After Zhou Zheng finished introducing his cousin and then his girlfriend, both girls gave a dry, perfunctory “Oh” and a “Hello.”

The two of them simply didn’t click.

First impressions mattered.

Zhou Xue’s first impression of Lin Shuang ran deep — a white blouse worn in a way that seemed frivolous, features carefully done up in a gaudy, showy manner, a tone of voice flirting with a man that struck her as vulgar — and every meeting after that failed to improve the impression.

Exactly the type — relying on her looks to do whatever she pleased without restraint. Zhou Xue had a roommate just like her.

Lin Shuang was exactly that kind of temperament too — if you look at me with distaste, I’ll make you feel worse; if you annoy me, I’ll annoy you right back; who ends up more bothered than whom, who’s to say.

She looped her arm through Zhou Zheng’s, fingertips brushing under his eyes, gently touching, then sweeping a hand across his face, cooing: “What time did Teacher Zhou go to bed last night? Dark circles are showing already, poor thing.”

Zhou Zheng gave Lin Shuang an odd look.

She smiled, bright and brazen, and Zhou Xue turned her face away, uncomfortable.

Zhou Zheng caught her hand, stopping her from touching his face, pulling it down and tucking it into his own coat pocket: “It’s fine.”

Lin Shuang’s wrist was held firmly in Zhou Zheng’s grip, with no small amount of force — she couldn’t wriggle free or slip away. Displeased, she pinched him inside the pocket, squeezing his waist, twisting the flesh.

His girlfriend messing around flirtatiously — in other settings he wouldn’t mind, but in front of his own cousin, Zhou Zheng felt somewhat uneasy.

His eyes said: [Behave.]

Lin Shuang raised an eyebrow: [How exactly?]

He squeezed her hand: [Don’t move.]

She squeezed back: [I want to move.]

Zhou Xue stood at the elevator door, catching a glimpse in the elevator’s mirrored surface of the two of them exchanging looks behind her, and stepped out of the elevator with a cold expression.

The three of them headed toward the hospital room.

When Grandma saw Lin Shuang, she was even happier than seeing Zhou Zheng and Zhou Xue, her face blossoming into a smile as she got up to take Lin Shuang’s hand — the bandage over her eye had been removed, her sight was clearer now, and Grandma looked Lin Shuang over once more with delight.

The more she looked, the more she liked what she saw. Grandma set Zhou Zheng to moving a chair, called Zhou Feng to fetch snacks, had Zhou Xue wash fruit — all three grandchildren pushed to the side, her attention devoted entirely to fussing over Lin Shuang.

Zhou Feng had met Lin Shuang before, grinning and calling her Sister Shuang freely. Only Zhou Xue was interacting with Lin Shuang properly for the first time. Grandma pulled Zhou Xue, who’d been staring down at her phone, over to chat with Lin Shuang: “Xiaoxue, have you greeted Shuangshuang yet? Just call her sister the way Xiaofeng does.”

“Sister Shuangshuang,” Zhou Xue said, stiff and formal.

“Little sister Xiaoxue,” Lin Shuang smiled.

The two exchanged a deeply meaningful look, each carrying her own emotions — tsk, what plastic warmth.

Grandma: “We don’t have so many formalities in this family. You’re both girls, you should get close to each other.”

Lin Shuang asked with a smile: “What year is Xiaoxue in now? What’s she studying? Which school?”

Zhou Xue’s tone was slightly stiff: “Junior year, economics department, Finance University.”

“Impressive.” Lin Shuang played the professional supporting role, clapping. “Studies must be going well. Great school too, and a flagship major — you’ll definitely have a bright future after graduation.”

Something about the tone sounded off no matter how you heard it.

“It’s nothing, an ordinary major,” Zhou Xue answered. “Grades are average too.”

“Xiaoxue’s university was even picked by A-Zheng, and he tutored her studies before too,” Grandma said with a smile. “Of all the siblings, she and A-Zheng get along best. Everyone will get along well together from now on too.”

“I can tell,” Lin Shuang said, with meaning, glancing at Zhou Zheng. “How enviable. Siblings so close — ah, I had no idea Teacher Zhou had such an impressive sister.”

Zhou Xue’s face carried a fixed smile, unable to hold back: “I envy Sister Shuangshuang too. I had no idea my brother had such a beautiful girlfriend.”

“Well, Teacher Zhou’s always busy, isn’t he,” Lin Shuang said, grinning.

Swords crossing. Zhou Zheng rubbed his nose.

