Chapter 21

After finishing their meal, the group no longer wanted to wander aimlessly around the market. Wang Yong, in particular, was eager to have a serious talk with his Uncle Er about what had happened in the past and why the villagers avoided mentioning Uncle Er. On the way, Wang Yong drove at a breakneck speed, and it took less than ten minutes to reach the village entrance.

Driving straight to his own home, Wang Yong had originally intended to talk to Uncle Er alone. However, Dawei, the kid, was as stubborn as a pig that doesn't fear boiling water, refusing to get out of the car and insisting that he would cook a good lunch to show Uncle Er his culinary skills. Wang Qian, the girl, after learning about Uncle Er's story, was so intrigued by the gossip that she couldn't be persuaded to leave. Helpless, Wang Yong had to give in when he saw the girl's determined look, which clearly said she would cry if he made her leave.

At home, they brewed a pot of tea, and everyone gathered around the tea table, ready to listen to the story. Wang Yong had already asked Uncle Er about what had happened in the past at the market, why Uncle Er had been away for so many years without any news. Uncle Er's aged face showed no change; he only told Wang Yong to wait until they got home to talk.

After a few sips of tea, Uncle Er began to recount the events of the past. When he was in junior high school, he had a mutual liking for a girl in his class. In 1976, at the age of fourteen, Uncle Er lost his parents and had no source of income, forcing him to leave his beloved school and girl to return home and farm, taking care of his ten-year-old brother. However, their connection did not break; they often wrote letters to each other, and most of the time, his father acted as the messenger. The villagers also pitied the two brothers and would help them whenever they could. Wang Yong's father and grandfather often provided assistance to the brothers. After enduring the hardest four years, Uncle Er, now eighteen and a grown man, and his brother finally stabilized their lives. By the end of 1980, the village began to secretly divide the land. Uncle Er and his brother retained only a little over an acre of farmland and exchanged the rest for mountain land. Amid the puzzled gazes of the villagers, the two brothers worked day and night to plant fruit trees on the mountain. Uncle Er specifically mentioned that the money for the fruit tree seedlings was borrowed from Wang Yong's father, Wang Guodong.

After planting the fruit tree seedlings, the brothers also planted sweet potatoes, peanuts, and various vegetables in the spaces between the young trees. Thanks to the relatively relaxed political environment at the time, Uncle Er made a decent living by selling vegetables and peanuts. By 1983, when the fruit trees began to bear fruit, Uncle Er's fortunes changed dramatically, and everyone speculated that he must be the richest person in the village. Subsequent events confirmed this speculation. In 1984, Uncle Er built five new brick and timber houses, bought a bicycle and a radio, which were significant items at the time. Even more impressive, by the end of the year, he brought home the village's first and only 14-inch black-and-white television, causing a sensation in the surrounding villages.

With his life improving, Uncle Er, now a young man, was visited by wave after wave of matchmakers. However, Uncle Er's heart was set on the girl, and he had no intention of seeing anyone else. Feeling that his career was successful and he could provide a good life for the girl, Uncle Er decided to propose to her family. When he asked a friend to propose to the girl's family, they were firmly rejected. The girl's father, who had been the deputy township head and was now the county agricultural bureau director, and her mother, who worked at the county education bureau, were furious at the idea of a farmer wanting to marry their precious daughter, especially after learning that he was the reason the girl had been avoiding arranged marriages for so many years.

The girl was forbidden from seeing Uncle Er and was warned. The two lovers, like characters in a story, began to resist, going on hunger strikes, attempting suicide, and planning to run away. However, none of their efforts changed the minds of the girl's parents, who were further enraged by their resistance. At a time when the crackdown was still fresh, the girl's father threatened to report Uncle Er to the police for hooliganism if she continued to see him. This charge could have been fatal in those days. The girl, seeing no hope, decided to elope. After careful preparation, she fled from home, met up with Uncle Er and Wang Yong's father, Wang Dajiang, who helped them, and they were sent on a train to Beijing. From there, they took another train to S City to seek help from the girl's vocational school classmate in S City.

