Chapter 7: Whispers from the Old Pear Tree
# Chapter 7: Whispers from the Old Pear Tree
On a Saturday morning, shrouded in a veil of mist, Chen Wang arrived half an hour early, standing beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance. He had dug out a clean white shirt with a neatly ironed collar—the same blue plaid shirt Lin Xiaoman had washed for him last time. He felt it would create a more harmonious rapport with her. In his hand, a bamboo basket lined with soft cloth held two carefully selected, succulent tomatoes and a small box of freshly picked cream strawberries, each one a vibrant red.
Light footsteps echoed through the mist, like the rhythm of morning dew. Lin Xiaoman wore a cream-colored dress, her hair untied, draped over her shoulders, a few strands fluttering in the breeze. She clutched a wide-brimmed straw hat. When she saw him, her eyes curved into crescents, and her voice, softer than the morning mist, said, "You're here quite early."
"I was afraid to keep you waiting." Chen Wang handed the bamboo basket over, his fingertips deliberately slowing down for fear of appearing abrupt if he moved too hastily. "I brought this for you. The strawberries are just ripe and sweet even without sugar."
As Lin Xiaoman took the basket, her fingertips brushed the back of his hand, like a feather brushing past. This time, she didn't dodge quickly like she usually did. Instead, she lowered her head and smiled, pulling a glass jar from her canvas bag. "It's just right. I brought some pear water that Grandpa brewed, to go with the strawberries to help with the greasiness." She swirled the amber-colored paste in the jar, revealing the pear flesh that had sunk to the bottom, a hint of its age-old, solid quality.
The two of them walked along the ridge of the field toward the west end of the village, Wangfu skipping ahead, his paws occasionally treading in puddles by the roadside, sending tiny splashes of water startling dragonflies from the rice leaves, which fluttered away. The morning mist slowly melted under the sun, and the old orchard in the distance gradually emerged into view—dozens of old pear trees clustered together, their branches so thick they required two people to hold together. Small, emerald-green pears hung from the branches, like tiny bells strung together, swaying gently in the wind.
"That's the oldest pear tree in the orchard." Lin Xiaoman pointed to the tree in the center of the orchard. There was a hole in the trunk, polished to a shine, with a few shallow scratches along the edge. "When I was a kid, I always climbed up there to rob bird nests. My grandfather said this tree is 120 years old, older than my great-grandfather."
Chen Wang walked closer and touched the tree trunk. The rough bark was warm from the sun and rain. His fingertips ran across the deep and shallow lines. Suddenly, he heard a faint rustling sound - not the rustling sound of leaves blown by the wind, but a light sound that could only be heard when you touched the tree trunk, like someone whispering in his ear.
"Did you hear that?" Chen Wang looked up at Lin Xiaoman with a hint of uncertainty in his tone.
She smiled and put her ear against it, her hair rubbing against the grain of the trunk. "Grandpa always said this tree understood human nature. Whenever he and Grandma had an argument, he'd come sit here for a while, listening to the leaves rustle for a long time, and then he'd go home and not be angry anymore." She tilted her head, a sly glint in her eyes. "Would you like to listen too? Maybe it'll whisper something to you."
Chen Wang imitated her, pressing his ear against the tree hole. The rustling sound grew clearer, mingling with the delicate fragrance of grass and trees. It almost sounded like his grandmother's voice, softly saying, "Good boy, guard the land you love and wait for the one you love." He sat up abruptly, his ears burning, and even his cheeks.
"What did you hear?" Lin Xiaoman came over and asked, his eyes sparkling. "I guess the old pear tree is praising you for being so careful and growing tomatoes so well."
"It said...it said that this land likes the crops you planted." Chen Wang avoided the question vaguely, but kept thinking about the sentence "waiting for the person I like" in his mind. The warmth of the tree trunk still remained on his fingertips, as if he had just received some gentle hint.
Lin Xiaoman didn't ask any further questions, but turned and walked towards the nearby grape trellis. It was an old vine, thickly packed along the wooden trellis. Emerald-colored grape bunches were hidden among the green leaves, still immature and green. Occasionally, a bunch would grow so densely that it would hang down and touch the top of the head.
"These grapes were planted by my grandfather when he was young. They're a variety called 'Honey Light' and are incredibly sweet when ripe." She reached out and plucked a grape leaf. With her deft fingertips, she rolled it into a small tube and blew gently on it. No sound came out, but her eyes curved with a smile. "I used to do this all the time, but it never made any sound and I'd even bite the leaf."
Chen Wang watched her movements, and suddenly remembered his childhood in the countryside, when he'd follow his neighbor's sister, picking leaves to make whistles. A warm feeling of nostalgia washed over him. He pulled out his phone to take a picture of the scene, but just as he aimed, he realized they were standing in the shade of the grape trellis. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting tiny specks of light on the ground, which circled around their feet like tiny stars.
