Request: Jiang Xu, could you come stay with me for a while?

The conversation faded into the night along with the sound of rain.

In the deep hours before dawn, Liang Xiaoqing sank into a heavy sleep, instinctively shifting closer to Jiang Xu, savoring the warmth of their bodies pressed together. The heaviest quilt on top was weighty and solid, and she tucked the edges beneath herself so no draft could slip in.

When she woke again, her whole body was toasty warm—even her feet, which were always hardest to warm, had finally heated up.

A chorus of chirping birds drifted in through the window, and the overly bright light prodded Liang Xiaoqing's eyes open.

Her hair a mess, she fumbled for her glasses and put them on, her vision blurring before sharpening. She saw Jiang Xu lying facing her, a little too close; more importantly, Jiang Xu was awake.

The girl, just roused from sleep, had flushed cheeks and bright, wide eyes. Her thick, curled lashes fluttered as she blinked, and in her dark pupils Liang Xiaoqing could see her own sleepy reflection.

"You're awake, Teacher Liang."

Warm breath drifted gently across her face, and the girl's voice came out slightly husky.

"Ah..." Liang Xiaoqing snapped fully awake in an instant, scrambling to sit up. Through the window, the day was already bright.

After a night of rain, the pomelo leaves outside gleamed a vivid green, and the sun had long since climbed into the sky, its light filtering through the branches.

She rubbed her tangled hair and sat in a daze for a moment before recalling what had happened the day before. But before she could speak, Jiang Xu wriggled out from under the covers like a caterpillar.

"The early bird catches the worm." The girl recited the phrase as she deftly dressed herself, put on her shoes, and then stood by the bed, watching her.

She was small, standing there quietly and obediently. A shaft of sunlight from the window fell upon her, her face still rosy from the warmth of the blankets. At this moment, Jiang Xu finally looked like a girl her age.

"Teacher Liang, are you going to keep sleeping?"

Leaning against the edge of the bed, she patted the top quilt. "If you're not sleeping, I should fold the quilts and take them back for Mom."

"Oh..."

Being asked such a question by a little girl made Liang Xiaoqing's face burn. It wasn't anyone's fault but her own—Jiang Xu spoke far too much like a little adult, which only made her look like the immature one.

She scrambled out of bed in a fluster. To maintain her consistent image of a good teacher, Liang Xiaoqing smoothed her hair and tugged down the rolled-up hem of her shirt. But she had slept in her clothes, and when she got out of bed, one jeans leg was rolled up to her ankle while the other wasn't.

This was the first time she'd been so disheveled in front of a student, and she knew this would shatter any image of authority. She straightened her face, trying to look serious. Bending her left leg against the bedframe, she crouched to roll the pant leg down.

And just like last night, her short top rode up, a thin layer clinging to her waist, revealing a sliver of pale, smooth skin.

Jiang Xu blinked twice, then turned her gaze to the pomelo trees outside the window.

Several pomelo trees grew in the muddy yard—hardy things that would bear fruit in a few more days, giving them pomelos to eat.

Just like Jiang Xu.

Jiang Daguo always said she was easy to raise; just give her food and she'd survive.

That sapling had grown into the big tree it was now, shading the earthen house built years ago.

Jiang Xu tried to imagine herself growing into a fully fledged adult someday.

She gazed calmly at the faint sunlight in the distance, politely not looking toward Liang Xiaoqing. Only after Liang had fixed her pants did she walk to the corner of the bed to fold the quilts.

But Liang Xiaoqing was not someone easy to ignore. Liang Xiaoqing put on the coat she'd used to dry Jiang Xu's hair yesterday, a puzzled expression on her face as she looked at Jiang Xu's profile.

Jiang Xu turned her head slightly, catching her in her gaze.

Liang Xiaoqing hesitated, then spoke. "It's getting colder day by day. If you take the quilts away, what will you do?"

From what she'd seen last night, Liang Xiaoqing could roughly guess that Jiang Xu's standing in the family wasn't great. Still, Wang Cai's words had moved Liang Xiaoqing somewhat. Though Wang Cai couldn't make many decisions, she surely wouldn't mistreat Jiang Xu in small matters.

"If I don't take the quilts back, Jiang Daguo will hit me."

The faint hope that had risen in Liang Xiaoqing's heart plummeted when she heard that. She felt she'd said the wrong thing and didn't know how to soothe this little girl's mood.

So she simply helped Jiang Xu fold the quilts. She said nothing, and Jiang Xu said nothing. The two of them stayed silent.

Once the quilts were folded, Jiang Xu—who, in Liang Xiaoqing's eyes, was already a quiet old jar—picked up the bundle, which was larger than her entire body, and headed for the door. Liang Xiaoqing watched, her heart stirring.

"Jiang Xu."

She called out to her.

Jiang Xu stopped in her tracks. Liang Xiaoqing walked over and carried the quilts back to the bed.

