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Staying cooped up in the house was driving Ye Chenfeng crazy. He couldn't understand what his grandmother was so busy with all day, as she was rarely seen.
He thought about calling his dad to tell him how serious his grandmother's dementia had become. He picked up the landline and dialed his father's number.
Beep... beep... The call connected, and his father's magnetic voice came through, "Mom..."
It was quite amusing that his dad referred to himself as "Mom." Ye Chenfeng smirked and pretended to mimic his grandmother's tone, saying, "Son-in-law, how have you been treating my daughter lately?"
"Mom, are you okay? Your voice sounds strange."
His father asked curiously, still not realizing it was his beloved son on the line. Frustrated, Ye Chenfeng raised his voice and said, "Dad, you can't even recognize my voice?"
Perhaps he had spoken a bit too loudly; after hearing his shout, his father fell silent for a moment before cautiously asking, "Is that really you, Ye Chenfeng?"
"Who else could it be?"
Ye Chenfeng wanted to say a few more words to his dad when his grandmother returned from outside. Seeing him on the phone startled her, and she snatched the receiver away, scolding him sternly, "You should be studying instead of disturbing your father's work. That's not how a good child behaves."
His grandmother was truly an unreasonable old stubborn. All she cared about was telling him to study; he was just trying to contact his dad. Why did she have to get so angry? Feeling upset, Ye Chenfeng pouted and stood up to leave the living room, defiantly saying to his grandmother, "I'm going back."
At the mention of him leaving, his grandmother panicked and hurriedly rummaged through the fridge for some treats to coax him back.
But the more she did that, the more eager Ye Chenfeng felt to go home. Honestly, if it weren't for avoiding his mother's nagging and his father's strictness, he wouldn't have come all this way to endure this.
Ye Chenfeng missed home—the little white poplar tree he had planted in the yard.
He also thought about how Grandma Yang's pomegranate flowers were blooming next door and how he needed to prepare study materials for the new semester ahead of time.
"You can't go back. Even if you want to, don't go alone. Wait until your parents arrive before you decide," Grandma said, picking up the sturdy iron lock again and forcing Ye Chenfeng inside. She wanted to lock the door for her own peace of mind.
Seeing Grandma about to lock the door, Ye Chenfeng panicked and rushed to snatch the lock away from her.
At her age, there was no way Grandma could compete with Ye Chenfeng's strength!
Ye Chenfeng forcefully took the lock and angrily tossed it onto the sofa, then stormed toward the door.
Grandma, feeling emboldened, shouted, "You little rascal, are you trying to rebel?"
"Grandma, I'm an adult now! I know what I'm doing, so just leave me alone! I have to go back today; I need to prepare my study materials for the new semester and there’s a lot to do. If you don’t want to stay here, why not come with me to the city?"
"Ye Chenfeng, sweetheart, listen to Grandma. Just three days, and your parents will be here. We can discuss it then," Grandma pleaded with him.
In Grandma's eyes, this child was truly remarkable. He was tall and strong, with incredible strength. She was old and couldn't compete with him physically. With a hint of helplessness in her gaze, she watched as Ye Chenfeng disappeared from sight.
Ye Chenfeng dashed away in a flash, forgetting to take his belongings with him, including the book Grandma had given him.
He also left his ID at Grandma's house and only had a few coins on him for the bus fare.
With just a few coins, he could almost make it home. It would cost two yuan to take a bus from the small town to the county seat, and transferring would only require ten yuan to get into the city.
Ye Chenfeng was still a child at heart. As he left Grandma's house, he hopped along happily. He felt liberated and found everything around him fresh and exciting—even the posters for skin disease treatments on the telephone poles caught his attention as he curiously approached them.
This time, what he saw wasn't an advertisement for skin disease; it was a Missing Person Notice.
Missing Person Notice did not include a photo, stating that a child of similar age to Ye Chenfeng had left home on a certain date and had not returned. It urged anyone who had seen the child to call a number.
Ye Chenfeng could not remember when someone had started accompanying him.
This additional person was also looking at the Missing Person Notice.
He observed him, standing at a similar height, with long legs, wearing a light blue thin sweater, and his skin appeared slightly pale. The other person's eyes reflected Ye Chenfeng's own image.
Ye Chenfeng did not recognize the person in front of him but felt as if he had seen him somewhere before.
As they brushed past each other, the other called out to him, "Hey, can you take me home?"
Ye Chenfeng was puzzled; he wasn't a child anymore, so why would someone need him to take them home? He turned to look at him and saw the hopeful expression in his eyes, mixed with sadness and melancholy. "Are you lost?"
"Yeah."
"Where are you from?"
"Purple City."
Ye Chenfeng's eyes lit up with surprise as he thought to himself that if he really was from Purple City, they could go back together. "I'm also from Purple City. Which district do you live in?"
"New District."
"What a coincidence, that's the same district as me." Ye Chenfeng found it too coincidental. He then asked, "What's your name?"
"I... am Su Bei."
Ye Chenfeng found it strange. There wasn't much to see in this place; it was just a small river winding around the village before flowing into a much larger river far away. His father had told him that this was a tributary of the Minjiang River that came down from high mountains far away.
He asked, "Su Bei, how did you get lost here?"
"I came out to play with my classmates and then got lost."
Su Bei seemed to have some reservations, glancing around as she spoke. Ye Chenfeng wondered, "What about your classmates?"
"They... don't know."
"Alright, come with me. We'll take a ride home together." Ye Chenfeng walked ahead of Su Bei toward the Greeting Station.
They had to walk this stretch of country road to reach the Greeting Station.
A fast electric cart came racing toward Ye Chenfeng, driven by a man with a beard. He was sent to look for someone and, upon seeing Ye Chenfeng, shouted, "That kid is named Ye Chenfeng?"
Ye Chenfeng froze; he didn't recognize this uncle. He must be a rescuer sent by his grandmother.
"Su Bei, let's race! Whoever gets to the Greeting Station first pays for the ride."
"I don't have any money," Su Bei said pitifully, glancing at the uncle who had called out to Ye Chenfeng as he parked the cart and approached them. Without waiting for a response, she took off running.
"Hey, you..." Ye Chenfeng saw Su Bei take the lead and gathered his strength to chase after her.
The man who wanted to catch Ye Chenfeng saw the kid running faster than a rabbit and quickly turned back to hop on the electric cart to give chase.
The man riding the electric bike was actually there to deliver an ID card to Ye Chenfeng.
Unbeknownst to Ye Chenfeng, he saw Su Bei running and instinctively followed suit; he really did not want to return to Grandma's House.
Life at Grandma's House consisted of either playing games or being forcibly locked inside by his grandmother.
Having finally escaped, there was no way he would go back.
He and Su Bei sprinted to the Greeting Station, just in time for a bus to arrive. Without a word, they hopped on and found seats.
Once seated, he turned to look at the uncle who was chasing after them, stretching his neck to see the bus that had already departed.
"Fool," Ye Chenfeng laughed as he took out money to buy tickets. He had to admit he was lucky; he intended to buy two tickets, but the Ticket Seller Aunt only charged him for one.
Perhaps because of this, Su Bei kept offering his seat throughout the journey.
He offered his seat to everyone, regardless of age or gender.
Ye Chenfeng thought Su Bei was even sillier than that Farmer Uncle.
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