Southern Relics
Volume 5, Chapter 3 of "The Return Journey is Like a Rainbow"
Time flowed on, and it was now the late 1950s. Gu Xiuyuan's footsteps traversed the misty pavilions of Jiangnan, yet he still found nothing. The gentle warmth of the South contrasted sharply with the anxiety in his heart. The clues, like a kite with a broken string, vanished without a trace in the damp air. The sketch depicting his brother's burns was almost blurred from being clutched so tightly.
He focused his search on more remote counties and towns. Theatrical troupes in big cities are well-organized and have relatively clear records, while those itinerant, grassroots troupes of yesteryear are more likely to have disappeared into these unnoticed corners, or... been swept away by the tides of time and drawn into a different fate.
By chance, while resting at a tea stall in a remote county in northern Guangdong, he overheard several elderly people chatting. They mentioned a labor reform farm in the nearby mountains, where there were many "cultured people," including some who used to perform operas.
"An opera singer?" Gu Xiuyuan's heart skipped a beat. He leaned closer without making a sound, offered her a cigarette, and asked in broken Mandarin mixed with gestures.
An old man, almost toothless, smacked his lips and recalled, "Yes, it seems so... They were brought here a couple of years ago. I heard they were some kind of... 'demons and monsters'! There was a young man in there, fair-skinned and clean-cut, not very talkative, and slow at work, but his physique clearly showed he'd been trained in martial arts..."
He's trained in martial arts! He's fair-skinned and clean-cut!
These words struck Gu Xiuyuan like lightning! He suppressed his excitement and carefully inquired about the young man's age and physical characteristics. Although the old man's description was vague, it vaguely overlapped with the outline of his younger brother in his memory, as well as the image of a young man who had practiced martial arts since childhood and later learned opera!
"Where is that farm?" Gu Xiuyuan's voice trembled almost imperceptibly.
Following the old man's directions, Gu Xiuyuan walked for most of the day along rugged mountain paths, finally seeing the farm enclosed by barbed wire and high walls before nightfall. In the twilight, it looked like a silent scar, nestled in the mountain valley.
He couldn't just rush in; he could only linger on the outskirts of the farm, observing. He saw groups of people dressed in uniform gray clothes finishing work under supervision, dragging their weary steps back to the barracks. He strained his eyes, searching among those blurry, numb faces, hoping to find that familiar one.
For several days, he stayed like a ghost in the woods near the farm. He dared not get too close, for fear of attracting the guards' attention, and could only watch from afar. Hope and fear intertwined in his heart. He longed to see his brother the next moment, yet he was afraid of facing disappointment again, and even more afraid that his brother was really suffering in such a place.
On the afternoon of the third day, the opportunity finally arrived. A small group of prisoners were taken to the riverbank at the edge of the farm to clear the silt. Gu Xiuyuan, using his binoculars, felt his heart race—among the group, there was a slender figure. Although he was looking down and wearing a tattered straw hat, the lines of his profile, the way he occasionally straightened his back and showed his gait, were strikingly similar to his mother, Wang Tingzhi! He also bore a striking resemblance to his younger brother, who used to follow him around and babble as he learned to speak!
"Nian Sheng... is it Hui Sheng?" Gu Xiuyuan almost shouted it out. He covered his mouth tightly, his eyes instantly welling up with tears.
He had to get closer, he had to confirm! He planned to find a way to sneak to the roadside after work so he could get a clearer look.
However, fate once again showed its cruel side. Just an hour before the end of the workday, dark clouds gathered without warning, and a torrential downpour began. The guards hurriedly blew their whistles, assembled the team, and braved the heavy rain to bring the prisoner back to the barracks. The rain was so thick that visibility was completely obscured, and that slender figure was instantly swallowed up by the crowd and the rain.
Gu Xiuyuan rushed down the hillside without hesitation and ran to the roadside, only to see the group's backs disappearing into the rain and the tightly closed farm gate. The rain soaked him through, icy cold, but it was nothing compared to the chill in his heart.
He stood in the heavy rain for a long time, like a statue of despair.
The next day, he tried to enter the farm under the pretext of visiting relatives, but was coldly refused by the guards. "There's no one here! Get out of here!"
He lingered in the vicinity for several more days, trying every possible way to inquire, but he could no longer confirm whether the thin figure was indeed Gu Niansheng. He only knew that there was indeed a group of "demons and monsters" sent down from the north to that farm, and that there might be people from an opera troupe among them, but he had no way of knowing their specific names or circumstances.
A possibility that was within reach was ruthlessly cut off by a sudden downpour and imposing barriers.
With immense disappointment and a touch of resentment (at least the scope had been greatly narrowed!), Gu Xiuyuan had no choice but to leave temporarily. He deeply etched the location of the farm and the vague information about the "skilled fighter, fair-skinned and clean-cut" man into his mind.
He knew he would come back. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, he would never give up. This land in the South held traces of his brother's possible existence, and also planted the seeds for his next search. He just never imagined that his next return would be under such circumstances.
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