Full Bloom in a Faraway Place

Brief introduction：

Gao Song， the protagonist of this book， was a fifth-grade student in a primary school. His mother died in a car accident and his father worked in another city. He and his brother， who was in the first grade of primary school， were taken care of by his grandmother. Optimistic and diligent， he took a table tennis paddle made by himself and took part in various contests step by step from his village， and finally won the championship in the provincial youth amateur table tennis competition. In this book， the writer took a warm style of writing to portray a strong， brave， optimistic， sensible， caring， and positive image of a left-behind child. The story is touching and conveys positive energy to the growing children.

About the author：

Meng Xianming is a famous contemporary writer and folklore expert， president of Henan Provincial Children’s Literature Society， vice president of Henan Folklore Society， and part-time professor at Henan University. He has written over 10 full-length novels， more than 30 film and television scripts， as well as 3 monographs.

Along the path， over the tips of the withered grass and over the low fence in the front of the village， the late autumn night wind quietly climbed to the roofs of houses and the tall poplar forest. After noisily brushing through the trees， it leaped lightly on the steamed-bread-like hill behind the village and then hissed a cold breath to the boundless night and the creatures hidden in it. When the first golden glimmer of dawn opened the world little by little， a secret was unearthed： the wild chrysanthemums bloomed！

The wild chrysanthemums must have known this mysterious moment was going to happen， and must have attentively listened to the light hiss signalling its arrival. It seemed that the wild chrysanthemums， the size of a thumb， occupied the whole world overnight. Clusters of wild chrysanthemums rushed off to the front and worked together to decorate the snake-like creeping path， the river-like road， and the floating-dark-cloud-like hills in gold. The whole world suddenly became bright and vivid.

The sound of the wild chrysanthemums was so loud that all the creatures in the world were frightened. The birds danced in the branches， expressing their surprise with a gentle song; the bumblebees danced in circles to express their excitement with a buzz; and the morning wind also changed， floating softly as if it was examining their achievements or was intoxicated with their creation. With the smoke， singing of birds， and the bitter smell of flowers， it has traveled all over the world in an instant.

“Hee hee –” The six-year-old Gao Yan came out of the house rubbing his eyes and could not help squealing， “The wild chrysanthemums are in bloom！”

Gao Yan’s home had a big courtyard. Its red chili peppers， green radishes， and white wax gourds were all planted by his older brother. Although he never wanted to plant something in the area near the root of the fence， the crack in the brick was illuminated with a dazzling golden light. The wild chrysanthemums were in full bloom. They were confident， proud， excited， and presumptuous， like a group of children wearing new clothes to celebrate the Spring Festival. The fresh yellow decorated the whole courtyard， making the red chili peppers， green radishes， and white wax gourds nobler all of a sudden. His grandma was cooking， and his elder brother was lighting the fire， so nobody could take care of him. Gao Yan took a pointed shovel and ran to the bottom of the wall to dig something up hard.

The courtyard fence was made of stone， and there were various stones buried in the soil under the fence. Gao Yan finally dug up the stone of last year， picked it up， and rubbed it on his trousers. Then he held it to his mouth， blew hard， and ran into the kitchen with it.

“Grandma！” shouted him.

Grandma was steaming bread and answered but didn’t stop kneading the dough.

Gao Yan held up the stone. “Grandma， I know why the wild chrysanthemums are yellow！”

Grandma stopped and asked， “Why？”

“Look at this stone. I buried this yellow stone last year.” Gao Yan sniffled.

“Good，” Grandma nodded. “Did you forget？”

Gao Yan grinned， “I surely didn’t forget！”

Grandma smiled too.

“The wild chrysanthemums turned yellow because their roots absorbed the color of the yellow stone！”

Gao Yan put the stone before his Grandma. “Grandma， I like wild chrysanthemums.”

“Why？”

“The wild chrysanthemums are loud！”

Grandma looked at him and asked， “Loud？”

“Yes！”

“Why are they loud？” Grandma stopped.

“They have awakened our yard， our village， our wind， and the clouds in the sky. So aren’t they loud？”

Although Gao Yan was six years old， he often raised outlandish questions. He asked why people didn’t have tails， or if there was a door in the wind’s house. When he saw red flowers， green grass， and purple grapes， he asked where these colors came from. Last year， he asked where yellow came from and then buried a yellow stone under the fence. Obviously， today’s Gao Yan had not let go of last year’s question.

Grandma sighed， “You are still not recovered！”

Gao Yan looked at his grandmother and sniffled hard.

Three years ago， his mother， who was a migrant worker， went home for the Chinese New Year. When she went out again， the car she took turned over into a ravine. Gao Yan saw the bodies of three female workers. At that time， he was just over 3 years old and was frightened when seeing so many crying people. That night， he ran a high fever and was put on a drip for three days. When he opened his eyes， he said something earth-shattering. “My mother said that although she died this time， she would return tomorrow.” He sniffed hard as he said. No one cared about what he said， and no one paid attention to his sniffling. Since then， Gao Yan’s questions had increased. “When will my mother come back to life？” Every time he asked， he would sniffle hard. Grandma said， “The child is ill！ He was scared sick！ “

Gao Song， the elder brother who was lighting the fire， took over the conversation. “I have asked the teacher about this question. The teacher said that colors are all caused by light. Without light， there is no color. “

Grandma seemed to have found a savior. “Listen to your elder brother！ Your elder brother is in the fifth grade， and you are in the first grade. So he knows more than you.” To make her words more persuasive， Grandma added， “Since your father is not at home， your elder brother should take charge of our home！”

Gao Yan turned to his elder brother and asked， “Where does the light come from？”

The elder brother said， “The sun！”

Then Gao Yan asked， “Where does the sun come from？”

“The universe！”

“Where does the universe come from？”

“The universe？ The universe …” Gao Song was not able to give an answer to this question.

Gao Yan looked at his elder brother and suddenly laughed. “The universe comes from his mother， and his mother comes from his grandmother. His grandmother comes from her mother， and his grandmother’s mother comes from her mother … Everyone has a mother， right， Grandma？”

“You are still not recovered！” Grandma sighed again.

Full Bloom in a Faraway Place

Meng Xianming

Sichuan Children’s Publishing House

June 2020

49.00 （CNY）