13. The Township Health Center
In the afternoon, sunlight streamed obliquely through the slats of the blinds at the Alishan Township Health Center, casting square patches of light and shadow across the floor.
The mobile medical clinic that had continued for several days had finally come to an end. Medical records, medication lists, and referral documents were neatly stacked on the desks. The clock on the wall ticked steadily, while the crisp calls of mountain birds could occasionally be heard outside the window.
Yang Wenhua stood in front of the desk, with Lin Xiuling, Shen Zhiwei, and Zhang Meihua beside him. Although all four young people looked tired, there was a sense of relief in their eyes after completing their assignment.
Director Li Mingli raised his head from a stack of medical records and looked at the four of them.
“Wenhua.”
“Director.”
“You’re the host here.” Director Li took off his glasses and placed them on the desk, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. “After the trip is over, if your friends aren’t in a hurry to leave, take them home as guests and show them some hospitality.”
Yang Wenhua was slightly taken aback. Before he could answer, Zhang Meihua had already raised her hand with a smile.
“Director, the three of us were already planning to do that!”
Shen Zhiwei immediately chimed in. “That’s right.” He threw an arm over Yang Wenhua’s shoulder. “Of course the three of us aren’t going to let you off the hook, Senior Wenhua.”
Yang Wenhua looked at the hand resting on his shoulder, then at the three of them, and smiled helplessly.
“Of course you can come to my house.” He paused, deliberately making his tone serious. “But my family has already started harvesting the winter tea. This is when we’re most short-handed.”
“So…” He looked around at the three of them. “For food, drinks, and lodging, we’ll have to pitch in and take care of things ourselves.”
Shen Zhiwei waved his hand dismissively. “Easy!” He gave a thumbs-up. “No problem!”
“We can help!” Lin Xiuling suddenly spoke up, her eyes lighting up. “The three of us can go help Senior harvest the tea together.”
Yang Wenhua looked at her. “You’re going to pick tea too?”
“Of course.” Lin Xiuling smiled and nodded. “We can’t just go to your house and eat and drink for free, can we?”
Zhang Meihua immediately chimed in. “That’s right!” She patted Shen Zhiwei on the arm. “We can’t just eat Senior’s food for free.”
Shen Zhiwei suddenly raised an eyebrow. “Meihua.”
“What?”
“That sentence of yours… sounds like there’s something wrong with it.”
Zhang Meihua looked completely puzzled.
“What’s wrong with it?”
Shen Zhiwei held back his laughter. “You clearly just said…” He deliberately drew out the words. “Senior is an idiot!”
The air suddenly fell silent for two seconds.
Zhang Meihua froze. “I did not!” She realized what he meant, and her face instantly turned red. “I said we could eat for free! I said ‘eat,’ not ‘idiot’!”
Shen Zhiwei could no longer hold back his laughter. “Hahaha!”
Yang Wenhua was stunned for a moment as well, then shook his head and laughed.
“All right, all right.” He deliberately sighed. “I, your senior, will let you freeload at my house for a few days.”
“Hey!” Zhang Meihua glared at Shen Zhiwei. “This is all your fault!”
Shen Zhiwei laughed so hard he could barely stand straight, while Lin Xiuling also covered her mouth and laughed.
The slightly bittersweet atmosphere of parting in the office was immediately lightened by the joke. Sitting behind his desk, Director Li Mingli looked at the group of young people and smiled with satisfaction.
Zhang Meihua walked up to Yang Wenhua and deliberately looked him up and down.
“Senior, I didn’t know you were so good at teasing people!”
Yang Wenhua shrugged. “I’m usually just too lazy to say anything.”
“You really know how to sting people once you start talking!” Shen Zhiwei added with a laugh.
Yang Wenhua ignored him and simply pointed outside the window.
“But let me make one thing clear first.” His expression suddenly became more serious. “Picking tea is really hard work.”
“I’m afraid the three of you won’t even make it through half a morning before you start whining to me.”
“No way!” Lin Xiuling immediately protested. She raised her hand beside her shoulder like a student taking an oath, her expression so serious that it was almost cute. “I promise I absolutely won’t whine!”
Yang Wenhua looked at her.
For an instant, his gaze lingered a little longer than usual.
There was a rare seriousness in her eyes. She was not merely saying it for the sake of saying it. She genuinely wanted to step into his life and see the place where he had grown up. She also wanted to see how the man she had always kept hidden in the deepest part of her heart had grown up.
Seeing this, Zhang Meihua also raised her hand.
“Me too!” she declared confidently. “I promise I won’t whine.”
After a pause, she suddenly added, “But I might scream my head off.”
“Hahaha!”
Shen Zhiwei was the first to burst out laughing.
Lin Xiuling also laughed so hard that she bent at the waist.
Even the usually quiet Yang Wenhua shook his head with a smile.
“You two…” He looked at them. “I’m already starting to regret inviting you. You’re coming to my house just to put on a show.”
“Too late to regret it!” Shen Zhiwei threw an arm around his shoulder. “We’ve already decided.”
The four young people looked at one another and laughed.
At that moment, the office was filled with the laughter of young people.
Director Li Mingli could not help laughing as well.
“Haha!” He tapped the desk with his hand. “Young people should be like this.” He looked out at the mountains and forests. “When you have the chance, get out there, see more of the world, and learn more about this land.”
The four gradually fell silent.
Yang Wenhua looked at Director Li.
Although the mobile medical clinic had lasted only a few days, it had allowed them to truly see another side of medical care in remote rural areas.
It was not only about disease.
It was also about poverty, transportation, work, family, and one person after another who had to choose between work and health.
For him, this trip back home also had another meaning.
This was his home.
The place where he was born and grew up.
And the place he had never truly left.
“Director.” Yang Wenhua lowered his head slightly. “Thank you for taking care of us these past few days.”
Lin Xiuling, Shen Zhiwei, and Zhang Meihua also straightened up at the same time.
The four of them bowed neatly to Director Li Mingli.
“Thank you, Director Li, for taking care of us these past few days!”
Director Li quickly waved his hand.
“All right, all right. There’s no need to be so formal.” He smiled and stood up. “Go back to the dorm and pack your things.”
“Aren’t you going to the Wenhua’s house to pick tea tomorrow?”
Shen Zhiwei immediately grinned.
“Got it!”
Zhang Meihua nodded as well.
“The tea-picking team is officially formed!”
Lin Xiuling secretly glanced at Yang Wenhua.
“See you tomorrow, Senior.”
Yang Wenhua smiled at her.
“See you tomorrow.”
The four walked out of the director’s office.
Yang Wenhua walked in front, with Lin Xiuling following behind him. Shen Zhiwei and Zhang Meihua walked along behind them, joking and fooling around.
When they reached the doorway, Yang Wenhua suddenly stopped and looked back.
Director Li Mingli was still standing at the office entrance. Their eyes met across the hallway.
Yang Wenhua raised his hand.
“Goodbye, Director.”
Li Mingli also smiled and waved.
“Go on.”
The four young figures gradually disappeared at the end of the hallway.
Outside the window, the mountain wind swept through the forests of Alishan. In the distance, clouds and mist slowly drifted along the mountainside.
And for Yang Wenhua, the next few days would involve more than just picking tea.
There was also something he himself had not yet realized—
A young woman was slowly stepping into his hometown, and step by step, into the heart he had kept closed for so long.
14. The Yang Family Tea Farm in Dabang Village
Early that morning in Dabang Village, the mountain mist had not yet completely cleared.
The thin fog lay like a translucent veil over the hillsides and tea fields. Dew clung to the tips of the lush green tea leaves, while the morning sunlight slowly emerged from behind the mountains, tinting the mist a pale gold.
Birdsong could occasionally be heard in the distance. The mountain breeze swept across the tea trees, causing the entire tea field to ripple gently like waves on the sea.
A motorhome slowly climbed the winding mountain road and finally stopped beside the Yang family’s tea farm.
The door opened.
Yang Wenhua jumped out first. He raised his head and saw familiar figures among the tea trees in the distance. A smile immediately appeared on his face.
