Xiaojing Village is nestled beside a river embankment that cuts through wheat fields, and not far from the embankment lies a wide river.
Long ago, the people along the river's banks depended on it for their livelihood, but as the economy gradually developed, they turned to other ways to survive. Xiaojing Village was small to begin with, housing fewer than five hundred people. When the young and able left to study or work, it became a village of the old, weak, and infirm, guarding a dilapidating home year after year.
The Zhang family's ancestral house sat by the river embankment, with a small lotus pond and a patch of woods in front of it.
"It's almost Xiao Yun's death anniversary. I figured you all would come back, so I cleaned the house a few days in advance, aired out the bedding under the sun, kept the windows open every day for ventilation. You can sleep here with peace of mind—there's not the slightest odor left."
