“The vitality here is strong indeed. Poverty can never beat us,” Aunt Yossi said. “But a bad thing happened last week. A toon tree I planted suddenly died. I had planted it in the backyard where the soil is good. How could this happen? I was worried, so I lifted the soil with a shovel to find out. I found a stone slab one foot down in the earth! I planted this tree with my own hands. Who would bother to cram a stone slab under the root? Alas! Alas!”

“Don’t be pessimistic, Auntie Yossi. Even in a good place, some confused people might do evil things. It doesn’t matter. You can always plant a new tree,” Mrs. Yi comforted her.

Aunt Yossi wanted to show Mrs. Yi the tree hole, so Mrs. Yi followed her to the backyard. The hole had not yet been filled in. Because she had been so sad, Aunt Yossi had left it that way—wide open.

“A miracle! Absolutely a miracle!” she shouted, swinging her shovel. “That slab is gone! Dear, the person who did this must have regretted it. That’s good! That proves that the vitality of Yun Village is just fine.”

“Of course we’re okay, for Niulan Mountain is protecting us. You see, everything we plant here grows well, and our young generation is ambitious,” Mrs. Yi happily agreed with her.

As they sat on the bench looking at the hole, they were recalling the setbacks and the happy moments of their lives. Aunt Yossi confided that she wanted to knit sweaters and caps for her two granddaughters before she died, five for each of them, with even stitches and new patterns. She was working hard, as if it were a major project.

“Your vigor reflects the character of our Yun Village,” Mrs. Yi said.

Aunt Yossi went into the house and took out a bag of dried sweet potatoes which were almost transparent. She gave it to Mrs. Yi. “How I wish I could go to the mountains with you to collect herbs!” She was almost in tears. Mrs. Yi left hurriedly.

“Wait, Mrs. Yi!” The daughter-in-law caught up with her.

“Will you really take care of my two daughters?” she asked.

Mrs. Yi looked at her and nodded earnestly.

“In that case, I will change. I want to be a good person,” she said shyly.

“What’s the matter with you? You’re a very nice person.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Yi. I always thought that since I wasn’t from Yun Village anyway, it didn’t matter how I behaved. I’ll change, I swear—”

“Oh, sweetie, you don’t have to swear. Let me tell you one thing: I like coming to your home very much, because it’s an auspicious home.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Absolutely.”

“I shall be too happy to sleep tonight! Please come more often!”

“I will!”

Parting with this fickle young woman, Mrs. Yi felt relieved. She thought, How forgiving Aunt Yossi must be if she can get on well (at least on the surface) with this difficult daughter-in-law! Yun was a large village built at the foot of the mountain. The village had been growing bigger and bigger. Every year, more and more newcomers showed up. Mrs. Yi often ran into strangers in the village. How could this poor and obscure village be so attractive? For example, it was said that Spoon, Gray’s girlfriend, came here on her own and fell in love with Gray right away. She would never leave again. Didn’t this prove the vitality of Yun Village? The concept of a village’s vitality was hard to define, as mist is, but it was definitely a fact.