When The Snow Falls In Autumn Chapter 66

Chapter 66

The wind after the rain brought an overwhelming coolness, pouring in from the end of the corridor, making people’s scalp numb.The sensor light under the eaves flickered on and off, casting a swaying light and shadow on the side of Ling Xueqing’s face.She held the thermos cup, and her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the wall of the cup, the tiny lines that were almost heated by body temperature.The phrase “Are you… interested?” hung in the humid air. The final sound was very light and was blown away by the wind, but the meaning behind it fell heavily.

Ye Qiulan was stunned.Genealogy of country gentry in the late Qing Dynasty?That means a vast pile of old papers, countless unfamiliar names, branches, and migration records, which are boring and trivial enough to consume the most vigorous energy.This is not the restoration of ancient books that she is familiar with, but more like the kind of private research that Ling Xueqing has been immersed in alone, almost like an archaeological excavation.She thought Ling Xueqing would never let her get involved in this field again – the world about her mother’s memory and family separation that was only opened to her once and then tightly closed.

“I…” Ye Qiulan opened his mouth, his throat a little tight.The night wind carried moist and cold air into the collar of her sweatshirt, causing her to tremble slightly.”Is that information… easy to find?”

“It’s hard to find.” Ling Xueqing answered quickly without any tact. “Most of them are microfilms from local collections that have not been digitized, or manuscripts from private collections. You need to go to the archives of several cities and counties, and you may also go to some old ancestral halls to try your luck.” She paused, and looked away from the distant night, and fell on Ye Qiulan’s face, very focused, “It will be very time-consuming, and it may not be fruitful.”

She told the truth, her tone was flat, as if she was stating the difficulty of a project.But Ye Qiulan heard something else.If it was just to tell him the difficulty, Ling Xueqing wouldn’t have to ask this question at all.She was inviting, issuing a tentative invitation in an extremely restrained and even pre-set way.Invite her into that more private, lonely, and heavier pursuit.

The warmth in my heart that had been ironed by ginger tea was stirring at this moment, mixed with the throbbing of being flattered, and a deeper, vague fear of the heavy loneliness.The sourness crept up again, this time not because of the distance, but because of the vague but huge weight of trust represented behind this invitation.

“If you are busy with classes, or…” Ling Xueqing saw that she had not answered for a long time, and looked away. The very faint temptation in her tone quickly subsided, and she put on her usual calm shell again, “Just pretend that I didn’t ask. This is my private matter.”

“I’ll go.” Ye Qiulan almost spoke before she could finish her words.The sound was not loud, but it was very clear in the silent corridor.She saw Ling Xueqing’s shoulders relax almost imperceptibly, although there was no change in expression on her face.

“Yeah.” Ling Xueqing just responded and screwed on the lid of the thermos cup, making a slight “click” sound.”Let’s finish the things at hand first. If the weather is good this weekend, you can try to go to the Municipal Archives. They have a batch of uncataloged documents donated by the late Qing Dynasty.”

As she spoke, she turned around and walked towards the main building, her pace returning to her usual rhythm, as if the brief invitation and pause just now were just a natural part of the work handover.

Ye Qiulan followed.The two walked one behind the other on the stone road that was washed shiny by the rain.The halo of the street lamp shattered into swaying golden specks in the puddles.No one spoke anymore, but there seemed to be something different in the air.The previous conversation about insomnia and drugs in the warehouse was like a key, opening a heavy lock. Although it was only pushed open a crack, the breath coming out of it had truly entangled between the two of them.

Returning to the lobby of the main building of the School of History, the cardboard box containing the remaining sundries needs to be temporarily placed in Ling Xueqing’s dormitory.The graduate student apartments are located just behind the college and are a relatively new building.After swiping the card to enter, the voice-activated light in the corridor turned on, and the light was cold white.

Ling Xueqing’s dormitory is at the end of the corridor on the fourth floor.She took out her key and opened the door, moving swiftly.The moment the door opened, a familiar, extremely clean and almost cold breath came to my face.It was not Ye Qiulan’s first time here, but every time he stepped in, he would have the illusion of stepping into a precision instrument.

The room was not big, a standard double room, but the other bed was empty, and there were some boxes and books covered with dust-proof sheets piled up.The half that belonged to Ling Xueqing looked like a model room.The bed is smooth without a trace of wrinkles, the books and documents on the desk are arranged by size as if they were measured with a ruler, and the pens in the pen holder are sorted by color.The only “clutter” was a heavy atlas and a few scattered pieces of tracing paper spread out on the small coffee table by the window. Next to them were drawing pencils and erasers – that was her workspace for hand-drawing maps.

