Chapter 35 Secret
Hang Liumei and Qi Xiuchun, who was holding a Siamese cat, sat side by side on wooden chairs and watched people coming and going in front of them.
Today they were commemorating their old friend Yang Tingshu, who had been in the archaeological group and had joined the institute in the same year as Professor Gong Qinglian. Professor Gong passed away earlier, later moving to Hong Kong, and news of her passing was only announced a few years ago.
"Xiaomei, do you remember the name of the girl who just greeted us? She looks so familiar to me, but I really don't know her name."
"That's Old Fang, Fang Yuzhong. Have you forgotten when she was organizing the archives for the Mogao Grottoes? Over 700 caves, she and her teacher documented each one. I later called her 'Fang Yugong.' Once, she came to take notes while I was copying. I even helped climb a ladder to read the inscriptions on the wall, but I lost my balance and fell, twisting my waist and injuring her arm. That's why Old Jiang learned massage to treat me."
"I didn't even know there was such a story. I must have already gone to Lanzhou by then, right?" Qi Xiuchun stroked the cat's head and sighed. "When we came in, we saw Old Qi at the door. He was so handsome back then, with a camera hanging around his neck taking pictures. He was curious about how such an advanced robot worked. I didn't recognize him at first glance. He was so wrinkled."
Hang Liumei turned around and criticized her: "Look at yourself in the mirror, how can others not age?"
"Do you think living longer is good or bad? If you ask me, I don't want to be the last one to die. Without friends and family, without knowing anything and being familiar with nothing, what's the point of living?"
Hang Liumei thought of Lao Jiang. Lao Jiang was good in every way except that he left her behind and went away first.
Qi Xiuchun realized that he had said the wrong thing, and rubbed the kitten's head to make amends: "But who didn't die? It's good for us to be free and do whatever we want now. We just need to cherish our blessings."
"Xiao Qi! Xiao Hang!" Two cheerful calls interrupted their conversation. It had been a long time since anyone called them with "Xiao" as the prefix.
A little old lady came over enthusiastically, her arms raised. Hang Liumei recognized her pointed eyes and nose and called out her name: "Xiaofang? You're here too. Is it really you?"
"Yes, yes, I saw you from a distance. You two are more valuable than just a bunch of leeks!" Xiaofang said as she patted each of them affectionately, "How are you? Have you been doing well these past two years?" She was fatter than when she was young, and her eyes disappeared when she smiled.
"Oh! He Fang? It's been decades since we last saw each other!" Qi Xiuchun stood up excitedly and held Xiaofang's hand.
"That's right, time flies. I heard you went to Shanghai later. So, why did you come here specially this time?"
Qi Xiuchun smiled and waved her hand: "I went to Shanghai to take care of my daughter's school and work, and later I took care of someone's children there. Now I'm back. You're still in Chengdu? That's great, you have to come often! When you come, stay at my house! There are only a few of us left, so we have to move around! When we have time this year, Xiaomei and I will also go to Chengdu for a visit, right, Xiaomei!"
Xiaofang followed her words and turned to Hang Liumei and asked, "Where is your Lao Jiang? How come our famous model husband is missing now?"
Hang Liumei smiled. "He passed away a while ago. He left in a hurry, and I was sick for a while, so I didn't inform my old friends."
Xiaofang covered her mouth with her fleshy hand: "Oh, you see, I speak too fast, I really don't know..."
"It's okay. I've recovered now. It's just a matter of time."
"It's really a pity. Your Lao Jiang is such a good man, with a good temper and a strong family spirit. You two share the same ideals, but you stayed in Dunhuang instead of going to Hong Kong. Look at the young men in the institute later on, none of them have the spirit of your Lao Jiang..."
"Ah? What?" Hang Liumei was confused by her.
Xiaofang patted her shoulder in annoyance: "I said he was handsome, look at you, you have to let me say it again!"
"No, I meant the first sentence."
"Praise him for being so noble! He even gave up Hong Kong. Only he, like you, had the patience to stay in Mogao Grottoes."
"I didn't know about this. You must have mistaken me, Xiaofang. Lao Jiang never mentioned Hong Kong to me."
Xiaofang was shocked, as if she had discovered some great news. She pulled someone to sit down and told them a story together.
"Back in the 1980s, there were several study opportunities. Some went to Beijing, some to Japan, and later on, there was one to Hong Kong. But the Hong Kong trip was mainly about exchanges on preservation and restoration. Your Lao Jiang was researching that technology, and the director wanted him to go. Such opportunities are so rare, with only one or two spots available. I wanted to talk to the director that day, but your Lao Jiang was standing inside the office door. I heard him say that your family had finally been reunited, and it would be unfair for him to let you go alone, and it would be difficult for the director to take you all with him. Anyway, Lao Jiang turned the opportunity down. I thought this was something you had discussed, but it turns out you didn't even know..."
