Ge Village was located in the Qian Gui Mountains, a region mingling tropical and subtropical climates. The lingering autumn dryness of October hadn't yet dissipated. With little entertainment in the mountains, villagers liked to cool off outdoors after dinner, waiting for the day's heat inside and outside the house to fade before heading in to sleep.
When the Zhu family's grandfather and granddaughter had dinner, the quick-handed Sister-in-law Lian first swept the yard clean, then filled several basins with well water to give the sunbaked ground a refreshing bath. After that, she moved a bamboo chair outside. Since Zhu Shijun had moved to the mountains, his decades-long habit of reading newspapers had been forcibly interrupted. Now, he could only rely on the radio to hear about the lively events outside the mountains.
Zhu Xiaoxian's miraculous recovery from her limp finally lifted the heavy stone that had weighed on Zhu Shijun's heart for many years. He had a hearty appetite tonight, devouring three corn cakes in one sitting. If it weren't so inconvenient to buy alcohol in the mountain village, the old man would likely have enjoyed a few drinks. Even as she cleaned the dishes, Sister-in-law Lian appeared especially cheerful.
After dinner, Mr. Zhu, following his usual habit, took Xiao Xian for a stroll nearby. Considering that her leg had just healed, the grandparents stuck close to the four-room house as they leisurely walked.
The moonlight was wonderful tonight. Whether due to her full stomach or the mountain air, Xiao Xian felt completely at ease. Her senses of sight and hearing were unusually sharp. She could even see clearly the flies flitting in the moonlight.
Because of the fight with a boy from East Miao Village during the day, Xiao Xian hadn't had the chance to take a closer look at the pear tree Sister-in-law Lian had mentioned. Under the moonlight as bright as day, Xiao Xian caught glimpses of faint glimmers on the grayish trunk. Letting go of Zhu Shijun's hand, she hopped over to the pear tree.
"Xiao Xian, come back. Are you craving pears again? It's dark now. Tomorrow, I'll have Sister-in-law Lian grab a ladder to pick a few and chill them in cold water. You can enjoy them tomorrow night," Mr. Zhu chuckled, still not used to seeing his granddaughter hopping around so energetically. Smiling, he walked over to the pear tree.
"Grandpa, why are there words carved on the tree?" From a distance, Xiao Xian had thought the trunk was hosting some glowing bugs. But upon closer inspection, she found the emerald light emanating from within the tree itself.
The green glow wasn't too strong, but up close, it was still distinct enough to see clearly.
"Words? You can recognize a few? Tell me so I can hear," Zhu Shijun chided her playfully. After all, who would know his granddaughter better than him? Back when Xiao Xian was attending kindergarten in Beijing, she hated learning to read. She barely managed to grasp ten Arabic numerals and twenty-six letters. Even her name was scrawled crookedly. Her mention of words reminded him that in a few days, he should start teaching her to recognize characters to prepare for elementary school.
The pear tree had been planted less than two years ago. Its trunk was about the size of a child's waist, and its branches were weighed down by dozens of pears, drooping this way and that in disorder.
"There really are words on the trunk." The glimmering light on the tree trunk assembled into an article of about a hundred characters. Zhu Xiaoxian didn't recognize them. It wasn't until Zhu Shijun taught her Chinese characters later that she would understand they were written in Chinese.
Xiao Xian, as she herself admitted, could barely recognize a handful of characters. Yet she somehow understood the meaning those words conveyed. This was because, although the characters on the tree bore some resemblance to Chinese characters from the world she came from as Xiao Xian, the fact was that no matter if they appeared in English, French, or another language, she could comprehend their essence without knowing the script. The exact cause of this phenomenon was connected to the strange event that had happened to her the previous night—something she had yet to fully grasp. Still, this ability only extended to text on plants.
"Asian white pear, two-year-old deciduous tree, five meters tall, blossoms in March, bears fruit in May, matures in August, with approximately eighty pears per tree." Xiao Xian recited these lines fluently in her clear, childlike voice, as though she were reading from a book.
Though she had the body of a six-year-old, her mind was that of a sixteen-year-old. Her time in the Yunteng Sect had taught her well how to observe people's expressions. As she caught Mr. Zhu's smile slowly fading, she realized something wasn't right. She dared not continue the remainder—"The entire pear tree can be used medicinally. Pear skin, pear leaves, pear blossoms, and pear roots are all medicinal. Raw pears clear heat and detoxify; cooked pears are good for..."
"Xiao Xian, where did the words on the tree trunk come from? Who told you those things?" Though Zhu Shijun's eyes were old, they hadn't grown dim. He crouched down, picked up a fallen leaf, and carefully studied its vein patterns.
In his youth, Zhu Shijun had spent time as a sent-down youth in the countryside and cultivated many fruit trees. Although he later shifted to researching cash crops due to career needs, the skills he'd learned in his younger days remained sharp. If it hadn't been for Xiao Xian's words tonight, he, accustomed to Beijing's rare and precious flora, wouldn't have paid much attention to the humble pear tree behind the house.
"It was that boy from the Miao Village today. He told me, and I remembered," Xiao Xian's quick wit pinned the blame onto Li Ye without hesitation.
"Mr. Zhu, Xiao Xian, the village chief sent over half a watermelon. Come to the front and have some!" Sister-in-law Lian's loud voice could rival the village broadcast system—half the village probably heard her shout.
Hearing it was the Miao Village boy who told her, Zhu Shijun didn't press any further. Kids from the Miao family were raised in the rugged environment of the mountains, with an extraordinary understanding of the plants and trees around them. Besides, the peculiarities of Dongnan Miao Village were too numerous to make sense of in just a few words.
As Xiao Xian walked back to the front of the house, she glanced again at the pear tree. The words were still faintly shimmering. Yet for some reason, Zhu Shijun couldn't see them at all.
After everyone finished eating watermelon, night had fallen deeply. The village chief chatted with Zhu Shijun about some village matters before taking his leave.
Xiao Xian washed her face with warm water left over from making dinner and then began clamoring for bed. Zhu Shijun was surprised at her change in behavior. When she first arrived in Ge Village, she would complain every night and refuse to sleep, saying she couldn't watch TV or cartoons in the mountains.
"Old man, you worry too much. It's a good thing for kids to sleep and eat well—they're growing! Look at the litter of piglets in our pen. They're never picky and are growing sturdy as can be." Sister-in-law Lian, delighted by the sweetness of the watermelon, was busy collecting the seeds on the ground to save for planting in the spring.
Zhu Shijun nodded in acknowledgment, though he didn't respond further, letting himself smile faintly. Mountain folk were straightforward and sharp-tongued but without malice. After living here long enough, he had grown used to the villagers' honest manners. Perhaps it was also time to spend some effort connecting with them more.
Xiao Xian slipped back into the house. Stripping down to just her shorts and undershirt, she folded her clothes neatly by her side. Just like the previous night, she began searching within her mind for that sesame seed-sized black speck of a space.
She had barely closed her eyes before opening them abruptly. Something had changed. The black speck was gone. In its place was a black orb the size of a ping-pong ball. "It's grown larger?"