Ling Xueqing motioned to Ye Qiulan to put the carton in the corner of the door.”Just put it here.” She carried the special cylinder containing the map scroll, walked to the desk, and carefully placed it against the wall.Then, she took off her jacket, which was soaked by the rain, and put it on the back of the chair.The off-white sweater underneath made her neck slender. Under the indoor light, the lines of her profile appeared softer than usual, but the tired look under her eyes was also more obvious.

Ye Qiulan put down the cardboard box, straightened up, and glanced at the coffee table by the window inadvertently.The faintly sinuous lines and detailed markings on the tracing paper are part of the hand-drawn map.She immediately looked away, as if she had glimpsed something she shouldn’t have seen.

“Sit.” Ling Xueqing pointed to the only chair next to the desk, then walked to the bed and sat on the edge.She leaned back slightly and rubbed the center of her brow with her hand. This action revealed the exhaustion she was trying to hide.

Ye Qiulan did not sit down, but still stood, his fingers unconsciously picking at the threads of the sleeves of his sweatshirt.”Are you…very tired? Why don’t I go back first and you can rest early.”

Ling Xueqing put down her hand and looked at her, her eyes a little blank, as if she didn’t understand her words immediately.After two seconds, she shook her head and said, “It’s okay.” After a pause, she suddenly asked, “Have you had dinner?”

Ye Qiulan was stunned.After she mentioned it, I remembered that I had really not eaten anything since I was busy dismantling the exhibition in the afternoon.I didn’t feel nervous before, but now I feel relaxed, and the empty feeling in my stomach immediately becomes clear.She shook her head.

Ling Xueqing stood up, walked to a small refrigerator against the wall, and opened it.There are very few things in the refrigerator. There are several bottles of mineral water, a carton of milk, and a few things in crisper boxes… that look like food.She took out one of the square crisper boxes and a pair of unopened chopsticks, then walked back and handed them to Ye Qiulan.

“Teacher’s wife brought them yesterday. They said they were newly made rice cakes for me to have for breakfast.” Ling Xueqing’s voice was smooth, “I ate something else this morning. You can try it, it shouldn’t be bad.”

The crisper box is transparent, and you can see the square, white and shiny rice cakes inside, with a few wolfberries dotted on the surface.Ye Qiulan took it, the box and chopsticks were filled with the cool air from the refrigerator.She opened the lid, and a sweet aroma of rice mixed with a hint of wine wafted out.

“This…” Ye Qiulan was a little at a loss.How could she be embarrassed to eat what the master’s wife gave Ling Xuequing?

“I don’t like things that are too sweet.” Ling Xueqing had sat back on the edge of the bed, her tone calm, as if explaining an objective fact, “It will go bad if left for a long time.”

Having said that, it would be pretentious to refuse any more.Ye Qiulan whispered “Thank you” and picked up a piece with chopsticks.The rice cake is cold in the mouth, but it quickly melts on the tip of the tongue. It is soft and sweet, with just the right aroma of fermented rice wine, and the wolfberry is cooked soft and glutinous.It tastes great.She ate in small bites, the cold food sliding into her empty stomach, bringing a real sense of comfort.

Ling Xueqing sat opposite and watched her eat without moving.Her eyes fell on Ye Qiulan’s face, and seemed to penetrate her and land on a certain void.There were only the subtle sounds of Ye Qiulan chewing in the room, and the occasional distant and vague sound of cars coming from outside the window.

After eating two pieces, his stomach felt low, and Ye Qiulan stopped.She closed the lid and placed the crisper and chopsticks in the corner of the desk.”It’s delicious. Thank you.”

“Yeah.” Ling Xueqing responded.She was silent for a while, and then suddenly said: “The city archives needs a letter of introduction. I have already asked Teacher Zhao to get one.”

The topic suddenly changed and returned to the previous matter.Ye Qiulan nodded, “Okay.”

“Meet at the school gate at eight o’clock on Saturday morning.” Ling Xueqing continued, speaking slowly, as if assigning a task, “Take the bus there, about forty minutes. The archives opens at nine o’clock, and we may need a whole day. We can solve it nearby at noon.”

“Okay.” Ye Qiulan responded again.The slight warmth in my heart that arose from sharing food slowly settled down and was replaced by a more complex emotion.Ling Xueqing is implementing the invitation in a way she is familiar with – planning, arranging, and eliminating uncertainty.This made her feel reassured, but it also reminded her once again that the pattern that dominated their relationship had not really changed.

