A few days later， Madam， sleeping on the steps in the sun below the eaves， woke to the sound of barking and the sound of the Village Head's voice calling from the distance.
"Somebody stop that dog！"
Madam shouted after the dog as the Village Head approached.
"Is Zhaonü home？"
"She's gone to gather hogweed in the fields."
"Well，" the Village Head announced in a dark voice， "you've obviously built your family tombs in a good location—your granddaughter is a teacher now."
Madam looked at the Village Head closely.
"You don't need to act like that，" she said. "Zhaonü has taken nothing from you."
As Madam looked over to the cliffs in the distance， the blossoming peach and plum flowers filled her heart with content.
2
The village school was in Red sand Bay. The school was made up of two tiled rooms with red sand walls， together with a red sand playground， which contained a basketball hoop and a small osmanthus tree supporting a large metal clock.
Standing beneath the tree was Zhaonü， teaching now for a year， her body thinner than before， arms long， fingers thin， the pallor of her delicate face fair and clear. With the school as a backdrop， she appeared like a picture.
Father， along with Liu Pingwa， evaded the schoolchildren going home just as afternoon classes were finishing. The setting sun illuminated the red soil walls， coils of wispy white smoke threading up from the houses that lay concealed in the surrounding bamboo， the students and birds returning to their nests.
Zhaonü blushed， and blamed Father in a low voice， "Why have you brought Pingwa here？"
Smiling， he replied：
"He's going to make some marriage clothes for your elder cousin. He took the route nearby and wanted to see you."
Zhaonü had no option but to go along to her room. The walls were covered in newspaper.
She offered him half a glass of boiled water. Leaning his elbows on knees and lowering his head， he sipped at the boiled water， the sound echoing as he incessantly moved back and forth on his chair.
As he placed the cup down， small beads of sweat were visible upon his forehead， which he wiped away with his palm.
"It's getting dark soon，" Zhaonü said. "The roads won't be easy to travel—you two ought to hurry."
Secretly， Pingwa lay a paper bag beneath Zhaonü's pillow. After they had gone， Zhaonü searched beneath the pillow and found a watch of Beijing brand， dazzlingly white and unsettlingly glamorous.
It suggested a reciprocity she could not give.
She ran after Father and Pingwa. Putting the watch in Pingwa's hand， she said， "You dropped this."
His face turned white， as though she had just given him a piece of burning coal， but Zhaonü had already turned and left， not looking back.
But her heart was discontented， and she couldn't say with what exactly. Her body was feeble and weak as she returned to school.
As she arrived she heard， in the principal's office， the sound of chess pieces clacking.
Her heart jumped. The town chief， having eaten dinner， had come to school to play with the principal， travelling two miles. It was a state of affairs that had been going on for a number of months—almost every day.
During the summer days when Zhaonü came to the school， it rained heavily and consecutively for many days. As the rain poured down the ravines between the mountains were filled with yellow muddy water， streaming down and suddenly destroyed half of the toilet in the village school， leaving pupils running around with naked butts while supporting their pants with their hands.
The school principal wrote a report with a carbon ink pen to ask for two hundred yuan from the town government. The Chief said， "It's a school that belongs to the village， so you should ask the head of the village. Why do you ask me for money？" The school principal followed him for the money with a thick face， until he got angry. "The town government is so poor that we can't afford a telephone—how can we spare any money for you？" Then the school principal came back to Zhaonü， and he asked her to bring the report to the Chief. Zhaonü said， "What makes you think it's so easy for me to find him？" The school principal smiled， "Why isn't it easy for you to find him？ How on earth did you end up here？" Zhaonü was speechless， so she had to head to the town government. It was her first time to be in the Chief's room. It was a combination of bedroom and office， with two big bookshelves full of tempting books and a light scent of fragrance. Zhaonü sniffed and realised that it was the smell of Fenghua brand Shampoo. When she looked at the Chief's hair， black and soft， she could see that it was indeed washed by shampoo. After this， her words flew easily from her mouth.
In the past when the Chief occasionally visited the school， the principals and teachers would stand with their hands by their sides and speaking delicately， and the Chief， with his hands behind his back， never looked at Zhaonü in the eye.
But that day he was surprisingly enthusiastic， greeting her warmly and inviting her to sit， fixing her a glass of strong and fragrant tea. Zhaonü caught sight of the disorder of files upon his desk， piled up like lines of poetry. Catching her gaze， the Chief attempted to tidy them.
She gave him the principal's report， and the Chief took a perfunctory glance over it before saying， "Why did they let you come？"
Zhaonü could tell that he did not mean to sound as if he were rebuking her.
"Chief， you can do something good." Gathering courage， she added， "With just 200 yuan ."
Forcing a bitter smile， he said， "Ai！ You don't know how hard my position is. Yes， we received a lot of requests for money here， and everyone of them is urgent and important， but we can't afford all of them even by selling out the town government." When the Chief did not put up his poker face， he was actually quite weak and needed help. Zhaonü said： "All right， I'll leave and let you rest."
Somewhat unexpectedly， he said： "You don't want money？"
"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to Father to look for help in the Village."