Jiang Xu followed her, tilting her head in confusion.

Liang Xiaoqing smiled and, unable to resist, patted her head. Jiang Xu was far too thin now, and not very tall—she came up to about Liang's chest.

"Hold on," she said softly, sliding the hair tie off her wrist and wrapping it around her fingers. A small comb was always tucked into her coat pocket. She had Jiang Xu stand with her back to her. "Your hair's a bit messy. Let me comb it for you."

With that, she combed Jiang Xu's hair from top to bottom with the small comb.

Jiang Xu's hair wasn't in the best condition, but luckily it didn't tangle badly, and the strands gleamed slightly in the sunlight.

After wrapping the hair around her fingers twice, Liang Xiaoqing tied the hair tie into Jiang Xu's hair. Throughout the whole process, Jiang Xu stayed cooperative and still, so the simple ponytail came out looking very neat. Liang Xiaoqing thought her skills had improved, completely unaware that it was Jiang Xu's nicely rounded head shape that made any hairstyle look good on her.

"Done." Liang Xiaoqing gave Jiang Xu's ponytail a little shake and nodded with satisfaction. "You're a big girl now; you need to take care of your appearance."

With that teasing remark, she picked up the quilts by the bed and headed for the door. At the top of the stairs, Jiang Xu, who had been standing there stunned, heard Liang Xiaoqing and Wang Cai talking downstairs. Snapping back to herself, she unhurriedly followed.

Something was strange in the house today.

By the time Jiang Xu stepped outside, Liang Xiaoqing and Wang Cai had already finished their conversation. What was even stranger was that Wang Cai was pressing Liang Xiaoqing to stay and eat breakfast before leaving.

Wang Cai was never one to make extra trouble. She would never do anything Jiang Daguo didn't allow, and even though she was Jiang Xu's mother, that fact didn't change anything.

Liang Xiaoqing's visit had already displeased Jiang Daguo greatly, so Jiang Xu couldn't understand why Wang Cai would want to keep Liang around longer. And Liang Xiaoqing—that ever-understanding teacher—was stubbornly staying as well.

"Sister Wang, I really don't want to put you out. I can fix my own bowl."

"You're a guest, Teacher Liang. Just sit."

"..."

At the bottom of the stairs, the two of them went back and forth with pleasantries over serving the rice. Jiang Xu descended the stairs in silence, the old wooden steps creaking loudly with each step. Liang Xiaoqing looked up toward the stairwell and greeted her.

"Jiang Xu."

The teacher who'd been so disheveled just moments ago had tidied herself into a fresh, radiant appearance, quite the picture of a teacher. More than that, her cheeks had a healthy flush, she wore no makeup, and when she smiled, her eyes curved like crescent moons.

Jiang Xu looked at this teacher who seemed to belong to a world entirely different from her own, her mind churning. She wondered when Liang Xiaoqing would leave.

Jiang Daguo's hard stance had said it all, and Wang Cai couldn't resist him.

It was an even trickier problem for Liang Xiaoqing.

But looking at Liang Xiaoqing's bright smile, Jiang Xu stayed silent.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and, out of habit, lowered her head and headed for the kitchen. The family kept a few pigs, one of their main sources of income. Jiang Lun was still in university, and just his tuition alone was a crushing burden for Jiang Daguo.

At some point, it had become routine for Jiang Xu to check whether the pigs had been fed first thing in the morning. The household chores fell entirely on Wang Cai, and cooking breakfast while also boiling pig feed in the morning was a massive undertaking. Sometimes Wang Cai got so overwhelmed that, as the child of the house, Jiang Xu learned to share the burden. Over time, the duty of feeding the pigs fell to Jiang Xu.

Her first task upon waking was always to feed the pigs. Like always, she hurried to scoop the pig feed from the big pot in the kitchen, except today she'd woken up late, so she might catch a scolding from Jiang Daguo—and Wang Cai would suffer for it, too. If Jiang Daguo didn't hit her, he'd take his anger out on Wang Cai.

The crooked wooden table held three bowls of thin rice porridge. The table was one Jiang Daguo had made himself years ago.

The rich aroma of rice drifted to Jiang Xu's nose along with the steam. The food simmered over firewood brought out the ingredients' natural fragrance. Jiang Xu sniffed, then looked at the table. Besides the three bowls of porridge, there were two more plates—one of steamed buns, a bamboo basket of pancakes, and a large bowl filled with steaming roasted sweet potatoes.

Country folk were the most simple and hospitable; when guests came, they'd pull out their best to entertain. Unfortunately, Jiang Xu's family was simply too poor.

Even offering the most lavish meal they could manage came off as shabby.

Wang Cai stood with an apron tied around her waist, both sleeves rolled up high, her hair combed neatly without a single strand out of place.

