As they were about to step into the lift, Xiang Xi suddenly felt uneasy. He unzipped his backpack and held it up in front of Cheng Boyan. “Take a look. Am I missing anything?”

“What could you possibly be missing? You’ve already packed water and food. You even brought adhesive bandages. We’re only going to the suburbs, not on a long trip,” Cheng Boyan said with a smile. Even so, he carefully checked the contents of the bag. “You’ve got everything. Nothing’s missing.”

“I’ve never gone on an outing before, so I have no experience.” Xiang Xi chuckled as he stepped into the lift.

In truth, it would have been fine even if they had brought nothing. They were only going to the outskirts of the city, not into the wilderness. If they lacked anything, they could simply buy it. But Xiang Xi felt they had to bring their own things—that was what made it fun, what made it feel like a real outing.

The more things they brought, the more enjoyable it would be.

Cheng Boyan could more or less guess what he was thinking. After they got into the car, Xiang Xi did not even put his backpack down. After taking out his precious camera and setting it aside carefully, he kept hugging the bag, rummaging through everything he had packed.

When they passed a small supermarket, Cheng Boyan stopped the car and took Xiang Xi inside for another look around. They bought quite a few snacks—ham sausages, bread, and the like.

“Now we can have a picnic, right?” Xiang Xi said happily, carrying the shopping bag.

“Mm. If we eat at one of the farmhouse restaurants, we can just order a fish or a chicken. We’ve already brought the rest of the food ourselves,” Cheng Boyan said with a smile. “Of course, if you finish everything before lunchtime, that’s another story.”

“I’ll probably never make it to lunch,” Xiang Xi said as he took out a mini corn sausage and started nibbling on it. “Eating all the way there is the best part.”

The road to the western suburbs was under construction. Cheng Boyan did not realize it until they got there, and they had to take quite a long detour.

“Let’s just go around. It’s fine,” Xiang Xi said between bites, completely unaffected. “Honestly, just sitting in the car like this all day would be fun.”

“If I had to drive all day, I’d be dead,” Cheng Boyan said as he turned the car around.

“When I make money in the future, I’ll hire a driver for you,” Xiang Xi said.

“A driver for a two-hundred-thousand-yuan car? That’s certainly... distinctive,” Cheng Boyan said with a laugh.

“You’re silly. If I can afford a driver, of course I’ll replace the car,” Xiang Xi said, clapping his hands. “We’ll get a... we’ll get a...”

He thought for quite a while but could not come up with the name of any really impressive car. His knowledge of cars was limited to Uncle Ping’s van, and he had never needed to know more. As for vans, he had only ridden in one a handful of times—counting the last time, when he had been abandoned in the van, driven out into the wilderness, and almost beaten to death.

After detouring north for nearly an hour, they finally returned to the road leading to the western suburbs via a bumpy old road. The road had been there for years. Both sides were lined with workshops making root carvings. Heavy trucks hauling tree roots constantly drove over it, wearing it down until it looked as though it had been pockmarked by smallpox. If you tried to drink some water while riding over it, it would splash all over your face.

When they finally reached smooth pavement again, Xiang Xi let out a long sigh of relief. “That ride bounced me around so much my tongue's gone numb…”

“Still fun?” Cheng Boyan asked.

“Still fun,” Xiang Xi answered with a smile.

The newly finished stretch of road in the western suburbs was not very wide, but it was smooth. There were many newly built residential compounds on both sides, though very few shops.

After the car passed through the town bordering the western suburbs, the road remained in good condition, but the houses gradually became fewer. Farmland began to appear, and in the distance they could see a few small villages.

The scenery was beautiful, and the air was noticeably cleaner.

But after they passed through the town, Xiang Xi fell silent. He slowed down his eating as well. He had been holding a French fry between his teeth for two whole minutes, staring absent-mindedly out the window.

“We still have to go a little farther, right?” Cheng Boyan asked as he opened the sunroof.

“Yeah. Turn right at the third intersection. I’ve been counting—we just passed the first one,” Xiang Xi said. Only then did he finally bite down and eat the French fry. “Do you think... what was Uncle Ping doing all the way out here?”

