes, yes!”

In her dazed mind, she finally remembered the distinction: A year from now was the time she had intended to divorce anyway. His version might’ve sounded different, but in essence, it was the same. If she wanted to leave, she still would—even if she didn’t agree now.

“But you’re not allowed to pull stunts like that again,” she said.

Xie Tingyu looked at her, lying under the covers, face flushed red. She was clearly scared but still trying to act composed—adorable beyond words.

His fingers itched to reach out, but he restrained himself. A faint smile glimmered in his dark eyes.

“Alright, alright. I’ll agree. I’m not as petty as you, Shui’er.”

Ye Qingshui’s face turned red, then pale, biting her lip in silence.

Ye Qingshui wasn’t sure whether she could trust what Xie Tingyu said, but in the days that followed, he seemed to completely forget their past conflicts.

Everything went on as usual, and he behaved exactly as he said he would—properly.

Ye Qingshui let out a quiet sigh of relief.

When she was doing farm work in the fields, Xie Tingyu came to deliver her meals. Zhou Tingting kept throwing her knowing looks and winks.

One of the older village women smiled and said: “Shuiya, your man’s brought you lunch again?”

Ye Qingshui looked at the lunchbox filled with the same terrible-tasting food as always and sighed.

She told Xie Tingyu: “Could you please stop cooking?”

“You’re wasting food.”

Xie Tingyu cleared his throat and replied:

“The bad taste is just temporary. A few more tries and it’ll be better. Eat while it’s hot— the meat was bought fresh this morning…”

Ye Qingshui nearly blacked out. Once wasn’t enough—he wanted to keep doing it?

She looked him straight in the eyes and said seriously: “Thank you for the thought. I’m not eating it. I’ll go home and cook instead. Grandma and Mom don’t want to eat your cooking either.”

The smile at the corner of Xie Tingyu’s lips stiffened.

“Can’t you just eat a little?”

Ye Qingshui didn’t respond.

She returned the still-warm lunch to him exactly as it was, and went home to the private vegetable plot to pick and wash greens. There was half a jin of fresh pork left in the water jar.

Xie Tingyu’s smile had faded to almost nothing. He silently followed her into the woodshed and watched everything from start to finish.

Using the memory he was so proud of,

he watched, and memorized every detail.

One autumn rain brings one chill.

Where summer had been dry and drought-stricken, autumn came with several steady downpours.

Ye Qingshui received a telegram from her uncle Ye Zhongjian—he said he would be coming back in a week.

To wait for that day, Grandma and Mom stretched their necks with anticipation, eyes practically dried out from watching the road.

On the day her uncle returned, Ye Qingshui rode her bike to the station to pick him up.

She knew his legs were in bad shape—if he missed the last bus, he might not make it back at all that night. Walking dozens of kilometers would be far too much for him to bear.

When Xie Tingyu saw her hurrying out, he handed her a coat.

“Put this on before you go. The weather’s cooled down. Be careful not to catch a chill.”

Ye Qingshui stepped back, unable to handle that kind of tenderness from him.

“I’m not cold. I’m dressed warm enough.”

She glanced at the worn-out coat she had on—she had worn it for years, and it was already pilling. But the coat in Xie Tingyu’s hand was a wide woolen overcoat, soft and warm to the touch. It was the one he had originally planned to give to Xie Dongmei, but had never followed through.

Ye Qingshui rode off on her bicycle.

Two hours later, Xie Tingyu turned on the radio to listen to the news. The weather report came on:

“In the Hongmi region, temperatures today will range from 9°C to 15°C, clear turning to moderate rain. Comrades, please stay warm.”

Xie Tingyu turned his head and glanced at the corner where two umbrellas were quietly placed.

In the countryside, people didn’t usually use umbrellas. A raincoat and bamboo hat were enough. But Ye Qingshui hadn’t even worn a bamboo hat when she left.

Xie Tingyu picked up an umbrella, looking thoughtful.

Ye Qingshui had been riding her bicycle for quite a while before she reached the train station. The old and crowded station was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.

But she spotted her uncle in the crowd right away. He was wearing a clean green army uniform, standing out brightly amid the sea of gray and blue like a ray of light.

When Ye Zhongjian saw Ye Qingshui, he snapped to attention and gave a salute, grinning wide and showing two rows of big white teeth:

“Third Company, Second Platoon, First Squad Artilleryman Ye Zhongjian reporting back! Requesting inspection from my superior!”

Ye Qingshui couldn’t help but laugh. After all these years, her uncle was still the same smooth talker. Even though he had a limp now, he didn’t seem much different than before.

His skin was dark, bronze-like, glowing with a healthy shine that made his teeth look even whiter. But before he joined the army, he had been as fair as her—they were all born fair in the Ye family.

