My phone had died, and I had no idea what ti it was now. But judging from the sky that was starting to emit a faint light again, along with the thickening fog, it was probably around half past five in the morning.
Guided by the flashlight held by the old woman in front of , I silently thanked her again for being kind enough to help us.
“My na is Shi. And yours?”
If it weren’t for her, I wasn’t sure we’d have made it anywhere. We probably would’ve ended up back at the station, exhausted, waiting for the sun to rise.
“I’m Ren, and she’s…”
“Yuri.”
With a bent but sturdy posture, Granny Shi nodded lightly and kept walking. The basket of eels on her back, covered with a cloth, looked heavy, yet her steps never slowed down.
The beam from her flashlight stayed fixed on the path ahead, until it landed on soone walking toward us—making realize we were close to the village.
The figure ca nearer, and as the fog that hid him cleared away, I could finally make out his appearance.
A bald man, sowhat muscular, holding a basket full of dirty clothes in his hands. He greeted us right away.
“Oh, Granny Shi, good morning. Just got back from the fields? What did you catch today?”
“Hahaha, nothing strange. Just so eels I want to make for breakfast. Want a few?”
Granny Shi laughed heartily, patting the basket on her back as she offered.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass. My kid’s still a little traumatized after seeing a snake mixed in with your eel catch yesterday.”
The bald man shook his head, then turned his gaze to and Yuri.
“By the way, Granny Shi, who are they?”
“Just so acquaintances of my child from the city. I happened to et them on the road earlier.”
I bowed my head slightly, feeling a little nervous after being introduced by Granny Shi.
“Ah, I see. Nice to et you both, and welco. This village may be a bit remote and not that well-known, but everything here still feels natural. If you’re planning to stay for a while, I recomnd visiting the west end of the village, even just for a bit.”
He spoke while glancing behind him, as if pointing out where the west was.
“The view there is beautiful, especially in the evening. The sunset is really soothing.”
“We’ll definitely visit.”
“Great. Well then, I’ll be off. Sorry for holding you up.”
At my reply, he gave a thumbs-up and continued walking past us.
Granny Shi waved her hand.
“Be careful while washing, don’t let your underwear float away again.”
“Not gonna happen!”
I froze, unable to say anything. Granny Shi then mumbled and turned to .
“Quite the charming man, isn’t he?”
…Am I really allowed to comnt on that? He did seem friendly and easy to approach, but… does “charming” really fit him?
All I did was nod.
“Y-Yeah…”
With that, we resud walking, and only a few minutes later, the sight of the village ca into view.
Welcod by the sound of roosters crowing and birds chirping in the distance, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the houses standing around.
Separated by fields or narrow rice paddies, each house looked simple, with wooden walls or bamboo weavings. It really gave off the rustic countryside vibe I sotis imagined.
Most of the lamps were still on, and I saw so villagers already out of their hos—so carrying laundry like the man earlier, others leading buffalo.
I inhaled the sll of fresh soil dampened by morning dew.
“It’s still dark but they’re already so busy…”
“That’s normal in the countryside.”
Answering my mutter, Yuri also seed absorbed as she observed the village scenery.
“Haha, the girl’s right,” Granny Shi chuckled as she switched off her flashlight, probably because the village light was enough to illuminate the path.
“Most of the people here are farrs and livestock keepers. They have to tend to the fields or animals, which takes a long ti. So before the blazing sun cos up and makes the day hotter, they need to start working at the crack of dawn.”
Life in the countryside was really unfamiliar to soone like , so information like this piqued my interest.
“Does that apply to soone who wants to do laundry, like that man earlier?”
“Of course. For a househusband, he actually has to wake up even earlier. Since the clean water supply to hos is limited, he needs to wash quickly at the river if he doesn’t want to be late preparing breakfast.”
Why would a village in the middle of rice fields have a water shortage? But thinking about how dirty the water must get from the mud, I ca to my own conclusion.
“Sounds tough.”
“Tough? Not really. Unlike in the city, it’s peaceful here, far from the hustle and bustle. Doing routines like that every day isn’t hard when you can find serenity afterward.”
Saying that, Granny Shi then stopped and pointed her finger toward a house ahead.
