I brought a bag of rammed earth and took a taxi from the hotel downstairs in the afternoon. I arrived in Xianyang as soon as it got dark.
The driver was also a tough guy. If he didn’t know, he didn’t know. He insisted on saying that he knew where the Ginkgo Nursing Home was, so he took me for more than an hour and drove me around several times.
At that time, the Ginkgo Nursing Home was not as big as it is now. It was a two-story building with a small courtyard. The outside of the building was painted yellow. The main door was an iron door. There was a sign on the left side of the door, "Ginkgo Senior Center."
In winter, it gets dark after 6 o'clock. At that time, there were a few old men playing chess in front of the nursing home. They almost went blind and refused to leave.
"Uncle! Uncle!"
The old man playing chess said you scared me, but I am not deaf.
"Uncle, I want to ask you if Wu Xilin lives here."
"Give the pawn! You fool! Just bow the pawn and win!"
"Get lost! I won't hump!"
"Ah, you said Wu Xilin, he just had dinner and probably went for a walk in the park. He is holding a cat. You can see it when you go to the park."
"Thank you, uncle. You can continue playing and I won't interrupt you."
There was a small park to the west of Ginkgo Nursing Home. It was not very big. Square dancing had just become popular at that time. Many old men and women were dancing in the park. There were many people before 10 o'clock.
"Hold a cat...Hold a cat..."
I looked around to see which old man was holding a cat in his arms.
"Come on, come on!"
"Take a look, take a look, you can't see the loss or being fooled."
I was attracted by the sound of selling. Seeing the old men and women walking that way, I followed them.
They were a few middle-aged medicine sellers. They set up a table and lit it with batteries and light bulbs. They sold "bone-strengthening powder", which was very popular at the time. It was packaged in small bottles like Huoxiang Zhengqi water, and a bottle cost five yuan.
It costs more than ten yuan, specifically to deceive the elderly. In fact, it is just flour with some other things added, and the cost is only a few cents.
They are also sold now, but they are made into capsules and come with high-end and gorgeous packaging boxes. They are no longer sold in parks, but are instead sold in the form of lectures, where they attract the elderly by giving them free eggs and other boos.
"Everyone, you have seen this man two days ago, right? He has bone cancer at a young age. His bones are so brittle that they break when touched."
The elderly people watching were talking a lot. Some people said: "Yes, I have seen this man. He has been sitting in a wheelchair for the past two days and cannot move."
"I've seen this guy in a wheelchair too."
I didn't see anyone in a wheelchair, but I saw a man lying on a stone table in the park. Because of the angle, I couldn't see his face, so he just lay motionless on the table.
"That's right!"
The middle-aged man at the head looked at the elderly people watching and said, "What you saw is true. This man ate our Xiong family's secret recipe of bone-strengthening powder two days ago, and now he is as strong as a calf. If you don't believe it, look at it!"
"Yo! What are you doing!"
"I don't dare to look at it, but don't kill anyone!"
I saw two men struggling to lift a large stone slab and place it on the chest of the lying man. The stone slab was very thick. I visually judged that it was at least 5 centimeters thick.
"Everyone, please take a look."
As he spoke, the man picked up a big hammer. In order to show that it was a real stone, the man deliberately hit it twice with the hammer head, making a clicking sound.
In the horrified eyes of everyone, the man shouted loudly, raised the big hammer high, jumped up to half a meter high, and smashed the big stone slab into pieces with a bang!
After waiting for dozens of seconds, the lying man slowly sat up and patted the dust on his chest as if nothing was wrong.
The crowd immediately started talking, and some old people started to come forward to buy bone-strengthening meal.
The lying man finished his performance with a big stone on his chest, then he punctured a box of yogurt and began to drink the yogurt with a straw in his mouth.
I shook my head, rubbed my face, and rubbed my eyes vigorously.
