Chapter 49: Quiet Fields—Will the Little Pig Sneak Away?

“I’m rather curious; you didn’t even try to make me leave…”

“You’ve got legs, don’t you? I don’t waste my energy on pointless things.” Sui Yi leaned against the window, her eyes gently closing.

A-A laughed, pinching his cigarette. “Heh, if you think about it that way, isn’t it nice to have someone carry your bags for free?”

Sui Yi turned her head and glanced at him, nodding solemnly. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

You really are honest!

A-A was thoroughly amused, but when he saw Sui Yi frown as the smoke drifted her way, he snapped out of it, snuffed his cigarette, and tossed it out the window.

Just then, as the engine started, they saw a portly, middle-aged man in a suit and tie hurrying up from the bus stop with a briefcase in hand. He waved desperately, his belly jiggling, shouting, “Driver! Driver, wait for me! Please, wait!”

Suddenly, A-A leaned toward Sui Yi, stuck his head out the window, and shouted, “Disciple! Disciple, go back to Gao Village! Return home—your master is off to the Land of Women!”

At that, everyone on the bus burst into laughter! Even the driver called out, “You rascal, quit your nonsense. I’m his real master—you’re just some monkey spirit!”

The laughter grew louder.

Sui Yi curled her lips in a smile. As the clown returned to his seat with a straight face, she glanced at him. “Is there anyone as wicked as you?”

“Not quite!” A-A arched his brow, looking smug.

Both were strikingly good-looking, and to the eyes of the aunts and uncles on the bus heading home to the village, they were quite the sight.

There were even a few high school students returning home for the weekend, stealing glances at the pair.

The bus stopped to pick up the man who apparently should’ve headed back to Gao Village, then rumbled slowly onto the sunlit road.

It was taking Sui Yi to her destination.

Wanyao—this was the place she returned to every month.

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To a man like A-A, well-versed in the ways of the world, Sui Yi was the most extraordinary girl he’d ever met—no, the most extraordinary person.

Sui Yi, true to her name, was at ease, natural, composed, elegantly restrained, with an air of enigmatic vastness that defied description.

Perhaps that sounds too poetic, but in truth, his meager education simply couldn’t capture the impression she left on him.

The way she drank tea, the way she spoke, her laughter, her dealings with others—every detail revealed her distinctiveness.

So many speculations—yet no answers.

It was as if he couldn’t fathom how such a remote, old-fashioned village could produce someone as refined as Tang Hanyan herself.

There is a kind of grace born from the passage of time, and from complete unawareness—utter indifference to one’s own elegance.

Yet, here was a house attached to a pigsty, with crumbling moss and black tiles…

When Sui Yi saw A-A silently standing in front of the house, she raised her brow and smiled. “Let me bring medicine to my grandmother, then I’ll take you to the township so you can catch a ride home.”

Half an hour’s walk from here was a small township, with inns, restaurants, and a tiny bus stop.

She’d already told him before to head back, but he insisted on coming, so she let him be.

After all, he would have to leave in the end.

A-A snapped out of his thoughts, turned to Sui Yi, and was about to light a cigarette, but thought better of it. “Do you really think I’ll leave?”

“Are you planning to stay?”

A-A withdrew his gaze, running his hand along the tangled vine fence, a touch of nostalgia in his voice. “When I was a kid, my home was just like this… I used to sneak out with the piglets from the sty. My mother always said I was too mischievous, never cared about dirt…”

He paused, lighting a cigarette and puffing smoke into the air. “After my mother died, the house was gone. I went to many places, did all kinds of things, lived in all kinds of houses, but none of them ever felt like home…”

A hut, thatched and black as night, forever smelling of pig manure—how could it seem like paradise to him?

After several drags, he finally shook off his melancholy, and when he turned, Sui Yi was gone. He stood there dazed.

When did she leave?

Was he just talking to himself?

But as soon as he looked up, he saw Sui Yi standing at the gate, her voice drifting lightly to him.

“The pigs in the sty are pretty fat—I doubt you could sneak one away. But you can hold one for old times’ sake. Just don’t go inside—it stinks.”

At that moment, A-A decided to retract every elegant and graceful description he’d ever used for this woman.

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The inside of the house surprised him again. Strangely, it was spotless, the furniture even trendy—there was a juicer, a range hood, polished floors, all recently renovated.

It looked much like the houses in town. Though the outside was unimpressive, the place was spacious within.

There was even a little sofa inside…

Damn, all that nostalgia for nothing?

