Chapter 35 Hometown

Chapter 35 Hometown

He had never slept in a real yurt before, nor had he ever experienced the sensation of rain falling on the yurt's roof, like drumbeats—sometimes urgent, sometimes even more so. Outside, the rain seemed relentless, as if the sky were about to spring a leak.

In such an environment, you'd sleep incredibly deeply. Even when a thunderclap went off outside, he didn't hear it.

This sleep was miraculous—like a full-body treatment. As he slept, he felt himself getting lighter and lighter, like he was about to float off in his sleep. Basically, he felt weightless, just filled with joy.

Around two or three a.m., the rain stopped, and the drumming overhead stopped.

Xie Chong turned over and noticed that no one was beside him. He jolted awake and called out, "Mou Wen? Where are you?"

Mou Wen's voice came from outside, hushed: "Xie Chong, I'm here~ I'm outside~" Her voice sounded cold, like it was coming from far away.

Xie Chong sat up, threw on some clothes, checked the time, and asked, "Has the rain stopped?"

"It stopped. Stopped a while ago."

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Xie Chong said. "Come inside and go to sleep."

"I'm not coming in. Xie Chong, come out and take a look. Once you see it, you won't wanna go back to sleep either." Mou Wen knocked on the wooden door of the yurt, calling to him: "Come out~"

Xie Chong wrapped himself in the blanket and walked out, pushing open the yurt's door. He felt the heavy dew and the chill outside. The cold immediately crept down his neck, and he instinctively pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

The rain had stopped, and a bright moon hung in the sky, bathing everything in light. The whole world looked crisp and clean.

The moonlight on the grassland seemed to have a color—silvery white and glowing—and it all spilled onto Mou Wen. She was sitting on a little stool, and when she heard the sound, she turned to look at him: "You sobered up?"

"This little bit of booze?" Xie Chong found another stool and sat beside her. "I'll be sober after a nap. Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I don't wanna sleep," Mou Wen said. "Right now I wish I could stick toothpicks in my eyelids to keep them open. The nights out here are so beautiful—I can't get enough."

She pointed for Xie Chong: "Look, over there at the sheep pen."

The lambs had come out of the shed and were huddled together, sleeping out in the open, occasionally letting out a bleat. The moonlight painted their fur white, and from a distance, they looked like a big cloud plopped down on the grassland.

"Now look at the grass," Mou Wen said, directing Xie Chong's gaze to the grass.

The grass blades were bent low under the weight of raindrops, and the moon shined a flashlight on the tiny droplets, making each one glisten. When a gentle breeze passed, the droplets fell into the dirt, which darkened briefly before the water soaked in, got absorbed, and the color went back to normal.

The moon also shone on the little rabbits.

Rabbits out for a midnight stroll, hopping along—caught by the moonlight when they jumped, caught by the grass when they landed.

"It's beautiful, right? Except for the cold." Mou Wen shivered and scooted closer to Xie Chong, mumbling, "It's really cold at night."

Xie Chong opened the blanket and let Mou Wen climb in. The two of them sat side by side, sharing one blanket, staring up at the moon.

"Drunk, I don't know the sky is in the water; the boat is full of clear dreams, weighing down on the Milky Way." Xie Chong recited this line. Mou Wen looked at him in surprise, deeply moved—she had actually found someone in her life to enjoy the moon and recite poetry with.

It was that kind of thing—sitting together under the moon, sharing something. That feeling was precious.

"When I was little and came to the grassland, I never wanted to sleep at night. The grassland has the Milky Way. The first time I saw it, all I could recite was 'I suspect the Milky Way has fallen from the nine heavens.' When I went to college in Tianjin, there was no Milky Way to be found. The city lights were brighter than any Milky Way." Mou Wen chatted on with Xie Chong.

"On nights when I came to the grassland, I'd just sit like this. Sitting like this isn't really interesting, but I felt the world was too beautiful, and I had to keep looking at it a while longer."

"Back then, I was a little kid. Mom and Dad were sleeping inside, and I'd sit out here by myself watching the grassland. I wasn't scared. Actually, a grassland night with a moon isn't scary—what's scary is when there's no moon at all."

"Sometimes there's no moon and no stars, and it's pitch black all around. The darkness has a huge, bloody mouth ready to swallow me up."

"Beijing never gets that kind of complete darkness," Mou Wen said. "Maybe it does, but I've never seen it myself."

Mou Wen leaned her head against Xie Chong's shoulder, thinking of the words he had murmured while drunk—"Wife, love you"—and in this moment, how moving it all was.

