Still Frame Chapter 15
byChapter 15 The Willow Tree (1)
When Zhang Liuxin came out of the back kitchen carrying a plate of freshly baked desserts, he saw Wen Jin sitting next to Duofei, teaching her the Yinzhou language.
“Liuxin.” As soon as Duofei saw him, her eyes lit up and she called his name.
Zhang Liuxin hadn’t expected Wen Jin to teach Duofei his name first.
“Hmm,” he tried asking, “Do you know what these two characters mean?”
Duofei shook her head. Zhang Liuxin smiled, just about to explain it to her, when he saw Duofei pick up the paper on the table, point at the drawing on it, and say to him, “Uncle told me it means this.”
Zhang Liuxin looked at the paper. A simple willow tree was drawn on it in pencil, its plain branches gently spreading out. Below it were written the characters “Liu Xin” in a bold, flowing script that was clearly Wen Jin’s handwriting.
“So ‘Liu Xin’ means willow tree?” Duofei held the drawing paper, turning it over and looking at it several times. “Uncle draws very well.”
Zhang Liuxin touched the swaying branches on the paper and said, “Yes, it means that after the rain, the willow leaves turn into a new kind of green.”
“What an interesting name, Gege. Who gave you your name?”
Zhang Liuxin said, “My mother did.”
He remembered his mother telling him the origin of his name when he was little. She didn’t understand Yinzhou culture but had a Yinzhou lover, so she flipped through many books and looked up many allusions before finally choosing the two characters “Liu Xin” for the child born in spring.
Duofei excitedly asked, “Then what is Uncle’s name, and what does it mean?”
Wen Jin looked over with an inquiring gaze. Zhang Liuxin wrote the character “Zhuo” on the paper and taught her, “This character is pronounced ‘Zhuo.’ It is Uncle’s name.”
The pronunciation was a bit tricky for a child. Duofei repeated it several times before getting it right, then asked Zhang Liuxin what the character meant.
Wen Jin said, “It’s the name my maternal grandfather gave me. It means cleansing.”
“Cleansing?” Duofei asked, “Is it the same ‘wash’ as washing clothes?”
Both the adult and the child waited for Zhang Liuxin to translate. Zhang Liuxin rubbed Duofei’s head, “Yes, but it means more than just that.”
He wrote two phrases on the paper and explained their meaning to Duofei, “It also represents clarity and brightness.”
After he finished speaking, both of them looked over. The corner of Wen Jin’s mouth curled up, a rare smile reaching his eyes, and he softly hummed, “Mm.”
Duofei didn’t understand what “clarity” meant, but she knew what “wash” meant, so she spoke with an excited tone, as if she had discovered a new continent, “Then it’s related to Gege’s name too!”
Zhang Liuxin was confused, “Huh? What’s the connection?”
“Didn’t Gege say ‘Liu Xin’ is after the rain? If it rains, isn’t the rainwater ‘washing’ the willow tree? After it’s washed, the willow tree turns a new color!”
Zhang Liuxin’s eyes flickered. He hadn’t expected such a vivid and interesting interpretation in a child’s world. A faint pleasure unconsciously colored his expression. He smiled and said, “Yes, Feifei is so smart.”
Wen Jin asked, “What is she saying?”
What the child said might sound a bit like flattering if he translated it directly to Wen Jin, so he just said, “She said our names are very interesting.”
Wen Jin withdrew his gaze and replied flatly, “Mm.”
“Chen, I’ve cut up that Letti lemon. Do you want to try some?”
Tu Huisha brought out a plate of sliced lemons. A sour yet fresh scent quickly permeated the air.
“Sure.”
Zhang Liuxin was the first to pick up a slice. After it was cut, the aroma of the pulp spread everywhere. Just smelling it made one involuntarily swallow.
He tasted a small piece. It truly lacked the intense sourness of ordinary lemons and even had a slight sweet aftertaste. The rich fragrance burst forth in his mouth, almost intoxicating.
“How is it?”
“It’s not that sour. No wonder you can eat it plain. It’s really fragrant.”
“We use this lemon to brew jasmine tea or make lemon yogurt tarts. They’re both delicious.”
Tu Huisha ate a slice without even frowning. Even Duofei squinted and made faces, calling it “sour” while biting into a large piece.
“Do you want to try it?”
Three pairs of eyes looked over simultaneously. Wen Jin paused, picked up a slice, and tasted it.
“…”
After a while, Zhang Liuxin said, “Wen Jin, you frowned.”
Wen Jin put down the lemon and said, “No, I didn’t.”
Zhang Liuxin smiled, “Duofei, did you see? Did Uncle frown?”
Duofei clapped her hands and said, “Yes!”
“It seems genuinely too sour for you. You probably can’t eat it.”
Wen Jin picked up another slice of lemon and put it to his mouth, “Then you eat more.”
Duofei was currently coaxing her mother, saying, “Mama, I have homework that requires collecting leaves from different plants. Can Gege and Uncle accompany me this afternoon?”
Tu Huisha said, “Of course you can, but don’t go far, just stay nearby.”
“Okay.”
It was autumn now, and many people were working. People harvesting and picking were visible everywhere in the fields and woods. Everyone knew each other. Along the way, Duofei greeted everyone, sweetly calling out to grandpas, grandmas, uncles, and aunties. She was particularly lively and adorable, like a little rabbit.
