Chapter 2 Cosmos (1) Summer in Northeast China is always hot and…
July 5, 2007, sunny
Summer in Northeast China is always hot and short. Flowers, plants and trees will release all the energy and nutrients accumulated in a whole year within a few dozen days, blooming vigorously, sprouting, growing luxuriant branches and leaves, and then quickly withering and dying.
It is passionate because it is short, and short because it is passionate.
This is true for plants and humans too.
Lin Xia leaned against the car window, looking at the mountains, forests and green fields passing by outside, and the depression in her heart was alleviated a little.
Born on the summer solstice, she was named Xia because she likes summer.
Wearing pretty dresses, eating ice cream, sleeping in, having summer vacation, and going out with classmates—this is all a sixteen-year-old girl expects of summer, so simple.
"Xia Xia, look ahead, you're going to get carsick again soon."
Lin Xuedong patted her shoulder.
After hearing what her father said, Lin Xia sat up straight and looked inside the car.
This is an old minibus, swaying slowly on the uneven dirt road. Old parts squeaked from somewhere. There was one door and a dozen seats, but not many people on the bus. It was not full. There was dust when the window was open, and it was stuffy and hot when the window was closed. The smell of diesel mixed with sweat filled the air, which was very pungent. All these were the culprits for motion sickness.
Out of boredom, she grabbed the ends of her bangs with her fingers, looked at them from all angles, and still felt they were too short.
She had always taken great care of her hair, but after this exam, she finally made up her mind to get a haircut. Despite repeatedly telling the barber to only cut a small knuckle, he ignored her and drastically cut her shoulder-length hair, which she had grown for two years, right down to her ears. She burst into tears and, furious, locked herself in her room at home, refusing to eat.
Finally, her mother took her to a more expensive hair salon the next day and gave her a new, stylish and playful hairstyle, and she finally gave up.
She has always been like this since she was a child. In Lin Xuedong's words, she is vain and willful. She looks well-behaved, but in fact she is very opinionated and cannot tolerate any dissatisfaction.
More than ten minutes later, the minibus stopped at a fork in the road. Lin Xia got off the bus with a dizzy head and followed Lin Xuedong, walking up the gentle slope of the fork in the road.
On both sides of the road were lush plantations: birch, red pine, larch, and Scots pine, all cold-resistant species unique to the Northeast. At intervals, there were small houses scattered here and there. This was a forest farm not far from Wangchun City, a twenty-minute drive or over an hour's walk. I don't know its exact name; the adults just called it the Little Forest Farm.
Maybe there's a big forest farm? Lin Xia wasn't sure.
It was like this when I was young. I had a vague understanding of everything around me. I believed whatever the adults said and felt that everything was taken for granted. I didn't want to question or delve into it.
Lin Xia's grandfather, Lin Haisheng, lives here, and she will spend this summer vacation after graduating from junior high school at his grandfather's house.
After walking for about ten minutes, they came to a house that was relatively tall and spacious. There was a small fenced yard in front of the house. There were no chickens or vegetables in the yard, only some goldenrod and impatiens. The road was paved with red bricks and it was kept clean without any odor.
After entering the courtyard and walking through the small yard, Lin Xuedong came to the door and rang the doorbell. After a while, the door was opened and a woman came to open it.
"Xuedong Xiaxia is here?"
The woman was about forty years old, a little older than Lin Haisheng. She wore a white dress with blue flowers. Her long hair was tied up loosely. There were fine lines at the corners of her eyes, but she did not look old. She was very thin and fair, with delicate eyebrows and beautiful features. When she smiled, her eyebrows and eyes curved, and she looked gentle and peaceful.
Lin Xuedong nodded and called out, "Sister Ping."
Lin Xia also called out, "Auntie Ping."
The smile on He Ping's face froze for a moment, or maybe it didn't, and then she greeted them naturally:
"Come in quickly, it's so hot outside, it's cool inside!"
After entering the door, there is a large square living room with bright windows and clean desks. It is open from north to south and has a breeze blowing through it, making it very cool.
He Ping called out, "Teacher, Xuedong and Xiaxia are here!"
Lin Haisheng was a university professor before his retirement, and He Ping was said to have been his student.