"Xie Chong, I'm really glad I brought you back to my hometown this time. I know you'd probably never heard of this place before. I've introduced you to my hometown and my family. They might be different from anyone you've known before, but I'm so glad you've treated them so seriously. I'm so happy... I..."

"Snore—snore—"

Mou Wen heard a faint snoring sound. She lifted her head from his shoulder and turned to look: he was asleep. Right when she was confessing to him, he fell asleep.

Mou Wen got angry immediately. She stood up abruptly and kicked Xie Chong's stool. He woke with a start and toppled over onto the grass. By the time he reacted, Mou Wen was already back in the yurt.

Xie Chong chased after her to get back at her, but Mou Wen kept kicking and hitting him. Exhausted, she pulled the blanket over herself and fell asleep.

In the darkness, Xie Chong called out: "Mou Wen."

"Spit it out!" Meaning he should just say what he wanted to say.

Xie Chong chuckled: "Today your dad said an old cow gave birth to a calf the day before yesterday. Tomorrow, take me to go see it."

"What for?"

"I want to see what the difference is between you and the calf," Xie Chong said. "I think you might be tougher than a calf."

Mou Wen really wanted to hit him, but she was too sleepy, so she decided to let it slide. She turned over and fell asleep. Now Xie Chong wasn't sleepy. He leaned in to look at her, but she felt it in her sleep and kicked him again.

She slept well and was woken up the next day by noises outside. She heard someone shouting: "Stop it! Stop it! Pounce! Pounce!"

Along with Xie Chong's voice: "You stand still!"

She yawned and went out to look. It was chaos outside the yurt.

Xie Chong was wearing a Mongolian robe someone had given him, chasing a sheep. The sheep ran ahead, and he chased after. A sheepdog was blocking the sheep's path. At first, Mou Wen thought the sheepdog was helping Xie Chong, but after watching for half a minute, she realized: the sheepdog was helping the lamb escape.

Mou Wen squatted on the ground laughing, laughing so hard she was almost crying, and asked someone: "What's going on?"

"We said we were going to roast a sheep today, and he said he'd go catch one," a relative told Mou Wen. "He said he runs fast, so catching a lamb would be easy. Then he pointed at number 65 in the flock and said it had beautiful double eyelids and long lashes, and he wanted to eat its pretty eyes."

"Yesterday he was comforting those lambs, and today he wants to eat a 'finger sheep.' What a villain," Mou Wen said on purpose, then asked, "How long has he been chasing?"

"About twenty minutes."

Just then, Xie Chong ran toward her, shouting: "Move! Get out of the way!"

Mou Wen stood there without moving, just spreading her legs slightly. As the lamb darted between her legs, she bent down and grabbed its ear in one swift move. She moved so fast that Xie Chong didn't even see how the lamb ended up in her hands.

Then she squatted down, hugged the lamb, and asked Xie Chong: "Is catching a sheep hard? Not that hard, right?"

Xie Chong was panting heavily, then said: "Never mind, I'm not eating it. No roast whole lamb. Grandma, can we skip the roast whole lamb? It runs too fast, I can't catch it. Maybe the heavens don't want me to eat it."

"We always slaughter a sheep for guests," Grandma said.

"I want lamb skewers," Xie Chong said. "I saw there's some leftover meat from before."

He couldn't bear to do it.

He had deliberately put on this whole show just to avoid eating the lamb he had just "met." Grandma could see that Xie Chong was a softie, so she teased him: "Today we're eating vegetarian."

"Vegetarian sounds great!"

After they ate breakfast, Mou Wen brought over two white horses and handed the reins of one to Xie Chong, planning to take him out to herd sheep. Mou Wen really loved herding sheep—it was fun and never boring.

Xie Chong took the reins, leaned his head against the horse's forehead, muttering something, then patted it. The horse let out a "pfft," like it was answering that it understood, and only then did he swing up onto the horse.

Xie Chong swung up onto the horse with real agility. Once he was on, he looked impressive, like a "general on horseback."

Mou Dechang noticed how skilled he was and asked, "You know how to ride? Impressive." He remarked that city kids were truly well-rounded in "morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor"—even horseback riding came naturally to them.

"I learned it," Xie Chong said.

"Do you even need to learn to ride? Isn't it something you're just born with? Just hop on and go?" Mou Dechang pressed. People in the herding areas never seemed to learn; they were tossed onto horses as kids—barely knowing their ABCs at five or six but already galloping all over the place.

