Spring (Condition: 80% new)

Author: Ba Jin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1962-08-01
Features: "A 'Second Miss, our mistress is asking you to go play cards,' Qian'er walked into the room with a smile. Gao Shuying was sitting in front of the window on an ebony armchair, holding a book and reading intently. She looked up in surprise, gazing blankly at Qian'er for a moment, then smiled faintly, as if she didn’t understand what Qian'er had said. 'Second Miss, our mistress is asking you to go play cards right away! Auntie Wang has arrived,' Qian'er saw that Shuying was engrossed in her book and couldn’t help but chuckle. She raised her voice and repeated it. She walked up to Shuying, stood beside the desk, and waited for her reply. Shuying frowned slightly and made an excuse: 'Why ask me to go? Why not ask Third Madam?' Third Madam Zhang was Shuying’s mother. 'I’ve asked her already, Third Madam asked you to go play in her place,' Qian'er replied. Shuying heard this and looked troubled. She put down the book, stood up, stretched lazily, but just as she was about to leave, she sat back down, frowned, and said, 'I don’t want to go. Just say I’m not feeling well today.' 'Our mistress is asking you to go,' Qian'er knew her thoughts but deliberately teased her, refusing to leave and instead pressed her further with those words, watching her with a smile. Shuying smiled too and quickly said, 'Qian'er, go. The eldest master is about to come back. Ask him. I really don’t want to play cards.' Qian'er smiled in understanding and readily agreed, turning to leave. Before she stepped out of the room, she turned back and said, 'Second Miss, with your diligence, you’ll definitely become a female scholar in the future.' 'You stupid girl,' Shuying scolded her with a smile. Seeing Qian'er’s retreating figure leave the room, she sighed in relief. She didn’t need to think and passed a moment blankly, then suddenly picked up the book and tried to continue reading where she had left off. But she found she couldn’t focus on the book. The four-numbered font printed in the thirty-two-page book became blurry in front of her and kept jumping between lines. The European life filled with sunshine and laughter that she longed for gradually dimmed. What replaced it in her mind were her past days and her current circumstances. She was a person with a very strong memory. She could remember many things, especially those from the past year. Indeed, in the past year, many significant changes had occurred in this mansion, each leaving an indelible mark on her heart, opening a new perspective, and teaching her things she had never thought of before. The biggest change was her grandfather’s death, her aunt’s death, and her cousin Juehui’s departure, especially the last one, which had a great impact on her. She learned from another cousin why he had left. She had never imagined that a young man would flee from his family, which she found terrifying. But now, as if her cousin had taken something away from the family, everything in the house felt different. She herself seemed to have changed too. A year ago, others criticized her for being straightforward, talkative, and overly cheerful. Now, however, she could sit quietly with a book by herself