After leaving the funeral, Hang Liumei thought about this matter all the way. Was it because she was an overly careless wife, or was he an overly thoughtful husband, that he could have done something so serious and carried it into his coffin.
But Hang Liumei knew that everything Lao Jiang did was for her. She couldn't live without Dunhuang, and he couldn't live without her.
"Xiaomei, don't regret the past. It's a blessing to have such a companion for your whole life. Let's not talk about whether Hong Kong is good or not." Qi Xiuchun comforted Hang Liumei in the taxi.
"Sister Xiuchun, I don't regret it. I just feel that...you said he had such a bright future..." Hang Liumei couldn't continue speaking, rolled down the car window and closed her eyes.
"He did it for you, but aren't you all doing it for the Mogao Grottoes? If not for this, you wouldn't have stayed there for so many years. Going to Hong Kong was one future, and staying was another. Don't deny what you have done because of something that didn't happen. If you can't figure this out, then you haven't lived wisely." Qi Xiuchun saw tears streaming from Hang Liumei's eyes and knew that she was doing it for Lao Jiang's friendship, but she was tongue-tied and could only say these dry truths.
Hang Liumei let out a long sigh, and what appeared before her eyes was the appearance of Lao Jiang when he was young.
After she became a mother-in-law, she told her daughter-in-law Mai Sui the story of how she proposed to Lao Jiang. Mai Sui said, "I never thought that mom and dad are so avant-garde!"
Lao Jiang laughed and denied it. "Your mother only talks about her own heroic deeds. Why doesn't she talk about my previous efforts? She always thinks I'm the bad guy!"
He'd remembered her instantly, back when he was on the donkey. A large moon hung high in the sky, and he counted the stars as he made his way alone. As he walked, he saw a light ahead: a young woman on a bicycle. From afar, Lao Jiang could hear her singing to embolden himself. Afraid of scaring her by rushing over, he approached slowly. But she pedaled faster and faster, forcing him to shout. She turned, flashlight in hand, and the bright light made him squint.
Another glance revealed a face he couldn't forget. Her frizzy hair was braided into two pigtails, and the loose strands on her forehead, as if gnawed by a dog, were tousled by the Gobi Desert's fierce wind. Her face was dusty, her eyebrows knitted together, her large eyes distinctly black and white, her pupils gleaming with a frightened and fierce expression. Seeing his face clearly, she smiled, her teeth perfectly white and even, with two wrinkles around her mouth, like a kitten's grin. She said her name was Li Hongyan.
Lao Jiang approached her along the way, but she was indifferent. He didn't know what he had done to offend her. She must be tired at this late hour. It's hard enough for a young woman to travel so late at night. And I scared her. It was definitely my fault, Lao Jiang thought. Back at the station, he wanted to thank her with some local specialties, but was told she didn't exist.
When they met again in the grotto, he learned that her name was Hang Liumei. She had indeed been lying to him before, but Lao Jiang was not angry, thinking that it was right for girls to be cautious.
Later, Lao Jiang would involuntarily search for Hang Liumei in the crowd, and he found her always holding a baby. During a conversation, he heard someone mention that a woman in the institute had found an irresponsible man and was left here to raise a child. He mistook it for Hang Liumei and completely understood her long-standing hostility.
Finally, he understood that Hang Liumei was helping her best friend take care of the baby, and he also decided that she was a remarkable woman who valued friendship and loyalty. That night, she could have refused to go with him for self-protection, but she still walked with him to the institute. He thought to himself that Hang Liumei was a really good girl.
One day, Lao Jiang was resting in the shade of a tree outside the courtyard gate. He covered his face with leaves, stretched out his legs, and just as he dozed off with his arms tucked under his head, he heard the clatter of footsteps approaching. He bent his legs to make way, but the person was about to leap over him, and the bend of his leg tripped them instead. Hearing someone fall heavily to the ground, Lao Jiang immediately stood up to check. It was Hang Liumei.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it. Do you want to get a bandage?" Lao Jiang quickly helped Hang Liumei up from the ground.
Hang Liumei's palms were scratched by the pebbles and bled a little, but she said it was okay. She wiped the blood off her hands with a handkerchief, hurriedly patted off the dust on her clothes, and prepared to leave.
"Your hands still need to be painted, I'll find some medicine to rub on them."
"I'm just going to the office to borrow gauze and iodine. You rest, it's okay." Hang Liumei said as she walked forward quickly.
Lao Jiang followed her. "Then I'll go with you. What happened? Who's hurt? Is it serious? I can help."
"Sister Xiuchun's daughter fell off the kang. She can crawl now. We all had to go out in the morning, so we had to tie her to the bed with a cloth strip. Who knew she would get tangled up in the cloth strip and fall headfirst onto the floor, breaking her head. She's crying in the room right now. I'll get some medicine to clean the wound on her forehead. After all, she's a girl, so don't let her face get disfigured."
Old Jiang accompanied her back to the house to get the medicine and applied it to the child. He also insisted on bandaging her hands as well. Hang Liumei spread her hands and said to Old Jiang: "We still have to cook for Yingying, and now we can't even move our hands."
