As the old, dilapidated bus stopped near the bus stop closest to Peach Blossom Village, a tall, handsome young man got off, carrying a bag over his shoulder. He got off the bus and stared for a moment at the road leading to Peach Blossom Village. But only he could tell what he was thinking at that moment. After a while, he sighed, adjusted the bag on his shoulder, and walked quietly to Peach Blossom Village.
Lin Yi never thought that after graduating, he would move to the countryside to start a new life. When he was going to university, he thought that after graduating, he would help the family business and gain the family's acceptance. But he never thought that instead of gaining his family's acceptance, he would have to leave home.
It was about a 20-minute walk from the bus stop to Peach Blossom Village. It was a little late when Lin Yi arrived at the village. But he had informed the village chief before he arrived. So he didn't have to worry about where to stay tonight. Lin Yi went to the village and first went to the village chief. Since he didn't know the way, he asked for directions by giving the chocolate he had with him to a little boy who was playing on the way.
When he went to the village chief's house, only the village chief's wife was there. She told him to sit down, saying that the village chief would be a while away because he had gone to solve a problem for a villager. After about half an hour, the village chief arrived. The chief's wife showed Lin Yi and told him that Lin Yi had come to see him.
He immediately approached Lin Yi and asked, "This must be Mr. Lin Yi, right?"
Lin Yi put aside the teacup in his hand, stood up, and shook the village chief's hand.
"Hello, sir, I'm Lin Yi."
"Sit down, sit down." The village chief shook Lin Yi's hand and sat down across from him.
"Mr. Chen told me the details. According to what he said, Mr. Lin needs to buy a piece of land to settle in this village, right?"
"Yes, I want to buy a piece of land, but it doesn't have to be a big one. It would be enough to build a house and grow some vegetables."
Lin Yi explained to the village chief what kind of land he wanted.
"Teacher Chen has often talked to me about this village. That's why I thought there would be a place like the one I was looking for in this village."
The village chief looked at Lin Yi carefully. He wondered for a moment why a young man like Lin Yi would come to live in the village instead of working in the city.
"Mr. Lin, I have a question," the village chief asked, looking at Lin Yi.
"What's the problem, village chief?" Lin Yi looked at the village chief.
"It's no big deal. I'm curious why a young man like Mr. Lin would come to live in a village, and that too in a remote village like ours."
Lin Yi was silent for a moment after hearing the village chief's question. He couldn't think of how to answer. He couldn't say that his parents kicked him out of the house because he was their adopted child.
The village chief saw that Lin Yi was hesitant to answer. So he quickly said, "If it's something you can't say, it's okay not to say it. I asked out of curiosity."
Lin Yi saw that the village chief had misunderstood him. Lin Yi sighed and said, "No, no, it's not impossible to say; I was just thinking about how to say it."
"To be honest, I wanted to move to a remote village because I was tired of living in the city due to family problems. I just wanted to live away from everyone."
"Sorry if I brought up something sad." The village chief said while looking at Lin Yi sympathetically.
"That's okay," Lin Yi said with a smile.
"There are several plots of land that Mr. Lin wants. But it's already late, so we'll have to go see them tomorrow."
Seeing that the conversation was going in the wrong direction, the village chief changed the subject.
"I have prepared an empty room in our house for you to stay tonight."
As he said that, the village chief called his wife and asked her to show Lin Yi the room. She pointed to Lin Yi's room and said,
"Mr. Lin, this is your room. The washroom is outside; you can take a shower and rest for a while. I'll call you after I finish cooking dinner."
"Thank you."
Lin Yi thanked her and went into the room. Lin Yi looked around the room. There weren't many things in the room, but it was very tidy. There was only a bed, a table, and a chair in the room. From what he could see, the village chief's house was the largest house in the village. He saw that there were about three other rooms besides the one he was in.
After a while, Lin Yi went out and took a bath. The water had a slightly cold taste, probably because the village houses used well water. So he felt that all the aches and pains in his body had disappeared. Back in the room, Lin Yi lay on the bed and began to think about what had happened in the past few days.
Lin Yi lived as an orphan for 16 years. When he was 16 years old, the Su family came looking for him, telling him that he was their biological youngest son and that he had been kidnapped by a rival faction when he was 6 months old. Lin Yi thought he finally had a family of his own.
But he never imagined that it would be so difficult to achieve the life and family love he had hoped for. However, Lin Yi never thought that instead of his family's love and acceptance, he would receive their disgust and scolding. In the end, he had to give up everything and leave home forever.