FQ chapter 71

After so many years, it was the first time spending Mid-Autumn together again. It was clear that between mother and son there was still a touch of awkwardness, but that was natural—the process of love taking root again.

“Tomorrow I have to go up to the tea mountain,” Luan Ping said. “If you two get bored, go out and look around. I’ll try to come back early…”

“Do your work,” Luan Ye said. “Tomorrow’s Fan Qing’s birthday, I’ll take him out. We might not be back at night.”

Had he left off the second part, it would’ve been fine, but the moment he added it Fan Qing instantly grew shy, lowered his head, and stuffed a piece of mooncake into his mouth to cover the embarrassment.

“That works too,” Luan Ping, however, stayed calm. “Where are you going?”

Luan Ye placed a piece of mooncake on her plate. “Shishe.”

“The scenery there’s nice, and it’s not far.” Luan Ping smiled. “Drive. There are a few cars in the garage, pick whichever you like.”

Luan Ye turned to Fan Qing with a smile. “Want to drive?”

Fan Qing nodded. “Sure.”

The next morning they set off from Hangzhou. Two hours by car wasn’t long.

After checking into the hotel, Luan Ye swapped his suitcase for a backpack. From it he took out a camera, zipped it shut again, and handed it to Fan Qing to carry.

On his back it had a bit of weight, though not too heavy. Inside was only his birthday gift.

“Don’t guess,” Luan Ye said, fiddling with the camera. “If you really guess it right… we won’t bother with the hotel tonight.”

Fan Qing shot him a look.

Luan Ye paused, then grinned. “Anyway, it’s the wilderness. If you’d rather in the car…”

“Enough already—” Someone was passing by in the distance, and Fan Qing hurried over to cover Luan Ye’s mouth, glaring at him, before breaking into laughter. “It’s broad daylight.”

After teasing him, Luan Ye handed him the camera, smiling.

It wasn’t like the ones he usually used. This one looked old, even antique.

“A film camera,” Luan Ye said. “You’ll shoot today. I’ll teach you.”

“You want me to shoot?” Fan Qing was surprised.

“This isn’t Yunnan, but the mountain scenery here is good too,” Luan Ye said. “It’s your birthday—take pictures of whatever you want. When we’re back, we’ll get them developed.”

Clearly he had done his homework. The stone-built village nestled in the mountains, streams weaving through it, the atmosphere serene and beautiful. If not for the different architecture and no snow mountains at the back, Fan Qing felt it had the same air as Xuehu Village.

Since he had said it was Fan Qing’s day to shoot, Luan Ye really didn’t touch the camera except for showing him a couple of shots. Film cameras were harder to handle, but after a few tries Fan Qing got the hang of it. They wandered through the village and up into the hills, photographing streams, trees, bamboo groves—

And most of all, Luan Ye.

Hiking, resting, turning his head to smile at him… and tapping on the camera lens.

Over lunch, Luan Ye tapped the lens twice with his knuckle. “Hey, fanboy, easy there.”

Fan Qing smiled and set the camera down.

“You said I could take whatever I wanted,” Fan Qing said.

“When the film’s developed, half the roll will be me.” Luan Ye sighed. “That’s plagiarism, one hundred percent.”

“No,” Fan Qing laughed. “The ones in the village, in the forest, on the bridge—they’re all different.”

“Fine, take them. Want to shoot me eating too?” Luan Ye smiled.

Fan Qing said nothing, lifted the camera, and snapped a shot.

Luan Ye arched his lips. “And tonight, if you want to shoot—”

“Please, I beg you.” Fan Qing quickly lowered the camera in surrender. “Let’s eat.”

……

After a whole day, they returned to the hotel.

The rooms were little independent courtyards, with balconies holding a tea table and tatami. From there you could see a sea of bamboo. Luan Ye showered first, then sat on the balcony with tea, enjoying the breeze.

By the time Fan Qing came out, dusk had fallen, the balcony light was on, and besides the tea, a long rectangular object lay on the table.

