Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

While Cang Zhenye and Cang Yuanzhi were suffering humiliation in that grand courtyard, a completely different scene unfolded in the ward of the town clinic. Sunlight streamed through the wooden lattice windows covered with old newspapers, casting dappled shadows on the cement floor, with tiny dust particles dancing slowly in the beams of light.

On the bedside table sat a glass of water. The surface was calm, reflecting the light streaming through the window.

Cang Tianci glanced at the glass of water; it was poured for him by his mother. But he didn't want to drink it. He simply curled up in his mother Su Yumei's arms, like a frightened cub finally finding shelter. He raised his still pale little hand, his fingertips gently touching the lingering red and swollen bruise on his mother's cheek. Her dark, gem-like eyes were filled with heartache and guilt beyond her years.

"Mother...does it still hurt...?" He tried to speak fluently, but still stumbled over his words, each one seeming to be squeezed out with difficulty from his tight throat.

Su Yumei held her son's slightly cool little hand, pressed it against her still warm face, shook her head, and said gently, "Mother is tough. As long as my son is alright, what's a little injury to me?"

Tianci stared intently at the scar, a mark of humiliation inflicted because of him. A wave of bitterness welled up in his eyes, and he pursed his lips more forcefully, as if making a tremendous decision, and spoke each word with exceptional clarity:

"I...I...I'll study hard," he paused, took a deep breath, gathering his strength, "to become...become...powerful, to...protect...you!"

That tender, halting vow, broken by a stutter, carried the heavy force of a boulder falling into water, striking precisely the softest and most resilient spot in Su Yumei's heart. Her tears instantly overflowed, like beads from a broken string, dripping hot onto Tianci's forehead. She tightened her arms, holding her son even closer in her warm embrace.

"Mother believes! Mother believes Tianci can definitely do it!" Her voice choked with emotion, yet it carried an undeniable conviction. "Today, my Tianci protected Mother! You bit that evil man, you are Mother's little hero!"

She relaxed slightly, looked down into her son's clear eyes, wiped away her tears haphazardly with the back of her hand, and said in a firm voice, "In the future, my Tianci will be even more amazing. He will read many, many books, and develop great abilities so that no one will dare to bully us again!"

These are not the gentle words of an ordinary woman comforting a child, but the most fervent vow forged by a mother driven to the brink of despair, with all her resentment, hope, and love!

To Su Yumei's astonishment, her son's pale face flushed an unusually hot blush almost instantly. What shocked her even more was Tianci's eyes—those eyes, usually dull with dullness, fear, or grievance, suddenly shone with an extremely bright and sharp light! That light pierced through the child's innocence, filled with an indescribable firmness and insight.

She froze. A strange tremor, a mixture of awe and hope, swept through her spine. She hugged her son tightly, her voice low and solemn, almost sacred: "Heaven-sent, my son! Do you know, you are different from other children. You were sent to your mother's arms by God's great effort. Your coming into this world is a great miracle in itself."

Tianci's eyes grew brighter, but a shadow seemed to linger within that brightness. He stammered, "Mother...but...but I...I'm stupid, I...I stutter?"

Tianci's words struck Su Yumei's heart once again. Tears welled up in her eyes, almost spilling over. She quickly turned away, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. After calming down, she turned back and said firmly:

"My child, it doesn't matter if you're born slow. We'll work hard to learn, just like crops in the field. If you fertilize them enough, they'll eventually grow ears of grain! What's wrong with stuttering? If you can't say something coherently, we'll say it ten times! I believe in you. One day, your tongue will be fluenter than anyone else's! Look at you, you got eight points in first grade, and now in second grade, you're getting over sixty. You've improved so much in just one year, that's proof! As the old saying goes, true gold needs to be refined in fire. There's a piece of true gold hidden in your little body! Heaven has set a test for you; once you overcome it, you'll be extraordinary!"

"Really...really?" Tianci's voice trembled with disbelief.

