She was an ordinary village girl from the mountains, born into a tribe of moderate size, with parents who occasionally quarreled but were mostly harmonious, and a brother who was stubborn with her but always listened after his resistance.
She grew up in an environment that was neither strict nor easy, learned the family craft of weaving reeds and raising fish and shrimp in the reed ponds, knew children from a few neighboring families, played together, worked together, and thus grew up gradually.
One soft and sunny afternoon, she met the man who would become her husband. It was a bright autumn day, with the lakeside forest tinged a light yellow, reflecting the dazzling, golden sunlight. His deep blue eyes that seemed to speak stopped her in her tracks as she held her grass-cutting sickle, and he too stood rooted to the spot, locking eyes with the owner of those pale silver orbs, and then shyly smiled.
