“Let’s rest a little longer before heading back,” Wen Shu said. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you return alone. We’ll just walk around nearby for a bit, and if we don’t find anything else, we’ll go home.”
Along the way, they had already picked quite a lot of wild celery, which they found growing in abundance near a small pond.
“Sounds good,” Mu Fu replied—she was already dreaming of lying down to rest.
They had left a little after two, and now it was already half past three. They’d been walking for nearly an hour.
“Hey, are those mushrooms?” Mu Fu pointed at a rotting tree behind Wen Shu, where clusters of yellow-brown fungi were growing.
Wen Shu stepped over and picked one carefully to inspect. “They are shiitake mushrooms! Let me see if there are more around here—if there are, we can have chicken and mushroom stew tonight!”
The moment he said it, Mu Fu’s imagination kicked in: a fragrant, rich chicken broth, earthy mushrooms soaking up all the flavor…
“I’m going to help look too!”
Maybe it was because the forest was so humid and damp, but they ended up finding over twenty shiitake mushrooms scattered nearby. They even saw other types of fungi but left those alone since they couldn’t identify them.
Once they’d gathered everything, they packed up and started heading back. The return trip was quicker since they didn’t need to keep stopping to search for edible plants.
“Should we have dinner a little earlier tonight?” Mu Fu suggested. “Stewing chicken takes a while.”
Wen Shu thought about it and nodded. “Good idea. Let’s go to the river and prep the chicken first.”
“Okay!”
But with so many ingredients now, a new problem came up—they didn’t have a basket to carry everything. Before, they didn’t gather much, so it hadn’t been an issue. But now, looking at all the vegetables waiting to be washed, it became clear they needed a better solution.
“What if we use some big leaves to carry everything?” Mu Fu suggested. “Like banana leaves or something?”
“I know where we can find some,” Wen Shu said. “Wait here—I’ll go get them.” He remembered seeing some banana trees near the chicken coop that morning. Since it wasn’t fruiting season, there were no bananas, but the leaves were still there.
Mu Fu didn’t know exactly where he was going, but seeing his confident smile, she decided to trust him. “Alright.”
A little while later, Wen Shu returned carrying several wide banana leaves.
“Why’d you grab so many?” Mu Fu laughed. “We don’t need that much!”
“The top of the shelter could use another layer,” Wen Shu said. Earlier that morning, he hadn’t thought of banana leaves, so they’d used bamboo leaves and some large foliage they had found nearby to cover the roof.
When Mu Fu realized what he was up to, she rushed over to help, but Wen Shu stopped her.
“You can just supervise from over there. You’re too short—you won’t reach it anyway.”
Mu Fu’s cheeks puffed up in protest. “I’m not short!” she huffed indignantly. At 1.68 meters, she really wasn’t short—though she wasn’t especially tall either.
Wen Shu realized he’d messed up and quickly tried to fix it. “No, no, that’s not what I meant! I just meant I can handle it by myself. All you need to do is stand there and supervise me!”
Mu Fu muttered under her breath, “That’s more like it.” Then she raised her voice with a mock-serious tone, “Fine, I graciously forgive you! Now get to work!”
“Aye aye, captain!” Wen Shu joked, giving her a silly salute.
With Mu Fu keeping a “watchful eye,” he finished reinforcing the shelter’s roof. The extra banana leaves were trimmed down to size so they could use them for other tasks.
Once they were done, they carried all the vegetables down to the river to wash. They also brought along their cooking pots and bowls—they planned to heat water on the riverbank to pluck the chicken feathers.
At the river, Mu Fu got to work washing vegetables while Wen Shu went off to gather firewood.
By the time the firewood pile was ready, Mu Fu had finished rinsing the vegetables. Now they just needed to boil water. Since the pot they had was small, they’d have to scald and pluck the chicken in batches.
The chicken, meanwhile, was still blissfully unaware of what lay ahead. Even with its feet tied, it stubbornly pecked at tufts of wild grass growing between the river stones.
Once the first pot of water reached a boil, Wen Shu, ignoring the chicken’s panicked squawks, swiftly ended its life. Mu Fu didn’t let the blood go to waste—she caught it in a bowl. Following Wen Shu’s instructions, she added a pinch of salt to help the blood coagulate.
It was her first time witnessing a chicken being killed, but Mu Fu wasn’t scared at all. In fact, she was excited—excited about the delicious chicken dish they were about to enjoy!
Wen Shu took care of scalding and plucking the chicken himself, not letting Mu Fu help with that part. All she had to do was keep an eye on the boiling water and refill it as needed.
It took them about an hour to finish everything, and by then it was around 5 PM. The sun was already starting to dip behind the treetops.
“I’m going to check the bamboo basket in the river and see if we caught anything,” Wen Shu said.
“Do you want to check the trap you set by the trail?” Mu Fu asked.
“No need. After I took the chicken this morning, I didn’t reset it. I think this one chicken will be enough for today.”