"Of course it's true." Su Yumei hugged Cang Tianci tighter, her rough hands gently stroking her son's cheek. "My child, from the moment you were born, your mother knew you were extraordinary. Your coming into this world is a great miracle in itself. You are the greatest hope that God has given to our Cang family! That's the origin of your name 'Tianci' (Heaven-sent)."

"Mother... tell... tell... why?" Cang Tianci asked with his big, curious eyes.

"Alright, today I'll tell you in detail how strong my son's life is and how hard it was for him to come to be."

Su Yumei took a deep breath, her gaze becoming distant, as if she had returned to that unforgettable period of time. She gently stroked Tianci's hair, her voice low and deep:

"That was in 1978. Our Cang family had always been ostracized and suppressed in Xiqiao Village, especially your father, who had a deep-seated grudge against Wang Zhenkun. One day, your father was passing by Wang Zhenkun's house when he suddenly heard his own name coming from inside. He quickly hid in a corner and listened closely. He overheard Wang Zhenkun and Wang Youfu discussing a plot to frame your father."

Your father felt it was difficult to stay in Xiqiao Village. After discussing it with me at home, he volunteered to go to Yezhugou, a place no one wanted to go, almost completely isolated from the world, to reclaim wasteland for farming. Wang Zhenkun, seeing that your father was willing to take his family to such a place to suffer, readily agreed. That place was truly harsh! But at least it was peaceful.

"The following autumn," she said, her hand unconsciously resting gently on her belly, as if she could still feel the baby's movements from years ago, "I unexpectedly became pregnant with you. It was a wonderful surprise from heaven. However..."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "On March 6, 1980, you were just seven months pregnant. Somehow, Wang Zhenkun found out that your mother was pregnant with you, so he led his men and stormed into Wild Boar Gully like a menacing demon."

"That day, Mother was washing clothes by the stream when she suddenly heard the 'putt-putt-putt' of a tractor. She looked up and saw Wang Zhenkun sitting on the tractor. Mother only had one thought in her mind at that moment—run! For your sake, I must run!"

Tianci's eyes widened as he stared intently at his mother, as if he could see the danger of that scene through her narration.

"At that time, I used both my hands and feet to desperately climb up that steep hillside. Sharp thorns and rough rocks tore at my clothes, scratched my cheeks and arms, and burned with pain, but I didn't care at all. The shouts behind me, getting closer and closer, were like whips lashing my heart. My fingers dug into the cracks in the mud and rocks, and were chafed painfully by the loose stones. My feet slipped on the loose soil and rocks, and every step up was extremely difficult. In my ears, I could hear my own heavy and frightening breathing, and the pounding of my heart, like a drum, about to explode from my throat, pounding against my eardrums."

"Mom can't run anymore, she really can't run anymore." Su Yumei's voice was filled with lingering fear. "But I can't stop, if I stop, you're gone! Then...then my foot slipped!"

Tianci took a deep breath, his little hands unconsciously gripping his mother's clothes, as if that would hold her back.

"Mother fell from that high cliff...!" Su Yumei closed her eyes, as if she could still feel the panic of weightlessness and the excruciating pain of the fall. "Luckily, the thick leaves and broken branches at the bottom of the cliff caught me. But this fall shook the earth, and it startled you. You were only seven months old, and you had to come out to see your parents early!"

She opened her eyes, looked at her son, her eyes brimming with tears, yet shining with a strange light: "I was all alone, lying at the bottom of the cliff, cold and scared, my whole body aching as if it were falling apart, my strength and warmth draining away little by little, my consciousness growing increasingly blurred..."

"But you!" Su Yumei's voice suddenly rose, filled with indescribable excitement and pride. "You stubborn brat, you refused to let it go so easily, you fought your way out of your mother's womb and cried out your first cry. That cry was like a tender sprout squeezing out of a crack in a rock, very delicate, but that spirit of not admitting defeat was so bright it pierced the heart."

"My son," her voice lowered, "when I was lying at the bottom of the cliff, I felt completely empty inside. I thought, 'That's it, we're both going to die here.' But just when I felt my soul sinking into the darkness, you refused to give in and insisted on crying. Sometimes, you have to have that stubborn streak. God threw you down that cliff not to kill you, but to make you crawl out of the dead. You're small and weak, and your speech isn't clear, but I know that deep down, you have that stubbornness you were born with."

