Having come this far, the worries he couldn't let go of were right before his eyes. After much deliberation, San San finally let his long-lost emotions overcome his fear, so before dawn he shook Chen Yunqi awake, indicating that he still wanted to go back and see.
Their renewed courage was even stronger than before. When they rushed to the foot of Tianyun Mountain, Huang Xiaoya and Huang Yelin, who was carrying his younger brother, were already waiting in front of the blue wooden door.
The shop is located in an area prone to geological disasters such as landslides, and it has been abandoned for a year. The neglected wooden door has faded in color and large patches of paint have peeled off after being exposed to the wind and sun for a long time, revealing the wood hollowed out by insects.
Aside from growing taller, Huang Yelin hadn't changed much. It was Huang Xiaoya who surprised Chen Yunqi; he almost didn't recognize her. She stood obediently beside Huang Yelin, her thick, black hair tied into two small braids hanging beside her ears. She wore a red plaid dress, and her beautiful big eyes were exactly like her brother's.
Chen Yunqi thought she didn't remember him; after all, Huang Xiaoya was only four years old three years ago, and now she was just a seven-year-old child. But to his surprise, as soon as she saw him, Huang Xiaoya hopped across the street like a nimble little rabbit, threw herself into his arms, and excitedly exclaimed, "Teacher Chen! Teacher Chen, you're finally back!"
Huang Yelin followed closely behind, his voice a mixture of sorrow and joy as he exclaimed, "Teacher Chen! Third Brother! You're finally back!"
Huang Xiaoya was so heavy that Chen Yunqi's arms ached after carrying her for only a few minutes. He reached out and rubbed Huang Yelin's head, then pinched the cheek of the little boy behind him, and said with a smile, "Why are you crying? You're back now."
When Huang Yelin started crying, Huang Xiaoya also began to sob. Chen Yunqi was flustered and tried to comfort one after the other. After a while, he said with a mix of laughter and tears, "If you keep crying, it'll get dark soon."
"Let's go home, let's go home," Huang Yelin said, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand. He quickly pulled Chen Yunqi and San San back home, saying as they walked, "My dad is coming to pick you up, but he has trouble walking, so I told him to wait at home. Teacher Chen, he really wants to see you."
As Chen Yunqi walked along the newly paved mule track, looking at the few wooden stakes symbolically placed along the cliff edge to prevent people from falling, he asked Huang Yelin, "How is your family? Has the village changed a lot?"
“It’s good,” Huang Yelin said, panting as he walked. “My mom has become less crazy since my dad came back. Now we eat rice at home instead of cornmeal.”
After Huang Yelin finished explaining his family's situation, he told Chen Yunqi and San San about the changes that had taken place in the village over the past few years. He told Chen Yunqi that after Tang Yutao and Li Hui left, the village's application for electricity was approved. Everyone worked together to carry the power poles up the mountain, but when they were digging the holes and burying the poles, they got into a fight over who had contributed more or less. In the end, no one cared anymore, and it took another six months before the whole village finally got electricity.
That's not all. After the electricity was connected, whoever used the most appliances was blamed for unstable voltage. The poor urged the rich to pay more electricity bills, while the rich accused the poor of being lazy and heartless. Such disputes continued, and the standard of living did not improve at all.
Because they still have immediate family members, the three Sheng siblings did not meet the requirements for adoption and could only stay in the village to depend on each other, with a designated guardian visiting and caring for them regularly. After their aunt left, they moved from Acuoqubi's house and stayed at school during the week, only returning home on weekends.
Apart from a few students like Sheng Qinyong and Huang Yelin who persisted, a significant number of the students the teachers had painstakingly transferred out of school chose to drop out. They comfortably received their monthly stipends while working odd jobs or getting married. Li Jun was arrested and sent to a labor camp for unknown reasons after being away for six months, while Teacher Sheng lost his teaching qualification after being reported by villagers who felt they had unequal access to donated goods; he could no longer return to Tianyun Elementary School.
Third Aunt remarried, marrying a truck driver. She said he was honest and kind, didn't mind that she had children and would have to support her in her old age, and treated her family very well. They didn't have a wedding banquet, just went to a photo studio to take a picture together. In the photo, Third Aunt wore a royal blue hair clip bought by Li Laoqi and earrings bought by Chen Yunqi, smiling faintly at the camera. Chen Yunqi put the received photo in a frame and placed it on the cabinet along with a teacher-student photo taken by Song Feifei.
Thinking of San Niang, Chen Yunqi finally felt a sliver of comfort amidst a series of disheartening news.
They walked and chatted, and before they knew it, they had arrived at school. San San stood on the earthen slope at the school gate, gazing in the direction of her home, lost in thought.
Chen Yunqi handed the gifts he brought to Huang Yelin, squatted down, and held Huang Xiaoya's hand, saying, "Alright, you two go back now. I'll accompany Brother San San home. I don't have much time this time, so I won't go to your house. Please give my regards to your parents."
Upon hearing this, Huang Yelin and Huang Xiaoya burst into tears: "Teacher Chen, please have a meal before you leave, we miss you so much..."
With his back to San San, Chen Yunqi patiently coaxed, "Listen to me, your brother San San hasn't been home for several years, and he misses his parents too. I'm relieved to see that you're all doing well. Study hard, and I'll come again."
Huang Yelin turned to look at San San not far away, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. He took out a paper packet from his pocket and handed it to Chen Yunqi, saying, "Teacher Chen, this is the money for that doctor's visit. I... haven't saved enough yet, so I'm giving you some first."
