Mountain boy picks stars

1

Huang Xiaoxing, a poor boy from a mountain village who originally dreamed of "reaching for the stars," finally escaped the "delusion of idol worship" and achieved complete enlightenment through Teacher Zhou's "reform of idol worship."

He completely changed others' prejudices against him through his actions, and reaffirmed his belief in being a "scientific beauty star."

From then on, Huang Xiaoxing, the poor boy from the mountain village, never wavered in his resolve. At school, he devoted most of his energy to studying and scientific experiments. After graduating from Yellow River Experimental School, he was admitted to a key primary school and a key high school, and then to the Aerospace University, a national key university (a 985 university), and entered the National Academy of Space Science.

He later pursued further studies abroad, earning a doctorate in international aerospace. He declined high-paying offers from overseas and dedicated himself to serving his country's aerospace science and technology cause.

Amidst the intense aerospace scientific research, Huang Xiaoxing, who came from a poor family in the mountains, never forgot to run, play basketball, and swim every day to strengthen his body.

In the national selection process for space payload experts and aerospace scientists to the International Space Station, Huang Xiaoxing, a young aerospace scientist from a poor family in the mountains, underwent rigorous scientific tests similar to those used in astronaut selection. He ultimately stood out with outstanding test results, becoming one of my country's first space payload experts and aerospace scientists. He successfully boarded the Shenzhou spacecraft and went to the International Space Station to conduct a series of space science experiments, finally realizing his childhood dream of flying into the blue sky and "reaching for the stars."

2

Meanwhile, major media outlets widely reported on Huang Xiaoxing's inspiring story of growing from a poor child in a remote, impoverished mountainous area on the banks of the Yellow River into a young space payload expert and aerospace scientist, spreading to every corner of the country.

Huang Xiaoxing's mother, who unfortunately ended up in a more remote and impoverished mountain village in the west when she went out to work, could vaguely recognize from media reports and video images how much Huang Xiaoxing, the poor child from the mountain village back then, is now one of my country's first space payload experts and aerospace scientists, looks like her long-lost son, Shanwa.

However, the cruel and helpless reality made this peasant woman, who was already prematurely aged and graying due to the torment of life in the even more impoverished mountain area, unable to believe that it was all true.

Because she had already married and had a son and a daughter in this more remote and impoverished mountain village.

As the relentless years passed, her spirit gradually became numb. She began to devote herself to even more arduous farm work, raising her two children. Her old home on the banks of the Yellow River and her son, Huang Xiaoxing, gradually faded from her memory.

Until her elderly husband passed away due to illness, and her two children gradually grew up, she would often find herself reminiscing about her old home on the banks of the Yellow River before she went out to work. In particular, she would often recall the scene of telling her beloved son, Shanwa Huang Xiaoxing, the story of Chang'e flying to the moon and the stars in the sky from the hilltop at the entrance of her old village, gazing at the twinkling stars in the sky.

Scenes from the past began to surface in her mind again, but she could no longer recognize the road she had been taken from, nor did she have any money. How difficult it would be to return to her old home on the banks of the Yellow River, a place both familiar and strange.

Only on night after night could she come alone to a hilltop outside the village, gazing up at the twinkling stars in the sky. She recalled telling the story of "a star in the sky, a son on the ground" to her young son, Shanwa, on a hilltop by the Yellow River in her hometown, and dreaming that her son Shanwa, who had promised his mother when he was young that he would fly to the sky and pick stars for her, would one day actually appear before her eyes.

However, just as her son Shanwa couldn't find his mother, she also couldn't find her son.

She could only gaze at the starry sky alone at night, tears streaming down her face, and whisper, "Shanwa—Shanwa—my Shanwa…where are you? Mommy misses you, Mommy misses you so much…when will you come back to Mommy's side…"

However, the countless stars remained silent.

A chilling wind swept across her face, tearing at her already wrinkled features.

Only her tearful cries echoed through the mountains—

"Shanwa—Shanwa—my Shanwa…where are you? Mommy misses you, Mommy misses you so much…when will you come back to Mommy's side…"

Countless nights, she would stand alone on the mountaintop, tears welling in her eyes, calling out to her son, Shanwa, as she gazed at the night sky.

Her voice became hoarse from shouting, and she had cried all her tears.

And her heart-wrenching cries still echoed quietly in the vast mountains—

"Shanwa—Shanwa—my Shanwa…where are you? Mommy misses you, Mommy misses you so much…when will you come back to Mommy's side…"

3

On the very day Huang Xiaoxing returned from space and was interviewed by CCTV, his mother was carrying a load of vegetables into the city to sell.

After selling vegetables, I walked home with a carrying pole, passing a small square in front of a small restaurant.

