January 23, 2017, the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month.
Kata Township, Uri Village.
This place is located on the northwest border, with a vast territory and sparsely populated areas.
The weather in the twelfth lunar month is more than ten degrees below zero, and dripping water turns into ice. It's still snowing today, with fluffy snowflakes filling the sky and falling rustlingly.
Without much effort, I looked up and saw that the whole world had turned white. The gray sky, the empty road, and the distant mountains blurred under the heavy snow all made the world look a little more depressing.
Normally, few people come to this place. When winter comes, almost no outsiders are seen. Outside Uli Village, on Highway 8, which is the only road passing here, no cars have been seen passing by for many days. It snowed heavily today, but for some reason, a car suddenly came.
A large red truck, with a thick dark tarpaulin covering the trunk, and no one knew what was inside. The car stopped at the intersection of Kata Township. Not long after, the tarpaulin on the back car was lifted from the inside, and then a thinly dressed man wearing a peaked cap and carrying a small black schoolbag jumped out of the car. Come down.
After the man got off, he immediately walked to the cab. The driver rolled down the window. The two of them didn't know what they said. After a few words, the truck continued along the road, but the man stayed.
In the village not far behind, someone saw this scene through the window of their home, and couldn't help but feel a little curious.
The man stood on the side of the road, wrapped himself in a thin down jacket, looked at the heavy snow falling in the sky, and couldn't help but cursed.
Didn't you say it won't be cold?
The wind wrapped the snow and blew it on my body, and my thin down jacket couldn't stop the cold at all. The man shrank up, turned around and strode towards the village not far away.
As soon as he entered the village, the door of the house on the left side of the village entrance opened. An elderly man opened the thick curtain, leaned out half of his body, and looked at him curiously and warily.
The man stopped, raised his head and gave him a friendly smile, and asked: "Hello, how can I get to Gayushan's house?
Upon hearing this, the man at the door became less vigilant. After looking up and down the man again, he took another step outside. Then he raised his hand and pointed toward the innermost part of the village, saying, "Follow this road." , go to the end, turn left, and there is a national flag hanging at the door." His Mandarin was not very standard, but he could barely understand it.
After the man thanked him, he quickly walked inside. The wind was really too cold. The bit of heat he had brought from the car earlier was gone now. When the wind blew over, the biting cold felt like it was going to penetrate into the seams of his bones.
Fortunately, the village was not very big, and the man walked quickly. Without much effort, he found the house with the national flag that the man mentioned just now.
A thick layer of snow has accumulated on the top of half the wall of the small yard. There is a grape trellis in the yard. Withered grapevines clung to the wooden frame with claws and claws, shivering in the wind and snow.
The layout of the five or six bungalows is like a courtyard in the north. The windows are covered with plastic sheets and the doors are hung with thick curtains.
Smoke was rising from the chimney with its flat roof.
The man knocked on the door a few times outside the courtyard. Seeing that there was no movement inside, he reached out and pushed open the door and walked in. He walked through the snow in the yard and walked straight to the smoking room. There was a knock on the window.
Soon there was the sound of people moving inside, and then a bearded middle-aged man poked his head out from inside. When he saw the man outside the door, his slightly sunken eyes suddenly lit up.
"Xu Shi?" The middle-aged man looked at the man up and down, frowned, and asked uncertainly.
The man nodded.
"Come in!" The middle-aged man said and returned to the house.
The man named Xu Shi looked at the swaying door curtain, took the small schoolbag on his back, carried it in his hand, then walked to the door and stretched out his hand to lift the door curtain.
As soon as the door curtain was lifted, a burst of hot air rushed out from inside and hit his face, which was already numb from the cold. He immediately felt a tingling sensation.
Xu Shi raised his hand to wipe his face, lowered his head, crossed the threshold, and walked in.
There were a lot of things placed in the somewhat dark room. Facing the door is a small tall cabinet filled with sundries. There is a wooden sofa placed against the wall on the right. The sofa is very wide and covered with thick cushions. There are also piles of clothes and a blanket that looks like it is made of tanned sheepskin.
In front of the sofa, there was a coffee table. There were some cups, dishes, cutlery, and a plate of cold meat bones on the coffee table. Judging from the size of the bones, they should be beef bones.
To the left of the door is a stove. The pot on the stove is steaming hot and fragrant.
"It's a coincidence that you're here, just in time for dinner. You sit there and get yourself a glass of water. I'll be ready soon." The middle-aged man was busy on the stove without looking back, as if Xu Shi was an old acquaintance who had known him for a long time.
But in fact, this was their first meeting.
Gayu Mountain, in fact, its real name is not Gayu Mountain. He is originally a Han Chinese. He came here for some reasons more than ten years ago, and then he took root here for more than ten years. When I first came here, I was not used to it, but now I am so used to it that I have even forgotten what it was like before I came here.