“Dad! Mom!”
He waved toward the hillside.
Yang Mingda, Su Yuzhen, and his two sisters, Yang Wenqing and Yang Wenying, who were picking tea, all looked up at the same time.
“Wenhua is back!”
Su Yuzhen put down the tea leaves in her hands and quickly took the bamboo basket off her back.
Yang Mingda also set his tea-picking tools aside.
The family walked along the path through the tea field to greet him.
Yang Wenhua stood there waiting.
When his mother approached, he opened his arms and first gave her a warm hug, then kissed her on the cheek.
“Mom, it’s been a long time.”
“You finally remembered to come home, you rascal!” Su Yuzhen said with a smile as she patted her son on the back.
Yang Wenhua then walked toward his father.
The father and son did not say much. They simply hugged one another, patted each other on the shoulder, and kissed each other on the cheek.
Then came his two sisters.
“Sis.”
“Little brother.”
Yang Wenqing smiled and hugged him.
Yang Wenying deliberately gave her younger brother a hard slap on the back.
“Brother, you’ve gotten even thinner!”
“You haven’t changed.”
“How haven’t I changed?”
“You still love to eat just as much.”
“You—”
Yang Wenqing raised her hand as if she were about to hit him.
The whole family immediately burst into laughter.
Standing behind them, Lin Xiuling, Shen Zhiwei, and Zhang Meihua were stunned as they watched the scene.
Such intimate physical affection was not something they were accustomed to seeing in the families they knew.
Zhang Meihua quietly leaned toward Lin Xiuling’s ear.
“They’re really close-knit, aren’t they?”
Lin Xiuling did not answer.
She simply watched Yang Wenhua.
At this moment, he was completely different from the quiet, aloof “priest” at school who was always buried in a pile of books.
Here among these mountains and forests, he seemed to have shed a thick outer shell.
His smile was natural.
His eyes were gentle.
Lin Xiuling suddenly felt an indescribable flutter in her heart.
So this was the real Yang Wenhua.
Yang Wenhua turned around and saw the three of them still standing where they were, so he smiled and waved.
“Come over here!”
He turned and introduced them to his family.
“Dad, Mom, these three are my juniors from school.”
“Shen Zhiwei.”
“Zhang Meihua.”
“Lin Xiuling.”
“They came this time because they want to experience life on a farm.”
Yang Mingda smiled and nodded.
“Welcome, welcome.”
Su Yuzhen looked the three of them up and down.
“It’s rare for Wenhua to bring his classmates home. Make yourselves at home.”
She looked at what the three were wearing and could not help smiling again.
Yang Wenhua seemed to guess what his mother was thinking and smiled as he explained.
“Our family is Christian, and we usually spend more time with the pastor’s family, so we’re used to greeting each other in the Western way.”
Lin Xiuling nodded.
“I see.”
She glanced at Zhang Meihua, and the two exchanged a look.
The next second, Zhang Meihua boldly walked over to Yang Wenqing.
“Wenqing, come here.”
She opened her arms.
Yang Wenqing was momentarily stunned, then smiled and hugged her.
The two lightly touched cheeks.
Seeing this, Lin Xiuling also walked over to Yang Wenying.
“Wenying, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
The two also gave each other a warm hug.
Shen Zhiwei simply walked straight over to Yang Mingda.
“Uncle, come here!”
He opened his arms.
Yang Mingda was startled at first, then burst out laughing and reached out to hug him as well.
“Good! Young people are so straightforward!”
Yang Wenhua could not help laughing.
“You three learned pretty quickly.”
Su Yuzhen watched the scene, her eyes filled with amusement.
“I know you’ve been busy lately, so none of us wanted to bother you.”
Yang Wenhua nodded.
“The mobile medical clinic has kept us pretty busy lately.”
Yang Wenying walked over and lightly nudged her brother with her elbow.
“Little brother, thanks to you.”
She deliberately jerked her chin toward their mother.
“Every time you come home, Mom adds extra dishes to the table.”
Yang Wenhua laughed.
“Is it really that exaggerated?”
“Of course it is.”
Yang Wenying smiled so broadly that her eyes nearly disappeared.
“And this time you even brought three classmates home. Wenqing and I get to have a feast again.”
“Sis!”
Yang Wenqing suddenly looked seriously at her brother.
“Which one is your girlfriend?”
The air instantly fell silent.
Lin Xiuling’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She instinctively looked up at Yang Wenhua.
But Zhang Meihua reacted with lightning speed and pointed directly at her.
“It’s her!”
“Hey!”
Lin Xiuling’s eyes widened, but the words had already been spoken.
Yang Wenqing immediately looked at Lin Xiuling and examined her from head to toe.
Lin Xiuling felt somewhat embarrassed, but she did not deny it. She merely smiled faintly.
She did not even know why she had not immediately said, “No.”
Perhaps deep down, she did not dislike the misunderstanding.
Yang Wenhua quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
“Wenqing, don’t scare her.”
He glanced at Lin Xiuling.
“They’re all my junior classmates.”
“Junior classmates?”
Yang Wenqing clearly did not believe him.
“Come on, you’re not getting any younger. You should hurry up and bring your future sister-in-law home.”
She said with a playful smile, “Then my sister and I will have some company, too!”
Yang Wenhua glared at his sister Wenqing.
“They’re guests in our home. You’re reading too much into it.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiuling’s heart sank slightly.
She had known the answer all along, so she did not understand why hearing it directly still made her feel a little disappointed.
She quickly pushed that feeling aside.
—This was not the time to think about such things.
At least, he had not rejected her.
As long as he had not rejected her, anything was still possible.
Shen Zhiwei spoke up at just the right moment.
“Uncle and Auntie, we really came here today to experience farm life.”
Yang Mingda laughed heartily.
“Good! Young people should do more, learn more, and experience more.”
Yang Wenqing took Lin Xiuling by the hand.
“Pretty sister, do you want to come pick tea with me later?”
“Sure!” Lin Xiuling immediately nodded. “You teach me.”
Yang Wenqing looked at her clothes and could not help laughing.
“But you can’t pick tea dressed like this!” She pointed at Lin Xiuling’s shoes and clothes. “Tomorrow morning, change into work clothes, and I’ll teach you how to pick tea.”
“Okay. It’s a deal.”
Lin Xiuling smiled and held out her hand. The two lightly high-fived each other.
Su Yuzhen said to Yang Wenhua, “Wenhua, take your classmates around for a while.” She pointed down the mountain. “We’ll go home once we finish up here. We’ve already prepared food and drinks.”
Yang Wenhua nodded.
“Okay.”
He turned toward the three of them.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you around the tea farm first.”
Yang Mingda suddenly reminded them, “There’s dew on the paths between the fields, and they’re slippery. Watch your step.”
“Got it, Dad.”
Yang Wenhua led the three of them along a narrow path through the tea farm. The soil beneath their feet was damp, and their shoes made faint crunching sounds as they stepped over it.
Shen Zhiwei looked around as they walked.
After a while, he suddenly stopped.
“Senior.”
“Hmm?”
“This entire stretch of hillside…” He looked around. “It all belongs to your family?”
Yang Wenhua turned around and smiled.
“Yeah.”
He raised his hand and pointed into the distance.
“All the way to that row of roadside trees below the highway. The whole area belongs to us.”
Zhang Meihua’s mouth fell open.
“Wow!”
She turned around in a circle.
“How does your family manage to take care of such a huge area?”
Yang Wenhua gazed at the tea fields covering the mountains, his tone calm.
“We just do as much as we can.”
He reached out and gently touched a tea leaf.
“So every tea-picking season, my family gets so busy we can barely keep up.”
Lin Xiuling gazed at his profile.
At that moment, she suddenly understood.
Why he was always in such a hurry to come home whenever he had a break.
Why he never complained about how hard the work was.
Because this land was not just ordinary farmland.
It held his parents, his sisters, and his childhood.
“No wonder,” Lin Xiuling said softly. “School had just started winter break, and your roommate said you had already gone home.”