She saw a large crowd gathered together watching a live television broadcast, capturing footage of a reporter interviewing Huang Xiaoxing, one of my country's first space payload experts and aerospace scientists.

A CCTV reporter, microphone in hand, asked, "Professor Huang, you are now a space payload expert and aerospace scientist revered by the entire nation. People are curious about your upbringing; you must have received an excellent education from a young age, right?"

Huang Xiaoxing shook his head: "No, it's not like that. I was born in a poor mountain village on the banks of the Yellow River, a true mountain child. I was a left-behind child from a young age. I followed my grandparents to my hometown, doing farm work, herding cattle, and cutting grass, while running along the mountain road to school. My parents both went to work in the city, and I could only come back to see them once a year during the Spring Festival."

The reporter then asked, "Ms. Huang, you must have a wonderful mother. People say that parents are a child's first teachers. Your mother must be amazing!"

When Huang Xiaoxing heard the reporter mention her mother, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic for her mother whom she had been separated from for twenty years. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she choked up as she said:

"Yes, I have a wonderful mother. It was my mother who planted a seed in my heart when I was very young, a dream that I would grow up and fly to the sky to pick stars."

Reporter: "Teacher Huang, your mother is truly amazing."

Huang Xiaoxing: "Our TV station has already contacted your hometown. We originally wanted to do a program about interviewing your mother, but we couldn't get in touch with her. Next time, we'll do a special program about how your mother raised a child from the mountains into a space payload expert and aerospace scientist respected by the people of the whole country."

Huang Xiaoxing couldn't stop crying. He wiped his tears and said, "No need, no need. My mother went out to work and we've been separated for twenty years. I haven't been able to find my mother for twenty years either."

The reporter exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?"

Huang Xiaoxing: "When I was little, my mother told me, 'For every star in the sky, there's a person on earth.' She said that every star in the sky corresponds to a story about every person on earth. From then on, a dream sprouted in my heart: when I grew up, I would fly to the sky and bring down the 'Mom Star' for my mother, so that she wouldn't leave me. However, even after I finally realized my childhood dream of flying into space to 'pluck stars,' I still hadn't found my mother."

Reporter: "Teacher Huang, your mother is truly admirable!"

Huang Xiaoxing became a little emotional, tears welling in her eyes as she spoke her heart out to the camera in her familiar hometown accent:

"My mother went out to work and we've been separated for twenty years. I've searched everywhere and everywhere... but I can't find her. Mother, where are you? Huang Xiaoxing, the boy from that mountain village on the banks of the Yellow River in our hometown, is your son..."

At this moment, Huang Xiaoxing's mother, who had been standing for a long time in front of the open-air TV screen in the small square in front of the restaurant, had finally recognized that the first batch of space payload experts and aerospace scientists in my country, who were admired by the people of the whole country, was her eldest son, Shanwa, who had been left in that poor little mountain village on the banks of the Yellow River!

The old man burst into tears of joy, like Fan Jin after passing the imperial examination; he almost went mad.

Carrying his vegetable-selling pole, he wandered aimlessly along the street, crying as he muttered to himself:

"Huang Xiaoxing, my Shanwa... Huang Xiaoxing, my Shanwa... That aerospace scientist on TV, that's my son Shanwa, my biological son Shanwa..."

But people kept pointing and gossiping behind him, laughing at him.

Someone was shouting, "That old woman has gone mad..."

"That old woman has gone mad..."

4

Many people think the old man has gone mad.

Some kind-hearted people even called 110 to report the incident.

The police arrived quickly and took the elderly woman to the police station. Only then did she finally muster the courage to go inside and tell the police her painful story of how she had been trafficked there.

Police officers used the nationally unified anti-trafficking network to search for her. After a series of difficult and complicated searches, they contacted the police officers at her hometown police station on the banks of the Yellow River.

Finally, it was confirmed that what the old man said was true.

They also contacted the old man's son, Huang Xiaoxing, through the national space agency, after he returned from a scientific experiment at the Chinese International Space Station.

Huang Xiaoxing was overjoyed to receive a call from the police in his hometown, informing him that his mother, whom he had been separated from for many years, had finally been found.

He immediately took a plane and then a long-distance bus to that remote, impoverished mountain village in the west, with the help of the local police.

Finally, through the mediation of village officials, they were able to bring back his mother, who was once in her prime but is now an old woman with a weathered face and white hair.

When Huang Xiaoxing arrived in the western mountainous area, his mother was still working in the field with a hoe.

My mother, who was once in the prime of her life, has grown old; her hair has turned white, and her face is full of wrinkles.

Twenty years of separation could not sever the blood ties between mother and child.

