Mia let out a long sigh. She felt all her pores open up, and joy fluttered like a bird in her chest.

“Look, this is banlangen, this is, this is . . . Oh, I love these herbs so much. They’re more beautiful than anything else! Come and join us in our work, Uncle Yang . . .”

“That’s what I’m thinking, Mia! You’re talented and ambitious! It was waiting here all along until you and Lohan came. You are its lucky star.”

Lohan came over, gasping for breath. He said, “Uncle Yang, someone just pulled at my foot, right next to the field of lily turf. What’s going on here? Is it trying to send me a message?”

“It’s long been customary for it to send love by dragging the other’s feet. It is in love with you!”

“I see. Can you tell it we love it, too?”

“It already knows. Just now it was startled awake.”

The three of them sniffed the intoxicating smell of the herbs and breathed deeply. But Mia soon became restless and worried: Milan was at home. What if he woke up and no one was there? Ah, wasn’t that Milan?

Over there, in the field planted in green chiretta, Milan’s little figure fluttered.

“Milan . . . ,” Mia cried out. Her voice was shaking.

“Don’t worry,” Yang said with smile. “I asked the little friends underground to bring your son here. See how happy he is!”

“What do you mean by the little friends underground?”

“The owls. Your son is so brave.”

Lohan picked Milan up. Milan fell asleep again on Lohan’s shoulder.

“Milan . . . He thought he was dreaming. How nice. Thank you, Uncle Yang. May I ask you a question? How many years have you been looking after this place?” Mia said.

“Maybe more than thirty years. But I can’t say I was looking after it because I didn’t create anything. It was never truly looked after until you came here. Listen, Mia. Do you hear all the sighs of admiration?”

Mia heard a great many people yawning, which sounded very comfortable. The hill was going to fall asleep.

When they got home and opened the door, a voice came from the darkness: “There was a carnival over there tonight.”

The voice sounded like the old director’s. Did he know everything she was doing? She thought it was possible.

After settling Milan in bed, the couple ecstatically made love. When they climaxed, they heard the hill murmuring.

“He’s still alive, he promised me,” Mia said to herself before falling asleep.

13
Angelica Joins In

The girl Mia met on the bus that day was Angelica. It was dark before Angelica reached the foot of Blue Mountain. She asked directions along the way. Blue Mountain was high and gloomy in the night, and the wind from the mountains was a little eerie. As she scrutinized the majestic mountain in front of her, she was at a loss—no one could tell her where the clinic was, much less anything about Dr. Lin Baoguang. But Angelica wasn’t panic-stricken: sizing up the immediate situation, she decided to spend the night in the open air and look for the village the next day.