Yang Wenhua smiled.
“My family needs the extra hands.”
He stopped walking.
“If I can help, I do whatever I can.”
With that, he raised his hand and pointed toward another hillside.
“Come on. I’ll take you to see the coffee farm.”
Zhang Meihua immediately looked wary.
“Don’t tell me…”
She stared into the distance.
“It’s another huge stretch of land like this, isn’t it?”
Yang Wenhua could not help laughing.
“No.”
Zhang Meihua let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew…”
“It’s just a little smaller than this tea farm.”
Zhang Meihua froze.
She raised a hand to her forehead.
“Oh, my God…”
Shen Zhiwei laughed so hard he almost doubled over.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to experience farm life?”
“I said experience it!” Zhang Meihua glared at him. “I didn’t say I wanted to experience working myself to death!”
Yang Wenhua smiled and shook his head.
“Come on.”
15. The Yang Family Coffee Farm
Before long, the four of them passed through the tea farm and arrived at another hillside.
Coffee trees stood in neat rows across the slope.
The morning mist gradually cleared. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell across clusters of newly formed coffee cherries.
Shen Zhiwei walked over to a coffee tree and reached out to part the branches.
“These are coffee beans?”
“Not yet.”
Yang Wenhua smiled as he corrected him.
“They’re coffee cherries right now.”
He picked one and placed it in his palm.
“The coffee beans are inside.”
Lin Xiuling also moved closer and carefully examined the branches.
“So this is what coffee beans look like when they’re growing.”
She looked somewhat surprised.
“I used to think they were like cacao, enclosed inside huge fruits.”
Zhang Meihua turned to look at her.
“Xiuling, don’t tell me you’ve really never seen a coffee tree before?”
“No.”
Lin Xiuling answered quite matter-of-factly.
“I don’t like drinking coffee, so I’ve never paid much attention to it.”
Shen Zhiwei squatted down and examined the trunk.
“Senior, I noticed that the coffee trees here all seem to be kept at roughly the height of a person.”
Yang Wenhua’s eyes lit up.
“Zhiwei, you’re very observant.”
He gestured toward the height of the trees.
“Farmers control the height of coffee trees mainly to make harvesting easier.”
“There are probably more than a thousand trees here.”
He looked across the entire coffee farm.
“In another month, the harvest will gradually begin.”
Zhang Meihua drew in a sharp breath.
“More than a thousand trees?”
“Yeah.”
“Another month of hard work?”
“Pretty much.”
Zhang Meihua was speechless.
She turned to Lin Xiuling, and the two of them unconsciously fell a few steps behind.
Ahead of them, Yang Wenhua and Shen Zhiwei were discussing how the coffee trees were cultivated.
Zhang Meihua lowered her voice.
“Xiuling.”
“Hmm?”
“Looks like farm life really isn’t easy.”
She blinked.
“You’re not seriously thinking about marrying into this family, are you?”
“Marrying into this family?”
Lin Xiuling froze for a moment.
Zhang Meihua nodded toward the front.
“Working from sunrise to sunset. It’s hard work!”
She deliberately gave her an ambiguous smile.
“Every day, you’d follow your priest-like senior around picking tea and harvesting coffee, living the life of a farmer’s wife.”
Lin Xiuling did not answer immediately.
She looked at Yang Wenhua’s back ahead of them.
Sunlight came from the other side of the valley, stretching his shadow long across the ground.
She suddenly imagined what it would be like if one day she really stayed here…
Going up the mountain together in the morning.
Working together in the afternoon.
Sitting in the courtyard together at night, watching the mountain mist slowly drift in the distance.
A life like that did not seem unpleasant.
In fact… it seemed a little appealing.
But she quickly pushed the thought aside.
She knew she still had an unfinished dream.
She wanted to become a truly outstanding plastic surgeon.
She did not want love to become the only answer in her life.
So she smiled faintly.
“I like the mountains and forests here.”
She paused.
“But when it comes to relationships, you just have to let things take their natural course.”
Zhang Meihua looked at her.
Lin Xiuling’s eyes remained fixed on Yang Wenhua.
“Besides, if I really want to return to the mountains and forests and live this kind of secluded life…”
She took a gentle breath.
“I’d have to wait until I’ve established my career. At least until I’m middle-aged.”
Only then did Zhang Meihua let out a sigh of relief.
She gently bumped Lin Xiuling with her shoulder.
“That’s good. I was really worried you’d let love make you lose your head.”
Lin Xiuling smiled.
“Don’t worry.”
But behind that smile, she knew better than anyone—
It wasn’t that she had no feelings for him.
She simply did not know where this feeling would eventually lead her.
She also did not know whether the name Yang Wenhua had been waiting for over ten years—Xie Ci’en—would ever return.
At that moment, the mountain breeze swept through the coffee farm.
The branches and leaves swayed, and the sunlight alternated between brightness and shadow.
Lin Xiuling looked toward Yang Wenhua again.
She suddenly realized that what she truly wanted to enter might not be this mountain forest alone.
It was the place that this man had never allowed anyone to approach—
The depths of his heart.
16. Visiting Wenhua’s Home
By afternoon, the mountain mist over Dabang Village had already cleared.
Sunlight streamed down between layer upon layer of mountains, while several old trees in the courtyard cast dappled shadows across the ground.
The mountain breeze carried the fresh fragrance of tea leaves and earth, occasionally mixed with the distant sounds of chickens and dogs.
The entire mountain village appeared quiet and peaceful.
In the middle of the Yang family courtyard stood a large, sturdy table made of solid timber.
Yang Mingda brewed a pot of high-mountain tea, and the fragrance of tea slowly rose with the steam.
Yang Wenhua, Lin Xiuling, Shen Zhiwei, Zhang Meihua, and Yang’s parents sat around the table.
Yang Wenying and Yang Wenqing were busy preparing dinner inside the house, and the occasional clattering of pots and dishes came from the kitchen.
Shen Zhiwei picked up his teacup and took a sip.
He could not help praising it.
“Uncle Yang, this tea is really good.”
“We grow it ourselves!”
Yang Mingda smiled as he poured more tea for everyone.
Shen Zhiwei put down his teacup and looked at Yang Wenhua.
“But seriously, Uncle and Auntie, now that you have a son who’s a doctor to rely on, you won’t have to work so hard as farmers in the future.”
He said half-jokingly, “Once Wenhua becomes a great doctor, you can go to Taipei with him and enjoy the good life!”
Hearing this, Yang Mingda did not answer immediately.
He lowered his head and looked at the tea in his cup.
After a moment of silence, he slowly smiled.
“I’m just a rough old farmer who can barely read.”
He raised his hand and pointed toward the endless tea fields outside the courtyard.
“I cleared this land myself, one swing of the hoe after another, starting when I was young.”
His palms were rough, and his knuckles were covered with the marks left by the passing years.
“I followed my parents and worked the land here when I was a child. Decades have gone by.”
Yang Mingda raised his head and looked toward the distant mountains and forests.
“If you really asked me to follow Wenhua to Taipei and enjoy the good life…”
He shook his head.
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be any happier.”
Shen Zhiwei was slightly taken aback.
Yang Mingda smiled.
“People don’t necessarily have to live in a big house or drive a nice car to enjoy a good life.”
“As long as I can stay on my own land, have something to do, have enough to eat, and have my family around me, that’s enough for me.”
Su Yuzhen sat beside her husband and gently nodded.
“That’s right.”
She poured another cup of tea for her husband.
“We’ve never thought about relying on our children to support us in our old age.”
She looked up at Yang Wenhua. Her eyes were full of affection, but there was not the slightest trace of expectation or demand.
“The children have their own lives.”
“As long as we can stay here on our land and have enough food and clothing, we’ll be perfectly content.”
Yang Wenhua listened quietly the entire time.
His eyes fell on his father’s rough hands.
At that moment, he suddenly remembered his childhood.
His father would carry a bamboo basket on his back and walk ahead, while he followed behind, his shoes sinking into the soft mud again and again.