"Oh, right," Lin Xiaoman suddenly remembered something and took out a small notebook from his canvas bag. The cover was already yellowed and the edges were a little rough. "This is the old orchard notes that my grandfather wrote down. They are all the old methods of growing pears and grapes."
Chen Wang took it and flipped it open. Inside was dense handwriting, along with dried pear leaf specimens. On one page was a sketch of a tomato, with the words, "Tomatoes like warmth and need plenty of sun. If you care for them, they will produce sweet fruits." There was no such thing as a "spiritual plant," just down-to-earth planting tips, which warmed his heart even more—it turned out she had already recorded his crops in her grandfather's notebook.
"My great-grandfather also grew tomatoes like this," Lin Xiaoman leaned over to take a look, her shoulder lightly touching his arm before quickly moving away a little, her voice lowering. "Then there was a famine, and the orchard couldn't be saved, so these old varieties died out. It wasn't until I saw the tomatoes you planted that I felt... that my grandfather's orchard seemed to have come back to life."
Chen Wang looked up at her and caught the light in her eyes, soft and radiant like the morning sun. "So, you thought these varieties were special from the start?"
"Yeah," Lin Xiaoman nodded, reaching out to touch the grapevine, his fingertips tracing the veins of the leaves. "Old varieties of crops recognize people. If you take good care of them, they will grow well. Just like this grape trellis. No one took care of it after Grandpa left, and it was almost dead last year. This year, you often come to water it, and it's covered the trellis again."
As they were talking, Wangfu suddenly barked at the grape trellis, his tail erect. The two looked in its direction and saw the thickest vine had wrapped around the trellis twice, forming a shallow heart shape. Hanging from it were exceptionally dense bunches of grapes, as if they had deliberately placed a mark.
"This vine grows quite coincidentally." Chen Wang said with a smile, but his heart was beating faster - he always felt that this was not a coincidence, but some kind of gentle echo.
Lin Xiaoman's cheeks flushed slightly. Her eyes fell on the bunch of grapes. She whispered, "The land is the most real thing. If you stay with it often, it will give you surprises. It's like... it's like it knows how much we love this orchard."
Chen Wang's heart skipped a beat. He looked at the tips of her red ears, then at the heart-shaped vines. He wanted to say something, but his throat felt tight. Finally, he dared only gently touch her arm: "When the grapes are ripe, let's pick them together."
"Okay." Lin Xiaoman looked up at him, her smile sweeter than before. The light in her eyes seemed to be melted with the greenness of grapes and hidden with the redness of tomatoes.
Near noon, the two sat on a stone bench under the pear tree and shared the strawberries they had brought. Lin Xiaoman picked up one, took a small bite, and her eyes lit up: "It's so sweet, sweeter than anything I've ever had before."
"Because I'm eating it with you." Chen Wang blurted out, then realized he was being too blunt and quickly picked up the can of pear paste water. "I, I'll drink some pear paste water to help me feel better."
Lin Xiaoman didn't laugh at him. Instead, she handed him the pear paste water in her hand: "This bottle of mine is unopened. You can drink this. It's just taken out of the refrigerator. It should be cool." When she handed it to him, her fingertips touched his lightly again. This time he didn't dodge. He just paused for two seconds before slowly retracting his hand.
Before leaving, Chen Wang picked a bunch of the most evenly grown grapes, saying he'd bring them back for Wangfu as a snack. Lin Xiaoman plucked a whole leaf from an old pear tree and carefully tucked it into her notebook, saying she'd use it as a bookmark. Wangfu ran ahead, a strawberry in his mouth, occasionally looking back, as if urging them to catch up.
When passing by the backyard, Chen Wang suddenly grabbed Lin Xiaoman and said, "Wait a minute, I'll show you something." He led her into the tomato field and pointed to the one in the middle - there were bunches of tomatoes on it. Although they were not all red yet, they grew very densely. Several of them together formed a small heart shape. When the sunlight shone on them, they showed a fresh green.
"Look, it's grown so beautifully." Chen Wang's voice was filled with a hint of pride, as if he was showing off some treasure. "Maybe the old pear tree whispered to it, letting it grow for you to see."
Lin Xiaoman looked at the bunch of tomatoes, her eyes curved with a smile. She reached out and gently touched the skin of a tomato, feeling the warmth on her fingertips. "Well, it must be the old pear tree's work." She looked up at Chen Wang, the light in her eyes warmer than the sun. "It must also want us to keep it company."
Chen Wang pulled out his phone and quietly took a picture of the bunch of tomatoes with hearts, and of Lin Xiaoman standing beside them. He thought for a long time before saving it in his "Orchard Diary," finally adding the caption: "The old pear tree whispered something, the grapevines wrapped around a little heart, and it seemed to have seen my feelings."
The sunlight passed through the tomato leaves and fell on the two of them, warm and cozy, like a gentle hug from the old pear tree, hiding all the unspoken ambiguity in this garden full of vitality.
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