Qianli’s eyes immediately filled with tears. Her widened eyes showed utter shock, and her throat seemed to seize up so tightly that she could not make a sound.
Yet she made no move to flee. Instead, she looked desperately toward He Yi for help.
He Yi was caught off guard too, and his thoughts scattered for a moment. But he quickly collected himself. Stroking the snow leopard’s soft ears, he greeted Qianli in his usual manner. “Have you come to see the chicks today?”
Although a powerful-looking wild beast lay in He Yi’s arms and was staring straight at her, He Yi behaved normally, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Qianli grew confused, and her tears gradually stopped.
He Yi could remain so calm because Xue Ci was currently in animal form. Qianli had not seen him transform between human and beast, so his identity was still safe. There was no need to panic.
Xue Ci had frozen briefly upon realizing someone was there. What astonished him was that he had failed to hear her footsteps. He had been so relaxed in He Yi’s arms that he had let his guard down. But then, being petted felt so wonderful. He could hardly blame himself.
Qianli wanted to speak but hesitated. She was trembling with fright, yet continued stealing little looks at the snow leopard.
He Yi smiled. “He won’t hurt you, so don’t be afraid. But if you meet an animal like him in the mountains, never approach it recklessly, and don’t turn your back on it.”
Xue Ci was one of a kind. He Yi feared that Qianli might conclude that all wild beasts were friendly and treat ordinary animals, which possessed no humanlike understanding, the same way she treated Xue Ci. That could be disastrous. He therefore taught her a few precautions for encountering wild animals.
Qianli listened attentively, nodding now and again.
Once He Yi saw that she had taken his words to heart and was no longer trembling, he said, “Come, I’ll take you to see the chicks.”
He Yi looked back at the snow leopard in his arms and whispered into his ear, “I’ll make up for the interrupted petting later.”
Xue Ci understood. He glanced at Qianli, walked around her, and went into the bedroom.
He Yi walked to the girl’s side and patted her head. “Let’s go.”
Qianli glanced back twice, then suddenly exclaimed with excitement, “It’s so frightening! And so enormous! It really doesn’t eat people?”
“It doesn’t…”
With Xue Ci gone, Qianli grew bold enough to ask all sorts of questions. She was immensely curious about the snow leopard and would not stop pestering He Yi.
*
He Yi had assumed the ancient climate would be less extreme. To his astonishment, by the end of the tenth lunar month their village was already bitterly cold, almost as though winter had arrived.
Everyone said the cold had come earlier than usual this year. They even teased He Yi for speaking as though he had not lived in the village the previous year, so unfamiliar did he seem with the weather.
He Yi was taken aback and could only smile.
The cotton quilts he had ordered had all arrived, but he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to commission padded winter clothes. He hurried to town to order a cotton-padded outfit for himself and one for Xue Ci. They still had plenty of stored cotton to use.
To his surprise, Xue Ci said, “I don’t want thick clothes. I like the cold.”
He Yi drew a sharp breath and stared at him as though he had received a terrible shock.
Xue Ci did not understand the reaction at the time. Only after the late rice harvest, when the beginning of the eleventh lunar month had passed, did he finally grasp why He Yi looked that way. He Yi had begun hibernating.
Even with padded clothes, He Yi spent almost all his time burrowed under the quilt. When someone came to visit, he would not even get out of bed. Like an old grandfather, he sat wrapped in bedding and shivered continuously.
Apart from getting up to prepare two meals a day, collect the eggs from the chicken coop, and distribute feed, he barely left the bed at all.
Xue Ci was entirely different. With winter’s arrival, he went wild, racing all over the mountains. When he returned to the courtyard, he demanded that He Yi play cuju with him.
Under Xue Ci’s relentless coaxing, He Yi finally bundled himself up and went outside to throw the ball. Xue Ci fetched it in his mouth, and He Yi threw it again.
