While Zhou Ziang was still deciding whether to stay in the country, Li Ye, who hadn’t appeared for quite some time, was also hesitating whether to stay in Dongnan Miao Village.
Compared to the harsh cold of the north, the winter in the Southwest Mountain Area this year is very warm. The pear tree behind the Zhu Family house even blossomed before the Lunar New Year.
Listening to Zhu Shijun talk about how Xiao Xian had called a few days ago, Li Ye silently walked out of the house.
Mr. Zhu said that Xiao Xian had grown taller and had also started junior high. The winter in Beijing must be colder than here, and that foolish girl doesn’t like wearing heavy clothes. What is she... what is she like now?
For half a year, Xiao Xian had not contacted him, no phone calls, no letters. She broke her promise; she said she’d come back soon. She lied to him. Has she forgotten the Southwest Mountain Area? Forgotten him?
Under the pear blossoms that were whiter than the whitest clouds, Yezi punched the trunk of the tree. Countless delicate petals fell down, and the dew that had accumulated overnight cascaded down with the petals, coldly drenching Yezi’s face.
"I’m going to Beijing to find Xiao Xian and bring her back," Yezi thought to himself. He looked back at his father Li Quqi and Zhu Shijun chatting joyfully inside the house. He couldn’t tell his father and Mama about this just yet. He needed to find a way to ask where Xiao Xian was staying. Yezi wasn’t particularly worried about leaving his birthplace, Dongnan Miao Village, to go to a completely unfamiliar place.
Yezi had also heard from Uncle Yibar that outsiders were very bad, especially good at deceiving children. But he is Li Ye, taller than his father and Yibar, the tallest and strongest Li Ye of Dongnan Miao Village. He and his father had traveled across the three southwestern provinces, climbed the high Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and visited the bird-filled and fragrant Yunnan Lijiang, not to mention Guizhou with its crisscrossed ravines. In Yezi’s eyes, the three provinces of the Southwest were the whole world.
Li Ye also didn’t plan on telling Mama. If she knew, she would definitely twist his ear and give him a good spanking with a bamboo tube.
He had even planned the route for his escape. To avoid the gossipy young fellows of the village, he decided to take the bus that goes down the mountain from the entrance of Ge Village, carrying the more than a thousand yuan he had earned from making silver traveling across the three provinces of the Southwest. First, he would go to Bai Family Ancient Town, then take the train from town. He had heard that a train could take him straight to Beijing.
After figuring everything out, Yezi entered the Zhu Family home. Li Quqi had seen his son walk out as soon as he heard the news about Xiao Xian and knew he must be missing Xiao Xian. Generally, his son was quite clever, but when it came to interacting with the Zhu Family’s little girl, he would become as dumb as a block of wood, just like he himself had been around Yezi’s mother back in his day.
"Grandpa Zhu, I want to write a letter to Xiao Xian. There’s no phone in Miao Village, and I can’t contact her. Do you have Xiao Xian’s address? She doesn’t contact me and I... really miss her," Yezi fumbled with his head in his hands, asking dumbly, his ears turning red as he spoke.
"I don’t have the home address, her aunt doesn’t really want me to contact Xiao Xian too much, but I do have the school’s address. Xiao Xian told me when she called before," Zhu Shijun guessed that Zhuo Feng didn’t like him contacting Xiao Xian too much, so he tactfully made few calls to the Zhuo Family. Xiao Xian also knew, so she often called back from school.
Beijing Sacred Heart Middle School, Class 1-3, Chaoyang District... Yezi wrote the address on a small piece of paper and kept it close to him.
Once he got home, Yezi didn’t even say hello to Mama and hid in his room, tightly closing the door.
Hearing the sounds of father and son returning home and seeing Yezi slip away as soon as he arrived, "What’s the matter? Yezi was so silent, hiding in his room as soon as he got back. The Lunar New Year is coming; we should prepare the gifts for the Great Wizard and Master Shan Yin to send over."
"He must be writing a letter to Xiao Xian. When we were at Mr. Zhu’s house, the child’s face was as tight as a drum." Yezi’s father thought, his son would be sixteen next year and had finished junior high. It was time to decide whether to send him to high school or to have him stay home and help with silver making. If sent to high school, Yezi didn’t seem particularly willing. Since Xiao Xian left, Yezi’s schooling had been lackluster, and his grades had declined.
"No wonder, my son has been close to Xiao Xian since childhood. The few days after Xiao Xian left, he tossed and turned every night in bed, eating a good bowl less at each meal," a mother is always more concerned than a father. Yezi’s mother actually understood her son’s feelings. It’s just that Xiao Xian had left, gone to the city, dazzled by its brightness; how could she return to the countryside?
"Why not, after the new year, I’ll take Yezi to Beijing. The new International Jewelry Fair is about to start, and I’ve agreed to showcase a few new silver pieces in Beijing," Li Quqi couldn’t bear to see his son keep his worries to himself.
"That sounds good, a visit is in order. I’ll take care of the house," Yezi’s mother listened to her son and husband about to leave for a while and felt a little reluctant, but she agreed nonetheless.
"It’s really hard on you," Li Quqi sympathized with his wife, and the couple snuggled together.
The conversation between Li Quqi and Yezi’s mother was not heard by Yezi, who was locked in his room, packing his clothes and a roll of savings accumulated over the years.
The Fake Turkey "Little Pig" perched on Li Ye’s bed, pecking at its feathers.
"Everything is ready, just you left," Yezi grabbed Little Pig in his arms, planning to leave Dongnan Miao Village on the afternoon bus and head to Beijing to find Xiao Xian. (To be continued. If you work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)