She pinned her falling hair behind her ear. The upturned corner of her mouth betrayed her good mood. "I'm not a decent lady right now. I take care of chickens every day."

The girl didn't like hearing her talk about herself like that. Qin Guan translated for her again.

"She said that she has been observing you in secret for a few days. She likes your dress. She wants to be like you!"

Kong chuckled. The sound was like a trembling branch carrying blooming flowers. Her manners were fascinating.

"You are still a little girl," she answered seriously. "You have to wait 20 years till you become a lady like me!"

The girl had asked all her questions, so Qin Guan took advantage of the silence to ask one of his own.

"Which country does the name Katyusha come from?"

Kong Wei fixed her charming eyes on Qin Guan and gave him a meaningful answer. The subtle connotation behind her words was not that clear for a simple country man.

"It's a name given to Russian women. It also refers to a kind of rocket gun."

"A rocket gun?"

"Yes, they have given a gun a female name. Do you understand?"

It's too complicated.

Qin Guan crossed his arms before his chest with a silly smile.

"No."

Kong changed the topic awkwardly. "How old is she?"

The girl answered herself. "I'm 16 years old!"

The young girl was wearing her new red outfit and had put on some heavy makeup for the meeting. This was actually not a meeting between a beautiful lady and her admirer, but a way for the girl to stake her claim on Qin Guan before the foreign enchantress.

Qin Guan was stupefied. The girl had caught him completely off guard with her lie. His mouth opened slightly. Suddenly, Jiang Wen raised his arm from behind the camera.

"Cut!" The scene was over.

The temperature difference in that mountainous area during the spring was really big. In the evening, the temperature dropped extremely low.

Wang Liying helped Qin Guan put on his jacket. Then he suddenly saw Jiang Wen waving at him happily.

"Come here, Qin Guan!"

Qin Guan joined a group of local children actors.

The Hani children were good at hunting for food. They stole bird eggs, dug up bamboo shoot and caught pheasants and hares. These were considered basic skills for the local teens.

They were currently cooking their prey around the campfire. Two pheasants and a hare were being roasted in the pit. The natural salt and fermented soya beans made them smell great.

They were all sitting around the fire with sparkling eyes.

It was hard for those children to understand foreigners. They all looked like rich people from big cities. Why were they so interested in ordinary food?

They handed Qin Guan a dagger. He had studied the children's cutting skills earlier. His good appetite made everyone hungry.

They all ate and talked happily in the dark night. Their happy laughter and cheerful voices expressed their love for life.

The next day, they filmed a new scene.

Jiang Wen caught Kong and Qin Guan having sex in a small stone hut built by Zhou Yun.

Due to the strict rules that applied to erotic scenes in China, even Jiang Wen, who was a really brave director, spent only one second on it. The audience would only see their bare backs through the blurry windows.

"They tell me that my stomach is as smooth as velvet..."

They? How many men have you had sex with?

When Qin Guan was on his way back home, Jiang Wen attacked him and pressed a shotgun against his forehead.

Ever since the death of his mother, Qin Guan had developed iron nerves. He didn't fight back or beg for mercy on his knees. Instead, he just started talking about random things absent-mindedly.

"I have never seen velvet. What is it like?"

"You are going to die. Excuses are useless!" Jiang Wen answered fiercely.

"It's not an excuse. You can shoot me now. I was just wondering what velvet is like."

"Okay, I'll show you one day. But you will die right after you see it."