“Also,” Ling Xueqing paused, her eyes clearly falling on Ye Qiulan’s face this time, with a hint of prudence, “checking those uncataloged materials may require a little… skills. Sometimes, rules are dead.”

Ye Qiulan didn’t fully understand.”Technique?”

Ling Xueqing did not explain, but curled the corners of her lips very slightly. The arc was fleeting and could hardly be regarded as a smile.”You’ll know then.”

There was a rare, almost “unorthodox” meaning in these words, which was slightly different from Ling Xueqing’s usual rigorous and rigid image.Ye Qiulan couldn’t help but be a little curious, but seeing that Ling Xueqing had no intention of continuing, he didn’t ask anymore.

The room fell silent again.Ye Qiulan felt it was time to leave, but he hesitated in his steps.His eyes glanced at Ling Xueqing’s wet jacket draped on the back of the chair, and then at her slightly tired profile. He rolled the words “You should go to bed early” several times on his lips, and finally swallowed it.It seems like nothing I say is redundant.

Ling Xueqing, on the other hand, seemed to have recovered from her short break.She stood up, walked to the desk, took out a small, dark blue velvet bag from the drawer, and handed it over.

“You take this back.”

Ye Qiulan took it, the bag was very light.She opened it doubtfully and poured out the contents – two small, individually wrapped, dark brown tea bags, exuding a mellow medicinal aroma, mixed with obvious flavors of dates and longan.

“It calms the nerves.” Ling Xueqing spoke concisely, her eyes falling on the tea bag without looking at Ye Qiulan, “The prescription given by my master’s wife is from the herbal medicine shop. If you… can’t sleep at night, you can make a cup of it. It tastes a bit weird, but it’s useful.”

Ye Qiulan held the two small tea bags and could feel the fine particles of medicinal materials inside with his fingertips.My throat suddenly became severely blocked.Ling Xueqing still remembers it.I remember the embarrassment about sleep that she couldn’t completely conceal in the warehouse just now, and the heavy burden on her family.She didn’t say anything, but in this way, she quietly conveyed a little clumsy concern.

She blinked hard, carefully put the tea bag back into the velvet bag, and held it tightly in her hand.The fabric was soft and had the faintest smell of paper and ink that might have been in Ling Xueqing’s drawer.

“…Thank you.” The voice was a little hoarse.

Ling Xueqing seemed to be aware of her emotional fluctuations, his eyes stayed on her lowered eyelashes for a moment, and then moved away.”It’s getting late.” She said, walked to the door, and opened it.The meaning of seeing off guests is obvious.

Ye Qiulan took a deep breath, carefully put the velvet bag into his canvas bag, and walked out.

“Saturday, don’t be late.” Ling Xueqing said behind her, her voice completely calm.

“Yeah.” Ye Qiulan turned around and glanced at her.Ling Xueqing stood under the light inside the door, her figure thin and tall, her face expressionless, except for the tired look in her eyes, which was nowhere to be seen in the bright light.

The door closed gently in front of her, cutting off the light in the room and the figure of the man.

Ye Qiulan stood in the dim corridor. The voice-activated lights quickly went out, and the surroundings fell into darkness.Only the strap of the canvas bag was still tightly clutched in the palm of his hand, and the small velvet pocket inside was pressed against his thigh, giving off a vague sense of presence.

She slowly walked down the stairs and out of the graduate student apartment.The air at night after the rain is crisp and clear. Taking a deep breath makes your lungs feel cold.The streetlight stretched her shadow very long, casting it alone on the wet ground.

Saturday.Municipal Archives.Late Qing genealogy.

The words swirled around in my head.There are also those two packs of soothing tea, that box of sweet rice cakes, the brief touch of cold fingers in the warehouse, the winding rain streaks on the glass window, and the low-pitched “Did you sleep well?”

Instead of being sorted out, the mess in my heart was entangled with more new, soft, yet sharp-edged threads.Sourness was still the boundless background, but on this dim sea, stars began to light up, faint but stubbornly shining, pointing in a direction that she both longed for and feared.

She raised her head and looked at the familiar window on the fourth floor of the graduate student apartment.The lights were still on, and a pale yellow halo penetrated the curtains, forming a warm square in the night.

After watching for a while, she lowered her head, quickened her pace, and walked towards her old dormitory building in the West District.

The night wind was very cold, but the palm of my hand holding the tea bag warmed up little by little.