Chapter Twenty-Seven (Part 1): Sprouting
Qian Yuanqing stayed at the hospital for a week. Most of the things she had brought back from her hometown were used to make soup for Lu Yin to help her regain her strength, and Lu Qiang benefited quite a bit from it as well. By the end, both of them looked rosy-cheeked and healthy. They had not yet managed to put the weight back on, but their spirits and complexions had improved considerably.
She had booked a train ticket for tomorrow morning. She refused to take a plane and would not let anyone see her off. She had come however she had come, and she would go back the same way.
Qian Yuanqing was stubborn by nature, and no one could persuade her otherwise. In the end, they could only go along with her wishes and book her a sleeper berth.
After dinner, Genzi came too. The two men sat in the corridor talking.
Lu Qiang asked, “Have you eaten?”
“Yeah.” Genzi handed him a cigarette.
Smoking was prohibited in the corridor. Lu Qiang smoothed the cigarette between his fingers, then tucked it behind his ear.
Genzi called him, “Ge.”
“Hmm?”
“I heard something.” Genzi sat with his hands in his pockets. “I heard Qiu Zhen made a trip to the emergency room a couple of days ago.”
Lu Qiang looked at him, then shifted his gaze outside. His arm rested against the windowsill, and he did not take up the subject.
Genzi continued, “Apparently he took too much medicine.”
He licked his lower lip. After a moment, he turned around. “Why?”
“They said he took too many sleeping pills before bed and didn’t get the dosage right. When they found him, they rushed him to the ER and pumped his stomach. If they’d been any later, he might’ve died.” He clicked his tongue and sighed. “The guy had it coming. If he hadn’t done so many things to make himself feel guilty, would he have needed sleeping pills? And if he hadn’t taken sleeping pills, he wouldn’t have been poisoned by drugs in the first place. It’s all retribution...”
Genzi went on and on.
“That’s enough,” Lu Qiang said, looking toward the ward.
Lu Yin slowly walked over. “I’m going downstairs for a walk with Auntie. You two take your time talking.”
Genzi came to his senses and hurriedly stood up. “Sister-in-law, are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” Lu Yin smiled and moved her arms around a little, almost symbolically. “I’m pretty much better.”
Just then, Qian Yuanqing leisurely came out. Genzi called out, “Auntie, watch your step.”
She answered and smiled as she pointed toward the ward. “There’s still some crucian carp soup in the thermos. Drink it later. Your dad caught the fish himself.”
Genzi was sweet-tongued. “Okay! I’ll go right away. Your soup is my favorite.”
Qian Yuanqing was delighted by his flattery. She waved a hand and headed toward the elevator first.
Lu Yin lingered for a few seconds before lowering her head to look at Lu Qiang. “Then I’m going, okay?” Her voice was soft and docile.
Lu Qiang watched her, his eyes following her for several seconds. The two of them looked at each other for a while, oblivious to everyone around them. His tone softened. “Don’t go too far.”
“Just the little garden downstairs.”
“Come back up early.”
“Okay.”
After saying goodbye, she hurried after Qian Yuanqing in small steps.
Qian Yuanqing kept both hands behind her back and scolded her quietly, “Don’t run. You’ll pull your wound.”
Lu Yin slowed her steps, slipping her hand into the crook of Qian Yuanqing’s arm and lightly supporting her.
The weather was hotter than it had been the previous few days, with the temperature outside nearing thirty degrees. Even in the evening, the heat of the day remained.
The wind brushed against their bodies with a warm, stuffy feel, and she had started sweating almost as soon as they stepped outside.
The two of them walked around the little garden for a while, then made their way onto the long corridor connecting to the outpatient building. It lay between the two buildings, and with the wind blowing through, it was relatively cool.
They found a bench and sat down. Qian Yuanqing took out a small handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead, unable to stop complaining. “This damn place is like a steamer. It’s nothing like our Huaizhou.”
“Is Huaizhou really that cool?”
“Cool.” Qian Yuanqing said, “I don’t even sweat this much when I’m out working in the fields.”
Following the thread of conversation, Lu Yin noticed her hands.
They were a light brown from years of exposure to the sun. The skin on the backs of them was dry and cracked, making every vein clearly visible. Years of farm work had caused her knuckles to become enlarged and thick, yet her fingernails were very short and neatly trimmed.
Her hands rested casually on her thighs. Even without touching them, one could tell they were warm and dry, as though they contained inexhaustible strength, giving people a profound sense of reassurance.
