Chapter 24: Parting (Part One)

The adults drank small cups of wine and chatted, but Ye Tian’s mind was nowhere near there anymore. While they discussed things like shares, he quietly made a face at Yu Qingya, who was behind Yu Haoran, and the two slipped out of the yard.

“Ye Tian, have you really become a little fortune-teller?”

Originally, Yu Qingya and Ye Tian had been very close, but they had slowly grown apart as they got older. Yet, she was leaving tomorrow, and for some reason, Yu Qingya followed Ye Tian out.

When he heard Yu Qingya’s words, Ye Tian pursed his lips and said unhappily, “What little fortune-teller? Master said it’s China’s traditional culture, it’s natural science…”

“Who are you trying to fool?”

Yu Qingya wrinkled her delicate little nose, her mood suddenly dipping. “Ye Tian, I’m leaving tomorrow. Will you remember me?”

A girl’s thoughts are usually more delicate. Yu Qingya knew that Ye Tian often teased her, but it was really just to get her attention. Now that she had to leave Ye Tian, she felt an indescribable reluctance in her heart.

“Of course I’ll remember you. Heh heh, Qingya little sister, I even know what color your little… you’re wearing today.”

Ye Tian chuckled, but before he could finish his sentence, Yu Qingya’s small hand cut him off. The two children began playing by the fields, as if they had returned to when they were five or six years old.

After playing for a while, they sat down on the ridge. Ye Tian pulled several one-yuan bills from his bag and said, “Qingya little sister, I originally wanted to have a dress made for you, but you’re leaving tomorrow. Take this money, and you can make it yourself later.”

Yu Qingya shook her head. “No… I don’t want your money…”

“Take it if I’m giving it to you. Otherwise, I won’t remember you in the future.”

Ye Tian firmly stuffed the money into the pocket of Yu Qingya’s clothes, stood up, and said, “Qingya little sister, I want to test into Huaqing University in the future. We might even become classmates.”

Although Ye Tian didn’t have a very clear understanding of Huaqing University, ever since he learned that his father had graduated from there, he held a belief in his heart: someday, he would also attend that university.

“Huaqing?” Yu Qingya didn’t say anything, instead quietly committing that name to memory.

“Ye Tian, Qingya, where are you?” Yu Haoran’s shout came from a distance.

“Ye Tian, you have to keep your word. See you at Huaqing!”

Yu Qingya tightly clutched the money in her pocket, laughed, and ran off. Her small body danced like a sprite among the fields filled with fireflies. This scene was deeply imprinted in Ye Tian’s heart.

“Is my future within these great mountains?”

Looking at the majestic, rolling mountains in the distance, ten-year-old Ye Tian sat on the field ridge for a long time without moving, beginning the first contemplation of his life.

When he returned home, Yu Haoran and his daughter, as well as Liao Haode and the others, had already left. Old Taoist’s snores sounded from the east side room, but Ye Tian didn’t sleep well that night. Yu Qingya’s figure kept flashing in his mind.

…

His childhood playmate had left, but life… had to go on. Children forget things easily. Over a month passed, and Ye Tian, spending his days catching fish and shrimp in the river, and going up the mountain to collect bird eggs and set traps, had almost completely forgotten about it.

The Taoist Temple on the mountain, which had been badly damaged by lightning strikes, was now repaired and looked brand new.

With the more than four thousand yuan that Miao Laoda had advanced, and using some of the money Liao Haode gave Ye Tian, the original Taoist Temple—which had only one main hall and two side rooms—was expanded to four side rooms.

In Miao Laoda’s words, whenever he had time, he would come and stay for a few days to soak up some of the immortal aura from the Old Immortal.

From the Taoist Temple down to the mountain foot, Miao Laoda also had people build a bluestone paved path.

Following the stone-paved mountain path step by step upwards, the mountain stream water flowed endlessly from top to bottom. Passages of mountain wind rustled through the bamboo forest. The sounds of the wind and water mixed together, as if it were heavenly music.

Just before returning to the United States, Liao Haode invited Ye Dongping to visit the Taoist Temple once more. He praised the beautiful scenery profusely, saying outright that when he was older, he wanted to retire here.

It wasn’t clear what Liao Haode and Old Taoist had discussed. After Liao Haode left, Old Taoist began to strictly discipline Ye Tian, teaching him much about Antique appreciation. It wasn’t until right before school started that he finally let him go down the mountain.

…

Sweaty and with clothes dirty like a mud monkey, Ye Tian pushed open the courtyard gate, threw a Pheasant he had caught on the way down next to the well, and shouted loudly toward the house, “Dad, I got a Pheasant. You can stew it tonight.”

“Dinner’s ready. Take this Pheasant to the Old Taoist tomorrow.” Ye Dongping’s voice came from inside.

“Master has eaten plenty of these. Hey, this well water is so cold. Feels great.”

Without taking off his clothes, Ye Tian drew well water and directly poured it over his head. He exclaimed how refreshing it was. Grabbing the towel from the rack by the well, he wiped himself haphazardly, didn’t mind the water dripping off him, and got up to walk into the house.

“Huh? Dad, what are you doing?”

Pushing open the main hall door, Ye Tian froze. All the usual pots and jars he could see were gone. Instead, there were two trunks in one corner of the room.

“Xiao Tian, we’re moving.”

Ye Dongping’s words made Ye Tian dumbfounded. “Moving? Move where? Don’t we only have this one home?”

“Here, actually, isn’t really our home either…”

“Dad, do you mean our home is in Beijing? Are we going back to Beijing?”

Hearing Ye Dongping’s words, Ye Tian became excited. He had grown up singing the song “I love Beijing Tiananmen, the sun rises over Tiananmen.” Children his age all yearned for Beijing.

“Beijing?”

When Ye Dongping heard that word from his son’s mouth, his whole body froze. After a long moment, he said, “We’re not going back to Beijing. Perhaps… you can go back someday.”

Thinking about how his marriage had caused him to lose contact with his two older sisters and his younger sister, how he hadn’t even been able to return home when his old father passed away, Ye Dongping felt a wave of bitterness in his heart. What face did he have to return to Beijing?

Moreover, in Beijing there was someone he didn’t want to face. Even though they often met in dreams, Ye Dongping would never forget the humiliation he had suffered back then because of Ye Tian’s mother.

Seeing the pained expression on his father’s face, his fists clenched tightly, Ye Tian quickly nudged Ye Dongping and said, “Dad, what’s wrong? What if we just don’t go back to Beijing?”

“Dad is fine. Perhaps some things… Dad did wrong.”

Ye Dongping shook his head somewhat dejectedly. Thinking back on the past now, he felt he had acted too impulsively before. Perhaps there were many misunderstandings that had never been cleared up.

“Dad, then where are we going?”

Ye Tian, being sensible, didn’t press further. But if not Beijing, he didn’t know where else they had a home?

Ye Dongping looked at his son and replied, “To the County Town. You don’t need to attend sixth grade; you’ll go directly to seventh grade…”

“Dad, but what will you do in the County Town?”

Ye Tian suddenly thought of this question. Even though they didn’t own land in the village, helping others during the busy farming season each year earned enough grain for the two of them to eat. But… going to the County Town—what would they eat in the future?