After traveling through the book, I realized my wish in my previous life

The next morning after the wedding, the weather cleared up and the sun shone through the mist onto the dirt road in Baihua Village.

When Shen Xiaoxia got up, Jiang's mother, Jiang's eldest sister-in-law and Jiang Juan were busy in front of the stove, and the kitchen was full of steam.

Jiang's mother stood in front of the earthen stove, making pancakes. The iron pan sizzled. Jiang's eldest sister-in-law was pouring freshly cooked millet porridge into an enamel basin. Jiang Juan squatted at the stove to add firewood. When she saw her sister come in, her eyes curved into crescents. "Good morning, sister-in-law!"

Seeing Shen Xiaoxia enter the kitchen, Jiang's mother asked her, "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"

Jiang Yan originally wanted her to sleep a little longer, but Shen Xiaoxia was embarrassed and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

The Jiang family didn't set rules for their new daughter-in-law. "No, since you're awake, go to the Youth League House to see if everyone is awake. If everyone is awake, call them over for dinner."

Jiang Yan saw Shen Xiaoxia get up, rolled around in bed twice, and lost his sleepiness. Seeing Shen Xiaoxia enter the room, he stretched out his hand to her, "Will you sleep with me for a while?"

"I'm not going to sleep anymore. I'm going to the Youth Hostel. Do you want to come?"

Seeing that there was no hope of falling asleep, Jiang Yan got up resignedly and said, "Go."

When the two arrived at the Youth League Home, everyone was up and packing up. Shen Xiaoxia went into Han Zhuxin and Zhao Lingling's room, and Jiang Yan went to see the others.

Zhao Lingling saw Shen Xiaoxia appear at the door and teased, "Oh, our bride got up so early?"

Shen Xiaoxia knew that she couldn't pay attention to her, otherwise she would get more and more excited, so she changed the subject and said, "Is everything ready? Mom asked us to come and call you home for dinner."

"Almost done," Han Zhuxin said with a smile as she stuffed a piece of clothing into her bag, "but Lingling has too many things and is still dawdling."

Zhao Lingling turned around and glared at her, "Who's dawdling? I'm not..." She paused, looked out the window, and lowered her voice, "I'm just a little reluctant."

This sentence seemed to have touched the hearts of the three people at once. The room suddenly became quiet, with only the rustling sound of the leaves in the wind outside.

In the yard, He Tingyuan and Jiang Yan were helping Hu Shixuan pack his luggage. He bought a lot of local specialties - dried mushrooms, wild jujubes, wild chestnuts, and some game.

"Old Hu, are you going to move Baihua Village back?" Xie Yunheng stood aside with a teasing tone.

"What do you know?" Hu Shixuan stuffed a bag of dried chilies into his backpack. "These are all good things. We can't buy them over there."

Jiang Yan smiled and shook his head, "Be careful on the road, tie the package tightly, don't let it fall."

Hu Shixuan patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry."

Everyone gathered in the courtyard carrying their packed bags. Xie Yunheng sighed, "This is probably the last time I'll see this courtyard. I probably won't be coming back again."

The old locust tree outside the Youth League Courtyard swayed gently in the morning breeze, and the fallen leaves swirled and fell on the packed luggage, like a silent invitation to stay.

Shen Xiaoxia looked at her friends who she had been with for many years, and her heart was filled with indescribable feelings. Jiang Yan walked to her side silently and held her hand.

He Tingyuan pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the morning light, making it impossible to see his expression. He bent down, picked up a locust leaf from the ground, and put it into the notebook he was carrying.

There was reluctance in everyone's eyes. This small courtyard has carried too much sweat and laughter, and has also witnessed the purest youth.

"Let's go, the food is getting cold," Jiang Yan reminded softly.

Everyone picked up their luggage and took a final look around the place where they had lived for many years. The sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground, as if bidding farewell.

Two large square tables had already been put together in the Jiang family's yard. Jiang's mother specially killed an old hen to stew soup. Golden oil floated on the surface of the soup, and the aroma wafted from far away.

The eldest sister-in-law of the Jiang family brought out a basket of cornmeal flatbreads that had just come out of the oven. The brown crust was still steaming. Jiang Juan was busy putting pickled cucumbers on a plate. When she saw everyone coming in, she hurriedly wiped her hands with her apron and went to greet them.

"Come and sit down! You're all hungry, aren't you?" Jiang's mother called out, placing the largest bowl of chicken soup in front of Shen Xiaoxia, and then serving a bowl each to Han Zhuxin and Zhao Lingling. "Eat more!"

Looking at the table full of food, Han Zhuxin smiled and said, "Thank you, Auntie, it's so rich, we are all in great luck!"