“Xiaoxue, go check if the checkup report is out, and pick up some medicine from the pharmacy while you’re at it.” Zhou Zheng handed Zhou Xue the medical insurance card, patting her shoulder. “Ground floor lobby, sorry to trouble you with the trip.”

Getting the two of them apart.

Zhou Xue felt a flare of anger in her chest, standing up with a furrowed brow: “Fine.”

Once the checkup report came back, Zhou Zheng took Lin Shuang to handle the discharge paperwork, leaving Zhou Feng and Zhou Xue in the room with Grandma.

“Xiaoxue’s still just a kid, don’t hold it against her.”

Zhou Zheng could sense that awkward edge in his cousin. He’d told her a bit about him and Lin Shuang before, more or less, but he found it hard to go deep into these things — he had no way to talk to his sister about his romantic inner journey or his feelings for Lin Shuang, saying all that mushy, sentimental stuff to someone else.

Lin Shuang rolled her eyes at him, her mood quite sour: “She’s in her twenties, I’m in my twenties too, who’s the kid here?”

“You’re the kid.”

Zhou Zheng stroked Lin Shuang’s hair.

“Xiaoxue’s just that kind of personality, don’t tease her, just stay cool and ignore her — the more you tease her, the more awkward she gets,” Zhou Zheng said. “I’ll find a chance to have a proper talk with her.”

“No need to talk, what’s there to talk about, I have nothing to do with her anyway.” Lin Shuang’s lips were about to curl all the way up to the sky.

“Don’t be angry.”

Lin Shuang pinched his arm: “You’re so annoying.”

Her mood hadn’t been particularly good to begin with — she’d only come today out of concern that Zhou Zheng couldn’t handle everything alone, and with the room now full of people, she shook off Zhou Zheng’s hand: “I’m heading back to the shop.”

“Don’t go, it’s noon already, let’s get a meal together.” Zhou Zheng caught her, coaxing her with a gentle voice. “Have you been eating properly these past couple days?”

Lin Shuang glanced sideways at him, brow furrowed, saying nothing.

Zhou Zheng pulled her along.

In the hospital room, Zhou Zheng’s grandmother was overjoyed, muttering on and on: “Your brother’s girlfriend, do you two like her? Shuangshuang really is beautiful, our whole township couldn’t produce a face like that, how wonderful, I wonder when your brother plans to bring her home for good — if they could get married that would be even better.”

The old woman still had some savings put aside — money Zhou Zheng had given her for retirement over the years plus the village dividends. If Zhou Zheng were to marry, that money would go to Lin Shuang, and it should be withdrawn early.

“I like her,” Zhou Feng said, raising both hands. “Sister Shuang’s pretty great.”

Zhou Xue’s expression turned sullen as she played with her phone: “Grandma, you just said it yourself — the whole township couldn’t produce a face like that. Would she even be willing to come to our township?”

“Whether we like her or not, does it matter? Can she and Brother Zheng even get married? Would she look down on our family? Her handbag alone costs several tens of thousands — can Brother even afford to support her?”

Grandma was startled: “A bag worth tens of thousands? Made of gold? Where’s a bag that expensive?”

Lin Shuang’s handbag was still sitting on the chair in the room — she’d gone out with Zhou Zheng empty-handed. Zhou Xue pointed at the bag, curling her lip: “Grandma, there’s a lot you don’t know. This bag is thirty-nine thousand. My classmate has the exact same one — it’s worth several months of Brother Zheng’s salary.”

Zhou Feng jumped down from the hospital bed, crouching by the chair to examine Lin Shuang’s bag carefully, his face deep in thought: “No way. This bag looks nice but nothing special about it. What brand is this even.”

“Chanel. Do you even understand — everything she wears and uses, none of it’s cheap. What’s she even doing with Brother Zheng…”

“Doing it for our brother’s youthful good looks, obviously. Brother Zheng’s great, plenty of people at his school like him.”

“Pretty girls can always spend money, sigh, that’s normal too… once they’re married, with a family and kids, she’ll slowly learn to save.”

The hospital room door was left ajar, and these words drifted straight into Lin Shuang’s and Zhou Zheng’s ears.

Both of them stopped in their tracks.

Lin Shuang crossed her arms, her expression turning slightly cold, glancing at Zhou Zheng with a hint of mockery.

His face stayed perfectly calm, but the hand pushing the door moved slowly, his voice heavy: “Xiaoxue!”

The chatter in the room stopped at once.