Xie Chong didn't bother mentioning he'd dropped nearly two hundred thousand on lessons; he just smiled.

Mou Wen piped up from the side, "He spent two hundred thousand learning it—horseback riding!"

"Two hundred thousand?" Mou Dechang's eyes went wide. "Horseback riding?"

"It's a sport," Xie Chong explained. "It's different from just regular riding... It's complicated, and also..."

"Is that so?" Mou Wen asked him, grabbing the reins. Before Xie Chong could even blink, she'd already flown onto the horse and settled in. Yeah, she leaped onto the horse—no pause at all, just a whoosh and she was up.

Xie Chong was stunned.

He remembered asking Mou Wen if she could ride, and she'd said she only rode for fun. He hadn't realized her "just for fun" meant something like leaping onto a horse like that.

Mou Wen suddenly spurred her horse and took off, sitting loose in the saddle. She galloped ahead, then yanked the reins. The horse reared up, let out a neigh, and only came down after a few seconds.

"Is this the kind of stuff you do?" Mou Wen shouted. "Want me to do a horse split for the Beijing guy?" She raised her chin smugly, then, afraid Xie Chong might hit her, took off on her horse first.

Xie Chong felt his impression of Inner Mongolians was spot on: they really do ride horses to school!

He sulked as he followed the flock of sheep.

That day, they first had to drive the sheep to the water for a drink. After crossing two grassy hills, they'd reach the water. He and Mou Wen flanked the flock on either side, while the sheepdog ran back and forth, working its tail off.

The big procession moved across the grassland, and Xie Chong worried about losing sheep, so he kept a close eye on them. Mou Wen, on the other hand, chewed on a blade of grass, swaying on her horse like she was about to doze off.

The sun was bright, the grass was lush, the sheep were obedient, and the dog was doing its job—nothing to worry about. Xie Chong suddenly envied the herders. He even thought being a herder was great—why go back and suffer in Beijing?

Xie Chong shouted to Mou Wen, "Wanna race?" He'd never been competitive before, but since meeting her, he was always itching to compete. Her athleticism made him feel like it'd be a waste not to.

"Race what?" Mou Wen, always competitive, immediately took the bait.

"Horse racing." Xie Chong pointed his whip ahead. "To the river."

"Fine."

"The next dog bark is our starting signal." No sooner had Xie Chong said it than the sheepdog barked, and both horses shot off at the same time!

The wind on the grassland was fierce, rushing into Xie Chong's mouth, nose, lungs, and heart—blowing right through him. His hair stood straight up, and his clothes flapped behind him. The grassland flew past him, and the glistening river was right there ahead!

He turned to look—Mou Wen's horse was running right next to his. She stared ahead, letting out the occasional "whoop," urging her horse on like a real herder: Run!

The horses ran wild, ran happy, charging forward like nothing could stop them.

Almost to the river!

Xie Chong yanked the reins, and his horse skidded to a stop, but Mou Wen charged straight into the river.

Water splashed everywhere, and Xie Chong couldn't dodge in time—his face was soaked. Mou Wen, not caring at all, rode her horse across the shallow stream to the other side.

She turned her horse around on the other side and shouted, "I won! You give up?"

Xie Chong, still panting hard from the wild ride, accepted defeat: "You're good."

Mou Wen tugged the reins, making her horse circle and neigh: "How do I stack up against your riding class?"

"You'd be near the top."

"Not first?"

"Not first, exactly," Xie Chong said honestly. The first would be Jiang Wu. Jiang Wu rides well not just from training but from real talent. By twelve or thirteen, she was already better than professional athletes, but she hated competing.

"Not being first is fine," Mou Wen said. "Beating you is enough. Since I can't see the first, I'll be the queen in front of you!" Her horse splashed back through the water and came up next to Xie Chong.

The sheep grazed as they moved, and they led their horses, following the flock. When they fell behind, they'd hop on and chase after, then get off and walk again. Mou Wen pulled a thermos out of her little sling bag and offered him some water. She'd also packed milk tablets for him.

"I feel like I could herd sheep like this forever," Xie Chong said.

"Too bad the vacation's so short," Mou Wen replied. "Otherwise, I'd make sure you got to experience all the fun stuff on the grassland. We have so much here, but it's too far, and hardly anyone comes."

"I'll come again," Xie Chong said. "Next time, I'll stay longer." As he walked, he added, "It's weird—no one's called me these past two days."

Mou Wen let out an "uh" and helpfully reminded him, "They might have called... but you couldn't get it... How should I put it? The signal here—calling basically depends on... fate."

