Chapter 65 – Li Wenxiu

Director Xu had already informed everyone last night about the crew taking a wrong turn. Now, they were just waiting for the relief team to locate their position. This was far from good news. The remote village was unfamiliar territory, and finding their way out would inevitably involve the police. Once the authorities were alerted, the “Pear Blossoms” crew would make headlines. They certainly didn’t want to become famous this way.

All in all, the crew wasn’t overly panicked by this unexpected situation. They had seen their fair share of storms, and while this was within their capacity to handle… no, the living conditions here surpassed what they could bear.

“There’s actually no washing machine here,” complained a female crew member. “I can’t even wash my clothes that I brought to change into.”

“I’m more concerned about what their rice is made of; I feel a stomachache coming on,” said a staff member, clutching his abdomen. Perhaps the villagers were accustomed to the rock-hard grains, but their tender stomachs couldn’t withstand such an assault.

“Do you need to go to the toilet?” asked another, showing concern.

The staff member thought about the drafty, open-air latrine and grimaced. “I’d rather endure the stomachache.”

“Last night was terrible with all the mosquitoes,” Yang Yingying remarked as she approached. “The mosquito repellent incense at the village chief’s house was overpowering. Luckily, I applied some bug spray.”

Ye Ziran revealed his arms covered in red mosquito bites. “I’ve been bitten all over. Could anything be worse?”

“Yes,” Shen Fubai responded. “We encountered cockroaches last night.”

Yang Yingying and Ye Ziran echoed in unison, “That’s truly awful.”

The crew was akin to holding a misery competition, where the nightmare of the previous night was a new experience for everyone.

Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai had ascended to the throne of Misery Kings thanks to their encounter with the roaches.

Jiang Heng: There’s nothing honorable about it.

They wouldn’t divulge the humiliating tale of two grown men screaming in terror at the sight of a single cockroach, only to be saved by a high school student. Absolutely not.

As they conversed, Wang Xiaoshu couldn’t join in, so he stood aside, observing them curiously.

To him, the three older brothers staying at his home looked like gods descended from the heavens, while this older sister resembled a fairy descending from the clouds. The village had never seen such beautiful people, yet they were now appearing in droves. He felt both intrigued and yearned for more.

From their conversations, he could piece together an image of the outside world, something he couldn’t fathom but longed for deeply.

Ye Ziran noticed him lurking on the side and pulled him into the midst of the children who had finished class to play with them.

Saying they had finished class meant they had simply ended their half-day of schooling. In Wang Village, the children attended school for only half a day due to a lack of textbooks and educational materials.

The crew members gathered around in small groups, chatting, while the three high school students from Shanghai joined in. The isolated environment had unknowingly narrowed the gap between the two groups. Whether they hailed from Beijing or Shanghai, were working professionals or students, everyone trapped in this small mountain village shared a common plight.

Xie Chian was still nowhere to be found. The young man was elusive, like a spirit in the mountains.

As the sun climbed higher and drowsiness set in, the crowd dispersed, most returning to their rooms for a nap. Few had managed to sleep well the previous night.

The children’s energy remained boundless, and Ye Ziran blended in perfectly, playing hide-and-seek with them.

The classroom was empty now, while Li Wenxiu sat alone inside grading homework.

Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng exchanged a glance before quietly entering the room.

A nearly empty red pen scratched across low-quality paper, held by rough, weathered hands. Li Wenxiu appeared to be a middle-aged woman in her forties, yet according to reports, she was only twenty-two when she came to the mountains to teach seven years ago.

She was only twenty-nine this year, one year younger than Mu Yao, yet their appearances were worlds apart.

“Teacher Li,” a sudden male voice startled Li Wenxiu, causing her hand to tremble and the red pen to draw a line on the paper.

Li Wenxiu lifted her eyes in surprise, looking at the two exceptionally handsome young men standing before her.

In truth, she wasn’t much older than Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng. Seven years ago, she was also a female college student who surfed the internet and followed celebrities. However, Shen Fubai had debuted six years ago, while Li Wenxiu had spent seven years in the mountains, her knowledge of the outside world becoming hazy. She wasn’t aware of the level of fame these two stars had achieved.

Judging by their appearance, they must be very popular…

“…Hello, is there something you need?” Li Wenxiu spoke up, her voice hoarse from years of teaching, lacking the clarity expected of a girl her age.

However, her Mandarin was standard.

“There’s nothing specific. We just saw you teaching the children and thought it was admirable,” Jiang Heng said casually. “But we noticed the poor teaching conditions here. Why did you decide to stay in the first place?”

No girl raised in the pampered environment of a county town would willingly choose to live through such hardships.

A kind-hearted girl comes to the mountains to teach, finds true love, and stays here for seven years, planning to remain forevermore. That sounds like a wonderful story.

…How absurd. Last night, during the banquet in the village, they had met Li Wenxiu’s husband. He was at least in his fifties, and they had a six-year-old child together. There was no trace of love in Li Wenxiu’s gaze towards him; they were merely bound together by their child.

They suspected that Li Wenxiu hadn’t stayed voluntarily all those years ago.

