Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After that, with the help of the villagers nearby, we finally found Wu Da.

It was chilling to think about. Wu Da’s body had been less than two hundred meters from where we’d parked.

He was in a snow gully, most of his body buried beneath the snow, with both legs still standing upright.

Wu Si cried out and threw himself toward him. But the moment he got close, he collapsed backward in terror and scrambled away with all his might.

Because Wu Da’s eyes were open. His expression was still so lifelike that it seemed as if he might open his mouth the very next second and curse Wu Si out again.

We helped Wu Si collect Wu Da’s remains and did our best to comfort him, telling him to try to come to terms with it.

But after the funeral, the way Wu Si looked at us changed.

Especially when he looked at me and Uncle Cheng. There was hatred in his eyes that he couldn’t hide even if he tried.

The day before we parted ways, I still wanted to say something to comfort Wu Si.

But Wu Si coldly avoided my hand. As he brushed past me, he said only one thing: “That night, did you really not find my brother?”

Only then did I realize that Wu Si had suspected all along that on the night we reached the lumber mill, Uncle Cheng and I hadn’t done everything we could to look for Wu Da. He might even have thought we’d left him to die.

A little kindness breeds gratitude; too much breeds resentment. That was all there was to it.

After that, I didn’t see Wu Si again for a long time.

I knew full well that a person like him was not someone worth keeping close.

But I stayed in touch with Uncle Cheng.

Uncle Cheng was the man who had saved our lives. Every time I went to the northeast, I would pay him a visit.

Uncle Cheng was also an extremely dutiful forest ranger. He had a deep attachment to the old-growth forest back in his hometown.

That was why, during the forest fire seven years ago, Uncle Cheng had crossed the burning zone on foot in order to report the fire in time. As a result, large areas of his body were burned, and he nearly lost his life.

When I heard the news and went to see him, he was wrapped up like a mummy in the hospital. Even half of one ear had been burned away.

Yet he was happy, because his warning had come in time. The forest he had watched grow since childhood, along with the people living in the forest district, had escaped a catastrophic disaster.

In the blink of an eye, fifteen years had passed. Last year, Uncle Cheng finally retired with honor.

On the phone, his voice was still as booming as ever, and he sounded full of energy. He just wasn’t very willing to leave his post as a forest ranger.

This year, I happened to go to the northeast again to make a delivery. After finishing the job, I bought some fruit and food, planning to visit him.

Before going, I called him several times, but no one picked up.

After thinking it over, I drove to the town where he lived first.

Over the years, these small towns in the northeast near the forest districts had become much more desolate. Most of the younger people had moved away.

I drove up to Uncle Cheng’s house. I’d just gotten out of the car when the front gate suddenly opened!

The person who came out was Uncle Cheng’s wife, Aunt Wang.

Aunt Wang’s face was deathly pale, and her whole body seemed to be trembling. The instant she saw me, a bit of light slowly returned to her clouded eyes. “Changdong? Is that you? You’re here!”

Aunt Wang’s state struck me as very strange. She had always been a warm, straightforward person.

Every time I visited Uncle Cheng, Aunt Wang would make us a whole table of dishes to go with our drinks, then sit on the heated brick bed and drink with us.

I had never seen her so panicked and at a loss.

“Aunt Wang, what happened?”

Aunt Wang rushed over and grabbed my hand. “Come inside, quickly! Your Uncle Cheng is dying!”

When I heard that, my mind went off with a thunderous boom. How could it be so sudden?

Uncle Cheng had always been in good health. Even that great fire hadn’t managed to bring him down. He had only just reached retirement age-how could this be possible?