"I understand." Shen Jintang interrupted him, her voice tinged with amusement. "You should go now, everyone else must be getting impatient."
During this period, Gu Zhixing was extremely long-winded, repeating everything two or three times.
Gu Zhixing then reluctantly picked up the bundle that was placed on the stone bench.
Before leaving, he turned back and draped an outer garment over Shen Jintang's shoulders: "It's getting windy, don't catch a cold."
Shen Jintang heard his footsteps gradually fade away, and the courtyard gate creaked shut.
She sat quietly on a deck chair under the tree, closing her eyes for a short rest.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on her face.
Although she couldn't see, she could feel warm spots of light dancing on her eyelids.
As the sun gradually rose, the shadows cast on the courtyard wall grew long.
Shen Jintang leaned back in the recliner, her fingertips tracing the patterns of the carved osmanthus wood, when suddenly her ears twitched—a crisp sound of a dead branch breaking underfoot came from the fence in the southeast corner.
The sound was extremely soft, like a wildcat darting through the grass, yet it couldn't escape her ears, honed over many years.
She silently counted the footsteps until the kitchen window frame creaked almost inaudibly.
Several round river pebbles were scattered on the bluestone slab next to the bamboo cane. They were what she used to relieve her boredom. Shen Jintang reached for the pebbles in her hand.
Clang—
The sound of porcelain bowls clashing was particularly jarring in the quiet afternoon.
Shen Jintang curled her lips into a cold smile and picked up a pebble with her slender fingers.
She listened intently, catching the rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other as the child tiptoed, and the suppressed swallowing sounds of the child.
The moment the pebble shot through the air, she heard a subtle tremor as the air was parted.
"Oh!"
The little girl's cry of pain was accompanied by a childish tremor, followed by the dull thud of the rice bag falling to the ground.
The sound of hurried footsteps revealed the presence of another person—a heavier child, about eleven or twelve years old.
"younger sister!"
The boy's exclamation confirmed her judgment.
When he ran, his left foot dragged more than his right, as if the sole of his shoe had come undone.
Shen Jintang stood up, leaning on his bamboo cane. The tip of the ebony cane tapped on the bluestone slab, making a heart-stopping "thump-thump" sound.
The two children's breathing suddenly became rapid, and she could even hear their teeth chattering.
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