Back then, he had secretly sworn to himself—
Someday, I will give Mom and Dad a better life.
But now, he suddenly realized that what people called a “better life” might not be what he had imagined.
He wanted to take his parents away from here.
But what his parents truly wanted was to stay here.
The happiness of two generations could actually have completely different answers.
Yang Mingda suddenly looked at his son.
“Wenhua.”
“Hmm?”
“You don’t need to worry about us.”
His father’s tone was calm, yet it was as if he had seen straight through his son’s thoughts.
“As long as you follow your own path well, that will be the greatest way you can honor us.”
Yang Wenhua gently nodded.
“I understand, Dad.”
Listening to their conversation, Zhang Meihua could not help speaking up.
“Actually, my parents think the same way.”
She held her teacup and smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly.
“They used to tell me that all the skills I’ve learned could just be considered my dowry.”
Shen Zhiwei could not help laughing.
“That practical?”
“Seriously.”
Zhang Meihua curled her lips.
“They said that once I got married and started my own life with my husband’s family, I should just live my own life and not come back and cause them trouble.”
Su Yuzhen smiled and shook her head.
“Parents are actually all the same.”
Yang Mingda nodded as well.
“We won’t put pressure on our children.”
He looked at his two daughters, then at his son.
“Among the children, whoever wants to take over this land in the future can have it.”
“Whoever isn’t interested can go and do whatever they want.”
“The land is the root of our family, but it must never become a shackle for our children.”
Those words made Lin Xiuling pause.
She looked up at Yang Mingda.
This seemingly simple mountain farmer had spoken with an understanding of life that was clearer than that of many highly educated people in the cities.
She instinctively looked toward Yang Wenhua.
He was lowering his head and drinking tea, with a faint smile at the corners of his mouth.
At that moment, she seemed to understand him a little better.
No wonder he had chosen general surgery.
No wonder he was willing to return to a rural area.
Because the blood of this land ran through his veins.
Zhang Meihua suddenly nudged Lin Xiuling lightly with her elbow.
“Xiuling.”
Lin Xiuling turned her head.
Zhang Meihua gave her a knowing wink.
“Yang’s parents are so open-minded…”
She deliberately lowered her voice.
“You’d better seize the opportunity.”
Lin Xiuling immediately understood what she meant.
“Meihua…”
She was about to glare at Zhang Meihua when she suddenly noticed that someone was looking at her.
She raised her head.
Su Yuzhen was looking at her with a smile.
It was no longer the assessing gaze of someone meeting her for the first time, but more like a gentle observation.
Lin Xiuling suddenly felt embarrassed.
She instinctively stole a glance at Yang Wenhua.
Unexpectedly, Yang Wenhua was looking at her too.
Their eyes met across the air between them.
Lin Xiuling’s heart skipped a beat.
She immediately lowered her head and pretended to lift her teacup to take a sip.
But the tips of her ears had already quietly turned red.
Yang Wenhua also seemed to realize that his gaze had been too direct, and he quickly turned his eyes toward the distant mountains.
However, the faint smile at the corners of his mouth did not completely disappear.
Su Yuzhen saw everything.
She did not say anything, but her smile became even more knowing.
Just then, Yang Wenqing’s clear voice came from inside the house.
“Dinner’s ready!”
Everyone immediately stood up.
“Coming!”
“I’ve been hungry for ages.”
A group of people laughed as they walked into the house.
More than a dozen dishes were already spread across the dining table.
The steaming dishes gave off rich aromas.
Unlike the refined presentation of dishes in city restaurants, the food at the Yang family table carried the most direct flavors of the mountains and forests.
Fried stream fish, crispy salted stream shrimp, stone-grilled mountain pork, stir-fried wild vegetables, cold betel nut flowers with magao seasoning, and various Tsou-style dishes made with ingredients from the mountains filled the entire table one after another.
Yang Wenying carried out the final dish from the kitchen.
“This whole table is made up of dishes that my sister and I are best at.”
She set the dish down and put her hands on her hips.
“You can’t get food like this when you’re eating out.”
Shen Zhiwei quickly stood up.
“Thank you, Big Sis!”
Yang Mingda took the seat at the head of the table and waved his hand generously.
“Help yourselves, everyone!”
Yang Wenying picked up her chopsticks and began introducing the dishes.
“This is fried stream fish.”
She pointed to another plate.
“And this is crispy salted stream shrimp.”
Shen Zhiwei nodded.
“I know this one.”
He pointed to a plate of golden-brown slices of meat.
“Stone-grilled mountain pork.”
“That’s right.”
Yang Wenying pointed toward the corner of the table.
“And this one is cold betel nut flowers with magao seasoning.”
She deliberately emphasized it.
“This isn’t something you can easily find outside.”
Shen Zhiwei immediately picked up a bite with his chopsticks.
“Then I definitely have to try it.”
He put it in his mouth and chewed carefully.
The next second, his eyes lit up.
“Hmm!”
He could not help nodding.
“Crisp and delicious!”
Zhang Meihua also picked up a bite.
“It really is!”
Lin Xiuling tasted it carefully.
The refreshing texture carried the distinctive fragrance of wild mountain plants, completely different from the food she had eaten in city restaurants in the past.
She chewed slowly.
“That’s really unique.”
Yang Wenying smiled.
“Most of the food we eat here is made with whatever we can find locally.”
“Whatever the mountains have, that’s what we eat.”
“We try to preserve the original flavors as much as possible.”
Yang Wenhua sat across from Lin Xiuling and watched her taste the dishes from his hometown one bite at a time.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious.”
Lin Xiuling looked up.
“I never knew food from the mountains could be this diverse and delicious.”
Yang Wenhua smiled.
“Then eat some more.”
He reached out and placed a piece of stone-grilled mountain pork in her bowl.
“This is my sister’s specialty.”
Lin Xiuling froze for a moment.
Looking at the piece of meat that had suddenly appeared in her bowl, she felt a warm feeling rise in her heart.
This man was always like this.
He was not good at sweet words, and he rarely took the initiative to express his feelings.
But his concern was often hidden in a glance or a simple gesture.
She raised her head and smiled gently at him.
“Thank you, Senior.”
“You’re welcome.”
Yang Wenhua lowered his head and continued eating.
But the brief understanding between them did not escape Zhang Meihua’s notice.
She secretly winked at Lin Xiuling.
Lin Xiuling immediately glared at her.
Zhang Meihua held back her laughter and lowered her head to continue eating.
The dining table was soon filled with laughter again. The Yang family’s dinner had neither elaborate tableware nor the refined lighting of a city restaurant. There was only a large round table, a family, and the breeze from the distant mountains drifting into the house. For Lin Xiuling, what truly moved her about this meal was not merely the taste of Tsou cuisine, but another kind of warmth she had never truly experienced before—the warmth of a family that treated even strangers as one of their own.
She raised her eyes and looked at Yang Wenhua. At that moment, she suddenly wanted to know: If one day she really became a member of this family, what would it be like? As soon as the thought came to her, she immediately lowered her head. She did not dare to think any further. Because she knew that in Yang Wenhua’s heart, there was still a girl who had been waiting for ten years. And that girl’s name was—Xie Ci’en.
17. The Tea Pickers Who Rise Early
The night in the mountains came earlier than in the city, and it was deeper.
Before the sky had fully brightened, Dabang Village was already wrapped in a thick layer of mountain fog. The mist slowly flowed along the slopes like a sleeping white stream, spreading downward along the eaves, treetops, and tea plantations. From far away came the occasional calls of unknown birds, only to be swallowed by the dense fog moments later.
Inside the house, however, there were already faint footsteps. From the room next door came the rustling of clothes, followed by the soft sound of a wooden door opening and closing.
Lin Xiuling opened her eyes. She turned over and saw that Zhang Meihua beside her was still curled up under the covers, fast asleep. She reached out and nudged Meihua’s shoulder.
“Meihua, time to get up.”
Zhang Meihua turned over and pulled the quilt over her head.
“Hmm… five more minutes.”
