LSL | Chapter 1

Su Cheng had been in a very good mood lately. He was 15 this year and had just finished the middle school entrance exam. When the results came out and Father Su and Mother Su learned that Su Cheng had been admitted to a key provincial high school, they rewarded him by bringing him to Yunnan for a trip during the long summer vacation after the exams, so he could relax properly.

Su Cheng’s father, Su Jianguo, was a doctor, and his mother, Zhou Shulan, was a university teacher. The family of three lived in C City. The parents of both Father Su and Mother Su had already passed away. Father Su only had a younger brother, but the two families did not keep in close contact and only visited each other during the New Year. Their relationship was rather distant.

Su Cheng was an only child, and his family followed the traditional pattern of a strict father and a loving mother. Although his father had always been strict with him since childhood, Su Cheng could feel his father’s concern for him. So although he did not act spoiled and clingy with his father the way he did with his mother, he treated Father Su with the same respect and care. Compared with Father Su’s strictness, Mother Su was much gentler, but gentleness was not the same as indulgence. Although Mother Su was softer with her son, her affection always came with principles. Because of this, even as an only child, Su Cheng was never arrogant or immature like many only children. From childhood to adulthood, he had always behaved excellently at school and at home, knowing how to act appropriately in every situation.

The family had already stayed in this small town for four days and had practically seen the whole place. Since there were no hotels in the town, they had been staying with a local resident.

The family they were staying with had the surname Lin and was also a family of three. Father Lin was a man in his forties. Though years of hard labor had left their mark on him, it was still clear from his features that he had been a handsome young man in his youth, only somewhat taciturn. Mother Lin was also in her forties, slightly plump, and always smiling, which made her seem very kind and warm, bright and talkative. Xiao Lin looked more like his father, but he was not as quiet. On the contrary, he had inherited his mother’s gift for gab. Outgoing and cheerful, he had been the one taking the three members of the Su family around the town these past few days.

That day, Xiao Lin had something to do with a young man from the same town, so he could not take them out to play. However, after four days, they had already seen most of the town. Father Su and Mother Su had originally planned not to go out today and instead pack their things and prepare to head back tomorrow. But during lunch, after hearing Mother Lin say that there was a not very high little mountain to the south of the town, and that there was a spring on the mountain, the source of the town’s little river, they learned that it was said drinking the spring water would keep one safe and cure all illnesses. The people of the town had all drunk it when they were children.

Though it was just a legend, the meaning behind it was rather nice, and spending the whole day cooped up indoors would be boring anyway. So Su Cheng pestered Mother Su and said, “Mom, let’s go take a look! We don’t have much stuff anyway, we can pack tonight instead!”

Mother Su and Father Su actually agreed in their hearts, so they went along with it and said yes.

After lunch, once they had learned from Mother Lin how to get to the little mountain, the three members of the Su family set out.

This mountain was called Longxi Mountain. Longxi was the name of the town’s little river, and because this mountain was the river’s source, it got its name that way.

Longxi Mountain was not far from the town. After walking for about 40 minutes, they reached the foot of the mountain. The three of them followed the path upward and reached the summit in half an hour.

Looking out from the mountaintop at this nameless little town, with its winding blue stone road, murmuring river, distinctive little bamboo buildings, and men, women, old and young dressed in clothing with ethnic characteristics, the entire town seemed to have traveled here through the tunnel of history, with a heavy sense of time washing over them.

“Dad, Mom,” Su Cheng said. “Let’s go find the source of Longxi!”

Father Su and Mother Su, roused from their reverie by their son, looked at each other and smiled. Father Su turned to his son and said, “Let’s go, let’s find it.”

Thinking they could follow the direction of the water sounds, the three members of the Su family walked that way. In less than five minutes, they reached Longxi’s source. There were several springs here, forming a small river that wound its way down the mountain.

Seeing that today’s target was right in front of him, Su Cheng rushed over to the spring first. He washed his hands, scooped up a handful of water, bent down, and took a sip. “Dad, Mom, this spring water is sweet!”

“You brat, you didn’t even look before drinking it. Be careful you get diarrhea tonight!” Mother Su said with a mix of worry and annoyance.

“How could that be? Mom, with this body of mine, raised up so sturdily by you, how could I possibly get sick?” Su Cheng jogged to Mother Su’s side, draping an arm around her neck as he said shamelessly.

“How old are you and you’re still acting spoiled!” Father Su glared at Su Cheng, then pulled his wife over to the spring and said, “Let’s try it too. This isn’t a big city with serious pollution. If you don’t drink too much, this water should be fine.” As he said this, Father Su crouched down and took a sip of the spring water, imitating Su Cheng.

After getting glared at by Father Su, Su Cheng huffed and went to stand by a tree. Accidentally, he kicked and shattered a small stone under the tree. It could be seen that the stone had weathered very badly.

Su Cheng looked down at the broken stone and suddenly discovered that inside it was a thumb-sized dark bluish-green bead. Curious, Su Cheng brushed the broken stone aside with his hand and took out the stone bead. It was perfectly round and had two small holes, looking as if it could be threaded onto a string. Su Cheng weighed the stone bead in his hand.

“Cheng Cheng, what are you looking at? We should be heading down the mountain!” Mother Su called to him from about twenty steps away.

Only then did Su Cheng notice that his parents had already stood up from the spring. When they set out, it had already been two in the afternoon. They had spent more than an hour on the road, and another half an hour up on the mountain. If they did not go back now, it would be dark.

Su Cheng casually put the stone bead into his pocket, then jogged over to his mother. “Mom, why didn’t you wait for me? Aren’t you afraid of leaving me behind?”

“Enough! How could you possibly get lost?” Father Su slapped the back of his son’s head and said, “Come on, let’s go down the mountain!”

The family of three chatted and laughed all the way down the mountain. When they returned to the Lin house, Su Cheng took a shower and then went downstairs to eat with his parents. Since the three members of the Su family would be leaving tomorrow, the enthusiastic Mother Lin prepared a large table of local specialty dishes to see them off.

At night, Su Cheng lay on the bed, his mind flashing back to the peaceful and happy time he had spent these past few days in town with his parents, and the corners of his lips curved slightly. Suddenly remembering the dark bluish-green stone bead he had put in his pocket, Su Cheng turned on the light and got out of bed to look for it.

Holding the stone bead, he lay back down on the bed. Su Cheng carefully examined the stone bead he had not looked at closely during the day. It was the same dark bluish-green color as rock, about two-thirds the size of a thumb pad, perfectly round, with two small holes at one end. Heavy in his hand, it really seemed like nothing more than an ordinary stone bead, except that it was so round and happened to have tiny holes for threading string through. Su Cheng found a thin red string, threaded it through the holes, tied it off, and wore it on his left wrist, treating it as a small souvenir from this trip.

After finishing that, Su Cheng closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep in a happy mood. Because of that, he did not notice the faint flash of light from the stone bead on his left wrist, hidden beneath the blanket.