Xiawang and Qiuhu lived in the same small town . They went to the same school , and were in the same class , and both of them kept pigeons . But their family circumstances were very different . Xiawang 's family was rich , and Qiuhu 's family was poor . Xiawang 's family was not rich in the ordinary sense ; they were the richest family in this small town . Qiuhu 's family was not poor in the ordinary sense ; they were the poorest family in this small town , so poor that people were embarrassed and looked the other way . These little creatures that spread their wings and soared in the sky captured their imagination like nothing else . There were always a few of them flying up high , and it was so beautiful , so enchanting , to see them . The boys would watch to their heart 's content . People who know about pigeons naturally rated Xiawang 's pigeons higher than Qiuhu 's . They looked at Xiawang 's pigeons with awe and admiration , and , when these birds raised their heads to the sky , could imagine them having magical qualities . But these same people had no time for Qiuhu 's pigeons : they couldn 't be bothered with such dowdy things . There was nothing Qiuhu could do about it . He couldn 't afford expensive pigeons . But he hadn 't simply picked his pigeons off the ground ; his dozen or so pigeons had all been paid for , albeit for very small sums . The most valuable was the grey male , the colour of roof - tiles , which he 'd bought from an old man in town . It had cost him only three jin of rice which he 'd nicked from home . Qiuhu 's pigeons lived in what could only be called a pigeon cage . It was built from scrap wood that Qiuhu had gathered together , and was a rickety thing that hung at an angle on the wall . Xiawang 's pigeons , on the other hand , lived in a specially commissioned two - chamber pigeon cote . It had taken three carpenters two weeks to build it from a stack of the finest wood . They were all master carpenters , but they had never built a pigeon cote before , and were excited to be working on something new . As it was the first of its kind , a groundbreaking project , they wanted to show off their craftsmanship , and create an eye - catching pigeon cote that would have passers - by purring with admiration . Qiuhu was a good half a head taller than Xiawang , but when Xiawang was standing in front of him , he somehow felt a whole head smaller than him . And when Xiawang regaled the other children with stories about his pigeons , his eyebrows wiggling about all over the place , Qiuhu would stand quietly to the side and listen . Sometimes , while he was talking , Xiawang would roll his eyes and shoot a sideways glance at him , and Qiuhu would flinch as though a chill wind had blown over him . He would pull in his shoulders and turn his head away . Qiuhu didn 't get angry at Xiawang 's cockiness . What was there to get angry about ? Qiuhu 's pigeons were special , and he had reason to be proud of them . Qiuhu wasn 't jealous . If anything he admired them , and felt humbled . When Xiawang talked about ' some people ' , Qiuhu knew he meant his family . And Xiawang was right : that 's exactly how it was with Qiuhu 's pigeons . You couldn 't take them far and let them fly home like Xiawang 's pigeons . Xiawang said they had one pigeon that could find its way home from over 5000 kilometres away , and Qiuhu believed him . Qiuhu might not be able to have pigeons like that , but he had been looking after pigeons for many years now , and he knew a lot about them . Sometimes , Qiuhu found himself wandering over to Xiawang 's to look at the pigeons , and as he was walking , he 'd think up some reason for heading that way : ' I 'm going to see a dog in a petshop in that part of town ' or something similar . There 'd be no suggestion in the way he walked that he 'd planned to go and see the pigeons ; it simply looked as though he was strolling along , passing by . And he would sing those nonsense rhymes that he knew , though he couldn 't remember where from : Xiawang 's pigeon cote was raised up on four tall posts like a little palace towering in the sky . It had doors and windows and a long ladder to climb up . Inside there were dozens of compartments , little homes for the pigeons . The pigeons were free to fly in and out . Some stayed inside , some stayed outside . Some of the ones that went outside perched on the roof of the pigeon cote or on the roof of the house . And there were always a few pigeons walking about , or flying here and there . The sound that Xiawang 's pigeons made was not the same as ordinary pigeons . It was rich and sonorous , like the sound from a huge clay pot that resonates through your body . The individual pigeons looked big , with strong , fit bodies . Standing there on the ridge of the roof , against the blue sky and white clouds , there was a majesty about them . They seemed to know they were special . They were so still and serene that they looked like sculptures . Xiawang 's pigeons were not like other breeds of pigeon that come in