Xiuling could not help laughing. She reached out and pulled the quilt down.
“Five minutes? If you sleep any longer, you really won’t make it in time to pick tea.”
Zhang Meihua suddenly opened her eyes. “Pick tea?” She sat up, her messy hair hanging over her forehead. She stared blankly for two seconds before remembering what Yang Wenhua had said the day before. “Oh, right… We’re picking tea today.” She let out a huge yawn, then collapsed limply back onto the bed. “I suddenly feel like… working the night shift at the hospital isn’t so hard after all.”
Lin Xiuling laughed at her. “Oh, please.” She grabbed Zhang Meihua’s hand and pulled her up from the bed. “Didn’t you swear yesterday that you absolutely wouldn’t whine?”
Zhang Meihua rubbed her eyes. “I said I wouldn’t whine. I never said I wouldn’t regret it.”
The two looked at each other and laughed. This kind of morning was both unfamiliar and fresh to them.
Life in the city was about alarm clocks, the subway, hospitals, and class schedules. Here, the first thing to wake people was not a phone alarm, but the calls of birds gradually awakening in the mountains.
Lin Xiuling changed her clothes, picked up her toiletries, and walked into the bathroom. “I’ll brush my teeth and wash my face first. Hurry up.”
“Got it.” Zhang Meihua sat on the edge of the bed, answering her, but she could not help closing her eyes again. In less than ten seconds, her head began to nod downward.
Water could be heard running in the bathroom. As Lin Xiuling brushed her teeth, she looked at herself in the mirror. She suddenly remembered what Zhang Meihua had said yesterday at the coffee farm—you wouldn’t really want to marry into this place, would you?
A faint smile unconsciously appeared at the corners of her mouth.
Marry into this place?
Her gaze fell on her reflection in the mirror. She knew that what she truly could not let go of was not these mountains and forests, but the man who had always walked ahead of her, quiet and reserved, yet always reached out a hand whenever she needed him: Yang Wenhua.
But she also knew clearly that Wenhua had always kept a place in his heart for someone. That place belonged to—Xie Ci’en.
At the thought of this, the smile in Xiuling’s eyes slowly faded. She knew very well that she was approaching a heart that already belonged to someone else. Yet she still wanted to know whether that door might ever open for her.
The faint sweet aroma of sweet potato porridge drifted out from the kitchen. The Yang family was already gathered around the dining table. A large pot of steaming sweet potato porridge sat on the table, along with several dishes of stir-fried vegetables, dried anchovies, fermented tofu, and a few simple mountain vegetables.
Yang Mingda picked up his bowl and took a sip of porridge. “The fog is really heavy today.”
Yang Wenhua nodded. “Yeah. We’ll have to take it slow on the mountain road later.”
Sitting beside him, Shen Zhiwei drank his porridge while yawning. “Picking tea at your house really is hard work. You have to get up before the sun is even out.”
Yang Wenqing smiled as she added another spoonful of porridge to his bowl. “This is nothing. During the really busy season, we get up even earlier.”
Just then, Lin Xiuling and Zhang Meihua walked into the dining room from the hallway.
Yang Wenqing looked up and smiled. “You two finally got up? My brother even told us not to go wake you.”
Lin Xiuling smiled as she sat down. “Don’t listen to your brother.” She picked up a bowl and filled it with sweet potato porridge.
Zhang Meihua, meanwhile, looked as though she had not eaten for three days. She immediately grabbed a large serving of vegetables with her chopsticks. “Wow, that smells so good.”
Yang’s mother, Su Yuzhen, smiled and said, “Breakfast in the mountains is simple. Are you two used to eating this kind of food?”
“Yes.” Lin Xiuling nodded. “And I think it’s delicious.”
She lowered her head and took a sip of the hot porridge. The mild sweetness of the sweet potato mixed with the aroma of rice and spread across her tongue. It was a flavor that was difficult to find in city restaurants. It was neither expensive nor refined, yet it carried a warmth that made a person feel at ease.
Zhang Meihua suddenly raised her head and looked at Yang Wenhua. “Senior, do you go out this early every day during tea-picking season?”
Yang Wenhua put down his bowl and nodded. “Pretty much. We usually get to the tea plantation around five.”
“Five?” Zhang Meihua’s eyes widened. “Isn’t it still dark then?”
Yang Wenhua smiled. “The mountain fog, dew, and temperature all affect tea picking, so we have to start early.”
He glanced out the window. “Usually, by around eight, the fog has cleared, and we’re pretty much done for the first round.”
Zhang Meihua calculated it. “So only three hours?”
The corners of Yang Wenhua’s mouth lifted slightly. There was a familiar mischievous look in his smile. “Yep.” He deliberately drew out the word. “So you’ll know once you experience it yourself.”
Zhang Meihua immediately straightened up. “Piece of cake!” She patted her chest. “I’m a medical student. I’ve got plenty of stamina.”
Shen Zhiwei could not help laughing beside her. “That’s what you said yesterday, too.”
Zhang Meihua glared at him. “Shen Zhiwei, shut up.”
Everyone at the table burst out laughing. Lin Xiuling laughed along with them. She raised her head and looked at Yang Wenhua. “Senior, we’ll be fine.”
Her tone was confident and firm.
Yang Wenhua looked at her, his gaze lingering for a moment. For some reason, at that instant, he suddenly felt that there was something different about this girl before him. She was not like those tourists from the city who only wanted to come to the mountains to see the scenery. She genuinely wanted to step into his life. The thought gave his heart a slight jolt.
He quickly lowered his head and continued drinking his porridge.
No.
He told himself, Ci’en is still waiting for me.
Only two years remain of our ten-year promise.
Before that promise truly ends, he has no right to accept another girl’s feelings.
Yet he could not deny it—Lin Xiuling’s appearance had already quietly changed his life.
After breakfast, the sky finally began to lighten. The mountain fog had still not completely dispersed, and the tea plantation was immersed in a sea of milky white.
The Yang family had already changed into their tea-picking work clothes. Conical hats, long-sleeved shirts and pants, arm covers, cloth shoes, and bamboo baskets strapped to their backs were all prepared.
Yang Wenhua handed a conical hat to Lin Xiuling.
“Put it on.”
Xiuling took the hat and looked up at him. “How do I wear this?”
Yang Wenhua stepped closer and adjusted the chin strap for her. “If it’s too loose, the wind will blow it away.”
His fingers accidentally brushed against the side of her ear. Lin Xiuling’s body stiffened slightly. Their distance suddenly became so close that she could hear his breathing.
She looked up.
Yang Wenhua was also looking down at her. Their eyes met briefly.
For a moment, the air seemed to fall silent.
Lin Xiuling’s heart began to beat faster, but she deliberately acted as though nothing had happened. “Is it okay now?”
Yang Wenhua immediately withdrew his hand. “It’s fine.”
He turned around, hiding his own unusual reaction.
Lin Xiuling lowered her head and lightly touched the chin strap with her fingers. The corners of her mouth quietly curved upward.
Standing nearby, Zhang Meihua saw the whole thing clearly. She winked at Lin Xiuling.
Lin Xiuling immediately glared at her. “What are you looking at?”
Zhang Meihua held back her laughter. “Nothing.”
Shen Zhiwei walked over from the side with a bamboo basket on his back. “Is everyone ready?”
Yang Wenhua nodded. “Let’s go.”
Everyone filed out of the courtyard. The work vehicle was already parked at the entrance. Yang Mingda took the driver’s seat, while Yang’s mother and the two daughters climbed into the vehicle one after another.
Lin Xiuling stood beside the vehicle and looked back at the Yang family’s house. Through the morning fog, the tea plantation stretched layer by layer up the mountain slope, while the distant mountains appeared and disappeared in the mist.
She suddenly had a strange feeling. This did not feel like a brief internship. Instead, it felt as though she were slowly stepping into Yang Wenhua’s real life, one step at a time.
What she did not know was that some feelings are born quietly, planting their first seed on a morning like this, when the mist has not yet dispersed.
