Xiao Yi pedaled along, the cargo bed packed with chattering children. Their little faces were rosy, their eyes sparkling with curiosity and excitement about the unfamiliar journey ahead.
In the fields along the way, rapeseed flowers were in full bloom, a sea of gold like an enormous sheet of unfurled brocade. The wild peach blossoms beside the road refused to be outdone, their pink petals swaying gently in the breeze and giving off a faint fragrance. Butterflies danced among the flowers, and birds sang merrily in the branches.
Xiao Yan sat in the cargo bed too, keeping a constant eye on the children. He feared that, amid this radiant spring sunshine, some mischievous little rascal might jump off on a whim to chase a wild rabbit or a colorful butterfly beside the road.
For these children, who had once shivered in bitter winds and spent their days in hunger and fear, the memories of winter snowstorms, icy stone houses, and lingering bodily pain seemed to have been quietly overlaid by these past few days of warm sunshine, delicious food, lovely music, and the company of their two "big brothers."
Their little heads no longer held despair and pain, but Big Brother Xiao Yi, who could conjure up a magical Tricycle and play wondrous music; Big Brother Xiao Yan, who said little but had gentle eyes and always lent a hand when they needed one; and the "immortal grandpa" who sometimes floated out of a ring, looked very powerful, yet could still be driven to hopping mad by Big Brother Xiao Yi. Of course, there were also the steaming, wonderfully fragrant dumplings and those strange tunes that made their bodies sway of their own accord.
The Tricycle stopped at every village. Xiao Yi would carry the children to the village entrance