The day after the wedding, Xu Wanhe learned that she had married the wrong man.
A hectic rural wedding had brought her, a young woman from southern Jiangxi who had traveled north, through the gates of the Gu family.
She only wanted a warm meal and a safe place to stay. Instead, she had married Gu Chengan, the hardest man in the whole production team to find a match for: tall, taciturn, and always out working in the fields.
Seeing her slender wrists, her mother-in-law sighed with worry. "You're so gentle. How will you manage married life?"
Xu Wanhe was afraid he wouldn't be happy with her, too. She asked softly, "If this was a mistake, will I have to leave?"
Gu Chengan was serving her congee when his hand paused.
"Eat first." He placed the bowl in front of her. After a long moment, he asked, "Do you... want to leave?"
Later, she discovered that this man simply didn't know how to say sweet things.
When they went out, he shielded her from the wind. At meals, he pushed the egg toward her bowl. He was serious in front of others, but back in their room, he blushed just from touching her hand.
And the man who had never once thought about when work would end gradually began to have someone on his mind.
As soon as dusk fell, he thought of the lamp in their little courtyard and the girl waiting beneath it for him to come home.
Other people still pitied them for their mistaken marriage.
But he lowered his head, held her hand, and asked softly, "Wanhe, can we spend the rest of our lives like this?"
