The starry sky over Qinan Mountain
The morning light pierced the thin mist in the valley, casting golden rays onto the rushing river and the villages where smoke curled from chimneys. Lin Wanxing's ankles and knees, after being treated by Lu Zi'ang and treated with cold compresses of herbs that Jiang Chen had somehow found, had seen a significant reduction in swelling and pain. Although walking was still somewhat difficult, she was able to move slowly with the help of Jiang Chen.
He led her, along with Su Xiao and Lu Zi'ang, onto the path leading to his dwelling. It was a steeper, more secluded mountain path, winding upwards through a dense bamboo forest. Dew dampened their trouser legs, and the air was fresh and crisp, carrying the fragrance of bamboo leaves and earth.
At the end of the path, on a relatively flat terrace on the hillside, stands a solitary old wooden house. The house is slightly leaning, and the wooden walls, weathered by time, are a dark brown, but the entrance is clean and tidy, and on a small patch of land next to it, some common vegetables are growing well.
"This is it." Jiang Chen pushed open the slightly ajar wooden door, his voice calm. The room was simply furnished: a bed, an old desk, a chair, and some books and tools piled in the corner. The most conspicuous item was the slightly worn laptop on the desk, and a small signal receiver next to it, with an antenna cleverly extending out the window.
"You usually... stay here?" Su Xiao looked around, her voice filled with undisguised heartache. This was different from the impoverished situation she had imagined Jiang Chen might be in, but the simplicity of the environment still shocked her.
"Yes, it's quiet." Jiang Chen replied briefly, but his gaze unconsciously drifted to Lin Wanxing, carrying a hint of barely perceptible tension, as if he were waiting for her judgment.
Lin Wanxing's gaze slowly swept over every detail in the room, finally settling on the computer and the tools next to it. Her eyes were gentle, with a hint of understanding. "It's very quiet here, suitable for thinking and doing things."
She paused, then turned her gaze to Jiang Chen, her expression genuinely inquiring, "...Have you been researching these things here too? I'm a little curious, what exactly do you do as a volunteer?"
Jiang Chen's eyes flickered slightly, seemingly relieved that she hadn't commented on the environment but focused on what he was doing, and his tense nerves relaxed a little. He nodded, his voice softer than before: "Mainly in the village school on the other side of the river, there's a temporary volunteer workstation there. We help them maintain the equipment, and sometimes teach the children the most basic things."
"A volunteer workstation?" Upon hearing this, Su Xiao's interest was genuinely piqued. She looked at him with clear eyes, "Is this the place that the volunteer friend mentioned yesterday, the place where you do publicity and training?"
"Yes, we usually work there."
"...Can we go take a look? I want to see where you work." Lin Wanxing also made a gentle and earnest request; she wanted to understand more about his current life.
Jiang Chen looked at the pure curiosity and support in her eyes, paused for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay."
The volunteer workstation was set up in the village primary school building on the opposite bank of the river. During the day, the ferry services across the river increased, and the small wooden boats carried them, swaying gently towards the other side to the sound of the boatman humming an old-fashioned work song. Under the sunlight, the river water no longer seemed cold and intimidating, but shimmered with sparkling light.
The primary school was simple, consisting of a few single-story buildings and a national flag fluttering in the wind. But stepping into the classroom that served as the workstation, the atmosphere was completely different. Hand-drawn network topology diagrams and timetables hung on the walls, and several old desks were pushed together, upon which sat a few well-maintained computers, old models but spotlessly clean. Several older children were gathered around one of the computers, intently watching the screen.
Seeing Jiang Chen enter, the children's eyes lit up, and they immediately surrounded him, chattering excitedly:
"Teacher Jiang! I've mastered the loop command you taught me yesterday!"
"Teacher Jiang, my animation is moving!"
"Teacher Jiang, look at this!"
They surrounded him, their voices affectionate and dependent, showing none of the awkwardness one would have shown in front of strangers. Jiang Chen, surrounded by the children, relaxed his usually tightly pursed lips slightly, even revealing a faint, genuine gentleness. He patiently bent down, listening to the children's questions, occasionally answering them in simple, easy-to-understand language, or demonstrating by typing a few lines on the keyboard.
Lin Wanxing, Su Xiao, and Lu Ziang stood at the door, watching this scene. Su Xiao's eyes widened in surprise, and a hint of astonishment flashed across Lu Ziang's calm gaze. They had never seen Jiang Chen like this before—no longer the silent, aloof young man burdened by a heavy past, but a "Teacher Jiang" who was needed and trusted, radiating a calm and resolute light.
"He... seems different," Su Xiao murmured.
Lin Wanxing didn't speak; she simply watched quietly, a mixture of indescribable pride and bitterness welling up inside her. She saw the value and place he had found for himself here.
Jiang Chen calmed the children down, walked to the computers, and started one of the systems. The screen lit up, displaying a simple yet clearly functional localized platform interface.
