In the evening breeze, he heard the chatter of two children—
"What do you think of this pitch? How about this?"
The girl was laughing and singing segments intermittently. It was a beautiful melody, one that Pei Ziheng had never heard before.
Pei Ziheng's face darkened.
"Xiao Ling." He called out to the girl.
"Ah!" Xia Ling got startled. But she was delighted when she turned around and saw that it was him. "Brother Pei!"
She held her dress up and walked up to him, not bothering about the soil that got onto her clothes. "You're back. I just composed a tune and Xun An says it's nice. Oh right, this is Xun An, a new friend I made!"
The girl's eyes were big and bright.
Pei Ziheng bent his knees slightly to brush the soil off her, chiding affectionately. "How could you just sit around on the ground anyhow, what if you catch a cold?"
She smiled. "I won't, Xun An is blocking off the breeze for me."