“I don't know. You were with him for so many years. Didn't he ever come out this way?” Cheng Boyan asked.

“He didn’t go out much. And when he did, he stayed on his own turf. If he went too far away, it was easier for people to lie in wait for him,” Xiang Xi said. “But he used to work in wholesale vegetables. Maybe he had to come out here for that?”

“That’s possible.” Cheng Boyan pointed behind them. “The town we just passed had a sign saying it’s our city’s vegetable production base. A little farther ahead there’s also a demonstration base for peaches... or maybe plums.”

“Can we go eat some?” Xiang Xi asked.

“I don't think demonstration farms sell directly to the public. If you want some, I'll buy you some on the way back,” Cheng Boyan replied.

“Then should we buy vegetables in the town on our way back? Isn’t it a vegetable production base?” Xiang Xi asked again.

“…If you want to, sure. They’ll be fresh.” Hearing Xiang Xi drift off onto a different subject, Cheng Boyan reached over and squeezed his shoulder. He could tell Xiang Xi was beginning to feel nervous.

At the third intersection, Cheng Boyan turned right onto a village access road. Ahead lay a fairly large village, where they could already see numerous small two- and three-storey houses in the distance.

The village looked prosperous. The people living there probably had good lives.

So why abandon a child here?

And if that was the plan... why not leave him in the city instead?

A hospital. An orphanage. An apartment building. There were countless places… Or perhaps it had been one of the nearby villagers?

As Cheng Boyan looked at Xiang Xi's profile, he couldn't help thinking that he didn't look like a child from a village or a small town at all.

Perhaps whoever abandoned him had believed the people here would be simpler, kinder... more likely to take good care of a little boy.

While Cheng Boyan's thoughts wandered, the road ahead narrowed until the car could no longer pass comfortably. He pulled over by the roadside and switched off the engine.

“Shall we get out?” he asked Xiang Xi.

“Yeah.” Xiang Xi jumped out of the car. French fries scattered all over the seat from his hand, but he didn't even notice. “It should be here.”

“Then let's start asking around.” Cheng Boyan got out as well, paying no attention to the fries.

They had parked at the entrance to the village. A large tree stood there, surrounded by a circular concrete block. Beneath it were a stone table and stone benches, with piles of concrete blocks scattered nearby. It was obviously where the villagers usually gathered to chat.

It was still morning. A quick glance around showed not a single person.

“I wonder beside which wall I was left,” Xiang Xi murmured as he slowly walked into the village along the narrow lane. “Probably not too far inside.”

“I'll go ask.” Cheng Boyan strode toward a small courtyard just inside the village entrance.

The gate wasn't closed. As he pushed it open, a burst of barking greeted him. Inside was a black dog and an elderly woman picking vegetables.

“Hello,” Cheng Boyan said politely with a smile. “Have you lived here for a long time?”

The old woman first shouted something at the dog, which immediately lay down and stopped barking. Then she turned back and answered them.

Cheng Boyan couldn't understand a single word.

“You're interviewing her like you're a TV reporter. Let me.” Xiang Xi squeezed past Cheng Boyan into the courtyard, squatted beside the old woman, picked up a vegetable, and began trimming it as he chatted. “Granny, you're not originally from around here, are you?”

Cheng Boyan still couldn't understand the woman's dialect, but what astonished him was that Xiang Xi could.

“You grew these yourself, didn't you?” Xiang Xi continued. “They're much better than what we buy at the market. You people really live well.”

The old woman smiled and replied with another couple of sentences.

“Hard work? Yeah, it is a bit.” Xiang Xi nodded. “Does anyone else live with you? Gone out to work?”

Cheng Boyan stayed outside the courtyard, listening to Xiang Xi chatting away naturally with the old woman.

The dog stretched lazily, wandered over to the gate, and silently locked eyes with Cheng Boyan. It wasn't a native village dog. It looked rather like a Labrador, with floppy ears, and seemed far less wary of strangers than local dogs usually were.

Instinctively, Cheng Boyan stepped aside to give it room to pass. The dog didn't move on. Instead, it followed him one step closer and stretched out its nose to sniff at his leg.