The work vehicle started, its engine breaking through the tranquility of the early morning. Everyone headed toward the tea plantation.
18. Picking Tea at the Yang Family Tea Plantation
The morning mountain fog had not yet completely withdrawn. A thin layer of white mist flowed along the mountainside of Dabang Village. The tea plantation extended row after row up the slope, with dewdrops hanging from the tips of the tender green tea leaves. When the breeze blew, they reflected tiny glimmers of morning light. The distant ridges were still immersed in gray-blue mist, and only along the edge of the sky did a faint golden glow slowly emerge.
The work vehicle slowly climbed the dirt mountain road. Its tires rolled over wet gravel, making a soft rustling sound. At last, the vehicle stopped beside the tea plantation.
“We’re here.” Yang Mingda turned off the engine and pushed open the door.
Yang Wenhua jumped out first and waved to the people in the vehicle. “Be careful. The ground is wet.”
Shen Zhiwei put on his bamboo basket and followed him out of the vehicle.
Zhang Meihua, meanwhile, looked down at her shoes. “We really have to walk in there?”
Yang Wenying had already walked over with a laugh. “What else? Did you think picking tea was something you do at a tourist attraction while taking pictures?”
“I’m just confirming,” Zhang Meihua said stubbornly.
Everyone could not help laughing.
Yang Wenhua led everyone into the tea plantation. The branches and leaves of the tea bushes were lush green in the morning fog, growing densely together. The soil beneath their feet had absorbed the dew, and with every step, a layer of wet mud stuck to their shoes.
Lin Xiuling reached out and gently touched a tea leaf. A drop of dew slid down her fingertip.
She raised her head and looked at the endless tea plantation before her. A feeling she could not put into words suddenly rose in her heart.
In Taipei, what she encountered every day were white walls, disinfectant, medical records, and cold medical equipment.
But at this moment, what she held in her hand was a tea leaf carrying the scent of the earth.
For the first time, she felt so clearly that medicine and the land were both ways of caring for life.
One saves the human body; the other sustains people’s lives.
Yang Wenying took out the prepared tying blades and taught the two junior classmates how to fasten them.
“Here. This needs to be tied between your thumb and index finger.”
She took Lin Xiuling’s hand and adjusted the position for her. “Don’t let too much of the blade stick out, or you could easily cut your hand.”
“Like this?” Lin Xiuling moved her fingers experimentally.
“That’s right.”
Beside them, Zhang Meihua also held out her hand. “What about mine?”
Yang Wenqing secured the strap for her. “Yours needs to be tied a little tighter.”
“Will I cut my hand?”
“Just slow down until you get used to it.”
On the other side, Shen Zhiwei watched Yang Wenhua’s movements and followed his example, tying the blade between his thumb and index finger himself.
He raised his hand. “Is this okay?”
Yang Wenhua took a look. “Pretty much.”
Shen Zhiwei smiled proudly. “Medical students have pretty good hands-on skills, you know.”
Yang Wenhua shook his head with a smile. “Just don’t shave your fingers off along with the tea leaves later.”
“Senior, are you cursing me?”
Everyone laughed again, their laughter spreading through the valley.
The Yang siblings quickly divided the six young people into three groups, with each group taking responsibility for one row of tea bushes.
Yang Wenqing went with Zhang Meihua.
Yang Wenying went with Shen Zhiwei.
Yang Wenhua and Lin Xiuling stood in front of another row of tea bushes, less than half a step apart.
Yang Wenhua bent down and reached out to part the tender leaves at the top of the tea bush. “Xiuling, look here.”
Lin Xiuling crouched down beside him. “Okay.”
Yang Wenhua did not let her start immediately. Instead, he slowly demonstrated with both hands.
His palms faced downward, and his thumb and index finger gently came together.
“Find the tender bud at the very top of the branch.”
He paused to let her see it clearly.
“Keep your palm facing down, and hook your thumb around your index finger.”
His two fingers looked like a pair of tiny scissors.
“Like a crab’s claw.”
“Snip.”
A section of tender stem fell into his palm.
“Pick one young bud at a time, along with the two tender leaves underneath it.”
Lin Xiuling watched carefully. “So like this?”
She held out her hand and imitated his posture.
Yang Wenhua said nothing. He simply placed his hand over the back of hers and adjusted the position of her fingers.
“Lower your thumb a little.”
His voice was very soft.
Lin Xiuling’s body stiffened slightly. She lowered her head and looked at their hands, his fingers resting right on the back of her hand.
At that moment, she actually forgot what she had originally wanted to ask.
Yang Wenhua seemed to notice something as well and quickly withdrew his hand.
“This takes less effort.”
“Oh…”
Lin Xiuling answered softly. She raised her head and looked at his profile.
The morning fog slowly drifted behind them.
At that moment, she suddenly felt that this man was very close to her.
Yet he also seemed to be separated from her by an entire mountain.
Because she knew that another woman still lived in his heart.
Xie Ci’en—the girl she had never met, yet who had already deeply influenced Yang Wenhua’s life.
At the thought of this, the flutter in her heart was suddenly extinguished, as though a basin of cold water had been poured over it.
“What exactly am I hoping for?”
She secretly asked herself.
But the next second, she forced herself to raise her head again.
“Since I’ve already decided to come, I shouldn’t be afraid.”
“Senior.”
“Hmm?”
“I understand now.”
She reached out again and tried to snip off a tender bud.
“Snip.”
The tender bud fell into her palm.
She smiled. “This motion really is fast.”
Yang Wenhua looked at her. “Once you get used to it, it’ll become even easier.”
He bent down and picked another tea leaf.
“But this is only the first step.”
“The first step?”
“Yeah.”
He looked out over the entire tea plantation.
“After the fresh tea leaves are brought back, they still have to go through withering, rolling, fermentation, drying, and other processing procedures.”
His tone was calm, but there was an added seriousness in his eyes.
“The truly complicated work, the work that takes the most mental and physical effort, comes afterward.”
Lin Xiuling nodded thoughtfully. “So that’s why every year, as soon as winter break begins, you rush back here.”
Yang Wenhua did not answer immediately. His hand rested on a tender leaf. After a while, he finally said quietly, “We don’t have enough people at home.”
He lowered his head and continued picking tea.
“If I can help, I do my best to help.”
It was only a simple sentence, yet it left Lin Xiuling silent.
She suddenly understood that the reason this man was always alone was not simply because he had an aloof personality.
He was carrying far more on his shoulders than she had imagined.
The top student in medical school. A future surgeon. The eldest son of the family. A farmer’s son from the mountains. Each identity was like an invisible rope, binding him firmly to his responsibilities. And she did not know whether she could become the person who would allow him to temporarily set those responsibilities aside and truly live once for himself.
At another row of tea bushes, Yang Wenying crouched beside the plants and quickly demonstrated.
“Zhiwei, look here.”
She hooked her finger.
“Snip!”
The tender bud fell into her palm.
“Don’t use too much force. You have to rely on the speed of your fingers.”
Shen Zhiwei followed her movements and tried once.
“Snip!”
Success.
He proudly held up the tender bud. “See?”
Yang Wenying gave him a thumbs-up. “Medical students really are exceptionally smart.”
Shen Zhiwei immediately puffed out his chest. “Of course.”
Not far away, Zhang Meihua could not help shouting, “Hey! Shen Zhiwei, don’t get proud after picking just one!”
“This is called talent!”
“This is called narcissism!”
Laughter broke out again.
The sun finally rose above the mountain ridges. Golden sunlight pierced through the thin mist, and shafts of light fell across the tea plantation. Yang Mingda, Su Yuzhen, and the Yang siblings were all bent over, moving skillfully among the tea bushes. The six young people gradually got into the rhythm as well. Their initial clumsiness slowly disappeared.
One leaf. Two leaves. Ten leaves. A handful.
The sound of tea leaves falling into the bamboo baskets was light and continuous. The mountain breeze swept through the tea plantation, stirring the edges of everyone’s clothes.
Lin Xiuling raised her head. Ahead of her, Yang Wenhua was bent over, focused on picking tea in the morning light. His back was quiet and upright.
