The journey was long, but it was long enough to tell the story of a woman who kept vigil for the dead.
Aunt Fang was not actually from their village. She had come from the distant region of Sichuan.
Back then, Aunt Fang's family had struggled to get by. Her parents had congenital genetic disorders that all their children had inherited. Her older brother had an intellectual disability, and she had been born with a disability too.
It was difficult for children like them to find spouses, so the family had settled on the simplest solution: an exchange marriage.
In those days, this practice had been common in remote rural areas.
Having attended school for a few years, Aunt Fang knew it was a harmful custom and fiercely refused to agree, but her parents would not listen.
It was not really their fault. After all, everyone did it, and with the family so poor, an exchange marriage was their only way to give both children families of their own.
Because Aunt Fang resisted, the matter kept being postponed.
Then a discharged soldier happened to arrive looking for a place to spend the night, and things took a turn.
Aunt Fang had always been bold. When she learned that the discharged soldier was heading back to his hometown in the north, she thought about it all night. At daybreak, she quietly slipped into the storage room and begged him to take her away with him.
The soldier froze for a moment, then hurriedly waved his hands to refuse. But after the young woman explained the whole story, he hesitated.
He had seen enough of the world to know that going to the police or the government would do no good. This place was too remote. Unless someone filed a complaint, the