WSL Chapter 11

After the Great Heat (Da Shu), a thunderstorm that lasted several days took away the last week of July.

The rain finally stopped, but the temperature in the mountains didn’t drop—it actually rose.

At the beginning of August, summer was at its peak.

Gu Jianian’s stitches had been removed.

Several rounds of scallions and garlic had been harvested from the vegetable garden, and Gu Jianian helped her grandmother with the weeding and planting the cucumber seeds left over from spring.

During these days, her grandmother taught Gu Jianian a lot about growing vegetables—

Spring is the time to sow various melons and fruits; summer is for scallions and garlic; between summer and autumn, it’s time to plant radishes, and after the autumn equinox, when the wild chrysanthemums bloom, it’s time to plant peas and broad beans…

Even though her grandmother’s garden was small, it could provide fresh vegetables and fruits all year round.

The midday sun was scorching, the heat waves relentless, and the straw fan was no longer up to the task.

Before lunch, Gu Jianian helped her grandmother move an old-looking standing electric fan out of the storage room.

The fan was very heavy, covered in rust, with most of its paint peeling off.

Gu Jianian doubted if it would still work.

But once it was plugged in, the steady humming and smooth turning of the gears convinced her otherwise.

Her grandmother patted the heavy back of the fan, her eyes filled with nostalgia. “This is an old brand that your grandpa and I bought at the market back then. It still works well.”

The fan slowly blew, pushing the stifling air aside.

Gu Jianian was very curious about the grandfather she had never met.

Her grandfather had passed away before she was born. All she knew about him was that he had been an accountant for the village branch, a rare intellectual in the village. She knew nothing else.

She had once seen an old, yellowed photo hanging on the wall of her grandmother’s room.

In the photo, standing next to a young version of her grandmother, was a tall, lean young man with a serious expression, dressed neatly in a Zhongshan suit and wearing glasses.

That was Gu Jianian’s only impression of her grandfather.

Her grandmother rested for a while before suddenly asking, “Tingting, are you getting bored staying in the countryside?”

Gu Jianian shook her head. “Why do you say that?”

Her grandmother looked at her, stroking her hair. “You’ve been so down these past few days, staying at home, not talking much, and not even reading. I was wondering if your daily life here is too dull.”

Gu Jianian was stunned.

So, her grandmother had noticed all along but just hadn’t said anything.

She thought she hadn’t made it that obvious.

Since the day she got injured, it had been ten days since she last went to Chi Yan’s house to read.

Her grandmother had asked about it, and she had used her foot injury as an excuse the previous week, saying that her stitches hadn’t been removed yet. But even after the stitches were taken out, she still didn’t go.

Gu Jianian knew she was avoiding something.

Maybe it was because life in Yunmo was too pleasant, or perhaps it was because there had been no news from Beilin during this time, but she had started to have a delusion, as if nothing had happened.

It was as if she had become a child who had successfully finished the college entrance exam and was now on vacation in the countryside.

She even started to have thoughts that shouldn’t belong to her, trying to understand someone’s past and eagerly imagining a future with him.

But that day, when she saw that student ID, she suddenly felt like she had woken up from a dream.

A voice in her heart grew clearer.

“I am someone with no future.”

She kept trying to convince herself to bury those budding feelings deep inside.

Just go and read.

After all, she had only gone there to read.

Just treat him as an excellent older brother from a neighbour’s house, someone she could admire from afar and feel proud to have known.

But whenever such thoughts crossed her mind, Gu Jianian felt like there were thousands of ants gnawing at her heart.

She knew very well that she couldn’t do it.

Seeing Gu Jianian’s downcast expression, her grandmother didn’t know how to comfort her and sighed in distress.

After a while, her grandmother looked at the fan and suddenly thought of something. Her eyes brightened as she said, “Tingting, there’s a market tomorrow morning. Do you want to go?”

“A market?”

Gu Jianian forced herself to perk up, pretending to be interested. “Is it the morning market my cousin mentioned?”

Her grandmother explained, “Yes, our town’s morning market is famous in all four directions. It happens twice a month, and people from ten miles around come to visit. The market has everything—food, drinks, new household appliances, trendy clothes, and even some things you don’t usually see.”

The more she talked, the more she felt it was a good idea. “It’s just the thing to lift your spirits and change your mood, don’t you think?”

Gu Jianian knew her grandmother just wanted her to be a little happier here.

She couldn’t bear to disappoint her, so she curved her lips and said, “Okay.”

Sure enough, her grandmother smiled, but then her expression turned a bit hesitant. “But we’ll have to get up early to catch the morning market. It starts at 5:30, so we’ll have to get up by 5:00 to catch your second uncle’s car. Can you get up that early?”

Gu Jianian smiled. “I can.”

After all, she hadn’t been sleeping well lately.

Seeing her agree, her grandmother was as happy as a child.

She put on her reading glasses and started making busy preparations, calling her second uncle, making plans, and drafting a shopping list.

She treated this trip as a top-priority event.

Her legs and feet were not good, and she hadn’t been to the market in many years.