She looked at him with a tenderness she herself had not noticed.
She suddenly understood.
Perhaps what she truly wanted to approach was not merely the “priest” everyone in medical school called him.
It was this man who had been born in the mountains and raised on the land, who carried the responsibility of his family on his shoulders, yet still worked hard to pursue his dream of medicine.
She lowered her head and reached out again.
“Snip.”
A tender bud fell into her palm.
She smiled faintly.
Then she continued picking.
In the distance, the morning light grew brighter and brighter. The entire tea plantation finally awakened from the mist. And the figures of the six young people gradually blended into this ancient and tranquil land beneath the golden mountain light.
19.
The Juguang train traveled north along the railway at a steady rhythm. The sound of the wheels striking the rails beat against the train car again and again, producing a deep and rhythmic “clickety-clack, clickety-clack.” Outside the window, the mountains gradually receded into the distance. Green tea plantations, valleys, villages, and utility poles flashed rapidly past the window glass.
Lin Xiuling sat beside the window. She said nothing, simply resting her chin on her hand as she gazed outside.
The mountains were moving farther away from her.
And so was that person.
Her fingers unconsciously touched a small card in the pocket of her jacket. It was a sentence she had secretly written before leaving Dabang Village.
“Someday, if you are willing to turn around, I will still be here.”
She had not given the card to Wenhua. It was not because she lacked the courage. Rather, she had suddenly realized that once certain words were spoken aloud, they could become a burden to another person.
Sitting beside her, Zhang Meihua turned toward her and stared at her for a while.
“Xiuling.”
“Hmm?”
“If you like Senior Wenhua, and you’ve had so many opportunities these past few days, why didn’t you just confess your feelings to him directly?”
Lin Xiuling was silent for a moment. She turned her head and looked at her friend.
“I did.”
Lin Xiuling nodded softly.
Zhang Meihua was stunned. “Really? When did you confess?”
“The morning after we spent the night at Basoya’s house in Shanmei Village, I deliberately followed Senior Wenhua to Danayigu.”
Zhang Meihua immediately sat up straight.
“Wait.”
She lowered her voice, but her eyes lit up.
“You followed him?”
“Yeah.”
“You really did that?”
Lin Xiuling could not help smiling. “I just wanted to find an opportunity to tell him what was in my heart.”
Zhang Meihua moved closer to her. “So?”
“And then?”
“Of course, and then!” Zhang Meihua anxiously reached out and nudged her shoulder. “Did you actually confess your feelings to him or not?”
Lin Xiuling looked out the window.
The suspension bridge at Danayigu appeared in her mind, and her eyes slowly softened.
Zhang Meihua held her breath. “What did he say?”
Lin Xiuling did not answer immediately.
The scene from that morning returned to her mind—the thin mist covering Danayigu, the suspension bridge gently swaying in the mountain wind, and Yang Wenhua standing on the bridge with both hands resting on the railing as he looked at the stream below.
She had walked over to him. She had asked about Xie Ci’en, and she had also asked about the ten-year promise.
In the end, she had summoned the courage to tell him, “Only two years. I can wait for you.”
But Yang Wenhua had not given her any promise.
Lin Xiuling lowered her head, a faint bitter smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.
“Senior said he was still waiting for his first love to come back.”
Zhang Meihua sighed softly. “Xie Ci’en?”
“Yeah.”
The train car fell silent for several seconds.
The train passed through another tunnel.
The world outside suddenly turned black.
Two girls’ faces appeared in the window glass.
Lin Xiuling looked at her own reflection and suddenly felt somewhat unfamiliar to herself.
She had clearly said what was in her heart. Why, then, did she feel no lighter than she had imagined?
Perhaps what she was truly afraid of was not rejection.
It was that—the man’s heart had never truly left a place for her.
Zhang Meihua reached out and held her hand.
“So what are you going to do?”
Lin Xiuling was silent.
The train emerged from the tunnel, and sunlight poured into the train car again.
She looked into the distance. After a long while, she finally said, “I told him that I was willing to wait for him to change his mind. But…”
She paused.
“He didn’t give me any promise.”
Zhang Meihua frowned. “So you backed off?”
Lin Xiuling shook her head. “It’s not backing off.”
She gently exhaled.
“I just don’t want to pressure him.”
Her eyes fell on the back of her hand.
“If he still has Ci’en in his heart, no matter how hard I try right now, I can’t force another person out of his heart.”
Zhang Meihua said nothing. She knew her friend had a point.
Love had never been medicine.
There was no formula and no standard treatment plan.
No matter how hard you tried, you could not necessarily heal another person’s heart.
And no matter how much you gave, you could not necessarily receive the same in return.
Lin Xiuling leaned back against the seat.
“So… I’ll just let things take their natural course.”
Zhang Meihua sighed. “Sigh. Looks like you and him can only let things take their natural course.”
Lin Xiuling smiled faintly.
But behind that smile was a trace of quiet disappointment.
Of course she hoped that one day Yang Wenhua would turn around.
She hoped that when that day came, what he saw would not simply be his junior from medical school, nor a companion who could work hospital shifts and provide medical services with him.
She wanted him to see a woman who was truly willing to walk through life with him.
But she also knew that she could not stake her entire life on a man who had given her no promise.
The train continued forward.
She reached out and pulled the curtain open a little. The distant mountains had gradually disappeared, replaced by plains and cities.
She looked out the window, and her eyes slowly regained their determination.
“I’m still going to follow my original plan.”
Zhang Meihua looked at her. “Go back to Shanghai?”
“Yeah.”
Lin Xiuling nodded.
“I’m going to open my own practice in Shanghai.”
She said it calmly. It was the life she had planned long ago.
Study medicine, accumulate clinical experience, establish her own career, and then return to the city she knew well and open a clinic of her own.
She could not give up the life she had spent years building because of a relationship that had not even begun.
But after saying this, her hand quietly tightened around the card in her pocket.
Could she really let go?
She did not know.
Perhaps two years later, Xie Ci’en would really come back.
Yang Wenhua would fulfill the ten-year promise, and the two of them would be together again.
Perhaps nothing would happen.
And she might meet someone else in Shanghai.
But at this moment, she still could not deceive her own heart.
She liked Yang Wenhua.
And she liked him more deeply than she had originally imagined.
Zhang Meihua looked at her, seemingly seeing through her thoughts, but she did not ask any more questions.
She simply patted her gently on the shoulder.
“Xiuling.”
“Hmm?”
“No matter what happens in the end, at least you were brave enough to confess your feelings.”
Lin Xiuling turned to look at her.
The two smiled at each other.
Outside the window, a stretch of sunlight swept past.
The train carried the two girls toward their own unknown futures.
And behind them, Alishan, shrouded in clouds and mist, had gradually shrunk into a patch of blue-green in the distance.
Lin Xiuling took one last look.
Silently, she said in her heart:
Goodbye, Senior Wenhua.
If one day you are truly willing to turn around—
I don’t know whether, by then, I will still be standing here waiting for you.
She slowly lowered the curtain, and the train continued forward.
20. Shanghai’s Shili Yangchang
In Shanghai that afternoon, sunlight streamed through the dense branches and leaves of the plane trees, casting patches of shifting light and shadow across the weathered red-brick walls of the old Western-style houses.
The streets in the commercial district were still noisy. Car horns, pedestrians’ conversations and laughter, and the rumble of the subway in the distance blended together.
However, after turning into a small lane lined with plane trees, the noise suddenly faded.
At the end of the lane stood a quiet old Western-style building with red brick walls and black roof tiles.
This was Lin Xiuling’s Qingxiu Jiaren Medical Aesthetics Clinic.
The old building retained its original layout, with only the exterior and interior receiving refined modern renovations.
Several gold-lettered characters on the glass door gleamed softly in the sunlight.
Qingxiu Jiaren Medical Aesthetics Clinic.
Two years earlier, when she left Taiwan, Lin Xiuling had once thought that she would slowly forget those days in the Alishan mountains.