If that failed to entertain him, He Yi would simply embrace the fluffy snow leopard. By now Xue Ci understood just how sensitive He Yi was to cold, and therefore knew why He Yi liked his animal form so much.
“Don’t change back yet. Let me hug you a little longer.” The snow leopard was so warm to hold that He Yi hated letting go.
Xue Ci remembered how, a while ago when it had not been so cold, he had often woken in the morning to find He Yi sleeping in a distant corner of the bed, no longer embracing him. The contrast was striking.
He must have thought my fur was too hot!
Indignant, Xue Ci deliberately played a trick. While He Yi held him tight, soaking up his warmth, he suddenly turned human again. His bare skin was cool, and the abrupt chill made He Yi jump.
He Yi sucked in a breath and hunched his shoulders. Looking down at Xue Ci, who had practically delivered himself into his arms, his gaze darkened, and he held him closer.
Xue Ci had not expected He Yi to be the one to draw near. Wherever their skin touched, warmth gradually spread, and the atmosphere grew increasingly intimate.
He Yi leaned toward Xue Ci’s ear. “I may be afraid of the cold, but I’m not afraid of Ci’er. There are things we can do together to warm up.”
“…” What a miscalculation! He Yi’s voice seemed capable of enchanting people. The breath brushing Xue Ci’s ear made it burn.
Belatedly, Xue Ci protested in embarrassment, “You did that on purpose!”
He Yi pretended not to understand. He coaxed Xue Ci to lie down, braced himself on either side of him, and moved close again. “My darling is so adorable,” he murmured.
Xue Ci’s cheeks flushed at once.
Despite the bitter cold, He Yi continued supervising Xue Ci’s studies. Xue Ci had lost his chance to attend an academy, and He Yi blamed his own lack of ability. He knew exactly what he wanted to do, but could not yet put his plans into practice. He would have to wait until next spring to try.
For now, he could only recall poems and verses he had learned throughout his life. He recited them aloud, had Xue Ci guess the characters, and then write them out one by one.
Xue Ci was resistant to the cold. His fingers never grew too stiff to write in this weather, and he diligently practiced every stroke.
But his handwriting still left much to be desired.
He Yi’s own handwriting was hardly excellent. Without proper instruction or a good model to imitate, Xue Ci naturally had little chance of developing beautiful calligraphy.
As he considered this, He Yi remembered a particular written recipe. Its characters had been elegant and assured, combining softness and strength. The writing plainly belonged to someone of exceptional calligraphic skill.
An idea slowly began taking shape in his mind.
Before long, deep winter arrived and New Year drew near. In the south, snow melted as soon as it touched the ground, so the road to town remained open. Hearing that the town would hold one final market before the year’s end, the villagers decided to make a rare group outing.
Everyone rose early that day. He Yi knew Xue Ci would want to see such a lively event. In fact, Xue Ci had been whispering about it beside his ear all the previous night. Resigned, He Yi dressed as warmly as possible, gritted his teeth, and took him out.
Their breath formed visible clouds of white. He Yi deliberately chose a straight-cut robe with long sleeves and trousers, hiding his hands inside his sleeves. If he had not been afraid the Zheng family would tease him, he might even have tucked a small hand warmer into them.
The damp cold of the south was truly dreadful. People suffered frostbite every winter. Although the others teased him, they understood him well enough, for they too were shivering. The village had sent out so many people that the ox carts were reserved for children and the elderly. The healthy younger adults had to walk, exposed to mountain winds that cut like frost from every direction.
He Yi felt as though his face might freeze solid. He dared not touch his ears in case they snapped off.
Xue Ci, on the other hand, was full of energy. He refused to wear a padded coat and had only a long robe and trousers, leaving his ankles exposed.
By the time they reached town, it was noon. The sun hung high. Though its light offered little heat, it eased the gloom on everyone’s faces and made their bodies feel a little less tense.
