"Alright, since you've made up your mind, I'll take you there."

“Dad, that’s my uncle’s house,” Stone said, protesting from the side.

"It's alright. Hongmei has been missing for eight years. Your uncle and aunt are kind-hearted and won't care about these things."

"Comrade, let's go. We don't have anything extra at home, I'm really sorry, but you can come over for a meal."

"Okay, thank you, village chief. I won't eat for nothing."

Liu Maocai waved his hand and walked ahead.

Zhang Shouyi followed behind him, chatting casually.

"Village chief, I came without bringing anything. I should at least prepare some luggage and daily necessities. I don't know where I should go to prepare these?"

"The supply and marketing cooperative in the township will do. They have cotton and cloth. Go there and buy some. Bring it to my house and I'll make it for you."

"Okay, I'll make do with this for today, and I'll go buy it tomorrow."

"Now that you've got everything ready, you'll need to get the cooking utensils ready too."

"I can't cook, and I don't know what I need?"

"Pots, bowls, chopsticks, teacups, water tanks, water buckets, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar."

You've just arrived and haven't done any work, so you won't get any grain. Judging from your appearance, you don't seem to be short of money. Go to the grain station and buy some grain.

Zhang Shouyi laughed; this old man was quite direct.

"Village chief, I can't possibly bring all this back."

"I'll have my son take you by bus tomorrow; the water tank is too heavy."

When the two arrived at the door, Zhang Shouyi saw the village chief take out a key and unlock the lock that was covered with tarpaulin.

"Come in, let me tidy up for you. It's been a long time since I've been here."

Zhang Shouyi simply thought it was a story, something people had exaggerated, and he wasn't afraid.

Pushing open the door, a musty smell wafted out.

"I think you should go and squeeze in with my son today. Even if you want to live here in the future, you'll still need some ventilation."

"Thank you for your kindness, village chief. It's still early, no problem. I'll come back this afternoon to tidy up."

Seeing how persistent this person was, Liu Maocai didn't say anything more. He removed all the tarpaulins from the windows and set them up.

"Village chief, you have a good relationship with this family, don't you?"

"Yes, Aiguo and his wife are both good people. I feel sorry for them for not taking good care of their only child. I feel ashamed, really, and I have been unable to rest easy for many years."

"Village chief, aren't you afraid? I've heard that no one dares to come in here."

"Sigh, what am I afraid of? It's already like this. I've already replaced the roof four times." If she hadn't seen through the cryptic content of Jingze's letter, she would never have agreed to let outsiders move in. Oh well, she'll just go along with it.

"I can also tell that although no one has lived in this house for many years, it is well preserved."

"I feel sorry for their family. This is the only way I can protect the only home they ever lived in."

"Comrade, let's just ventilate like this. We'll have lunch at my house today."

Zhang Shouyi nodded with a smile. No one dared to live in this house. It must be related to the village chief. But it didn't matter; everyone has friends, right? Like he said, the only thing they could do was protect their homes.

The two returned to Liu Maocai's house, where Li Cuihua, with her full head of white hair, was picking vegetables in the yard.

"Old woman, make something delicious. We have guests at home today."

"In the middle, make pancakes and scrambled eggs."

"Old woman, Er Ya, San Ya, when are you coming back? Help this comrade with his luggage."

"I'll ask Shitou to call him this afternoon. It's not cold now, so it's okay if it's a few days later."

Comrade, are you really going to move into that house?

"Auntie, I'm planning to stay there."

"Comrade, you must take good care of it. I failed to look after Hongmei and her family. I feel sorry for them. Only when I see that house can I feel at ease." Li Cuihua's voice was a little choked up.

"Okay, don't worry, Auntie, I will definitely take good care of it."

The four of them ate lunch together. Shi Tou was very unhappy that his father had let an outsider stay at Uncle Aiguo's house.

After lunch, Zhang Shouyi borrowed a broom and a basin and went directly to the Zhang family's house.

"Why did you let this stranger stay in Aiguo's house, sir?"

"Jingze wrote to us, telling us to go along with this guy and let him stay if he wants. He said he wants to be buried on the mountain when he dies."

"Alright, I'll go help out too. You tell Stone to go and call Er Ya and San Ya back."

"Okay, I understand."

Liu Maocai carried buckets of water to the Zhang family's house. After he helped pressurize the water, the two of them spent four hours cleaning up before they finally finished.

Zhang didn't throw away any of his belongings; he put them all into one room and lived in the west room.

"This iron pot is no longer usable. You need to buy a larger iron pot, otherwise you won't be able to cook."

There's firewood outside. Let's light it and see if smoke escapes. If not, we'll have to rebuild the kang (heated brick bed).

Zhang Shouyi obediently went outside and got some licorice root. He was lucky; no smoke came out of the cracks in the kang (heated brick bed).

"It's alright, burn more."

The yard has been cleaned up. Zhang Shouyi looked at the bare yard and said, "Village chief, give me some vegetable seeds that I can plant now. I need to eat vegetables in the future."

“Okay, we can still grow radishes and cabbages. I'll find some for you tonight. You can still use their farm tools, so just make do.”

"Okay, I don't know how to plant it, the village chief will have to teach me."

"Hey, check if the fire's out. We should go back for dinner."

Zhang Shouyi stayed at Liu's house that night, since there wasn't even a mattress there.

The next day, Shi Tou drove the oxcart, and the two of them went to the village together. They bought a cart full of things, and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon when they returned.

Liu Maocai and his son helped rebuild the stove. They also sealed the seams of the kang (a heated brick bed) again, just to be safe.

Then the three men planted half of the yard with cabbages and half with radishes. They also planted scallions next to it.

Standing in the courtyard, Zhang Shouyi felt a great sense of accomplishment.

The two sisters, Er Ya and San Ya, have returned. They are both equally thin and don't like to talk. Even when they talk to their parents at home, they keep their heads down.

The next day, everything was alright at home. Zhang Shouyi borrowed a basket and a machete, and took two large flatbreads and a water bottle up the mountain. He kept feeling that something on the mountain was calling to him.

He didn't stop along the way, and even when he saw wild rabbits, he didn't shoot them. The higher he went, the stronger the feeling of being called became.

He wielded his machete left and right, unafraid of encountering large animals, and the pistol he carried was no joke.

Before he knew it, he had crossed a hill. He knew he hadn't reached his destination yet, but he kept walking forward.

He drank water when he was thirsty, and soon the whole pot was empty. When he saw the pool, he smiled, feeling that his luck had improved a lot since he came here.