More than three hours later, it was around ten o'clock in the evening, and I slowly emerged from the water.
There was silence all around, so I turned off the flashlight and swam quickly to the pond.
I found some dry clothes that had been hidden in the woods and put them on. I carried a black plastic bag and left quickly.
Instead of taking the road to Tianguangdong Village, I walked north alone at night. I walked quietly for more than an hour and went to the adjacent Xiacun Village not far away.
I was told to be very careful with my head, for fear of being discovered, I didn't dare to turn on the light, so I relied on the moon for illumination. The road was not easy to walk at night, so I picked up a stick and used it to cut grass to explore the way.
Opposite Xiacun is Jiantouling Mountain. At the foot of Jiantouling Mountain is a road that leads directly to the county town. Passenger buses also pass by here during the day. Now when traveling there, I will take this road.
It was 11:30 in the evening. I was wearing jeans, cloth shoes, and a torn jacket. My hair was soaked with water and had not been combed. I was holding a black plastic bag in one hand and a stick in the other.
Finally I saw a van driving towards me with its headlights on, so I waved my stick to stop it.
The driver didn't stop, but slowed down the car and stuck his head out and said, "Beetle, where are you going?"
I ran to catch up and asked, "What did you just say?"
"You beetle, you are walking on the road in the middle of the night. Where are you going?"
"Beetle boy" may be a curse in their local dialect? I couldn't bear to say that I would go to the train station or anywhere around the city where there are many cars.
"Then you are lucky to have met me, otherwise you would have had to wait until dawn."
"Get in the car, I'm going to the city to pick up some goods."
When they got to the city, they put me down and I said hello to someone and told them to slow down. As for the dung beetle he said, he probably meant begging for food.
I still had more than two hundred yuan with me, so I took a taxi to the train station.
At that time, it was not called Yongzhou East Railway Station. It was out of service more than a year later. The train station was very small. There were trees on both sides of the railway line. Behind the trees were rows of self-built buildings with wires hanging randomly. The place was brightly lit at night and the security was high.
not good. I entered the station and bought a ticket for 2:30 in the morning. It was Saturday after 12 o'clock and I had to be back before Monday.
Where to go?
Go to Changzhou and find a geotechnical engineer nicknamed Lao Ka.
The boss told me that although this old Ka was in Changzhou, he was from the north. He came to the south to settle in the past five or six years. It seemed that Jinpen gave up his job. The boss had never been with this person. His eldest brother, Mr. Sun, had been with him in the early years.
This person has been in contact before, and the relationship between the two parties is considered familiar.
The boss had considered this person before, but firstly because the two parties were not familiar with each other, and secondly because he did not expect the underwater iron coffin, he did not go there.
The green car took more than four hours from Yongzhou to Changzhou. When the sky was bright, I got off at Changzhou Station. The head only gave me an approximate address. The person was not easy to find.
I took a taxi from Changzhou Station, and when I arrived at the place mentioned, I looked for the old man and woman who had gone out for a walk in the morning, and the owner of the newsstand and canteen. None of them knew him. I kept asking until about ten o'clock in the morning, and I found a restaurant.
Eat at a roadside stall selling breakfast.
I didn't have much hope at first, so I just took a casual bite. Unexpectedly, the owner of the fried dough sticks said: "Lao Ka? What are you looking for him for?"
"Do you know him?" I quickly put down my bowl and chopsticks.
The boss wiped his hands, threw the rag aside and said, "I know you. I went to get a pot from him yesterday, wasn't this?" He pointed to the new pot of egg soup for me to see.
"You have to hurry up to find him. Usually, he stops work at eleven o'clock and drives back. I don't know where he lives."
I didn’t drink the tofu nao, so I wrote down the address, took two buns, ate the buns and went to find them.
What Lao Ka does now is "stealing pots". I don't know if the people born in 2000 know this, but I think many friends born in the 90s have seen him.
At that time, cans, Lulu bottles, etc. were all made of aluminum. When I collected a lot of them at home, I would take these to look for pot thieves on the street. After melting them, I would make aluminum pots and basins. The quality of the products was very good.
, it will not leak after decades of use.
Also, children often pester adults, saying they don’t want a pot, saying they want to make a small sword, an axe, etc. out of a can.
When I arrived at the place, I saw a tricycle parked on the side of the road from a distance.
There were many things on the ground, including buckets filled with sand, clay stoves, pliers, thick gloves, etc.
The clay stove has burned the cans into molten aluminum. A man in his forties, holding a cigarette butt, with unconventional long hair, was putting on gloves. There was a middle-aged woman beside him to help.
I walked over quickly.
"Stealing the pot? I'm going to call it a day and go back to cooking. Please come back after four o'clock in the afternoon."
I said, "I'm not going to steal the pot, but I have something to ask you for help."
"oh?"
He held a cigarette in his mouth and asked: "Why are you looking for me if you don't steal the pot? What's the matter?"
"Brother Lao Ka, can you lend me a moment to speak?"
When I walked to the roadside where there was no one around, I handed over a cigarette and said, "I want to cut something underwater. How about 30,000 yuan."
He was stunned.
"I'm just a pot thief. I don't know how to cut anything. Little brother, you have found the wrong person." After saying this, he turned around and went back.
"etc."
"Lao Ka, you have done this kind of work, more than once. Sun Liantian is my eldest brother, and my name is Wang Xiansheng. You should have heard of it, how about fifty thousand."
He turned his head, yawned, and said with a smile: "Then you should know that I quit working in five or six years."
As he spoke, he first looked at the woman who was following him to steal the pot, then he came close to me and whispered: "I need more money." "Sixty thousand."
"One hundred thousand."
"Cash money, I need it now."
I shook my head: "Pay me 50,000 first, and then pay 50,000 more when the matter is completed."
"Then I can't do this job, little brother, go find someone else."
Seeing that they were about to leave, I thought: "Okay, I'll withdraw the money now, and you can come with me at noon."
He glanced at me, called to the woman who was crushing the can, and made a series of gestures to him.
The woman immediately showed him some sign language.
I couldn't understand what they were talking about, and then I realized that this woman couldn't speak and was mute.
As agreed, I first went to the bank to transfer money to my old card, then took their three-wheel drive home at noon and had dinner at their house.
While the mute girl was clearing away the dishes, I asked if I could leave in the afternoon. I had oxygen, acetylene, and a cutting gun there, so it was urgent.
He asked: "How deep is the water?"
I said about ten meters, maybe more than twenty meters.
He shook his head: "That won't work. Acetylene is sensitive to pressure. I don't dare to use it in water deeper than five meters. I need to use a special hydrogen-oxygen mixing bottle, and the air belt needs special treatment, waxing and sealing glue. You can't use it."
That air band.”
"You wait this afternoon while I prepare the necessary things. If it's quick, I'll be back before dinner."
I said yes, then you should do it as soon as possible.
"Daddy daddy!"
Suddenly a little girl ran in from outside the hospital. She was seven or eight years old. She had a ponytail and was wearing a red floral cotton-padded jacket. She had a chubby face and was very cute.
Lao Ka picked up the little girl and laughed and said, "Why didn't you do your homework and ran in again?"
The little girl clapped her hands and said, "I've finished writing, I want to watch TV."
Lao Ka pinched the little girl's nose and said dotingly: "Okay, daddy will show you the TV."