Mr. Gu looked at his old friend, who was in even worse shape than a few days ago. "Ruixian, Ruixian, wake up..."
Geng Ruixian, on the verge of death, heard the familiar voice and opened his heavy eyes to see his former classmate and old friend.
Shocked, his mouth fell wide open and he froze. He then struggled to swallow a few times, as if his throat had grown even drier.
"Cheng... Zhou... I... I'm not going to make it." Geng Ruixian wanted to ask his friend why he had come back to this godforsaken place.
But his throat was painfully dry, and he couldn't get any more words out. He was only two years older than Mr. Gu, just fifty this year.
They had met on a campus abroad at eighteen, were classmates for three years, and went their separate ways after returning to the country.
Twenty years later, they met again on the farm. Mr. Gu already looked old for his age, but Geng Ruixian looked as ancient as an old man.