But then, recalling what Old Lin said about Sui Yi taking care of Old Tang’s affairs and being so capable, he realized—she truly was filial.

No doubt she’d spent all her money on this house and her grandmother’s medicine.

“Grandma?” Sui Yi called, placing the medicine on the table, but there was no answer.

She frowned.

Stepping outside, she saw several villagers approaching, having heard her return.

“It’s little Sui!” a plump auntie called, wiping her greasy hands on her apron.

“Auntie Wang, have you seen my grandma?” Sui Yi asked in the local dialect.

“Saw her, saw her—she went to the fields. We tried to keep her from going, but she wouldn’t listen…”

The villagers chatted away, all warmly, looking at Sui Yi with fondness.

A-A was struck by how genuine these people were…

But then he caught sight of the auntie’s stylish apron and clothes, and paused.

Sui Yi set off to find her grandmother in the fields; A-A followed. As they walked side by side, he asked, “Do you often buy things for the villagers? Is that why they’re so friendly?”

“Kindness and sympathy can’t be squandered. Reciprocity is what lasts.”

“I see now why Old Lin always says you’re clever.”

“Should I take that as you calling yourself foolish?”

“…”

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Even shrewd Old Tang only knew Sui Yi had earned over two hundred thousand from him, but never where the money went. He understood she hated anyone interfering in her affairs, yet even without asking, he’d pieced together that Sui Yi used it all to give her grandmother a better life, and to pay for treatment.

Yet—barely a teenager, already able to manage relationships so thoroughly, arrange everything so neatly—this was far beyond mere maturity. This was emotional intelligence at its finest.

When A-A saw the plump old lady bending over to pull up radishes in the field, he smiled.

Clearly, the ailing grandmother’s health and spirits were excellent.

It was odd—he’d expected a scene of sorrow and woe, but the pigsty had left such an impression.

When Sui Yi called out, the old lady straightened, turned, and though she couldn’t see clearly, she knew it had to be Sui Yi.

“Sui Yi, you’re back!”

She always returned on a set day. Even if she forgot, the neighbors would remind her. Today, knowing Sui Yi was coming, she’d gone to pull up radishes.

A-A saw a loofah in the basket at her feet.

The old lady beamed, though her strength was waning—she struggled with each radish, so Sui Yi stepped in, not caring about the mud, and pulled them up herself.

“Leave this to me… You’ll throw your back out,” Sui Yi chided gently in dialect, settling her grandmother on the side to rest.

The old woman tried to lift the basket, only to find it was now in the hands of a tall boy.

A-A, having smoothed his hair, smiled warmly, basket in hand. “Hello, Grandma. I’m Sui Yi’s friend—my name’s A-A.”

He spoke in dialect, too.

He was a local of Nanxun, after all, and knew the country tongue.

The old lady glanced at him, nodded with a smile, clearly delighted.

A-A sat on the ridge, chatting with her in dialect, occasionally glancing at Sui Yi as she pulled radishes nearby.

Sui Yi’s family didn’t have much land, and most fields lay fallow—her grandmother’s health was poor, so she secretly planted just an acre of radishes and some loofah vines.

With a few deft movements, Sui Yi finished up and turned to see A-A and her grandmother deep in conversation.

“Let’s go. I’ll walk you to the station,” Sui Yi said.

But before A-A could answer, her grandmother grabbed her hand, insisting they couldn’t let a guest leave so soon—he should stay for dinner. Since he liked it here and wanted to have some fun, he might as well stay the night, sleep over at a neighbor’s, and leave with her tomorrow evening… and so on.

Sui Yi looked up helplessly, only to see A-A’s face filled with smug delight.

So this guy really planned to linger?

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The village customs were still decent. Though Sui Yi had brought a young man home, her reputation here was spotless, so no one gossiped, and her grandmother was delighted she’d brought a friend.

As she put it, Sui Yi was always so solitary—she worried her granddaughter had no friends.

No friends?

Sui Yi thought her grandmother’s intuition was spot on.

She didn’t have many friends, truly.

The only one who’d ever cared for her, Zhou Ran, had changed.

And then there was Yan Qingwu…

Inside, her grandmother drank the herbal decoction Sui Yi had prepared, took her medicine, applied her patch, and went to sleep.

A-A sat in the courtyard, watching Sui Yi busy herself, only to realize—there was nothing he could help with. (To be continued. If you like this story, please support it with votes; your encouragement is my greatest motivation.)