"This is a simple platform for local management of material requisition and agricultural product information dissemination." Jiang Chen operated it, his tone calm, without boasting, simply stating the facts, "Previously, village accounts and material circulation were handwritten, which was prone to errors and information was not communicated. This system can automatically generate simple reports and record the flow. It is connected to a local server, so even if the external network is interrupted, the basic internal functions can be maintained."
He clicked on another page, "This is for several cooperatives. It puts up information and pictures of some local specialties, such as dried bamboo shoots, wild mushrooms, and local honey. Although the sales volume is not large yet, at least people outside can see them, giving us another channel."
His fingers tapped skillfully on the keyboard, bringing up the code interface. He explained how to optimize database queries and reduce server resource consumption using limited resources and open-source tools to adapt to the unstable and bandwidth-constrained network environment. The technical terms that sounded like gibberish to Lin Wanxing now carried a sense of practicality and power when he spoke them.
He wasn't showing off his skills; he was using technology to solve real problems.
Lu Ziang stepped forward, carefully examining the code and architecture on the screen. He spoke up, unusually with professional approval: "The architecture is very clear, taking into account the actual environment and resource constraints. The redundancy design is also well done. It's remarkable that such usability can be achieved under these conditions."
Jiang Chen nodded slightly, accepting his assessment.
Just then, a little girl with pigtails, about seven or eight years old, timidly ran to Jiang Chen's side, tugged at his clothes, held up a small rabbit made of foxtail grass, and whispered, "Teacher Jiang, this is for you."
Jiang Chen paused for a moment, then squatted down and took the rough but childlike little rabbit, his voice unconsciously softening as he said, "Thank you." He raised his hand and gently patted the little girl's head.
The little girl smiled shyly, then turned and ran away.
At that moment, Lin Wanxing's vision blurred again. Watching Jiang Chen carefully hold the straw rabbit, seeing the lingering gentleness in his eyes, she understood that Qi Nan Mountain was more than just a refuge for Jiang Chen. It was a place where he used his saved life to nourish others, and in doing so, nourish himself. Here, through giving and creating, he truly shed his identity as a "shadow" and found the solid foundation for his existence.
He was no longer just someone who needed to draw strength from Shen Yu's notes; he himself had become a source that could give others a faint but real light.
As evening fell, they returned to Jiang Chen's cabin. The setting sun bathed the mountains in a warm orange-red hue, and the river calmed, flowing gently. Su Xiao and Lu Zi'ang excused themselves to go to town to buy some supplies and left first, leaving the two of them alone once again.
Lin Wanxing sat on a flat stone outside the house, watching Jiang Chen water the seedlings in the vegetable garden. His movements were unhurried, and his profile appeared peaceful and resolute in the afterglow of the setting sun.
"This place is nice," Lin Wanxing said softly.
Jiang Chen stopped what he was doing and looked at her.
“I said, this place is very nice,” she repeated, her clear gaze meeting his. “What you’re doing here is very good. Seeing you with the children… I’m so happy for you.”
Jiang Chen was silent for a moment, then sat down beside her, gazing at the river surface bathed in the sunset. "At first, I just wanted to find a quiet place, and this town came to mind subconsciously. After all, for me, this is where everything started," he said slowly, his voice low. "Later, I saw that the village's computers were broken and no one was fixing them, and the children had no way to learn new things... so I tried to do something. I never expected it to slowly turn out like this."
He paused, then continued, "When doing these things, you forget a lot... you forget who you are, where you came from, and you only think about how to solve the problem and how to keep those expectant eyes from being disappointed. It seems... here, for the first time, I feel that Jiang Chen might actually be of some use."
His words were soft, yet they struck Lin Wanxing's heart with a heavy weight. She reached out and gently covered his hand, which rested on his knee. She could feel the cool mountain breeze on the back of his hand, and also the steady strength beneath his skin.
“You’re very useful.” She looked into his eyes and said with utmost seriousness, “You’ve fixed more than just computers and the internet; you’ve ignited a light in the hearts of many children. And you’re not only useful here; you’ve always been important to me.”
Jiang Chen looked back at her, his deep eyes reflecting the last rays of the sunset and her figure. He didn't speak, but simply took her hand in his, his grip firm and warm.
As night falls, the Milky Way gradually emerges. The night sky over Qinan Mountain, free from urban light pollution, appears exceptionally deep and brilliant. A clear Milky Way stretches across the sky, and countless stars twinkle quietly, casting their gentle light upon the mountains, the river, and the two people nestled together in front of the wooden house.
They were both once mired in the mire of the past, one imprisoned by memories, the other bound by the pursuit of redemption. But now, beneath this silent starry sky, in each other's tightly clasped hands, they have both been reborn in a sense—one has learned to let go of his shackles and move forward bravely, the other has found his self-worth and is no longer adrift.
With starlight as our witness, the future holds promise.
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