“Where did you find them? This is a rare herb,” Gray said.

“In a place not far from my home. Seeing you going to the mountains all the time inspired me.”

“This is exactly what we need, and Mrs. Yi will be very pleased. Thank you for doing this. I heard someone calling me when I was on the mountain, but I didn’t think it was you. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I can try. It’s fun.”

“My goodness! Spoon, I love you so much!”

“Hush, someone over there is looking at us.”

“I don’t care! Spoon, let’s go home!”

They went back to Gray’s house.

Gray’s mother braised fish and cooked beef and potato stew for dinner, and everyone drank some wine.

In the evening, Gray asked Spoon to talk about her experiences picking herbs, but Spoon said she couldn’t remember.

“I wasn’t very clear-headed. In the past, I hardly ever went up the mountain alone, so I was scared. When you’re afraid, you don’t remember anything. Fortunately, these Sedum aizoon kept nodding to me from a rock. When I was a child, a woman in the village showed me this herb and told me how it was used. I was interested in it then, but later I forgot about it. Well, I saw them—so many!—and picked some, and came back in a daze. Gray, what’s wrong with me?”

“It’s because you’re going through a major change in your life,” Gray asserted.

“Now I feel good. I’m getting closer to you. Oh, our mountain! Why didn’t I go to the mountain more often? There must be something wrong with me. I was a problem teenager. Did you know that?”

“A problem teenager? That’s okay. Tomorrow, let’s go to Niulan Mountain together. You said when you were a child, a woman in the village taught you about herbs. Do you remember what she looked like?”

“It seems she wasn’t from our village . . . What did she look like? Let me think. Ah, her face is blurry . . . Maybe everyone is a little like her.”

Caught up in her memories, Spoon looked as if she were walking on a cliff. She held Gray’s hand tightly, and her lips quivered.

“Spoon, Spoon!” Gray gently shook her arm.

Gray felt that Spoon was being tested: Perhaps she was on a glacier? So he led her to the closet, and took out a blanket and wrapped her in it.

Spoon fell onto the bed, and her voice was muffled under the blanket: “Gray, I walked a long way. I need to rest. Thank you.”

Gray took off her shoes and tucked her in.

In his excitement, he gasped for breath. Then he took a cold shower.

When he came into the living room, his father did, too.

“Gray, you can get married now,” said Dad kindly.

“She knows more than I do!” Gray was very happy.

“You two will do some great things.”

Dad invited Gray to go outside for a walk. By the time they reached the threshing ground, the stars had come out.