Ye Qingshui took a now-cold meat bun out of her pocket and handed it to him. But Ye Zhongjian couldn’t bear to eat it and pushed it back to her.

“You eat it. Look at you—your face is as thin as a monkey’s.”

Ye Zhongjian had the sharp eye of an elder. Even though Ye Qingshui had been eating and living well for the past six months and her cheeks had rounded a bit,

in his eyes, she still looked too thin.

Ye Qingshui chuckled, “I already ate before coming. You have it, Uncle.”

“You’ve probably been chewing on dry rations for days, haven’t you?”

She wasn’t wrong. Ye Zhongjian really had been frugal to the extreme.

Frugality for himself meant buying standing-room-only tickets and leaning against the train station walls for a few days, getting by on dry food.

Was it hard? He’d just think of the Long March. Compared to what the Red Army endured, this was nothing.

Still, he patted Ye Qingshui’s head, tugged her braid, and beamed:

“Nonsense. Come on, Shuiya. Uncle’s treating you to a meal at the state-run restaurant!”

Ye Qingshui didn’t object. She was frugal for herself, but generous to family. She wanted him to eat well before continuing the journey.

So the uncle and niece enjoyed a hearty meal at the state-run restaurant. Hot vermicelli noodles with fragrant green onions—one bowl warmed the whole body.

To Ye Qingshui, it wasn’t anything special, but to Ye Zhongjian, it was a delicacy—especially with meat slices and oil.

After eating, Ye Qingshui gave him a ride back toward the countryside, both of them happy and content.

But halfway back, the midday sky suddenly turned dark. Heavy clouds loomed like they were about to crush the town. Thunder and lightning followed, and a heavy downpour poured from the sky. They had to stop along the mountain road to wait out the rain.

Ye Qingshui, slightly wet, sighed: “We’ll just have to wait for the rain to stop.”

Ye Zhongjian said, “No rush. We can wait.”

There were fewer people on the road due to the rain.

Two cars passed by, both full. The rain only grew heavier.

Ye Qingshui looked up at the darkening sky. She hadn’t brought a flashlight,

and riding a foreign-style bike in the dark was dangerous. She started to feel anxious.

Just then, Xie Tingyu appeared in front of them. He pulled out a raincoat and handed it to the pair.

“I’m Xie Tingyu. Uncle, could I trouble you to ride back on your own? I’ll take Shui’er home.”

Uncle Ye recognized him. He had taken leave to attend the wedding banquet.

So he trusted him and rode off on his own.

Now only the two of them were left on the mountain road. The umbrella was small—they had to stand very close together to avoid getting wet.

Ye Qingshui couldn’t help but wonder if Xie Tingyu had done it on purpose.

If he was bringing an umbrella, why not bring both? After all, she clearly remembered there were two at home.

She made a point of avoiding touching him—as a result, her shoulder got wet.

Xie Tingyu smiled and teased: “Shui’er, do you really dislike me that much?”

He looked at her and tugged her braid gently with his thumb: “I’m just teasing you.”

Then he took off his own coat and wrapped it securely around her, handed her the umbrella, and ran alone into the curtain of rain, quickly vanishing from sight.

Ye Qingshui stared at his silhouette in the rain, feeling a complicated tangle of emotions inside.

When he returned home, Xie Tingyu was completely drenched.

The cold wind blew, but he didn’t feel cold. On the contrary, his body felt hot, like a furnace. He was built like iron—getting wet in the rain didn’t bother him.

Not long after, Ye Qingshui also returned home.

She saw Grandma Ye hugging her beloved youngest son, and Mom laughing beside them. Everyone was full of joy.

But as her gaze shifted, she noticed Xie Tingyu, soaked to the bone, and a strange discomfort rose in her chest.

“You—you should go… take a hot shower.”

Xie Tingyu had a sudden flash of insight.

He went and took a cold shower.

That wasn’t enough—he then put on a wet shirt, layered with a jacket, and sweated it out all night.

That night, while trying to sleep, Ye Qingshui heard the rustle of tossing and turning across the room, along with the occasional muffled groan.

She got out of bed with a sigh, lit the lamp, and asked: “Xie Tingyu, what’s wrong with you?”

His voice was so hoarse it was nearly unrecognizable: “Shui’er… I think I have a fever…”

Ye Qingshui sighed again, reaching out to touch his forehead—it was burning hot.

Xie Tingyu involuntarily shivered and scooted closer to her, murmuring in a raspy voice: “The floor’s really cold…”

Ye Qingshui wanted to give him the bed and have him sleep there instead.

But once Xie Tingyu got into the bed, he grabbed her and said: “Don’t go. The floor’s too cold. I promise I’ll behave.”

His arm wrapped around her waist radiated scorching heat, and as he nuzzled her back with his face, he whispered hoarsely: “Shui’er is so good…”

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