The roads in the village were in poor condition.

Chang'an Fang originally came to catch fish just for fun, but unexpectedly, the haul turned out to be quite considerable. When it became clear there were few fish left in the pit, he poured all the fish from several basins together and found he had more than half a basin, roughly ten pounds in total.

Ten pounds doesn’t sound like much, but these wild fish were all small, making the catch seem all the more abundant. Ke Wang came over for a look and exclaimed in awe, “Wow, that’s a lot!”

Mo Shen grabbed her hand and pointed excitedly at a grass carp in the basin. “That’s the one we caught.”

Chang'an Fang scoffed, “They all look the same. How can you tell which one is yours?”

“It’s this one,” Mo Shen insisted confidently.

Ke Wang craned her neck and looked with a show of seriousness, then declared just as firmly, “It’s this one.”

“If you say so, I’ll just have to believe you,” Chang'an Fang muttered to himself, then nodded. “Why don’t you take some home to fry and eat?”

Both girls shook their heads at once.

Others gathered around, chattering and marveling at the catch, when suddenly, across the riverbank near the bridge, someone appeared walking against the setting sun, calling out loudly from afar, “Chang'an Fang? Chang'an Fang! Is Mo Shen here?”

Everyone squinted into the distance. Yu Wei Wang asked, “Mo Shen, is that someone from your family?”

Mo Shen shook her head. “I don’t know them.”

“Seems like they’re looking for Chang'an Fang?”

“I heard them call for Mo Shen, too.”

Chang'an Fang also squinted and made out that it seemed to be Zude Ma. In an instant, he understood and turned to ask Mo Shen, “What time is it?”

Mo Shen checked her digital watch and let out a cry, “It’s already six! I told Grandma I’d be back by four…”

Many others had told their families when they’d be home. Hearing that it was already six, they were startled, some in disbelief, others quickly checking their own watches.

“That fast?”

“It’s really after six!”

“We’d better hurry home—my mom is probably worried.”

Zude Ma made his way over the uneven ground and, seeing both Chang'an Fang and Mo Shen, panted heavily and said, “Your grandfather asked me to tell you to come home.”

Mo Shen didn’t recognize him, but hearing he was sent by her grandfather, she politely replied, “Thank you, I understand.”

Chang'an Fang said, “It’s getting late, let’s hurry home. We can play again sometime. There’s clean water over there—wash your hands and feet.”

When they’d arrived, everyone had brought their bikes across. At Chang'an Fang’s suggestion, they hurried up the bank to wash at the small dam across the river, built long ago to store water and provide access to the northern farmland.

Mo Shen and Ke Wang washed up, but with no time to dry off, shook the water from their hands and feet, put on their socks and shoes, and headed off with Chang'an Fang to get their bikes.

Chang'an Fang offered, “Do you want to take some fish home as a trophy?”

Yu Chen replied, “No, it’s too much trouble to carry. You take them.”

No one was interested in dividing up the fish; there was nothing to carry them in anyway.

Walking alongside Chang'an Fang, Ke Wang said, “It’s late, so we’ll just go. Let your parents know for us, will you?”

Mo Shen, who rarely got to go out and play, had been so flustered when she heard her grandfather had called someone to find her that she’d forgotten about this. Reminded, she nodded and said, “Right, tell them it’s late so we left first, and that we’ll come again next time. We don’t want your uncle and aunt to think we’re rude.”

Chang'an Fang smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell them.”

Yu Wei Wang looked at him as if she wanted to say something, but stayed silent. Ever since lunch, her attitude had subtly changed, and even during the fish-catching, she hadn’t been as lively as before.

Mo Shen and her friends fetched their bikes, with Chang'an Fang following. Passing Zude Ma, he smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I lost track of time. Thank you for coming all this way.”

Zude Ma was a little surprised at his composure for someone his age, but gave a simple, honest smile and waved it off. “It’s nothing.”

He looked at Mo Shen and said, “Alright, I’ll head back now. Your grandfather’s waiting on news. You hurry home too, don’t make him worry.”

“Thank you,” she replied.

Mo Shen felt a bit embarrassed that someone had been sent to fetch her, and smiled sweetly at Zude Ma, grateful and sheepish.

Zude Ma, pleased to have left a good impression, mounted his bicycle and departed contentedly.

Mo Shen and Ke Wang pushed their bikes onto the road. The others waved goodbye to Chang'an Fang; the two girls waved first to Yanran Fang, who waved back, “Sisters, come visit again!”

“We will, we promise,” Mo Shen and Ke Wang replied with a smile.

Chang'an Fang cheerfully reminded them, “It doesn’t get dark so quickly now, but be careful on this stretch of road—don’t ride too fast. Once you’re off our village road, you’ll be fine.”

Mo Shen, knowing she was the only one who might fall on a bad road, nodded earnestly, “Don’t worry, I won’t fall.”

Chang'an Fang, suppressing a laugh, told the others, “When you get home, give me a call so we know everyone’s safe.”

“Don’t worry,” Chen Yu and Zhang Jing waved goodbye, hopped on their bikes, and rode single-file into the sunset toward Chang'an Fang’s distant northern town.

“Let’s go too,” Chang'an Fang said to his siblings and the Dianqiu Fang siblings. They carried their basins home, with Chang'an Fang giving some fish to Dianqiu Fang’s family. Though small, these wild fish were delicious fried or in soup.

When the six of them reached home, the adults weren’t there, so each returned to their own house. Lu Jun Fang came out of the west room carrying pig feed and, seeing his three children, asked, “Back already? Where are your classmates?”

“They’ve gone. It’s too late,” Chang'an Fang replied.

Changming Fang proudly carried the fish basin inside, showing off to his father. “Dad, look! Have you ever seen anything like this?”