“Come on, you’ve been guessing all day.” Luan Ye tapped the table. “Your birthday present.”

Smiling, Fan Qing sat across from him.

On the table lay a fairly large frame, heavy ebony with glass, thick and weighty. No wonder he’d borrowed a suitcase.

When he looked closely at what was inside, Fan Qing froze.

“This is…”

“Seeds.” Luan Ye’s voice was soft, amused. “Tree seeds.”

The wind drifted in, and within the glass case lay more than a dozen seeds of all kinds. Different sizes, colors, carefully chosen.

Together they looked beautiful, full of life.

Through the glass, Luan Ye pointed them out one by one, even though Fan Qing likely recognized most of them.

“This is a locust tree—across from the old opera stage, it’s been dropping a lot lately. This is torch pine, found on the road to Ganhai pasture. It’s small, couldn’t fit a bigger one. Next is bodhi, from Shangri-La… Below that’s soap pod—from beneath the lookout where we first saw the sun rise over the golden mountain, you should remember.”

“…Yeah.” Fan Qing’s voice was low, head still down.

Luan Ye smiled. “Altogether nineteen kinds. Almost all from places we’ve been… except this one.”

Fan Qing followed his finger to the bottom right corner. A single seed lay there, black and smooth, with a faded but still-veined leaf behind it.

“We couldn’t find it in any of the places we went. I searched, turns out the places in Yunnan where it grows were too far, no time to get there… So I asked my mom in Hangzhou to find one and send it.”

Fan Qing stared at the small black seed, his voice hoarse. “…Luan tree.”

“Mm.” Luan Ye smiled. “A Luan tree seed.”

For Fan Qing’s nineteenth birthday, he received nineteen tree seeds. The first eighteen gathered one by one from his homeland, the nineteenth from Hangzhou, sent from far away—a Luan tree.

“At first I thought a living sapling might be better… But that’s harder to keep, and there’s nowhere to plant it yet.” Luan Ye smiled. “So I’ll give you a specimen for now.”

“It’s good.” Fan Qing sniffed, lifted his head to look at Luan Ye, and repeated, “Just this is good enough.”

Luan Ye looked at Fan Qing’s slightly reddened eyes, and with a faint smile, leaned over to kiss the corner of his lips.

Fan Qing didn’t let him pull away. He held the back of his neck and kissed him.

Outside, the bamboo forest rustled softly.

“When you graduate, and decide where to settle down… let’s find a house with a garden, a bigger one,” Luan Ye said gently. “We can plant whatever we want.”

“Chinese sweetgum trees.” Fan Qing smiled.

Luan Ye’s lips curled: “Alright.”

“Magnolias and maples too,” Fan Qing added. “They look nice.”

Luan Ye nodded.

“If you want to eat fruit, we can plant cherries, pear trees, pomegranates…”

“Why does it sound like a jumble?” Luan Ye laughed. “They don’t even grow in the same season, right?”

“A bit messy, yeah.” Fan Qing also laughed.

“But when you move a lounge chair out into the yard, and sit there every day, what you see above you will always be different.”

Luan Ye closed his eyes, his fingertips tapping lightly twice on the tea table.

“It might be leaves, or it might be a flower, or a fruit.” Fan Qing said softly.

Luan Ye turned his head to look at him, his hand sliding into Fan Qing’s palm. Fan Qing naturally intertwined their fingers, ten locked with ten.

“Alright,” Luan Ye smiled. “Can we really keep them all alive?”

Leaning closer to kiss the corner of his lips, Fan Qing’s tone was as certain as ever: “We can.”

Yes, they could. No matter what kind of tree.

They might get sick, they might shed their leaves, they might grow painfully, painfully slow… yet still, they would sprout branches and grow leaves, year after year, living on and on.

From then on, lush and flourishing, evergreen through the seasons.

The End.

[mfn]We’ve reached the end, If you loved the story and translation consider supporting me on Ko-fi through this link https://ko-fi.com/cee4409. Any amount will be appreciated, also check out my other completed projects on there![/mfn]