“Here it is, my ho.”
Her house had wooden walls and looked just as simple as the others in the village. The difference was that it seed bigger and taller, with large wooden stilts raising the building high off the ground.
“…Looks just like Grandpa’s house.”
Yuri muttered upon seeing it, catching Granny Shi’s attention.
“Oh? Your grandpa lived in a rural area too?”
“…Yeah. His house was on high stilts like this. He said ... it was to keep it from flooding easily.”
“Exactly. Back then, before the dam was built, this area often flooded. That’s why my parents built it this way. Anyway, co in.”
Taking off her sandals to climb the stairs, we followed suit by removing our shoes and stepping inside after her.
“Excuse us…”
It was dark, so I moved cautiously until Granny Shi flipped on a light switch on the wall, illuminating the whole room so I could finally see.
As expected, the interior was spacious and didn’t feel cramped at all, even with a long table and rows of chairs surrounding it.
The creak of the wooden floor was rarely heard with each step I took, showing how sturdy and long-lasting the material was.
Granny Shi turned to us.
“You must be tired, right? Sit anywhere you like. I’ll go get the first-aid kit to treat that injury.”
Yuri’s wound had worried since last night, so I really appreciated Granny Shi’s concern.
“Thank you so much for your kindness.”
“City kids really are stiff, huh? Well, politeness is important though. Wait a bit, I’ll prepare a room and, even if it’s not eel, I’ll bring you so food. You can sit and relax in the anti.”
After I nodded in agreent, Granny Shi headed to another room, leaving just the two of us here.
Without hesitation, I imdiately rested my body on a chair. The fra and backrest were made of wood, but since the seat had a soft cushion, it was more than enough for .
Especially since I hadn’t slept at all on the train. Just leaning back slightly made feel like I could close my eyes at any mont.
“Finally, we can sit sowhere other than those hard train seats. Right, Yuri?”
Glancing to the side, I saw her sitting too, letting out a small breath. Her eyes looked oddly vacant.
“…Yeah.”
“What’s wrong? Are you really that exhausted? I can tell Granny Shi you want to head straight to bed.”
Honestly, I wanted to sleep too, but it felt rude since Granny Shi was preparing food for us first.
“No. It’s just… sohow, my body feels heavier after sitting down. Weird.”
“Ah, that’s just your body realizing how tired it actually is.”
It kind of reminded of when I was a kid and used to play sports. Every ti I got ho from practice, my body only felt heavy after lying down on the bed.
Now I hardly feel that anymore, for obvious reasons.
Since I had nothing else to say and she seed too tired for conversation, I closed my eyes to steady my breathing.
The ticking of a wall clock behind filled the room, along with the fresh cold air drifting in through the open door.
…A bit too cold, actually.
So I opened my eyes again, intending to get up and close the door. But then Yuri’s voice broke the silence.
“…Ren.”
“What is it?”
The long-banged girl stared at the floor, not moving from her spot.
“…Do you regret it?”
“Regret what?”
“Listening to my childish whining on the train, even following all the way here—just because I didn’t want to face my problems. I know I’ve been a bother and… probably annoying.”
My eyebrows rose, and I slowly shook my head.
“I don’t feel that way at all. Honestly, running away might’ve been the right choice.”
“Why?”
“Because, thinking about it, a mother shouldn’t have the right to arbitrarily take away a hobby her child has enjoyed for years.”
I didn’t know the exact reason behind it, but I felt like I was right. After all, even my own parents never went as far as trying to throw away my gas.
At worst, they just punished and banned from playing for a while.
My gas were lost to the world, not because of them.
“Even if that hobby brings bad influence?”
“You’re still in school, you’ve never skipped class, and you even beca productive enough to want to make your own ga. What part of that is a bad influence?”
Yuri kept her head down. But after a few seconds, she finally looked at and replied.
“…Thanks. For validating , I guess.”
“…”
Without saying anything else, I stood up and walked to the door. Looking out at the sun that had begun to rise, I turned back to her one more ti.
“The weather looks nice today. Want to take a walk around the village after we get so sleep?”
"Um."
Reviews
All reviews (0)