Chapter 25: His Letter

Wang Jiexiang’s eyes widened as she eagerly asked, “When did you see them? Where?”

Taking the photo, Yin Xian stared intently at the two figures, falling into deep thought.

“Do you remember anything?”

The rabbit looked up at her, suddenly convulsed, and collapsed to the ground.

Wang Jiexiang called out to him.

Her voice was loud, but he seemed completely unable to hear her.

Yin Xian trembled, muttering under his breath with a quivering voice, “Adjust… breathe… deep breaths…”

“Whatever it is you’re seeing, stop.”

It was as if he were giving orders to himself. The choice of words and tone were disturbingly strange.

“Deep breath. Put the photo away.”

His speech slowed. He repeated the command again, clearly and calmly.

“Deep breath. Put the photo away.”

He followed his own instructions. After adjusting his breathing three times, he stopped trembling.

Wang Jiexiang was frightened by him.

She picked up the photo he had let go of, unable to understand what had just happened.

The rabbit looked up at her, its eyes like a pitch-black pool.

At certain moments, like now, Wang Jiexiang found it hard to connect this rabbit with Yin Xian himself.

There was pleading in his eyes.

She had never seen that look on Yin Xian’s face before. He always seemed to have the upper hand, wearing that infuriatingly casual expression, looking at others with a sideways glance, never showing weakness.

“Don’t continue,” he said, voice weary and fragile.

She nodded at him.

But it wasn’t up to them.

A massive shadow loomed over them as the two connected houses silently closed in behind.

The moment Wang Jiexiang turned around, the house came at them like a speeding car, crashing straight toward them.

Before she could react, she and the rabbit were swallowed by the house.

Spring wind swept across the land in March. Trees, grass, and flowers came alive again.

Verdant mountains lay hidden within the pages of spring. Her hometown lay deep within those mountains.

Wang Jiexiang was sixteen this year, just starting high school.

Her whole family was happy that she had gotten into high school. Her grandmother had specially given money to her father to buy her a bicycle; her mother had knitted her a new sweater.

The sweater was a sky-blue, thin, round-neck one—perfect for the season.

“Jiexiang…”

“Jiexiang!”

Her mother waved a hand in front of her eyes, jolting Wang Jiexiang awake.

She looked at her mother, who was smiling warmly as she adjusted her sweater.

“You silly girl, I was talking to you. Why were you daydreaming?”

“Mom…”

Her head felt foggy. She couldn’t remember what her mother had just said. “What did you ask me?”

“Did you pack all your books?”

“I did.” Wang Jiexiang patted her bulging backpack.

“Then hurry to school. Come home tonight—I’ll cook you something delicious.”

She responded with an “Okay” and hopped on her bicycle.

Wang Jiexiang pedaled all the way to the old tree at the entrance of the village, ringing the bell as she arrived.

A girl wearing a headband left her chatting companions and walked over to her bike. She had beautiful sun-kissed skin and slightly bucked teeth, which made her a bit self-conscious and reluctant to smile widely. She was Wang Jiexiang’s childhood playmate, named Jiang Bingbing.

“I heard there’s a new teacher at our school.”

She said as she climbed onto the bike’s back seat.

“Really?” Wang Jiexiang was surprised. “Our school is so small—who’d want to come here?”

“Yup, I heard he’s young and came from the city,” Jiang Bingbing mumbled shyly. “I wonder if he’s handsome…”

Wang Jiexiang teased her with a grin, “Is it springtime? Our Bingbing’s getting boy-crazy.”

Jiang Bingbing called her annoying and elbowed her.

The city… new teacher…

Something flashed through Wang Jiexiang’s mind, but before she could think about it more, it was gone.

When they arrived at school, the excited Jiang Bingbing rushed ahead into the classroom.

The moment she saw the new teacher, she was terribly disappointed.

—The teacher was a woman.

She taught literature at a prestigious high school and had been sent here temporarily to guide the teaching at their school due to her outstanding performance. She wouldn’t be staying long.

As an excellent teacher, she did something very interesting in her first class.

She placed a stack of letters on the desk. Students went up to draw one and were assigned a random pen pal.

The letters came from her previous class, where she had asked each student to write a letter to a rural child. She hoped this would help build a connection between rural and urban children, allowing them to understand and support each other.

Wang Jiexiang was the best in the class at Chinese, especially composition, and felt a special fondness for literature teachers. She was determined to complete the assignment earnestly.

When it was her turn to go up to the desk, Wang Jiexiang glanced at the pile of scattered letters.

Though the letters were brought by the teacher, each envelope still had an address on it, to help them write back. One line of text caught her eye: while others listed apartments or new residential areas, this one listed a boarding school for tutoring.

Her hand instinctively reached for that letter.

After school, she went home.

She helped with some chores, then finished a bowl of noodles her mother had made, specially topped with two poached eggs. Before bed, Wang Jiexiang opened the letter.

[Hello, I hope this letter finds you well:

Our teacher asked the whole class to write letters to rural children, and you received mine.

The contents of this letter will be: sharing interesting things about the city and fun moments in my life.

Actually, the city isn’t that interesting. As for my life, the most fun thing I did today was solving a major question.

(Here, a full-page math problem on elliptic curves is drawn)

Wishing you

A happy life

Your pen pal, Dao (Island)]

Wang Jiexiang finished reading the letter in about twenty seconds.

Rolling up her sleeves, she became indignant and wanted to find this “Dao” for a fight.

The letter was too perfunctory—completely devoid of feeling or effort. Clearly, he had just dashed it off to complete the assignment. What a waste of the teacher’s efforts in bringing the letters all this way.

Wang Jiexiang refused to waste even a sheet of paper on him. Without turning the page over, she started writing right on the front.

[Hello, I hope this letter finds you well:

If the content of the letter is supposed to be sharing interesting things about the city and fun moments in life, I would write it like this:

First paragraph: introduce yourself.

Example: I’m a child from the city. I’m glad to meet you and become your pen pal.

Second paragraph: get to the point.

As a city dweller, I often find the city uninteresting. But one experience made me realize the charm of the city. Here, you can use the technique of contrast—first listing why you think the city is dull, then telling a story that changes that view.

Third paragraph: start a new topic.

Transition from the city to yourself—write about your hobbies, dreams, favorite music, favorite food… For example, if you find math interesting, focus on what about it fascinates you. Copying a math problem makes it hard for the reader to understand your point and feel the “fun” you mentioned.

Am I good at writing or what?

P.S. Your curve looks like a watermelon.

Wishing you

A happy life

Your pen pal—still thinking of a name]