The research village was nestled deep in the mountains.
The group departed from South City, enduring a ten-hour bus ride followed by local villagers’ electric tricycles. They finally reached their lodgings at eleven at night.
The mountain inn was too small to accommodate everyone, so the village committee specially arranged several vacant courtyards for the students to stay in.
The houses were built with gray bricks. Recent rain had left the walls damp, and in these sultry days, insects and snakes were everywhere in the humid weather.
A black-tailed wolfdog in the courtyard bared its teeth menacingly at the newcomers. Cai Yun jumped in fright with a shriek, hiding behind Jiang Jingzhou and grabbing his arm. Jiang Jingzhou frowned but, out of basic gentlemanly courtesy, didn’t dodge away, though he did withdraw his arm.
Xia Xia, having grown up wild in the village, had encountered all sorts of fierce dogs and fought with many of them. She whistled at the wolfdog, and the previously aggressive animal, which had been snarling at Cai Yun, whimpered and started wagging its tail.
Xia Xia patted its head. “What’s its name?”
The Village Chief replied, “Wangcai.”
He smiled. “Don’t be afraid. I brought Wangcai here to guard you. It doesn’t bite.”
“Wangcai,” Xia Xia said with a sweet smile, pointing at Cai Yun, “bite her.”
Cai Yun: “…”
As Wangcai sat there foolishly with its tongue hanging out, Xia Xia pulled out a sausage from her bag, waved it in front of its nose, and then made a motion as if to throw it at Cai Yun.
Wangcai stared at the sausage drooling, incidentally glancing at Cai Yun too.
Cai Yun was nearly frightened and senseless. She screamed, “Xia Xia, you dare—”
Xia Xia grinned mischievously, showing her pointed canine teeth. She crouched down and unwrapped the sausage to feed the dog.
Cai Yun turned to the professor: “Teacher, I won’t stay here. There’s a dog—I can’t stay here for even a day.”
The Village Chief smiled. “If you’re scared, I can tie up the dog.”
Cai Yun glared viciously at Xia Xia: “What good would that do? Who knows if certain people might deliberately let it loose to bite me?”
Xia Xia raised an eyebrow, meeting her gaze with cool indifference.
Cai Yun: “I won’t stay. Don’t we have an accommodation allowance for the research period? There’s an inn at the village entrance; I’ll sleep there.”
Xia Xia ignored her words, finished feeding the dog, and went inside with her suitcase.
Jiang Jingzhou, the student team leader for this research trip, was responsible for living arrangements while the teachers handled the project inspection. With two girls per room and Cai Yun choosing to stay at the inn, he assigned the single courtyard to Xia Xia.
Xia Xia entered her room, cleaned briefly, and set up her bed and belongings.
The mountain temperature was thirty-five degrees, with no relief even at night.
Xia Xia broke out in sweat without moving. Her phone had died during the journey, so she put it on charge and headed straight to the shower room.
The shower room had only a simple showerhead with unreliable water flow.
Beside it stood a large vat of clear water with a cardboard sign reading: [Bathing Water].
After taking a cool shower, Xia Xia returned to find her newly powered phone flooded with messages from Xie Huai.
He had called her over twenty times and sent dozens of WeChat messages.
Before she could read them, he called again.
Xie Huai: “Why didn’t you answer the phone?”
Xia Xia replied pitifully: “My phone died.”
“And before that?”
“No signal in the mountains.”
Xie Huai’s anger dissipated. He mumbled, “I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”
Xia Xia wedged the phone between her shoulder and ear, organizing her things while chatting: “What are you doing?”
After a few seconds of silence, Xie Huai said, “Writing a self-criticism report in the office—thirty thousand words. Can’t copy it; the Vice Dean will run it through the thesis checking system.”
Xia Xia hugged her phone, rolling onto the bed and laughing heartily.
“I ended up in this situation because of you, and you’re laughing!” Xie Huai grew unhappy. “Keep laughing and Brother Huai will drive over tonight to deal with you.”
Xia Xia stifled her laughter and said seriously, “I’ll help you write it. One hundred yuan per thousand words.”
“You’re charging me?”
“Of course.” Xia Xia calculated clearly, “I turned down several internships for this research trip. How else will I pay for next semester’s living expenses?”
“Fine, write it then.” Xie Huai said, “Five hundred per thousand words, with an extra reward if it’s well-written.”
Xia Xia asked, “What reward?”
Xie Huai remained silent.
Xia Xia asked sincerely, “Can I request my reward?”
Xie Huai said, “Yes, anything I have is yours.”
“Can you repeat what you said on the radio today?”
Xie Huai replied without hesitation: “No.”
“You won’t even grant me this small wish, yet you say anything goes.” Xia Xia snorted, “You awful man.”
Xie Huai dreaded hearing her call him awful: “Anything but that.”
“Then—” Xia Xia smiled mischievously, “Senior Jingzhou said you stayed up writing me a two-thousand-word love letter. Can you read it to me in person next time we meet?”
“Think carefully before you answer.” Xia Xia’s tone carried a threat, “If you keep failing to keep your promises, I’ll be very disappointed. And if Xia Xia becomes disappointed, the consequences will be serious.”
This time Xie Huai didn’t say no—he simply hung up.
The research days in the mountains were monotonous and tiring. Each day involved visiting villagers and committee members, conversing and dining with them, often participating in local daily activities like planting rice seedlings and working in the fields. Everyone returned exhausted; most students either slept or stayed in their rooms playing with their phones.
