Chapter Fifteen: Treasure Hunt at Great Pit Ridge

With the help of his great-uncle, Mei Guan found a place to stay within two days—a large house on the side of the stone arch bridge outside the elementary school, right by the Qiu family village. The house was spacious and close to the main road, making it ideal to use as both a residence and a woodworking furniture workshop. Several rooms only needed tidying up before they could be lived in.

The wide flat-roofed house faced a vegetable garden at the back, and from there, one could see the riverbank and embankment—most convenient. The rent was not expensive either, just sixty yuan a month, which was still a considerable sum in 1997-1998.

He Zhixing was arranged as an auditing student in Class Two of the fifth grade, as exams were approaching. It was necessary for him to attend classes, and the fifth-grade students quickly became acquainted with this transfer student from the county. He Zhixing’s tall stature immediately made him stand out in the class, towering above his peers.

In truth, he barely needed to listen in class; he had long since mastered the elementary curriculum. Now, he was simply reviewing and making new friends. The second class in the afternoon was eagerly anticipated by everyone—an all-time favorite for boys and girls alike: the music lesson taught by the beautiful teacher.

Even before the teacher arrived, many boys kept glancing anxiously at the door. As footsteps approached and the beautiful teacher entered, He Zhixing finally saw who she was, and thought to himself, “So, it’s her—the daughter from Deputy Director Xiao’s family next door.”

The class monitor, a chubby boy, stood up and called out, “Everyone quiet down, stand up!” After greeting the teacher, class began in earnest. There was something different about her charm; the moment she spoke her voice was captivating: “With the entrance exams approaching, I won’t be teaching music theory today. Instead, I’ll teach you a song—a popular tune from Hong Kong and Taiwan called ‘Seventeen’s Rainy Season.’ Let’s see if we can sing it by the end of the lesson. I won’t copy the lyrics for you; someone come up and write the song on the blackboard, and then we’ll sing together.”

The students were enthusiastic, hands shooting up everywhere. The teacher chose a girl to write the lyrics, then began to lead the class in singing: “When I was a child, the jasmine tree in front of my door let out a faint fragrance…” The class’s interest was high; not one person was left out. This was the latest hit from Hong Kong and Taiwan, a signature song by Jimmy Lin, wildly popular at the time, spreading across the country as soon as it was released. He Zhixing liked the song too, having heard it on the county’s main street, though he couldn’t sing it yet. Back then, owning a tape player was already impressive, and Teacher Xiao had brought one along.

For the first time, He Zhixing felt the true allure of music. The music teacher’s class was so engaging that he began to develop an interest in music theory and singing.

After class, many students followed the teacher out, with the boys scrambling to help carry her tape player. Out on the playground, he saw a little boy holding her hand and calling her “sister,” leading her home—her brother, whom he’d met when visiting Deputy Director Xiao.

Soon enough, exams were over, and everyone felt a weight lift from their shoulders as the holidays arrived. During this period, He Zhixing became friends with the beautiful teacher’s younger brother, though she herself paid him little mind, occasionally looking at him as one would at a child, never treating him as an adult. This left He Zhixing at a loss. He was, after all, sixteen, and already as tall as most adults, maybe even taller than some—but she seemed not to notice.

She had no idea about his little schemes, so apart from class, their lives ran like two parallel lines—close, yet never intersecting, neither intimate nor entangled.

That winter afternoon was a bit chilly, but it didn’t dampen people’s curiosity for unusual discoveries. That day, her brother heard that someone was poisoning fish in the river, and many students went to catch them. He dragged his sister with a fish basket down to the river, his face full of excitement. By coincidence, He Zhixing’s home was by the riverside, so he was there too.

The beautiful teacher was dressed in sportswear and sandals, looking just like the girl next door. Even in such plain clothes, her beauty was undiminished. The way she bent at the river’s edge to catch fish was mesmerizing. He Zhixing pinched his own thigh and wondered to himself, “Could I be falling for her?”