However, their journey was not always so leisurely, the snakes, ants, mosquitoes in the mountains, the lack of material living conditions in the towns along the way, and the various local chaos were all great tests for the teachers and students of the Union.

Once, they encountered a group of horse bandits halfway through, and although there were not many of them, they still startled everyone. After negotiating with the other party, the professor who led the team handed over some belongings, and this was allowed to pass. I didn't want the leader of the gang of horse bandits to be an admirer of the scholars, and I heard that it was a teacher and student of the United Nations University, so he asked his subordinates to chase along the way and send back the looted property.

However, this kind of thing is still palpitating, after all, there are still a few such reasonable horse bandits, and in the end, the professors still helped contact the local garrison, and helped to deal with them everywhere, so that everyone could go on the road with peace of mind.

In addition, there are people in the team like Feng Yi who have participated in the walking group before, and they have accumulated a lot of useful experience in the last long trek, which also provided great help for this hike.

Despite the difficulties along the way, Wen Jianning still felt that this trip to be able to observe the living customs and livelihood of the local people at such a close distance was really more rewarding than the tribulation.

This is the first time she has reached the people at the bottom of society in such a deep way.

In her free time, she looked through all the manuscripts in the past, and found that she was best at writing the so-called upper circle. Thanks to the blessings of that experience in Beiping, she will more or less depict the life scenes of some citizens and ordinary people, but she has no idea about the lowest level she once came from.

Wen Jianning felt that his vision was narrow, and he urgently needed to know more to enrich his creation.

During her time in Kunming City, she also observed the street vendors and talked to the grooms, but after all, the city is still a rare prosperous place, and the barren mountains and remote areas are full of holes that are shocking.

Yunnan Province is rich in high-quality tobacco soil, and if she had not seen it with her own eyes, it would have been difficult for her to imagine that the opium that had almost hollowed out the national strength of the former Qing Dynasty more than 100 years ago is still poisoning countless people at the bottom of the world, and that young people who were only teenagers were skinny because of smoking tobacco and fell down on the streets to swallow their last breath; the local people had long suffered from the bandits' war, and a village they went to had just been ransacked by bandits, with countless casualties, and the old people in the family had been arrested up the mountain, and only the young children had escaped by hiding in the firewood stacks, but they could only cry in the face of the looted home......

In this case, their compassion became the most useless thing, and the people who accompanied them to protect them repeatedly warned the teachers and students of the United Nations not to meddle in their affairs. But under the leadership of the professor, the students still tried to donate money and materials to help some poor people as much as they could, even if the money and materials may not really solve these problems.

What I saw and heard was really unpleasant, but fortunately, it wasn't like this everywhere.

In this vast and fertile land, there are also abundant products, pleasant scenery and many simple and optimistic ethnic minority compatriots who warmly welcome them, otherwise I am afraid that we will not be able to bear it mentally until the end of this hike.

One day, they coincided with the annual torch festival of the local Yi people. Families in the temporary villages prepared pine wood, and in the evening, torch parties were held, and teachers and students were invited to participate in the event.

The reddish firelight illuminated every corner of the stockade and dispelled the darkness. The young men and women of the Yi nationality enthusiastically pulled this group of teachers and students, and also ran and danced around the bonfire, the scene was huge and lively.

While everyone was laughing and laughing, only Wen Jianning took advantage of no one's attention and quietly left the village alone.

She didn't go far, she sat down on a hillside near the entrance of the village, looked at the starry sky in the sky and thought about her thoughts. It didn't take long for there to be a sound of rustling behind her, and she turned her head to see that it was Feng Yi who came to look for her.

He sat down beside her and asked, "Why did you come out alone?"

Wen Jianning looked at him sideways and smiled: "I'm used to being quiet alone, if it's too lively, I'll feel a little uncomfortable." ”

The two sat quietly in the grass on the hillside, looking out at the distant mountains under the cover of the night, and at the higher and farther heavens. A milky white Milky Way stretches across the night sky, and countless tiny stars hang high above their heads, from the beginning of eternity to the next thousands of years, these stars have always silently watched the vicissitudes of the world from the sky. The breeze sent the sound of insects, and the crisp laughter was heard in the distance, but it only made the night in front of him more and more far-reaching.

Wen Jianning thought for a while and asked, "When I was choosing a course at the end of last year, I saw that your physics department opened an astrophysics, and I originally wanted to take that course, but unfortunately I chose native plants in the end. Is astrophysics interesting?"

Since she came to Yunnan, she has always felt that her previous horizons were not broad enough and she wanted to know more. In addition to the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, she also cares about the solid earth under her feet and the vast galaxy above her head.