Huang Xiaoxing recognized his mother, who had aged considerably, at a glance.

Dropping the package in his hands, he couldn't help but cry out through tears, "Mom—Mom—it's me, Shanwa! We've been separated for twenty years! You've made me search so hard..."

Twenty years later, the mother and son met again, and no amount of words could express the longing and affection they felt for each other.

The mother held Huang Xiaoxing, nicknamed Shanwa, tightly in her arms. He was just a little boy back then, but is now a nationally renowned space payload expert and aerospace scientist.

He called out in a daze, "Shanwa... Shanwa... my Shanwa... my son Shanwa, my own son Shanwa..."

The elderly man with white hair and a weathered appearance cried and cried until he could no longer shed tears.

The police officers and local staff accompanying them were also moved to tears, each quietly wiping away their tears.

Huang Xiaoxing, a mountain boy who had been searching for his mother for twenty years, finally found her. He knelt down in front of his mother and wept bitterly, unable to let go of his grief for a long time.

With the help of police officers and villagers, he finally wiped away his tears and calmed down.

Huang Xiaoxing suddenly remembered that her mother was hungry and dressed in such shabby clothes.

He took out vacuum-packed Peking duck and "Daoxiangcun" pastries from Beijing from his travel bag, and tore open the packaging on the spot to give them to his mother.

Then he took out the new clothes he had bought for his mother at the famous Xidan Department Store in Beijing, put the top on her on the spot, and gently smoothed her messy white hair with his hands.

The pain of being separated from their son for twenty years was all condensed into this moment of reunion. Tears of emotion streamed uncontrollably down their faces.

Huang Xiaoxing, who has become a space payload expert and aerospace scientist, no matter how much knowledge he has, or whether he has flown to the heavens to meet the Jade Emperor and returned from a business trip, will always be the cowherd from the small mountain village on the banks of the Yellow River in front of his white-haired mother.

After enduring hardship and displacement for most of her life, my mother, whose back was bent and no longer recognizable, had been tormented by the poverty, isolation, and backwardness of being trafficked to a more remote mountainous area for twenty years.

The mother's once fair face was now etched with deep, dark brown lines. Even in middle age, her hair was already completely white and withered, and the fingers of her hands were as rough as elm bark.

But when she put on the clothes her son bought from the Beijing department store and ate the delicacies he brought from the capital, the deep joy on her face made her look like a young mother who had returned to the hillside by the Yellow River, holding her three-year-old son and telling him stories about the stars.

5

With the help of local police and kind-hearted people from all walks of life, Huang Xiaoxing finally brought his mother, from whom he had been separated for twenty years, back to their hometown. He was also reunited with his father, who was getting old and could no longer work as a construction worker in the city, and had returned to his hometown.

When Huang Xiaoxing's mother returned to her hometown, she saw Huang Xiaoxing's aerospace model, his award certificates, and his father.

She couldn't help but cry and say, "Shanwa, you really flew to the sky and plucked the stars."

After her mother returned, Huang Xiaoxing's family was finally complete.

In the short few days before Huang Xiaoxing's holiday ended, his mother made him his favorite childhood dishes every day: sweet potato porridge, cornmeal soup, and thick noodles.

Although Huang Xiaoxing, as a renowned aerospace scientist, had tasted countless delicacies in Beijing, he truly felt that only eating and chatting with his parents, reminiscing about their childhood, brought him such warmth and happiness!

His father, Huang Dahe, stopped writing stories about working away from home and started writing heartwarming stories of family reunion on the back of Huang Xiaoxing's old homework with a ballpoint pen.

Huang Xiaoxing also discovered a thick manuscript written by his father on the back of his own notebook and with the stub of his own pencil, reflecting the sentiments of that generation of migrant workers in the city.

He brought these manuscripts, which contained his father's life's work, back to Beijing and printed them out on his computer. He then posted them online, which resonated strongly with many migrant workers and their descendants.

In his spare time from his hard work, my father wrote, though his writing was simple and unadorned. Yet, it was full of genuine emotions and real-life experiences of migrant workers, and thus it circulated widely, reaching a wider audience and having a certain impact. This also fulfilled my father's wish as an "amateur migrant worker literature enthusiast."

The mother, who was trafficked to a poor mountain village in western China, had a son and a daughter who were now of college age. Huang Xiaoxing promised to use her salary to support her two younger siblings through college.

The impoverished cowherd and left-behind child, Shanwa, who used to stand on the hilltop by the Yellow River in his hometown gazing at the stars, has finally realized his childhood dream of flying into space and "picking stars." He has also found his mother, from whom he had been separated for twenty years, and fulfilled his dream of family reunion.