After Lin Xia and Lin Xuedong changed into slippers, they saw Lin Haisheng slowly walk out of the study. He glanced at the father and daughter, neither angry nor happy, but said calmly:
"Are you here? Sit down."
Lin Xia always felt that her grandfather and father looked nothing alike. Lin Haisheng was very tall and thin, with a refined and scholarly air. He looked like a noble and cultured person, standing out from the crowd wherever he went. Lin Xuedong, on the other hand, was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin. He was just an ordinary middle-aged man, the kind you wouldn't find in a crowd.
Maybe Daddy looks like Grandma? But Grandma died when Lin Xia was very young, and Lin Xia barely has any memory of her.
The three of them sat down on the sofa. He Ping skillfully cut the watermelon and brought it over, smiling and saying:
"Xia Xia eats watermelon, it's chilled and especially sweet."
Some of her pronunciations were a little vague when she spoke, and she had an accent from somewhere unknown, which sounded very strange.
Lin Xia glanced at Lin Haisheng, who nodded, so she whispered thank you, picked up a small piece of watermelon and ate it silently.
Seeing this, He Ping smiled and went to the kitchen to make tea. She was like a hostess and a nanny, warm and attentive.
When Lin Xia was in elementary school, her parents always took her to visit her grandfather's house during the holidays, but in recent years, they have hardly been there. She knows the reason is the woman in front of her.
Lin Xuedong and Zhao Qianyi would not talk about these things in front of her, but she could guess most of what they said, such as shamelessness and lack of status.
Adults always think that children don’t understand anything, but in fact, children see everything without saying a word, and sometimes they are more insightful than adults.
Over there, a father and son are having a conversation.
Lin Haisheng asked: "Why do you want to go out suddenly?"
"Go find Qianyi."
Lin Haisheng frowned: "She went to the provincial capital again?"
Lin Xuedong nodded.
"How about your work?"
"My company gave me leave."
"How long will it take?"
Lin Xuedong sighed softly: "It's hard to say."
Lin Haisheng was a little displeased, and his tone became stern: "What's going on between you two?"
Lin Xuedong opened his mouth but didn't answer immediately. He said to Lin Xia who was sitting next to him:
"Xia Xia, go play in the yard by yourself."
Lin Xia was feeling bored and was fidgeting with her hair, so she obediently responded and walked out the door.
When she was about to go out, she saw a thin booklet on the windowsill. She picked it up and flipped through it. She found it was a collection of poems, so she took it with her when she went out.
She walked around the yard, observing the flowers that were blooming brilliantly in midsummer for a while. Feeling a little hot from the sun, she sat down on a shady wooden stake outside the gate and casually flipped through the book she had brought with her.
This is Gu Cheng's poetry collection. The pages are yellowed, showing its age. The cover is carefully wrapped with white paper, and the owner's name is written on the title page with ink-blue fountain pen.
He Chuan
Every stroke is sharp.
The handwriting reflects the person. At that time, she thought that this must be a stubborn and arrogant person who is difficult to get along with.
The poems in the book are very beautiful, about the origin of stars and moons, the dreams of seeds, the sea of separation, the trees of hometown... Gradually, the readers also walk into the poet's dreams.
I don’t know how long it took, the sun was setting, and at the end of the path, a figure riding a bicycle came from afar and finally stopped in front of the door.
Lin Xia raised her head from the book, looked at the person coming towards the setting sun, and squinted subconsciously.
He was a young man of eighteen or nineteen, with a handsome face, delicate features, and fair skin that set off his dark hair. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt and navy blue trousers. He held the bicycle handlebars with both hands, one foot propped up on the ground, and his legs were very slender.
He didn't ask, but just looked at himself quietly, a little confused and hesitant.
"He Chuan?" Lin Xia asked.
He responded subconsciously.
"Um."
He Chuan was not informed in advance who would be visiting him today, so he went to the city early in the morning to attend his classmate's graduation banquet.
The strange girl in front of him was looking at him openly, and he also looked at her calmly.
The girl, dressed in a snow-white cotton dress with puff sleeves and lace trim, sat on a low tree stump. Her thin, slender legs jutted out from beneath her skirt, her white shoes also spotless. From head to toe, she was delicate and adorable, like a doll, evidently a child who had been lovingly cared for by her parents since childhood.
