Chapter 6 : A Heart in The Mountains

One evening, the sound of children's laughter rang out from the leftmost room of the luxury villa. Not far away, Tian, fresh from his bath, came out of his room with a frown on his face.

Ten years ago, the room had been decorated as a wonderful playground, filled with toys from all over the world to amuse the young son of the former senior army officer. Now it has become Mrs Lalita's jewellery store.

Tian saw the slightly open door of the room and opened his eyes wide to see the movement of three children, his nephew and niece, born to his second sister and her third husband.

"Tum Ton Tam..." Tian shouted and passed through the mess the three mischief-makers had made, "Who let you in, you've ruined all Granny's things."

"Mum told us to find a place to play and not to go outside." replied Tum, the nine-year-old nephew, in a loud voice.

"Go down and play, Uncle will play the game with you later," said Tian, trying to calm down. But when he saw the other two children touching the model robots he has in the glass case, Tian can't take it anymore.

"Ton, put the robot back where it belongs!" Tian ordered, gesticulating, his handsome face twisted like a nightstick but the children, who had been spoilt for choice, would not listen to him, they jumped up and down with the robot and ran around.

Tian stared angrily at the little kids running around the room, knowing how sinister he had been as a child but after this karmic experience, he wanted to apologise to all the nannies immediately. After a few moments of patience, Tian decided to hunt down the troublemakers and the scene was chaotic.

As Tian caught his little sister and managed to grab the toy, Tum, the eldest grandson and his deputy, Ton, nodded to each other. Tian is bending over and because of the difference in size between children and adults, Tum and Ton suddenly jump up from behind and lock him around the neck.

The sudden weight caused Tian's knees to drop to the ground. He shakes the large leeches hanging from him" until they let go but the limited edition Gundam battle droid also hits the tiled floor and falls to pieces and at that moment, Tian's head goes blank in utter shock.

"Shit!" was the thunderous curse, not caring how rude it was. He yanked his second nephew Ton by the shoulder but Ton was still kicking at the robot parts unconsciously.

"I told you to put it back! Look how it's all broken now, why is it so skinny!!!" he shouted, accidentally scratching the little arm, Ton's mouth cried out for his mother, then he saw the other two crying too, the sound reached downstairs.

Mrs Lalita and Pim, who were chatting in the living room, heard the children crying and rushed up to see them.

Pin is the second daughter of the Sopasitsakul family and the mother of the children. When she saw the violence, her brother was using against her children, her anger rose and fell like a tidal wave in her chest. She threw her head in and pushed Tian's chest, causing him to take a few steps back, while scolding him.

"Ai Tian, why are you doing this to them!" Pim sat down to hug and comfort the frightened child.

"Who told them to break my stuff, I told them to put it back, they didn't listen and they ran all over the house." Tian replied forcefully, while bending down with great remorse to pick up the remains of his beloved collection.

"You're such an immature child, you can buy a new idiot toy if it's broken but my son and daughter can't find a new one!"

Tian clenched his fist, a frown on his handsome face, "If you can't find one, you can make a new one, is that what you think?" As soon as he saw that his sister was about to open her mouth to scold, Tian hastened to assert himself.

"You'll never find a new one for these toys they are not manufactured, you can't replace this one even if you search for it in another life!"

"So, for this you hit my child, you bad boy!" she shouted until Mrs Lalita had to come in and stop them.

"Come on, it's all right, Pim take the kids downstairs, get them some snacks." Then Mum turned to her youngest son and said: "As for Tian, go and talk to Mum."

Tian grimaced angrily, stomped his heels hard, followed his mother, Pin looked at them with angry eyes as they entered his father's office. Tian sat dejectedly in his chair.

"Tian didn't hit anyone, Phii? Pim had been so dramatic, spoiling the children as they grew up, must be pulling out grey hair." he muttered naggingly.

"So, Mum might have lost her hair too, you know how it is. You like to play, you only know how to do bad things, you made the nanny quit." He couldn't argue with that.

"But at least my mother didn't take sides with me."

Madame Lalita shook her head helplessly and then said in a soft voice: "Enough of this old story, how old are you now? How old is my grandson? We must be more mature. I think you should be calmer, son."

