Chapter 1

Chapter 1: White Mountains and Black Waters

In the small hours, a late-autumn rain had fallen in a fine drizzle.

The mountain road was difficult to navigate. A tire sank into a muddy rut. He floored the accelerator, but the right front wheel spun uselessly, flinging mud everywhere. He tried starting the car again, only for it to suddenly stall.

“Beep!”

The young man in the driver’s seat angrily pounded the steering wheel. The shrill honk shattered the morning stillness, sending the birds resting in the roadside trees flapping away.

He had driven north from the capital, over a thousand kilometers, traveling through the night in the rain to this desolate land of white mountains and black waters.

He hadn’t expected to get stuck at the foot of the mountain. Rainwater pooled in the ruts, and the tire sank deeper and deeper. The young man considered himself a decent driver—he’d raced along winding mountain roads—but he was truly no good at the brute labor of lifting a car out of a muddy rut.

On a late-autumn morning, there wasn’t another soul in sight on the winding mountain road. The young man took out his phone and searched for nearby roadside assistance. With the road conditions unknown, he figured that even if he called the people at the villa, he’d have to wait a long while.

“Knock, knock.”

Just as he was about to make a call, the crisp sound of someone rapping on the car window interrupted him.

“Hey, need a hand?”

A battered old motorcycle had appeared beside the car at some point. Its rider, wearing a worn leather jacket, held a helmet in one hand and leaned over to inspect the car.

Liang Qiuye admitted he might have been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. The moment he spotted the Lotus, his hands had started itching to take a look. He’d only ever seen one in car magazines, so he’d approached without thinking.

But the moment he spoke, he regretted it. Back when he’d worked as a helper at an auto repair shop, he’d seen plenty of people make trouble over repairs. He didn’t know what kind of person the owner was, and he had no intention of offering himself up to pay for damages.

When there was no response, Liang Qiuye took the opportunity to put on his helmet and leave. But the car door had already opened, and a young man with silver-gray hair stepped out, a coat thrown over his shoulders.

“Hi.”

Lu Weiyan greeted him briskly. “The car stalled. It’s great of you to offer to help.”

Liang Qiuye hadn’t expected the car owner to be so young—about the age of a college freshman. His hair was an eye-catching silver-white, a row of glittering earrings lined one ear, and jade beads were wrapped around his wrist. His look was flamboyant.

Strangely, though, his manner was nothing like the rowdy, rebellious young men in town.

Liang Qiuye hung his helmet on the motorcycle’s handlebar and picked up a small toolbox. “I know a bit about repairs. I can take a look.”

After graduating from high school, he’d needed money urgently, so he’d worked as a mechanic at an auto repair shop for over a year. Even now, he occasionally went back to help out, and his skills hadn’t gotten rusty. After opening the hood, Liang Qiuye checked the wiring with practiced ease, tracking down the part with a bad connection.

The autumn frost was heavy; winter was almost here.

Feeling the chill, Lu Weiyan fastened two buttons on his coat. He picked his way across the only flat, clean patch of ground and watched as Liang Qiuye wedged sturdy branches beneath the tire stuck in the mud.

The crisp air was damp with rain, a climate quite unlike the capital’s. Layers of mountains and forest surrounded them. What kind of trees were these? A faint, bitter scent drifted lazily through the air.

Liang Qiuye was used to the environment. He bent down to gather some fallen branches and, once he had enough, took the keys Lu Weiyan handed him.

With the extra traction between the wheels and branches, and the car’s good performance, it only took a few tries to drive out of the mud.

“Whoa.”

Lu Weiyan exclaimed with slightly exaggerated delight. “Bro, you’ve really done me a huge favor.”

Liang Qiuye rested his hands on the steering wheel, reluctant to leave the leather seat. Looking up, he replied, “You’re bound to run into this kind of thing at this time of year. But they’ve built a new road on the back side of the mountain. Are you here visiting from out of town?”

Only visitors from out of town or locals looking for a shortcut would take this little road up the mountain. Liang Qiuye was sure he’d never seen this young man before.

“Yeah, I’m from out of town.”

Lu Weiyan’s answer was vague. He took a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and offered one to Liang Qiuye. “Is there anything fun around here?”

“Then you’ve taken the wrong road. You should’ve gone around the back. They developed a resort there a couple years ago. In summer, you can fish and ride horses; in winter, you can soak in hot springs and admire the snow. Plenty of tourists go there.”

Liang Qiuye took a drag, savoring the rich flavor. He tapped off the ash and continued, “The front side of the mountain is steeper. There’s only the village where the old forest rangers used to live. Oh, right—there’s also a villa not far from the resort.”

Liang Qiuye had grown up around here and knew the place like the back of his hand.

“I’m going to the villa.” Lu Weiyan didn’t look particularly happy. He muttered under his breath, “…Tending the royal carriage, and they picked such a godforsaken place…”

“Hm?”

Tending the royal carriage? What king?

Liang Qiuye didn’t understand, but he clearly caught the last two words, “godforsaken.” He finished his cigarette and laughed. “If you can’t find anywhere to have fun, get in touch with me. I know this place well.”

Lu Weiyan figured he’d be staying here for a while, so he didn’t refuse Liang Qiuye’s offer. They exchanged contact details, and after saying goodbye, Lu Weiyan drove off.

Liang Qiuye looked at the white-haired boy’s profile picture in his friends list. It stood out completely from everyone else’s. He saved the contact under Lu Weiyan’s name.