Lu Yin did not dare stare for too long. She pressed her lips together. “Auntie, I’m really sorry. It’s your first time coming to Zhangzhou, and I haven’t even been able to take you around and show you a good time. You’ve spent the whole time here at the hospital with us.”
Qian Yuanqing said, “What’s there to do in weather this hot?”
“You still shouldn’t have had to stay in the hospital.”
She looked at her and plucked a leaf that had fallen onto her shoulder. “If you two hadn’t made such a mess of things, do you think I would’ve come?” She gave a cold snort and looked toward the hurried stream of people passing by.
Lu Yin said nothing either, lowering her head and winding a loose thread from her hospital gown around her finger.
After a long while, Qian Yuanqing finally said, “We’re all family now. Don’t think about it so much. The important thing is to hurry up and get your health back.”
She paused. “You’ve got a long life ahead of you. When you have a child, I’ll look after them for you.”
Lu Yin’s heart suddenly clenched. The loose thread tightened around her finger and abruptly snapped at the root.
She ignored one question and thought of another instead. “Auntie, you really aren’t going back with us?”
“I’m not.”
Lu Yin bit her lower lip. “Lu Qiang really hopes you’ll change your mind.”
Qian Yuanqing said, “Don’t try to persuade me anymore. I’m not going.”
“Can you tell me why?”
Qian Yuanqing looked at her. When it came to Lu Yin, she had always been patient and attentive, never displaying the slightest temper.
She said, “That’s my home. How could I just pick up my feet and leave whenever I want?”
“You’ll come back.”
Qian Yuanqing shook her head with a smile. A gust of wind blew past, lifting a strand of white hair on top of her head. When the wind moved on, the strand slowly settled back down.
“Then what about my old man?”
Lu Yin paused.
Qian Yuanqing said, “His son was foolish, did something stupid and took the blame for someone else, driving him to his death. Old Lu died for nothing. His son clearly hadn’t done anything.” She sighed and leaned back against the chair. After a while, she continued, “Lu Qiang isn’t by his side, but I can’t leave with you either, leaving him there all alone.”
“Do you understand?” Qian Yuanqing suddenly looked at her.
Lu Yin’s eyes were dark and bright. Awkwardly, she looked away and lowered her head. “I understand.”
She smiled and patted Lu Yin’s shoulder, then looked up at the sky. “Let’s go back. It’s getting late.”
Qian Yuanqing braced a hand against her lower back as she stood. Lu Yin pressed her down again. “Auntie.”
She sat back down.
After hesitating for a while, Lu Yin pulled something out of the pocket of her hospital clothes and pressed it into her hand. It was made of a thin, hard material. When Qian Yuanqing opened her palm, there was a card lying in it, mottled with dark and light green.
Qian Yuanqing looked at it twice. “He told you to give this to me?”
“Huh?”
She repeated herself. “Lu Qiang told you to give me this card?”
Lu Yin understood and quickly shook her head. “No, this is my money.”
Qian Yuanqing was taken aback. “Take it back. I have no use for it.”
Lu Yin pushed back with both hands, stubbornly closing Qian Yuanqing’s fingers around the card and gripping her hand shut. Her features nearly scrunched together with anxiety.
“There isn’t much money in it. It’s just what I’ve managed to save from my living expenses. Auntie, please keep it. Lu Qiang doesn’t know about this. I decided to do it on my own.”
Seeing how agitated she was, Qian Yuanqing could not help smiling. “You’re giving me money, but I really have no use for it back in the countryside.”
“Then save it.”
She was about to refuse again, but Lu Yin cut her off. “You just said we’re family. If you insist on giving it back to me, I’ll be very sad.”
Lu Yin knew that speaking softly and acting pitiful worked better on her than anything else. Her expression was perfectly timed. She lightly wrinkled the sides of her nose, looking as though she were about to cry.
Qian Yuanqing looked at her helplessly. Finally, her shoulders relaxed. “Let go. My hand hurts from you squeezing it.”
... ...
The next morning, they went to see Qian Yuanqing off.
Lu Yin insisted on going. After the doctor finished making his rounds, she changed into her own clothes and secretly followed them to the train station, avoiding the sight of the little nurses.
There was always something sad about parting. The two of them were both very quiet, while Qian Yuanqing looked completely at ease, moving briskly and lightly, as though she had simply completed a task. She refused to take anything with her and only carried her own bamboo basket.
When they reached the waiting room, it was still early. It was not the peak of the Spring Festival travel rush, so there were not many people waiting for trains, and the hall was full of empty seats. Lu Yin pulled Qian Yuanqing over to sit down, while Lu Qiang sat beside them, two seats away.
