The day Wang Fen lost her daughter dawned bright with spring sunshine. She'd spent half the day harvesting ric…
The day Wang Fen lost her daughter dawned bright with spring sunshine.
She'd spent half the day harvesting rice in the fields, planning all the way home what delicious meal she'd cook for the girl.
Her beautiful daughter, the loveliest girl in all the surrounding villages. Pride swelled in Wang Fen's chest, followed by guilt. She wanted to give the child every good thing in this world. Yet that thoughtful, sweet-natured girl never asked for anything. When asked, she'd say, "I just want to stay with Mother forever."
After days of consideration, Wang Fen decided: Perhaps it's better this way. The world beyond their home might wound such a gentle soul. If her daughter wished to remain by her side forever, so be it.
But when she returned, the girl was gone. Her husband's two brothers hung their heads in silence, her spineless husband wouldn't meet her eyes.
A chill running down her spine, Wang Fen dashed outside. Grannie Liu next door wiped her tears and told her.
"She was sold. They sold her."
"Where?"
"No one knows."
Half a day had already passed. The wagon tracks had vanished into the wilderness, leaving no trail to follow.
Wang Fen stood motionless for a long moment. Then she turned, changed her shoes, and ran into the mountains...
Her beautiful, sensible, sweet daughter... she searched year after year, decade after decade.
Her shoes wore through. Kind strangers gave her new pairs. Those, too, wore through... Pair after pair, still she walked.
Years blurred into one, her feet carrying her nowhere and everywhere.
Singing the lullaby her daughter loved, Wang Fen stopped every passerby, asking the same question, over and over:
"I have a beautiful daughter. Have you seen her?"