Cheng Boyan quickly pulled his leg back and retreated another step. The dog advanced again. So he backed away once more.

After retreating more than ten steps, nearly all the way back to the village entrance, the dog was still watching him with great interest.

With a sigh, Cheng Boyan tried to circle around it and return to the courtyard. Just as they passed each other, the dog suddenly lifted its head and gave his hand a big lick.

“Hey!” Cheng Boyan jerked his hand back. The cool, wet sensation covering it instantly made him want to bang his head against a wall.

“What happened?” Hearing him, Xiang Xi ran out. He froze when he saw the scene. “Did the dog bite you?”

“No.” Cheng Boyan held up his hand. “It licked me.”

Xiang Xi leaned against the gate and burst out laughing. Then the old woman said something from inside the yard, and Xiang Xi beckoned. “There's well water in the yard. Come wash your hands.”

Cheng Boyan had been about to say he would fetch the disinfectant from the car, but since they were in the middle of asking about something important, he went into the yard instead.

There was a hand-operated well pump. Xiang Xi pumped water while Cheng Boyan washed his hands. In the process, Xiang Xi also managed to splash his trousers and shoes completely wet...

“Did you find out anything?” Cheng Boyan asked, shaking the water from his hands.

“The old lady says she remembers something,” Xiang Xi said, rubbing his nose. The smile had vanished from his face, replaced by an uneasy frown. “But she can't remember clearly. She just said something like that did happen, though it definitely wasn't at her house. She told us to ask next door.”

“Then let's go ask.”

After thanking the old woman, they left the courtyard and headed for the neighbouring house.

This time Cheng Boyan didn't ask the questions himself, afraid he still wouldn't understand anything. Xiang Xi knocked on the door instead.

A middle-aged woman answered. Her accent wasn't very strong. This time Cheng Boyan understood.

“A baby? Yes, there was one. I remember. I'd just married into the village that year—it was the winter I got married,” the woman said as she came outside, pointing toward another house. “Over there, by the Hu family's wall.”

The moment Cheng Boyan heard those words, excitement surged through him.

Xiang Xi clearly felt the same. Cheng Boyan watched him whirl around toward where the woman was pointing.

The Hu family wasn't home—the owners had gone to visit relatives—but the woman remembered the incident vividly. So the two of them sat down in her courtyard while she recounted it.

“What do you two do?” the woman asked. “Why are you asking about this?”

“That baby...” Xiang Xi pointed to himself. “It was me.”

“Huh?” The woman's eyes flew wide open. She stared at him for a long moment before finally exclaiming, “Good heavens...”

“Auntie,” Xiang Xi said, “could you tell me about it again?”

“Let me think...” The woman looked him up and down several times. “You're not sick, are you? You're healthy?”

“I'm perfectly healthy,” Xiang Xi answered, puzzled. “Why?”

“Early one morning, that baby was suddenly lying there.” She pointed again toward the Hu family's house. “Right beside their courtyard wall. He wasn't crying, wasn't making a sound. His face was deathly pale. Someone opened the blanket to check, and saw he was a little boy. There were families in our village who wanted a son, but who would dare pick up a child like that? Everyone was afraid he was sick. He couldn't even cry.”

Xiang Xi said nothing. His hands were clasped so tightly together that his knuckles had turned white.

“And then?” Cheng Boyan prompted.

“And then nobody dared take him in. Back then our village was poor. Life wasn't nearly as good as it is now. If he'd been healthy, maybe someone would have. But everyone was afraid he was ill and they wouldn't be able to afford to raise him.” The woman sighed and looked at Xiang Xi again. “It really was you? You don't look sick at all...”

“So who took him?” Cheng Boyan asked.

“People all said a child like that should be sent to an orphanage. But where were we supposed to find an orphanage around here?” the woman replied. “Around noon, a man from town heard about it and came to take him away.”

Cheng Boyan and Xiang Xi exchanged a glance. Xiang Xi still said nothing.

A man from town had come to carry the baby away. That must have been Uncle Ping. So Uncle Ping had been telling the truth...

“And...” Cheng Boyan thought for a moment. “Did anyone see who brought the baby here?”

