Where did it all go wrong? Was it when he sent that letter, and told her there was an escape? Or was it even earlier, when he held the Cotton Rose cream gently in his two hands, deep in thought? Or perhaps, were things already not meant to be from t...
The seemingly endless grass field did have an end after all; it faded away into a small rural village. Qingti was right; they really did make it there before night fell. The flat gray sky was becoming a dark bluish-purple that slowly faded to black. Qingti finally put Xiaojiu back on her own two feet and sighed. She couldn't tell if it was a sigh of relief, or just a sigh of exhaustion.
In fact, it may have been a bit of both. After all, they really made it out of the capital, unlike last time. It seemed Qingti really could change the past this time. He looked at her with a bright smile on his face.
"I told you we'd make it, Xiaojiu! It's getting late, let's have a quick meal and find a place to stay." She nodded and followed a few paces behind him. As she followed him so closely, Qingti almost reached out to hold her hand, but stopped himself just a few inches short.
"A hotel? Here?" The waiter looked at the two of them; clearly, they were not from these parts. "We're a small unknown village. Nobody comes to visit us, so there are naturally no hotels here. I daresay you two are the first travellers that have come here in a long time, let alone wanted to stay here."
"So there's nowhere we can stay?" Xiaojiu looked at the waiter with a look of worry, almost panicked. Seeing the look on her face, the waiter quickly corrected himself.
"That's not true! Although there are no hotels in this village, there is a small cabin on the outskirts of the village that recently became unoccupied. The owners recently moved into a larger cabin closer to the centre of town, and have no use for it now. I'm sure you could stay in it." The waiter paused and tried to stifle his chuckle. "The only thing is... it's a single room cabin."
Single room!? Qingti felt his heart leap in his chest. Xiaojiu and Qingti looked at each other in shock. Though, it seemed like they didn't have any other choice.
"W-we'll just have some porridge, waiter," Qingti blurted out, trying to end the awkward situation. The waiter nodded, smiling, and retreated to the kitchen.
The porridge didn't look like anything special, but at least it was still food. When the waiter served it to them, Xiaojiu asked him for directions to the cabin.
"Just keep going straight once you exit the restaurant. Once you get away from the main part of town, you'll see a small isolated cabin. You can't miss it." The waiter paused and smiled. "Hopefully it's comfortable enough for you. Along the way, there should be a small shop that sells quilts, blankets, and the like. Perhaps you could stop by. Other than that, I think the cabin will be quite suitable for you two." The waiter looked at Qingti as he finished his sentence and Qingti cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Thank you... sir," he replied, quickening his pace of cleaning up his bowl. After their meal, he used some of his last few coins to pay.
Following the waiter's directions, the cabin wasn't difficult to find. It was a small wooden structure that conveniently had a small horse stable next to it. The structure was nestled just at the opening of a lush forest, although the trees and their swaying leaves were a bit intimidating in the dim moonlight. The two of them just stood and stared at the cabin for a few moments before Xiaojiu started walking towards it. Qingti followed closely behind her.
The cabin was quite well-kept; the floor was clean and the shelves were empty and pristine. Qingti put the quilts he just bought down onto the floor for them to sleep on. He pulled out the string of coins from his pocket and found it was nearly empty. He wished it occurred to him earlier to take more money with him.
"Xiaojiu, tomorrow morning I will try to find a job. When we get enough money, we can leave here and continue making our way out of Chengyu." Xiaojiu nodded as she straightened her quilts.
"Then make sure you rest well tonight." She tucked herself in and rolled onto her side, facing the wall.
Qingti lay down on the other side of the room, staring aimlessly into space. The room was dark and silent, but Qingti could feel his heart pounding inside his chest, so much so that he was afraid it would be audible. When his eyes fell on Xiaojiu, he had a strong impulse to go up and hug her from behind. But he tucked the impulse away, knowing he shouldn't try. That night, he couldn't sleep at all until his exhaustion finally got to him and he fell fast asleep at dawn.
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