"Um?"
As the people in the room questioned, the dim light bulb was also lit.
Sitting on the kang was a man and a woman, apparently a couple.
And they were also wearing shrouds.
The old lady puffed on her pipe and said, "I heard that you caused a group of people to go to the threshing floor? What did you do?"
Dao Tiao Lian chuckled: "A few friends came from the city. Let's take them for a walk."
He did not reveal our identities, but found an excuse.
"Isn't this nonsense! Come in quickly!"
The sharp-faced man turned his head cautiously and gave a stiff smile: "Well, let's get on the kang."
I glanced at Ah Chen and the others, took off my shoes and got on the hot kang.
"Two dogs."
The old lady banged her cigarette pipe and said, "There are still a few sets of clothes in the cabinet. Take them out and let your friends change into them."
Daotiao slipped down to the ground with a numb face and pulled out some old clothes.
Looking at the brown copper coin pattern on it, I feel awkward no matter how I look at it.
The old lady patiently reassured her, "Young man, don't mind, just get through tonight."
I squinted at Dao Tiao's face and said, "Er Gou, right?"
"Yes, everyone in the village calls me that."
I nodded to myself and moved closer to the old lady: "We are Ergou's friends, but we are more than just friends."
"I'm here this time just for the sake of your village."
The old lady wrapped her sleeves, looked at each other with the old man, and then looked at me again.
"Stop it, kid."
Before she could finish her words, there was a sudden knock on the door.
As if facing a formidable enemy, Ergou pressed the switch, and the room immediately fell into darkness.
"Shh!"
Ergou put his finger on his mouth and stared at the door, with beads of sweat seeping out from his forehead.
"Village Chief! Village Chief!"
The banging on the door and shouting sounded at the same time. I turned around and looked at Ergou: "Are you the village chief?"
Ergou didn't say anything, but looked at his father: "Listen to this sound, it sounds like a bolt."
His father glanced out the door, the corners of his pursed mouth squeezed together with wrinkles on his face, looking like a dried bun.
"No one can open the door today!"
The shouts outside the door became louder and louder: "Open the door, uncle, my mother is ill! Borrow some medicine!"
In the dark room, only the smoke pipe and pot flickered on and off, and the two dogs scratched their scalps.
"Borrowing medicine is life-saving, dad! Mother Shuanzi suffers from asthma. If there is no medicine, this person will die soon!"
The old man rubbed his rough palms: "I don't dare to open the door."
The old lady pursed her lips and said: "We are already this age, are we still afraid of death? Mother Shuanzi was only in her 40s, it would be a pity to die."
"Besides, Shuanzi has already arrived at the door of the house. Because you didn't open the door, his mother died in the end. How can we stay in the village from now on?"
She raised her stubby fingers and poked the old man hard: "You are the village chief, so the feeling of poking his spine is unpleasant!"
"Why."
The old man looked up to the sky and let out a long sigh, and then he said to Ergou: "Give him the medicine and come back quickly. Don't waste any time!"
"okay!"
In front of his parents, Ergou lost all his previous ferocity, and only had a face of obedience.
I hesitated for a moment and said softly: "Ah Chen, let's go with him."
With the two of us as company, the panic on Ergou's face receded a little.
Sometimes things in the world are so strange. An hour ago, we were all tied up. An hour later, we were actually standing in the same trench.
When we arrived at the door, Ergou looked at me, then leaned close to the door and shouted tentatively.
"Um, embolus, I'll throw the medicine out and you can order it."
"Okay, okay."
The bolt outside the door finally stopped knocking in a panic.
Ergou suddenly opened the door, and the medicine was like hot coals. He raised his hand and stuffed it out.
Shuanzi is young, with a round face and a flat head. He is wearing a school uniform on his upper body and a pair of labor insurance pants of an unknown color on his legs.
"thank you!"
Shuanzi stood at the door with a silly smile on his face, kowtowing and bowing to Ergou.
Before leaving, he took out a candy bar from his pocket and said, "Here, it's for this time."
Ergou smiled bitterly, put the candy in his pocket, and closed the door with a smile.
"Fuck, false alarm."
With his words, the alarm seemed to be completely lifted.
The atmosphere between us is no longer so solemn.