“No one saw,” the woman answered, lowering her voice. “But early that morning, someone did see a strange woman leaving the village along this road and getting into a car. People all said she must have been rich. Back in those days, anyone who owned a car was wealthy.”

“Was it her who brought the child here?” Cheng Boyan asked.

“That, I don’t know. No one saw it happen,” the woman said. “But nine times out of ten, it was probably her.”

“How old was she?” Cheng Boyan continued asking.

“That’s not clear either. Probably in her thirties or forties. I didn’t see her myself; I only heard people talking about it,” the woman replied.

“Then…” Cheng Boyan was about to continue asking, but Xiang Xi suddenly stood up beside him.

“Let’s go,” Xiang Xi said. Then he smiled at the woman. “Thank you, auntie.”

“Was it really you?” The woman looked at him. “It really was you?”

Xiang Xi did not say anything else. He turned around and walked out of the courtyard.

“Thank you,” Cheng Boyan said before quickly following him out.

Xiang Xi walked silently out of the village and returned to the car.

Cheng Boyan unlocked the car. Just as Xiang Xi opened the door and was about to get in, he saw the French fries he had spilled earlier on the seat. After hesitating for a moment, he reached out, picked them up, held them in his hand, and got into the car.

“Xiang Xi, are you okay?” Cheng Boyan did not get in yet. He stood by the passenger door and looked at him worriedly.

“A little… frustrated.” Xiang Xi lowered his head and ate the fries one by one from his hand. “Uncle Ping has hardly told a single truth all these years, but this time he actually wasn’t lying. It’s just too… strange.”

“Should we ask around some more?” Cheng Boyan suggested.

“No need.” Xiang Xi stuffed all the fries in his hand into his mouth. After finishing them, he leaned back against the car seat. “Even if we ask, this is probably all we’ll find out. Knowing this much is enough.”

Cheng Boyan paused, then walked around the front of the car and got in.

“Actually, I’m fine. I don’t feel that much,” Xiang Xi said. “The blood test comparison probably won’t have any results either. If I really was abandoned, then who would still be out there looking for me through a blood test?”

A woman in her thirties or forties, twenty years ago.

The person who brought the child here was not necessarily his biological mother.

But Cheng Boyan did not voice this speculation. First, whether she was the biological mother or not did not really matter in practice; everything depended on the final comparison results. Second, he truly did not want to give Xiang Xi any more hope. They had come here saying they were only trying to verify what happened back then and look for clues, but this speculation was simply something he could no longer mention.

“Drive,” Xiang Xi said after fastening his seat belt. “Didn't you say this was supposed to be an outing?”

“Mm.” Cheng Boyan started the car. “I saw a sign earlier. A little farther ahead there’s an ecological farm. Want to go take a look?”

“Okay.” Xiang Xi’s eyes lit up slightly. “What do you do at an ecological farm?”

“Probably they grow some organic vegetables for visitors to pick themselves, along with fruit and things like that. Maybe they even have orchard-raised chickens?” Cheng Boyan replied.

“Then let's go.” Xiang Xi sat up straight. “I wonder if we can fish there. I really want to go fishing.”

To be honest, Cheng Boyan could not tell whether Xiang Xi’s current state was genuine or whether he was forcing himself to act fine. But he did not press him further. He drove away from the village path, returned to the main road, and continued slowly forward.

A few minutes later, Xiang Xi leaned against the window and finally said, “Don’t worry about me. I’m really okay.”

“Hmm?” Cheng Boyan looked at him.

“I feel like I’ve already done everything I could. Everything I could do, everything I could think of, everything I could ask—I’ve tried it all,” Xiang Xi said, his voice very calm. “Whether they didn’t want me, or whether there was some other reason, I’ve done my best. Whether I find them or not, honestly, it has already become nothing more than a thought… just an obsession.”

“Is that so?” Cheng Boyan smiled and reached out to touch his face.

“Like you said, I still have to move forward after all. I can’t always let the past hold me back.” Xiang Xi quickly turned his head and kissed Cheng Boyan’s palm. “I had already decided when I came here. Once my ID is processed and my household registration is settled, no matter what the final comparison result is, I won’t keep dwelling on it anymore. The life I have now is enough.”