"Calm? If he doesn't break my beloved things! That robot is..." It was the day the family met to celebrate his birthday, the first birthday present for him. Tian stopped, then let go.

"Whatever, Mum." I shouldn't scold my nephew and I shouldn't do that kind of thing to him."

Hearing her son's sarcastic concession, the mother sighed long and hard, approached her son and rubbed his head gently with both hands.

"At least mum is glad that you think that violence is not the answer."

Tian remained silent, his light brown eyes shone with deep remorse, if he had never survived a life-threatening accident, he would have been living a life that would have broken his mother's heart.

Instead he chose to go out and face the opposite world. Was this really a good idea?

Tian reached out and took his mother's plump hand and held it gently over his head. "I don't want to upset my mother anymore."

Madame Lalita raised her eyebrows, her son's words sounded serious but strange. She had a bad feeling about it but she joked to her son: "What? Has Mum's son been watching too many Chinese films? It's like saying goodbye to this mother of yours to practise going up the mountain."

Suddenly, Tian threw his arms around his mother's waist, put his face to it and responded in a low voice. "Who knows, I might really want to go."

"As long as you don't go racing and don't stay in the pub till morning, mum will be happy."

"Got it, he made a face and started the same old story again." Mum sent someone to bring dinner to my room, I don't want to go down there and argue with Phii Pin again."

"Yes, would you like some fruit? Mum bought big Fuji apples today.

Tian nodded in silence, then continued: "I'll be playing games late tonight, I might be awake late, Mum doesn't have to get anyone to wake me up."

"Mum will arrange it later; Mum and Dad have to go to the army event first thing in the morning. Mrs Lalita bends down, kisses her son's smooth forehead on the seat." Don't stay up too late, honey, go to bed."

Late at night, all the lights in the villa are switched off, it's dark. But in a room on the first floor where the lights are still on, Tian is packing all the necessary and unnecessary things in a branded backpack that she secretly ordered from a website. Tian fiddled around with his wardrobe and finally decided to grab the not-too-thick but dark windproof jacket from the wardrobe, as well as a hat and silk scarf.

As the rainy season only ended this month, it would be very cold in Phabandao, as the Saengthong Foundation staff had advised. Tian looked at a fully charged laptop, thinking that there is no electricity on the mountain and unfortunately probably no 3G signal either.

Well, no need to take anything with me, because I can't play games without the internet. I'll be damned and lost in boredom!

Tian laid down, hands on his forehead and tosses and turned in a frenzy. He seems to have thought of something and suddenly springs to his feet. He goes down to find Torfan's notebook hidden in the bedside table.

Tian opened it and read the last page in faint blue handwriting.

The story would never end if Torfan's bright dreams beat in his heart, they would never die... He reads this passage over and over in his mind, remembering almost all the words. Light brown eyes glanced at the photograph in front of him with mixed emotions.

Is it possible to meet "him." in Phabandao?

The Sopasitsakul family's luxurious house was in chaos the next day, Tian's parents returned from the party as soon as they received the news. Mrs. Lalita faints after reading the letter Tian left behind before he left home.

Mr Teerayut immediately summoned the housekeeper and asked her to get a nasal laxative for his wife. Soon, the guard came in and reported.

"I've checked the CCTV. Since midnight, all footage in and around the house has been cut off, it seems someone has deliberately blocked the signal.

It's not difficult, after all, Tian studied mechanical engineering and the moment Mr Teerayut pressed his temples in worry, he heard the voice of his wife, who had just woken up and was crying.

"Tian, why are you doing this? Why didn't you tell mummy and daddy what you wanted, is there anything in the world that mummy can't find for you?" Clear tears covered her cheeks. Yesterday Tian had said she would never break her mother's heart, one day had passed and she had been made to feel her heart being torn out.

"Calm down, it might not be that bad. Our children are grown up!"

"Grow up! But not to run away like that, he should have talked to us first." Mrs Lalita scolded her youngest son.

Mr. Teerayut sighed and sat down next to his wife: "Because the child knows that if he had asked you, you might not have allowed it either."

