“Often it’s the small things that hurt people.” Zhou Yu said, “Your mom wouldn’t have thought this way twenty years ago. But now she’s old, she’s vulnerable, she needs to help look after grandchildren to find a sense of existence, to prove she’s not completely useless in front of you all.”
“More realistically, if it weren’t for your mom looking after eldest and second sister-in-law’s children, no one would come to weekend gatherings.” Zhou Yu stopped at that, not saying more.
…
On the way to pick up Ke Yu that evening, Sun Jingcheng told this to Sun Jingfei. The siblings chatted again in their group chat. Finally, Sun Jingfei made a deep self-criticism of her behavior in the large group. Eldest son also reflected, saying he hadn’t fulfilled the responsibility of the eldest son. Second and fourth sons followed closely behind, all saying a bunch of nice things. Only then did Mother Sun reluctantly acknowledge them.
Afterward, Sun Jingcheng was very proud, praising his wife’s high emotional intelligence.
Sun Jingfei disagreed, “Her relationship with her mom isn’t that great either. Everyone is confused when they’re the one involved, but sees clearly as a bystander.”
Sun Jingcheng kept his mouth shut.
The next day, the two drove to the neighboring city to climb a mountain. Zhou Yu suggested taking the cable car up. Sun Jingcheng parked the car at the foot of the mountain, carried a huge backpack on his back, looked up pointing at the mountain, and demonstrated with his feet saying, “Life is like a big mountain. You have to take it step by step slowly. That way the scenery you see will be more beautiful.”
“Taking the cable car gets you to the top all at once. Is that interesting?”
“Yes.” Zhou Yu said.
Sun Jingcheng put a pair of earphones on her and played music. “These are all my favorites.” Then he led her step by step upward.
They each wore earphones, without a word all the way.
As the scenery along the way constantly changed, Zhou Yu’s mood gradually became calm and open. Those past events that couldn’t be resolved were temporarily set aside. She just focused on the road ahead, attended to present matters.
Old people often say, for things you can’t figure out, just let them sit in your heart gathering dust. When the dust gets thick, when you think of them you still have to take them out and shake them, wave them around. Repeat this a few times, and each time they’ll fade in color, each time they’ll fade in color, just like old photographs. Finally only an unclear outline remains. When it reaches that point, those things you couldn’t figure out will naturally become clear.
But Zhou Yu didn’t understand—how long would this process take? Twenty years? Fifty years? Or a lifetime?
Those old people were evasive, unable to explain clearly either. They only emphasized: When people move, they thrive; when trees move, they die.
When exhausted, change; when changed, clarity comes; when clear, longevity follows.
Sun Jingcheng unscrewed the water bottle for her, telling her to drink in small sips, then asked, “Tired?”
“I’m okay.”
“Ten more minutes and we’ll reach the summit.” Sun Jingcheng reached his hand into her collar to feel her back. “You’re sweating.” Then he took the small backpack from her shoulder and carried it backward against his chest, raising his hand, “Come on, persevere for ten more minutes.”
Zhou Yu wanted to rest a bit more—after all, only ten minutes remained. Sun Jingcheng wouldn’t let her rest, saying the more you rest, the harder it is to climb.
After climbing for twenty minutes, Sun Jingcheng said persevere for five more minutes and they’d arrive. Ten minutes later, he said three more minutes…
Zhou Yu completely stopped climbing. The slope ahead was getting steeper and steeper. Sun Jingcheng had her walk in front while he pushed her, saying tonight he’d massage her shoulders and legs, telling her to watch her footing and not slip or drag him down.
Zhou Yu was too lazy to deal with him, focusing on the road beneath her feet.
Reaching the summit, the wind was strong. Sun Jingcheng told her to hold tight to an ancient tree while he set up the tent in a sheltered spot, muttering to himself, “Last year a young couple was blown away by the wind. At night there are lions here, tigers, elephants, bears, big bad wolves, and gorillas… better be careful.”
