A few days after the unit was stationed at a camp in Kaohsiung, they were granted leave. Everyone eagerly went their separate ways to finally return to their long-missed homes.
Ashan took Ah-Tu with him to bring him back to his old family home in Sanxia. Along the way, whether by train or bus, Ah-Tu felt at ease with Ashan accompanying him, and he soon fell into a deep sleep. When they arrived at the Zhongpu Station in Sanxia, Ashan almost didn’t recognize the place. The old home was still there, but it seemed much smaller, as if it had shrunk; even the trees in the yard didn’t seem as tall as they once were. Fields that used to line the roadside were now filled with unsightly buildings, and the once-clear river had turned into a drainage ditch with tall weeds growing along its banks.
Ashan understood that moving from an agricultural society to an industrial one meant fertile fields would be replaced by homes and factories. Yet, it was hard to believe that the river, which used to flood, had become a nearly dry drainage ditch. Was this really the inevitable result of industrial progress? This realization shattered the beautiful memories of his childhood and filled him with sorrow for the people of Sanxia.
Ah-Tu's home had also changed, now a two-story reinforced brick house with a cement floor instead of the dirt floor it once had. Ashan recalled how, years ago, the house had a dirt floor, and he, along with Da-Chuan and Ah-Mei, had dug small holes in it to play marbles, earning them a scolding from Ah-Tu's father.
Times had truly changed. Ah-Tu’s father’s herbal medicine shop had expanded into a full Chinese medicine store, and Ah-Tu’s mother now had a few gold teeth. As for Ah-Mei, she was even more transformed—not only was she still mute, but she was no longer the “ugly duckling” of fairy tales but had blossomed into a beautiful swan.
部隊進駐到高雄某營區幾天後就放假了，大家都興高釆烈的分道回去闊別已久的家。
阿三帶著阿土先送他回三峽老家去，一路上無論是坐火車還是搭公路局，阿土有了阿三護送回家，而放心的睡著大覺。當車子在三峽中埔站停靠下來時，阿三幾乎快不認識這個地方，老家雖然還在，但是好像縮水變小了許多，院子裏的樹也不像以前那麼高大。尤其路邊的水田都蓋滿了醜陋的樓房，原來清澈的河流也變成了像排水溝一樣，兩岸河床長滿了茅草。
阿三可以瞭解從農業社會進步到工業化社會，良田會變成房舍工廠。但是實在不敢相信，原本會起大水的河流，怎麼會變成今天幾近乾涸的排水溝。難道這是工業文明必然帶來的結果嗎？這一切把阿三童年美夢完全打碎了，阿三也為三峽人感到心痛。
阿土的家也變成了兩層樓的加強磚造房屋，屋內地坪也改為水泥地。阿三還記得以前阿土家屋裏面是泥巴地，他還曾與大川、阿美在地上挖了小洞打彈珠，而被阿土爸罵了一頓呢！
日子真的不一樣了，阿土爸的草藥舖子也擴充像中藥店一樣，阿土媽口中也多了好幾顆金牙。阿美那就更不用提了，除了像以前一樣不會說話外，簡直像童話裏的醜小鴨，變成了美麗的天鵝。
