Sun Yujun was in trouble!

How could Sun Yujun be in trouble?

Even though Sun Yujun wasn’t Kang Wei’s girlfriend anymore, she was still Xia Xiaolan’s senior schoolmate and had gone to the Northwest for volunteer teaching in response to Xia Xiaolan’s ‘Young Eagle Launch Program.’ How could Xia Xiaolan not be worried?

In 1987, the ‘Young Eagle Launch Program’ officially started. Sun Yujun applied and passed the school’s selection process, becoming one of the first university students in the program to teach in rural areas.

The program was initially a pilot, with flexible timing where volunteers could decide their teaching duration. Sun Yujun had applied for “two years.”

Because of this, Sun Yujun broke up with Kang Wei, feeling that she might stay longer than two years and not wanting to hold him back.

If Sun Yujun had followed the timeline in her teaching application, she should have returned from the Northwest after this Spring Festival! Whether she could rekindle things with Kang Wei wasn’t important, nor was whether she would stay in the Northwest. As long as she was safe, she could teach as long as she wanted. Everyone had their pursuits – while Xia Xiaolan couldn’t achieve such detachment and nobility herself, she truly respected and admired Sun Yujun’s choices.

But that was assuming Sun Yujun was safe!

The ‘Young Eagle Launch Program’ had been running for two years, slowly expanding from its pilot phase without much publicity. While it wasn’t well-known among ordinary people, it had gained recognition among university students and had brought some changes to the teaching locations.

The program seemed worth continuing to current results.

Xia Xiaolan prioritized the personal safety of every volunteer teacher. These university students chose to teach in remote, impoverished areas out of passion – they shouldn’t have to sacrifice their lives along with their enthusiasm. Gu Zhengqing had been in charge of this work, and Xia Xiaolan had repeatedly emphasized this point. Gu Zhengqing took it seriously, and there hadn’t been any major incidents in two years.

It was normal for volunteer teachers to get sick from adjusting to local conditions, and Gu Zhengqing ensured they received immediate treatment.

There was no forced requirement for these students, but if they had ideas beyond teaching and wanted to do something more for the local community, Gu Zhengqing strongly supported it. This was a deeper goal of the ‘Young Eagle Launch’ program.

Teaching was just one approach – the aim was to bring changes to these areas through this method. Backward thinking was more frightening than economic poverty.

In Yang Yonghong’s hometown, there was also a volunteer teacher.

Yang Yonghong admired them and was grateful for their contributions to his hometown, even persuading his parents to share their farming techniques… Yang Yonghong’s hometown was indeed changing because of this. At least in the villages near the Yang family, people were more willing to send their children to school, and besides learning farming from the Yang family, others were also actively seeking ways to improve their lives.

They weren’t seeking wealth, just trying to escape poverty – everyone wanted a better life.

These were positive changes.

There were also failed attempts, which both Gu Zhengqing and Xia Xiaolan accepted. The university students had enthusiasm but lacked experience; failure was normal.

But Sun Yujun was different from other volunteer teachers.

It wasn’t that she didn’t try to make changes – she spent a year quietly observing before taking action.

On the phone, Gu Zhengqing worried:

“This Student Sun is truly exceptional. I’ve already asked people to search for her locally, but I want to go there myself.”

Gu Zhengqing had completely lost his New Year spirit.

He told Xia Xiaolan not to deliberately ruin her New Year mood, nor was he asking her to come along. Since Xia Xiaolan had always emphasized safety issues, now that a volunteer teacher was in trouble, Gu Zhengqing had to inform her.

But Xia Xiaolan made her decision without hesitation:

“Uncle Gu, I want to go to the Northwest with you.”

“Xiaolan—”

Gu Zhengqing paused but finally agreed and arranged their departure time.

After hanging up, Guan Huie didn’t quite understand:

“What happened?”

“My senior schoolmate who participated in the volunteer teaching program that Uncle Gu and I proposed was supposed to finish after Spring Festival, but Uncle Gu says something’s happened to her in the Northwest. I need to go there with him.”

Xia Xiaolan felt quite apologetic. Guan Huie had cleaned Zhou Cheng’s room especially well and seemed to look forward to having her spend New Year at the Zhou house, but plans changed quickly.

Guan Huie decisively told Xia Xiaolan to pack immediately: “This is a matter of life and death, we can’t delay. Don’t worry about it here. Does your family need any help? Your uncle Gu is an intellectual – who knows if he can handle this? Are there any local contacts? Tell me the specific location, and we’ll ask around!”

She meant to have Zhou Guobin step in.

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Let me check the situation first, and I’ll ask for help if needed. Should I tell Kang Wei about this… This senior used to date Kang Wei, they only broke up because she wanted to go teach.”

Guan Huie exclaimed:

“That’s Xiao Dan!”

“Yes, Senior Sun.”

Guan Huie paced around: “The Kang family all knew Kang Wei had a girlfriend from Huaqing University called Xiao Dan. His grandmother wanted to meet her but never did, and then they broke up. These past two years, when his family tried to set him up, he’s been indifferent to every one. His mother has asked me several times to have Zhou Cheng talk to him… Xiaolan, we can’t hide this. Kang Wei probably hasn’t gotten over Xiao Dan. We can’t leave him with regrets.”

Guan Huie’s thoughts matched Xia Xiaolan’s exactly.

Best if Sun Yujun was fine, but if something had happened, they couldn’t hide it from Kang Wei.

Breaking up didn’t mean they stopped caring. If someone you loved was in danger, Kang Wei would certainly want to help.

“You’re right, I’ll notify Kang Wei immediately.”

…

“…That’s the situation. She’s been missing in the Gobi Desert for four days. Local authorities are doing their best to search, and Uncle Gu and I are heading there now.”

Kang Wei had received Xia Xiaolan’s pager message about an emergency but hadn’t expected this kind of emergency.

His mind went blank.

Finally, his scattered thoughts slowly came back together.

“Sister-in-law, thank you. I’m coming with you.”

With the New Year approaching, Kang Wei was supposed to return to Beijing for a family reunion.

During lunch, his grandmother had been nagging him about not having a girlfriend. Whenever Kang Wei heard the word ‘girlfriend,’ he thought of Sun Yujun.

People don’t live for love alone. Even without dating, knowing Sun Yujun was doing meaningful work made Kang Wei happy for her. He had moved past the initial pain of their breakup, his feelings for Sun Yujun settling deep in his heart.

He even believed that in two more years, he could let go of Sun Yujun.

His career would develop greatly, and like others, he would marry and have children.

But the moment he heard Sun Yujun was in trouble, Kang Wei’s heart felt as light as his feet, unable to touch the ground, his vision nothing but a vast whiteness!