Mou Wen felt a little embarrassed.

It was 2012, and the signal on the grassland was still this bad.

"So my clients and employees can't reach me? I've been missing for two days?" Xie Chong asked.

"That's right," Mou Wen said. "I got all my work done before I came."

"But you didn't warn me?"

"I thought your work was something you did when you felt like it and skipped when you didn't," Mou Wen laughed, then reassured him, "Don't worry, we'll head back to Yakeshi tonight."

"But I'm not done having fun yet!"

Xie Chong had been to a lot of places and seen a lot of things, but no matter where he went or what he saw, he always felt like an outsider. He knew he didn't belong there and that he'd leave eventually, so he always just rushed through everything. He'd only spent two or three days in Mou Wen's hometown, but he no longer felt like a stranger.

It was such a rare feeling that he didn't want to leave.

"Nothing we can do about that," Mou Wen said. "Every time I leave home, I feel this way. I don't want to go somewhere else, but I have to. As soon as the train starts moving, I cry, but an hour or two later, I stop. I start looking forward to life back at school—oh, now it's looking forward to life back in Beijing."

"Does looking ahead make you feel better?" Xie Chong asked.

"Looking ahead gives me more strength," Mou Wen replied.

In the afternoon, she took Xie Chong to milk the cows. The moment Xie Chong grabbed the cow's udder, he felt weird, frowned, pulled down twice, then quickly let go and ran off. But the calf was really fun. The little thing charged around, looking goofy. Xie Chong played with it for a while.

By evening, they headed back to Yakeshi.

They hadn't planned more time for this trip, and early the next morning, they'd drive back to Beijing.

That night, Ge Yunqing kept packing stuff, while Mou Wen reminded her, "You can't fit it all—how could you possibly pack this much?"

"Your trunk's empty now, and the back seat's free too—everything'll fit."

"But Mom, this whole sheep won't stay frozen for two days. It'll be thawed in a few hours, and the car will be full of blood water."

Ge Yunqing suddenly got a little angry: "I don't care. Tomorrow, when you find somewhere to sleep, find a freezer and stick it in overnight." She rarely got angry with Mou Wen, but now, as she spoke, she was about to cry. Somehow, though her daughter had left home many times, this time felt different. It was as if she was leaving for good and never coming back.

Mou Wen was taken aback for a second, then stepped forward and hugged her: "Okay, okay, I'll take it. What else do you want to pack for me? Just pack it all, alright?"

Ge Yunqing wiped her tears and said, "That's better."

She insisted on bringing the whole sheep, beef, mushrooms, and wild greens—these were the treasures of their land. She firmly believed that even in Beijing, you couldn't get stuff this good. And since Xie Chong had brought so much, she wanted to give him the best gift she could offer in return.

At the end of the day, she was afraid Mou Wen would really end up like people said: marrying a Beijing local and being endlessly wronged.

Ge Yunqing started crying again just thinking about it.

This time, she was genuinely heartbroken, as if Mou Wen had actually been wronged. She cried, and Mou Wen, who had been trying to comfort her, opened her mouth and let out a "waa" before bursting into tears herself.

Mou Dechang and Xie Chong were sitting outside the bun shop, both sipping soda. Hearing the crying from inside, Mou Dechang choked up as well.

"I know we can't compare to your family. We're from a small town, and your family is rich Beijing folks." Mou Dechang said, wiping his tears: "But Wenwen has been the apple of our eye since she was a little girl. What we give her might not seem like much to you, but it's honestly the best we can give..."

"Please, don't let Wenwen suffer any wrongs. Her dad thanks you." Mou Dechang patted the back of Xie Chong's hand.

Xie Chong's eyes reddened too.

"She won't suffer any wrongs, and she won't go through any hardship," Xie Chong said. "I promise you, Dad. If I don't keep that promise, I'll never come back to see you."

The day they left Yakeshi was sunny and calm.

This was the most beautiful time of year in Yakeshi.

The trees in the Greater Khingan Mountains were all green, full of rare wild game; the grassland was green too, everything growing and thriving.

Mou Wen left her hometown once again, heading for what folks back home called "the heavens."

Her hometown slowly faded in her rearview mirror. She knew her mom was right: once she settled somewhere else, it would be hard to come back home.

The little sheep and sheepdogs of the pastures, the white clouds reflected in the river and the lightning on rainy nights, the wild white horses and the ancient, ageless trees—all of it would fade away. Even her dearest parents, she'd see them less and less.

At that thought, Mou Wen couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears.