"That's fine," replied Principal Yu. "My sweet potato isn't doing well either. I thought I would just harvest it early, and let the children try something new. When the parents come, could you ask them to do that too? Deputy Deng, is there anything that you need help with at home? We should avoid asking the parents to make more than one trip."
"I've told you this before," Deng Youmi started, "We are community teachers, not old-fashioned private school teachers and we should act—"
Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, Sun Sihai turned on his heel so fiercely that the saliva from his flute was flung high into the air.
Li Zi went home. Her house was not far from school, so she didn't stay over at Principal Yu's. Yingcai squatted to light the stove, and was on the point of speaking to Sun Sihai several times, but the serious look on the other's face stopped him. Then the food was ready, and still neither of them had said a word. They had nearly finished their meal when the oil lamp's flames flickered, and Principal Yu's son Yu Zhi inched his way into the room.
"Director Sun, Teacher Zhang … My mum has a terrible headache, so dad sent me to ask if either of you could lend him any painkillers."
"I don't have any," Sun Sihai replied.
"I have some I keep for emergencies," Yingcai said hurriedly. "I'll go fetch them for you."
He gave his entire bottle of painkillers to Yu Zhi.
Yingcai had nothing to do that evening, so he played around again with the zither. He came across something odd: between the lines of text that read A parting gift and memento for my colleague Ming Aifen and August 1981 was another row of characters that had been scratched out. None of the ink remained, just the traces of a blade.
The moon was bright, so he took the zither outside and tried to play it a few times. Then the sky clouded over such that he found it difficult to see the keys. He plucked rapidly at the strings with the cap of his pen, producing wild and jarring sounds.
Suddenly, from Principal Yu's quarters, came a woman's scream. The children called out in alarm. Yingcai ran over but the main door was firmly bolted so he yelled, "Principal Yu? Principal Yu! What's wrong? Do you need help?"
The principal did not come out. "There's nothing the matter. Go back to sleep."
Yingcai leant against the door. He could hear Principal Yu's wife sobbing quietly, but things seemed to have quietened down. He went round the back and spoke to the children.
"Don't be afraid, Teacher Zhang is here. I'll keep a watch out for you."
As he was speaking, two small jade-green lights appeared on the mountain. He prevented himself from calling out in fear, but his feet took control and he fled back to his own room.
Once inside he remembered that, in his alarm, he had left the zither outside. He dared not leave the room. He thought to himself that it was lucky it wasn't a high quality instrument: it wouldn't matter if he left it outside overnight. He lay down, and was just falling asleep when he was awoken by Principal Yu calling him at the window.
"Teacher Zhang, quick, help! Yu Zhi's mother is ill and I can't move her on my own."
