“Are we going back tomorrow?” the boy asked .

“Yes,” Gong Aiguo replied .

“Okay . These dishes are delicious,” the boy said .

Kids are always innocent .

“The living condition here is much better than the place we live,” his father replied .

People might laugh or not believe that the villagers from where Gong Aiguo came didn't often get the chance to eat pork . Occasionally, one of the villagers killed a pig for catering purpose . Normally, the pigs were used to exchange for money .

Gong Aiguo and his son got up early in the morning, so did w.a.n.g Mingbao . He made something simple for breakfast . After they had finished breakfast, w.a.n.g Mingbao took Guo Aiguo and his son to w.a.n.g Yao's clinic . By the time they arrived at the clinic, they saw w.a.n.g Yao coming down from Nanshan Hill .

“Dr . w.a.n.g gets up so early,” Gong Aiguo said .

“He normally sleeps on the hill,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said .

“What? Sleep on the hill?” Gong Aiguo was surprised .

w.a.n.g Mingbao didn't go into any details .

After they all gathered at the clinic, w.a.n.g Yao packed up before heading to Gong Aiguo's village . They were going to travel in w.a.n.g Yao's vehicle, functioned better and had more comfortable seats . His vehicle was also four-wheel-drive, which was suitable for the uneven roads on the hills .  w.a.n.g Yao and w.a.n.g Mingbao would take turns driving .

w.a.n.g Yao said goodbye to his parents before leaving . After all, he was going to drive thousands of miles . His parents would be a bit worried about him .

Shangjun was located in Qinzhou, which was a very poor place . w.a.n.g Yao had never been there . He was going to meet strangers from thousands of miles away .

“Are you tired? If so, I can drive for a while,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said .

“I'm fine,” w.a.n.g Yao replied . He had only driven for about three hours . Given his current fitness level, he wouldn't even feel tired after driving for three days .

Purr! The boy's tummy started to rumble again .

“Are you hungry?” w.a.n.g Mingbao asked .

“Yes, a bit,” the boy said with some embarra.s.sment .

“Let's stop for lunch then,” w.a.n.g Yao suggested .

He continued to drive until he reached the highway resting area . w.a.n.g Yao pulled in so they could all have lunch and take a break .

The food of the resting area was just so-so . However, Gong Aiguo and Gong Ziqiang seemed to really enjoy it . Compared to what they ate in their village, the food in the resting area was considered delicious .

After a while, they arrived in Bingzhou, where they planned to stay overnight . Bingzhou was a historical city with more than 4,000 years of history . However, it was not as developed as the cities on the east coast . The city was ancient with rich history and had a feeling of solemnity .

They walked around the city after dinner . The city at night was quite unique .

“I want to learn more about this place on our way back,” w.a.n.g Yao said .

He had never been there before . Since he was going to pa.s.s this place on his way back, he wanted to stay there a few days . Travelling was also a kind of practice .

“Okay,” w.a.n.g Mingbao replied after lightening a cigarette .

After walking around, they went back to the hotel to rest . The next day, everyone was in good spirits . They were soon back on the road .

It was close to noon when they arrived in Shangjun . Gong Aiguo's home was still some distance away .

They went back on the road after lunch . After driving on the asphalt road for a while, they entered an uneven, muddy road . The road was grinded by pa.s.sing vehicles all the time . Fortunately, w.a.n.g Yao's vehicle was relatively easy to drive on uneven roads .

The last part of the route was made of soil . They arrived Gong Aiguo's village when it was close to evening . It was located at the foot of a hill . When they were approaching the village, they could hear roosters singing and dogs barking .

Most of the houses in the village were small and old . w.a.n.g Yao didn't find many new houses . The roads were muddy . The villagers all wore shabby clothes . This was indeed a poor village .

“Here we are,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said excitedly .

w.a.n.g Yao didn't know why w.a.n.g Mingbao sounded excited . He didn't think there was anything exciting about this village . w.a.n.g Mingbao's facial expression was not accidental .

“Mr . w.a.n.g, and Dr . w.a.n.g, would you like to have dinner in my home tonight?” Gong Aiguo asked .

“Yes . Thanks,” w.a.n.g Mingbao replied .

w.a.n.g Yao and w.a.n.g Mingbao didn't come to the village empty handed . They had brought quite a few things, the majority of which was food . They could have a nice dinner with the food they brought .

“Shall we go to see the kids first?” w.a.n.g Yao wanted to see the kids who might also have been poisoned .

“I'm afraid the kids had already gone home by now,” Gong Aiguo said .

“Let's go and have a look at the school,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said .

The school was built on the most even land in the village . It had a big yard with a flagpole in the middle . The five-star red flag was on the top of the pole . Next to the flagpole was a two-story building, where the cla.s.srooms were located . This was the tallest building in the village . It looked outstanding comparing to the small houses .

Gong Aiguo was right . All the students had gone home .

“Well, I need to go and see a person here,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said as he went into the building .

“See a person here?” w.a.n.g Yao was surprised .

“He must have gone to see Miss Han,” Gong Aiguo said .

“Miss Han?” w.a.n.g Yao asked .