a variety of colours . Each bird was a single colour : some were grey , some were black , some were a colour in between grey and black . The grey was a pure grey , the black was a pure black , and the so - called grey - black was actually a grey background with very regular black markings . Qiuhu knew that pigeons with this colouring were called ' raindrops ' , and that the fleshy ceres above their nostrils were bigger than on other pigeons and that there were fine creases in that grey - white mass . He could tell from the shape of their heads that they were intelligent and alert . Both the male and female had a collar of petal - shaped feathers that gave off the same blue sheen you see on high - grade steel , and it was especially bright on the male . Xiawang watched him scuttle down the road , then went to stand where Qiuhu had been standing . When he turned his head to the side and saw his pigeon cote and the pigeons , he put two and two together . So that 's what Qiuhu was up to , he assumed , and went home , curling his lip . When Qiuhu went home , he looked at his family 's pigeons . He could never forsake them . He loved his ordinary pigeons as much as Xiawang loved his special pigeons . He quietly acknowledged that he could only have pigeons like these , but they were still pigeons . He tried to encourage them to fly , but they didn 't seem too willing , and would only circle a couple of times in the air before wanting to land . He longed to see them soaring in the sky , so he picked some broken bits of roof - tile from the ground and tried to keep them in the air . The pigeons finally realized what their master wanted and how stubborn he was prepared to be , and gave up any ideas of landing . They spread their wings and flew high into the sky . And the longer they flew , the further they were willing to fly . One day , Qiuhu was on his way home from school when he heard a bang . He looked up and saw a pigeon , out of control , hurtling towards the ground like a lump of mud . At the same time , he saw an eagle thrusting upwards , and flying off high in the sky . He knew immediately what had happened : the eagle had attacked the pigeon and was about to swoop down and grab it , when Qiuhu had turned up and interrupted it . As the pigeon was about to hit the ground , it flapped its wings to slow its descent . But it wasn 't able to fly , and down it tumbled . It managed a vigorous flapping just before landing , and recovered just enough to land on its feet . It landed twenty metres in front of Qiuhu . It staggered forward a few steps , then flapped its wings in a fluster , and tried to fly again , but it failed . It flew a few metres , then slumped to the ground . The pigeon seemed to have spotted him . It dragged its wing and struggled to walk . It tried a few times to fly , but without success . On the ground behind it was a trail of blood that had dripped from its wing , the same wing that had dragged along the ground as it tried to run . It looked broken . It was a black pigeon , so black that it seemed to be painted in black ink . Its claws and legs were a deep red colour . Qiuhu 's eyes were sharp , and from a distance he had seen the ring around its leg . His heart raced when he saw the ring : it was definitely not an ordinary pigeon ! The tin leg - rings were made and issued by a special organization , and only pigeons that had been examined and certified as exceptional could have one . Each ring had a serial number , which was the bird 's individual registration number . Qiuhu kept still . Slowly , he lowered his hands from his chest , clenched them into fists , and inched himself forward . Then he broke into a run , and went for the pigeon ! The pigeon paused for a while , then ran and tried to fly again . This time it managed to fly up to a boundary wall . But it was so slow that when Qiuhu leapt up and made a grab for it , he almost caught it . The pigeon had stumbled when it landed , and Qiuhu carried on jumping , trying to grab it . But it was too high , and he couldn 't reach it . He bent forward , hands on his belly , panting and catching his breath , but he didn 't take his eyes off the pigeon . The pigeon knew that it was safe for the time being . It stood on the wall , and did not try to run or fly . But it was still terrified . He took his eyes off the pigeon briefly to scan the street . He spotted a ladder by the door to one of the houses , ran over , and carried it back on his shoulder . The pigeon seemed to sense danger : it drew itself in and flew off again . It didn 't fly far . It chose the nearest roof , and almost fell before reaching it . Qiuhu instinctively put his hands out to catch it . But the pigeon recovered its balance and went scurrying up the sloping roof to the ridge . Qiuhu slapped his hands on his backside and sighed in disappointment . The pigeon was ready to go home . It started to fly , forgetting that its wing was damaged - and fell on to the roof . But the darkening sky and the evening breeze made it long to go home . It