"Do I seem to be that unreasonable? Phii!?" She glanced at Mr. Teerayut, displeased.

"Except for the matter of Tian, you are very sensible in everything." The ex-general said calmly: "Especially when you know that the child has a heart condition, you take care of him more and more, like an egg in a stone. Before, the child was averse to life, acting out, making mischief. As soon as the child has had his operation, you forbid him to leave the house and go anywhere without permission.

"My son is a patient in recuperation, not a prisoner."

Hearing the last words, Mrs Lalita burst into tears." Phii, am I wrong to worry about my child?

"You are not wrong. It's just that anything overdone can only backfire. The Buddha said, there are degrees in life, the mistake is in losing the degree, in excess, in moderation, only in moderation can we find the balance of life."

"Tian said he wants to go out and find happiness, I don't get it. He has a house, a car and an endless supply of money, what more does he want?"

Mr Teerayut laughed and said: "That's what we think of as happiness. But that may not be the case for Tian."

Mr Teerayut is happy that Tian knows that he has to go out into the world to face some difficulties. But the main concern in his mother's mind now was, where Tian wanted to go and whether he would be safe.

Mr Teerayut called his close friend who was still working in the military and asked him to help send an urgent search for Tian. If he knew exactly what the child was up to and there was no danger, then he intended to send someone to help protect him from afar and let him learn what he wanted to do with his life until he was satisfied.

When he had reassured his wife to calm down and sent her upstairs to rest, Mr Teerayut picked up the farewell letter Tian had left and read it again.

Mum and Dad: I want to say that I have struggled for a long time before deciding to write this letter but please believe that I didn't really want to leave home. After miraculously surviving, it's like I see everything upside down, so much so that I feel so empty of my past life, not knowing what I really want.

I just wanted to see something that people talk about all the time but I don't know about. Finally, I just want to tell you, it's not a bad thing and I don't want my mum and dad to come looking for me now, I'll come home when the time comes, don't worry about me I love you all.

Tian." General Teerayut quietly folded the paper in his hands, he only hoped that his little son would soon find the answers he was looking for today.

The violent shaking of the bus as it passes over the train tracks, wakes Tian from his sleep as he sat leaning against the window. The sun shines through the gaps in the thick blackout curtains. Tian opens his mouth and yawns, glances at his watch, which points to 2pm, then takes his mobile phone out of his trouser pocket and looks at it as usual, no call appears on the screen.

But not surprisingly, as he had turned off all tracking apps and had a new SIM card with a new number, who could have called?

Tian's leg was a little sore, he'd lost his balance jumping off the wall and twisted it. He walked out and waved his hands in front of the entrance to the alleyway and asked for a taxi but it's hard to get one at 3am and by the time he reaches the bus terminal he almost misses it.

Tian takes a sip of water from a bottle cap, looking out of the window at the countryside through the slightly open curtains. Not sure if his family knows he is missing now, if they do, hopefully they will comply with the request in the letter he left in his room.

The air-conditioned bus turns and stops at a petrol station, allowing passengers to get out and stretch and go to the toilet. This took dozens of times longer than travelling by air but it was also a much more complicated process to check by air. He believes that no one would have expected someone as pampered as himself to put up with this for so long to the extent that he did.

In a few hours he would be arriving at the bus terminal in Chiangrai and he couldn't help but feel excited at the thought. According to the information he had been given, the village he was going to was a military reserve bordering the border and had to be reached via a small road in an intricate canyon, so the military had arranged for a check to ensure safety

The bus started to sound its horn as a signal, allowing all passengers on the tour to board within a few minutes the bus started, turned the corner and drove onto the highway without stopping on the way to its destination.

The bus arrived at the bus terminal in Chiangrai at 4:30 sharp. Tian stepped off the bus with his backpack on the luggage rack, looked around and is dumbfounded, confused, probably because he is unfamiliar with this new place and makes up his mind to follow the other passengers.

The bus terminal has a high open-air roof, a wide space. The benches are occupied by people, there are suitcases and fruit baskets all around. In front of it is a dilapidated jeep with official plates. Tian is not sure if it is the village car that has come to pick him up, as he has not seen the driver.

