If there was any difference after Qiu Xing’s visit compared to before, it was that while Lin Yiran previously wouldn’t reply to his messages or answer his calls, after his visit, she would send him a message whenever there was a signal.

Before, she would leave her phone in her room and rarely carry it with her; now she kept it on her person at all times.

The atmosphere at the school was very different from before. Everyone knew about Jinjin’s grandmother. Children have their kind of kindness—before Jinjin left, they weren’t as noisy as usual. Children of all ages became quieter, looking at Jinjin with the pure compassion that only belongs to children.

Jinjin had grown silent, always following Lin Yiran, holding her hand, sticking close to her as soon as class ended.

Teacher Xiao Xu teased her: “Are you Teacher Little Boat’s little tail?”

Jinjin looked up at Lin Yiran, her bright black eyes filled with many emotions. Lin Yiran patted her head, and she buried her face in Lin Yiran’s clothes, quietly crying.

Her dark little hand clutched Lin Yiran’s clothes, wrinkling them.

Lin Yiran and her senior exchanged a glance, silently sighing.

When children feel afraid, they instinctively seek protection from adults, but the grandmother who had always protected her could no longer shield her.

After Jinjin was taken down the mountain by the principal, the school children whispered: “Her grandmother is dying.”

Children don’t have a deep understanding of death; they only know it’s something terrifying, but most haven’t experienced it personally, so it remains distant and unknown.

The natural kindness in children meant they never mentioned it while Jinjin was present. But since it wasn’t happening in their own families, once Jinjin was no longer on the mountain, the place quickly became noisy and joyful again. Only when Jinjin was mentioned would they look sympathetically at her seat.

Adults couldn’t detach their emotions so quickly, neither Lin Yiran nor her senior. Both gentle and kind-hearted women felt sad whenever they thought of Jinjin.

*

Jinjin’s grandmother didn’t hold on for long. She quickly fell into a hepatic coma, continuously stroking Jinjin’s head before losing consciousness. Tears fell ceaselessly from the corners of her deeply wrinkled eyes. Her withered fingers clasped Jinjin’s small hand in her palm, murmuring: “Jinjin, oh Jinjin…”

She died in the hospital, was cremated the next day, and her ashes were buried back on the mountain.

Jinjin’s father returned travel-worn, then hurriedly left again, without taking Jinjin with him.

A migrant construction worker drifting from place to place, living in work sheds, eating from communal pots at construction sites—with his living conditions, taking Jinjin might have exposed the little girl to even more dangers.

A young man, crouching on the ground, embracing his young daughter, crying in despair and grief.

In the end, he left Jinjin in the village, entrusting her to an auntie’s family, asking them to take care of her, and paying them monthly.

Neither living under someone else’s roof nor having no fixed abode was easy, but the relatively safe mountain village was better than drifting with a single father in an environment full of bachelor men.

Perhaps influenced by her own experiences, Lin Yiran also didn’t want Jinjin to leave with her father.

She remembered that anxious summer after her college entrance exam, those days like a fugitive who came from her father.

Children can grow up overnight.

In a month, Jinjin lost her grandmother and left her home. When her father left, he gave her some money and the keys to their old house, telling her to look after it.

She had become half an adult, no longer the little radish head who went to her grandmother for everything.

Sometimes Lin Yiran and her senior would let her stay at the school. The principal also suggested she live at the school regularly, only returning home during holidays. But the auntie wouldn’t allow it, saying she was being paid, so how could she let the child stay at school?

Jinjin said Auntie Yao was good to her, washing her clothes and steaming yellow rice cakes for her.

Auntie Yao didn’t live alone; she had a husband, a decent man around fifty years old who didn’t talk much.

Some things couldn’t be said openly, but there was inevitably concern.

One day, when Jinjin was staying at the school, Senior Xiao Xu closed the door and talked to her for a long time, telling her to protect herself, not to be alone with Grandpa Yao. Not that Grandpa Yao was a bad person, but she shouldn’t trust people easily.

Lin Yiran added: “If you ever face anything frightening, don’t keep it to yourself. You can tell the teachers and the principal, don’t be afraid.”

Jinjin listened very attentively, not asking why.

“Do you remember all this, sweetheart?” Teacher Xiao Xu asked.

Jinjin nodded and answered: “I remember everything.”

*

Time passed quickly. The weather gradually cooled, and being at a high altitude, the mountain got cold early.

Every morning and evening required a jacket. Lin Yiran didn’t have one, so she bought two online, and also purchased some for the children.

As long as it didn’t rain continuously, the signal remained fairly stable.

Lin Yiran contacted Auntie Fang every day, who missed her terribly. Lin Yiran would call her and chat with her.

