On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yun Shu returned to Yinyun County.
It would take several hours to cross mountains and ridges to get home. She dragged two suitcases and looked left and right as she walked, not going very fast.
The fog in the mountainous area is heavy, and only after the sun comes out does it slowly drive away part of it, leaving the rest surrounded by the vegetation, although it is ready to wet passers-by.
She wrapped the scarf half-circle around her head in advance to serve as half a hat. She occasionally stopped to look at the familiar plants and trees, and watched the breath she breathed out turn into white mist in mid-air.
The air here was cold, but she still took a big breath and said "ha" twice to scare away the flying insects on the road ahead.
When she saw a butterfly flying out, she stretched out her hand to catch it.
She put all her luggage, including her valuable mobile phone, in the suitcase and locked it tightly. She only had a few hundred dollars in her pocket, and she didn't have any gadgets in her hand, so she could free up her hands after walking a short distance. Here
Whip it, poke it there, touch it.
I walked and stopped until the afternoon before crossing the two mountains.
After climbing over the last hilltop from the dirt road, the village below was right in front of her. It was still the same as the last time she turned her head to look at it when she left, quiet and peaceful.
But they are also poor and backward.
In a field halfway up the mountain, someone stood up, squinted, and shouted uncertainly: "...Yun Zai'er?"
Yun Shu raised her head, tightened her grip on the luggage handle, her throat moved slightly, and called out: "Sanniang."
Yun Sanniang put down the hoe in her hand and walked up to her, looking up and down at her changes with loving eyes.
"It's really you. After walking for half a year, I thought you couldn't find your way home. I even thought about asking your second brother to go to the county to look for you. It's almost the Chinese New Year. I don't know if you are doing well outside.
…”
Yun Shu suddenly threw herself into her arms, and the grievances she had suppressed in her heart for the past six months turned into tears, and she could not stop sobbing.
It turns out that the joy of revenge is not the final emotion. The unknown feeling lasts until now, and it really leaves the heart that has been lingering for a long time along with the cry.
The cry was pitiful, and one could tell that she was not having a good life outside, and she didn't know what kind of injustice she had suffered. She was crying so sadly. When her father died, she just cried silently.
Yun Sanniang sighed and patted her back gently: "It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."
Yun Shu didn't say what happened in the past six months, and Sanniang didn't ask. The two of them hugged each other for a while, then carried the box into the village.
Everyone in the village was familiar with Yun Shu, but they were a little afraid to recognize her. They waited until they saw who this beautiful girl with long hair was before saying hello.
She called people all the way to the door of her house, looked at the familiar house, stood there, and did not go in immediately.
Their house is a tile-roofed house with earthen walls, but it is said that they hired experienced craftsmen when they laid the foundation of the house, and the materials used were solid. The earthen walls have not collapsed at all over the past decades and are stronger than a brick house.
Moreover, the earth house has an advantage: it is warm in winter and cool in summer. If the beams are raised higher, the wind will blow in at night in summer, which is particularly cool.
Now the house is still the same, but the laundry sink outside is covered with a thin layer of mud, and two half-person-high grass has grown out of it. You can imagine how much ash has fallen inside.
Sanniang pulled her forward and said, "If you can't clean out your house today, go to my place."
"No," she put the box in and turned around with a slight smile, "I might bother you with eating, but I'll clean the house first before I come back."
I also need to contact Gu Xingze. I wonder if he saw the note when he got home.
After sending Sanniang away, she dug out a shaped clod of earth from a place on the wall and found the key to open the door.
It was a small hole dug out by ants when she was a child. Later, her mother used it to put keys. This habit has never changed.
There is indeed a lot of dust in the house, and the air is so dry that it is pungent.
But she didn't clean it immediately. Instead, she took out her mobile phone from the suitcase, opened it and looked at it.
Gu Xingze made many calls and sent messages, mainly saying that he had found someone to pick her up, and asked her when she would be back and why she didn't answer the phone.
After Yun Shu read it, she called back.
The other party picked up immediately, but the signal may be poor in mountainous areas, and the sound was noisy and intermittent.
"Why don't you have a phone call?"
She frowned, raised her phone and shook it.
"Hello? Gu Xingze?"
"...don't you hear...what...are you coming back...you sent a message..."
She shook it again, but still couldn't hear clearly, so she just answered by herself:
"I put my mobile phone in a box and I didn't hear any sound for the past two days. I just got home and I haven't lost it. I haven't decided when I will come back. It may be after the New Year, not too long. The signal here is not good, please wait. I’ll call you when I have time to go to the county seat.”
After thinking for a while, he added: "Did you see the note I left for you in the room? I will be back, don't worry."
It was still buzzing over there. She listened carefully for a while, but still couldn't hear clearly, so she simply hung up.
However, she remembered Gu Xingze's habit every time she called him, and he softly said the closing words before hanging up.
"I miss you too, bye."
In the evening we went to Sanniang’s house for dinner.
It gets dark early, and dim low-wattage light bulbs light up in the dining room. Simple steamed sausages have just come out of the pot, and steam with a salty aroma is emitting under the lamp.
Yun Shu didn't go empty-handed, she brought something and distributed it to them at the threshold.
"This is a comb, towel, toothbrush cup and book for Sister Yunduo." There are also sanitary napkins.
In many families, several people share some daily necessities. When the girls grow up, they always complain together, hoping to have something that belongs only to them.
She took out other books and boxed pens and gave them to her eldest sister, second brother and younger brother in three parts.
The boy named Yun Yan spread his hands out in embarrassment and gave her a piece of Ding Ding candy in return.
She ate with a smile and put the rest in front of her third uncle.
"Third uncle's earmuffs, Sanniang's shoes." Third uncle's ears have been frozen for a year or two now. When she was a child, she laughed with her father and said it was because Sanniang talked about it.
The earmuffs were made of leather and seemed to be of good quality. The middle-aged man under the light touched them lovingly and put them back.
"There is no need to buy this, it costs you so much money. You are out alone and you don't know if you have enough to eat. You just bought these to have a meal, there is no need..."
Yun Shu held his hand and stuffed something into him.
"When dad was in the hospital, my third uncle came so far to deliver things several times, and I remember them all. You brought him back and buried him, and I remember it very clearly."
If it weren't for their help, she would have been able to shed tears while guarding the body alone.
Seeing that he still refused to accept it, Yun Shu added: "It's not just for you. I have prepared things for those who have helped me. I also want to trouble Sanniang to take me to buy some meat tomorrow. I heard that the fifth uncle only has this It’s winter, it’s good to eat two more pieces of meat before you die.”
The third uncle didn't say anything, and looked at her under the dim light. Her fair skin and delicate appearance were astonishingly beautiful, and she didn't look like a child who could grow up in such a rural area.
"Go burn some paper for your parents at the beginning of the year. They will be happy to know what you are like now."