The two cars drove one behind the other along the winding mountain road, passed through Yunling County Town, and turned onto the newly paved asphalt road.
Outside the windows, low hills gave way to mountains stretching into the distance. The cornfields gleamed a dazzling green in the sunlight, exactly like the scenery along the way when the production crew had first bundled Jiang Xun into a van more than three months ago.
Only, back then, a crew member carrying a camera had sat beside him. This time, it was Duan Qizhao, wrapped in a blanket and so careful that he dared not make a sound even when he sneezed.
The Old Locust Tree at the village entrance was still there. The little shop beneath it was closed, and a faded ice-pop advertisement pasted to its rolling shutter flapped noisily in the wind.
The dirt road that had collapsed in the torrential rain had been rebuilt in concrete, with several new solar streetlights installed along either side.
The Mercedes van stopped outside Shen Wangjing's home.
Jiang Xun pushed open the half-closed courtyard gate, then stopped the instant he stepped over the threshold.
The courtyard was different from when he had left.
The packed-earth ground had been swept spotless, the firewood was neatly stacked, two freshly washed towels hung from the clothesline, and a new water vat he had never seen before stood outside the kitchen.
The jujube tree was still there. A bamboo chair stood beneath it, a light blanket draped over its back, one corner stirring gently in the breeze.
A light was on in the main room.
His heart slammed against his chest.
Jiang Xun rushed up the steps and pushed open the door to the main room. An unfamiliar middle-aged woman was coming out of the inner room