She would also message Qiu Xing, and occasionally, when he called, she would answer.

“Did you get the clothes up there?” Qiu Xing asked her.

“Yes, I’m wearing them now,” Lin Yiran said. She was sitting in the backyard talking to Qiu Xing, wrapped in a jacket, but her nose was still cold. The signal was better here.

Qiu Xing asked again: “Is it enough?”

“It’s enough.”

Qiu Xing made an “mm” sound and said: “I’m coming over next week. What else do you need?”

Lin Yiran said: “Don’t come, it’s too far.”

When they talked on the phone, it was like before—very familiar with each other. Given their current neither-cold-nor-warm relationship, their phone conversations stuck to routine topics without anything inappropriate.

After Qiu Xing left, he never mentioned their relationship again. After such a long time, because his attitude was so calm, Lin Yiran sometimes wondered if he had moved on.

“I don’t need anything here. Just focus on your own business,” Lin Yiran said.

Qiu Xing didn’t respond.

Lin Yiran thought the signal had dropped, so she checked: “Qiu Xing?”

Qiu Xing first made an “mm” sound to indicate he was still there, then asked: “Is it that you think it’s far, or that you don’t want me to come?”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Lin Yiran smiled. “Because it’s far, I don’t want you to come.”

Qiu Xing’s tone was flat: “You just don’t want to see me, right?”

Lin Yiran’s eyes widened in surprise; she hadn’t expected Qiu Xing to suddenly say that.

Their relatively cool relationship and consistently calm conversations had almost made Lin Yiran’s heart grow cold. She had taken to heart what Qiu Xing had said last time, but his subsequent behavior made her uncertain whether he had changed his mind.

Now, although Qiu Xing’s question seemed a bit strange, it showed he wasn’t as calm as before.

“How did you get to that conclusion?” Lin Yiran blinked and said.

“You keep refusing to let me visit,” Qiu Xing said.

Lin Yiran said, “How do you even have time? I know how busy you are.”

“Wasn’t I busy before?”

He was referring to when Lin Yiran was at school, when she would ask Qiu Xing to visit her, and usually, as long as she asked, he would make time to go.

Now Qiu Xing had mentioned coming over several times, and Lin Yiran had refused each time.

“How far was it before?” Lin Yiran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “How long would it take you now? You need to fly, then transfer to another vehicle, then climb the mountain.”

Qiu Xing fell silent again, only making an “mm” sound.

He was clearly showing some emotion now. Lin Yiran smiled and said: “Don’t be unreasonable.”

Qiu Xing said, “I’m going to eat.”

Although Qiu Xing didn’t talk much during their calls, he never hung up first, always waiting for Lin Yiran to end the call. This contrast made Lin Yiran laugh: “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Qiu Xing said again. “Just hungry.”

He finished speaking but didn’t hang up. Lin Yiran found this side of Qiu Xing a bit cute.

“Are you sulking?” Lin Yiran wasn’t too sure, because it was so incongruous with Qiu Xing’s character.

Qiu Xing surprisingly didn’t deny it, only saying: “What right do I have?”

Then he stiffly added: “I wouldn’t dare.”

It was as if something touched Lin Yiran’s heart.

She lowered her head, looking at the empty ground, and slowly asked: “What kind of right do you want?”

The kitten that Qiu Xing had rescued from the tree was now kept at the school. It meandered over at that moment and rubbed against Lin Yiran’s leg.

Lin Yiran reached out to pet its soft fur, hearing Qiu Xing say: “A legitimate one.”

The kitten lay down on the ground, exposing its soft belly. Lin Yiran gently touched its stomach.

“I thought you didn’t want this anymore,” Lin Yiran said.

“I’m not in a hurry,” Qiu Xing said. “I’m waiting.”

The phone call lasted quite a while, and the signal was cooperative, never dropping.

The kitten circled Lin Yiran for a while, then silently left. By the time Lin Yiran returned to her room, the hand that had been holding the phone was very cold.

Lin Yiran thought about what Qiu Xing had said before hanging up: “I’ve already bought the plane ticket. Whether you let me come or not, I’m coming over next week.”

“When did you buy it?”

“Yesterday,” Qiu Xing said. “So tell me what you need.”

Lin Yiran usually slept soundly, but that night she couldn’t fall asleep for a long time.

Her heart was like a water surface with a stone thrown in, rippling, finely reflecting specks of light.

The current state of her relationship with Qiu Xing was something they had never experienced before. They had always been familiar and in sync, either distant and polite, or intimately intertwined.

But they had never been in this stage before, tentatively testing each other, with a hint of ambiguity.

Even though they had done the most intimate things, because of their previous separation, they needed to start building a relationship anew.

This made them truly like a couple who had not yet begun dating.