Ten

The crowd murmured anxiously as they took in the news. Aunty Wu was sobbing uncontrollably and Yangyang put an arm out to comfort her.

‘Sit down, take a breath.’ Headmaster Song led Aunty Wu to a concrete bench just inside the gate. ‘What happened?’ He offered the crying woman a handkerchief.

‘We were on our way to the spring.’ Aunty Wu blew her nose loudly before continuing. ‘He was chasing a maque, sparrow, into someone’s field and I lost sight of him in the short crop. I called his name, Xiaoping! Xiaoping! Nothing.

‘And then I heard the rocks crashing down. I saw the dust. It was so close to our land. I started running, screaming his name, but he still didn’t come. Oh by the gods, where is my Xiaoping?’ she wailed. Nainai patted her on the back.

Shaozhen wiped his clammy hands on his shorts. He didn’t want to imagine where Xiaoping might be.

‘Aunty Wu, please don’t despair,’ Xian said quietly. ‘We’ll send teams out to look for him straightaway.’

Song organised them into search parties and Xian insisted on commanding one. Shaozhen was teamed with Kang, Yangyang and Tingming, and the four of them traversed the rows of crops in the Wu family’s plot, using sticks to push the plants aside, in case the toddler was hiding between them.

The air felt dark and foreboding as they traipsed through the fields, calling out his name.

‘Xiaoping!’

‘XIAOPING!’

Only the dry breeze answered, hot and harsh like it was mocking them.

The afternoon dragged on and there was no sign of Xiaoping. A few of the search parties went back to the village headquarters but Shaozhen and his friends refused to go. They went from field to field, up and down the rows of wilting corn – everything looked the same and Shaozhen lost track of whose land was whose. The sun was hot and scorching, beating down on them. Shaozhen felt his heart squeezing as he called out the boy’s name, over and over, until his throat was raw.

Finally, he sank to his knees. ‘This is hopeless,’ he called out to Kang. He tried to block out the flashes of Xiaoping, buried in rubble from the landslide, that kept leaping into his mind.

‘Don’t give up now. Come on, he needs you.’ Kang had been quiet for most of the search, but now there was a look of intense concentration on his face.

Kang squatted down beside Shaozhen and closed his eyes. ‘I’m little Xiaoping.’ He used the back of his hand to push up his glasses. ‘I’ve come up from the fields. I’m lost by myself. And I hear rumbling. A landslide. Where would I go?’ he wondered aloud.

Shaozhen thought about this for a moment. ‘If I was three, I would want my parents. But his parents are in the city.’

‘What about somewhere that reminded him of his parents?’ Kang suggested. ‘Somewhere he might feel safe. What did his parents do?’

‘His father was a farmer, just like the rest of us,’ Shaozhen said. ‘He used to collect mushrooms in the forest. But Xiaoping’s probably too young to remember his father taking him camping in the…’

In an instant he was up and running, his feet feeling light as he charged on with a newfound energy. ‘Of course, why didn’t I think of it earlier? Yangyang! Tingming!’ he called, and they came running over. ‘Do you think he might have gone on to the mountains? Aunty Wu said they were on their way there. They might have been close. Plus his father used to take him there all the time.’

‘It makes sense,’ Yangyang said. ‘It’s cooler there too. We should look.’

Tingming nodded. ‘It’s a good idea. Everyone’s been so focused on the fields, I bet no one’s even thought to go up the mountains.’ Shaozhen hid his annoyance as the older boy took the lead.

The four of them rushed past more fields. They eventually reached the steps; it wasn’t hard to picture a little boy trying to climb up them on his own. They raced upwards, taking the stairs two at a time. Shaozhen felt his heart pumping faster and faster, his eyes anxiously scanning the skies for falling rocks and debris.

‘There, look.’ Yangyang pointed at the path that led to the hut. ‘Do you think he went up there?’

‘We should split up, cover more ground,’ Tingming said. ‘Yangyang, Kang, you two go that way and Shaozhen and I’ll head to the spring. Let’s meet back at the village.’

The spring. Shaozhen felt his whole body tense remembering the earth shuddering beneath his feet. ‘Ah, maybe I should go with Kang? I wanted to have a look at the house before.’

Tingming shrugged. ‘If you’re scared, you don’t have to go. I can go myself.’ And he disappeared down the path alone.

‘I’m not scared,’ Shaozhen said a bit too loudly, though he was quite relieved he wouldn’t have to go back towards the spring. He just hated that Tingming thought he was a coward.

But there were more important things to think about. The trio headed up the rocky track, Shaozhen leading the way through the dense undergrowth at the base of the trees. He trailed his hand across the stiff dry bark of a narrow trunk. The tree seemed sickly, like one gentle tap would snap it in two.

He mustered a deep breath from the pit of his stomach and shouted, ‘Xiaoping!’

His voice echoed thinly before vanishing into the canopy. He rubbed his upper arms but it did nothing to ebb the chill going through his heart.

The ground levelled off and Shaozhen heard a goat bleating. He could see a trail leading to a small vegetable garden that looked well-cared-for. Beyond the garden, there was the open door that led to a home. And it was clear to him now that the house wasn’t abandoned.

And sitting on the doorstep was Xiaoping, dirt smeared on his chubby cheeks and the remnants of a crumbled cracker in his pudgy fist.

‘Xiaoping!’ Shaozhen ran towards the boy.

‘Dage! Big brother!’ Xiaoping’s eyes lit up and he smiled wide, wet clumps of biscuit stuck to his teeth. Shaozhen wrapped the boy up in a giant panda-sized hug.