When the girl's parents learned that she had eloped with Uncle Er, they were furious. The girl's father was about to call the police and report that Uncle Er had kidnapped his daughter. Fortunately, the girl's mother, who had calmed down, persuaded him that reporting the incident would ruin their daughter's reputation. The father, still angry, vented his frustration on Wang Dajiang, who had helped the girl escape. He was planning to find a way to punish Wang Dajiang when a friend informed him that Wang Dajiang's father and Uncle Er were both former military officers who had served before the founding of the People's Republic of China. Uncle Er, in particular, had held a high position in B City and had resigned during a special period. He still had many influential friends and subordinates. Realizing the potential consequences, the father gave up his plans to retaliate against Wang Dajiang. Later, either out of fear of the girl's father's power or to protect Uncle Er's reputation, all those who knew about the incident avoided discussing it, and it gradually faded from people's memory. These details were later told to Uncle Er by Wang Dajiang and his brother.

In S City, with the help of the girl's capable classmate, the two found jobs and settled down. Uncle Er worked as a gardener for a company under the city's landscape bureau. Because of his expertise in fruit tree cultivation, he was highly valued by the bureau's leadership and was recommended to the agricultural bureau. After an evaluation, he was exceptionally hired as a technician.

The girl, who had studied accounting in vocational school, found a job with an American company that had just started operations in China. At the time, the wave of entrepreneurship had not yet begun, and a vocational school graduate with work experience was highly valued in a foreign company that was still implementing the graduate allocation system and had difficulty recruiting. Soon, she was sent to the company's headquarters in the United States for a year of training, with a promise of a promotion and a raise upon her return. For her career, the girl decided to go to the United States. Uncle Er supported her decision to broaden her horizons, and the two tearfully embraced at the airport, promising to marry when she returned in a year.

However, things turned out like a movie or a novel. At first, the girl occasionally wrote letters, but they gradually became less frequent until they stopped altogether. After a year of training, the girl did not return and gave no news. After a long wait, Uncle Er and the girl's classmate went to the foreign company, only to be told that the girl had left the company and they did not know where she had gone.

At the time, the movie "The Herdsman" had just finished its run, and although people admired life abroad, they still had deep feelings for their homeland. Those who stayed abroad and did not return were looked down upon. The girl's classmate was furious at this situation, saying that they should not have helped such a traitor. She also comforted Uncle Er, telling him to forget about the girl and start a new life.

Uncle Er, however, refused to believe in his lover's betrayal and continued to wait faithfully. Years passed, and the young, vibrant man aged into an old, frail elder. Due to his frequent work in the fields, Uncle Er looked more like a farmer than a city dweller, with a face etched by the passage of time.

By chance, the girl's classmate met her in Hong Kong. She angrily confronted the girl, asking why she had not contacted Uncle Er and if she knew how long he had waited for her. The girl could only apologize, saying she was sorry to Uncle Er and hoped he could forgive her. It turned out that after arriving in the United States, the girl was amazed by the dazzling American lifestyle. Even a city like S City in China could not compare to some American towns. At first, the girl wrote to Uncle Er, saying she wanted to stay in the United States and bring him over to live with her. However, soon after arriving, she was pursued by a charming French man. Initially, she firmly rejected him, but eventually, she was swayed by his romantic advances and the allure of the American lifestyle. A year later, she married the French man and moved to France. Not knowing how to explain to Uncle Er, she cut off all contact with him and others in China, thinking he would soon forget her and move on, just as she had. But it was all just what she thought.

When Uncle Er learned about the girl's situation, he was silent for a moment and then said to her classmate, "Since she is doing well, I am relieved." Soon after, Uncle Er quietly left S City and returned to his hometown, which had changed beyond recognition. The orchard, left unattended when his brother moved to the city, was sold to the villagers. Later, due to poor returns, all the fruit trees were cut down and replaced with sweet potatoes. All that remained for Uncle Er were the old five-room house he had built, a few grape and cherry trees in the yard, and two walnut trees outside.

Wang Qian, the young girl, was moved to tears. Girls are always more susceptible to such stories. Wang Yong and Dawei sat quietly with Uncle Er, smoking in silence. The room was quiet, and a ray of autumn sunlight penetrated the glass window, illuminating Uncle Er's face and body. A sacred light seemed to rise from the old man, and at that moment, the quietly smoking old man appeared so peaceful, as if he were just telling a simple fairy tale to his beloved younger generation. However, his trembling hands betrayed the turmoil in his heart.

At noon, Dawei cooked a meal, but no one had the heart to taste it. Wang Yong and Dawei drank a lot of wine with Uncle Er. Uncle Er was fine, but the two of them passed out on the table. As the guests left, Wang Yong, lying on the kang (a traditional Chinese bed), dreamed of a beautiful girl and a young Uncle Er chasing and playing in the mountains and forests, so happy, so joyful, so young...