"Your cry brought your mother's almost lost spirit back, and it also drew your father's torches over. They searched all night, their hearts growing cold... Just when they were about to despair, they heard your cry. It was by following your cry that they found the bottom of the cliff, where they found your mother lying in a pool of blood, and you, covered in bruises, crying incessantly."

Su Yumei hugged Tianci tightly, tears dripping into his hair: "Your father held you in his arms, looking at your dying mother, looking at you, a newborn, pitifully small but with an astonishing vitality, and shouted to the sky: 'God, this... this is the root you gave to my Cang family!'"

Su Yumei's voice choked again as she spoke. She paused, gently patting Tianci's back, as if she could still feel the warmth of the baby lying in the pool of blood from years ago. She wiped away the tears that had fallen from Tianci's eyes without her noticing, but her own tears flowed even more fiercely.

"So, my child," Su Yumei cupped Tianci's little face in her hands and said with utmost solemnity, "that's where your name, 'Tianci,' comes from. You're no ordinary child. You survived such perilous circumstances, saving your mother right from birth. Your life is truly remarkable!"

She gazed into her son's eyes, her tone becoming profound: "Heaven called your name and sent you here, not so that you could have lived in vain. You must live up to the cry you uttered when you were born, a cry that was fought tooth and nail with the King of Hell! You must use this life you fought for to live it properly, to see what this world is all about."

Cang Tianci nestled in his mother's arms, his small body motionless, as if trying to embed himself into her warmth. His mother's words, like a torrent carrying immense energy, surged into his tender heart.

A vague thought flashed through my mind: "So this is how difficult it was for me to come into this world... My mother almost died... all because of me..."

He hugged his mother tighter. "Being tough...does that mean I can get through anything, no matter how hard it is? Mom told me to 'ask' to find out...ask what? Ask why Wang Zhenkun is so arrogant? Ask how to stop being bullied?"

He looked up at his mother's firm and hopeful eyes. The previous light in those obsidian eyes gradually faded, turning into a deep, unfathomable calm and understanding that was so incongruous with his age.

"Stupid," "stuttering," "weak"... these words that once made him ashamed seem to have taken on a different meaning now. They are no longer mere flaws, but rather marks on his unique life trajectory, traces left by that life-or-death struggle. Since God allowed him to survive such a desperate situation, perhaps it was to let him walk a different path in this extraordinary way.

He didn't speak, but hugged his mother even tighter, almost with all his might, burying his face deeply in her arms. A voice quietly formed in his heart: "Mother is right, my life was earned. I can't live in vain. I must study hard. I must see clearly why Wang Zhenkun is so arrogant, and why good people are always bullied."

His gaze fell once more on the glass of water on the bedside table. The water remained calm, reflecting the light streaming through the window. Suddenly, he felt an unprecedented thirst. He released his mother, reached out his small hand, picked up the glass, and carefully took a sip. The water, clear and slightly cool, seemed to not only flow down his throat but also cleanse his soul, bringing an unprecedented sense of clarity. A corner of his dusty heart mirror seemed to be polished, revealing a blurry but necessary direction—a path not only to become stronger but also to "understand."

He suddenly remembered his older brother.

The day my older brother left home, the morning light fell on his shoulders. He said he would come back once he had learned his skills.

He also thought of his grandfather.

Grandpa's room was filled with many strange and old things. But he seemed to have a particular fondness for a rusty iron box. The way he looked at it, the way he touched it, was just like the light in his mother's eyes when she looked at him, and the gentleness in her touch.

He didn't know when his older brother would come back.

He didn't know what was inside the iron box that his grandfather loved.

But he knew that those people and those things were waiting for him.

Wait until he grows up, wait until he becomes capable, wait until he "figures it out".

In the ward, the sunlight was still dappled, but the air was no longer filled with simple sadness and pity, but with a new hope and strength born after the tragedy, and a seed that had been quietly planted.