Aunt Liu had a common case of gastroenteritis, and after examination, no other symptoms were found, so she only needed a few more days of IV drips. Considering that the old lady was frail and it was inconvenient to travel back and forth, it was decided that she would stay in the hospital for a few days. Gu Wenxi and Du Yunyan returned to the guesthouse first, still finding time to visit them at the hospital, and a week later, they brought the old lady home from the hospital.

In the blink of an eye, he had been living in this mountain village for almost a month, and Gu Wenxi felt somewhat bewildered. There was a saying in some legend that “a day in the mountains is like a thousand years in the world,” which perhaps resembled his current state of mind.

During these past days, he had learned a little about the people and events in the village. For example, Uncle Sheng and Aunt Liu’s only son lived in a big city, but the elderly couple, attached to their hometown, chose not to go with him. Yan Yan’s father worked in the city and could only come home once a year during Chinese New Year, but he always hoped that in the near future, he could bring his daughter and wife to live in the city. Yan Yan’s mother got along well with Du Xinyu’s mother, so the children from both families often interacted…

Overall, the people here were simple and honest. If any family encountered difficulties, the neighbors would always lend a helping hand without hesitation, and internal conflicts within families were rare. Of course, there were also some unfortunate families. At the beginning of the year, an old man surnamed Yun was literally driven to illness by his own children. Not even half a month later, he passed away. His son, who was in his thirties and still idle, was said to have racked up a lot of gambling debts in the city and didn’t react much to his father’s death.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the sunrise and sunset remained unchanged.

During this time, Gu Wenxi had no contact with Gu Yuching, but one day he suddenly received a voice call invitation from his younger brother, Gu Wenheng.

“Ge, when are you coming back?”

Gu Wenheng was his half-brother from the same father. Gu Wenxi couldn’t express his annoyance towards his father to this younger brother, after all, Gu Wenheng was sensible and understanding from a young age, and there was nothing to feel guilty about towards him.

“Did Dad ask you to call me?” If it was his father’s intention, Gu Wenxi could probably justify himself more confidently.

“No,” Gu Wenheng said, “Dad is not very happy, but I’m also worried about you!”

Gu Wenxi didn’t doubt his words. His brother was six years younger than him, but he was sensible and understanding from a young age, and he hadn’t distanced himself from him because of their different mothers. The drama of rivalry between brothers in wealthy families did not exist in the Gu family.

“Sorry,” he hesitated slightly, “I don’t want to come back yet, but I’m doing fine.”

“How? Didn’t Dad stop your card? Do you still have money?”

“Well,” Gu Wenxi felt embarrassed, “I’m not incapable of earning money myself, am I?”

“Oh, come on, what can you do in that mountain? You can’t even find a partner for singing…” Gu Wenheng had seen his moments on social media and had a general idea of what kind of place he was in, “Could it be that you’re doing travel livestreams?”

“No.” Gu Wenxi had a premonition. Just because Du Yunyan didn’t have money didn’t mean he would be kicked out, but if he tried to make money by promoting the guesthouse, he would definitely be kicked out.

“Then let me transfer some money to you?”

“Forget it!” Gu Wenxi immediately stopped him, “Isn’t that money from Dad too?” Gu Wenheng was only a third-year college student and didn’t have any savings of his own. His living expenses weren’t any more frugal than his own, and if he ended up in debt and his father found out, it would be unfair to involve him.

“How can I not spare some money for you?”

Gu Wenxi was speechless. He was still embarrassed about accepting money from Du Yunyan last week, and now he heard his brother say this.

When did he ever stoop to waiting for others to give him charity?

“Really, you don’t have to. Enjoy your college life,” he urged earnestly, then remembered something. “If you really want to help me, could you top up my phone credit?” He had topped up some credit earlier in the year, and now there probably wasn’t much left. It would be troublesome if it ran out.

“Sure, wait a moment.”

Gu Wenheng was very efficient. Within two minutes, he received a text message and found that his phone credit had been increased by 2000.

This guy expects him to use it for two years? Gu Wenxi was speechless. He replied with a “Thank you, but please try to save your money.”

Gu Wenheng responded with a “Don’t worry” emoji.

---

A van slowly drove past on the country road, raising a slight dust cloud. It was the first time Gu Wenxi had seen a postal van at the guesthouse.

“Thank you,” Du Yunyan signed for a small package.

“What’s that?” Gu Wenxi asked.

“It’s for making wine.” Du Yunyan held a small cardboard box and went back inside.

The sun hung in the sky, emitting a dim light lazily. After December, the weather got colder, and Gu Wenxi sat in the courtyard for a while, feeling his face stiffening. He opened his mouth slightly, and wisps of white fog escaped, so he decided to go inside.

Du Yunyan was eating pomegranates again, the same batch he had picked at the beginning of last month. However, this time, there was an extra bowl placed on the table where he sat, and there was a square-shaped paper trash bin between the two bowls of pomegranates.

“Eat up.” As soon as Gu Wenxi stepped inside, Du Yunyan reminded him of the bowl of pomegranates with a look.

“Is this for me?” Gu Wenxi looked at the small bowl of peeled pomegranate seeds in surprise. The fruits in the bowl were bright and shiny, like tiny rubies.