took off again , and this time managed to fly to the roof of another house . It was a struggle for the pigeon , with its injured wing , to fly from roof to roof . When the street lights came on , it had already flown to the edge of the small town , and as the houses thinned out , the roofs were getting further apart . Although it was night - time , the sky had been clear all day , and the moon had come out early , and in the light of the moon and the streetlamps , it could still see quite clearly . There were tombstones everywhere , of all different sizes . There was a light in the distance , but the graveyard itself was in darkness . There is something particularly eerie about graveyards , and Qiuhu felt scared . But at the same time , he also felt luck was on his side : it was so dark and so still here that the pigeon wouldn 't fly off again . There was a fishing net at home . He took it , and ran back to the graveyard so fast that his feet barely touched the ground . He worried all the way : would it still be there on the headstone ? When Qiuhu reached the graveyard and saw the black shape on the headstone , he couldn 't help patting himself on the chest . Quietly , he laid the net on the grass , and sat down . He told himself not to be impulsive , but to sit tight and wait until he was absolutely sure before casting the net . As he was waiting , Qiuhu 's thoughts wandered . He forgot about the pigeon and what he was doing in the graveyard . His mind was miles away , thinking about things that were totally unrelated . His father had been to jail because of his gambling , but what good did it do him ? The very next day he was back at the gambling table . His mother walked out . What else could she do ? She left Qiuhu with his father , and took his little sister with her . His mother told him she was too little , and if she didn 't take her , she 'd starve to death . He hadn 't eaten that evening , and there was a chill in the air . The graveyard was cold , and Qiuhu couldn 't help shivering . He huddled up , then wrapped the fishing net around him . He began , slowly and with the utmost care , to gather the edges of the fishing net in his hands , then he waited until he could throw it exactly as he wanted . He wrapped it like a scarf around his neck , and crept through the bushes , inching his way towards the headstone . As he crept forward , he kept stopping to look up and check that the pigeon hadn 't moved . He glanced at the moon , then roared and flung the net in front of him . It opened out beautifully , like a giant mushroom in the moonlight . As soon as it landed , Qiuhu heard the gu - gu - gu of the pigeon and felt the net trembling feverishly . It reminded him of the time they netted a big fish , weighing over ten jin , in the river outside town - it was the same kind of trembling . Xiawang often took a pigeon with him when he went to school . He would wrap it in a handkerchief , snugly enough for it to be comfortable , but without being able to move about . He didn 't need a cage , just the handkerchief to carry it in this relaxed way to school . It looked easy , but it was not something that everyone could do . Xiawang 's family had engaged a man , more or less permanently , to help look after the pigeons . This man had spent a lifetime looking after pigeons , and was an expert . He went to Xiawang 's house every day , cleaned out the pigeon cote and put down new bedding for the pigeons to lay eggs in . When Xiawang wrapped a pigeon in a handkerchief , he was using a simple technique that the man had taught him . Before going into the classroom , Xiawang would unwrap the handkerchief , hold the pigeon in both hands , and gently release it into the sky . The pigeon , who had been used to this routine for a long time , would immediately spread its wings and fly off . Once in the sky , it would flap its wings noisily - flap ! flap ! flap ! - perhaps because it felt free , or perhaps to say goodbye to it master ? Before raising the pigeon to the sky , Xiawang would make a show of tucking a letter inside its leg ring . The letters said things like ' I 'd like to eat red - cooked pork tonight ' , or ' I 'd like to play out for a while after school . ' The letters themselves weren 't interesting , in fact they were quite dull , but Xiawang liked to do this in front of the other children . He made a point of telling them that his family 's pigeons had rings on their legs , that each ring had a serial number , that the rings were made and issued by a special organization , and that his family 's pigeons were not ordinary pigeons - their homing pigeons were also carrier pigeons . The children looked at Qiuhu for a while . No one said a word . Then every face turned back to look at the pigeon in Xiawang 's hands . He pointed his finger at the pigeon in Xiawang 's hands . ' I have one of those pigeons too ! ' he said , righteously . He kept this pose for a long time , as though fixed to the spot . Xiawang didn 't so much as glance at Qiuhu , but opened up his handkerchief . And while everyone was looking dubiously at Qiuhu , there was a loud flapping of wings in the sky . It was a loud , crisp sound , like someone clapping their hands in the open air . The next day , Qiuhu found a piece of cloth the size of a handkerchief , wrapped the pigeon in it and took it school . He 'd known for a long time how Xiawang wrapped his pigeon , and had tried it out several times on his own pigeons . He wrapped it up , nice and neat , and very securely . Xiawang shot a glance at the pigeon in Qiuhu 's hands . One glance was enough to know what kind of pigeon it was . He didn 't get angry , or jealous , but felt a little bit lost . ' I 've just got it , and it doesn 't know its way home yet , ' Qiuhu explained . Then he walked away , out of the school gate . He wanted to take the pigeon home . On the way , he felt so guilty . When he had found the pigeon it could still fly , but when he caught it in the net , it had struggled so hard that its wing had broken badly . Would it ever be able to fly again ? Qiuhu didn 't know how to respond . But , at that moment , the sound of a pigeon came from inside the house . It was Qiuhu 's new pigeon , calling from inside a cage . When Qiu Shu heard it , he nodded , ' So , you really do have one . ' Qiu Shu understood pigeons better than anyone else in the town . He only had to hear a pigeon to know what breed it was . Qiu Shu 's eyes lit up . He stared at the pigeon for ages , then opened the cage door , and pulled it out . He examined its eyes and nostrils , then opened out its wings and tail . He looked at it for the longest time , then nodded , ' This pigeon is magnificent ! ' Then he looked at the ring on its leg , ' Do you know where this pigeon came from ? ' ' It 's written right there . Can you see ? It 's from Taiwan . ' Qiu Shu tried to work out the distance from Taiwan , ' that 's thousands of miles away ! ' I 'm guessing that someone from Taiwan brought it over here and released it . To dare to bring it so far , and across the ocean , tells me that this pigeon 's owner was very confident of its ability . ' He had already noticed the pigeon pulling in its wings , ' I 'm pretty sure an eagle got it . There 's no way a pigeon like this would have landed in your hands otherwise ! ' Qiu Shu sighed : ' It 's a wonderful pigeon , such a shame it 's injured . ' He inspected the broken wing . ' We need to get it flying again … ' he said , but didn 't finish the sentence . ' Keeping it here isn 't going to do any good . It 's not going to fly again … it will never fly again . And even if it could fly , you 're not helping it to familiarize with your house . It 's not as though you don 't know about this kind of pigeon : you can have a pigeon for three to five years , and think it knows your house , but when you release it , it takes a while to fly , then off it goes to its original home . And you haven 't found it a mate yet , so that it can lay eggs and have baby pigeons . There 's not much point in keeping it here . I know you want to have a pigeon like this one , but do you really think this is a good way ? This is a male pigeon , and I happen to have a female pigeon without a mate . I 've no shortage of male pigeons , all pretty good male pigeons , but she 's exceptional , and those males aren 't up to her standard , and if they were paired up , their offspring wouldn 't be able to fly long distances . But this male of yours would be perfect ! I promise , when they 're paired up , to give you the first couple of eggs . If you let one of your pigeons sit on them till they hatch , very soon you 'll have a pair of top - notch pigeons . And , if you raise them from birth , when they grow up , they 'll only know your house as home . What do you think ? ' Qiu Shu said : ' Just close your eyes and think about it . When you have two of those pigeons , who knows , you could carry on breeding , one nest after another , and after a few years , who knows , you could be the pigeon king of this town . That classmate of yours , Xiawang , well … ' ! ' Such a fine pair of pigeons ! ' said Qiu Shu . ' I want them to have lots of little pigeons ! Here are the eggs I promised you . The hen laid two , and I took both , but she 'll another pair of eggs in the next few days . If I let them hatch at my place , I 'd have to wait longer for her to lay the next pair . So I 've brought them for you now . When the eggs hatch , you 'll have to look after the squabs yourself . If I looked after them myself and gave them to you when they were grown , they wouldn 't think of your place as home . You 'll need to find a pair of your pigeons that are broody , and swap their two eggs for these ones . After swapping the eggs , Qiuhu watched that pair of pigeons and the eggs with great interest . The pigeons behaved completely as expected . They took it in turns to mind the eggs and go out for food . The male went out early to search for food , and when he came back at about ten in the morning , he swapped places with the female , who had been sitting on the eggs all night . Then , while he sat on the eggs , the female went out for food . When she came back at about five in the afternoon , she took over from him . He went out again to , and came back when it started to get dark . Then he stood on the pigeon cage and kept watch over the female in the cage all night . Qiuhu was so excited . Although his father went out gambling for days on end , and neglected his son , Qiuhu didn 't get angry or feel hurt . With these two little pigeons , that would soon be the envy of everyone in the town , he didn 't care about anything else . He was so wrapped up in this joy that he almost forgot his father existed . The sight of these two little fledglings was enough for Qiuhu to be carried away by his imagination : when they grow up , they 'll form a pair and lay eggs , which will hatch into little pigeons … one generation after another … and in a few years ' time , I 'll have lots and lots of pigeons like this , and they 'll fill the sky … I 'll take them to races , and release them one by one , and whether it 's 1000 li , 2000 li , 3000 li , it 'll be my pigeons that fly home first … I 'll win first prize after first prize … there 'll be trophies on the wardrobe , on the windowsill , everywhere , and there 'll be prize money time after time . The father pigeon was left behind on his own . He fed the pigeons by himself . For the first two days , he put all his energy into finding food for the little pigeons . But on the third day , he flew out of the cage , stood on the roof - ridge , and cried out plaintively . He returned to the cage a few times to feed the little pigeons , but it was not long before he came out again . Eventually , in hurt and pain , he stopped looking after the little pigeons too . Everything depended on Qiuhu now . He had to feed this little pigeon . It was his only hope . If this one died too , he would have nothing . Such a small pigeon could only eat very simple food . Under normal circumstances , the parents would eat first , and then feed their young with the digested mush stored in their crop . Qiuhu knew all this . He had to be the pigeon 's father now . He put beans and corn and wheat in his mouth and chewed it over and over , until it mulched into a paste with his saliva , and then fed it to the little pigeon . Qiuhu put the little pigeon on a pile of cotton wadding . He fed it once before he went to school , came home at lunch time and fed it again . He fed it a third time in the evening , and a fourth time before he went to bed . She was a female pigeon , and was the spitting image of her father . But whereas her father 's broken wing meant that he no longer took to the sky , she had a pair of young , strong wings , and the blue sky was calling her . She was already flapping her wings , preparing to fly . It was breathtaking to see Feng fly for the first time . She loved being up in the air ! She flapped her wings so beautifully , and flew straight up , as though heading deep into the clouds . Qiuhu couldn 't help feeling a bit tense : she wouldn 't fly away , would she ? She flew without leaving trace or trail in sky . Qiuhu grew more and more anxious . Then , just as Qiuhu was beginning to give up hope , she reappeared before his eyes - a little black dot that gradually came into focus . She flew around in the sky once , and then once more , not wanting to land , as though she had been waiting hundreds of years for this day . Qiuhu felt her tiny heart beating . He reached out his hand , and stroked her back . He chided her affectionately : ' Who said you could fly so high and so far on your first flight ? ' Qiuhu took Feng to school . He didn 't wrap her in a handkerchief - he didn 't need to . When he called out her name , she would fly over to him , sometimes staying up in the air , and sometimes landing on his shoulder . Qiuhu was content . Almost every evening he was home alone . His father was out every day , gambling until sky and land were dark , without a thought for his son . But Qiuhu didn 't care , he had his flock of pigeons , and he had Feng - and every night , Feng stayed with him , keeping him company . A fortnight after the race , Qiuhu came home from school one day and Feng was nowhere to be seen . He looked everywhere , inside and out , and instinctively called out to her ' Feng ! Fe - eng ! ' , but he couldn 't find her . There was only one possibility , he thought , that she had flown too far . She must be out looking for food or playing with another family 's pigeons . He stood on the street , looking up at the sky , and waited for her to return . ' Feng ' Qiuhu called , with tears in his eyes . He had searched everywhere , several times . He searched the same places again . When he was sure she wasn 't there , he went looking for her in the streets in something of a trance . He kept calling her name : Feng ! Fe - eng ! , trailing off after a while , until it seemed he was talking to himself . By the time he went home the streets had been empty for a long time . Without stopping to take off his jacket , or even his shoes , he lay on the bed like a dead man . The night wind blew outside the window , and every so often , one of the sleeping pigeons would wake and cry out , then realise that it was the middle of the night , and stop halfway through its call . Qiuhu slept , but so lightly , as though floating on water . At some point he heard Feng 's call and leapt to his feet . Moonlight streamed through the window . But the bedhead was empty , and there was no sign of Feng . Qiuhu ran home . He was so angry that he lashed out at everything , and it was not long before the whole house was smashed up . He went mad , yelling and screaming as he rampaged through the house . When his father came home , he looked tired and drawn , and his head hung sadly . He saw Qiuhu smashing everything up , and kept to one side , out of his way . A old chopping board with a crack in it flew through the air , almost slicing off his nose . Xiawang 's family raised pigeons , not only because Xiawang liked them . His father also liked them , really liked them . He had had his eye on Feng for a while , and Qiuhu 's father knew it . So when Qiuhu 's father lost his money gambling , and there was no way of paying what he owed , and the people he owed threatened to tear his house apart , he went to find Xiawang 's father . Xiawang 's father didn 't need asking twice . He paid the asking price , and the exchange was completed within the hour . Feng was inside a beautiful pigeon cage . Perhaps sensing that Qiuhu had arrived , she squawked and flapped her wings frenetically , desperate to get out . Fine , soft feathers were flying from the cage . Qiuhu was so distressed that he pushed the gate open with some force . It wasn 't locked , and swung open easily . He staggered forward a few steps , then rolled into Xiawang 's yard , taking the men by surprise . At first , the dogs were confused that little Qiuhu ignored them , then they went for him . They were just about to bite him , when Xiawang appeared and , quick as a flash , grabbed them by the collar , one hand on each collar . They were big , fierce dogs , and Xiawang used all his strength to keep a tight grip on the collars . When they tried to leap forward , he jerked them back till their front legs were off the ground . Feng was struggling so much she had lost the feathers from the top of her head . She was bald and bleeding . Qiuhu was heartbroken . He squatted on the ground , and gave up trying to grab the cage . The two men spoke to Qiuhu : ' You 're right , the pigeon was yours . But now it belongs to him . He didn 't steal it , he bought it . Young man , you need to be realistic . ' Xiawang 's father came back outside . ' I could give the pigeon to you . But I 'd want my 1000 yuan back . Bring me 1000 yuan , and I 'll give you the pigeon - whenever you 're ready . ' The two men , who were squatting on the ground beside Qiuhu , added : ' He 's being reasonable . Maybe you 'd better go home . ' When Qiuhu didn 't move , they grabbed his arms , one arm each , and hauled him up . Then they pushed and pulled him gently along , and led him out of the gate . For three days in a row , Qiuhu did not go to school . And when he did go , it was clear that he hadn 't been eating . He was so much thinner than before . From then on , when Qiuhu was not at school , he spent all his spare time fishing . He would take a fishing net and walk out of town . There were rivers all around the town . He wanted to catch fish and sell them . He was determined to buy back his Feng . He had looked after her since she was born . She wasn 't just a pigeon , she was more like a member of the family , especially since his mother and sister were no longer there . But his father had gone and sold her . He might never get his mother and sister back , but he could get Feng back , he just had to earn 1000 yuan . He took whatever he caught to market to sell . He kept his takings in a clay cooking pot , which he hid under his bed . One day , he was so thirsty , and walked past a stall selling cold drink and ices . He longed to have an ice - lolly , and even took some money out of his pocket , but in the end he put it all back again . Qiuhu didn 't go back to Xiawang 's house to see Feng . It had been so painful to see her that time , both for him and for her . It was better not to go , better to concentrate on earning money , and getting her back as soon as he could . It was taking Qiuhu a long time to earn the money . If he carried on like this , it would take him seven or eight years . But he wasn 't worried , he would save it up patiently . As time went on , saving became a habit , and he almost forgot what he was saving for . He spent his time catching and selling fish , as though this was his interest now . A short time after that , Qiuhu heard the news : Xiawang 's father had been arrested and locked up , because he 'd been going round trying to raise funds for an enormous factory , luring people with the promise of high interest rates , and had