Nostalgia.

This time, Chen Liang boarded that train again.

The train swayed and chugged as it headed northwest...

Chen Liang watched the journey.

Enjoying the night view...

Now, things are different from then; Chen Liang can no longer remember anything from the past.

I wonder if anything has changed there?

How much has it changed?

Is the proprietress getting old?

Is her son already married?

Is that boss still so cowardly...?

……

Chen Liang sat in the car all night, and gradually, he fell asleep.

I took a nap.

……

At dawn, Chen Liang woke up.

He knew they were almost at the Northwest Ridge.

……

When the sun came up, Chen Liang got out of the car.

At this time, the sun had just risen.

The station was noisy with people.

There are many people soliciting customers.

Actually, there are fewer people here compared to other inland stations.

Even much less.

Chen Liang hailed a taxi: "Wanyue Gou (Crescent Moon Valley)."

Crescent Moon Valley is where Chen Liang and Hu Li met, got to know each other, and fell in love.

A place of love.

"Okay!" The driver, speaking with a local accent, drove off...

Chen Liang looked around...

Things have definitely changed.

Everything will never be the same again.

Has Hu Li changed?

Is she still the same?

Has she forgotten herself?

Does she still remember herself?

Does she hate herself?

I regret not giving her that hundred yuan.

Now, Chen Liang believes that perhaps that one hundred yuan was very important to Hu Li at the time.

Chen Liang regretted it.

He felt that he should have given Hu Li 100 yuan at that time.

At that time, one hundred yuan was nothing to Chen Liang.

But he just didn't give it to him.

Ugh……

Chen Liang sat in the car, walked, and sighed all the while...

The driver would occasionally chat with him.

Where are you from?

What do you do?

Oh, I've been here before...

I stayed for two years...

……

We finally arrived at Crescent Moon Valley.

Chen Liang got out of the car and paid the fare.

The driver left...

Chen Liang gazed at this spot...

It seems there has been a change, yet it also seems there has been no change.

The trees seem to have grown taller and more lush.

Yet it seems that those solid buildings haven't changed.

However, the vicissitudes of time have given them a layer of decay and patina.

The road is still as wide as ever, but it no longer has that fresh, new feel it used to have.

Even the streetlights bear the marks of time.

Chen Liang did not go to that restaurant.

He didn't know if that restaurant still existed.

Chen Liang walked, carrying a bag, towards the big river.

He wanted to see this place.

He must see this place.

……

He arrived.

Everything has changed.

The trees that were once newly planted have now grown up.

The trees are lush and green.

Flowers and plants in full bloom.

Even on those narrow paths, there are places where the pebbles break off.

It appears to be dilapidated.

It seems to have a touch more charm than before.

It seems that if Chen Liang and Hu Li were here back then, Chen Liang would definitely embrace Hu Li and kiss her deeply.

Even if they don't let go.

Because right now, it's completely invisible to anyone.

If it's among flowers, grass, and trees, others won't be able to see it.

That wouldn't have worked then.

Back then, even on the main road, if two people were hugging, people would see them.

……

Chen Liang retraces his steps...

……

At this moment, although I feel nostalgic, I am no longer in pain.

He felt guilty, but he wanted to make amends.

He came to make amends.

……

Chen Liang walked the road he once knew, the road he remembered, twice.

Then we came out of this place.

It's meaningless.

Because this place is no longer what it used to be.

Hu Li is no longer here.

……

Chen Liang walked towards the restaurant, retracing that path.

He wasn't going to a restaurant.

He simply walked around like that.

I walked along, looking at both sides.

The changes are truly enormous...

Everything seemed unrecognizable from what it used to be.

Yet I could still recognize it.

Because Chen Liang had been here on and off for two years.

Chen Liang arrived in front of the restaurant.

They stopped right across from each other.

That restaurant is still there.

The name remains the same as before.

Chen Liang sighed...

I wonder if that proprietress is still around?

Is she old?

Is she old?

Chen Liang hoped she hadn't grown old.

Because Chen Liang also wanted to sleep with her.

Her long legs, her plump hips, and her tall stature kept Chen Liang thinking about her.

Chen Liang stood there for a while before leaving.

His target, his current target, is not the landlady, but Hu Li.

He came to see Hu Li.

The reason I came here and walked this path again is to relive those memories.

……

Chen Liang took a taxi and arrived at the bus station.

boarding.

They headed towards the city that would allow them to visit Hu Li's hometown.

Chen Liang didn't remember this road.

Because at that time, he was only concerned about Hu Li and only focused on talking to her.

And watch Hu Li.

Watch endlessly.

Because at that time, he knew she was about to leave.

……

An hour later, they arrived in the central city. Chen Liang took out his phone and looked at the name of Hu Li's hometown that was written on it.

Chen Liang searched through the station.

I saw that car.

Chen Liang bought the ticket.

Got in the car.

The car started...

Chen Liang was in the car, drinking milk and eating bread, making do with that for breakfast...

……

After another hour's drive, Chen Liang stopped at a bus station in a county town.

He got out of the car.

We exited the station.

This county town is not big.

Surrounded by mountains...

This place is indeed a mountainous area.

But it's also lush and green...

Chen Liang looked around...

Let's enjoy the scenery here first.

Chen Liang came here not only for the woman, but also to appreciate the scenery, local customs, and cultural landscape...

I stared at it for a long time.

Chen Liang seemed to have memorized this place.

Chen Liang felt that the scenery here was even better than that of the Northwest Ridge.

After all, that's a city, while this is the countryside.

……

Chen Liang hailed a taxi and headed towards Hu Li's hometown, following the name of Hu Li Village saved on his phone...

The road was a bumpy mountain road.

The winding mountain road...

But there are also flat mountain roads...

This place is different from the inland areas; it's not as developed here...

Not before.

There still isn't one.

……

Twenty minutes later, the nearly dilapidated taxi dropped Chen Liang off at the entrance of a village.

Mountains rise one after another, and terraced fields stretch out in neat rows...

The houses are low.

Some are old and worn.

Some of them are also new.

Chen Liang strode towards the village.

Yes.

This is Hu Li's hometown.

This is the hometown where Hu Li was born and raised.

I wonder if she's still in this village?

If she's already married, she shouldn't be in this village anymore.

Chen Liang planned to first take a walk around and see the local customs and culture.

Then, quietly inquire about Hu Li.

He came to see Hu Li.

He wasn't there to harass or bother Hu Li.

He cannot ruin her.

Chen Liang walked into the village and inspected it...

This is a mountain valley, surrounded by mountains.

The scenery is beautiful.

But the village was extremely dilapidated...

Scattered, loosely arranged houses...

This one, that one...

Chen Liang suddenly realized that there was really no need for modern advanced machinery to farm here.

Because it's unusable.

So, the legendary story of carrying wheat on one's back is true.

Chen Liang was deeply moved.

I feel very desolate.

I never imagined that such a place existed in the world.

As Chen Liang walked, he came across a small shop.

Chen Liang came in and bought a bottle of water.

Afterwards, I continued my walk in the village.

As he walked, Chen Liang suddenly remembered the time Hu Li called him that summer.

During that phone call, she said she was sitting in front of her house, looking out onto the main road, talking to Chen Liang.

The Great Way?

In front of my house?

Sitting?

Chen Liang looked around...