When Wen Xiuqing saw Ji Xiangdong, the black sweater he had rolled up while kneading dough had some loose threads that were hastily sewn back together with white thread. Wen Xiuqing felt so saddened that she couldn't hold back the tears.
"Are you married?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"No, I'm not." Ji Xiangdong paused in his kneading.
Wen Xiuqing's freshly wiped tears flowed again, "Where have you been all these years? Have you been eating well? Has anyone bullied you? Your father thought you might be in the army; are you not in the army now…"
Ji Xiangdong patiently answered Wen Xiuqing's questions one by one.
When Wen Xiuqing heard that Ji Xiangdong was at the Shule River in X Province, she cried again. That place was remote, poverty-stricken, and rumored to be inhabited by primitive people.
