Under the Hawthorn Tree Read Online Free PDF

watching him push his sleeves up and stride into the deep water. First he used one hand to clean the mud off his boots, then started to pound the sheets.
    After a while he took the sheet into his hands and, as if casting a net, spread it out on the water. The red stain bobbed on the surface. He let go and waited until the sheet was nearly swept away by the current, and Jingqiu became frightened, and called out. He reached into the water and pulled up the sheet. He played with the sheet like this a few times until Jingqiu was no longer disturbed by the prospect of the sheet floating away, and instead looked on in silence.
    This time he didn’t grab the sheet, and it was snatched by the current. She watched it float further and further away until finally, as Old Third still hadn’t reached out to grab it, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She bellowed, making him laugh, and he ran through the choppy water to fetch it back.
    Standing in the water, he turned back to look at her and said, ‘Are you cold? If you are, wear my coat.’
    â€˜I’m not cold.’
    He jumped up on to the bank and draped his coat over her shoulders, looked her up and down, and then shook with laughter.
    â€˜What? What is it?’ she asked. ‘Does it look that bad?’
    â€˜No, it’s just too big, that’s all. With it draped across you like that, you look like a mushroom.’
    Seeing his hands were red with cold she asked, ‘Aren’t you cold?’
    â€˜I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,’ he laughed, ‘but I’ll be all right in a minute.’
    He went back into the water to continue washing the sheet, then after wringing it out, climbed back on to the bank. She passed him his coat and he picked up the wash basin with the sheet in it.
    Jingqiu tried to wrestle the basin from him saying, ‘You get to work, I’ll take this back, thank you, very much.’
    He wouldn’t give it to her. ‘It’s lunchtime. I’m working near here now, so I’m off to take my break at Auntie’s.’
    Back at home, he showed her the bamboo pole used for drying clothes that was situated under the eaves at the back of the house, found a cloth to wipe the pole clean, and then helped her hang and peg the sheet to let it dry in the sun.
    It all came so naturally to him. ‘How come you’re so good at housework?’
    â€˜I’ve lived away from home for a long time, I do everything myself.’
    Auntie heard this and teased him. ‘What a boaster! My Fen washes your quilt and your sheets.’
    Fen must like him, Jingqiu thought, otherwise why would she wash his sheets?
    During those weeks, Old Third came to Auntie’s house almost every day at lunchtime. Sometimes he’d take a nap, sometimes he’d stop to say a few words to Jingqiu, and sometimes he would bring some eggs and meat so that Auntie could cook them for everyone. No one knew where he got them from as these things were rationed. On occasion he would even bring fruit, which was a rare treat indeed, so his visits made everyone happy.
    Once he asked Jingqiu to let him see what she had written, saying, ‘Comrade, I know a good craftsman doesn’t show his uncut jade, but your writing is not rough, it’s the history of the village, won’t you let me see what you’ve written?’
    Jingqiu was unable to dissuade him, so she let him read her work. He read it carefully, and then returned it to her. ‘You’ve certainly got talent, but making you write this stuff, well, it’s a waste.’
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜These are all incidental essays, each one unconnected. They’re not very interesting.’
    His words shocked Jingqiu, he sounded so reactionary. Deep down she didn’t like writing these essays either, but she didn’t have any choice.
    He could see that she put a lot of effort into her writing, so comforted her, ‘Just write whatever,