NFM Chapter 51

Ying Xia arrived in Jiang Village in August.

“…This child has always been introverted and doesn’t like to talk. It’s all because his father and I have been arguing since he was young. After this, it will be up to you to take care of him…”

“Sister, you and Jianping—are you really divorced?”

“…Yes.”

“But why did you get divorced? Couples always have their quarrels. You’ve been together for over ten years, how could you just divorce like that?”

“…”

The continuous chatter felt like an impenetrable net, seeping into every pore he used to breathe.

He stood in the corner, squinting his eyes, then opening them. The figures of his mother and uncle appeared and disappeared intermittently.

Gradually, the conversation came to an end: “Sister, I know it’s not easy for you, a woman, to raise a child alone in Beijing. Ying Xia will be in our care now. But you know, we already have two children at home, and raising kids is not easy. Food, clothing, and shelter all cost money…”

“I know,” the woman said.

Pink banknotes were handed over to the uncle he had never met before. From that moment on, the boy’s fate was transferred.

After receiving the money, the rarely-seen uncle’s expression finally brightened: “It’s fine. Our family already has two kids, one more is just an extra pair of chopsticks. Yuxiu, clean up a room for Xia.”

Then, he sighed and looked at the woman: “Sister, you know Jianping’s temper. You’ve managed all these years. You gave birth to their eldest grandson, why should you make way for them? … Men, it’s normal for them to fool around outside. Sister, if you had been more considerate and gentle with him, he wouldn’t have gone out…”

Before he could finish, a loud noise came from the door. The woman named Yuxiu screamed and rushed over, relieved to see the enamel cup still intact.

Both people in the room turned to look at the door. Upon seeing the boy leaning against the door, the woman didn’t wait for the man to speak and scolded him: “Why did you knock that over? You’re already clumsy when you just arrived. Hurry up and apologize to your uncle! Clumsy…”

Ying Xia pursed his lips and remained silent. The woman then awkwardly smiled: “He’s always been quiet, spoiled since he was young… Probably still dizzy from the long bus ride, hasn’t recovered yet.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” the man said, his mood improved after receiving the money. “Xia just arrived, it’s normal for him to feel out of place, having grown up in the city. Sister, you’re leaving tonight, right? Why don’t you take him around? The village has built a lot of new things in recent years.”

“That’s right, I’ll show him around.” After everything was settled, the woman came to the door. “Son, let’s go.”

The boy named Ying Xia didn’t talk to her. He pursed his lips and walked ahead.

The two walked silently through the rice fields. The woman looked at the buildings on either side, forcing a cheerful expression: “…Look at that house, it’s the Sun family’s new one, right? They went to Shenzhen to work in the 80s, they’re rich now. Look at that house, it’s no worse than the villas in the city. That one is the village chief’s… Over here is the village’s Taoist temple, there’s an old Taoist priest inside, very spiritual. Over there is a dilapidated temple…”

She chattered on as if she didn’t care that her son remained silent. After a while, she stopped under a tree and sighed.

“Don’t take your uncle’s words to heart,” she said. “You’ll… stay here with your uncle for the next few years, okay.”

After a long while, she finally heard her son’s reply amidst the cicadas’ song.

“Mom, why can’t I stay in Beijing?” he asked.

“Ying Xia, Mom has no choice,” the woman smiled awkwardly, like a flower that had just bloomed and was blown away by the wind. “Mom… Mom can’t take care of you anymore…”

She reached out as if to pat her son’s head: “Ying Xia, be good, listen to Mom…”

But that hand was dodged.

The woman was stunned. The next moment, the boy walking in front of her stopped.

“You’re going to marry Uncle Li, aren’t you?”

“I…”

The real reason hidden in her heart was exposed. Before she could explain, she heard her son’s extremely low voice.

“I saw your text messages.”

Silence fell.

The woman didn’t offer any further explanations. Before she could speak, the boy had already started walking again. His voice was hoarse, as if suppressing something: “I’m going for a walk.”

“Ying Xia, where are you going?”