“You really think that way?” Cheng Boyan asked.

“Really. A person can’t have everything perfect in one lifetime. Right now, my life is already pretty perfect.” Xiang Xi nodded. “Really. It’s enough.”

“Then shall we go on our outing now?” Cheng Boyan patted the steering wheel.

“An outing!” Xiang Xi grabbed his camera. “Stop the car first.”

Cheng Boyan pulled over. “What is it?”

Xiang Xi got out of the car with his camera. Beyond a vast wheat field, the small village they had just visited could still be seen in the distance. He raised the camera and took several pictures.

Cheng Boyan took the camera from him and looked at them. Xiang Xi’s photography had improved greatly. These pictures gave people the feeling that, between heaven and earth, there was only oneself left.

“What are you going to call this photo?” he asked with a smile.

“Call it… ‘Coincidence.’” Xiang Xi closed the car door. “One coincidence, another coincidence, another coincidence, countless coincidences… If we had missed even one of them, we wouldn’t be sitting here like this right now. What a wonderful world.”

It was neither a weekend nor tourist season, so the ecological farm was almost empty. Only three or four cars were parked outside.

“Can we basically count this as having the whole place to ourselves?” Cheng Boyan got out of the car and looked around.

The sunlight was beautiful. Mountains stood nearby, and a canal flowed beside the farm. The sound of rushing water could be heard, making them feel completely relaxed, almost lazily comfortable.

“Is there anything left to pick now?” Xiang Xi ran to the canal, leaned over, and stirred the water with his hand. “The water is so clear! Come look!”

“It’s fine even if there’s nothing to pick.” Cheng Boyan walked over beside him. “Look at that sign behind you.”

Xiang Xi turned around and saw a wooden sign behind several cars, with crooked, uneven writing on it.

“Catch your own chickens, orchard chickens, fish pond… fishing available.” Xiang Xi laughed. “This handwriting is really something. I could even make fun of it.”

“Let’s go. We can fish.” Cheng Boyan patted him.

“I want to catch a chicken.” Xiang Xi stood up and walked toward the farm with him.

“Let’s fish,” Cheng Boyan said. “Didn't you say you’d never fished before and wanted to try?”

“I’ve never caught a chicken either. Now I want to catch a chicken.” Xiang Xi insisted, then looked toward the mountain beside them. “Look! There are nets on the mountain. That’s where they raise the chickens, right?”

“Is fishing not good enough?” Cheng Boyan sighed.

“You want to fish? Then we’ll catch a chicken first and go fishing afterward.” Xiang Xi looked at him, paused, then suddenly burst out laughing. He pointed at him. “I know!”

“Know what?” Cheng Boyan glanced sideways at him.

Xiang Xi laughed for a long while before patting his shoulder. “Dad! You think catching chickens will be dirty, don’t you?”

“…It is,” Cheng Boyan clicked his tongue. “There’s dirt, and feathers everywhere.”

“You still haven’t disinfected yourself after that dog licked you, have you?” Xiang Xi laughed uncontrollably.

“Yes!” Cheng Boyan suddenly remembered and immediately grabbed the backpack behind Xiang Xi. “Where’s the disinfectant?”

“I’ll get it for you. Oh my…” Xiang Xi opened the bag while laughing, took out the disinfectant, and watched as Cheng Boyan rubbed it onto his hands. “That dog really liked you, huh?”

“Probably because I kept giving it way until I almost let it go all the way back to the city,” Cheng Boyan said with a frown. “It was showing its gratitude.”

The place was called a farm, but in reality it was simply farmers who had fenced off some land, built a few houses, planted fruit trees, and raised chickens and fish. The houses were the ordinary kind commonly seen in the countryside.

After walking inside for a while, they met a man who looked like a farmer. He was holding a handful of grass, and when he saw them, he called out: “Bosses, are you eating?”

“Yes,” Cheng Boyan replied. “Where do we eat?”

“Inside the house, right by the water. It’s very comfortable. There are also houses by the mountain. Mountain-view rooms, water-view rooms—you can choose whichever you like.” The man laughed heartily.