Besides, this time she would be taking her precious granddaughter with her, so she couldn’t let anything go wrong.

Unfortunately, this plan was disrupted before dinner.

Her second uncle called to say his pickup truck had a flat tire on the road, and he was looking for someone to help tow it. He wouldn’t be able to take them tomorrow morning.

It took about ten minutes to drive from Yunmo to the town, but walking would take over an hour.

Given her grandmother’s poor mobility, walking was clearly out of the question.

The two of them hung up the phone and were silent for a while.

Gu Jianian spoke first. “Grandma, it’s okay. We can go next time.”

Her grandmother didn’t say anything, just looked at her with some concern.

Gu Jianian smiled to reassure her. “I’m really fine. It’s probably just that my foot was hurt the other day, and I’ve been resting a lot, so I’m feeling a bit out of sorts.”

They ate dinner quietly.

Afterward, Gu Jianian went upstairs, feeling bored as she scrolled through her social media.

The first post she saw was from He Ji Tong, posted five minutes ago.

【Accompanying someone to play games in the deep mountains, and I have to say, the village’s signal is surprisingly good. Thank you, Motherland!】

The picture showed two Switch controllers and a whole wall covered by a game projection.

Gu Jianian glanced at his location—it was in Yunmo.

He was at Chi Yan’s house?

Unconsciously, Gu Jianian walked to the window, opened it, and looked out.

The villa where Chi Yan lived was on the hillside diagonally across from her.

In the faint red glow of the sunset, she could vaguely see He Ji Tong’s car parked in the open space outside the courtyard.

Were they playing games?

Gu Jianian couldn’t help but imagine what Chi Yan looked like when playing games. Would he be as indifferent as usual, or would he also have the typical competitive spirit?

His fingers were long, and she could tell from the way he typed on the keyboard that his fingers were very nimble.

Maybe he was good at games too…

Gu Jianian snapped out of her thoughts, pulled back her gaze, and forced herself to stop thinking about it.

They lived in different worlds.

Just as she was about to close the window, she noticed her grandmother downstairs, walking around the yard with her cane.

Gu Jianian leaned out to get a better look.

Her grandmother was walking very seriously, slowly circling the yard, occasionally sitting down to rest, then getting up to continue walking.

She looked like a child learning to walk.

Gu Jianian stood there, stunned, unable to hold back her tears as she called out, “Grandma.”

Her grandmother turned to meet her gaze.

She waved her hand and responded loudly with a smile, “Tingting, let’s still go to the market tomorrow. Grandma just needs to walk a few more steps to get used to it, and I’ll be able to make it. Your eighteenth birthday is next week, and I want to go to town to buy some fabric to sew you a dress.”

She said this while continuing to walk, leaning on her cane.

Gu Jianian’s eyes reddened instantly.

It seemed her grandmother never demanded that she have a “bright future” or a “happy life.”

She just wanted her to be happy every day.

After a long while, Gu Jianian sniffed and opened He Ji Tong’s WeChat profile: 【Brother Jitong, I saw your post. Are you in Yunmo?】

【Would you like to go to the morning market with me and my grandma tomorrow?】

Half a minute later, he called her.

Gu Jianian tried to pull herself together, cleared her throat, and answered the call with a subdued voice.

He Ji Tong’s voice came through the phone, “Little Sister Jianian, you’re going to the market?”

Gu Jianian heard the distant sound of a game in the background. “Yes, we planned to go with my second uncle, but his car broke down.”

She added, “But the morning market is very early, we have to leave by 5:00. If that’s too early, it’s okay.”

“Five o’clock? What kind of market starts that early?”

As He Ji Tong spoke, he moved around, and the game sounds grew louder.

He moved the phone away a bit and asked, “Chi Yan, do you know there’s a morning market in town?”

Gu Jianian instinctively held her breath, pressing her ear closer to the phone.

There was a faint rustling sound on the other end, like the evening wind curling into her ear.

After a moment, she heard Chi Yan’s voice, faintly coming through the receiver, “No, never been.”

It had been ten days since she last heard his voice.

It felt a bit unfamiliar.

But her mood inexplicably improved a little.

“Never mind, asking you was pointless. I could’ve guessed you’d never been,” He Ji Tong continued. “But is the market fun?”

“I’ve never been either,” Gu Jianian said slowly. “But my cousins say it’s a lot of fun. There’s food, drinks, entertainment… There’s even an old-fashioned arcade where you can play King of Fighters.”

He Ji Tong perked up at the mention of King of Fighters and eagerly said, “Alright, we’ll join you.”

He emphasized the word “we.”

After hanging up, Gu Jianian went downstairs to tell her grandmother the news, and she was delighted.

Gu Jianian watched as her grandmother returned to the living room, put on her reading glasses again, and added a few more items to the shopping list.

She muttered to herself, “Need to buy fabric, thread, buttons…”

Gu Jianian smiled along with her.

At the very least, she should spend this rare vacation happily with her grandmother.

As for her feelings, she should treat them like a beautiful scenery she encountered along the way—take a picture and keep it as a memory.