“Yes, our literature teacher . She's really nice,” Gong Ziqiang replied .

“She?” w.a.n.g Yao said almost subconsciously .

“Yes, she's nice and pretty,” Gong Ziqiang said .

“I see!” w.a.n.g Yao suddenly got it . “But how did they know each other?”

Soon, w.a.n.g Mingbao came out of the building with a young woman . Miss Han was very elegant . She was not very pretty at first sight but still very attractive . She had bright eyes and wore simple clothes . She was slim and looked around 25 years old .

“Let's me introduce . This is my best friend w.a.n.g Yao . This is Miss Han, Han Jia,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said .

“h.e.l.lo, nice to meet you,” w.a.n.g Yao said .

“h.e.l.lo,” Han Jia responded .

They all had dinner at Gong Aiguo's home . Since w.a.n.g Yao and w.a.n.g Mingbao had brought enough food, Gong Aiguo made some simple dishes . Gong Aiguo's mother was also skinny . Almost everyone in the village was skinny .

The infrastructure around the village was bad . Without adequate income, the villagers couldn't afford to by many items, including food .

There was no hotel or motel in the village . The closest motel was in town . It was about a 20-minute drive from the village . w.a.n.g Yao and w.a.n.g Mingbao stayed overnight in one of the villager's houses .

To welcome w.a.n.g Yao and w.a.n.g Mingbao, Gong Aiguo took out the new quilt he had saved for years .

“Thank you, but you really don't need to do this for us . ”

After dinner, w.a.n.g Mingbao told w.a.n.g Yao how he met Han Jia: on the internet . Han Jia had come to the village to teach . She was also a member of an organization that supported children's education in poor areas . During an online donation campaign, she met w.a.n.g Mingbao . The two of them started to talk . Then, w.a.n.g Mingbao came to the village to see Han Jia .

“The first time I met her, she made me feel that she's the woman I've been looking for . ” w.a.n.g Mingbao honestly described how he felt when he met Han Jia the first time .

“Where is she from?” w.a.n.g Yao asked .

“Bingzhou . She's been here three years . The kids here really like her, so do the villagers here . Of course I like her, too,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said .

w.a.n.g Yao laughed .

“Well, what do you think of her?” w.a.n.g Mingbao asked .

“The first impression is good . ” w.a.n.g Yao was telling the truth . She was elegant and seemed to be well-educated . Giving up the comfortable lifestyle in a big city and coming to teach in such a poor place was admirable .

“But, she has a boyfriend,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said .

“Boyfriend?” w.a.n.g Yao asked .

“Yes, but he has gone to Beijing . He rarely comes here . I think this is a really good opportunity for me to win her heart,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said .

“Has she broken up with her boyfriend?” w.a.n.g Yao asked .

“Not yet,” w.a.n.g Mingbao said without any disappointment . “She will . ”

“Hey, take it easy . This is Qinzhou, not Lianshan,” w.a.n.g Yao said .

“What are you talking about? I'm here to chase a girl, not make trouble,” w.a.n.g Mingbao replied .

Both of them had a good night's sleep . They got up very early in the morning and found Gong Aiguo was about to kill the hen laying eggs .

“Good morning, Mr . Gong . Please don't kill the hen . ” w.a.n.g Yao stopped him in time .

Gong Aiguo had minimal income and only a few farm animals . He needed those animals for income and should keep them as long as he could .

“No, I don't have anything at home to welcome you guys,” Gong Aiguo said .

“That's fine . Don't worry about us,” w.a.n.g Yao said .

He and w.a.n.g Mingbao had homemade noodles and pan fried eggs for breakfast . They then went to the school after breakfast .

The school had one headmaster and five teachers . There were 45 students from year one to year six . Children from the other villagers nearby also came to the school .

“Dr . w.a.n.g is going to examine the students for free?” The headmaster, who was in his 50s was really happy to meet w.a.n.g Yao . He had been concerned about his students' health . More than 10 students in the school had complained about pain in their bodies . The local doctors couldn't find the cause of the pain . In fact, some students hadn't been to the hospital at all .

The headmaster seemed to have gained more white hair in the last few days .

“Yes,” w.a.n.g Yao replied .

“Great! Thank you very much,” the headmaster said .

w.a.n.g Yao showed the headmaster his medical certificate to remove any doubts .

The way w.a.n.g Yao examined the students surprised the headmaster and teachers . He checked each student's pulse . He was a Traditional Chinese Medical Pract.i.tioner, so he used the four ancient methods of diagnosis .

He examined the students as fast as he could . It took him the whole morning to finish examining all of them . He found 12 students were poisoned .

“They have toxins inside their bodies . I need to remove the toxins,” w.a.n.g Yao said .

Initially, the headmaster didn't completely trust w.a.n.g Yao, but he changed his mind after w.a.n.g Yao had identified the students who were ill . They were exactly the 12 students who had been complaining about pain . They also had symptoms of diarrhea .

“How are you going to treat them?” the headmaster asked .

“Give me a pot . I'll brew some herbal decoctions for them,” w.a.n.g Yao said .