A white domestic car stopped in front of Zeng Keqin.
Jiang Shiyu rolled down the window. "Get in." He added, "No sitting in the back this time."
Zeng Keqin noticed he was wearing a plain white T-shirt, had taken out his earrings, and his bangs rested on his forehead. He looked like a fresh, clean college student.
"What are you staring at? Get in."
Zeng Keqin got in, fastened her seatbelt, and couldn't help stealing a few more glances.
"I'll charge you if you keep looking."
"Why are you dressed like this today?"
"You'll find out soon."
That only made her more curious.
The car drove out of the city and onto a country road.
Fields stretched green on both sides, and the air smelled of earth and... cow dung.
Zeng Keqin silently rolled up the window.
She had grown up in the city, and the farthest she'd been was her grandmother's house in the suburbs. This was her first time deep in a unfamiliar village.
She glanced at the navigation: Daping Village.
Jiang Shiyu stopped the car and pulled out large bags from the trunk—various nutritional supplements, milk, fruit...
Zeng Keqin stepped forward to help carry some. "Who are we going to see?"
Jiang Shiyu didn't beat around the bush. "Zhang Kang's grandma."
Zeng Keqin paused, her eyes falling on his back. So that's why he dressed like this—to see an elder.
Zhang Kang's grandmother, Chen Shuzhen, lived in a relatively remote earth-tile house in the village. The walls were peeling, and the door gods on the wooden door were so worn they were barely recognizable.
"Grandma, I've come to see you."
An old woman with white hair and a hunched back was picking vegetables in the yard. When she saw Jiang Shiyu enter, she was startled at first, then put down the vegetable basket and tottered over to greet him.
"Xiaoyu, why are you here?"
Jiang Shiyu quickly put the things down in the yard and bent down to support her. "How's your health?"
"I'm fine. You child, always spending money on so many things. And this is..."
Chen Shuzhen noticed Zeng Keqin, who was at a loss.
"Grandma, this is a friend of mine."
Chen Shuzhen looked her up and down, beaming. "What a pretty girl. You two make a perfect couple."
Zeng Keqin blushed and was about to explain, but Jiang Shiyu cut in first: "Grandma, we're really just friends."
Chen Shuzhen chuckled and nodded. "Alright, friends then."
Zeng Keqin stood awkwardly to the side, watching Jiang Shiyu crouch down and speak softly to the old woman. It was like he was a completely different person.
"Grandma, I heard the tea in the garden is ripe."
"It's been ripe for a while. If my rheumatism hadn't flared up, I would have finished picking it in the past couple of days."
"We came this time to help you pick the tea."
As he spoke, Jiang Shiyu rolled up his sleeves and headed toward the back hill.
Chen Shuzhen laughed. "Do you know how to pick tea?"
Jiang Shiyu answered confidently, "No, but I can learn."
"Come, I'll teach you."
Chen Shuzhen led the way with her cane.
Zeng Keqin followed, feeling both nervous and curious.
In the tea garden on the back hill, rows of tea bushes were neatly arranged on the slope, the tender green buds gleaming in the sunlight.
Chen Shuzhen pinched a tender leaf to demonstrate: "Pinch the bud, with two leaves and one bud. Don't use your nails; use the pads of your fingers."
The morning sun was bright, warm on their skin.
Zeng Keqin bent over, imitating her, carefully pinching a tender bud and placing it in the bamboo basket at her waist. Her movements gradually became more skilled.
Jiang Shiyu crouched beside her, clumsily picking a few leaves, earning several scoldings from Chen Shuzhen.
Zeng Keqin couldn't bear it anymore. "That's not how you do it."
She demonstrated a few times. Jiang Shiyu copied her, but he pinched too hard, and the juice stained his fingertips, releasing a faint, bitter tea fragrance.
"Like this?"
A thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead, a few strands of hair sticking to his skin, his eyes full of seriousness.
Zeng Keqin didn't want to discourage him. "...Fine."
Not far away, some villagers were also picking tea. Seeing the unfamiliar faces, they warmly struck up a conversation. But when they heard they were Zhang Kang's friends, their smiles faded, and after a few perfunctory words, they turned away.