“The muscles in your left cheek look a little tight,” the man said.

“Your nose is swollen,” said Gray, tit-for-tat.

“Dear me, you knew what I meant at once. What did you see in Deserted Village?”

“What did I see? The moonlight, the herbs . . . Wait a minute. Did Mia send you?”

The man left the windowpane and turned his back to Gray. Looking at the fat figure, Gray felt this guy was a little lonely.

“Wait! Are you all right?” Gray said loudly.

“I’m fine. Yun Village won’t let me off. I’m doomed.”

The large black figure moved out of the gate. Gray heard his mother speaking: “Here’s some food I’ve prepared for you. Take it. You’ll need it.”

Gray sighed and felt relieved at once. He couldn’t communicate with people from Deserted Village, but his mother could. It seemed that Mia had asked him to go to the village not to help her but to help himself! He smiled as he remembered the enchanting herb hill.

He lay down, and soon he was asleep. That night, he had some sweet dreams.

“Gray, I ran into Mia. She told me that people in Deserted Village thought highly of you,” Dad said.

“She said that to please you.”

“But there must be something to it.”

“The fact is that I did go to the village, but people there didn’t comment about me.”

“Oh, let me see—no comment, isn’t that also a kind of evaluation?”

“Maybe. But that wasn’t a strong evaluation, was it? I’m still growing up.”

“I’m happy about your progress. Are you going to the mountains?”

“Yes. I haven’t been there for days. Some of the herbs will get tired of waiting.”

“You’re speaking much better than you used to.”

With a basket on his back, Gray walked through the village. The villagers paid close attention to him, as if they felt something uncertain lay ahead of Gray. Gray felt the same way. But when he thought of the herbs in the shadows, his horizon opened up.

“Gray, go early and come back early!” Mrs. Yi waved her encouragement.

Before long, he was halfway up the hill. Now he was full of strength, and his vision was penetrating.

Beside the stream, he saw the goldthreads, so many! He rolled up his trouser legs and went down to dig. There was a spot of bright light in the stream, and his figure was reflected in it. Looking at it again, he was startled. It was not his face. It was someone else’s. The man gave him a thumbs up and a toothy grin. Gray turned and saw no one. Was the man in the water an aboriginal? Gray couldn’t help but grin back at the man in the water. As he worked, he looked at the man: the man was retreating slowly into the depths of the water. Now there was only a big blue sky in the water.

He hadn’t dug up all the herbs. His eyes lingered: he wanted to remember this place and come here again next year.