“Can we catch our own chicken?” Xiang Xi asked.

“Of course. If you want to eat chicken, I'll take you to catch one yourselves. But it'll cost a bit more if you catch it yourselves—we're afraid people who don't know how might hurt the other chickens,” the farmer said.

“What about fishing? Do you have fishing rods?” Xiang Xi noticed the indescribable look shifting across Cheng Boyan's face and, suppressing a laugh, quickly changed the subject to fishing.

“We do! We've got everything! I've been running this farm for years. Whatever you want, we've got it—I guarantee you'll have a great time,” the farmer said, beckoning them over. “Come on, have a look at the menu first and pick a private room.”

The menu was simple: chicken, duck, goose, fish, and a selection of stir-fried mountain specialities.

Cheng Boyan ordered a chicken and a dish of farmhouse cured pork with dried bamboo shoots. Xiang Xi ordered the owner's enthusiastically recommended stir-fried grasshoppers, which, according to him, was “something you'll never regret trying—and will want to eat again.”

“Stir-fried... what?” Cheng Boyan asked.

“Grasshoppers,” Xiang Xi replied. Seeing the look of utter shock on Cheng Boyan's face, he added, “Grasshoppers. You know, locusts—the kind that hop around.”

“I know what grasshoppers are,” Cheng Boyan said, staring at him. “You want to eat that?”

“I just want to try it. It's pretty good. When I was little, I'd eaten roasted grasshopper legs before.” Xiang Xi turned to the owner with genuine interest. “Do you raise them or catch them?”

“We raise them. You can't catch enough in the wild anymore,” the owner replied with a grin. “But I guarantee they taste great! And they're very nutritious—packed with protein.”

“Roasted grasshopper legs?” Cheng Boyan was still stuck on what Xiang Xi had just said. “How did you roast them?”

“Like this.” Xiang Xi gestured. “With matches or a lighter. You pull the legs off, roast them a little, and eat them. You can't cook the whole body through, so you can't really eat that.”

“You... why would you eat something like that?” Cheng Boyan couldn't begin to describe what he was feeling.

“Because I craved them.” Xiang Xi turned and headed outside. “Boss, lend us two fishing rods. We're going fishing first.”

Before Cheng Boyan had even recovered from the image of Xiang Xi roasting fresh grasshopper legs—or the realization that they'd soon be eating stir-fried grasshoppers—Xiang Xi had already collected two fishing rods and some bait from the owner and dragged him to the fish pond.

“How do you fish?” Cheng Boyan finally asked once they were standing on the muddy bank of the pond.

“You sit over there.” Xiang Xi pointed toward the water's edge. A few small wooden stools, obviously handmade and rather rough-looking, had been placed there for customers.

“I don't...” Cheng Boyan froze, looking down at the mud around his shoes. “I'll just stand here and watch you fish.”

“Oh, for heaven's sake.” Xiang Xi laughed so hard he bounced twice on the muddy ground. “It's actually pretty dry. It's not like it's a swamp...”

Before Cheng Boyan could reply, Xiang Xi had already run over and sat down by the water. He turned back to look at him. “Come fish with me, Dad.”

“…I'm coming.” Clenching his teeth in resignation, Cheng Boyan walked over and plopped down beside him.

“So, how do we do this?” Xiang Xi asked, giving the fishing rod a little shake.

“Put the bait on the hook first. The fish in a stocked pond should be pretty easy to catch.” Cheng Boyan opened the bait container the owner had given them. The moment he looked inside, he immediately turned his head away.

“…Ugh.”

“You just pinch some onto the hook, right?” Xiang Xi reached in, grabbed a lump of bait, and frowned. “It looks like poop.”

“Zip it,” Cheng Boyan said.

“I'll bait your hook,” Xiang Xi offered. “You just worry about catching the fish.”

“No.” Cheng Boyan turned back, pinched off a lump of bait himself, and said, “I'll do yours. I brought my son out to have fun, so it's my job.”

“Aren't you grossed out?” Xiang Xi laughed.

“Not at all,” Cheng Boyan replied. “And even if I am, I'll put up with it.”

 

Translator : DarNan