“Don’t follow me.”

“Ying Xia!”

“Don’t follow me!” the boy shouted. “Leave me alone!”

His shouts echoed through the wheat fields. The woman chased after him for a few steps, then stopped. The boy from the city had already parted the wheat waves and disappeared into the distant golden sea.

He walked at first, very quickly. When he could no longer see anyone, he started running. He imagined himself running on the red plastic track of a schoolyard. If he ran fast enough, he could start over from the beginning. If he ran fast enough, he could return to where he came from.

He ran for a long, long time, until noon turned into dusk. Finally, exhausted, he found a ridge to sit on, gasping for breath, trying to hold back his tears.

She doesn’t want me anymore, she abandoned me, she doesn’t want me anymore, she abandoned me… She’s going back alone…

The thoughts churned in his chest. He covered his head, gasping for breath.

He felt an overwhelming loneliness and desolation, like a wheat stalk swaying in the vast wheat field.

I’ll return to Beijing. He thought stubbornly. Even if it’s just me, I’ll return to Beijing!

He wiped away his tears, stuffing all his uncontrolled emotions back into his heart. Only then did he realize he had run very far, almost crossing the entire field, reaching the edge of the forest.

On the opposite hillside, hidden among the trees, facing him, was a small red temple.

Perhaps due to years of neglect, the temple looked precarious, its tiles and bricks worn out, exuding a lifeless aura. The temple doors were slightly ajar, as if unsure if anyone still lived inside.

He stared at the temple for a long time, until he heard someone calling from behind.

He turned around and saw a strange boy.

“Ying Xia! Ying Xia!” the strange boy called, coughing halfway through. He parted the wheat waves, making his way through, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead. His attire was typical of a local boy. Ying Xia looked at him, momentarily stunned.

The boy seemed about the same age as him, perhaps a bit taller, but thin and sickly. Upon seeing him, the boy sighed in relief: “Great, finally found you.”

“How do you know my name?” Ying Xia took a step back, eyeing him warily.

The boy wasn’t angry. He patted his pants, coughed twice, and sat down beside him: “I know everyone in the village. You came back with Aunt Ying this morning, right? Everyone’s talking about you.”

Seeing Ying Xia still on guard, he smiled: “My name is Ren Qiu. I live nearby. Aunt Ying saw you running this way and asked us to help look for you.”

With that, he took Ying Xia’s hand: “Come on, let’s go back. It’s dinner time, and if we don’t hurry, Aunt Ying will be worried.”

“…She won’t be worried,” Ying Xia muttered.

“Huh?”

“Leave me alone, let me stay here for a while,” he said.

Then he closed his eyes.

“But it’s getting late,” Ren Qiu said gently, looking at the boy’s stubborn expression. “If you don’t go back, wild animals might come down from the forest.”

“…There aren’t any wild animals in the forest.”

“It’s true. Look at the temple on the hill,” Ren Qiu made up a story, looking at the boy’s resolute profile. “That temple is for worshipping the Fox Immortal. If you pass by at night, you can see ghost fires.”

Finally, amidst the boy’s quiet breathing, he heard a response.

“…I don’t want to go back,” Ying Xia said with his eyes closed.

“Why not? Are you feeling down?”

“No reason,” Ying Xia said coldly. “I hate this place.”

“Oh…” The boy thought he had found the right answer. He tilted his head and consoled him: “You’re from the city, after all. It’s normal to feel out of place at first. After a few days, you’ll get used to it.”

“…”

“Jiang Village has great weather, fresh air, beautiful mountains, and rivers. In spring, the hills are covered in bright red flowers. There are field mice in the fields, and you can even catch fish in the river,” the boy enthusiastically listed. “The fruits in the mountains are delicious, and at night, you can see the stars… Anyway, once you’ve stayed here long enough, even if someone asked you to leave, you wouldn’t want to… Like me…”

His words struck a nerve with Ying Xia.

Ying Xia opened his eyes. Ren Qiu thought his persuasion was working and intensified his efforts: “If you stay here, your mom would be so worried, she must be frantic.”