The market was crowded with stalls selling almost everything imaginable. As New Year approached, many sold spring couplets, lanterns, red paper, and other festive decorations, filling the streets with a cheerful atmosphere.
He Yi had to purchase the spring couplets and various other necessities first. Xue Ci desperately wanted to wander. Yet he did not want to leave He Yi behind, so he clung to the edge of He Yi’s clothes. His eyes were usually fixed on something elsewhere, but whenever He Yi moved, he followed immediately.
Once the essential shopping was finally done, Xue Ci tugged He Yi to a stall, pointed to a lifelike crab lantern, and said, “I want this.”
Hearing him, the stallkeeper rose at once and began his sales pitch. “You have a fine eye, young master! We brought this crab lantern from the county seat. Its claws and legs can all move, and adults and children alike love it.”
He Yi studied it and found the craftsmanship remarkable. It was practically a work of art. Even in his previous life, he had rarely seen lanterns so exquisitely made. He wanted one himself, quite apart from Xue Ci. He asked the price and learned it was thirty-eight wen.
It was not cheap. He Yi glanced at Xue Ci’s shining eyes and finally paid, though he bought only one.
“Health and peace for your whole family! May all your wishes come true!” The owner offered auspicious blessings as he accepted the money.
Xue Ci took the crab lantern and could not stop touching it and examining every part.
After they had wandered a little farther, they encountered the Zheng family at a drinks stall. They sat down together to enjoy bowls of hot tea, one wen per person, warming themselves before continuing.
This time they did not split up. Passing a hat stall, everyone had grown a little numb from the cold wind and found themselves tempted to buy hats for the journey home.
Both households had harvested good late-rice crops that year and saved a fair amount of money. Buying a hat would hardly strain either family’s purse.
He Yi took a fancy to an orange tiger-head hat. Such hats were usually made for small children, but this one was fairly large. Xue Ci had a small head, so perhaps it would fit.
He Yi placed the hat on Xue Ci’s head. Just as he had expected, it fit perfectly.
“Pfft.” He Yi could not hold back a laugh. The tiger face on the hat looked hilariously vacant, and the expression suited Xue Ci so well that he could not stop smiling.
Xue Ci recognized that He Yi was laughing at him again. Keeping the hat on, he butted his head against He Yi’s chest until He Yi quickly surrendered.
He Yi pretended to be hurt, leaving Xue Ci helpless. When He Yi noticed that the hat had slipped sideways, he reached out to straighten it.
He also decided to buy it. With Auntie Liu there to bargain, they secured the tiger-head hat for only nine wen.
“It looks wonderful. Keep it on,” Auntie Liu and Old Zheng both said. Xue Ci’s hand, which had been moving to remove the hat, slowly dropped.
He Yi stood nearby suppressing another laugh, earning a feeble glare from Xue Ci.
Three days later, New Year arrived. Households hung lanterns and colorful decorations, and the entire village was filled with holiday cheer. At noon, the young men who had reached the age for the coming-of-age ceremony went together to the village head’s home, each carrying a token gift, perhaps melon seeds or peanuts. The village head recited a line of formal text to them. Then they gathered all their hair up and put on either a netted headcloth or a folded headscarf. With that, the capping ceremony was complete.
He Yi attended as well. He borrowed Xue Ci’s folded headscarf. With all the hair at the front of his head swept up, he looked much more mature. Xue Ci, who had been waiting at the gate, heard He Yi’s footsteps and immediately ran down the slope to throw himself into his arms.
He looked up at He Yi, who appeared so different from before, and stared in a daze until He Yi lifted him into his embrace.
He Yi turned his head and said, “Let’s go home, set off some firecrackers, and make rice dumplings.”
One of Chongzi Village’s New Year customs was to make guozheng zong, large wrapped, steamed glutinous-rice dumplings. He Yi had been surprised to hear about it. But when he considered how the dumplings eaten at the Dragon Boat Festival were generally vegetarian, he quickly understood. Meat must have been too expensive for ordinary people to eat often in the past, while New Year was a time when no one wanted to skimp on it. The custom of eating meat-filled dumplings at New Year had thus been passed down through the generations.