She held his book in her left hand and pointed at him with her right hand:
"He Chuan."
Then he pointed at himself:
"Lin Xia."
She smiled slightly, her eyebrows curved, and a small canine tooth was faintly visible.
It was the summer when He Chuan and Lin Xia were nineteen and sixteen years old respectively.
The poetry collection turns to this page——
The grass is producing its seeds
The wind is shaking its leaves
We stand
Not speaking
It is very beautiful.
......
Lin Xia followed He Ping into the room.
The furnishings in the room were extremely simple, with only a bed, a set of tables and chairs, a row of old-fashioned wardrobes, and a world map hanging on the wall. Apart from that, it was clean and empty.
He Ping took out a new set of sheets and quilt covers from the closet and replaced the old ones on the bed.
"Xia Xia, you sleep in this room."
Lin Xia realized something and asked softly, "Is this... He Chuan's room?"
He Ping didn't look back. As she remade the bed, she said, "Yes, this is your uncle He Chuan's room, but don't worry, he sleeps in the study. There's another bed there."
Lin Xia was stunned and didn't know what to answer.
She knew that He Chuan was the child of He Ping and her deceased ex-husband, but she had clearly called He Ping "Auntie Ping" according to her parents' instructions. Yet, she still insisted that He Chuan be called "Uncle". What kind of generational relationship was this? It was so weird.
So she had no choice but to say nothing.
Fortunately, He Ping didn't care. She helped her make the bed and left. Before leaving, she told her considerately:
"Xia Xia, clean up first. I'll call you for dinner later. Tell me if you need anything. Don't be shy."
After He Ping left, Lin Xia came to the bed and sat down tentatively. Although the sheets were new, they must have been washed and gave off a dry, light soapy scent. However, the monotonous gray pattern on them was not very attractive in the little girl's eyes.
Lin Xia is a little attached to her bed and finds it difficult to fall asleep in an unfamiliar environment. She has a premonition that she will have a nightmare tonight.
.
There are two trains from Wangchun City to the provincial capital every day, one early and one late. Xiaolin Farm is in the opposite direction of the train station, so Lin Xuedong had to rush to the train station without having time to eat dinner.
Before leaving, he called his daughter to his side and told her:
"Xia Xia, listen to grandpa, dad will pick you up in a few days."
Lin Xia nodded:
"Dad, please comfort Mom. Mom may have a sharp tongue but a soft heart. If you say a few more words to soften her, Mom will come back with you."
Lin Xuedong and Zhao Qianyi often argued, over trivial matters, something Lin Xia had long been accustomed to. It wasn't quite accurate to call them arguments; each time, it was Zhao Qianyi's temper that was unilateral, with Lin Xuedong listening silently. Zhao Qianyi's anger came and went quickly, and within a few days, she was fine. But this time, someone didn't know what had happened. Zhao Qianyi was so angry that she ran off to a friend's house in the provincial capital and hadn't returned in a week.
Zhao Qianyi, an elementary school music teacher, left as soon as summer vacation began. Even when the high school entrance exam results came out, it was Lin Xia who called her mother to tell her. Lin Xuedong, who worked at a local office, had to take leave, so naturally, Lin Xia was left alone and sent to her grandfather's house.
Lin Xuedong touched Lin Xia's head, a smile flashing in his eyes:
"He's a little devil!"
Then he took out his wallet from his pocket, took out a hundred yuan and handed it to Lin Xia:
"Here, buy whatever you want to eat. Don't waste your money and don't get angry with Grandpa. Do you understand?"
Lin Xia's eyes lit up and she took it happily. Zhao Qianyi was strict with her and didn't allow her to buy snacks casually, so she seldom got pocket money except for the New Year's money, let alone such a "huge sum of money".
But she quickly returned the money:
"This one is too new. I want an old one."
Lin Xuedong was puzzled. "Didn't you say you'd give you new money every time? This is what Daddy changed specially."
Lin Xia has her own logic:
"That's my lucky money, I'm going to save it. This is my pocket money, it's too new and I don't want to spend it."
Lin Xuedong was helpless, but still indulged his daughter and changed an old bill from his wallet:
"Is this okay this time?"
“Thank you, Dad!”
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