Wheat Seedlings - Chapter 1

Mai Miao was having another episode.

This strange illness had plagued him since he turned nineteen, recurring every month without fail.

The village doctor, who had studied in the city, had made a point to explain to everyone that this disease wasn't contagious—it only affected certain individuals. With that reassurance, the villagers no longer panicked.

Truth be told, Mai Miao was a pitiful soul.

His father had died early, and his mother passed away just after he turned twelve.

Fortunately, Mai Miao had an elder brother.

This brother of his was much older, having left to join the military in his teens. After that, there had been no news of him—until five years after their mother's death.

On the day his brother returned, Mai Miao was in the shed feeding the chickens.

After his parents' deaths, they had left him the house and farmland.

The land was too much for Mai Miao to work alone, so the men from Aunt Liu's household, their neighbors, helped him plow the fields and harvest the wheat. Mai Miao's daily routine consisted of feeding the chickens in the shed and drying the wheat.

In the sweltering heat, Mai Miao had rolled up his sleeves and pant legs.

He took after his mother—pale and slender, with long, delicate limbs. His features were fine and fair, more handsome than even the prettiest girls in the village.

Outside, lively voices rose, but Mai Miao remained lost in his own world.

He scattered feed with one hand while clucking at the chickens.

Mai Miao had no friends in the village, and no one played with him. Shy by nature, he preferred staying in places where no one else was. From a distance, someone called his name, but Mai Miao didn't respond until someone found him in the shed and dragged him out.

The courtyard housed several families besides Mai Miao's.

Parked outside was a car—a rare sight in those times.

In no time, not just the courtyard but the entire road was crowded with onlookers. Some even abandoned their farm work to come and gawk.

Two men stepped out of the car.

One was Chief Li from the village. The other was a stranger to everyone.

This man was tall and broad-shouldered. He wore a plain shirt and dark green military trousers. Even from the back, one could tell he was strikingly handsome.

Mai Miao was pushed into the house.

Timid by nature, he had never seen so many people since his mother's funeral. His first instinct was to bolt, but Aunt Liu's eldest son grabbed him and yanked him back.

"Mai Miao, look closely that's your brother!"

Chief Li rose from his chair and pulled the dazed boy forward.

Mai Miao turned his head away.

Seated in the chair before him was a man.

This was Chen Li—Chen Mai Miao's long-lost elder brother, missing for over a decade.

They say a son takes after his mother, and Chen Li bore a striking resemblance to his. His features were handsome, and since he was returning home today, he'd made a special effort to tidy himself up his chin clean-shaven, looking every bit the educated youth.

But a man who'd served in the army was different after all.

Mai Miao had grown up never knowing he had an elder brother, while Chen Li had long heard about having a younger sibling.

Chen Li had enlisted early, leaving home at fourteen. Back then, their mother had seen him off in tears, her belly swollen with pregnancy.

In the blink of an eye, over a decade had passed. His parents were gone, leaving him only this little brother.

Chen Li stubbed out his cigarette.

Mai Miao saw him reach out and instinctively flinched, but couldn't avoid it.

That hand brushed past his cheek, where soot from the cooking fire had smudged.

A soldier's skin was rough—Chen Li hadn't even used much force, yet it still left a mark on that fair, delicate face.

Only after Chen Li touched him did Mai Miao timidly glance up at him.

***

Overnight, Chen Li became the talk of the entire village, all several hundred mouths.

Everyone was intensely curious about everything that had happened to him.

According to the village elders, Chen Li had been handpicked by the military back then. Out of thousands of children across a dozen neighboring villages, only the Chen family's son had been chosen.

Chen Li had been gone for over a decade, not even returning when his parents passed. Many had assumed he, too, had died out there.

The day after his return, Chen Li followed Aunt Liu's family to the fields.

The Chen ancestors had once been wealthy—the entire compound and the farmland behind it had all belonged to them. Later, they voluntarily handed it over to buy peace.

Not only was Chen Li handsome, but he was also hardworking—practically worth two men. It didn't take long after his return for him to get along with the other men in the village. Even those younger than him were happy to follow him around, calling him "Brother Chen" this and "Brother Chen" that.

Moreover, after Chen Li's arrival, the number of young women in the fields noticeably increased—some from the village, others from neighboring ones all there just to catch a glimpse of him.

Chen Li was in his early thirties, still unmarried, and with all his limbs intact—a rarity anywhere.

And that wasn't even considering his looks or character. Chen Li was a retired soldier. Some had inquired with his status, even if he didn't work, he'd receive a monthly subsidy of forty yuan.

These days, a family of five or six could live on far less for a month. Even village officials only earned thirty-two yuan a month. There were even rumors that Chen Li had been decorated for merit, meaning his stipend was far more than that.

Within just a few days, the number of matchmakers knocking on his door exceeded the fingers on both hands.

Despite the crowd, Chen Li wasn't in a hurry to agree to any matchmaking.

Like everyone else, he went to the fields in the morning and returned to the compound before dark.

In this large courtyard, the Chen family occupied only one room, with a chicken coop in the backyard. It wasn't exactly destitute, but it wasn't spacious either—they even had to cook outside.

Mai Miao crouched outside the coop, sifting beans.

Sweat clung to his clothes, sticking them to his body. His frame was slight, but his backside had a bit of flesh—small and perfectly rounded, like two ripe peaches.

"Mai Miao."

Startled, Mai Miao fumbled the beans, scattering them like raindrops across the ground.

Mai Miao stood up, his watery eyes looking at his brother as he shrank back timidly.

Chen Li didn't scold him for knocking over the sieve, wasting an entire afternoon's work.

He bent down, picked up the bamboo sieve from the ground, and told Mai Miao to fetch two eggs from the shed.

Mai Miao softly replied, "Okay."

Chen Li set up the pot. That evening, he cooked a yellow croaker and fried two eggs.

Inside the house was a large bed, part of their mother's dowry. Once Chen Li finished cooking, the two siblings sat together on the bed to eat.

Before his brother returned, Mai Miao used to eat at Aunt Liu's house.

The farmland belonging to the Chen family had been tended by Aunt Liu's household while Chen Li was away, so naturally, they had to feed Mai Miao too.

Now that the Chen family had someone back, the land had been reclaimed, and of course, Mai Miao had to return home for meals. Chen Li studied Mai Miao.

Mai Miao was seventeen or eighteen now. Chen Li had spent time in the military compound, where there were many boys several years younger than him.

He had never met a boy like Mai Miao—so timid, so afraid of people. Especially afraid of him.

The villagers had told Chen Li that Mai Miao's mother had a difficult labor when giving birth to him, suffering for three days before the child came into the world. He had nearly died in the womb.

Chen Li picked out the tenderest piece of fish and placed it in Mai Miao's bowl. "Eat more."

At night, Mai Miao hugged his pillow and scooted to the far side of the bed.

After finishing his cigarette, Chen Li picked up the washbasin and tossed the water outside. When he came back in, Mai Miao was already curled up at the very edge of the bed.

With a click, Chen Li turned off the light and climbed onto the bed.

After a full day of farm work, Chen Li didn't feel tired at all.

With his hands behind his head, he glanced sideways in the moonlight.

Mai Miao fell asleep easily. He lay with his back to the outside, slightly curled up, his neck slender and pale.

As he slept deeply, he grew too warm and kicked off the blanket, exposing his stomach.

Chen Li leaned over and pulled his clothes back down. He caught the scent on him—like fresh grass, like wheat.

Snapping out of it, Chen Li turned over, facing away from Mai Miao as he fell asleep.

<<Chapter List