Li Wenxiu lowered her head. “The children here are pitiful. When I first arrived, there weren’t any teachers in the village. If I hadn’t stayed, they wouldn’t have had a chance to see the world.”

“Just that?” Shen Fubai asked.

Li Wenxiu replied calmly, “What else would you like me to say?”

Shen Fubai fell silent momentarily.

Even if there were other reasons, Li Wenxiu wouldn’t confide in two outsiders. Seven years was enough to erode the heart of a girl who longed to scream for help upon seeing strangers. The child she bore with the man from the village and the affection she developed for the students she taught for years—these were the reasons that tied a woman down.

Jiang Heng spoke up. “Nothing, we just wanted to say that if possible, we’re willing to donate a Hope Primary School for these children.”

A glimmer of hope shone in Li Wenxiu’s dim eyes, and she exclaimed joyfully, “Thank you so much! And…” she hesitated, then firmly added, “I would like to ask you to report to the police when you leave.”

Exiting the room, neither Jiang Heng nor Shen Fubai looked pleased.

“This place should have been shut down long ago,” Jiang Heng frowned.

Li Wenxiu told them that many women in the village had been trafficked. There were few local women in this small mountain village, and many bachelors. The women in the village didn’t want to stay here. Those bachelors wanting to continue their lineage could only rely on buying brides.

Why buy a bride? To have a son. From the degree of preference for sons over daughters evident here, boys were treasured like jewels, while girls were treated like weeds.

Yet, having a son wasn’t guaranteed. Some families couldn’t conceive a boy no matter how hard they tried, leading them to steal others’ sons—the village also had abducted boys. An unspoken understanding pervaded the entire village, including the driver surnamed Wang, who had come from the village himself. This secrecy had allowed criminal activities to go undetected for years.

Isolation was the greatest shield.

Li Wenxiu didn’t recount her own ordeal, but she couldn’t hold back her tears as she spoke. Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai could almost imagine the story that had unfolded in her life.

A kind-hearted girl comes to the mountains to teach, but the greedy villagers block her exit, wanting her to bear children for the village. A man twenty years her senior rapes her, with everyone else complicit. She repeatedly attempts to escape, only to face violence from all the villagers.

Then she becomes pregnant, resigns herself to fate, becomes the most beautiful rural female teacher, earns the respect of the villagers, and is spared from further physical abuse by her husband.

This was the real, original, and bloody story.

Li Wenxiu had accepted her fate, believing that her life would remain unchanged. But she couldn’t bear to watch more victims fall prey to the same fate. Initially, when four students came to the village, she only hoped they could leave safely. But now, with a film crew arriving, she wasn’t born and raised in the mountains. She knew the power of celebrities, which brought her hope. They might be rescued.

She wished for them to alert the police and spread the word. She didn’t know where the villagers kept the abducted women and children who refused to comply. The villagers always maintained caution against young women, fearing they would show compassion and cause trouble. They kept such matters hidden from them.

“I thought this place was bad enough,” Shen Fubai kicked a pebble away in disgust. “I didn’t expect it to get even worse.”

The mountain dwellers believed in ghosts and spirits, yet human hearts were more terrifying than demons.

As they walked, a deranged woman suddenly ran out of a house barefoot, crying incoherently. A man chased after her. “Quick, catch her! Old Third’s wife is running away!”

This commotion woke up those taking their afternoon naps. The guests were unaware of the situation, while the villagers grabbed brooms and ropes, rushing out. Soon, the woman was caught and dragged back into the house, bound.

Shen Fubai couldn’t bear to watch and was about to intervene when he saw Li Wenxiu shaking her head slightly in the crowd.

The villagers smiled apologetically at the bewildered guests. “Excuse us, this is Old Third’s crazy wife. She has mental issues and we fear she might hurt someone. Normally, she’s kept locked in the house. Today, we probably forgot to close the door while sleeping, allowing her to escape. Everything’s fine now; please continue resting.”

“…” No one felt like resting.

Once the crowd dispersed again, Shen Fubai asked Li Wenxiu, “Was that woman…also abducted?”

Li Wenxiu shook her head. “She’s a local girl, born with some mental disability. Her father traded her marriage for a few eggs, marrying her off to the village’s Old Third. Old Third has a bad temper and enjoys beating women.”

Shen Fubai was livid. “That so-called Old Third is the mentally disabled one! What’s wrong with these villagers? Helping tie her up to be beaten? What kind of monster is that girl’s father?”

Li Wenxiu smiled bitterly. “The two of you are city dwellers, seemingly from the upper class, so you may not understand. But there are many places in the world, many people, and many things that are incomprehensible.”

Shen Fubai felt sorrowful. “Heng Heng, there are truly too many bad people in the world.”

Jiang Heng stroked his head. “So they’ll receive their retribution.”

Shen Fubai lowered his head. “Not necessarily. Many bad people live perfectly fine lives. You can only seek revenge personally, but at the cost of your own life.”

Jiang Heng’s gaze softened, realizing that Fubai was thinking of something specific.

“There are many bad people in the world, but I will treat you well,” Jiang Heng gently caressed his hair and whispered, consoling him. “Fubai, I will treat you well.”