Wutong Years: Crossing Mountains and Rivers

In a wutong-shaded village at the dawn of the millennium, the cool breeze carried not only the scent of countryside but also the weight of Qi Tian's inborn affliction. From the day he was born, a rare and relentless illness shadowed him. A hasty medical intervention, meant to save him, instead claimed the life of a neighboring child—casting a permanent pall over his early years. Growing up amid poverty, indifferent grandparents, and a father seldom present, the harsh mountain village wore away life's gentleness, yet it forged in Qi Tian an unyielding spirit. Dragging his frail body through the dust and smoke of everyday hardship, he endured agonizing bouts of sickness and the piercing grief of losing his closest friend, maturing alone through storm after storm. As time passed, his two younger sisters came into their own: Qi Jin, the fiery and rebellious athlete who weathered her own rise and fall, and Qi Jia Baihe, the gentle, sun-chasing scholar who pressed forward toward the light. Together, they formed a singular, unbreakable bond—wary of one another, yet protective; each other's vulnerability, and each other's armor. The mountain slopes stayed evergreen, and the wutong trees sprouted new leaves year after year. These country youths, brimming with adolescent spirit, navigated their way through schoolyard days and the trials of the wider world. In the flow of ordinary time, they broke free from destiny's grasp and turned their faces to the sun—ordinary as they were, they set out to conquer their own vast mountains and rivers. This novel contains no romantic subplots; it is a story of family ties and the triumphant rise of youth against all odds.