Chapter 3: Summer passed by

The wind felt different that morning—quieter, heavier, as if even the trees knew something was about to change. Xin Xin stood by the riverbank where they used to play, her hands clasped behind her back. Yu Han and Yu Mei were unusually silent beside her.

“Xin Xin…” Yu Mei finally whispered, “we’re going back to the city.”

Xin Xin blinked. “Back? Today?”

Yu Han nodded slowly. “Father said we have to continue our studies. School in the city starts next week.”

The world felt like it tilted. Xin Xin stared at the water, her chest tightening.

“But… but we still have so many things to do! We haven’t tried catching fish again… and we haven’t climbed the big pine tree… and—”

Yu Han stepped closer and placed a hand on her head. “Hey… we’ll be back. Next summer. I promise.”

Yu Mei crouched and took Xin Xin’s hands. “We’re not leaving forever. And we’ll write you letters. Lots of them.”

“Letters?” Xin Xin looked up, eyes already glistening.

“Of course,” Yu Mei smiled warmly. “Every month. Maybe even every week if Father lets us buy more stamps.”

“And you’ll read mine too,” Yu Han said. “So you better practice writing nicely.”

Xin Xin tried to laugh, but her voice cracked. “I’ll write! I’ll write super fast!”

Yu Mei pulled her into a tight hug, and Xin Xin held her even tighter.

“Don’t cry,” Yu Mei whispered. “If you cry, I’ll cry too.”

Yu Han joined the hug, his voice soft. “The old apple tree will keep our names safe until we come back.”

That was the moment Xin Xin couldn’t hold it anymore. Tears slipped down her cheeks silently as she pressed her face into Yu Han’s sleeve.

“I’m gonna miss you,” she whispered.

“And we’ll miss you even more,” Yu Han said.

They walked her home slowly, step by step, as if dragging time so it wouldn’t run away. Grandma Xin stood by the gate, smiling gently.

“So, today’s the day?” she asked kindly.

Yu Han and Yu Mei bowed politely. “Yes, Grandma Xin. Thank you for welcoming us this summer.”

“You’re always welcome,” she said. “Come back anytime.”

Before they left, Yu Han turned around one last time.

“Xin Xin! Wait for our letters!”

“I will!” Xin Xin shouted. “I promise I’ll wait!”

Then they were gone—walking down the dusty road with their father, waving until they became small shapes, then shadows, then nothing.

That night, Xin Xin cried quietly into Grandma’s shoulder until she fell asleep.

Days passed. Then weeks.

Summer faded into the cool winds of early autumn.

Xin Xin helped Grandma pick apples from the orchard every morning. She carried baskets twice her size and always ended up with leaves in her hair. Sometimes she giggled. Sometimes she looked toward the road where Yu Han and Yu Mei had disappeared.

Every few days, she walked to Mister Yu’s house—their family’s empty summer home—just to check the mailbox.

“Maybe today…” she whispered each time, tiptoeing to look inside.

One afternoon, when the sunlight turned golden and soft, she opened the mailbox and gasped.

A letter.

A real letter.

With messy handwriting that could only belong to Yu Han.

She ran home so fast she almost tripped twice.

“Grandma! Grandma! They wrote! They wrote!” she screamed breathlessly.

Grandma Xin laughed and helped her open it. Xin Xin read every word aloud—Yu Han’s silly stories, Yu Mei’s doodles, the little notes squished into the corners of the paper. She hugged the letter to her chest like treasure.

From then on, letters came regularly. Sometimes one, sometimes two… sometimes a drawing of the city so messy she had to ask, “Is this a building or a sandwich?”

And Xin Xin always wrote back—carefully, slowly, trying her best to spell every word perfectly.

In the little village school, she studied harder than ever.

She sat in the front row, raised her hand often, and practiced her writing every night.

“Someday…” she whispered to herself, staring at the glowing lamp-light on her desk.

“Someday I’ll go to the city… and I’ll find them again.”

And under the old apple tree, their names remained carved side by side—waiting patiently for the next summer, for laughter to return, and for three children to be together again.

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