—She wouldn’t.

She didn’t even call him.

“Come on, let’s go back,” Ren Qiu reached for him again. “Next time you’re upset, don’t run so far. If something happened, your family would be so worried…”

“…I’m not like you people,” he muttered.

“Huh?”

The boy didn’t seem to hear clearly, so Ying Xia raised his voice: “I’m not like you people. I’m going back to Beijing sooner or later!”

He shouted so loudly that even the field mice in the countryside looked up. The boy he had lashed out at just stared at him in shock.

After the surge of emotions, a deeper emptiness and despair set in. He wanted to stand up, but his legs were weak from low blood sugar, so he sat on the ridge, burying his head in his knees.

He wanted to cry.

He missed Beijing, his home, his former father, and his mother who had abandoned him. He didn’t like this place, he hated Jiang Village. Thousands of acres of Jiang Village, thousands of utility poles, a thousand-yuan phone, yet not a single ringtone.

After a long while, amidst the monotonous drone of cicadas and the overwhelming silence of the clear blue sky divided by power lines, he heard the boy’s gentle voice.

“You’re supposed to go back for school anyway,” Ren Qiu said. “Want an Alps candy?”

It took him a while to lift his head. At that moment, he felt an unprecedented panic, like a stray cat that had wandered aimlessly for a long time finally hearing a call from someone else. To hide his fear and panic, he snatched the nearly melted cheap candy from the boy’s hand.

Sticky.

Sweet.

“…Don’t be sad,” the boy said clumsily. “If you don’t want to go back, come to my house for dinner. My mom’s a great cook, and my sister just came back from the city today…”

“…How about this,” the boy suddenly had an idea. “I’ll take you to the temple to make a wish. The wishing pool in that temple is very effective. Our family made a wish there before, and it came true…”

He rambled on, trying to comfort Ying Xia, but Ying Xia didn’t hear a word.

I’ll go back to Beijing. He licked the cheap sweetener in his mouth, thinking fiercely. I’ll go back, I’ll pass the exams, I’ll work there, I’ll take the train, I’ll take the plane. He would live there, live well, better than anyone who had abandoned him!

I’ll go back there, that’s my world, where I belong, my world.

At that time, Ying Xia was absolutely certain of this.

Ying Xia woke from a dark dream, the memory of his first arrival in Jiang Village still echoing in his mind, like waves or ripples, swaying in the golden wheat fields for a long, long time.

It was still early. He allowed himself to lie in bed for a while longer. He checked his phone, but there were no messages from Beijing.

The silence was suddenly broken.

“Something terrible has happened!! Something terrible!!” Screams mixed with running footsteps came from the street. “Someone else has died! Someone else has died!”

The sound was like a bomb, spreading through the quiet village. The streets and alleys immediately filled with the sounds of people hurriedly getting up and opening their doors. Men opened their eyes, women picked up their crying children who had been startled awake. The brave rushed out, the timid hid at home, peeking out through their windows.

The noise and commotion filled the entire Jiang Village. Even Ying Xia’s uncle and aunt’s house next door was filled with sounds.

“It’s happened again this year?” he heard his aunt say.

“I’ll go take a look,” followed by the sound of his uncle putting on his shoes. “Stay home, don’t go out.”

Ying Xia also put on his shoes, grabbed a flashlight, and followed his uncle out the door. His uncle was distracted and didn’t notice his underage nephew following him. Instead, he hurriedly followed the crowd towards the scene of the incident at the village entrance.

Sure enough, lying at the base of the flagpole at the village entrance was a fresh corpse, identical to the one that had appeared six months ago. He lay on the ground, his chest a bloody mess, his mouth wide open, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying before he died.

Ying Xia didn’t need to get closer to know that the man’s heart was already missing.

“…Another one…”

“Since three years ago, every six months, this happens…”

“It’s a curse, it’s all a curse…”

And beside the corpse, as always, were the familiar words, written in blood by a finger.

“Not a single one left!”