Tian took his heavy backpack off, standing against a telephone pole, while looking for the number of the Foundation's emergency contact on his mobile phone and was startled when someone greeted him from behind.

"You're a teacher from the Saengthong Foundation, right?"

When he was called a teacher, Tian felt embarrassed, he was still only a fake teacher and said with a dry smile "Just call me Tian." He folded his arms and saluted the officer in the turquoise shirt and camouflage trousers, he was about the same age as his father.

"Yes, Phii Tian." but it seems that the man is not listening to himself." I'm Sergeant Yodchai Chaiphao, you can simply call me Yod, teacher." He introduced himself in a folksy accent.

"Do you only have this bag? Come on, I'll put it in the car for you."

Tian doesn't stop the other man from putting his backpack in the back of the jeep, because he is used to being served

Tian followed him into the car with the doors and windows open and the old vehicle drove off with a noisy engine start.

The military vehicle had only the canvas-covered roof open, allowing the wind to blow in. Tian had to raise his hand to dry the sweat from his forehead. The master could not help but see him like this and said.

"It's hot now but when we go up the mountain at night the teacher will have to find a blanket to cover himself with."

"I don't have to sleep in the barracks, do I?" He asked this because the Foundation staff only said there was accommodation. But they didn't say exactly where they were staying.

"Teacher, the house you live in is in the village and the barracks are about three kilometres away."

Tian nodded, listening to the sergeant's story about the village they arrived at in two hours.

"Phabandao is a small village, a place that belongs to the Akha people who have been settled in this part of Thailand for generations, their descendants have acquired Thai nationality. In the past, they grew a lot of opium but after they were purged, the king sent officers to teach them to grow crops to feed themselves.

So, it is used as a tea plantation, coffee plantation, flower garden. When we drive past there later, the teacher can look along the ridge and see the dense terraces."

After an hour or so, the jeep heads up a narrow dirt road, lined with dense vegetation, Yod tells Tian that the discomfort of the road up the hill, is due to the fact that the village people and soldiers helped to fill the ground with rocky soil compressed years ago but it did help to shorten the journey up and down.

As the sun goes down, the overall temperature starts to drop. Tian sat wrapped up in a worn cushion, listening with interest to the driver humming a folk song from his native north-eastern Thailand, interspersed with a humming sound. Until the car turned into a car park on the side of the city road.

"Teacher Tian, from now on, we have to walk in", said Yod, turning to Tian with a smile.

Walk there?

Tian puts on a smile, replies: "Is it far?"

"Not very far, I'll take you around to the back of the village, because the teacher's dormitory is just there. If you go straight, it's 5km but from here it's only 2km, it's much quicker."

Comfortable, my ass! I'm dying! Tian, who has always lived a life of luxury, stared at him. Almost 50km in the car already and a backpack this far up the mountain!!!!

Yod looked at him with a scowl on his face and defended: "It's only a small steep hill." He then volunteered to pick up his luggage and asked Tian to hold the torch for him.

It is dark, the sergeant rushed off with him before the reptiles appeared to greet Tian and the bright spot illuminated by the simple white beam of the torch.

Is the slope leading to the narrow village entrance? Fortunately, Tian had followed his doctor's orders to exercise regularly after the operation, which gave him the strength to reach his destination.

The sergeant pointed to the village house a few dozen metres away and said to Tian, who was bent over on his hands and knees.

"Phii, we're almost there, hang on a little longer." shouts Yod as he walked towards Tian, who has fallen behind, it is not obvious that he is much older than Tian.

Tian looked up, gritting his teeth and breathing cool air into his lungs and suddenly smelled burning wood and saw a cloud of white smoke billowing into the air. He looked for the source of the fire coming from the stones arranged in a circle, the right size of wood placed in the middle is now burnt to a crisp. This created a bright light in the darkness in front of the old hut.

Tian followed the line of sight and found a tall man, the man with his arms crossed in front of his chest, standing with his back to his face on a small bamboo hut.

Although the man was not carrying a gun or wearing a military camouflage uniform. But Tian happened to recognise his sturdy back!

A long, thin hand accidentally drops a torch to the ground, it makes a loud sound and flames the face that suddenly appeared hidden in the darkness and turned its head, Tian felt as if everything around him was still, except his heart beats so violently that his whole chest hurts as if it were stabbed by pins.

Tian's body suddenly fell but before it hit the ground, a strange young soldier stepped forward, catching Tian's thin waist in his hands just in time.

Tian's cheek is nestled against a chest that is thicker and stronger than he had imagined. When he realised that he was being held by a man, Tian's cheeks were like balls of fire, he frowned and closed his eyes tightly. His heart pounded uncontrollably, almost through his chest

"How are you?"

Hearing a low voice whispering in his ear, Tian was startled and gently pushed the man out, so fast, that he lost his footing and fell flat on his face.

"Teacher!" Yod ran over in shock but didn't forget to salute the officer and took Tian's slender arm to help him up.

Tian patted the dirt from his jeans, while glancing at the taller man. You're a vicious bastard! How dare you let go!

"I'm fine--" he turned to Yod who looked at him with a worried expression.

"Teacher--" Sergeant Yod introduced Tian to the senior officer standing in front of him "This is Captain Phupha, the leader of the 3307th Infantry at Phraphirun Operations Base."

Tian's lips puckered in annoyance, Captain Phupha's bronzed, sharp face stared at him, as if he was a problem.

"Do I have to salute you too?"

Tian felt stirring in his stomach and he clunked his heels together but it seemed the other man wouldn't take the joke.

"No, I'll be satisfied with a salute."

Instead, Tian was too dumbfounded by the situation to eat, he had to raise his hand and make a salute. Yod saw that the mood was not right for their first meeting and quickly intervened.

"Captain, Mr Tian is here to replace Mr Aot." The volunteer he mentioned had been here for about three weeks and, having given up last month because he couldn't stand the hardship, had packed up and left the mountain.

Captain Phupha nodded in response, pointing his finger at the hut, "Go and pack your things, I've asked for the essentials to be prepared for you." he said after a moment's silence, Tian almost jumped to his feet and hit him "I hope you'll use it, Teacher Tian."

"Is there a manual? Tian asked frantically and tentatively.

"It's all local, if you don't know how to use it, I'll have someone make you an instruction manual tomorrow." I don't know if it's serious or sarcastic, because Captain Phupha's voice seems very serious.

"Thank you, Tian didn't bother to argue with the big, tall officer. He took his backpack from Yod, who stood smiling and walked to the bamboo hut with its grass-covered roof.

Yod watched Tian cross the rickety stairs and turned to Captain Phupha. "Hasn't the captain sent the sappers to repair the stairs?"

"Too busy these days dealing with the illegal loggers, forgot about it." Phupha replied carelessly, then after a pause said: "And, no need to hurry, he won't last long."

"Captain, don't judge a man by his appearance, Phii Aot seems to be in harmony with the village... Phii Aot seems to be in harmony with the people of the village but he didn't stay long."

Phupha sighed, a worried look in his sharp eyes, as if there was something he couldn't say.

"Do you think someone as stylishly dressed as he is with all the expensive stuff from head to toe, can stay for a full term? Three months at the most." he stressed.

Yod hemmed and hawed, not daring to make any comment on the matter. "Well, how did the captain get here? My car was parked at the entrance..."

"I borrowed the motorbike from the base." The road was rough and steep on the way in but not a problem for someone who has lived in the area for four years.

"Going back together? It's dangerous to ride a motorbike in the middle of the night."

"It's okay, I'm used to it, see you at the base." Phupha interrupts, walks over to the motorbike parked a short distance away, then gets on it and starts the engine and off he goes in the cold wind. But shortly afterwards he slams on the brakes as if he's thought of something.

He hadn't told the new teacher what he was going to do tomorrow!

Never mind! It looks like he may not be up early either, it's not too late to check the area and then slowly make your way to the hut.

Having made up his mind, Phupha accelerates back to the base of operations 3km away.

In front of the hut is a narrow balcony, inside is an open square room. Tian searches for a light plug in the darkness, then realizes there is no electricity or running water, how do the locals manage to stay here?

He put his backpack in the corner of the room. Immediately, he glanced over and saw a large gas lamp.

Tian sat down cross-legged and held up the lamp, looking at it by the moonlight coming in through the window. At last, he noticed the brand name of the lamp base and the small, neatly arranged instructions for its use in English.

Tian looks around for the torch, then realised he has dropped it outside the hut -

he has forgotten to pick it up. So, he changed his mind and took out his mobile phone, which was useless as it had no signal. He turned on the torch function.

Tian stared at the tiny text until his eyes got sore. Although he had never used such a device before, he was not so stupid as to read the clearly explained instructions and not know how to use it.

Tian's slender hands placed the lamp on the bamboo floor, gently turned the base until he saw a plastic pump shaft protruding, he tried dozens of times to pull out the pump, then turned the ignition button and turned the valve with the fuel dispenser symbol to the far right. Shortly afterwards, a huge flame bursts out, Tian is frightened backwards.

After waiting for some time and with no sign of the flames abating, it was feared that the cabin was about to burn down. Then he mustered up the courage to reach out and twist the oil valve to the left to shut it off.

The flames diminish, saving his life, Tian rubbed his chest with a long, fearful sigh, holds the big lamp up against the ledge, so as not to make a mess of the small space in the house, then turned to explore the room, only to see a low table for writing, an old mattress and a broken quilt, a square pillow stuffed with kapok The square pillow was stuffed with kapok, it had holes and was dull, it must have been there for a long time.

The floor and the bamboo siding were polished and dust free, presumably someone had come to clean them, then he sat for a while on his knees, not knowing what to do first. Then he decided to get up and set up the mosquito net, although he had been through the camp before, he had only slept in the tent, or under the canvas, never done this before.

Tian awkwardly unrolls the off-white mesh, there are strings on the four corners of the net, so one can assume it should be hung with something. He looked up at the pillar and the wall panel and saw that there were exactly four nails in the wall. So, he took the end of the string and wrapped it around the four nails until finally the net was in place.

He breathed a long, relieved sigh and fell to the floor once more. The loud gurgling in the silence, made him realise that he hadn't eaten anything since noon. Tian frowned, angry at the thought of the big, tall captain, wondering why he had waited to meet him. And he had come empty-handed, he hadn't brought any rice, fish or anything else because he wasn't hungry.

Tian crawled lazily on his knees to his rucksack, because he remembered that he had brought compressed rations. Then he glanced with a grimace and saw a triple stainless-steel lunch box and a bottle of water sitting in the door frame of the hut entrance.

Tian swallowed, obsessed with cursing Teacher Torfan's beloved, he wasn't bad, he just didn't care about things, he couldn't hear himself anyway. After a while he rushed hungrily towards the lunchbox, opening it to find scrambled eggs, tofu soup and rice.

How does Phupha know he doesn't eat spicy food?

It's a guess or whatever, Tian is already hungry. Even this minute, when the food in front of him is fried with morning glory peppers, he is willing.

Anyone who knows Tian Sopisakul, who used to eat only fancy restaurant food, would be shocked to see him chewing dry rice and soup with zinc in his mouth today and chewing it with gusto.

Scrambled eggs and tofu soup are also delicious when you're hungry. Tian sweeps up everything, not a grain of rice left and then takes a big sip from his water bottle.

"I'm full." he mumbled, as if talking to someone other than the sky.

Then Tian goes to his backpack to get his things, because he wants to shower and brush his teeth before he goes to bed but it's late, where is he going to wash up? Tian's slender hands stopped as he took out a small bottle of shower gel.

Phupha and Yod hadn't told him about this. It was so late that he had to go out in the forest around the hut and find nothing but forest.

And it was time to sleep!

He turned around with determination and flattened the mattress instead of the bedding but the musty smell almost dissuaded him, it was too much to lie down but it was not practical to sit up all night and sleep. Tian closed his eyes tightly, forcing himself to lie on his back on a hard-square pillow. He looked up at the light reflecting off the roof from the car lamp and habitually pulled out his mobile phone to play a game, realising there was no mobile phone or internet signal.

Tian threw the expensive phone to the side again and sighed heavily, as the sound of a mole barks and the cold winter wind turned loneliness into tears.

What are you doing here, Tian?

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