"I'll go, I'll go!" Sister Xiuchun interrupted while holding the child, but as soon as she put Yingying down, the child started crying loudly.
Lao Jiang was busy gathering gauze and cotton swabs. He looked up at Hang Liumei and said, "You don't have to move. I'll do it. Just tell me what the child wants to eat."
Hang Liumei insisted on going into the kitchen with him, but she didn't expect that Lao Jiang was more skilled in cooking than her and didn't give her a chance to learn.
Hang Liumei sat on a small stool, palms down, chin propped up on the backs of her hands, thanking Lao Jiang. The steam from the hot pot was making Lao Jiang sweat. He wiped the sweat away with his arm, ran out, and brought back a small bottle of sesame oil to drizzle over the steamed eggs for Hang Liumei to pass to the children. When Hang Liumei returned with the empty bowl, Lao Jiang was gone. The cooked millet porridge was covered, the stove and boiler cleaned, and the bottle of sesame oil placed in a conspicuous place, clearly reserved for them.
They knew Lao Jiang was a kind person, so they couldn't take advantage of him. A few days later, Hang Liumei brought him a bag of free-range eggs. Lao Jiang happened to be going to the county town for some work, so he asked if she had anything to bring. Hang Liumei thought for a moment, then pulled out a few banknotes and asked him to buy some wool so they could knit socks for the children.
When Lao Jiang returned, he brought not only yarn but also a bag of new fabric. He said Hang Liumei had overpaid, so he'd bought it on his own initiative. He could make a few pillows to cuddle around the child, or even use them as cushions by the bed. Hang Liumei had gone to the store to check the prices when she went into town, and sure enough, it wasn't overpaid; Lao Jiang had paid out of his own pocket.
Hang Liumei took the money and went to return it to Lao Jiang. Lao Jiang was busy working in the cave, so she pulled him out and had a frank talk with him in broad daylight.
"You must accept this money, otherwise I really won't let you help me in the future."
"Don't be fussy about the little things you give to your children."
"A little bit adds up to a lot. If you're like this, you might as well go into the cave and find a platform to sit on and become a money-giving boy. You help this person today and that person tomorrow, but the money you earn is not enough to keep up with what you spend." Hang Liumei was worried about him as she spoke.
Lao Jiang scratched his hair, looked into her eyes and said, "Ah? But I have never done anything like this to anyone else." After saying that, his face turned red for some reason.
Hang Liumei suddenly noticed that Lao Jiang had a well-cut hairstyle, with neat sideburns and a 3:7 parting on the side. The front strand was longer, but just the right length, and when the wind blew it in front of his eyebrows, he looked even more stylish.
Old Jiang was a truly neat man. Compared to him, his outfit today didn't look very good, especially since Sister Xiuchun had cut his hair so long on one side and short on the other—she'd been in a hurry to get it done so she could nurse Yingying. Hang Liumei pulled up his sleeve, stuffed the money into his open hand, and before he could react, she said, "Anyway, keep it," and ran off.
Rushing back into the house, Hang Liumei let her hair down and carefully trimmed it in front of the mirror. She couldn't control the pressure when cutting her own hair, and accidentally cut too much. She had no choice but to shorten the rest of her hair as well, and finally her waist-length hair became shoulder-length. Qi Xiuchun came in holding the child and yelled, "Hey, why are you moving around? You can't braid your hair so short!"
Hang Liumei turned around aggrievedly and said, "My hair was a mess before, and even after I braided it, a lot of hair flew out. What should I do if I don't trim it? I worked so hard to get it cut like this, and it still looks ugly?"
Seeing her face fall, Qi Xiuchun walked behind her, grabbed her hair, and gestured to comfort her: "Who said it's ugly? Short hair has its advantages. You can tie it into a ponytail or a scorpion tail instead of a braid, or just let it hang down like this. With a face like mine, it will look good no matter what!"
Hang Liumei was barely comforted and let her hair down from then on. After a long time, she found that this interfered too much with her painting, so sometimes she would tie it up with a handkerchief, thinking of cutting it short one day.
After returning from the grottoes that day, Hang Liumei prepared her meal and found an empty table to eat. Lao Jiang sat down next to her with a bowl in his hand.
"You cut your hair." He stared at the bowl without raising his head, as if speaking casually.
"Well, it's too long and it's troublesome to wash my hair." Hang Liumei was a little frustrated. Maybe it was a bad cut. Everyone noticed it.
"It's cut very well, fresh and neat, it suits you." After saying this, Lao Jiang scooped a big mouthful of cabbage into his mouth.
Hang Liumei didn't know what to say in response to his compliment, so she picked at the potato chips and ate them slowly. Lao Jiang was eating quickly, and when his bowl was almost empty, he pulled out a green hairpin from his pocket and put it in her direction: "I brought this for you. You can use it to tie your hair. It will be more convenient."
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