Xu Shi continued to look at this small room. In the northwest corner, there were two cabinets, many sundries, and some chopped wood piled up.
He took a few glances and didn't see anything special, so he withdrew his gaze and found a space on the sofa to sit down. There were many cups, plates, dishes and chopsticks on the table, and he was not restrained. Following Ga Yushan's words just now, he took a clean cup, picked up the hot water kettle on the ground beside the coffee table, and poured himself a cup of hot water.
After a few mouthfuls of hot water, my frozen body suddenly felt alive.
At this time, lunch was almost over, and the man came over with two bowls of steaming beef soup.
"This beef soup warms your stomach, please drink more." As soon as he finished speaking, the man placed a bowl of beef soup in front of Xu Shi, then he pulled a wooden block next to him and sat down.
After sitting down, he began to look at Xu Shi. His eyes first turned around Xu Shi's face a few times, then fell on the thin down jacket on Xu Shi's body, and finally fell on the little boy lying next to Xu Shi. On the school bag.
Then, he frowned and asked, "You didn't bring any clothes?"
Xu Shigang paused when he picked up the bowl, then lowered his head and blew on the hot broth, and replied calmly: "I came in a hurry, so I didn't bother to buy it."
"The person who arranged for you to come here didn't prepare anything for you?" Ga Yushan asked.
Xu Shi's lips curved into a sneer and said, "He told me that it's not cold here."
There was a clear look of confusion on Ga Yushan's face, and then he looked at Xu Shi with a hint of teasing in his eyes: "Then you believed it?"
Xu Shi's face flashed with embarrassment, he didn't answer, lowered his head and drank the broth.
The beef soup tastes very good. I don't know what spices are put in it. It has a special aroma and a milky taste. The combination of the two flavors is very unique.
Ga Yushan stared at him for a while, then stood up and walked to the stove. Then, he came back with two thick pancakes that were a bit bigger than his face.
"Take it and eat it with the soup!" Ga Yushan handed over one of the big cakes.
After Xu Shi took it, Ga Yushan continued to stare at Xu Shi. After a while, he asked again: "What happened?"
Xu Shi's hand that was about to tear the cake paused, and then said quietly: "Do you have to say it?"
Ga Yushan smiled when he heard this: "Not really, I'm just curious. Wang Er hasn't sent anyone to me for a long time!"
Xu Shi glanced at him, lowered his head and continued to tear the cake.
"How long do you plan to stay?" Ga Yushan asked again.
Xu Shi dipped a small piece of the torn cake into the broth and said, "Let's leave after the injury is healed."
Ga Yushan raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this: "Are you injured? Where is it hurt?"
Xu Shi stuffed the cake soaked in soup into his mouth, rubbed the cake crumbs on his fingers, and then lifted up the hem of his clothes, revealing the bloody gauze around his waist.
"Knife wound? Or gunshot wound?" Ga Yushan asked after taking a look.
Xu Shi put down his clothes and replied calmly: "Gunshot wound, the bullet hasn't been taken out yet!"
Ga Yushan suddenly frowned: "The bullet was not taken out? When did you get the gunshot wound?"
"Yesterday!" Xu Shi replied.
When Ga Yushan heard this, his expression turned ugly, and his eyes looking at Xu Shi became a little more angry, and then he seemed to be getting ready to stand up.
At this time, Xu Shi raised his head and looked at him: "Don't panic, the tail is handled very cleanly, no one will follow."
Hearing this, the anger in Ga Yushan's eyes gradually faded away, but his face was still a little ugly.
"You can't live here. Once the snow stops, I will send you to Tao County." Gayushan thought for a while and then said.
Xu Shi raised his eyes to glance at him, then lowered his eyes, took a slow sip of the soup, smoothed the cake in his throat, and then said slowly: "No, I have to take out this bullet today. After taking it out, I guess I won't be able to move much for a few days." After saying that, he turned around and took the schoolbag on the side, opened the zipper, and took out a thick wad of money, estimated to be around 50,000.
"This is half the money. I estimate that my injury will be healed in about twenty days. I will leave then. Before I leave, I will give you another fifty thousand."
Ga Yushan looked at the pile of money and his eyes twitched slightly.
One hundred thousand is not too much for him, but it is not too little either. Moreover, business has been difficult to do in recent years, and it has been a long time since he took over such a big business.
Just for living here for 20 days, you can get 100,000 yuan. It would be a lie not to be tempted. But thinking about the danger this person might bring made him hesitate.
"Wang Er asked me to tell you something. Your son has been admitted to college this year. He is an undergraduate and the school is very good." Xu Shi said lightly again.
Ga Yushan seemed to have heard something shocking despite his indifferent words, and the look on his face changed again and again.
Half a minute later, Ga Yushan gritted his teeth and said: "Another fifty thousand!"
Xu Shi said quietly without raising his eyelids.