The path in the field was uneven. Zhang Liuxin kept watching her two swinging braids, worried she might fall. However, the little girl walked steadily, while he himself stumbled, nearly tripping.
“Be careful.”
He almost missed a step when he wasn’t paying attention. Wen Jin quickly grabbed his hand and didn’t let go.
“Wen Jin,” Zhang Liuxin called his name softly. There was no reason for a grown man like him to need someone to hold his hand while walking. “I can walk by myself.”
Wen Jin ignored him and called out to Duofei ahead, “Duofei.”
“Hmm?”
Wen Jin raised the hand holding Zhang Liuxin’s, “Slow down.”
Although he only spoke a few simple words, Duofei understood his meaning. She turned back and took Zhang Liuxin’s hand, “Gege, let me hold your hand.”
Zhang Liuxin wanted to say no, but Duofei smiled at him. He was the kind of person who found it hard to refuse children, so he let the two of them lead him.
The morning dew on the banana leaves had evaporated. The wind carried the sweet, cloying scent of mangoes, startling a few fluttering birds of paradise. Their gilded tail feathers elegantly unfurled, streaking across the sky like burning meteors.
When Zhang Liuxin occasionally saw his reflection in the pond, he felt vaguely that this was like an amber-colored dream.
“Let’s stop here,” Duofei squatted down and pointed at a cluster of flowers. “What is this?”
“Autumn Dendrobium.”
The two men answered in unison, then exchanged a look. Duofei blinked her large eyes nearby and said, “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know what this plant is called in Bernlin, but it’s a type of orchid. You can pick a leaf to collect.”
“It hasn’t bloomed yet. What does the flower of this plant look like?”
Zhang Liuxin thought for a moment and said, “The petals are roughly oval-shaped, usually purple or pure white. Some special ones have red edges. They are very beautiful.”
“Oh, okay.”
After walking a couple of steps, Duofei spotted a cluster of ferns and said, “I know this one. It’s fern grass, right?”
Zhang Liuxin shook his head, “Not the same.”
Wen Jin said from the side, “From left to right, they are Bird’s Nest Fern, Ostrich Fern, and Water-hyssop.”
Zhang Liuxin added, “And also the Tuberous Sword Fern.”
Duofei said admiringly, “That’s amazing, Gege. Do you know all the plants?”
Wen Jin squatted down to help her pick leaves. Zhang Liuxin said, “We don’t know all of them. I’m sorry, I don’t know what these are called in Bernlin. Can we take them back and ask Mama?”
“It’s okay, you’re still amazing! Why do you know them? I grew up here and haven’t seen many of these.”
Zhang Liuxin laughed, “Feifei, how old are you? You’ll get to know them slowly later. We…”
He looked at Wen Jin’s back until the man felt his gaze and turned around. Only then did he withdraw his sight and say, “We met in university.”
“Does university teach this?”
“No, it was a club. There’s a botany club at the university that teaches these things.”
“Oh.”
Duofei didn’t understand what a club was, and university was too far away for her, so she stopped asking. She squatted next to Wen Jin and picked leaves with him. Wen Jin occasionally reached out to block her, reminding her to be careful not to get scratched by the barbs on the leaves.
Later, they saw white Ginger Lilies blooming brightly like butterflies, the Kapok tree with its bright pink flower clusters, and the Jatropha tree estimated to be ten meters tall…
Duofei had trouble looking up, so Wen Jin picked her up and pointed out the Jatropha tree with its curved branches resembling “leprosy fingers.” Zhang Liuxin told her that this tree would bear many fruits soon, and many small birds would come to build nests.
“Will we be able to see many little birds under this tree then? Can we come back to see them then?”
Zhang Liuxin paused. By that time, they might have already returned to Yinzhou, but he couldn’t bear to refuse Duofei. So he said, “We’ll ask Mama to come with us then.”
“Okay.”
On the way back, they met Grandma Mo, who had bought bread from the shop before. Duofei rushed over and hugged her, sweetly calling, “Grandma Mo.”
“Good girl, Feifei,” Grandma Mo kindly stroked Duofei’s cheek. “What are you doing?”
“Gege and Uncle brought me to do my homework.”
Zhang Liuxin politely nodded in greeting. Grandma Mo smiled and said, “Oh, the young men working at Huisha’s shop. Young man, are you married? Do you have a girlfriend?”
The old woman’s gaze rested on Wen Jin, so Zhang Liuxin translated word for word, “She’s asking if you are married and if you have a girlfriend.”
Wen Jin raised an eyebrow slightly, lowered his eyes to look at him, then followed his gaze down, sweeping past his neck, collarbone, and finally to his hand, before coldly looking away.
Zhang Liuxin instinctively looked at his own hand. The ring was inconvenient to wear and unnecessary, so he had intentionally left it off.
Wen Jin used the phrase he had learned yesterday to reply, “We are already married.”
Grandma Mo repeated in confusion, “We…?”
Duofei said, “Grandma Mo, didn’t you notice? They are a couple.”
Unexpectedly preempted by the child, Zhang Liuxin felt a little embarrassed and could only follow up, “Yes, we’ve been married for seven years.”
Grandma Mo suddenly understood, “So that’s how it is.”
Wen Jin understood this sentence and, satisfied, said in surprisingly standard Bernlin, which he must have learned from somewhere, “My husband and I have a very good relationship.”