cheated almost half the town . His scheme was exposed . But it was not enough that he was led away in handcuffs , one morning hordes of creditors marched on his enormous house and cleared it out . Xiawang 's family was left with nothing . Qiuhu felt very sad at this news . At school he kept looking at that empty seat . His concentration would slip , and whatever the teacher said blew straight past him , like the breeze past his ears . The huge pair of gates was gone , leaving an empty gap between the gateposts . Qiuhu looked inside . The yard was empty . The pigeon house that was famous throughout the town was gone . And that large flock of pigeons ? Qiuhu could see three or four listless pigeons standing on the roof of the house , none of which was worth very much . Qiuhu was worried about Feng . He had already prepared himself mentally , and was afraid that Feng had been taken by the creditors . And he couldn 't help thinking that even if he had the money , he wouldn 't be able to buy Feng back now . About a month later , Xiawang started going to school again . But he seemed smaller than before , and his eyes were less bright . There was a greyness about him . In class , Xiawang 's eyes were open but there was no spirit in them . He was like a weary traveler sitting on a rock in the grasslands . In the past , when Xiawang went to school , he would wear a new pair of expensive shoes every few days , but now , he wore the same pair of shoes every day . His shoes were splitting , and his laces had snapped . The man from the bookshop set up a stall outside the school gates , and whereas in the past Xiawang would have bought a huge stack of books without even looking at them , this time he stood to one side , and fished around in his pocket , eventually pulling out a few coins . There was not enough for even the cheapest book , so he hung his head and stepped aside . Half a year passed , and as autumn arrived , there was gold everywhere - the grass was gold , the leaves were gold . The sunshine did not dazzle as it had in the summer , but it was still very bright . The whole world glistened . Qiuhu knew that it was too far for his two young pigeons to fly , but he still wanted to give it a try . He put the pigeons in a cage , and took them to the starting point . The workers checked the serial numbers on their rings , and registered them . So many pigeons had already been registered , and they were all cooing away . They were about to be transported to a place 3500 kilometres away , and then released . Qiuhu looked at all these pigeons , and wondered how many of them would be able to find their way home , and which one would arrive home first ? He came out of the registration building , and went to the public toilet nearby . When he came out , who should he see but Xiawang ! He was holding a pigeon cage , and was walking into the same building that Qiuhu had just come out of . Qiuhu didn 't call out to Xiawang . He went home . His mind was at sixes and sevens , and his thoughts were running all over the place . He took the next few days off school , with the school 's permission , and stayed at home waiting . ' There 's no guarantee they 'll be able to fly home ' he told himself . But in his heart he was hoping for a fluke . While he was waiting , he kept thinking of Feng : would she fly back to Xiawang 's house ? She 'd been living there for almost three years now ; she had a new home . It was a bitter , sour thought . Then , early one morning , when Qiuhu was still dreaming , he faintly heard the call of a pigeon - but it wasn 't one of his flock calling . He was so surprised that he sat up straight . He turned his head to listen carefully , and heard it again . ' She 's come back ! ' He leapt out of bed , and ran into the yard . Feng was in the cage ! It was the same pigeon cage she had lived in before . After she 'd gone , other pigeons had tried to sleep in it , but Qiuhu had shooed them out . She was so thin , thought Qiuhu , so thin she was almost skeletal . But her eyes were still sparkling . Perhaps it was because she 'd been flying day and night for 3500 kilometres ! He knew , of course , that pigeons can 't fly at night , but he felt she must have been flying at night - otherwise how could she be back so soon ? ' If this is true , ' said the voice on the phone , ' then it 's the first pigeon to arrive back . Please bring it to the office for validation . Be as quick as you can ! ' Qiuhu picked up the cage and ran outside . But after running a little way , he started to slow down and then came to a standstill . He looked at Feng , and sat down on the curb . Xiawang hadn 't been to school either during this period . Qiuhu found him sitting on the threshold . Framed by the doorway , he looked so small and thin . When he happened to look up , he saw Qiuhu running towards him , and slowly got to his feet . " Listening to Hon Lai - chu at ACCL2017 . She 's also our author of the month ! ( With translator Andrea Lingenfelter ) . … twitter . com / i / web / status / 8 … "