However, she was wrong.
The clouds and mist of Alishan, the stream at Danayigu, the dewdrops in the tea plantation in the early morning, and the man standing on the suspension bridge who had always refused to turn around…
Those memories had not disappeared with time.
Instead, like a seed buried deep in her heart, they occasionally sprouted quietly amid her busy life.
Inside the consultation room, Lin Xiuling wore a sharply tailored white coat, her long hair tied back.
She sat at the computer desk, holding a stylus in her hand. Sitting across from her was a woman in her early thirties.
The woman wore an elegant suit and repeatedly picked up a mirror to examine her face.
She put down the mirror and frowned with some dissatisfaction.
“Dr. Lin, I’ve always really liked the Korean actresses Kim Tae-hee and Jun Ji-hyun.”
She lightly touched her nose with her finger.
“Their features are so beautiful, and they have such an elegant presence. I hope I can have that kind of look, too.”
Lin Xiuling smiled faintly. She leaned forward slightly and carefully studied the contours of the woman’s face.
“Actually, the shape of your face and the proportions of your features are somewhat similar to theirs.”
She picked up the facial analysis chart on the desk, and her fingertip lightly moved across the screen.
The woman’s eyes lit up.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Lin Xiuling nodded.
“So you don’t need to make major changes. With a few localized adjustments, your overall proportions will look much better.”
The woman seemed encouraged and immediately leaned closer.
“But I’ve always thought my nose was too big.”
She pointed to the sides of her nose and then touched her lips.
“And my lips. I think they’re too thick.”
Lin Xiuling did not answer immediately.
She carefully studied the woman’s face. After a few seconds of silence, she finally said, “The nostrils and tip of your nose can be reduced moderately to make the proportions of your nose more refined. If your lips really bother you, they can also be adjusted moderately. Your eyebrows could be made slightly thinner in certain areas, and the discoloration under your eyes can also be improved.”
She paused.
“But I don’t recommend completely turning yourself into another person.”
The woman was stunned.
“Why?”
Lin Xiuling looked at her.
“Because the most important thing about cosmetic surgery is not turning you into a particular celebrity. It is making your existing features more harmonious while preserving what makes you unique.”
The woman picked up the mirror and looked at herself again.
Lin Xiuling’s words left her silent for a moment.
In fact, this was also something Lin Xiuling had gradually come to understand over the past two years.
Every day, she encountered different women.
Some wanted to become more beautiful.
Some wanted to reclaim their lost youth.
Others had simply begun to hate their own faces because of someone else’s comment.
They walked into the clinic carrying dissatisfaction with themselves, hoping to receive an entirely new version of themselves from her.
But if someone really became more beautiful, would that necessarily make her happier?
Lin Xiuling had asked herself that question before.
She remembered the morning on the suspension bridge at Danayigu.
At that time, she too had hoped that a man would see her.
Not the academically outstanding junior from medical school.
Not a doctor who might achieve something in the future.
But simply—
Lin Xiuling.
A woman who loved him.
Her gaze briefly lost focus.
“Dr. Lin?”
The patient’s voice pulled her back to reality. Lin Xiuling blinked and once again put on her professional yet gentle smile.
“I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“That’s all right.” The woman smiled. “Then… could I see what the results might look like first?”
“Of course.”
Lin Xiuling stood up and pulled a portable computer over in front of them. She skillfully opened the imaging software and imported the patient’s front-facing photo. The woman’s original face soon appeared on the screen.
Lin Xiuling picked up the stylus.
“Look. These are your features as they are now.”
She first made subtle adjustments to the width of the nostrils, followed by the tip of the nose, the shape of the eyebrows, and the lips. Finally, she lightened the discoloration around the eyes.
Throughout the process, her movements were delicate and focused.
The more the woman looked, the brighter her eyes became.
“This… is really me?”
“It’s you.” Lin Xiuling put down the stylus. “It’s just a computer simulation.”
The woman stared at the screen, almost unable to take her eyes off it. The woman on the screen looked a little more refined than she did now, yet she had not become someone else.
She gently touched her face.
“If I could really look like this…”
There was a hint of anticipation in her voice, along with a certain fantasy about the future.
“I’d probably feel much more confident.”
Lin Xiuling looked at her but did not immediately respond.
She knew that what a doctor truly faced was never just a face.
It was a person’s image of herself.
“You already look very good.” Lin Xiuling’s tone was calm. “We’re just making a few adjustments so that you’ll like the person you see in the mirror even more.”
The woman smiled.
“Dr. Lin, could you print out a copy of this computer image for me?”
Lin Xiuling shook her head.
“This is only a preoperative simulation. When we actually perform the surgery, I’ll still make detailed adjustments based on your actual condition at that time.”
“I know.” The woman blinked. “But I really want it. I could take it back to the company, and it could even help promote your clinic.”
Lin Xiuling laughed.
“Ms. Wen, once your surgery is complete, you yourself will be the best advertisement.”
She turned the computer screen slightly back toward herself.
“Preoperative simulation images like this cannot be distributed outside the clinic. That’s also a basic professional rule in our field. I hope you understand.”
Ms. Wen thought about it and finally had no choice but to nod.
“Okay, okay.”
She leaned back in her chair.
“Then, Dr. Lin, when can I have the surgery?”
Lin Xiuling picked up the appointment schedule from the desk and flipped through several pages.
“If you want complete adjustments to the nose and lip shape, it would probably be about two months from now.”
“Two months?”
Ms. Wen’s eyes widened.
“Do I really have to wait that long?”
“The current surgical schedule is already full.” Lin Xiuling’s tone remained gentle. “However, if you’re sure you want to do the eyebrow shaping and double-eyelid procedure, I can arrange those first.”
She raised her head.
“As for the nose and lip adjustments, we can do those two months from now.”
Although Ms. Wen was somewhat disappointed, she still nodded in the end.
“All right.”
She picked up her handbag.
“Then I’ll wait.”
Lin Xiuling smiled as she watched her stand.
“The nurse will help you arrange the follow-up appointments.”
The woman walked to the door, then suddenly turned around.
“Dr. Lin.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you ever had plastic surgery yourself?”
The sudden question made Lin Xiuling pause slightly.
She instinctively touched her face.
“No.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
The woman looked at her and could not help smiling.
“No wonder.”
“No wonder what?”
“No wonder you look so natural.”
Lin Xiuling smiled as well.
“Thank you.”
The woman left the consultation room, and the door gently closed behind her.
The room became quiet again.
Lin Xiuling stood where she was, watching the woman’s figure gradually disappear beyond the glass door.
A nurse walked over, holding several medical records in her arms.
“Dr. Lin, there are ten minutes until the next patient.”
“Okay, I know.”
The nurse turned and left.
Lin Xiuling sat back down in her chair.
She picked up the phone on the desk.
The screen lit up.
There were no new messages.
Her finger stopped over the contacts.
That name had been lying quietly there for two years.
Yang Wenhua.
She did not call.
She simply looked at it quietly for a while, then put the phone back on the desk.
Two years ago, on the suspension bridge at Danayigu, she had said:
“Only two years. I can wait for you.”
Now, two years were about to pass.
She had established herself in Shanghai. She had her own clinic and her own career, and she had gradually become the “Dr. Lin” everyone called her.
But what about him?
Was he still waiting for the woman named Xie Ci’en?
Lin Xiuling closed her eyes and gently exhaled.
She had once thought that if enough time passed, she would be able to let go.
But only today did she finally understand—
Some waiting is not necessarily about waiting for someone to come back.
Sometimes, it is about waiting until you finally have the courage to admit that you never truly let go.
She opened her eyes and looked out the window.
The plane tree leaves swayed gently in the afternoon breeze.
The sky over Shanghai was a deep blue.
And somewhere deep in those distant mountains, was someone also looking at the same sky?
Lin Xiuling had no answer.
She simply reached out, picked up the next medical record, and put her mask back on.
“Next.”
Her voice had regained the calmness expected of a doctor.
Only she knew that, in a corner of her heart, there was still a place reserved for one person.