Worried the next person to come along might get stuck in the rut, Liang Qiuye tossed some branches and leaves from the roadside onto it, piling them up as a warning.

Liang Qiuye dusted off his hands and picked up his helmet, only to find something inside.

“Hm?”

There was a pack of cigarettes and an envelope inside the helmet that had been hanging on the handlebar.

The cigarette pack was covered in garish English lettering. The cigarettes Lu Weiyan had offered him had come from this pack. Liang Qiuye opened the envelope. Inside was a stack of red banknotes, about ten of them.

“Quite generous…”

This kind of young master was a lot like the guests who came here on vacation—men from well-off families, generous with their money.

Liang Qiuye sealed the envelope back up with a helpless smile, tucked it into his pocket, and decided to return it the next time they met.

“Brrrm—”

Liang Qiuye started the motorcycle. Black smoke puffed from the exhaust and faded into the air. The wind rushed past his ears as he rode down the same overgrown mountain road he’d traveled for ten years, day in and day out.

Godforsaken?

Maybe. White mountains and black waters, as if cut off from the rest of the world.

There were rivers here, tributaries feeding into the main current as it ran west to east toward the ocean. There was land here, too—vast, boundless soil divided into enormous plots, sown in spring and harvested in autumn, yielding a ceaseless bounty of grain.

And there were mountains, rugged and imposing.

Here, in the depths of the ridges, time itself seemed frozen by the long winter. Everything was bleak and still. The mountains were very old.

“Ptooey, what kind of junk is this? It doesn’t taste like anything.”

An old man with a face full of wrinkles sat on a little stool in the sun, eyes narrowed as he examined the cigarette.

His thick, cracked fingers made the cigarette between them look even whiter and more slender.

“Old Zhou, this is the good stuff. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Liang Qiuye wriggled halfway out from under the tractor and pushed himself up off the ground.

“What good stuff? It’s as weak as drinking water.” Old Zhou finished the cigarette in two or three puffs. Still unsatisfied, he picked up his tobacco pipe.

“You just don’t know how to appreciate it.”

Liang Qiuye wiped the streak of grime off his cheek and called out, “Don’t use this tractor for now. The parts got badly worn during the autumn harvest. I’ll go into town the day after tomorrow and find you a new one.”

Whenever someone in the village had an appliance or machine that needed repairing, they’d give him a call, and Liang Qiuye would come over to take a look. He’d gone up the mountain this morning because Old Zhou had called.

After giving his instructions, Liang Qiuye worried that the restless old man might sneak off and drive the tractor anyway. So he added a half-threat, “Your Xiao Zhou Ge said that if you don’t behave, I should give him a call, and he’ll drive over and take you away.”

Nearly all the young people from the village had moved to nearby towns. Some had done well enough to buy homes in the city or move to even more distant metropolises. Only the stubborn old folks who refused to leave remained.

“Get lost, get lost, get lost! Tell him I’ll die here before I leave.” Old Zhou took an angry drag on his pipe.

Liang Qiuye had only been trying to scare him, not make him angry. He laughed it off. “Then you’d better behave, and I won’t go running to tell on you.”

Old Zhou caught on and realized Liang Qiuye had been teasing him. He grumbled a curse—“you little brat”—then went to the kitchen and grabbed two freshly steamed red-date cakes.

“These are for you. Take the other ones back for Old Huo, too.” Old Zhou was always tough on the outside but soft-hearted underneath. Whenever there was something tasty, he always saved some for Liang Qiuye.

“You were just waiting to bribe me into keeping quiet.” Liang Qiuye bit into a red-date cake and leaned against the doorway, chewing slowly.

Liang Qiuye was good-looking, with well-defined features and clear eyes that seemed to hold a pool of water. He was tall, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted. In the language of TV dramas, he was the best-looking young man for miles around, though there weren’t many other young people left here to compare him with.

By old-fashioned standards, Liang Qiuye was long overdue to start a family. Even by today’s standards, he ought to have a girlfriend by now.

But Liang Qiuye seemed distracted. He’d worked in town for a few years, then returned to the mountains half a year ago, spending all his time looking after the old fellows.

“Qiuye, how long are you going to take care of your little sister? She’s a grown young woman now. It’s time you started thinking about your own life.” Old Zhou was back to his familiar lecture, the one he’d given hundreds of times.

“Xiaoxi is still in school,” Liang Qiuye said, unconcerned. “We’ll talk about it when she goes to college.”

Liang Qiuye had a younger sister, Liang Chunxi. They were seven years apart and had always depended on each other. After the new year, his sister would be preparing to take the college entrance exams.

“I’m not telling you to get married right now. Good girls don’t come along every day. If you wait until you come to your senses, it’ll be too late. Remember that girl your aunt mentioned last time, the one from the Wang family? She’s a really good catch.”

Old Zhou pulled a big-screen senior’s phone out of his pocket and showed Liang Qiuye a photo of the girl from the Wang family.

“She’s three years younger than you. She saw your photo and liked you, too. Give it a try.”

Liang Qiuye quickly waved his hands and tactfully refused. “I don’t have a house or a proper job right now. I’d only be holding her back. You’re all just playing matchmaker for no reason.”

Since he couldn’t fight them off, he could at least run. Liang Qiuye took the rest of the red-date cakes and bolted.

Old Zhou couldn’t catch up with those long legs. He shouted after him, fuming, “The girl knows your situation and doesn’t care. You’re the one with his head in the clouds! What kind of girl do you want? We’ll find one for you!”

“Don’t trouble yourselves.”