“Of course. You should teach yourself. Did you finish junior high school?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then there won’t be a problem. I can help you with the difficulties you come across in your studies. Okay?”

“Mrs. Yi, good-bye!” Mia suddenly ran away.

It seemed the young woman was in tears. Mrs. Yi was a little surprised. Why was she so emotional?

Mrs. Yi turned around and saw Widow Liang standing motionless in the sweet potato field. Looking farther ahead, she saw the chicken dealer and Songbao heading this way. Mrs. Yi left hurriedly.

It was getting dark. As she walked along the road, Mrs. Yi began to miss Liang Shan. She couldn’t tell why the peddler who had been her patient made her so sad just now. His illness was incurable. She had become good friends with him and always brought him some Western medicine for emergencies. It was not entirely to treat him that she had visited him but mainly to talk with him and his wife. She liked his attitude toward life. She and Mrs. Liang both adored him. Each time she went home after seeing them, Mrs. Yi felt that her courage had been reinforced. She reflected that Yun Village men such as Liang Shan and Uncle Ma were just as wonderful as women. Now they were both gone and had left their wives behind.

“What are you doing here?” whispered Mrs. Yi.

“It’s getting dark. I was afraid that you might run into some wild animals on the way.” Her husband, Mr. Yi, whispered, too.

While Mrs. Yi was handing the medicine kit to her husband, she heard a series of gentle laughs; the sound seemed to be coming from the same person who often cried.

“Chunxiu—”

“Call me ‘woman.’ I like that,” Mrs. Yi interrupted.

“Yes, woman. I saw that young woman on the road just now. Her name is Mia. She asked Gray about you.”

“Looks like our ranks are expanding. She is an extraordinary young woman.”

The light in their home was too dim because the small hydropower station in Yun Village had never been powerful enough. After supper the husband polished the large kerosene lamp. It was time for Mrs. Yi to do her research.

“This big fellow is more practical,” he said.

“I burn a lot of kerosene for nothing every night,” Mrs. Yi said apologetically.

“How can you say for nothing? Your career is flourishing more and more, and you’re the leader of Yun Village now.”

“Nonsense, I’m just a barefoot doctor. That’s all. I wasn’t aware of this until the last two or three years. I’m so glad they came to me. Our own child died, but now they’ve all become our children. And do you know what? I’m not sure when this began but my hearing has become so good that I can hear the dead talking.”

They both laughed.

While his wife was doing her research inside, Mr. Yi went outside. Standing on the edge of the herb garden, he was looking at the sky.