The boy didn’t answer Gu Qiao right away. Instead, he turned the question back on her: “Who are you?”

Gu Qiao blinked her large eyes. “Luo Bo’an is my cousin’s husband. If your father is Luo Bo’an, then I’m your cousin. My name is Gu Qiao — Gu as in grain. My parents and I came to attend my cousin’s wedding…” In the village where Gu Qiao lived, everyone seemed to be related somehow. Even those beyond five degrees of kinship still addressed each other as relatives, and it was rare for anyone to call someone by their given name directly. Though she was only eight years old, there were young men in their twenties who called her “Great-Auntie.” Based on her limited experience, she felt that titles like “older cousin” or “younger cousin” were just as casually tossed around as people calling her Great-Auntie.

Luo Peiyin had only asked three words, yet it summoned a torrent of words from Gu Qiao. A con artist would never rattle on so freely like that.

Probably no one had ever taught this little girl that staring shamelessly at people was impolite. Luo Peiyin didn’t enjoy being looked at that way. But he still decided to lead this family back to his home.

Gu Qiao introduced her parents to Luo Peiyin: “These are my parents — which makes them your cousin and cousin-in-law.”

Luo Peiyin didn’t use those titles at all. He simply gave a polite nod. “Hello.”

Gu Jingshu hadn’t expected that her younger cousin would marry a man who already had a child. She didn’t know whether the man was divorced or widowed. Either way, it would be difficult for a child to sincerely welcome a stepmother’s relatives.

All along the way, Gu Qiao chattered nonstop, asking questions about everything: “Older cousin, what’s your name?” Gu Qiao dug into her pocket and pulled out the milk candies her parents had given her. She divided them up, keeping only five for herself and leaving the rest for her younger sister, grandmother, and grandfather. She solemnly held out one of her five candies to this new older cousin: “Older cousin, have a candy.”

“Thank you, I’m fine.”

Gu Qiao interpreted this “I’m fine” as modest politeness. Back home in her village, whenever something good came along, everyone said exactly that.

So Gu Qiao said generously: “Older cousin, don’t be shy — go ahead and have it, I have more.” Seeing her older cousin being so polite, Gu Qiao reached out her little hand to take his, but unexpectedly he shook her off. The candy fell to the ground.

Gu Qiao’s large eyes stared at the candy on the ground, momentarily stunned. She looked at the candy, then at her older cousin; then at her older cousin, then back at the candy. Her eyes seemed to be gathering tears. Fine, if he won’t eat it! All the better for me! Gu Qiao nimbly picked the candy up off the ground, peeled open the wrapper, popped it into her mouth, and began chewing away with great enthusiasm.

The candy was so delicious. Gu Qiao felt happy again.

“Mama, the milk candies you bought me are so good! When we get back, I must let my little sister, grandmother, and grandfather have a taste.” Bad older cousin — not a single candy for you ever again!

Gu Jingshu had been feeling sorry for her daughter, but she was quickly swept up in her daughter’s cheerfulness. She stroked her daughter’s head: “If you love them so much, Mama will buy more when we get home.”

Lou Deyu chimed in from beside them: “If you love them, Dad will buy them for you — as many as you want.” Though Lou Deyu ordinarily quarrelled with Gu Qiao at home all the time, out in public, the two of them were on the same side. Thinking of how this little boy had knocked Gu Qiao’s candy to the ground, he quietly decided not to give the boy the ten-yuan “first meeting” gift he’d originally planned to offer.

All along the road to the Luo family home, Gu Qiao chattered and asked endless questions. But after the candy fell to the ground, she suddenly became a quiet little girl.

Gu Jingshu took hold of her daughter’s small hand. Guided by her mother’s touch, it was as though her mother’s thoughts had passed into her. For the rest of the walk, Gu Qiao was unusually silent.

The moment Gu Qiao stepped through the front gate, she saw a row of five- and six-story small buildings. The Luo family lived on the third floor. Her cousin and her cousin’s husband were not home.

Luo Peiyin introduced them to Grandma Lian: “These are relatives of Auntie Gu.”

Grandma Lian had raised Luo Peiyin’s mother since she was small. After Luo Peiyin returned to the country, she had been called back, and had now cared for three generations of the Luo family. She couldn’t exactly say she was thrilled about this new wife, yet her professional instincts held firm, and she greeted the guests with a smile.

Gu Qiao was curious about everything she saw, but once inside the Luo family home, she reined in every bit of that curiosity. She became exceedingly sparing with her words, and even her gaze stayed steady and controlled, not darting around the room.

Gu Jingshu waited at the Luo family home for ten minutes before smiling and asking Grandma Lian: “Do you know when Jing Hui will be back?”

Grandma Lian wasn’t sure.

No child welcomes a stepmother’s relatives — and Luo Peiyin least of all, since his temperament, Grandma Lian couldn’t quite put into words, only that it didn’t quite match the sweltering weather. But today, this child seemed a little out of the ordinary.

That year, Coca-Cola had just entered mainland China. In the Luo family’s refrigerator happened to be some cola that Luo Peiyin’s aunt had recently sent over.

Luo Peiyin took three bottles of Coca-Cola from the refrigerator and placed them in front of the guests. Gu Qiao’s bangs were soaked with sweat from the heat, yet she showed no interest in drinking the cold cola. Even the curiosity she’d been showing toward Luo Peiyin had completely disappeared. She glanced briefly at the bottle, then immediately looked away.

Gu Qiao repeated back to him the same words he had said to her earlier: “Thank you. I won’t have any.” He hadn’t eaten her candy — was she supposed to drink the cola he was offering?

Gu Jingshu smiled and asked Luo Peiyin: “Roughly when will your Auntie Gu be back? We can come back once she returns — we don’t want to be a bother.”

“I don’t know either. Why don’t you wait a little longer?”

Luo Peiyin picked up the bottle opener from the table, opened the cold cola in front of Gu Qiao, and held it out to her.

This time again, Gu Qiao didn’t take the cola. Instead, her hand went into her pocket and fished out another milk candy. She peeled open the wrapper: “Older cousin, these candies are really good — try one.” She had forgiven him for earlier, for shaking her hand loose and letting the candy fall to the ground. Perhaps he hadn’t done it on purpose. Perhaps it was just an accident.

Luo Peiyin looked at the unwrapped candy. Under Gu Qiao’s earnest expectation, he took it.

The two of them had exchanged, in their own way — a candy for a cola. Gu Qiao tipped her head back and took a sip of the cold cola, feeling a wave of coolness spread through her from the inside out. She very much wanted to ask how much the cola cost, so she could bring some home for her family to try on the way back. Their family didn’t have a refrigerator, but if you left cola to sit in freshly drawn well water for a while, it wasn’t much different from a refrigerator.

Since the child had been reasonably warm after all, Lou Deyu felt he ought to give a proper meeting gift. He pulled out the ten-yuan note — the large denomination bill he’d been about to put back in his pocket. It was money he’d earned selling countless paper fans on the train.

Luo Peiyin looked at the well-worn, sweat-stained bill that had clearly passed through many hands. He hesitated for a few seconds, then took it.

—