The wrapped dumplings began with glutinous rice, then hulled mung beans, pork with a good balance of lean and fatty meat, and salted egg yolks. Finally they were bundled in winter leaves and tied with water grass.
After steaming them until cooked, He Yi added a step. He sliced the dumplings and pan-fried the slices in oil. The finished dish had three wonderful aromas: savory meat, toasted surfaces, and glutinous rice. Slicing also let diners select the fatty or lean portions they liked.
Xue Ci generally disliked fatty meat, with trotters being an exception. He picked out the lean pieces, while He Yi, who did not mind either way, happily finished the rest.
After exchanging New Year blessings, He Yi tucked some New Year money into a red envelope and slipped it beneath Xue Ci’s pillow.
Xue Ci did not find the hidden envelope until night. Opening it, he poured out the coins, counted them, and discovered twenty wen.
“Why twenty wen?” he asked.
“It’s based on age. I’ve had my coming-of-age ceremony, so I should give you twenty wen. When you come of age, it’ll be your turn to give me twenty.”
“But I don’t even know how old I am… I stayed up in the snowy mountains for such a very, very long time, so I might be…”
He Yi placed a finger against Xue Ci’s lips, stopping him. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s go by the age on your identity papers. You’re nineteen this year.”
Xue Ci blinked, took He Yi’s hand, and said, “Then I’m nineteen.”
He Yi smiled serenely.
After the New Year, the world seemed renewed. Yet He Yi began leaving home early and returning late, disappearing on errands no one knew anything about.
The villagers noticed that He Yi was absent from the fields, while Xue Ci turned the earth every day. When they asked where He Yi had gone, Xue Ci replied that he did not know either.
Xue Ci was curious himself, but He Yi said the arrangements were not yet settled, so he could not disclose them. If Xue Ci was eager to know, he was welcome to come along.
Xue Ci shook his head. “I’ll finish turning the fields. I’ll take care of home, so you can take care of what you need to do.” He trusted that He Yi would tell him in time.
And that was exactly what happened.
It was an ordinary day, not even particularly sunny, but Xue Ci would remember it for the rest of his life. He Yi returned from the mountains with wonderful news. “A gentleman who once served as a civil official at court has moved into the mountains. I showed him the poems and verses I’d copied for you. He said he’s willing to accept you as his student.”
“…What?” Xue Ci did not understand at first.
He Yi produced a letter written to Xue Ci by the gentleman. The instant Xue Ci saw the handwriting, he recognized it from the earlier braising-stock recipe. His eyes brightened. Such tremendous joy filled him that he remained speechless for a long time.
Seeing his expression, He Yi’s eyes grew misty in spite of himself. He closed them briefly and stepped forward to take Xue Ci into his arms.
In truth, persuading the gentleman had been nowhere near as easy as He Yi’s casual account suggested. But none of that mattered now. What mattered was that it had worked.
“Thank you, Yi-lang!” Xue Ci wrapped his arms around He Yi’s neck, bouncing with such excitement that he could barely contain himself.
He Yi scooped him up and spun him around.
The next day, Xue Ci dressed in a plain white robe with a round collar, a black folded scholar’s headscarf with long tails hanging behind it, and violet cloth boots. With a box containing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone tucked under one arm, he crossed the threshold of their home.
He Yi nearly lost himself staring as Xue Ci stepped outside. He looked like an elegant young gentleman raised in an illustrious household, tall and graceful, with an impeccable bearing. Clothes truly could transform a person’s appearance. Xue Ci had been beautiful without them, but dressed this way, his extraordinary figure and refined features were even more striking. He Yi could scarcely tear his eyes away.
“Let’s go,” He Yi said, holding out his hand to Xue Ci.
Those jade-white hands, those shining eyes, stirred for him.
The End