Xiao Baoshan was wearing a bamboo rain hat with a bamboo raincoat covering his body as he strode towards home.
“Baoshan!” Ye Xiaoxian shouted loudly out of excitement.
He must be happy to see her, a small woman waiting for him on such a stormy day, mustn’t he?
However, the happiness she expected to see from him did not appear.
When Xiao Baoshan approached Ye Xiaoxian he looked very cold and seemed unhappy. “What are you doing here?”
“I was waiting for you. Ma said you didn’t bring an umbrella with you and asked me to send the oilcloth umbrella to you.” Ye Xiaoxian held up the oilcloth umbrella in her hand.
“Sending me an umbrella in such weather? How old are you? Don’t you know it is dangerous?” he questioned her to her face.
“I…”
“Go back now!” he urged again in a demanding tone.
Ye Xiaoxian only felt that her good will was taken as malice, so she was also enraged. “I will go back without you telling me to! If it wasn’t for Ma worrying about you, I wouldn’t come at all!”
After she yelled at him, she put the umbrella under his arm, turned around and went away.
She simply felt wronged and enraged. She had been waiting for him on such a stormy day but he was not grateful; what’s more, he even told her off.
And Xiao Baoshan, after being shouted at by Ye Xiaoxian, was stunned for a while and was then standing dumbly in the rain.
Was I…being too strict with her just now?
He knew that there would be rain at dusk but he didn’t inform his ma and little Ye for he knew that they would come home earlier than him.
Still, he did not expect to see this storm break with full fury. Many branches were broken off by the wind and scattered across the ground. He was actually relieved as all the women of his family had gone back earlier and it would be too dangerous for them if they were still on their way.
So he didn’t expect to see Ye Xiaoxian standing at the entrance of the village. She was slim and her delicate body was shaking in the storm. Seeing this, he started feeling worried and angry, but Ye Xiaoxian was enraged as well, so he thought to himself, Am I wrong? Was I being too strict to her?
Ye Xiaoxian hurried back home and got changed as soon as she reached home. She still felt cold so she went to the kitchen to warm herself up at the fire after getting changed.
Li Hongmei had already been lighting a fire and cooking some rice porridge.
As they still had some shortbread left which was not sold in town, Li Hongmei did not cook meals but was going to make do with porridge and some shortbread.
Seeing Ye Xiaoxian come back with her hair wet, Li Hongmei asked her hurriedly, “Little Ye, you saw Baoshan?”
“Yes, I did,” replied Ye Xiaoxian in low spirits.
“I was trying to stop you but you’d already rushed out!” Li Hongmei said. “A big man like him will be okay even he’s caught in a rain.”
Li Hongmei then replied dejectedly, “I was just being sentimental.”
“Little Ye you…” Li Hongmei felt something was wrong.
Just then Xiao Baoshan went back.
He stood at the gate and glanced at Ye Xiaoxian inside. Ye Xiaoxian was still sulking and ignoring him.
“Baoshan, why were you soaked like this as well? Come on in and sit by the fire, will you?” asked Li Hongmei.
Xiao Baoshan was just staring at Ye Xiaoxian. “I’m okay, Ma. By the way, little Ye just sent me the umbrella. I just wanted to thank her.”
Ye Xiaoxian’s heart sank.
She was still feeling wronged and thinking, “It is too late to apologise!”
Xiao Baoshan did not see any response from Ye Xiaoxian so he could only go back to his room confused and disappointed.
Li Hongmei felt that it was not a simple case so she let Ye Xiaoxian take care of the fire and she went to Xiao Baoshan herself.
“You fool, why did you do that? Little Ye was sending you an umbrella with good will and you told her off?”
After she heard the whole story, Li Hongmei could not help scolding her son.
Xiao Baoshan also reproached Li Hongmei, “Ma, next time in such stormy weather, don’t let anyone send an umbrella to me. It’s dangerous. So many trees were uprooted and she was just a fragile girl.”
“I let her send it?” Li Hongmei knew that Ye Xiaoxian must have used her as an excuse again, so she answered, “Fine, even if I said it, it would only happen when she was willing to go. Anyway, it’s your fault scolding her!”
“I have apologized!” said Xiao Baoshan.
“You call that an apology?”
“What should I do then?” asked Xiao Baoshan.
“Don’t we still have the brown sugar for making cold jelly? Hurry up and infuse the sugar in boiled water with some ginger in it and bring it to her. Remember, don’t say it was me who told you to do this!”