“Hey, that’s quite a lot,” Lu Jun Fang said, surprised to see half a basin, then went to feed the pigs.

Changming Fang took the basin to show his mother. “Mom, look how many we caught! Have you ever seen so many?”

A calm voice answered from inside, “No, I haven’t. I’ll fry them up for you in a bit.”

“I don’t want to eat them. I want to raise them until they’re big, then eat them.”

“You say that every time, but have you ever managed to keep them alive?”

“This time I’ll manage it for sure.”

Chang'an Fang told Changming, “Take Uncle’s basin back and bring them some fish.”

Changming pouted, “Why don’t you go?”

“I need to make a phone call.”

Chang'an Fang went into the inner room and dialed Chengyan Shen’s number.

Chengyan Shen had tried to call earlier, but couldn’t get through, so he called his mother to confirm Mo Shen wasn’t home yet. He was worried, but reasoned that nothing serious had happened—Mo Shen had probably just lost track of time.

Still, his concern lingered. Unable to reach the Fang family, he had no better ideas, so tried to remain calm and wait.

When Chang'an Fang’s call came through, it startled him—he feared something might have happened, but Chang'an Fang only explained that Mo Shen had forgotten the time while playing, and called because he guessed Chengyan would be worried.

Hearing that Mo Shen had just returned with her friends, Chengyan Shen was relieved and called his mother to let her know, asking her to tell his father as well.

“I’m just a messenger now,” Shuyu Peng quipped after passing on the news. Relieved, she called Baoguo Shen and relayed Chengyan’s message.

Baoguo Shen, too, felt a weight lift. Still, he grumbled, “She’s so young—how can you let her wander everywhere? What if something happened?”

“What could happen?” Shuyu Peng retorted. “She insisted on going out with her friends. With so many of them, how could I stop her? Even Feifei said she’d take her out in a few days.”

“It’s not the same with someone looking after her.”

“All right, all right. I’m not arguing over the phone—waste of money. We’ll talk at home.”

Shuyu Peng hung up. Baoguo Shen sat on the sofa, smacked his lips, sipped his herbal tea, leaned back, and after a while, picked up the remote to turn on the TV.

Mo Shen and Ke Wang arrived home as night fell. Her grandparents’ hearts finally settled at the sight of their granddaughter, but neither greeted her with a smile.

Knowing she was in the wrong, Mo Shen ran straight into her grandmother’s arms and said cheerfully, “Grandma, I’m back! Grandpa, you’re home too? We had so much fun, I even caught such a big fish…”

She held up her hands, indicating a fish twice the size of the grass carp they’d caught, then looked to Ke Wang. “Right, Ke Wang?”

“Mm!” Ke Wang nodded, giving strong support.

Seeing the lingering excitement and joy on Mo Shen’s face, Shuyu Peng couldn’t bring herself to scold her. She gently ruffled Mo Shen’s hair and smiled, “As long as you had fun. But next time, don’t stay out so late.”

“But I’m back now,” Mo Shen said, seeing her grandmother was no longer angry. She snuggled closer and, as if suddenly remembering, exclaimed, “Oh! Let me call Uncle so he can take Ke Wang home.”

She started to make a call, but Shuyu Peng laughed, “No rush—the sky’s already dark. There’s no harm in waiting till after dinner.”

She said kindly to Ke Wang, “Call your parents first so they don’t worry. You can eat here and then go home—it won’t take long.”

Ke Wang always felt awkward in front of these elderly hosts and tried to decline, “Thank you, Grandma, but I’m not hungry. I can eat at home.”

“You didn’t eat breakfast, and if you skip dinner too, wouldn’t that be rude to Grandpa and Grandma?” Shuyu Peng said jovially. “Come, call home, wash up, and eat with us. You can leave right after dinner.”

Mo Shen chimed in, “Stay for dinner, Ke Wang. I’ll take you home afterward.”

Unable to refuse, Ke Wang agreed.

When she’d visited in the morning, she’d only had a quick look around. Now, for the first time, she truly took in Mo Shen’s home: everything was both familiar and strange—the staircase, the spotless bathroom, even the housekeeper—things she’d only seen on television.

Luckily, Mo Shen was warm and never showed off or looked down on her ignorance, and Baoguo Shen and Shuyu Peng were just as kind and considerate, never making her feel uncomfortable.

Dinner was soon served. Mo Shen pulled Ke Wang to sit with her and began enthusiastically recounting their adventures, with Ke Wang occasionally chiming in.

Shuyu Peng laughed and said, “So by your account, everything is perfect at their place?”

“I just haven’t seen it before,” Mo Shen admitted, pouting. “But there’s one thing that’s not so good—the roads in their village are terrible, full of holes. I nearly fell off my bike.”

Baoguo Shen nodded. “Some areas really do need better roads.”

Mo Shen carefully picked up a piece of fish, ate it, and then said, “No, it’s not that. I heard Chang'an Fang say their village is always collecting money from each household, supposedly to fix the roads. They’ve repaired them many times, but…”

Baoguo Shen paused, sipped his congee, and picked up some ginger-fried eggs. He asked casually, “Oh? When did Chang'an Fang mention this to you?”

Mo Shen thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. A while ago, maybe at the start of the school year, we were chatting and he mentioned it.”

“At the start of the year…” Baoguo Shen nodded slightly, as if pondering something.

Mo Shen continued, “When we were leaving just now, Chang'an Fang reminded me to be careful cycling in their village, but that once we were out it’d be fine. Right, Ke Wang?”

“Mm-hmm,” Ke Wang nodded vigorously, then smiled with her lips pressed together. “But that’s only because you’re not very good at riding a bike. We all managed fine.”

Baoguo Shen listened to the two girls’ chatter and said nothing for a long while.