Chapter 001: That Year, I Was Still a Youth

However, this will not prevent the kind-hearted village children from helping an elderly person up

How to put it, describing someone as honest and sensible can easily evoke a sense of sadness, and it is insufficient to capture that kind of cleverness; alternatively, using the term "uncontentious" would be the most appropriate.

"Hehe, sir, our school is connected to the internet!" Upon hearing this enticing remark, Wang Yufei chuckled foolishly and replied, "Moreover, I have no money."

He does not like to argue about anything, even when his younger brother, having grown up a bit, gets into trouble and is falsely accused, resulting in a severe beating from their uncle and aunt. He never disputes it, silently endures it, and after a while, he goes about his business, eventually forgetting about it.

He truly can no longer stand up on his own. His legs are weak, and he has overestimated his body's endurance. Without even looking at him, one can tell that he has certainly entered his twilight years, with the pace of aging accelerating. Perhaps he could pass away at any moment

The helplessness of life did not lead Wang Yufei to have many complaints, he simply accepted it calmly

Due to the remote location of the highway from the scenic area, although it is already the year 2018, Daowang Village remains impoverished. Most of the young people in the village have gone out to work, leaving behind mainly the older generation of villagers and their grandchildren.

Oh? That is...

The older generation of those left behind is reluctant to part with the land beneath their feet and lacks better opportunities, while the younger generation faces the dilemmas and helplessness of this era

September 7, 2018

At this point, Wang Yufei's life underwent a dramatic transformation

Wang Yufei would never have believed it; just a few hours ago, the old man before him, with his gray hair and wrinkles deeper than his grandfather's, was actually a middle-aged man.

Daba Mountain Range, Shennong Mountain Mausoleum

However, it was a tremendous blow to the two elderly individuals

This incident caused quite a stir at the time, resulting in the deaths of three individuals and injuries to four others. However, the driver had only purchased the mandatory liability insurance and had little property available for enforcement.

At the age of ten, the dilapidated primary school in the village was closed down, and he had to attend another school ten kilometers away in the town. His uncle simply decided to withdraw him from school, and upon returning home, he was treated as a child laborer.

Thanks to the development of tourism, the village has been electrified in recent years and a brand new primary school has been built, providing a proper place for the left-behind children to receive an education

After all, they are all farmers from the countryside, and after struggling in the city, they are already physically and mentally exhausted; where would they find the spare time to take care of their children

A few years ago, his uncle and aunt treated him quite well. After all, the couple did not have their own children for some unknown reason, so they regarded him as their own. Although the family was struggling, they still sent him to school. However, the good times did not last long. A few years ago, the village got television, and after seeing the advertisements for fertility clinics, the couple discussed it and took the tens of thousands in compensation they inherited from his parents to the city.

The villages on the mountain are not clustered together like those in the plains; instead, they are scattered according to the flat areas on the mountain, with one household to the east and another to the west, distributed over a radius of approximately 7 to 8 kilometers. Daowang Primary School is situated halfway up Daowang Mountain, serving the surrounding five or six small villages. Most students have to walk at least 4 or 5 li of mountain paths daily to reach the school.

This situation continued until the new primary school built last year in the surrounding villages was completed. The village began to conduct a household survey to identify children who must receive compulsory education. After several rounds of visits by the village officials to persuade the families, at least to ensure that the children could recognize a few characters, the uncles and aunts finally agreed to let Wang Yufei return to school

"Child, do you wish to become the smartest person in the world? To possess a future that ordinary people cannot even imagine." As Wang Yufei's hands supported the old man's arm, Han Xu suddenly spoke up

It is difficult for urban dwellers to imagine that a ten-year-old child must rise before dawn to gather firewood, cut pigweed, and after returning home, chop wood, boil water, and cook meals for the entire family. After attending to the family's needs, the child must also feed the pigs, do household chores, and take care of a younger brother still in swaddling.

Last year, he was already fifteen years old. When he left school at the age of ten, he was only in the third grade. Now, at fifteen, he returned to school and still started from the third grade. Therefore, even though he is now a sixteen-year-old youth, he is still a fourth-grade elementary school student. In his class, he is the oldest, and naturally, he often receives a lot of ridicule.

At the age of sixteen, he appears to be no more than twelve or thirteen due to malnutrition

Thus, in the year he turned 8, both of his parents passed away one after another due to accumulated ailments, and Wang Yufei was taken in by his uncle and aunt, who were also farmers living in the same village.

As a nationally renowned environmental protection area, Shennong Mountain has been famous for the possible existence of wild men. After the reform and opening up, the local government began to intensify the development of tourism resources, allowing this originally barren land to gradually come to life, and people's lives have also become increasingly prosperous

Wang Yufei is walking on the mountain path leading to school

The extent of the impact on Wang Yufei at that time remains unknown; he usually lived with his grandparents, and his parents were merely a thought during the holidays. The passing of his parents also meant that this thought was lost.

The nearly collapsed moral values in the city have yet to affect his pure kindness

The money has been spent, and they have indeed conceived a child, a boy

An old man was lying on the mountain path, with his nose close to a wild grass, sniffing it with a look of enjoyment on his face. His coat, which was originally or should have been white, was covered in dust, making him look quite strange

The pain of a white-haired person sending off a black-haired person cannot be truly understood unless one experiences it themselves, let alone the fact that the deceased is the youngest son, who was the favorite and most obedient of the elderly couple

Today is the 10th day of the month, the day for school registration, so early in the morning, Wang Yufei set off amidst his aunt's scolding.

This is indeed a pitiable child. At the age of seven, the child's parents, who had gone out to work, tragically lost their lives in a disaster caused by a reckless driver under the influence of alcohol.

Moreover, one does not have enough to eat

Hmm? Han Xu looked up at the boy who spoke, nodded, and said: "Thank you"

All the good things in the family must first satisfy the needs of the youngest member, followed by the uncle and aunt, as one must be well-fed to have the strength to work in the fields. Finally, what remains is Wang Yufei's rations, although the little one still has to carry his younger brother and work in the fields during busy farming seasons

... ...

Occasionally, when my younger brother lets something slip, leading to the truth being revealed, I can only smile foolishly, scratch the back of my head, and say in a simple tone: "Oh? I completely forgot. My younger brother is still small, and my uncle and aunt are so busy on a daily basis, it's quite normal to make mistakes. I'm tough and resilient, so even if I get hit, it's no big deal."

"Sir, what are you doing?" Wang Yufei couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Are you unable to get up? Let me help you up first"

Fortunately, Wang Yufei has a magnanimous temperament and does not bother to hold grudges

However, there are always areas that are overlooked. For example, Daowang Village, which is hidden within the Shennong Ridge.

In the end, the Wang family only received a compensation of several tens of thousands of yuan, while the price the driver had to pay was to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Fortunately, Wang Yufei's temperament has always been very ... ...