The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

After seeing the two children off, the group bought a lot of daily necessities in the county town and didn't return to the village until it got dark.

Dinner was simple: a few bowls of home-style dishes and a bowl of soup. Everyone ate quietly.

After dinner, Zhao Lin stood by the mountain trail, gazing at the distant horizon.

The night sky on the mountaintop is exceptionally clean, free from the smog and noise of the city. Looking up, you can see countless twinkling stars, like dazzling gems inlaid in the sky.

Looking at the magnificent Milky Way, Zhao Lin's eyes softened, her thoughts swirling.

Xu Xi walked out of her house and saw Zhao Lin standing alone in the distance, lost in thought, looking rather lonely from behind.

Her eyes darted around, and the tuft of hair on her head stood up slightly as a wicked idea popped into her head.

She held her breath, moved very quietly, and crept around to Zhao Lin's back.

"Robbery! Hand over all your valuables!"

Zhao Lin was startled; her heart skipped a beat, and she almost jumped up.

The plan worked. Xu Xi looked at Zhao Lin's disheveled appearance and laughed heartily.

Zhao Lin turned around and, upon seeing Xu Xi, breathed a sigh of relief. She then pinched Xu Xi's cheek playfully and scolded her.

"You scared me to death! You little rascal!"

Hehehe~

Xu Xi smiled sideways.

"What are you thinking about, Linlin?"

"It's nothing."

Zhao Lin turned her head to the side and gave an evasive answer.

However, the clever Xu Xi had already seen through everything.

"Are you worried about those two children?"

Xu Xi said with a grin.

Seeing that she couldn't hide it any longer, Zhao Lin had no choice but to nod and admit it.

"It's so pitiful that such young children have to leave their hometowns and go to study and live in such faraway places."

"Don't worry, Linlin."

Xu Xi patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Linlin, Xiaona and Xiaoyi have arrived at school safely. There are many children like them there, and teachers take care of them. The food and accommodation are much better than here."

"They can study and broaden their horizons there, and they will have a good life."

Zhao Lin gave a soft "hmm" and nodded.

She knew Xu Xi was telling the truth, but the thing called attachment is something she could never control.

Xu Xi could tell that she was still feeling sad, so she didn't mention the child again, turned her head to look down the mountain, and changed the subject.

"By the way, the roads around here will be repaired in a few months."

Zhao Lin followed her gaze and saw that the construction team was still busy under the moonlight. The roar of the mixer and excavator could be faintly heard, and behind them was a winding mountain road.

She was a little surprised: "They've already built halfway up the mountain? So fast?"

She remembered clearly that a few days ago this road was still quite far from the halfway point on the mountain, and at her usual speed, it would take at least one or two months to get here.

"Yes, I called some people to help."

Xu Xi sat on the stone steps, resting her chin on her hands as she looked at the busy workers.

"Once the road is open to traffic, I plan to build a Hope Primary School here and hire a group of teachers to take care of the children."

Zhao Lin was very happy to hear the news.

Once the school is built, the children here will be able to receive a standardized education and have a clean and tidy learning environment.

She slowly sat down next to Xu Xi and joined her in supervising the construction team's work.

"You're amazing," she exclaimed.

Whether it's repairing roads or building schools, it's a huge expense.

Over the years, wherever he and Qi Yu went, Xu Xi built roads and schools there.

Furthermore, she knew that this was only a small part of Xu Xi's charitable work.

In almost every city, there are schools built with money funded by Xu Xi.

Countless children have gained the opportunity to learn and changed the course of their lives thanks to her sponsorship.

She couldn't even imagine how much money Xu Xi had spent.

He could probably buy several hundred of the Zhao Group companies that his father ran during his lifetime.

There are far more than a few hundred; there are probably over a thousand.

Hearing this, Xu Xi smiled faintly and put her arm around Zhao Lin's waist.

"You are the ones who are."

......

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; the stars sink and rise again in the night.

The outline of that winding mountain road became clearer and clearer.

Every afternoon after school, the children pack their bags and the first thing they do is run to the edge of the cliff, stand on tiptoe to look at the big machines on the construction site, watch the workers busy at work, and watch the highway gradually approach, their eyes full of curiosity.

"Kids, it's dangerous there, come back!" Qi Yu shouted as he walked out of the classroom to the group of children.

"Oh, I understand."

"Okay, we got it!" the children replied in unison. Although they were reluctant, they dared not disobey Qi Yu and went home one by one, feeling dejected.

After the children left, Qi Yu walked to the edge of the cliff, sat on a flat rock, took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, rested his chin on his hand, and looked at the busy construction site below the mountain with a somewhat vacant gaze.

"You're really something, telling the kids to stay away and then coming over to sit here yourself." Xu Nian walked over from behind, sat down next to him, rolled her eyes, and said with a hint of teasing in her tone.

Qi Yu, realizing his thoughts had been exposed, gave an awkward laugh.

"What man could resist watching an excavator at work? Brother Xu, could you?"

"I can't either."

"Hahaha..."

He rubbed his nose and changed the subject.

"How's it going, Brother Xu? You understood everything I said in class, right?"

Xu Nian nodded and said earnestly, "Yes, you explained it very well and clearly."

This is not just polite flattery; Qi Yu is indeed a good teacher. He has his own unique teaching methods, which can help even children who have never left the mountains and have poor foundations to understand and learn.

During this time, with Qi Yu's instruction in class and private tutoring, his academic level improved rapidly, and he was about to finish learning all the elementary school textbooks.

"Thank you so much," Xu Nian said sincerely.

He recalled how he and Qi Yu used to travel around to make a living, working hard together on the assembly line.

He never imagined that his former coworker would pick up a book, become a teacher, and that he would become his student.

"It's no big deal, don't be so polite." Qi Yu waved his hand.

After saying that, the two fell silent, sitting there looking at the distant mountains, the construction site below, and the sky slowly darkening above them.

A mountain breeze swept by, carrying the scent of rice paddies and earthy aromas that drifted into my nostrils.

Xu Nian closed her eyes and quietly felt the breeze.

The past is like smoke, drifting away with the wind.

He's starting to like living here.

There is no urban hustle and bustle, no restless hearts.

All that remains is the simplest sense of security and the reassurance of watching the road, a symbol of hope, get closer and closer.

Even Xu Xi is much more relaxed than in the city. No one knows or cares about her identity. She doesn't have to pretend to be someone she doesn't like or say things against her will in front of the camera. She can cry, laugh, and play as she pleases, being her most authentic self.

Smoke rose from the chimney, and the aroma of food wafted over, reaching the noses of the two.

"Let's go back." Qi Yu stood up, patted the dust off his backside, and said, "It should be almost time to eat. After we finish eating, we still need to go check on Old Lin's house at the east end of the village."

He said his chickens had stopped laying eggs and asked us to go and take a look at what was wrong.

"Okay, sure."