Assistant Professor Feng answered for her very conscientiously: "Although astrophysics is an interdisciplinary discipline between astronomy and physics, except for a few that need to be observed, it is more inclined to calculation. If you want to understand the parameters of celestial bodies or the laws of the universe, you need to master a lot of mathematical knowledge such as calculus. But if you just want to get to know the stars in the sky, then I can teach you without going to class. ”

Wen Jianning said half-seriously and half-jokingly: "Then Mr. Feng, please advise more." ”

Feng Yi glanced at her deeply, and raised his finger to show her: "Look there, you must know the North Star and the Big Dipper, we use this as the base point, this one is Arcturus......"

As he spoke, his fingers connecting the scattered stars into a line in turn, Wen Jianning listened very carefully.

The two of them taught one and one learned, the teacher was serious, the students were attentive, and they stopped talking for a long time.

Wen Jianning was about to thank Feng Yi as usual, but suddenly saw a little yellowish fluorescence in the grass not far away, and suddenly stood up in surprise to catch the small insect that could only glow. However, before she could get closer, the firefly seemed to sense her arrival from the tremor of the blades of grass, and fluttered its wings tremblingly and flew up.

It rises higher and higher, flying farther and farther, as if it is about to fly into Hehan in one breath and turn into a star in the night.

Wen Jianning stretched out his hand and grabbed it, but only scratched it.

Feng Yi also stood up and slowly walked to her side: "The climate here in Yunnan Province is suitable for insects to breed, and after April, fireflies will come out and last until late autumn. If you like it, if you go to the mountains these days, you should see a lot of fireflies when you go to a place where there is a water source. ”

Wen Jianning looked up at the stars in the sky, and replied to him after a long time: "When I was young, because I liked to watch fireflies, I often instructed my cousin to help me catch them, if he didn't listen to me, I would go to complain to my uncle and aunt." They hurt me the most, and every time they heard that he didn't listen to me, they beat him up. Now that I think about it, I was such a nuisance when I was a child, and it's no wonder that my cousin didn't like me and used to work against me. ”

Feng Yi was a little surprised, this was the first time she took the initiative to tell him about the past.

It's a pity that Wen Jianning only said this, so he refused to say any more.

The two of them found a place to sit down again, and there was a faint burst of singing from the direction of the village behind them, and if they looked closely, it seemed that young men and women were singing in duet. It is also one of the local customs that young men and women can express their love for each other through singing on the day of the Torch Festival.

Wen Jianning said with some emotion: "Although some people often say that the locals are ignorant and ignorant, this is an uncivilized place. But it took several years after the establishment of the National Government to gradually have independence in love and freedom of marriage. The people here have been like this for thousands of years, but they are freer than the world of the so-called civilized people. ”

Feng Yi quietly watched the night for a while, and suddenly asked, "I have a story I want to tell you, I don't know if you want to." ”

Of course, Wen Jianning would not refuse.

Subsequently, Feng Yi told her a very tortuous story.

This story should be told from the early years of the Republic of China, when the atmosphere gradually opened, people of insight advocated freedom of personality, opposed arranged marriages, and women who usually emphasized three from four virtues could not enter their eyes, only the fashionable lady who had stayed abroad and could speak fluent English was worthy of pursuit. In order to pursue true love, a celebrity wanted to abandon his wife and children at that time, and married a talented woman of a new school, but was hindered by his family.

Hearing this, Wen Jianning suddenly understood that he was talking about his own business.

She wanted to divert this somewhat heavy topic, but looking at the forbearance on Feng Yi's face, she suddenly couldn't speak, so she could only continue to listen to him quietly.

Feng Yi's mother obviously will not sit still, and the newspaper accuses the new-school talented lady of breaking up the husband and wife, causing a storm in the city, and this vigorous "free love" can only end miserably under the persuasion of relatives and friends on both sides. Father Feng didn't plan to change his ways, so he married one aunt after another at home in anger, and finally made the family uneasy.

It is conceivable what kind of environment Feng Yi grew up in in his childhood.

When he was six years old, his mother finally committed suicide by burning charcoal in her bedroom.

Just listening to his calm narration, Wen Jianning could imagine the tragic situation at that time.

She never thought that under Feng Yi's always calm and indifferent appearance, there would be such a heavy and depressing past.

After his mother's death, his father was greatly affected and refused to stay at home anymore, so he simply took away his lively and clever eldest daughter Feng Ling and went abroad to relax. Feng Yi was still young at the time, and he had always been taciturn, and he did not like his father, so he was left in the old mansion with his aunts and wives, and stayed for many years.

When the second uncle Feng Yong heard about this, he took pity on him when he was young, took him with him and raised him, taught him to read and write, carve seals and paint, and even taught him to take care of the family business. The Feng family was originally a local poet family, and Feng Yong himself was also a typical old-style literati, so under such influence, it seems not surprising that Feng Yi's temperament as an old pedant.

Feng Yi said lightly: "It's a pity that I didn't take over the mantle of my second uncle in the end, but ran abroad." ”

Wen Jianning didn't know what to say, but she also knew very well that Feng Yi might not need her comfort.

She thought for a moment and asked him, "Would you be interested in hearing my story?" ”

"Of course," he said. ”

(End of chapter)