She came over, led Jiang Xu to the table, and made her sit on the same long bench as Liang Xiaoqing.

Wang Cai sat on the other side.

Jiang Xu looked at the porridge in her bowl, thicker than usual. As she leaned in, the food on the table gave off an even purer fragrance of rice. Just from this simple spread, Jiang Xu could imagine how early Wang Cai had gotten up.

"Eat first, Jiang Xu."

Wang Cai urged her, then smiled and told Liang Xiaoqing to eat too.

Liang Xiaoqing nodded and placed a steamed bun into Jiang Xu's bowl. "Listen to your mother."

Wang Cai looked at Jiang Xu and said, "Your dad's already gone out to work, and I've fed the pigs. Eat while it's hot. Eat your fill."

Jiang Daguo had once called Jiang Xu a beast, because she rarely cried, rarely smiled, and wasn't close to Wang Cai—a thankless ingrate no matter how you raised her. So he hit her and cursed her, and he did it hard.

Whenever he hit her, Wang Cai would tremble on the side, crying as she watched her daughter get beaten. Only after Jiang Daguo's anger subsided would she come to check on her.

In this household, Jiang Daguo held the highest authority, followed by her brother Jiang Lun.

Deep wrinkles lined Wang Cai's face. Jiang Xu watched those lines trace all the way to Wang Cai's graying temples.

She made an "oh" sound, then began to eat.

As she ate, she half-listened to Wang Cai and Liang Xiaoqing make small talk, all the while thinking that once she went out to the fields later, Jiang Daguo would pile a mountain of work on her.

Wang Cai's cooking was decent, and Jiang Xu wolfed down two large steamed buns and a pancake. Even Liang Xiaoqing ate a bit more than usual, praising Wang Cai's cooking all the while.

After dropping out of school, her days should have gone on like this, dull and lifeless. Jiang Xu would occasionally wonder what she'd become in the future. But seeing what Wang Cai was like, she couldn't even conjure a single fantasy.

What shattered that stillness was the teacher she'd barely met even a handful of times.

After breakfast, Wang Cai took Jiang Xu up to her tiny, broken-down room and packed a few of her clothes.

Wiping her reddened eyes, Wang Cai pressed a cloth bundle into her hands. "Good child, don't blame your mother."

After that, Jiang Xu's mind went blank.

At the time she'd normally be heading to the fields, Wang Cai didn't urge her. Instead, she said words of thanks and pleas to Liang Xiaoqing.

The sun hung high in the sky, the bright blue sky like a flawless sapphire, dotted with a few lazy clouds.

Before Jiang Xu could make sense of any of it, Liang Xiaoqing took her hand and led her down the rugged, muddy mountain path, across Shuiqing Bridge, and all the way without a hitch from one side of the Shuiqing River to the other.

The winding, bumpy path gradually smoothed out, and the number of passersby increased. Every now and then, someone would call out a friendly "Teacher Liang."

Jiang Xu was still dazed as a large flat building appeared before her, its gray-white wall bearing the words "Shuiqing Middle School." Through the entrance, she could see the concrete playground and a tall flagpole with a red flag fluttering in the wind. Jiang Xu had run across that ground once, too.

But their destination wasn't the school. They walked a bit further, Liang Xiaoqing's hand never leaving hers.

Green trees flashed by, then rows of buildings, until they stopped before the last building at the end of the row. The iron gate, painted green, was chipped and peeling, opening onto a modest concrete courtyard with a cypress tree on either side, taller and bigger than the pomelo trees back home.

Sunlight left patches of light and shadow across the ground, swaying gently with the breeze. Jiang Xu looked at the three-story building before her. The surface was painted green, but just like the iron gate, the paint was fading and peeling away.

The iron gate creaked open, and someone came in from outside. It was a woman around thirty, stylishly dressed. She looked at Liang Xiaoqing and smiled. "Xiaoqing, you're back. It rained so hard last night, and you weren't around—I was so worried..."

Liang Xiaoqing smiled back. "Sister Man, I'm a grown adult. What could happen to me?"

Yang Man drew closer, glanced at Jiang Xu, and shook her head slightly. "You, ah..."

Jiang Xu recognized her—she'd been her homeroom teacher back when she was in school.

After a few pleasantries, Yang Man clicked up the stairs in her small heels and disappeared.

Liang Xiaoqing watched her vanish into the stairwell, then turned around and bent down slightly to look at Jiang Xu at eye level.

Walking down from the mountain, Jiang Xu had worked up a sweat on her back. The hand holding hers was sweating too.

Specks of light fell upon Liang Xiaoqing's face, and because they were at eye level, Jiang Xu could see her features more clearly.

Liang Xiaoqing looked warm too, a faint sheen of sweat at her temples. That pretty face came closer before her, smiling gently, her voice soft and tender.

"Jiang Xu, I agreed to your mother's request. Would you like to stay with me for a while?"