They talked intermittently about this and that, and time passed quickly.
Qian Yuanqing told them to go back. She urged them several times, but neither of them moved.
On the distant screen, an announcement said that the train was running on time and would arrive in ten minutes. Passengers gradually began making their way toward the ticket gates, forming a long line.
The moment of parting was drawing closer and closer.
Qian Yuanqing glanced in that direction and stood up to shoo them away. “Go on, hurry up. I’m going in.”
They stood as well and followed her to the very end of the line.
Lu Yin asked, “Do you have your ticket and ID?”
She patted her pocket. “Right here.”
“Remember to exchange your ticket on the train.”
“I know.”
“And make sure you cover yourself with the blanket when you sleep tonight. The air conditioning on the train is strong.”
Qian Yuanqing impatiently swept her a glance before turning her eyes toward the front. Lu Yin took the hint and fell silent, then looked up at Lu Qiang.
Lu Qiang had remained silent the entire time. Everything he might have wanted to say, Lu Yin had already said for him. He cast a faint glance at the small, thin figure ahead of them.
She was still wearing the blue cloth trousers and black cloth shoes she had worn the day she arrived, though she had changed into a beige short-sleeved shirt. The color was faded with age, but there was not a single wrinkle on it. She was not tall, reaching only to Lu Yin’s eyebrows. Her back was slightly hunched, and with the basket hanging from her arm, she stood among the crowd looking old-fashioned and dusty, conspicuously out of place.
Lu Qiang did not dare look any longer. He shifted his gaze and met Lu Yin’s eyes.
Lu Yin looked up and squeezed his hand. “Give me some change.”
Lu Qiang did not know what she wanted it for. He took out two hundred yuan from his wallet.
Lu Yin took it. “Wait for me.”
She jogged a few steps toward the convenience supermarket beside them. It was very close, within reach of Lu Qiang’s sight.
Now only the mother and son remained, both of them unconsciously watching the figures inside the supermarket.
A minute passed. Over the waiting room speakers came an announcement: “Passengers traveling on this train, please wait at Platform 2. The train will be arriving shortly. Please have your identification ready and wait for ticket inspection.”
Lu Qiang withdrew his gaze. “Mom...”
Qian Yuanqing asked, “Do you have something to say to me?”
The words lingered hesitantly at the tip of his tongue for a long time. Lu Qiang said, “No.”
Qian Yuanqing shot him a sideways glance and gave a cold snort, then turned her eyes back toward the distance.
Inside the supermarket, Lu Yin moved quickly. She picked up one item, checked its production date, and tossed it into the shopping basket.
Lu Qiang suddenly said, “For the past thirty years, it feels like I’ve been doing everything wrong. If there were a chance to make up for it now, and the price were that I had to be separated from you for a while...” He paused. “Should I take it?”
Qian Yuanqing showed no surprise. “Do you have an answer in your heart?”
“I can’t make up my mind.”
She watched the busy figure inside the supermarket. After a while, she raised her chin slightly. “Then do you think you’re worthy of her?”
Lu Qiang fell silent.
Lu Yin had already paid.
Qian Yuanqing did not give him a definite answer. She only said, “No matter which road you take from here on, remember this: you have a family now. You have to be able to shoulder that responsibility.”
That was all the advice she gave him before falling silent again.
Lu Qiang pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. “Mom...”
She frowned.
“Do you still blame me?”
She paused without speaking. Up ahead, the line began to move, and the train attendants started checking tickets.
Qian Yuanqing shuffled forward with the others. The people around them crowded toward the middle, and the place instantly became noisy. She said two words quickly, but in the confusion, he could not make them out.
Lu Yin hurried back, the plastic bag in her hand carrying some weight. Lu Qiang lightly supported it and helped hand it to Qian Yuanqing.
“Something for you to eat on the way.”
Qian Yuanqing looked down at it. This time, she did not refuse. She took it and put it into her basket. “Go back.”
The crowd was packed around the ticket gate, bodies bumping against one another. They stopped there, unable to move any farther forward.
Qian Yuanqing suddenly stopped and tightly squeezed Lu Yin’s hand with her dry palm. “You’re a good girl.”
Lu Yin instinctively squeezed her hand back.
Qian Yuanqing said, “Our Old Lu family has treated you unfairly.”
Her words came through clearly amid the noise. In an instant, Lu Yin’s eyes filled with tears. Her throat tightened, and she opened her mouth but could not speak.