Mu Fu thought about how much she usually ate and nodded—Wen Shu had a point.
“But I’ll go reset the one over there later,” Wen Shu added. Tomorrow would be their last day alone together, and he wanted to prepare something special for her.
Mu Fu hadn’t remembered that tomorrow was the third day of their “date.” “Want me to come with you?” she offered.
“It’s okay. You stay here and keep an eye on everything. I’ll be back quickly.” The vegetables they’d washed weren’t easy to carry around anyway.
“Alright.”
After Wen Shu left, Mu Fu gave the wild celery and mushrooms another rinse, just in case any dust had gotten on them while they were working earlier.
She kept only the stalks of the wild celery, discarding the leaves—neither of them liked the leafy parts.
Wen Shu returned soon after resetting the trap. “All done over there. Let’s head back.”
“Mm-hmm!” They each grabbed part of their things and made their way back to camp.
Back at the camp, it was Wen Shu’s time to shine—cooking was his domain.
He used half the chicken and the mushrooms to make a hearty soup and stir-fried the other half with the wild celery. As for the fish and shrimp, both he and Mu Fu agreed to stir-fry those too.
By the time everything was ready, it was already 7 PM.
While the chicken soup simmered, Wen Shu and Mu Fu left one of the cameramen at camp to keep watch and headed to the river to bathe.
Afterward, they thanked the cameraman and shared some food with both crew members. There was plenty—they couldn’t finish it all anyway.
The four of them sat around the fire and had dinner together.
It was too dark by the time they finished, so they left the dishes unwashed, planning to clean them in the morning.
This time, Mu Fu didn’t head into the tent as early. For one, they hadn’t done as much physical activity as yesterday, and two—Wen Shu clearly wasn’t going to be joining her. Last night, she had stayed awake for a long while but never saw any sign of Wen Shu coming in.
Now, she and Wen Shu sat quietly under the moonlight. The forest sky at night was stunning—filled with stars, bright and clear. Nothing like in the city, where clouds and light pollution drown out the stars.
In the quiet of the night, far from the noise of the city, Mu Fu felt her entire being relax.
She was fully immersed in the peace of the moment. It felt like the life she had always dreamed of—living simply, somewhere out in the world, with someone she loved.
But Wen Shu was a soldier, so she knew this dream would likely never come true.
In a soft voice, she asked, “What are you thinking about right now?” turning her head to look at Wen Shu.
Under her curious gaze, Wen Shu replied quietly, “I’m thinking… I wish time could stop right now.”
He truly meant it. If he could freeze this moment with the girl beside him, he would.
Wen Shu had always known how Mu Fu felt. He could feel her warmth and affection. But after spending these days with her, he was more certain than ever that he wasn’t worthy of someone like her.
Before Mu Fu entered his life, his world had been dark—hidden in shadows, full of things that couldn’t be spoken of. The only time he felt needed, like a normal person, was when he was carrying out missions.
The weight on his heart was something no one could truly understand, and something he never had the words to explain.
Until Mu Fu came along.
For the first time, he felt like life might hold some light, that maybe he too could live in a world full of warmth and springtime. Every time she leaned on him, every time she asked for help, he never saw it as a burden. On the contrary—he cherished it.
Her dependence, her need for him—it was something he had always yearned for but never dared to touch. He longed for a love like this, the kind normal people had. And now, for the first time, he felt lucky… to be allowed to feel like a normal man.
But at the same time, Wen Shu felt a growing sense of unease.
He was afraid that one day, everything would go back to the way it used to be. He feared the day Mu Fu would no longer be someone special to him. What would he do then? Would he be able to let her go?
No—he knew himself well enough to know… he wouldn’t.
Someone who’s lived in darkness their whole life—if they ever get a glimpse of light, do you think they’d ever want to go back to that pitch-black world?
He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.
In the depths of his heart, the darkest part of him whispered loudly: “That’s just a possibility. And it won’t happen. It won’t happen.”
Mu Fu kept a soft smile on her lips.
Mu Fu smiled softly, her heart mirroring his. “I feel the same way. The night is so beautiful,” she said gently.
A simple sentence—“The night is so beautiful.”
But it carried deeper meaning. The Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki once used those very words to express love—quietly, subtly.
“Yes, it really is,” Wen Shu replied, gazing up at the moon, bright and full. It seemed he hadn’t understood the meaning behind her words.
But the audience watching? They caught it immediately.
From the start, they’d rooted for Mu Fu and Wen Shu. They believed these two were made for each other—perfectly matched, in looks and spirit.
They had followed every step of their journey together, so when Mu Fu said those words—though they fit the moment perfectly—many viewers sensed the truth behind them.
Even if veiled, her words felt like a confession of love.
Mu Fu realized Wen Shu hadn’t picked up on what she really meant.
But she didn’t feel discouraged.
Love, she believed, was something that needed time.
It had to unfold slowly—step by step.
Axolotl Translations 
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