Liujiabao

Meng Jiang sent over her list first thing the next morning.

There were three villages called Liujiabao in the province. One was in the far south, near the provincial border; another was in the east, beside a national highway.

The last was in the southwest, another ten-odd li down a mountain trail west of Black Wind Mountain. It was so remote that even the navigation app showed only a dead-end road.

Meng Jiang had added a note at the bottom of the list: Visit them one by one. One of them has to be right.

Wen Ning didn't find the addresses much of a hassle. He slung a towel over his shoulder, crouched down, and gave the big Golden Retriever his instructions.

"I'm heading out. If I'm quick, I'll be back this afternoon; otherwise, tonight. If anyone comes for a bath, have them run their own water. Xiong Batian's medicinal bath concentrate is under the coffee table. Don't let that old weasel sneak a drink. He took a sip last time and said it tasted like ginseng tea. It's for bathing, not brewing tea."

The big Golden Retriever readily agreed.

"Go on, don't worry. Leave the shop to me. I'm the one watching the door anyway."

The first village was in the south.

Wen Ning took three buses and an unlicensed motorcycle taxi. It was already ten in the morning when he arrived.

The village entrance was lively enough. A few old men were playing Chinese chess, while several older women aired their quilts and exchanged village gossip.

Wen Ning went over and asked whether there was a girl named Xiao Ya in the village, about fourteen or fifteen, who had trouble speaking, walked with a slight limp, and wasn't quite right in the head.

The old men and women all shook their heads, saying there was no one like that in the village.

Wen Ning then asked whether there was a tree with white blossoms at the village entrance. One woman pointed to a crooked locust tree by the road and said that was the only one, and its blossoms were yellow, not white.

The second village was in the east, beside the national highway, and much easier to reach than the first. It was now marked for demolition, with demolition slogans and half-knocked-down brick walls everywhere.

Wen Ning knocked at the doors of the few remaining homes. Only an elderly woman who was hard of hearing sat outside sunning herself. She asked whom he was looking for.

He loudly told her he was looking for Xiao Ya. After thinking for a long while, the old woman said there used to be someone named Xiao Ya in the village.

But she had been in her eighties and had passed away two years earlier.

Wen Ning asked if there was anyone by that name who was fourteen or fifteen. The old woman shook her head.

It was already two in the afternoon when he left the second village. Wen Ning bought a bottle of water beside the national highway and, parched, gulped down half of it.

He continued toward the third village. Meng Jiang had marked its route in great detail: Black Wind Mountain, then keep heading west along the dirt road at its foot, through Xiong Batian's territory. At the end of the concrete road, follow the mountain trail for another three li.

After a moment's thought, Wen Ning called Xiong Batian.

Xiong Batian's voice on the other end was as ear-splitting as ever.

"Boss Wen! What can I do for you? Has someone come to challenge you again?" Wen Ning held the phone farther away and waited until he finished bellowing before speaking.

"No one's challenging me. I'm going to look for a village near Black Wind Mountain. Do you know of a Liujiabao west of it?"

Xiong Batian was quite familiar with the area around Black Wind Mountain.

"I know it. That village is really remote. There used to be a mountain trail leading there, but a landslide washed it out. Hardly anyone goes in now."

He said he happened to be gathering herbs in the woods at the foot of the mountain. Wen Ning could give him a shout when he reached Black Wind Mountain, and he would lead the way.

Wen Ning hung up and took one last bus to the foot of Black Wind Mountain. Xiong Batian was already waiting by the bus stop sign.

The two-meter-tall, burly man squatted on a rock. Beside him stood a van that was neither new nor particularly old, with "Black Wind Mountain Medicinal Bath Center" printed on its side.

Wen Ning stared at the van for a moment.

"When did you buy a van?"

"The monsters on our mountain pooled our money for it! Makes deliveries to the city easier! Getting my license was a real struggle. I nearly knocked down every pole at the driving school practicing reverse parking for the second test!"

Xiong Batian patted the door and told Wen Ning to get in. His hand was so powerful that Wen Ning could see the door shaking.

The van rattled west along the muddy road at the foot of Black Wind Mountain.

The road grew narrower and narrower until they finally stopped in front of a bamboo grove.

Xiong Batian pointed beyond the grove.

"Liujiabao's in there. The van can't go any farther. We'll have to walk."

The two of them passed through the bamboo grove, and the view suddenly opened up.

Beyond the grove lay a small valley, with several dozen homes scattered across its floor. Their gray-tiled roofs and white walls stood among the terraced fields along the slopes.

There really was a tree at the village entrance. It wasn't a locust tree, but a cherry tree.

Its trunk was so thick that even two people together couldn't reach all the way around it.

The flowering season had already passed, but Wen Ning could picture the tree covered in white cherry blossoms every spring.

He stood at the entrance and looked into the village.

The village was small, with only one main road. There was hardly anyone on it, just a few chickens scratching for food along the roadside.

An elderly woman sat shelling soybeans outside the first house by the entrance. Wen Ning walked over to ask her.

"Ma'am, is there a girl named Xiao Ya in this village? Do you know her?"

The old woman's hands stopped shelling beans.

She looked up at Wen Ning, a flicker of curiosity in her eyes.

She didn't answer.

"What do you do? Why are you looking for Xiao Ya?"

Hearing her question, Wen Ning felt he had found the right place.

"I'm Xiao Ya's middle school classmate. Someone asked me to come check on her."

The old woman looked up at Wen Ning, then lowered her head and shelled a few more beans.

"You're too late. That child, Xiao Ya... she's been dead for years."

Wen Ning asked her,

"Do you know how she died?"

The old woman dropped a shelled soybean into her enamel basin and sighed.

"That child wasn't quite right in the head. She had trouble talking and walking. She usually stayed in the village and didn't go out much. A few winters ago, she fell into the river and drowned. Probably slipped. Once she fell in, she never came back up."

Wen Ning fell silent.

He remembered Xiao Ya huddled in the corner, and the strained look on her face when she spoke.

Then he asked,

"Do you know where Xiao Ya's home is?"

The old woman raised a hand and pointed toward the far end of the village.

"The house back there with a loquat tree outside. That's the one."

Wen Ning thanked her and headed toward Xiao Ya's home.