Chen Yunqi was taken aback, and asked while holding the paper package, "Where did you get the money?"
Huang Yelin smiled sheepishly and said, "I earned it by drawing portraits for people in the park with my teacher during the holidays."
Chen Yunqi unfolded the homework paper and saw a stack of crumpled and dirty RMB notes inside, all in 1-yuan and 5-yuan denominations. The cover had the words "For Teacher Chen, 136 yuan, still 418 yuan short" written crookedly on it.
Chen Yunqi put the money in his pocket, patted Huang Yelin on the shoulder and said, "Teacher has accepted it, go back now."
Huang Yelin reluctantly led Huang Xiaoya away. Only after they had gone some distance did Chen Yunqi come to his senses and call out to him, "Huang Yelin! What's your little brother's name?"
"Call me Huang Zhenyun!" Huang Yelin turned around and shouted back, his face beaming with a smile.
After seeing Huang Yelin off, Chen Yunqi accompanied San San around the withered tree to their front door. Encouraged by him, San San gently knocked on the door, then took a half-step back, waiting anxiously at the door.
It felt like half a century had passed before the door finally opened. Sheng Xiaoyan peeked out from the crack and was initially startled to see her brother. Then she frowned and asked in a low voice, "You... why are you here?"
Looking at the young girl who had passed her prime, San San didn't bother to figure out why she said "come" instead of "come back," and quickly stepped forward to say to her, "Xiao Yan, are Mom and Dad home? I want to see them."
Just as Sheng Xiaoyan was about to speak, she saw Chen Yunqi beside her and immediately looked troubled, hesitatingly saying, "...They...they are...you..."
When San San heard that her parents were both there, she hurriedly said in a pleading tone, "Xiao Yan, please open the door and let me in."
As he spoke, he hurriedly reached out to push the door open.
"They don't want to see you, you should leave."
The hand that was pressing on the door panel paused, and San San's voice trembled slightly.
"Xiaoyan..."
"Go away," Sheng Xiaoyan said, blocking the doorway. "You've upset Mom and Dad like this, what are you doing back here?"
“Because of you and this person,” she said, glancing meaningfully at Chen Yunqi, “because of you, Mom and Dad have suffered endless scorn in the village. Leave before everyone notices you’re here.”
"Do you remember how I cried that Spring Festival? It was because I saw you two together... When you comforted me, I thought you listened to me, that you would forget him, that you would leave him. But I never imagined that in the end you would still abandon us for him. You're different from us now... You're living a good life now, so please don't come back..."
Despite having mentally prepared herself and imagined countless scenarios, San San still sadly lowered her head and didn't say a word.
Chen Yunqi stepped forward, put his arm around San San, and said to Sheng Xiaoyan, "Xiaoyan, this is your brother, he's not..."
“I don’t have a brother,” Sheng Xiaoyan interrupted before he could finish, “You should leave now, or my dad will call people to beat you up if he sees you.”
Immediately afterwards, the wooden door slammed shut.
Chen Yunqi turned around and hugged San San tightly, constantly comforting her, "Good San San, let's go home, we're going home now."
Her chest was quickly soaked with sweat. San San hid silently in Chen Yunqi's arms, and it took her a long time to recover before she turned around and left with him.
Originally planning to stay at school for the night, they immediately decided to head down the mountain. Just as they reached the entrance of Tianyun Elementary School, Sheng Xiaoyan caught up with them from behind. She ran quickly and handed a white object to the bewildered San San, panting as she said, "I threw away everything else. This was sent back by Li Jun through my mother. It's quite cute... I... I couldn't bear to throw it away. You can take it."
San San looked down and saw the little rabbit lamp he had left in the construction site's prefab house.
As Sheng Xiaoyan was about to leave after speaking, San San hurriedly called her back, took a piece of paper from her schoolbag, and stuffed it into her hand without saying a word, saying with her head down, "Xiaoyan, this...this is for Mom and Dad..."
Just as Sheng Xiaoyan was about to refuse, San San said again, "Xiaoyan, don't throw it away. This is my university admission notice. I won't be coming back. You must study hard and take good care of Mom and Dad."
Sheng Xiaoyan clenched the paper, her lips moved, but in the end she turned and left without saying a word.
Looking through the iron gate, the small playground of Tianyun Elementary School was covered in dust. The basketball hoops and ping-pong tables had been removed and were nowhere to be seen. The doors of several classrooms were tightly closed, and faint chalk marks remained on the low black walls. The flag on the roof had been blown down by the wind and was piled up in a dirty heap in the corner.
San San didn't appear overly sad; instead, she seemed remarkably relaxed and composed. She had done her best, and the future was long. Regardless of whether her choices were right or wrong, she would continue to move forward bravely.
Smoke curls from chimneys, mist hangs in the air, and the summer evening breeze caresses the face, sweeps across the mountains and fields, and carries away the dust of the world. White clouds swirl around the mountains, the river flows ceaselessly, and ancient Yi proverbs echo in the ears:
May the mountains become family.
May the towering mountains become my friends.
Mountains are connected by white clouds.
The dams stand side by side, nestled amidst the green waters.
As the sun set, Chen Yunqi and San San walked side by side, holding hands, and gradually disappeared at the end of the path.
Chen Yunqi, just like you, I fell deeply in love with you from the very first moment I saw you.
End of main text.