Qian Yuanqing smiled, patted her again, then let go of her hand and disappeared into the crowd without looking back.
Lu Qiang led Lu Yin to the other end. Separated by the railing, they waited a long time before finally seeing that slightly hunched figure.
Lu Yin wiped away her tears and suddenly called out.
Qian Yuanqing jolted, stumbling on her feet. She turned around.
Lu Yin called out again, “Mom.”
“Take care of yourself.”
Qian Yuanqing’s eyes grew hot, and the figures of those two children gradually blurred before her eyes.
***
When they came out of the train station, Lu Yin’s eyes were still red.
Lu Qiang pulled her into his arms and lowered his head to kiss the top of her head.
The car started moving. The inside felt somewhat stifling. At a time like this, neither of them knew what they should say.
Lu Qiang turned up the air conditioning and cracked the window open, then looked at her. “Cold?”
“Not cold.”
Lu Qiang turned his eyes back to the road. He reached across and took her hand from her lap. After a few seconds, Lu Yin spread her fingers and laced them together with his.
They caught the morning rush, and the roads were somewhat congested. Along the way, they passed schools, busy commercial districts, and elevated-road tunnels.
Lu Yin’s mood gradually settled. She tightened her fingers around his. “What are you thinking about?”
Lu Qiang’s expression relaxed. “Nothing.”
“Don’t worry about her too much. She knows better than either of us how she should live.”
“I know.”
Lu Yin looked at him. “Mm.”
Another silence followed. Only after a long while did they reach the entrance to the hospital. Up ahead, they needed to turn left over a speed bump to enter the grounds. Lu Qiang suddenly pressed the brake lightly. The car swayed and came to a barely controlled stop in the lane.
Lu Yin’s heart jolted. She grabbed the overhead handrail. “What’s wrong?”
He looked ahead, his expression impossible to read. The indecision in his heart seemed to have reached an answer in an instant.
The line of cars behind them began honking, one horn louder than the next. The hospital security guard ran out to see what was happening.
Lu Qiang met her gaze and smiled. “Nothing.”
He stepped on the accelerator and drove straight past the entrance. “There’s somewhere I want to go.”
The car circled around in front of the hospital, then returned the way they had come, passing through the tunnel, going up onto the elevated road, exiting at the junction, and heading directly toward the outskirts of the city.
Lu Yin was puzzled, but she simply sat quietly.
About half an hour later, the car came to a stop in a secluded wooded area. Greenery surrounded them on all sides, yet a rugged little path had been cut through the middle. There were many places in Zhangzhou Lu Yin had never been, and this was her first time here.
Lu Qiang pulled the handbrake firmly. “Let’s go.”
After locking the car, Lu Qiang held his palm behind him and crooked his fingers twice. Within seconds, a small, soft hand slipped into his palm. He closed his hand around it, held her firmly, and led her deeper down the little path.
Kingfishers called beside their ears, and the leaves swayed gently in the breeze. There was not a single person in sight. Lu Qiang kept an eye on the movements around them from the corner of his eye. He knew that wandering around casually at a time like this could be dangerous.
For the entire stretch of road, an inconspicuous sedan followed them at an unhurried pace. He knew it had been sent by Old Xing. Ever since the day he agreed to Old Xing’s request, someone had been secretly protecting him.
That reassured him considerably. Before sending her away, he wanted to bring her here once.
The path was a gently sloping uphill road. They walked for several more minutes before they began to see people coming down one after another.
Lu Yin did not ask Lu Qiang where they were going. The increasingly strong smell of incense at the tip of her nose had already given her the answer.
Lu Yin was still weak, and her head was somewhat dizzy. During the latter half of the journey, she lay against Lu Qiang’s back. Where their bodies touched, a layer of warm sweat had formed. Yet she still felt it was not close enough. She tightened both arms around him and gently rubbed the tip of her nose against his sweat-dampened neck.
Lu Qiang turned his head, and she looked up as well. After they gazed at each other for a moment, the two of them tacitly leaned in and lightly kissed each other, then smiled faintly.
Lu Yin kissed just behind his ear again, then rested her head against his broad, sturdy shoulder. Having been through life and death, she relied on him even more than before, becoming bolder and more proactive, more willing to openly express what she felt inside.
A laugh escaped Lu Qiang’s throat. “This is sacred Buddhist ground, female benefactor. Mind your words and actions.”¹
Lu Yin said nothing, simply tilting her head to look at him.
Lu Qiang freed one hand and gave her thigh a squeeze. His throat bobbed. “Are you physically up to it now?”