At noon Shunzai came by too, and the group helped Grandma get discharged, heading to a nearby porridge restaurant for lunch.

The meal was eaten in a heavy silence.

Lin Shuang’s face still carried a smile, and she played along well enough in conversation, but her body language was languid — or perhaps, haughty.

From fetching plates to pouring water to serving dishes, she didn’t lift a finger for any of it, leaving it all to Zhou Zheng, and she ate quite particularly, pushing anything she didn’t like over to his side of the table.

The whole table saw Zhou Zheng’s careful attentiveness, and also saw how thoroughly spoiled Lin Shuang was.

Zhou Xue truly couldn’t stand it. In the past, whenever they all ate together, Zhou Zheng would give her the same special care — but this time he hadn’t even glanced her way once, and Zhou Xue could tell that her brother was displeased with her now.

She wasn’t sure how much of that hospital room conversation had been overheard, but she’d only said it out of a moment’s loose tongue — and it had all been true regardless.

She hadn’t cursed anyone, hadn’t belittled anyone. She wasn’t afraid of it being overheard.

After the meal, Lin Shuang and Zhou Feng both needed to return to Beiquan High School — Lin Shuang to the milk tea shop, Zhou Feng to play ball with some classmates — while Zhou Xue and Zhou Zheng would take Grandma home.

Shunzai enthusiastically invited: “Sister Shuang, come back with us, come take a look at our place, the scenery’s actually pretty good, have some fun, stay the night.”

Once that topic opened, everyone chimed in at once. Zhou Feng nodded too: “There’s plenty of good food at home, there’s a temple where you can burn incense, there’s a mountain spring and a little waterfall in the hills behind, you can even catch crabs there, it’s pretty fun.”

Grandma also wanted Lin Shuang to see the place, urging her repeatedly: “You two come back together — these past two days we haven’t hosted you properly. Might as well go home for a meal — there’s every kind of dish at home, and plenty of rooms, no shortage of space to stay. Tomorrow A-Zheng has class, and you can head back to the city together after.”

Lin Shuang smiled without answering.

Zhou Zheng didn’t want any complications at this moment, saying flatly: “There’s always another time. I haven’t been back to stay for a good while either, the room’s not even been cleaned, not too tidy.”

“That room of yours has always had the doors and windows shut, the bedding’s aired out regularly too, just wipe the floor when you get back, it’ll be the cleanest room there is.”

Zhou Xue backed her brother up, muttering: “There’s nothing at home, what’s fun or nice about a patch of muddy ground.”

Lin Shuang looked around at the faces before her, each wearing a different expression, and changed her mind.

She set down her chopsticks, brushed back her hair, adopting an air of gracious condescension, saying flatly: “Then I’ll come along and take a look.”

Since things had come this far, might as well see all there was to see, know all there was to know.

Zhou Zheng looked at her.

She looked back at him.

Zhou Zheng’s brow furrowed slightly.

Lin Shuang really did get into Shunzai’s car.

The car took the provincial road, then turned off onto a rural road at some fork out in the countryside. Gradually the view became rolling hills and forests, farmland and villages.

The people in the car chatted now and then about the roadside scenery, the local customs of the villages.

The country houses were rarely the dilapidated kind from decades past. Occasionally a mud-brick single-story house would flash by, but the vast majority had been upgraded to small multi-story buildings — Lin Shuang even spotted a multi-story building with an elevator, and a gleaming villa with its grand gate shut tight. Shunzai explained, that was someone returning home in glory, wealth not meant to travel unseen.

“Whoever made big money came back to build a villa, bringing honor to the family — see that house, that’s this village’s landmark building, over two million spent building that little house, and the owner only comes back to stay a few days a year during New Year’s.”

“There are still poor people, of course, they’ve all gone out to work, and once they earn money they come back to build a house, buy a small car, running between city and countryside, or move to the city directly to make a living. There are fewer people in the villages now too, a lot of the big villages have declined, dead quiet, not a soul on the road.”

Lin Shuang’s parents were both based in the city on either side of the family, and her only exposure to the countryside had probably been farm-stay tourist spots. This was her first real visit, and she found it a bit novel, watching everything with genuine attention.

Zhou Zheng held her hand in his, held it for so long it grew a little damp, warm.

The car moved fast, and half an hour later they arrived at Hetang Village.

The village wasn’t large — the entrance was a stretch of open ground, one road running through the whole village, the population seemingly sparse, only occasionally spotting an elderly person shuffling along.

