Ginger went outside. While Mrs. Yi and Aunt Yossi chatted with each other inside, Ginger was making coal briquettes for fuel. Aunt Yossi couldn’t bear the cold, so they needed to burn a lot of coal in the winter.

The young woman rolled her eyes and smashed her shovel in an outburst of rage. Aunt Yossi’s voice came through the window: “Ginger is a wonderful person. You must look after her two daughters after I’m gone.”

“I know she’s wonderful. She works so hard to support this family,” Mrs. Yi said.

When Ginger heard this, her legs gave way and she sat down on the ground. She wondered what this barefoot doctor was up to. Would she really take care of her daughters? She thought and thought, and concluded that this was possible, because the doctor was on such good terms with her mother-in-law.

The two voices inside the room dropped, and Ginger could no longer hear them.

This is what they were saying: “My dear, one night recently I took an aimless walk in the woods. I arrived at my old home. The house was dark, and some people were standing outside, but I didn’t see a single familiar face among them. So I withdrew. When I returned to the woods, it was daybreak all of a sudden. Tell me, dear, how long do I have?” Aunt Yossi looked puzzled as she told of her experience.

“That’s very good.” Mrs. Yi also lowered her voice. “It seems you’ll eventually return home safely, but not so soon. You have to wait at least a year or two. About your granddaughters, you have my word.”

“Thank you. You’ve reassured me.”

While they talked, Aunt Yossi was holding Mrs. Yi’s hands. She was so familiar with this pair of hands, which not only often checked her pulse but also gave her massages. These were the hands of someone dear to her.

“I’ve always wanted to ask you, what do you think of the vitality of Yun Village?”

“Very strong, obviously,” Mrs. Yi said definitively.

Aunt Yossi beamed with joy. Patting Mrs. Yi’s hand, she nodded: “Good, good! I think so, too. Someone said that in our Yun Village yin prevails over yang, and the good is not strong enough to eradicate the evil. That’s complete nonsense. Yun Village is very old. An old village doesn’t usually lose its way. My grandfather told me that among our ancestors there was an herbalist just like you . . . I sit at home and wonder, Back then, what did Niulan Mountain look like? My dear, after I die, will you come to visit me on the mountain when you’re free?”

“Of course. In the end, I myself will return to the mountains.”

“Then we have a date. Shhhh, keep your voice down so that my daughter-in-law won’t hear. Young people shouldn’t hear this kind of thing. I can talk with you because you’re a doctor.”

As she watched Aunt Yossi swallow the herbal medicine, Mrs. Yi’s throat also moved—as if the herb had entered her own body. She hoped that the little plant would soon do its work.