Xia Xia, living alone in her courtyard, would work on Xie Huai’s self-criticism report on her laptop after returning.
Though Xie Huai hadn’t contacted her since hanging up, Xia Xia remained cheerful. When other girls visited her courtyard and asked what she was doing, she happily told them.
“I’m helping Xie Huai write his self-criticism report.”
“Why are you writing Xie Huai’s report?”
Xia Xia’s eyes softened, never mentioning the payment: “He has his things to handle. Besides, he got in trouble because of me, so it’s good if I can help share the burden.”
A girl asked curiously, “I heard Xie Huai does business outside school. Has he made a lot of money?”
Xia Xia: “I don’t know.”
The girl didn’t believe her.
Xia Xia didn’t explain further.
She sat in the courtyard enjoying the evening breeze, her slender fingers tapping away at the laptop keyboard.
After the visiting girl left, the dog lying in the corner suddenly barked several times at the wooden gate.
“Wangcai,” Xia Xia called, “be quiet, the sister next door is sleeping.”
Wangcai stopped barking but kept staring at the door.
Xia Xia glanced at the door and went inside with her laptop.
The shower head wasn’t working well again today. As she was using a ladle to scoop water from the vat for her shower, she suddenly heard a series of noises from the courtyard, followed by a loud bang as the wooden boxes in the corner fell over.
Xia Xia wrapped herself in a towel, quickly drying her dripping hair.
She peeked through the door crack. The unlit courtyard was pitch black.
In the darkness, Wangcai’s barking grew louder, making whimpering sounds as if holding something in its mouth.
Xia Xia’s ears perked up as she heard footsteps scraping against the ground in the courtyard.
A few days ago, a girl had been verbally harassed by local men while walking alone during the day. These men had later come knocking on her door at night, causing quite a disturbance among the research team.
After learning of this, the Village Chief explained the local situation: this was a remote area with many single men whose thinking was quite backward. He advised the girls to lock their doors at night and avoid going out alone.
After hearing this, Cai Yun had turned pale. Still unwilling to stay in the local houses, she requested a male student to accompany her. The professor, concerned for her safety, arranged a room for Jiang Jingzhou at the inn to look after her.
Xia Xia hadn’t taken this too seriously before—she had a dog in her courtyard and locked her doors at night. As long as Wangcai didn’t bark, the courtyard was surely safe.
Recalling Wangcai’s strange reaction earlier, she felt uneasy.
The footsteps drew closer, stumbling over something on the ground.
The person cursed quietly, “Damn—”
The moment she heard that voice, Xia Xia froze.
She opened the door and was immediately embraced by Xie Huai.
Xie Huai had traveled all day in thirty-degree heat, his T-shirt alternating between wet and dry.
His body carried a faint salty smell of sweat, which made her unconsciously take several deep breaths to catch his scent.
Fresh from her shower, Xia Xia’s skin was cool, like holding a warm block of ice in his arms.
Held tightly by Xie Huai, she couldn’t move, and her towel loosened with their movement.
She blushed and pushed hard against his shoulders: “Brother Huai, why are you here?”
Xie Huai didn’t let go; instead, he held her tighter.
He lowered his head, without greeting or small talk, his warm lips firmly catching her soft earlobe.
“Still calling me an awful man?”
“You’re the awful one.”
Barely containing himself from any other actions, he gritted through his teeth next to her ear.
“Always tempting me, seducing me, then acting innocent, yet I’m completely captivated by you.”
“Tempting me to broadcast for you, take scoldings for you, write self-criticism reports for you—”
Xia Xia protested, “When did I ever tempt—”
Her innocent round eyes stared up, but before she could finish speaking, she felt Xie Huai’s grip loosen.
In that moment of confusion, his hands cupped her face, and without warning, his lips descended.
Xia Xia pinched Xie Huai’s face with one hand while placing the other between their lips as a barrier.
Xie Huai’s fervent kiss landed on her palm.
Xia Xia blinked, reminding him: “Five million.”
“I don’t want to wait anymore.” Xie Huai’s warm breath caressed her palm as he kissed it gently. “Are you afraid?”
Xia Xia knew his “Are you afraid” wasn’t about the kiss he wanted to give her now, nor about him frightening her by climbing over the wall in the dead of night.
He was asking about the future—a future encompassing all their unknown life ahead.
If she shook her head no, her future would be tied to his, filled with countless unknowns, possible storms, and waves, no longer just Xie Huai’s concerns alone, but challenges they would face together.
Yet Xia Xia’s eyes remained bright and warm, filled with an inextinguishable light.
She wrapped her arms around Xie Huai’s neck, smiling sweetly: “I never said I was afraid.”
Countless brilliant emotions flashed in Xie Huai’s eyes. He lowered his head and sealed her soft lips with his. Xia Xia melted in his embrace. Their breaths were hot, their touching skin was hot; Xia Xia could barely breathe.
The moon hung high, and the night breeze slipped through the door crack, gently caressing their faces, cool and tender.
In the courtyard, Wangcai howled excitedly, pawing at the bluestone brick ground.
Xia Xia made a soft sound, then was pulled into Xie Huai’s embrace, pressed against the wall.
Xie Huai’s palm cushioned her back, absorbing the impact.
His lips briefly parted from hers, giving Xia Xia a chance to catch her breath.
Just as Xia Xia looked up at him with flushed cheeks, he tenderly kissed her again, leaving no space between them.