…
The tent was set up. Sun Jingcheng called her to come in quickly, then pulled the zipper and sat cross-legged very seriously. Zhou Yu asked what he was doing. He said waiting for the sweat to dry, otherwise they’d catch cold easily.
…
The two stared at each other with big eyes and small eyes. Sun Jingcheng took a sip of tea and praised her, “Teacher Zhou is really beautiful.”
…
“Get lost.” Zhou Yu replied.
Sun Jingcheng laughed heartily, gave her the thermos, had her sit in the corner of the tent while he half-knelt and gradually laid out the bedding. This was Zhou Yu’s first time living in a tent. After looking around she asked, “This little space, is it enough for us to sleep?”
“Enough.” Sun Jingcheng was busy inflating the air mattress. “At night you can just stack on top of me to sleep.”
…
Zhou Yu kicked his butt, telling him not to be improper. Sun Jingcheng looked at her. “You wait.” Then continued inflating the mattress.
Zhou Yu didn’t do anything, just sat there sipping tea watching him work. When everything was laid out, Sun Jingcheng took off his socks and stuck his feet out of the tent to air them. Zhou Yu also imitated him. As soon as she stuck them out, the cold made her pull them back.
Sun Jingcheng laughed at her, rolled up the tent door, and had her look at the sunset opposite. The two sat close together at the tent entrance, watching in silent stillness, not feeling cold at all.
When the sky turned dusky, they returned inside the tent, drinking tea while reading books. One read “Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders,” the other read “Book of Changes.” After reading for about five minutes, Zhou Yu couldn’t settle her mind. She turned her face to look at Sun Jingcheng. He brought me here just to read books in a different place?
Unbelievable.
Zhou Yu put away her book, wrapped herself in the sleeping bag and went to sleep. It was quite peaceful here, very easy to fall asleep. Her legs were sore. After rubbing them for a while, she fell asleep.
In a hazy state, she felt someone massaging her calves. She groggily called out, “Sun Jingcheng?”
“Sleep.” Sun Jingcheng answered her.
Zhou Yu fell back asleep peacefully. After quite a while, she felt someone holding her. Following the familiar scent, she turned around and also held him.
She didn’t sleep particularly soundly at night. She originally had insomnia. From time to time she could feel someone patting her back, softly humming a little tune. This brought her back to when she was very, very young—summer in the countryside, her maternal grandmother sitting by the bed waving a palm-leaf fan to drive away mosquitoes, also humming a little tune in her mouth.
In her dream she returned to that time, stumbling and climbing onto the bamboo bed, lying peacefully on it, waiting for Grandma to wave the palm-leaf fan for her.
At dawn she was awakened. Sun Jingcheng led her to the peak ahead to watch the sunrise. The two wrapped in thick down jackets sat cross-legged, rinsed their mouths one after another, sipping hot water from the thermos to warm themselves. Still they didn’t speak, still quietly watching. When the sun had completely risen, Sun Jingcheng called her, “Teacher Zhou.”
“What.” Zhou Yu squinted at the sun.
Sun Jingcheng wanted to say you cried last night, but changed his words to, “You’re really cute.”
…
Zhou Yu seemed embarrassed instead and ignored him.
The two drank a carton of milk and began packing the tent. Zhou Yu glanced at the double sleeping bag and asked, “When you went out before, you always carried such a big tent?”
Sun Jingcheng rolled up the sleeping bag and said, “It wasn’t this big before. I just bought this set before New Year’s.”
Zhou Yu nodded.
Sun Jingcheng pondered the meaning for a while, then added, “I used to have a single-person tent. This is the first time sharing with someone. A certain someone sleeps like a little pig, rolling around and snoring.”
Zhou Yu gave him a blank look, too lazy to deal with him.
Sun Jingcheng laughed heartily.
The two descended the mountain one after the other. After passing the steep ladder path, they walked side by side.
The mountain path was lush with trees and shade, while below the mountain sunlight shone brightly.