“Yeah,” Du Yunyan admitted matter-of-factly, “This is the best I can do. Sorry, I can’t help you with spitting out the seeds.”

Almost immersed in a feeling of being moved, Gu Wenxi snapped out of it. This guy, Du Yunyan, did a good deed but couldn’t resist making fun of him.

But he was still happy, so he picked up a spoon and started eating. The sweet juice filled his mouth, and he didn’t even mind spitting out the seeds.

“Tomorrow,” Du Yunyan suddenly said to him, “some guests will be coming.”

“What did you say?” Gu Wenxi swallowed a pomegranate seed directly.

“I said guests are coming.”

“How many… ?” Since no one had come, he was technically squatting here, but if it reached a point where there weren’t enough rooms, there would be no reason for him to stay.

“Six.”

Gu Wenxi breathed a sigh of relief. With six people coming, even if each had their own room, there would still be two left.

“…I thought it was more.”

“This is quite a lot for this season.”

“That’s true,” it was a bit strange for so many to come in midwinter, “Why is it so sudden?”

“Five of them are coming together, probably friends traveling together,” Du Yunyan explained, “The other one is coming alone.”

“Oh.”

“I’m telling you to be prepared.” He said calmly.

“Prepared for what?”

“Don’t forget you said you’d work for me.”

“This…,” Gu Wenxi actually forgot about the job. He had been eating and sleeping well lately, and apart from taking care of Aunt Liu earlier, he hadn’t done much. Feeling a bit guilty, he said, “Of course, no problem.”

Five guests were coming together, booking three rooms, and another solo female traveler booked one. Du Yunyan moved the blankets from the four guest rooms to the terrace to air them out.

It was almost time to prepare lunch. He handed Gu Wenxi a pair of scissors. “Go cut some spinach from the vegetable garden.”

Gu Wenxi didn’t hesitate and went to the backyard vegetable garden. The vegetables had grown to a harvestable height, but he encountered a problem: he had only eaten cooked spinach, so he wasn’t sure what it looked like when it was growing.

Cilantro and spring onions were easy to identify by appearance, so Gu Wenxi ruled out those two areas first. There was also a patch that looked like bok choy, with green leaves and white stalks underneath. That left only one side of the garden where spinach could be growing. Gu Wenxi instinctively chose the left side, where the bright green, oval-shaped leaves were densely packed, and some of them were drooping on the outside.

Just before he started cutting, he hesitated again. What if he cut the wrong thing and embarrassed himself in front of Du Yunyan? But if he went back to ask, he would be laughed at. Feeling torn, he squatted in the garden, looking troubled.

“Is your finger hurt?” When Du Yunyan’s voice sounded, Gu Wenxi almost poked his hand with the scissors he was holding.

“How did you come here?” He turned around to look, “You startled me.”

“Just feeding the chickens,” Du Yunyan passed by from the side of the stone path, repeating, “Feeling unwell?”

“No.”

“Then why haven’t you finished cutting?”

“I was just about to!” Gu Wenxi replied. Seeing Du Yunyan’s expression, he realized these must be spinach. He waved the scissors, feeling pleased with himself for guessing the vegetable right.

In the evening, the two of them together put the sun-dried quilt back into the guest room, neatly arranged.

Before going to bed, Gu Wenxi found that his phone was missing. He searched every corner of the room and luggage but couldn’t find it. Although he wasn’t attached to his phone to the extent of always carrying it, he did use it quite a bit during the day, the last time being before dinner, he believed.

Suddenly, he remembered that he might have put it in his pocket while folding the quilt, but it felt too tight and uncomfortable, so he casually took it out—most likely dropped into the first guest room they entered while laying the quilt. Estimating that Du Yunyan hadn’t gone to bed yet, he planned to ask him for the spare key.

However, before Gu Wenxi’s hand touched the doorknob, the door was pushed open with a bang.

“Why do you always startle people like this?”

Du Yunyan outside the door obviously didn’t expect him behind the door, “I knocked on the door, got no response, and wondered where you had gone.”

“You knocked just now?” Gu Wenxi looked confused. He had been in a hurry to find his phone and probably hadn’t heard anyone knocking. His gaze dropped, and he noticed that Du Yunyan was holding his phone in his left hand.

“Your phone was left in the room.” Without waiting for him to ask, Du Yunyan handed him the found item.

“Thank you.”

“You haven’t turned on the air conditioner?” Before Gu Wenxi closed the door, Du Yunyan leaned in, ignoring his embarrassed expression, and took a few steps inside, going straight to the machine that was turned off.

“Well… I thought the weather was still okay… so I didn’t use it again.” However, wearing layers of clothes made his words unconvincing.

Du Yunyan looked him up and down, “Do you have a problem with your brain?”

Gu Wenxi was unhappy, “I just wanted to save a bit of electricity for you.”

The air conditioner remote control was placed conspicuously on the bedside, and Du Yunyan directly picked it up and pressed the switch.

“It’s only real trouble if you get sick.” He said, putting the remote control back in its place, turning around, and leaving, casually closing the door behind him.

Gu Wenxi stood stupidly for a while. After the air conditioner ran for a while, a strong warm wind blew past, gently warming his cheeks.