The train pulled into Datong City at five in the morning. Upon disembarking, even a student as resilient as Wang Chen couldn't help but grumble about her swollen feet. According to their textbooks, the Yungang Grottoes were located at the southern foot of Wuzhou Mountain, seventeen kilometers west of Datong. In the present day, that would be a mere tap of the accelerator away, but in an era of underdeveloped transportation and no dedicated tourist lines, getting there on one's own required significant effort. Fortunately, before their arrival, Liang He had already coordinated with the local government. After the group grabbed a quick bite at the stalls outside the station, a dilapidated bus pulled up to the square half an hour later—a vehicle sent specifically to transport the students from the Academy of Fine Arts.
A young person jumped down from the bus. Similar in age to Liang He, they had brisk, short hair; a closer look revealed a young woman with a spirited, sharp countenance. After a brief handover with Liang He and Lin Zhongren, she began organizing everyone to board the bus. Qiu Yun heard Liang He address her as "Teacher He."
Exhausted from the lack of rest on the train, nearly every student, including Qiu Yun, fell into a deep, sweet slumber as soon as they boarded. After an unknown amount of time, Qiu Yun was jolted awake by a loud clapping. She saw the young Teacher He standing at the front, calling out, "Wake up, everyone! We've arrived." Qiu Yun rubbed her eyes and realized they had reached their destination. Looking out the window, she saw a blue sky and yellow earth; not far off sat a desolate, lonely village.
This was where they would spend the next half-month—Yunma Village.
The village cadre, He Wenjun, had been waiting at the village entrance for a long time. As soon as Liang He stepped off the bus, He Wenjun shook his hand warmly. After a round of welcomes, he led the group from the Academy to the village committee office to sit down. Following a few moments of pleasantries, they began assigning dormitories. There were no guesthouses in the village; the only building with a touch of modernity was the village committee office—the only flat-roofed, concrete bungalow in the area. He Wenjun had cleared out one of the offices and set up two simple wooden beds for Liang He and Lin Zhongren. The other students were almost all placed in the homes of villagers. Qiu Yun and Wang Chen were paired together and happened to be assigned to the home of He Ying, the woman who had come to meet them.
Walking two hundred meters east along the village's main road brought them to He Ying’s home—a simple three-sided courtyard house. A large yellow dog was tied at the entrance, and several colorful chickens roamed freely in the yard. He Ying’s father had passed away when she was young, so only she and her mother, Zhu Lanhua, lived there. When Qiu Yun and Wang Chen entered the courtyard, Zhu Lanhua was busy with farm work. He Ying called out, "Mom, the guests are here." Zhu Lanhua looked up, saw Qiu Yun and Wang Chen, and hurriedly stood up. She wiped her hands on her apron and trotted over to welcome them.
"Welcome, welcome," Zhu Lanhua said, her face beaming with smiles. "Welcome to the college students from the city. Come in, come in and sit down."
The room was sparsely furnished but kept very tidy. Qiu Yun and Wang Chen rested for a moment, drank some water, and chatted briefly. He Ying then led them to see the other rooms. When they reached the west wing, she said, "You two can sleep in this room. It was originally mine, but I’ve cleared it out for you."
"Then where will you sleep?" Qiu Yun asked, surprised. "This doesn't seem right."
"I’ll be right next door," He Ying said with a smile. "It’s no trouble. Our village has never produced a college student, nor have we ever hosted any. Now that you’re here, we certainly can't let you be mistreated. The sheets and bedding are all freshly changed, and the two washbasins in the water room are brand new. See if you can get used to them. If you have any requests, just tell me. If I can't fulfill them, I'll go to Director Huang. Please, don't be polite."
Qiu Yun hadn't expected college students of this era to be so popular; they were practically being treated like royalty. She hurriedly replied, "It’s not that we’re being polite, it’s that you’re being too kind."
"No, no..." He Ying waved her hands dismissively. "Don't say that. Not every family in the village gets the chance to host college students. I only studied until my second year of high school; I have the highest education in the village and I'm the only teacher at the village primary school. That’s why the village chief let you stay at my house..." At this point, a hint of shyness appeared on He Ying’s spirited face.
"..." Qiu Yun didn't know what to say. She glanced at Wang Chen, who was looking back at her with equal surprise in her eyes.
"Well..." Seeing that the two were silent, He Ying tactfully backed away. "You two rest for a bit. I’ll call you when it’s time for lunch." With that, she closed the door and left.