‘Thank goodness we found you! How did you get all the way up here?’ he murmured.

‘The mountain man woke up today!’ Xiaoping cried. ‘He was cranky! So I hid but then Shen Yeye found me.’ His breath smelled of goat’s milk and biscuit.

‘Man, I really hate these mountains,’ Kang complained as he came up the trail past the garden.

‘Who would be living all the way up here by themselves?’ Yangyang wondered aloud. But their complaints were silenced when they saw who Shaozhen held in his arms.

‘Kang ge, elder brother! Yang jie, elder sister!’ Xiaoping smiled and waved but he stayed in Shaozhen’s arms.

‘Thank goodness he’s okay.’ Yangyang reached out to stroke the toddler on the head, cooing affectionately. ‘You had your grandmother so worried, you know?’

‘Pingping, who’s there?’ A sinister voice came from inside the house.

Shaozhen took a few steps back, clutching the boy to his chest. An old man with a cane emerged from the house and came onto the front stoop.

‘Yeye!’ Xiaoping reached for the man but Shaozhen kept him in his embrace.

‘Oh, the villagers found you now, did they? About time.’ He eyed the teens for a moment, his expression unreadable. ‘Off you go then,’ he said with a wave of his cane.

‘Wait, laoba, old father,’ Shaozhen called. The man turned, his eyes narrowing and his jaw jutting out. He was slight and his demeanour so fierce and ferocious that Shaozhen stammered, ‘I mean, I wanted to thank you for looking after Xiaoping.’

The old man remained silent.

Kang stepped forwards, putting on his best Number One Pupil’s voice. ‘What Shaozhen means, honourable sir, is that Hongsha village would like to thank you for looking after our young friend. And I’m sure once we inform Secretary Xian, he will want to come and thank you too.’

At the mention of the Secretary, the man’s eyes bugged out. ‘You keep those Secretaries away from me,’ he spat. ‘We’ve kept to ourselves for twenty years and it had better stay that way. Or I’ll send the rocks down to flatten your lot myself.’ He stomped one foot on the ground and thrashed his cane. It let out a thunderous crack that boomed across the mountains and Yangyang yelped. Shaozhen winced, imagining the sound setting off another landslide, but nothing happened.

‘Get out of here now, and don’t let me see any of you ever again!’

Shaozhen hurried away, pressing Xiaoping to his shoulder.

‘Bye bye, Shen Yeye, grandfather! I hope you can come back to Hongsha soon.’ Xiaoping waved what was left of his soggy biscuit. He didn’t seem to mind the old man’s sudden change in attitude.

Shaozhen just shook his head. ‘Come on, let’s get you back to Aunty Wu.’

The sun had set by the time they reached the village. The villagers all gasped and sighed with relief when they saw the teens coming through the entrance, the toddler almost asleep and drooling on Shaozhen’s shoulder.

‘Xiaoping!’ Aunty Wu had fat tears running down her puffy red cheeks as she took the boy from Shaozhen’s arms and gave him a big wet kiss. ‘Oh, you were such a naughty boy today. Wait until your mother finds out you ran away from me, huh?’ She bounced the boy against her hip and then turned to Shaozhen. ‘Precious boy. Dear boy. Thank you for bringing my grandson back. You are an absolute hero.’ She reached up and pinched Shaozhen on the cheek, like he was seven. He winced but didn’t really mind, he was so relieved and happy to have found Xiaoping.

‘That’s okay, Aunty Wu,’ Shaozhen said. ‘We’re just glad he’s okay.’

‘Yangyang, thank you so much.’

Yangyang smiled modestly, her face dimpling.

‘Kang, I know your grandfather will be really proud,’ Aunty Wu added.

Kang lowered his gaze to the ground, embarrassed. Shaozhen knew his friend wasn’t used to praise.

‘Popo, I’m tired.’ Xiaoping rubbed his eyes, smearing dirt across his face.

‘You’ve had a long day, darling. Time for bed.’ Aunty Wu bid them goodnight before setting off, the toddler drifting off to sleep on her shoulder.

The other villagers made their way back to their houses. Shaozhen felt the exhaustion deep in every one of his muscles and there was a dull ache through his leg, but he wasn’t ready to go back just yet. He was still wondering about the old man, Shen, living by himself in the mountains. Had he really been there for twenty years? He had said ‘we’. Did someone else live up there with him? His mind swam with unanswered questions.

Kang pointed towards the road. ‘Hey, look. Tingming is back.’

Shaozhen turned. He had completely forgotten about Tingming. He cocked an eyebrow as the older boy hurried towards them. His face was flushed and the usual swagger in his step was gone.

‘What’s the matter, Tingming?’ Yangyang’s voice was full of concern. ‘Don’t worry, we found Xiaoping.’

The older boy shook his head. ‘It’s not that. We have big problems.’

Kang’s eyes went wide. ‘What do you mean?’

The older boy rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I tried to go up the path to the spring, but it was blocked by boulders, and there’s no way to get to the other side.’

‘But I was only there this morning, out on the ledge.’ Shaozhen shuddered as he remembered standing on that narrow ridge, the earth shaking beneath him.

Tingming shook his head. ‘It was further along, right before the cave, just at the mouth of it, actually. It’s completely cut off. You’re very lucky, Shaozhen.’

There was silence as they all took in the news. Kang looked at Shaozhen like he was about to cry. Yangyang, always strong and fearless, looked very, very afraid. Shaozhen felt entirely numb; the only sensation left was the dull throbbing in his injured leg.

Without another word, they all knew that Hongsha’s biggest fear had come true.