The meaning behind the movement of his hand was obvious, and Lu Yin understood instantly.
She straightened her head slightly and pressed her lips together, still somewhat embarrassed. “I should be.”
Lu Qiang looked ahead. Unexpectedly, he did not tease her.
He climbed the final step and crossed the high threshold, then set her down on level ground. Ahead was a courtyard paved with bluestone slabs. They were old, worn away by years of wind and rain, and had become uneven and pitted.
The temple was very small, its outer eaves badly weathered. The two bodhi trees on either side of the temple, however, were lush and verdant.
Not many people knew about this place, so it was somewhat deserted.
Lu Qiang led her across several thresholds. The atmosphere was solemn and austere. Lu Yin had never deliberately pursued such things, and this was her first time in a place like this. There was a trace of unease in her heart, but more than anything, she was puzzled.
She asked softly, “Did you used to come here often?”
Lu Qiang surveyed his surroundings. “First time.”
“Why did we come here?”
His answer was somewhat perfunctory. “Just taking a look.”
Lu Qiang let go of her hand and walked ahead.
In front of the temple stood a huge round incense burner. Smoke slowly rose from it, its basin filled with a thick layer of incense ash. Beside it was a window where people could ask for incense.
Lu Qiang stood outside the entrance for a moment. Someone ahead was burning incense and praying to Buddha. He watched carefully from beginning to end, then took out his wallet and went over to get some incense.
Lu Yin stood there somewhat dazed.
She watched the man walk back as though there were nothing else in the world. He held incense in his left hand and candles in his right. He lit the three sticks of incense in his hand, held them in front of his chest for a moment, then raised them above his head and bowed solemnly.
A rush of warmth surged through her chest, and her palms began to sweat. She could hardly believe that a man as rough and wild as him would believe in the existence of Buddha.
After bowing, Lu Qiang placed the three sticks of incense into the burner. Without looking at Lu Yin, he stepped into the temple.
At the center, the Buddha’s countenance was majestic, compassionate and solemn. He raised his head and saw the Buddha gazing down upon all living beings with a full smile on his face.
Lu Qiang stood there with his head held high the entire time. Lu Yin did not know when she had come in, but she was standing behind him.
The scene before her seemed to have frozen. Morning light passed through the doors and the broken window lattice, illuminating the entire inner hall.
The Buddha’s golden form was bathed in golden light. Lu Qiang’s broad shoulders looked extraordinarily straight, his arms hanging naturally at his sides. Amid the radiance, his knees bent slightly, and he slowly knelt onto the cushion before him.
Lu Yin’s heart clenched. Her lower lip bore the marks of her teeth. It was the first time she had ever seen this man stand before another with such humility. She did not know what he was thinking, nor what he was praying for. She only saw him press his palms together before his chest, an unusual devotion showing through the body that was normally so unrestrained and brazen.
After a long while, he opened his palms and placed them upward at his sides. Then he bowed forward, prostrating himself on the ground.
He did not straighten for a very long time.
Lu Yin’s face was covered in tears. She only felt that seeing him like this broke her heart. She covered her mouth and nose, suppressing the sound threatening to escape her, then stepped backward and quietly slipped out.
... ...
She did not know how much time had passed before Lu Qiang came out. He raised his head, and before him stretched an endless expanse of sky.
Lu Yin stood beneath the shade of the trees, waving at him with a smile.
Lu Qiang walked over.
Lu Yin hooked her arm around his. “What did you ask Buddha for?”
Lu Qiang smiled. “To be blessed with a child soon.”
Lu Yin did not believe him, but she no longer wanted to dig into what he had really asked for.
He helped shield her from the blazing sunlight, his features clear and sharply defined.
They looked at each other for several seconds.
Lu Qiang caught her chin and, regardless of where they were, lowered his head and kissed her on the lips.
***
A little over a month ago, Lu Yin had been rushed into the intensive care unit. She had been in a deep coma, her life hanging in the balance.
Lu Qiang had stood beside her. Someone behind him had passed away. Birth, aging, illness, and death were nothing more than a blink of an eye. As long as they could remain together, why should he care about the boundary between this world and the Yellow Springs?
In that instant, Lu Qiang understood.
He smiled with relief, his calmness beyond anything ordinary.
He leaned close to Lu Yin’s ear and whispered:
“— If you can survive, I’ll repay the gods and pray to Buddha, abstain from meat and recite the sutras, and kneel before the Old Man himself to thank him for his mercy. If you die, I absolutely won’t go on living alone either. I’ll accompany you to the Yellow Springs.”
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