As soon as He Ying was gone, Qiu Yun and Wang Chen simultaneously dropped their bags on the floor and leaned back, collapsing directly onto the kang.
The surface was a bit hard, but it was much more comfortable than being curled up on the train. Qiu Yun took a long, deep stretch and let out a massive yawn, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"What are you thinking about?" Wang Chen asked, noticing her silence.
"Nothing," Qiu Yun’s thoughts were a bit scattered. "I'm just sleepy."
"I'm actually quite excited," Wang Chen said, cradling her head in her interlaced hands. "I've never been to Shanxi—actually, I've never even left Province A. I've never been on a train for so long, either. Even though it was exhausting, the thought that I’m about to personally sketch those Buddha statues and sculptures I’ve only ever seen in books... well, all that hardship and fatigue just vanishes."
Qiu Yun looked at her with a teasing smile. "You're so easily impressed."
"Aren't you excited?"
"It's alright..."
"Okay, but Xiao Yun," Wang Chen propped her head up with one hand, lying on her side to look at her. "I always feel like you're different from us. I can't quite put my finger on how, though. I just feel—feel like you've seen and known so many things we've never encountered... I don't even have to think to know that Liu Yujin and Chang Huan have already put their things away and are out wandering the village. And it's probably not just them—almost all the students, except for the two of us, have likely rushed out in excitement."
"Is it really that exaggerated?" Qiu Yun laughed while yawning.
"You act as if you've been here before."
"That's right, I have been here before."
"Really? You... you've been here?" Wang Chen practically sat bolt upright.
"I'm teasing you," Qiu Yun waved her hand and sat up as well. "You actually believed that. Come on, I'll go out with you and take a look."
Just as Wang Chen had suspected, many students were already wandering the village after dropping off their luggage. Yunma Village wasn't large, consisting of only twenty or thirty households. Most people in the village shared the surname He, making it a typical natural village grown from a single clan. The village sat in a small basin, with Wuzhou Mountain—home to the Yungang Grottoes—at its back and the gently flowing Shili River in front. A highway ran through the village from east to west; it was a necessary route for coal transport from Datong to the west. Whenever a coal truck passed, coal dust filled the air. Yunma Village was very close to the grottoes, less than a ten-minute walk away. From a slightly higher vantage point, one could see the undulating peaks of Wuzhou Mountain. Small black dots were visible on the mountainside—those were the caves carved out for the grottoes. Qiu Yun had never seen the Yungang Grottoes from this perspective. She stared at the scattered black dots in the distance, flickering in and out of sight through the coal dust, as a sense of historical vicissitude washed over her.
The villagers didn't call them "grottoes"; they called Yungang the "Great Temple." The Yungang Grottoes were a Great Temple. It was the first time Qiu Yun had heard this name, yet it felt perfectly appropriate the moment she heard it. With over fifty thousand Buddhist statues and more than a hundred and forty pagodas, wasn't it indeed a massive temple? This name felt much closer to the incense smoke of earthly devotion than the formal, academic title of "Yungang Grottoes."
There were no formal arrangements for the first afternoon; it was mostly for students to visit one another, familiarize themselves with the terrain, and learn about the local customs. In the evening, everyone gathered in the village committee courtyard to eat noodles. At this time, the two teachers in charge, Liang He and Lin Zhongren, took a head count and announced the sketching schedule. Tomorrow would be a collective visit to the grottoes to listen to explanations from the locals. The following days would be for choosing their own spots to sketch, with one piece of work to be submitted every other day. Breakfast and lunch were to be handled individually at their respective host families. Every evening at 7:00 PM, they would gather at the village cadre's courtyard for dinner. After dinner, they were free to move about, provided they returned to their host families by 9:00 PM, at which point Liang He and Lin Zhongren would conduct room checks. This was the first time either of them had led students on a sketching trip, so they concluded by emphasizing organizational discipline and safety.
There were no televisions in the village; the better-off families had a radio. If anything happened in the village, the cadres would notify everyone by walking through the streets or by making an announcement over the large loudspeaker at the village entrance. Qiu Yun felt as though she had truly returned to an era where "transportation relies on walking, and communication relies on shouting."
But it seemed there was nothing wrong with that.
The chirping of cicadas, the croaking of frogs, and the sounds of chickens and dogs echoing across the fields.
This was what a genuine summer in the north felt like.
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If I Wait Thirty Years | Chapter 59 | The Great Temple | Novela.app | Novela.app