"You're so polite!" Jiang's mother smiled and put a few more pieces of chicken into her bowl with clean chopsticks. "You came all the way to attend A Yan and Xia Xia's wedding, so you are our honored guests."

The dinner table gradually became lively. Hu Shixuan talked about the interesting things that happened when he and Jiang Yan went hunting together. Everyone listened with great interest.

The sun gradually climbed up to the eaves, casting a layer of warm gold on everyone's face. Jiang's mother kept adding dishes to the guests' bowls.

After the meal, everyone rushed to help clean up the dishes.

The time of parting finally arrived. The roar of the tractor broke the voices in the courtyard. Jiang Yan asked a friend to help him with the tractor, which took everyone to the city.

After saying goodbye, everyone got on the car with their luggage. Jiang's father even spread a layer of dry straw in the truck bed, while Jiang's mother was busy distributing the prepared dry food to everyone.

"Send a message to the village when you get there!" Jiang's mother instructed, patting the shoulders of the young people one by one with her rough hands.

Xie Yunheng responded loudly, "Don't worry, Auntie, I will."

Shen Xiaoxia and Jiang Yan sent everyone to the city, then got on the tractor and squeezed into the truck bed with everyone else.

Xie Yunheng patted the carriage board and said with a smile, "This is much more comfortable than the oxcart we used to ride in. But now that I think about it, I miss it a lot!"

Zhao Lingling rolled her eyes at him. "You used to find riding in an ox cart a problem, but now you're tired of it?"

Everyone laughed again.

The tractor started up with a rumble, raising a cloud of dust. Han Zhuxin looked back and saw that the figures of the Jiang family were getting smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared at the corner of the village entrance.

On the way, no one spoke much, just quietly looking at the fields and mountains on both sides. The fields were silent after the autumn harvest, the mountains in the distance were covered with colorful forests, and the sun shone down, and the whole world was covered with a layer of warm light.

When they arrived at the train station, everyone got off the tractor carrying their luggage. The city's train station had been expanded a lot compared to a few years ago, but it was still simple. The slogan "Serve the People" on the red brick wall had faded a lot. People were coming and going on the platform, and the train timetable was playing on the radio. It was noisy and busy.

Not long after, a heavily accented voice came from the loudspeaker, "The train to Beijing is about to depart, passengers please..."

Han Zhuxin clenched the ticket in her hand, turned around and hugged Shen Xiaoxia, "See you in Beijing."

Shen Xiaoxia hugged her back, "Okay, see you in Beijing."

After hugging Shen Xiaoxia, Han Zhuxin opened her arms towards Zhao Lingling, "Come, Lingling, hug me."

Zhao Lingling hugged him, tears welling up in her eyes, "Remember to think of me, remember to write to me often..."

Han Zhuxin's voice was also a little choked. "Okay, take care of yourself, keep in touch, and come to Beijing to play with us when you have time."

He Tingyuan and Xie Yunheng also hugged and said goodbye to everyone one by one. Xie Yunheng patted Jiang Yan on the shoulder and said, "Brother, remember to come and have a drink with me when you return to Beijing!"

Jiang Yan smiled and nodded, "Sure."

The train blew its whistle and started slowly. Three people leaned out of the window and waved continuously. Everyone standing on the platform also waved until the train disappeared from sight.

An hour later, the train to Shanghai arrived. Zhao Fan and Zhao Lingling carried their luggage and said goodbye to the rest of the people one by one.

Zhao Lingling's eyes were red as she held Shen Xiaoxia's hand and said, "Xia Xia, you must come to Shanghai to see me."

Shen Xiaoxia nodded and said, "I will go."

Zhao Fan patted Jiang Yan's shoulder and said, "Brother, let's meet again when we come to Shanghai!"

The train slowly left the platform. Zhao Lingling leaned out of the window and waved vigorously until her figure became a small dot and finally disappeared completely.

The last person to be sent off was Hu Shixuan, as his train heading south was the last one.

"Old Hu, be careful on the road." Jiang Yan handed him a package. "This is what my mother prepared for you. She said you loved it the most back then."

Hu Shixuan took the package and smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Auntie. It's amazing that she still remembered it."

Shen Xiaoxia said softly, "Remember to write to us when you get there."

Hu Shixuan nodded, "Okay."

The train arrived at the station. Hu Shixuan boarded the train carrying his luggage. He leaned out of the window and waved at the two of them, "Go back. Be careful on the road!"

The two stood on the platform, watching the train slowly start and move further away. Shen Xiaoxia leaned her head on Jiang Yan's shoulder and said softly, "They've all left."

Jiang Yan put his arm around her shoulders and said, "Well, we're all gone."

They stood quietly for a while, then turned and walked towards the exit. Their backs were stretched very long in the sunlight.

This separation may be as far as the mountains and rivers, but our friendship will remain forever.