Ling Zhang, Leave the Mountains

Chu Lingzhang was born in the mountains and grew up in the mountains. He and his grandfather depended on each other, along with his younger brother, who was ten years his junior. At sixteen, he left school. That same year, a group of people from the city came to the mountains to film a show. They said they wanted children from the mountains and the city to swap identities and experience each other's lives. The village secretary looked out for the elderly and the young and offered them one exchange slot. Chu Lingzhang sent his younger brother away, then cleaned the room and waited nervously for the city kid to arrive. He imagined that a young master from the city would be very different, but the person who came still surpassed his expectations. The boy was a year older than him. Standing amid the dust kicked up by the wind, he held a suitcase and had handsome features and a bold, radiant smile, like a dazzling sun. His name was Zhuang Sui. Later, Chu Lingzhang watched Zhuang Sui drive away, holding the phone number and address the boy had written in his neat handwriting. Chu Lingzhang thought he would never need to use them, but in the middle of the night, he could always remember that cool, rainy evening, the boy's warm embrace, and his frantic heartbeat. == Zhuang Sui never imagined that one day he would study hard for someone. He worked through practice problems and memorized material day and night, suffering all the while. But the day he walked out of the school gates and saw that slender, upright boy in the crowd, he felt it had all been worth it. Chu Lingzhang stood among the students coming and going, completely out of place. He had imagined all sorts of things. Maybe Zhuang Sui would pretend not to know him. Maybe he'd look down on his shabby clothes. Maybe... But when their eyes really met, none of those maybes mattered anymore. He saw the handsome boy ignore the curious glances and teasing remarks around him and run straight over, his gaze still bright and eager. All the words Chu Lingzhang had prepared on the way over caught in his throat. He only said softly, "Grandpa is sick." [He was born to be a free eagle, spreading his wings and flying beyond these hundred thousand mountains.] Theme: Treat others sincerely.