Shunzai’s car pulled up directly at Zhou Zheng’s family’s front door, right beside Second Uncle Zhou’s house — the two houses stood side by side.

Lin Shuang noticed a red plastic washbasin sitting on the ground not far off, with a patch of scalded chicken feathers scattered beside it.

Second Uncle and Second Aunt had gotten the call ahead of time and were already in the kitchen cooking, steam billowing from the window. Hearing the commotion outside, knowing everyone was back — and that Zhou Zheng had brought his girlfriend home too — they hurried out to greet their guests.

Lin Shuang was meeting them for the first time as well — a middle-aged couple, both plainly dressed, weathered by sun and wind, faces dull in tone, smiling warmly, speaking in an unpretentious way. Second Uncle looked somewhat like Zhou Zheng, though with darker skin and a heavier build; Second Aunt was thin, wearing a colorful, floral apron.

The group first helped Grandma to her room. Zhou Zheng, holding Lin Shuang’s hand, led her in, and she looked over the Zhou family home.

A fairly ordinary two-story building, square and straightforward, white walls, flat roof, simple layout — through an iron gate, kitchen, bathroom, and storage room on either side, then past a wall into a large living room furnished with a tea table and a wooden sofa. Bedrooms flanked either side, and the living room faced the open front door, beyond which lay a lotus pond — this being the season when the lotus leaves had already withered, it was barely more than two large ponds full of scattered branches and fallen leaves.

Grandma’s room was on the left, a long, spacious bedroom, white walls and tiled floor, not much furniture — a low bed against the inner wall, a wardrobe, a table, a television and a two-seat sofa beneath the window.

Second Uncle and Second Aunt brought over tea, melon seeds, and candy, exchanged a few pleasantries with Lin Shuang, then hurried off to the kitchen next door to tend to the fire and cooking. Grandma, seeing Lin Shuang still seated, smiled and shooed Zhou Zheng away: “Take Shuangshuang around to look at things, no need to watch over me, Xiaoxue’s company is enough.”

Zhou Zheng took the quietly composed Lin Shuang’s hand: “Let’s go sit upstairs.”

He led her up to the second floor, which was Zhou Zheng’s room.

Shoes came off in the stairwell, and Zhou Zheng found her a pair of flower-embroidered wool slippers: “New ones, Second Aunt knitted them last year.”

The second floor’s layout differed from the first, but it too felt spacious, sparsely furnished.

Lin Shuang gave a small laugh: “This counts as a big house too — I can hear my own echo.”

“Country houses are like this. Not much stuff, fairly empty,” he replied. “I only come back for a few days each month, haven’t bought much furniture, just put a few things in the bedroom.”

Several doors were shut. Lin Shuang asked him: “How many rooms?”

“Three. I use one, the other two are empty.”

Shunzai had already given a little lecture in the car — in the countryside, parents usually live on the first floor, and however many kids a family has, that’s how many extra floors get built, meant for when the children marry and start families of their own; that floor becomes the new home. Lin Shuang nodded: “This whole floor was prepared for you, then.”

“Mm.”

“Three rooms — does that mean you’re supposed to have two kids?” Lin Shuang muttered.

Zhou Zheng’s hand rested on the bedroom door handle, and he turned to glance back at her.

“Open it,” Lin Shuang raised an eyebrow. “What, afraid to let me see?”

The bedroom curtains were drawn, the room dark. Zhou Zheng went over and pulled the curtains fully open — Lin Shuang found the light a little glaring.

The window was large, and outside lay bright sunlight and open fields.

A truly rustic countryside retreat.

The room was fairly spacious, sparsely furnished — a wooden bed, a nightstand, a row of wardrobes, and on the other side half a wall of bookshelves, a desktop computer on the computer desk, a computer chair.

Zhou Zheng pushed the computer chair over for her to sit.

“Sit for a while, I’ll go downstairs and get some water.”

Lin Shuang slid the computer chair over by the window and pushed half of it open.

The wind was a bit cool, the sun still fairly warm, the view excellent too — outside the window lay a wide expanse of harvested farmland and a rippling pond, and further off, hazy dark-green hillsides and forest.

The air was fresh, carrying a hint of grass, trees, and earth.

Higher oxygen content in the air — maybe people’s moods improved a bit too.

Lin Shuang leaned against the window, cupped her lighter, lit a cigarette, and exhaled a puff of smoke toward nature.

She planned to take a step back, though she couldn’t quite bear to let go of Zhou Zheng.